by Rada Dengar and Salvek
81026.1900
The Day Before To Sleep and Always Be Still
-=County Cork, Ireland=-
81026.1900
The Day Before To Sleep and Always Be Still
-=County Cork, Ireland=-
Kellyn’s grass-stained knees once again lowered down to the ground below. Launcher number seven had been a particular challenge. It sat in a low-lying area that was sufficiently soaked from recent rains to turn the already soft ground below into pure mush. To compensate, they had to drive a foundation pier six feet into the ground to provide a support stable enough to handle the recoil.
Salvek had tapped four members of security to assist with the project, feeling the brains were more then well represented and brawn was going to be more necessary to accomplish the task. From the pool of four, Rada and Halliday chose Ensign S’evla, a Vulcan, and Ensign Bjorn, a human from an area of Earth called Scandinavia. Bjorn’s name supposedly meant, ‘bear’; at least that was what he told Rada. Judging by the amount of chest hair sprouting from beneath the man’s uniform, Rada was inclined to believe him.
Salvek and Kellyn selected Ensign Bemar, a Bolian, and a newcomer to the ship; a massive man from Security by the name of Dwan Tubman.
Tubman stood well in excess of six feet, and that was just his biceps.
When asked for a demonstration of his strength, Tubman had simply asked Salvek to pinch him. Curious whether he could actually find a nerve to pinch on the stump that was commonly referred to as a “neck”, Salvek reached out and champed his fingers down on the man. Tubman simply chuckled. He may have been fashioned from pure muscle, but apparently he was still slightly ticklish.
It was Tubman who drew the task of driving that pier for the launcher into the ground. He swung a fifty-pound sledgehammer above his head like it was a ball of yarn, and brought it down on the head of the metal rod, driving it down into the pilot hole that had been dug.
Kellyn watched the depth closely with a tricorder.
“Stop!” She said when they reached the prescribed depth.
“Yes ma’am,” Dwan answered, exactly as he did to every command Kellyn issued.
Salvek and Kellyn quickly set the launcher, and ran through the testing of the firing sequence.
“Did you enter the disarming code?”
“Did you?” Kellyn asked back.
The launcher began to hum.
“Shit!” Kellyn declared eloquently. “Duck.”
Salvek, Kellyn, Tubman and Bemar each put as much distance as they could between themselves and the launcher, and dove for cover. A single shell burst forth into the midday air, creating a flash that was barely visible against the sun, but an explosion that was loud enough to shake the ground beneath them.
Salvek, who had thrown himself over his wife to protect her, rolled off to the side, and pulled her up into a sitting position.
“Do you think anyone heard that?” She asked.
Salvek’s communicator gave them the answer they did not want to hear.
[Dengar to Commander Salvek.]
“Yes, Mr. Dengar,” Salvek replied wearily, he noted that Rada’s voice contained much more energy than was typical, like a man on an adrenalin high.
[I just felt like I should call and commend your team on the expedience of their efforts. We weren’t planning on firing one of those for hours yet. Dengar out.]
This brought a smile to Kellyn’s lips and a raised eyebrow to Salvek’s forehead. It wasn’t long ago that Rada would have died before he even considered teasing the XO.
Truthfully Rada hadn’t even considered it. He was so hyped up on sugar from his toffees and that highly contagious competitive spirit that his actions were roughly five minutes ahead of his thoughts at the moment.
-=23 Hours 50 Minutes Later=-
Finally Rada’s team had only one more launcher to prime. The hours had marched on and on and his energy had diminished considerably by this time. Everyone was tired, cranky and wondering why they agreed to set up a pyrotechnics display in the very wet hills of Ireland anyway. Well, everyone except Halliday that was. Rada could swear that if it weren’t for S’evla being there to remind Jamie how human efficiency was reduced when they did not receive adequate sustenance, that he wouldn’t have even stopped to eat.
Rada was on his grass covered back on the wet ground with everyone else gathered around attempting to direct their torchlight at the spot where Rada was working. A spot that somehow every one of the larger lights they had set up to compensate for the growing darkness had missed. He cursed under his breath that they couldn’t have been firing these fireworks inside a starship where it was nice and dry and they could simply turn on a light if they needed to.
“Sev,” Rada said through closed teeth as he twisted his arm around the launcher trying to get to the keypad. He couldn’t fully open his mouth because he had used it to remove a locking pin, which he then found that he had nowhere to drop. “This is the last of them right?”
“That is correct,” S’evla said in that dignified Vulcan manner which was intended to convey the fact that she was not nearly as tired as she was. She may have looked like she was as tired as she was but looks can be deceiving.
“Then contact Commander Lair’s team to inspect our work, and Bjorn, I need you to contact the groom whom I assume will be the husband by now and to tell him that we’re done.”
Rada wasn’t sure whether they would be married yet as he didn’t have a chronometer with him. He had brought one with him but Bjorn had stepped on it, Rada wouldn’t really have minded except that it was on his wrist at the time.
“But you are not finished yet,” S’evla objected.
“No, but I will be by the time anyone arrives,” he replied.
As the two security officers went off to make their respective communication, Halliday announced excitedly, “I can’t believe we’re almost done. To be honest with you I thought a politician stood a better chance on Chalnoth than we did of pulling this off.”
Rada would have asked another man why then he had insisted on raising the stakes if he didn’t think that they could do it, but knowing Jamie he’d have an irritatingly satisfactory answer. As Rada input the final code his combadge began to chirp. “No, don’t you dare,” he threatened. It best not to be Kellyn announcing that they’d just won by the few second it would take him to enter the last digits.
“I’ll answer it,” said Jamie as he bent down and snatched it from Rada’s chest before he had a chance to tell him to wait until he’d finished. He said cheerfully in a voice reminiscent of an over polite secretary, “Rada Dengar’s communicator. Jamie Halliday speaking.”
Kellyn was the person on the other end and she was doing just what Rada feared. [I’d just thought that you should know that we have officially just finished…now.]
“So have we!” Rada yelled to the combadge through still gritted teeth as his hand finished its task, collapsed on the ground and sent water from the puddle Rada found himself in flying into the air.
[Sorry Rada,] she said. After working two days straight she was not going to let him just take her win away like that. [We contacted you first!]
“I am sorry,” Salvek said carefully on the other end. He approached Kellyn as gently as possible knowing that this news would not be well received by his wife who had very much gotten into the competitive spirit. “I just received a message from Ensign S’evla announcing that they were finished and it was before you initiated contact. Assuming they pass our inspection, it appears they were finished first.”
Kellyn shot him a vicious glance to clearly show that this was not welcome news. A smile began to form on Rada’s lips as he thought that they just might take away the win.
Halliday cut that short as he happily told Kellyn, “Actually, no we weren’t. We only just finished now too.”
Then Jamie said as if it didn’t really matter at all, “Oh well, let’s call it a draw.”
Salvek was relieved. Rada couldn’t believe it. None of them could. Well, except for Jamie obviously. Two days work without sleep or showers where half the time they were cold, wet and in the dark and neither team could even claim the victory.
A more violent man than Rada would have strangled Halliday at that point and part of Rada wished he were such a man, or that Bjorn were. Rada had a feeling that he and Kellyn would be arguing about this for a while.
-------
Commander Salvek
First Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Lt. SG Rada Dengar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: You two never, ever disappoint, that’s for damn sure. In fact, your brilliance actually frightens me LOL ~ZL
Commander Salvek
First Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Lt. SG Rada Dengar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: You two never, ever disappoint, that’s for damn sure. In fact, your brilliance actually frightens me LOL ~ZL