<USS Avalon> Armoring Disaster (Ranger/Erridim/Cazook)

"Avalon - Armoring Disaster"
by
Dr. Alexis Cazook
Sgt. Walker Ranger, Security Exec
Ens. Talea Erridim, Ops
---
>From "First Date or Disaster":
Talea just grinned at Walker, then walked off without him. She was certain he'd follow.
"Excuse me, my dinner partner is leaving me." Grinning, Walker sprinted after her. 

We now continue:
She kept the same walking pace, but led the way to her quarters; they'd both need to don proper gear, which she had packed and had in her storage units. 

Wondering whether to teleport to catch up, Walker continued the sprint.
She stopped, confused at his running to catch up. She wasn't that far ahead of him! 

"I said I'd walk /with/ you," Walker grinned softly as he reminded her.

She shrugged.  "You got distracted, I got impatient.  Forgive me?"

"No need," Walker smiled.  "No offense has been taken.  Just curiosity."

She said quietly as she quirked a grin at him, "Curiosity about what, Tex?"

"Why you didn't wait," Walker grinned, letting the name pass.
She spotted his reaction anyway, whispering in near-horror, "Forgive me if I've offended!" 

"Hmm?"  Walker blinked.

She looked sad.  "You don't like being called Tex, I gather."

"It's not that," Walker smiled. "Just wasn't done often with the family."
She relaxed marginally. "Oh. As for my walking off? I know the amount of work, and we've a need to protect what we wear." She pointedly didn't add what seemed to be a mantra with all too many Regellians, about journeys never completed. 

"No problem," Walker gestured down the corridor. "Shall we?"
Talea grinned. "Walk or blink? We'll have to set up somewhere other than my quarters for the work, though." She already knew where; the area was one of the smaller, less-used hobby areas, but it was equipped with the necessary equipment. Most importantly, it contained a parts-replicator capable of the correct resolution to produce the bundles of high-quality wire she'd need.
"Walk?" Walker grinned mischievously. "We still need to work on your ship-wide image."
She heaved a sigh, but nodded before spotting the fact they'd just passed a turbolift and reversing course. 

Following, Walker smiled.  "How much do we need to cover our clothes?"
She chuckled. "Full coverall is best, but hottest. I usually use a redesigned chef's apron and gloves, with covers for my shoes." 

"Sounds like fun," Walker grinned.
She entered the turbolift and directed it to her quarters. Presently, they reappeared with her tool cases, and within four more minutes were setting up in the work area. 

"So what's first, oh armoring maestro?"  Walker grinned teasingly.
She chuckled as she laid out the tools. "Materials." She then barked an order for eight kilos of wire of two different gauges, knowing they'd need both to make the mail during this session.
"You'll have to walk me through," Walker smiled softly. "I'm not much of a craftsman."
She then began working the wire, which to her specification, was in proper lengths to make the links. "I've two sets of tools. Watch me; I'll demonstrate the proper procedure. You'll participate in making your armor in no time." She grinned over at him before she began the work.
Walker crouched and watched her for a few minutes before taking up a set of tools and attempting work of his own. As she'd stated, the work was more tedium than actual skill, although it took a fair amount of manual dexterity and strength.
At first, she was producing the fine chain faster than he was, but he soon caught onto her techniques and matched her speed. She looked over at him and grinned. "I'll make a proper armorer of you yet!"
Grinning, Walker teased, "We'll have to try weaponsmithing next." He winked.
She shrugged and sang a short phrase, which did something he couldn't define to the chain they'd already made. Four panels lay there, each six inches hexagonal. 

"Hmm?"  Walker arched an eyebrow.
She chuckled and tapped her head. "Secret whammy. Long lost to most of Regelis, unfortunately. Makes the chain more like fabric in feel without diminishing strength. See?" She handed him one of the panels after gesturing for him to take one glove off.
"So no need for an undertunic?" Walker looked curious as he removed a glove and picked up one of the sets. 

She corrected, "No need for a /heavily /padded undertunic."

