[USS Tempest] "Released"

Released


by Captain Lindsey Craig and Ensigns Miranda Craig and Newlyn Davis

This is all a dream. I?ll wake up and be back in my room on the station and not 
locked in a tiny cell with a smartass petty officer watching me like I?d just 
stolen candy from the drug store and we?re waiting on my mother to collect me 
as if I were five. Though I think I?d rather have had him call mom instead of 
Lindsey.

Miranda paced the small cell, her arms crossed, and once again chewing on her 
thumb nail. Of all the people he could have called to clarify that the brig 
unit was on the fritz, it had to be her sister.

With a frown, Lindsey swung into the Brig's outer office, not bothering to look 
into the cells because they were meant to be empty. "Hey there Chief, what can 
I do for you?"

As soon as the Captain had entered the room, the Chief went to attention. "I?m 
sorry to have bothered you, Captain. But the young woman over there," he 
pointed to the cell that held Miranda, "claims she doesn?t belong there."

Miranda tried really hard to blend into the wall.

"The young woman?" Lindsey looked up and into the eyes of her sister. "Miranda? 
What the hell did you do to end up in here?"

"Nothing!" Miranda didn?t know whether to be embarrassed or pissed off because 
Lindsey automatically assumed she?d done something wrong. "I was just checking 
things out and the damn thing locked me in!"

The chief smiled just a little. "There are no records of her detainment, 
Captain."

Miranda looked at him. "That?s what I?ve been telling you!" Stupid!

Giggling to herself, Lindsey put her hands on her hips. "Now you're sure you've 
not ticked off Lieutenant Commander Calvok already?" She held out a hand to 
stop the inevitable outburst from Miranda. "Take down the forcefield please, 
Chief."

The Chief blinked as he looked at the two women. Their resemblance in that 
instance was uncanny. Reaching for the button that lowered the force field, the 
Chief smirked at the look in the younger one?s eyes. He blinked again when the 
force field didn?t lower. "That?s odd. It didn?t work."

A small flash of panic flooded Miranda?s eyes. "That?s not funny, Chief."

"I?m not attempting to be funny. The force field should be deactivated."

A quick stab of panic had Lindsey across the room to stand over the console and 
start fiddling with it. "Chief, what have you been doing to these controls?"

"Nothing Ma?am." The Chief replied. "I didn?t even bother filling out the 
paperwork."

Miranda never really minded small spaces until she started thinking about the 
time she?d gotten trapped in an old drainage pipe. She?d been ten and had tried 
to run away from home. At the time the drainage pipe had appeared to be the 
perfect hiding place, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she 
ventured further in than she should have. "This really isn?t funny you two!"

"Not laughing," Lindsey muttered as she hit her comm-badge. "Captain Craig to 
Engineering, we need someone to come to the Brig immediately."

"On my way, sir," came a reply in a young, male, cockney voice.

Grinning to himself, Newlyn bounced into the room. The looks on all of the 
faces made him hold back his normally chipper greeting. "What can I do you for?"

"Ensign, there is a malfunction with the Brig's controls." Lindsey glared at 
the console again, using all of her self-control to not pace around the room.

"Let me have a shuftie then." Shooing the Captain and Chief out of the way, he 
tapped in a few commands. "Hmm, interesting."

Miranda glared at the newcomer. For a moment she allowed herself a passing 
thought about him being kinda cute, but then quickly recalled where she was. 
"This isn?t a time for interesting. It?s the time to get me outta here."

The Chief shook his head and leaned towards the Captain. "Is she always so 
easily wound up?"

"I'm afraid so," Lindsey replied jovially, trying not to scream at the poor 
engineer.

"AHA!" came the cry from the now submerged form of Newlyn, lying on the floor 
with his head stuck inside the unit. "I can see your problem. Some bugger's 
only been and crossed the internal scanners with the forcefield controls." 
Tutting, he reappeared, a magnaspanner in his hand. "There's not a whole lot 
that I can do about it right at this moment in time."

"What d'you mean?" A small amount of her fear crept into Lindsey's voice. "I 
would strongly recommend fixing the problem, Ensign."

"And I would love to, it's just that whatever they've done, it's gone and 
royally screwed the whole system up, sir."

"Then unscrew it!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Right you are, ma'am," he said a little nervously. Crouching back down, he 
began to fiddle again.

Miranda huffed and started to pace again. She?d like to see either of them 
locked in a tiny cell and not be wound up.

The Chief crouched down to offer Newlyn a hand and whispered, "The kid?s her 
sister, Sir. I?d advise you to make this work."

"You're having me on," Newlyn muttered back out of the corner of his mouth. A 
slight sweat broke out as he tinkered a little more furiously.

"Is there anything I can do?" Lindsey said.

"No, thank you, sir. I think I've got it all under control. That is," he 
grinned up, his green eyes flashing, "unless you fancy grabbing me a cuppa."

