[ussbansheec] Starting Out
- From: "Moria Grace" <bansheec@xxxxxxx>
- To: <ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 17:24:47 -0400
"Starting Out"
Sr. Staff of the USS Banshee-C
Standing by the window in the conference room, Grace stared out at the stars
and now empty space. They were alone, the Avalon was gone and it was now up to
her to get her people home.
"Makes you feel like Janeway doesn't it."
Grace looked at the reflection of her first officer and nodded. "But does that
make you Chakotay?"
Aeriannah laughed. "I'd rather be Seven." Grace rolled her eyes. "Well, can you
think of anyone else who looked that good in a catsuit?"
Grace laughed. "You're hopeless, Kaelyre."
"Yeah I know," Aeriannah replied with a sad smile.
"Call 'em in, Annie," Grace ordered.
Aeriannah nodded then hit her comm. badge. "Senior officers report to the
conference room ASAP."
Andy looked up at the ceiling. He was in the midst of observing a squad drill,
making mental notes, when the ship's XO made the announcement.
"Wonderful," he muttered to himself. "Here's where we get chewed out for that
temporal contamination and where Victoria gets mad at me for not telling her
the whole truth. This is going to be a lovely day."
He tapped his comm badge and said, "Maluhia. On my way." He nodded to the
sergeant running the drill. He'd be back.
It was simultaneous in time if not in space. Both James and Victoria hit their
comm-units at the same moment, their voices ringing out in perfect tandum: "On
my way," they said.
Joseph smiled fondly at Evy as she almost choked on her coffee at the sound of
the Captain's voice. "Fuck, I'm glad it's not me being called to the
Headmistress' office."
He kissed Evy's nose before answering the call. "Hawk here, be right with
you." Closing the link, he kissed Evy properly before climbing to his feet.
"Don't go anywhere, I won't be long."
"I got the day off, I ain't going anywhere except back to bed," she told him as
he sauntered out.
Moria looked up from the eighty-fourth version of the letter she was trying to
write to her mother. Sighing she pressed her comm. badge. "Acknowledged."
Zachan extinguished the incense on the altar and bowed low before it. It was
for his grandfather's memory. He supposed it should have been but those
thoughts always made him smile. He had been nearby, so to speak, and it put
him in a good mood. The usual springy step was there as he headed up the
corridor.
Joseph and Victoria arrived simultaneously. Sweeping out a bow to the little
red head, Joseph beamed at her and opened the door. "Ladies first."
Blushing softly, Victoria gave him a tiny smile and stepped into the Conference
Room.
JoshieMac acknowledged and headed straight there, PADDs in hand, still trying
to figure out how exactly the man had done it. No real access to any systems
should have been available from the low-tech rooms, and yet he'd managed to get
into ships systems, hide from their sensors, hijack their tranporter, shuttle
bay controls, and communications for over a minute. He could hear the voices of
each within, sorting them out easily enough, but didn't greet anyone as he took
his seat, still working on the puzzle before him.
Grace watched as her people filed in and took their seats. Once everyone was
there she took her own seat at the head of the table. "Alright ladies and
gentleman here's where we stand. The Avalon's Mister Garrity has been returned
home a little more worse for wear but safe and sound. The Avalon had left the
Badlands and now folks it's up to us to get home."
James rolled his eyes. "Nice of them to help," he muttered. "So," he said a
little louder, "what's the options? Clearly the wormhole is gone. Do we have
any idea how it was created in the first place?"
Grace slid the padd that Ketchum had given her down to James. "Everything we
know is on that padd. According to Ketchum our best bet is to locate a base
that Maquis still operate out of here in the Badlands."
"So we find the base and hope they have a way for us to get home?" Aeriannah
asked.
"That's what we have for now. Anyone else got any bright ideas?" Grace asked.
"Get out and push?" Zachan asked wryly. At Andy's friendly glare, he added,
"Must be somebody among that nest of vipers who has a clue. I am NOT staying
here in this 'now'."
In an effort to lighten the mood even as he thought JoshieMac answered, "Ah,
come on, Z-man.Why not? There might even be one or two women in this timeline
who'd still fall for your lame-ass antique pick-up lines."
Zachan's face went slightly ashen at that. "We have to get home, Grace," he
said, not caring that he'd addressed her by name in front of others. He fairly
glared at JoshieMac. "I think my wife might mind."
Joshie took one look at Z's _expression and was immediately sorry for his jest.
"Sorry, Z. We'll get there. There has to be a way. We'll find it."
"I have no intentions of leaving us in this 'now' as Z called it." Grace
replied. "For now we'll focus on finding this base. I want Science and
Engineering working analyzing what ever data we have on the wormhole we went
through. Josh, I want you looking over everything we got from the Avaoln"
Zachan shook his head as Joshie. 'Sorry for snapping' it said. "I'll paint
formulae down the corridor if I have to,"
"Our contact with others in the time line it to be null. I need to know what we
have and how long we'll have it." Grace looked at each of her officers.
Andy put on his best innocent face and stared at the ceiling. I'll walk if I
need to talk to anybody. I'm not doing that ever again, he thought ruefully.
"Too bad we didn't think to ask that slippery sonofabitch before he took off,"
Joshie muttered. "I bet they'd come up with something if he had to."
"Well, lets hope that the Josh Garrity from our time left something useable in
all the data that the GRP is wading through." Aeriannah pipped in.
Andy placed the comforting hand of 'big brother' on Zachan's shoulder. "She's
got an idea there, Z-Man. You remember how Loi would leave messages within
messages?"
Josh's expression brightened at that. "My father used to do that, too. I
wonder.."He looked over at James, expression serious,"Do you think it's
possible?"
Following Andy's train of thought, Grace turned to James. "Check every inch of
that computer core for a message in a bottle."
"Yes ma'am, I'll get on that right away. In fact, fuck it, I'll get the whole
Engineering department on it." Then something occured to him and James
frowned. "Plus... I remember something from the Academy... one of my
postgraduate courses... hmm, I need to think about that before I can really say
if it would work."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "He always thinks outloud. If you ignore him, he
might go away."
"If listening to Mister McEntire babble on will get us home sooner rather then
laster then let him talk." Grace tried to smiled but her heart wasn't in it.
"Alright guys, lets see what we can come up with and meet back here at 0900.
Dismissed."
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