"Nice," Walker chuckled softly.
She explained. "All it does is makes the chain feel more like fabric. It's still going to pinch the Pits out of you if you aren't wearing something under it."
"That does make more sense," Walker chuckled. "Course I always wear at least a jersey-weight tunic under armor."
She linked the segments together before she created the edge-pieces, producing the same burst of song for the last segments. She then grinned. "One chain shirt. Minus a few lengths to make it long enough to be of true use, but it can be tried on." She was a little concerned; there was very little energy available for magical work. It was building back, but after the next song, it would need to wait for the morrow.
"One moment," Walker smiled softly as he removed his combadge and phaser holster.
She chuckled. "It's a chain muscle-shirt at present. Sleeves can be tricky."
"One test fitting coming up," Walker winked as he took the shirt and worked it over his uniform.
As she knew it would, it fit slightly tightly, since his uniform tunic had a regulation undershirt underneath. Having the same thought, Walker smiled, "Should be perfect, sans the uniform tunic."
"That's the idea." She temporarily unlinked the sides and helped him out of it, then wove it back together. "We've enough material for the full tunic, but I'm tiring." This last was very rueful. In fact, the wire would make the inner lining of the armor pants, too. 

"Shall we delay the rest for the night?"  Walker smiled softly.
She shook her head. "Let's finish the panels to complete the length of the shirt. The spell will, unfortunately, use up almost all the energy available in this room for such workings for the rest of the night! The Federation can be so hard to work in! So little belief in true magic!" She began working on the sleeves, which, as she'd warned, were more difficult to create. She left him the easier task of the extension panels, knowing that with both of them working on things they could do better, the work would progress at nearly double the speed. 

"Just make sure you don't double your speed," Walker grinned slightly.
She stopped, wiped her brow, then said, "Again, I will say this. I do not go into overdrive for something like armor. For something that keeps the entire ship alive, maybe, but not this. This, to me, is a hobby, not my living."
"I've done it without meaning to," Walker's voice softened. "Which is the only reason I mention it." 

She nodded.  "It can sneak up on you, aye, so I appreciate the warning."

"So, how many suits have you made?"  Walker examined his work.
She shrugged. "Enough to make Journeyman-Master. This is one of the very few times I've done one gratis, though." She checked his work and nodded. "You learn fast. That's already better than Novice quality." 

"I'll apprentice and test out later."  Walker winked teasingly.
She didn't want to admit he was better for what experience he had than she had been at that same time, or that she was keenly jealous that he had picked up in such a short time what had taken her weeks to learn! 

"So.  Shall we attempt weaponsmithing?"  Walker grinned.
She chuckled. "We finish your armor first, Sir Knight." As she realized what she had said and that it was a rather outrageous flirt, she blushed furiously, but kept working on the left sleeve. 

"Sorry.  I'm not with that order," Walker winked.
She shrugged. "I'm not with any of the Knight Orders myself, so . . ." She sighed. "Not that I ever had a chance to try for one." As her hammer came down slightly wrong, it pinged off her right thumb. Her eyes widened, but despite the terrible pain, she made never a sound. 

"I even felt that one," Walker cringed sympathetically.
She just looked at him, fighting the tears of agony. She knew she'd probably shattered the thumb.
"Do you have healing ability?" Walker knew not every Regellian knew healing trance.
She dared not try vocal, for fear of letting the scream loose instead. ~/CMO, the Captain and the Admiral are going to really fuss at me . . . because I refuse to have the thumb amputated. And yes, I do know Healing Trance. Learned it as a six year old, like most Regellians./~ 

~/Why would you need an amputation?/~  Walker looked to her curiously.

She sent, ~/I believe I have shattered my thumb./~
~/So? We go to Sickbay, and they surgically correct it./~ Walker didn't see the need for amputation; surgery should correct it, yes?
She nodded. ~/Pray to the Creator you're right, and we need to get there quickly, before I weaken./~ She looked over their work and moaned, ~/Somebody could steal our work! That mustn't happen!/~
~/Off we go,/~ Laying his work down and pulling the shirt from her slackened grip, he assisted her to her feet, then 'ported them both. As they arrived in Sickbay, Walker looked to her. ~/They won't./~
As the pain caused by the landing jar plus the ultra-cold of JumpSpace both hit, she simply blacked out. 

