The Hunt For Help

Posted on 21 Oct 2024 @ 12:53am by Lieutenant Maralen Seitha

1,782 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Stranded
Location: Various
Timeline: Concurrent with the Rebooting posts

Maralen needed to find engineers and perhaps a medical person. Rather than randomly wandering through the ship hoping to happen fupon either, he began by going over in his mind the people he had seen/encountered on his way to Engineering. Where they had been at that time would help to indicate which Safe Zone they would have most likely gone to.

One by one, images flashed through his mind, immediately accompanied by their names and departments gleaned from their dossiers. When he had accepted the position as Chief of Security on the Cygnus, Maralen had read every dossier. Maybe it wasn't required, but he felt that it was. He was responsible for their safety, so he needed to know whom he was watching over. Now, that single step was paying off.

Only two engineers, both Ensigns, and one person from Medical, also an Ensign, came up. Sshrral! They were all so young. He wished he could find folks with more experience, and maybe he could if he wanted to waste time they did not have. No, the three Ensigns would have to do.

He started off toward Fat Alice's on Deck 19.

As he moved through the ship, he found himself pondering how he got here. How did a kitten from Ledara who had always been more of an explorer than a protector become Chief of Security for a Federation starship? Hell, how did that kitten go from curious and exploratory to... brooding and determined to protect those who could not protect themselves?

The answer was simple and complicated all at once.

And irrelevant now, the Executive's cold voice chided in his head. Focus, Maralen.

Maralen sighed inwardly. He was focused. He had learned to divide his focus long ago, to focus on the task before him while keeping part of his mind back to handle whatever emotional content the situation threw at him. This was no different really. It was helping him focus away from the tight spaces he was forced to crawl thriugh and climb through to get from Deck 24 to Deck 19.

The climb up five decks would not have been so bad if he had not been forced by damage to redirect through Jeffries Tubes at a couple of points then double back to the Lift Shaft to finish the climb. And once on Deck 19, he had to wend his way through damaged corridor bits, fallen structural fragments, etc. before reaching his destination. Making this trip in reverse with three young Ensigns was going to be... a test of patience.

As he entered the lounge, he was immediately struck by the condition of not only the place but the people taking shelter in it. Most were in conditions that would, normally, have meant that they would have been taken immediately to Sickbay. Hpwever, in the current state of the ship, that would not only be pointless, but it would very likely do more harm than good given the ways they would have been forced to travel thriough the ship.

Letting his gaze slide over the room, Maralen quickly spotted the three people he was looking for. The two Engineers were off in a corner trying to assure a few others that things were under control and they would have power soon. The medical officer, on the other hand, was flitting between people like a bee between flowers. She was obviously trying her best to see to the medical needs of everyone here. Unfortunately for her state of mind, Maralen couldn't let her remain. These people looked relatively stable while the Chief Engineer definitely needed her help.

He approached her first. "Ensign DeVayne?"

Nadia DeVayne, who had been bandaging a somewhat minor but painful leg wound, looked up at the voice addressing her. Her mind immediately went to 'what does this person need?' like the good healer she was. As she looked up, she was also assessing the state of the felinoid before her. He seemed uninjured, so why was he interrupting her? "Yes?" It came out a tiny bit harsher than she had intended, but she was not the Counselor.

Maralen had seen the assessing look the medic had given him, and so her attitude had not surprised him. She had obviously come to the conclusion that he was fine, so why was he bothering her when there were so many people who needed her attention. A question for which he had an answer even though she would not like it. "I need you to come with me, Ensign," he stated calmly. "The Chief Engineer is in need of medical attention, and I do not have the expertise to help her."

Nadia frowned, considering the felinoid before her. His stance suggested Security, and his calm helped that image. Finishing the bandaging job, she stood and faced him directly. Her sapphire blue eyes held on his warm brown ones. In his, she could see the seriousness of the situation better than any words he might have said, and she nodded, retrieving her medkit from the floor at her feet. "Lead on then."

"Thank you for not fighting me on this," he said as he turned away from her and headed off toward the two Engineers. "I do need to gather two more people from here though. Then we will go."