"Erm... Sure." She was pretty sure the young man meant a cup of tea, she was 
equally sure that he was trying to give her something to do to get her out of 
his way. "English breakfast?"

"That's the ticket, sir. You know the tastes of an Englishman, I can tell." He 
grinned again. Once the Captain had left to find a replicator, he blew out a 
breath. "Gives her something to do."

"She?s the Captain of this ship and you send her to get tea?" Miranda asked 
from her cell. Not only had this engineer sent her sister to fetch his tea, but 
she actually did it. Miranda groaned inwardly. Lindsey was worried 'cause she 
was stuck in this mess. It was her keeping Lindsey from doing what she needed 
to do not Newlyn. "I really gotta make a bigger effort to not make things 
harder for her."

"Make things harder?" Newlyn smiled at the pacing but pretty trapped Ensign. 
"As far as I can tell, it's all these here malfunctions that are making the 
Captain's life harder." He returned his gaze to his work. "But then I can't 
imagine anyone as lovely as you making anyone's life harder."

Miranda blushed. "Yeah but you don?t know half the stunts I pulled when I was a 
kid." Not that being twenty wasn?t that far from being a kid. "I seem to have a 
knack for getting myself into impossible situations." Was it just her or could 
a person melt from the sound of that accent?

"Ah, yeah, but that's being a kid, isn't it? That's not the same as being a 
Starfleet Officer." His voice was even more muffled now as he shoved his head 
further into the workings. "I mean, we grow up a whole lot at the Academy. 
Well, I know I did." Pulling himself back out, he waved the spanner at her. 
"And look at it this way, if you were some little kid, you'd be panicking by 
now." With a sparkle, he added, "And you're not, are you?"

"Of course not." She replied as she stopped pacing and removed her thumb nail 
from her mouth. What was there to panic about? She was in a cell onboard her 
ship, people knew where she was, and they were working to get her out. Totally 
not the same as being lost inside a drainage pipe, in the dark, with the sound 
of rushing water all around you, and no one knowing where you were.

Lindsey wandered back in at the very moment that Newlyn jumped up and 
reitereated his "AHA!" With a jolt, half the cup sloshed onto the floor, the 
rest went over her hand and the front of her uniform.

"Oh God, sorry sir."

"Don't worry about it," Lindsey said as she wiped futilely the stain. "Please 
tell me that the 'Aha' meant what I think it meant."

"If you think it meant that I've solved the problem, then you would be spot 
on." Grinning, he stood back with a flourish. "This, sir, is the dog's 
bollocks." Two taps and the forcefield came down.

Without hesitation, Miranda stepped over the lip of the opening. She could 
already feel herself starting to relax. She made a mental note to never ever 
end up in one of those things again. "Thanks for getting me outta there." 
Miranda smiled at Newlyn before turning to look at her sister. "I don?t think 
your ship likes me, Linds."

"I'm beginning to get the impression that the damn thing don't like anyone!" 
Striding over, Lindsey pulled Miranda into a brief hug. "I really gotta go, but 
you're still coming over for dinner, right?"

Miranda was completely surprised and actually caught off guard when Lindsey 
hugged her. It was a gesture she was sure the older woman wouldn?t express 
around others, especially her own crew. "Um.. Yeah, I?ll be there."

"Okay, good." Dashing out of the room, she gave a brief wave to the other two 
people.

"Interesting," Newlyn muttered as he gathered his things up.

Turning to look at Newlyn, Miranda smiled. "Did you learn to read from the big 
book of Spock quotes? Or is that the only word you know?" She teased. "And just 
what is so interesting?

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He pulled himself to his feet and grinned. "Now, does the 
knight in shining armor get a kiss from the fair maiden that he's saved from 
the dragon's lair?" With a crooked smile, he said, "I'm pretty sure St. George 
got a kiss. I'll have to check up on that, but I know I would have demanded one 
given those circumstances."

Miranda blushed again. "This maiden does not kiss knights whose names she does 
not know. Nor does she kiss on the first date. She will, however, offer the 
brave young knight a shared meal if he is so inclined to join her."

"I think this knight can live with those fine terms." He leaned down and 
brushed his lips over her fingertips. "And my name's Newlyn Davis, engineer 
extrodinaire. At your service, of course." Spinning out of the door, he said, 
"Tomorrow evening at eight?"

"Eight it is then." Did she really just ask someone out to dinner and he 
accepted? "I?m still staying on the station until I get my room assignment 
here. Oh and I?m Miranda.. Obviously you already know the Craig part."

"Ta-ta," he waved over his shoulder. A wide grin spread over his face. This 
assignment was going to turn out alright. There's some fit looking birds on 
this ship.

Who knew getting suck in the brig was the best way to meet really cute guys. 
Miranda waited until she was sure the hall outside was clear and then made her 
way back out into the halls of the ship. "I?ve gotta figure out what I?m going 
to wear!"

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