Catching her under the arms, Walker called out calmly, "Doc, nurse?"
One of the orderlies assisted Walker in placing her on a biobed then said, "We'll need to cut her clothing off her." 

"For what, a busted thumb?"  Walker grunted slightly in annoyance.
The orderly frowned. "She's wearing gloves. Those'll have to be removed, and if her hand has swollen, we'll have to cut the glove off." He was unaware of just how resistant to cutting the gloves truly were.
"You can try it," Walker chuckled. "These gloves are tough little buggers."
"Suggestions? Can you get them off without using the shears?" The orderly was getting annoyed.
"Can you tone down your attitude?" Walker looked to the gloves before attempting a send to the stricken woman. ~/Talea?/~ In response, she moaned aloud, shifting uneasily, but made no other indication she'd even detected him. 

"Hold her arm and wrist steady?  Want to try something," Walker pondered.
The orderly just raised an eyebrow, but did as requested, bracing. He had a feeling the woman was a lot stronger than she looked. As he touched her, though, she all but threw him across the room in reaction to the foreign touch.
Snarling lightly, Walker recalled what she'd told him. Looking to the orderly, he asked, "Are you okay?" 

"Damn.  She's strong as an ox!  And I mean that as a compliment!"

"We're Regellians," Walker chuckled.  "Mind getting a female associate?"
The orderly just stared at the man, then shrugged. "It's her funeral. I'll go get one of the female Klingon orderlies. Or maybe a Vulcan one."
"It's not that," Walker sighed. "She's had some problems. I can only assume her body figured you were going to hold her down for something illegal."
The guy just paled. "Oh, God no." He scurried off before Walker could say anything even more alarming.
While waiting, Walker removed the glove from her good hand, then went about removing the apron.
Talea shifted again, moaning even louder this time before her eyes flew open, raw panic showing on her face.
Pushing down on her shoulder lightly to keep her from attempting to bolt, Walker leaned into her sight line. "Easy, we're in Sickbay."
She gasped sharply as pain arced from the damaged hand, then sent, ~/I . . . I thought I was being assaulted! Dear Creator! I've got to get out of here!/~ 

"Relax, you just knocked him off balance."  Walker looked to her calmly.

~/Th-that's good.  I think!/~

"You might not like his compliment, though," Walker grinned teasingly.
She shrugged without thinking, and the pain from her hand seared into her nerves. She instantly tensed as she tried to control a new wave of agony.
"Relax," Walker smiled. ~/He said, and I quote, 'Damn. She's strong as an ox! And I mean that as a compliment!'./~
She looked at him, this time aware she mustn't move much. ~/Raise my arm to where my hand is at least a foot above my hearts! Hurry. Then gently try to remove the glove./~
"Soon as an orderly comes to assist holding your wrist steady?" Walker smiled softly.
She nodded. ~/Maybe that's best, but they'd better hurry. Help me roll over!/~ 

"Hmm?"  Walker arched an eyebrow slightly.
~/If I'm on my stomach, I can perhaps sleep with the hand above my hearts-level. Remind them not to amputate!/~
"How about we get the glove off first?" Walker smiled as two Vulcan female orderlies entered. 