Nadia didn't say anything, merely followed him toward one corner of the room. As they approached, the people there looked at them. Nadia could immediately see the fear in some. Not that she blamed them. If she hadn't had her work to keep her focused, she might have actually had the time to truly think about their situation. And then, the fear would have come in. But she was the lucky one in that regard, she guessed.

Maralen stopped a couple of feet from the two Engineers and three scientists. "Ensigns Alexander and Siler?"

The two men looked at him then at each other. Both stood. "Yes, sir?" they said in unison, not at all planned. They looked at each other again then back to Maralen.

Normally, such an accidental "twinning" of speech would be amusing. Today, it wasn't. But neither did it annoy him. "I need you two to come with me. There is much work to be done, and the Chief Engineer asked me to find any of her staff that I could and bring them to Main Engineering."

There was a moment of silence before Siler spoke. "It'll take more than three of us, sir," he ventured, expecting that the obviously-higher-ranked officer knew this but feeling the need to point it out.

"Yes, I know. This was only my first stop," Maralen assured. "I will take you three to Engineering and then go in search of others."

The two looked at one another again then nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Grab hand beacons and follow me." Maralen turned and headed for the door, knowing the three were following.

"Sir?" Nadia's soft voice reached Maralen's ears easily. Not only because felines had more acute hearing than Humans, but also because the ship was so quiet. Not even the normal purring of power flowing behind the walls and beneath the floor to muffle the sound.

He missed that purring. It was strange, but now that he could not hear it, he felt more alone as if the sound was somehow the ship herself 'talking to him'. Now she was silent except for groans of pain and creaks of her damaged form. Somewhere deep inside of his mind, he felt sad for her, though most would think him odd if he ever said so. He kept it to himself and instead addressed the medic. "Yes?"

"How are we going to get to Engineering with everything down?" In her voice was uncertainty and a hint of fear well-masked. He didn't really blame her if she was afraid. If not for his training and his years in service, he would be too. And maybe he was in some deeply-buried part of his mind that even he could not see anymore outside of meditation. But if so, it was irrelevant now.

"We will have to use the Jeffries Tubes and Lift Shafts," he answered in his usual calm tone of voice. He had let a bit of his natural warmth creep into the tone though in an attempt to bring some calm to his companions.

She nodded even though he would not see since he was in front of her. Somehow, his presence was reassuring. His calm in the face of all of this helped her to find her own inner strength and bring it to bear against the fear nipping at the fringes of her mind. "Yes, sir." Her tone now held more confidence.

The four moved in silence after that, making their way through the ship as fast as was possible given the many detours they were forced to take.

In the Shaft, Siler had hesitated at one point after looking down. Shit! Shouldn't have done that!

"Are you all right, Mr. Siler?" Maralen had paused, having registered only two sets of footfalls on the ladder above him, and looked up at the Engineer. In the younger man's eyes, he saw it. Fear. It mirrored the fear that he was keeping so intensely in check even now. But he couldn't afford to respond to it the way the younger man likely needed.

"Uh... y-yes, sir," Siler answered, forcing his eyes away from the felinoid below him and, by extension, the great fall further below him. "I just... I'm fine, sir."

Nadia, who was on the ladder just below Siler, spoke softly. "It's all right," she assured. "I think everyone's a bit messed up right now. Just focus on the ladder and your foot placement. You'll be okay."

Siler nodded, doing exactly what she said. Focus on the ladder. Just the ladder. Foot down. Other foot down. Hands down. Repeat. Heights were definitely his enemy, though he had always told Counselors, 'It's not the height that scares me or even the fall. It's that sudden, crushing stop at the end.' Needless to say, they were not amused. Counselors could be far too serious, he had decided.

They continued their trek through the ship, eventually reaching Main Engineering. Siler was just glad they didn't have to climb down anymore Lift Shafts. All were breathing hard.

"Chief Ahmad?" Maralen called into the darkened area.

NO TAG. OPENING FOR NEXT POST

Posted by

Lieutenant Maralen Seitha
Chief Security Officer
USS Cygnus
Played by Sandy

&

Ensigns Jeffrey Alexander, Nadia DeVayne, and John Siler
Also written by Sandy

 

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