By Ashton Ledbetter and Jamie Halliday
100620.1300
After For Ledbetter or for Worse
-=Engineering, USS Poseidon=-
100620.1300
After For Ledbetter or for Worse
-=Engineering, USS Poseidon=-
The two men congratulated each other for only a few moments, before reality annoyingly began to set in. They had only an hour to make some sort of move before Brody would return expecting his drive to be active or to be able to inflict bodily harm upon them. At least there was comfort in the fact that he probably preferred the former, though not in the possibility he’d just want to follow it with the latter anyway.
Jamie’s face took on a curious contemplative look, like someone who was wondering if they had locked their keys in the ignition of their automobile. He had just reached an unfortunate realization. “When Brody gets back, we’re going to die, aren’t we?”
The unconcerned manner in which he said it struck Ashton as almost convincing like he truly wasn’t worried by the prospect. Yet while bravery was one thing, they say the only people who faced death without concern were the foolish and the miserable. Jamie was never miserable and he quickly proved to Ashton that he was no fool, as he gave away his concern while for the first time since he’d known him his always talkative friend truly rambled.
“What do you think we should do for the next hour? I think I would like to play pinball, or maybe read a good book. A very short, good book. Then again it’s not like it will be a bother for a long time if we don’t get to finish it. On the bright side we don’t have to worry about the ending being a let down.”
A sad smile passed over Ashton’s face as he could see that Jamie wanted to die as he’d lived but just in this moment he didn’t know quite how to make the smile come easily. Ashton then considered that he too wanted to die just how he’d lived, or at least how he’d always pictured himself as living. He’d like to die bravely, the type of death a man like him could be proud of. He stuck his chest out a little further.
“Well even if we do die, we will be remembered as heroes for what we’ve done here. If anyone lives to tell what we’ve done here. We foiled the plot. I hope…” Ashton replied.
Jamie’s response was one of confusion. For a second he almost didn’t believe his ears but then they’d never lied to him before.
“How very unselfish of you, Ashton.”
Though from anyone else Ashton would have taken it as an insult how truly shocked Jamie appeared, when one spoke their mind as often as Jamie did friends learnt to take insults only where intended. Of all people to die with, a man whose honesty you had no doubt of and who called you a friend wasn’t such a bad choice. Before any sentimental words could have been exchanged however they found themselves rudely interrupted.
“What are you two talking about?” Powell demanded, having has enough of watching the two of them commiserate.
Ashton’s eyes grew wide with anger as he stepped right up to Powell. He was determined he would not die backing down from a man like this.
“Oh for goodness sake, you incompetent hack of an engineer, your CO just put a sixty minute clock on my life that I don’t intend to let run out. Would you just butt out! We have a drive to fix.”
Ashton spun back around and Jamie could only just snicker as Powell was left staring in shock. He’d never seen Ledbetter quite so adamant about something. Powell attempted to dismiss Ledbetter with a wave, though it was purely an ego exercise, not that Powell’s ego was in any way out of shape, as Ashton had clearly dismissed himself without concern. Powell then awkwardly moved away and went back to his own duties. In an hour Ashton would either be dead or have the drive repaired, and Powell was entirely fine with either result.
Once Powell was clear, Ashton and Jamie once again huddled.
“Like I was saying,” Jamie repeated, “how very unselfish of you.”
“Well none of us are getting out of this alone. Either we all go home, or none of us do.” Ledbetter replied, subtly scanning the room to make sure none of Powell’s lackeys were eavesdropping, though doing so in the most open and heroic way possible.
Jamie smiled a little proudly at his friend.
“That’s not true, you could have taken the easy way out.” Jamie pointed out. “Everyone else may have died but you would have gotten everything you’ve wanted since you ended up on this ship. Very few people would have turned that down.”
Though he was rarely one to shy from praise, in fact if praise could be bottled he’d normally quite happily drink, swim and bathe in the stuff, there was something about hearing it from an always honest source that made it different.
“What you call the easy way would have been the most difficult. I would not have wanted to live with leaving you behind.” Ashton turned away and busied himself with a console.
Though any other man may have just left the issue open to interpretation and left with the meaning he preferred, Jamie was not any other man. Even with the whole likelihood of being either outright obliterated or at least blown to several billion very difficult to reassemble bits issue hanging over his head, he still wouldn’t want to be.
“Is that you plural, or you singular?” Jamie asked. Ashton was silent for a few moments, before abruptly changing the subject.
“I don’t intend to spend the next sixty minutes waiting to die and playing pinball. We’re going to give Brody what he wants. Or at least make him think he’s getting what he wants.”
Jamie was no fool and knew exactly what Ashton was getting at. “But how are we going to get him into a holodeck? Does this ship even have a holodeck?
“We can use the emergency containment field around the drive as a projection surface. This vessel is equipped with a holographic communications system as well. If I can tap into the emitting diode, I can project the false image of the drive over the real drive.”
“That’s an incredibly long shot at best. We’ll probably just be found out and we’ll die several minutes before we had to,” Jamie thought aloud, and Ashton wondered briefly if Jamie hadn’t just picked the worst time in history to discover pessimism. “Still, maybe we can alter the readings easily enough to make him think it’s working in a test. However, what happens when he tries it for real and nothing happens?”
“Believe me, he won’t want me around while he’s attempting to butcher the timeline. He’ll find a way to go back on my deal with him and send us back to the Serendipity before he tries to use the drive for real.”
“Then won’t he just chase after us?” Jamie asked, before a thought occurred to him. “Unless he can’t.”
“I know that look,” Ashton commented, seeing Jamie had something in the works. “However there’s no way they’ll let us near any of the other propulsion systems.”
Jamie however seemed to be getting quite excited, moving over to look up at the drive in wonder.
“You don’t need to climb to the top of the tree to light it on fire,” Jamie suggested. “Didn’t you say the drive used significantly more power when it was engaged for an actual jump?”
“Yes…”
“So what if we create a trip switch at above the test level that redirected the excess power inwards?”
“It’d probably burn out half the systems on the ship; that is assuming it didn’t just blow it up,” Ashton realized a plan forming in his mind. “And as luck would have it, with you setting up the projection, I may just be able to do it in under an hour.”
Now Jamie was really smiling.
“Of course you realize if we’re still on the ship at the time then they will still kill us,” Jamie observed. “That would be rather disappointing.”
Ashton smiled back, noting just what difference a little hope could make.
“As you said before, it won’t bother us for long.”
**********************************
Ashton Ledbetter
Temporal Investigations Observer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Crewman Jamie Halliday
Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Ashton Ledbetter
Temporal Investigations Observer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Crewman Jamie Halliday
Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012