~/S'good!  Pain must end!/~  Her tone was emphatic now.
"If you ladies would be so kind as to help hold her wrist steady?" Walker gestured to the glove still on her right hand. "I'll do my best to remove the offender without getting any of us killed."
The two orderlies just looked at each other, then at him, before one of them said, "It sounds illogical, but with Humans, what is?" She was unaware that the two weren't Humans, so no insult was intended. The two positioned to gently restrain her, so as to help make what he requested happen.
"Human?" Walker arched an eyebrow, then just grinned slightly. He then moved so that Talea could see him, then reached for the glove and tried to remove it as carefully as he could, minor pull by minor pull.
She winced, then, despite herself, whimpered as his second tug on the thumb part of the glove pulled the abused nail free of the nail bed.
"Just a bit more," Walker grimaced. "Though we may need a gauze or something."
One of the orderlies raised an eyebrow as the glove pulled free. There was sign that there had been relatively bad bleeding, but other than an incredible amount of clotting, there was relatively little of it still going on. It didn't make logical sense, especially the color of the blood, which was a deep black with a silvery sheen to it!
"How you doing, Talea?" Walker folded the glove to lessen the biohazard worry.
She grasped his forearm with her good hand in a need to be reassured. ~/Tell me and be truthful that they won't have to amputate!/~ The near-panic was back in her tone. Her hand hurt so much that she was trembling hard now. ~/Turn the gloves totally wrong side out and wash them with mild soap and water. These gloves are tough little critters./~
~/I'll worry about the gloves in a minute./~ Walker looked to the two. "Guesstimate about the thumb?"
Both of the orderlies examined the hand as a whole before the senior of the two tapped her combadge. "Orderly T'Ling to CMO. Hand injury assessment needed, Sir."
The other stated calmly, "It is logical to surmise, based on what I have observed, that the hand will not need serious surgery. Amputation is serious surgery."
"Aye, amputation is serious. Specially in this age." Walker shrugged slightly, privately agreeing with T'Ling. ~/Talea?/~
She pleaded, ~/Can I get some relief from the pain, or does the CMO need me in agony?/~
~/I don't know?/~ Walker looked to the ladies. "Can she get anything for pain?"
Alexis heard some commotion while making rounds, and hurriedly made her way in the direction of the disturbance. She found Talea lying on her stomach with her hand in the air when she arrived in the center of the apparent disturbance, and she appeared to be in a great deal of pain. Speaking softly as she moved closer to the bed, her expression carefully neutral, she stated, "Talea, it's me, Alexis. Dr. Cazook. Can you try and tell me what happened?" She took the hypo she had begun carrying around in her pocket out and programmed it for pain medication suitable for Talea. Pressing the hypo against the woman's neck, she heard the automatic hiss as the medicine was injected into her body. "I have given you something for the pain and once it starts to work I will examine your thumb more closely. I don't want to manipulate it too much until the pain has lessened."
Talea blinked at the unexpected chill of the hypospray's metal head, but the blessed relief from the pain just made her have to suppress a moan of nearly agonizing pleasure as the pain all but disappeared. As she calmed, she stated, "Was making chain mail, and I um . . . missed the wire with the five pound sledge I was using at the time, because I lost concentration during the stroke. I hit my right thumb, probably with enough force to shatter the bones." She swallowed convulsively before whispering in horrified tones, "I've seen more than one armorer's career ended by just such an accident, for amongst my clan, our medical knowledge has little data on the proper correction to be taken in such cases." Her expression, although she schooled it quickly, briefly held a plea for someone to produce another result altogether before her face went utterly calm and outwardly accepting of the inevitable. However, her shields slipped, and Alexis was struck momentarily by Talea's vehement need not to be maimed like that before she regained control and slammed her shields back up. "In the few cases where correction was attempted, the digit was never flexible again, which was almost more hindrance than help to the one so injured." She closed her eyes and sighed, the breath shuddering from her as she fought for control.
Alexis still wasn't sure what to think. She had tried to make Talea realize that she was no longer with that god-awful clan of hers. She was amongst people who were rational and caring. At least most people were. A certain cretin in the brig and his unholy partners in crime were not high on her list of caring people. "Now Talea . . . did I not take care of the scarring and other problems you were having? I believe that I can handle this situation in much the same way and you will not be maimed or disfigured in any form. I was hoping by now you would have gained a little trust in me, but that will come in time . . . I hope. As for your thumb, let's take a look and see what is going on."
Taking out her tricorder, she ran it slowly over Talea's thumb. As she did so, she read the results. Indeed, it appeared that the bones had been shattered. However, they were not displaced and would be repairable with the bone regenerator. "Okay, Talea. You did indeed shatter your thumb. However, it can be repaired. Let me go get the proper instrument and I shall return." Leaving, she left Talea in Walker's care until her return.
Talea visibly relaxed, privately astounded by the doctor's calm assurance, although Walker himself had suggested that only surgery would be required. She almost wailed as she realized that Alexis believed she didn't trust her, and Walker just wordlessly hugged her for a moment. It felt so good that she snuggled into the hug, feeling far more secure than she knew she should, but not questioning it. They broke the hug just before the doctor returned, though.
Alexis returned a short time later. In her hand was a device used to regenerate the bones in one's body. She was going to use this device to mend the shattered bones in Talea's thumb. "I'm back, Talea. What I am going to do now is slowly run this device over your thumb. You shouldn't feel much of anything while I am doing it. Just take some deep breaths and relax." Taking the device as Talea took her advice, Alexis slowly ran it back and forth over the young woman's thumb. She did this as long as it took to repair all the damage. Once the bones had knitted themselves back together, she took her tricorder and checked for any nerve damage. Luckily, there wasn't any.
"I'm all done, Talea. The bones haves mended nicely and everything is as it should be. Your thumb may be a little stiff for a day or so, however. After that, it should be just fine. I have but one request. Please try and avoid using a heavy sledge on your hand again?" She grinned before continuing, "When you feel up to it, you are free to return to the psionically-shielded room here in Sickbay. You should be able to return to duty by your next shift. If you have any problems, please don't hesitate to call."
Talea smiled gently. "Doctor, it is not that I don't trust you and Walker. It was simply the fact that I knew my Clan's medical knowledge is so out-of-date that the only thing I knew for this sort of injury was amputation. Please, forgive me if I have offended? It was not intended, nor is it desired." Her face showed her sincerity, and she continued with, "As for the hammer accident? Had I not lost concentration at a critical time, it would not have happened." She chuckled. "I will decidedly attempt to avoid a repeat, but if I do happen to be unfortunate enough to smack my thumb again, I'll at least know that I'll not lose it to my momentary lapse." She smiled brilliantly, then lay back on the biobed with a whispered, "Walker, watch over me, please. I must repair the thumbnail."
Having done all she could, Alexis left the room and returned to her small office. Once there, she made a note of Talea's injury and what was done to correct it. It seemed to her that for someone who had just arrived, she was starting to develop a sizeable medical history. Alexis couldn't deny that for some reason she was growing fond of the woman. She had noticed the way she looked at Walker and hoped things were starting to improve for her. She deserved to be happy.
Walker was careful to extend his shields across Talea, trying not to touch her as she went into a stage-one meditation before she sank into Healing Trance. Ten slow minutes later, he noticed Talea's thumbnail had been corrected, and that she seemed to be coming up out of the trances. As she blinked slowly, trying to clear her thoughts, he said softly, "The doctor's right, you know. You've got to be more careful."
Talea jerked slightly before she whispered vehemently to him, "I intend to be far more careful tomorrow night, assuming, of course, someone hasn't walked off with our work! Please, go check? And I'll be a good girl and follow Doctor Cazook's directive to return to my room here in Sickbay." Her voice was not entirely steady as she gave this assurance, since she had had nightmares nearly every night since the attack. With that, she accepted his assistance getting off the biobed, straightened its covers and headed there with him beside her. Shortly, Talea was back inside, actively dreading sleeping. She knew her fear was close to irrational, but the attack had bothered her on a much deeper level than most realized. The blessed psionic silence within the room helped, but to her puzzlement, she could feel one tendril of contact even there.
Walker went and checked on their armor, finding it all proper. Even the tools were undisturbed, other than the fact that someone had neatened the shirt to where it lay properly on the work surface. He smiled and proceeded back down to Main Security to change out of his duty gear. On reaching his quarters, he didn't pay the psionic silence much heed, until he realized it wasn't totally silent. This confused him for a moment before he raised an eyebrow, muttering, "Grandfather, you may be right after all, old man." Even to his limited knowledge, what he was sensing shouldn't be possible . . . unless a deeper link was already forming. It disturbed him somewhat, since they had not done anything to make a link happen yet.

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