Here are the two poems that Vylrad recited for everyone last week: 

Tall Tree 

Oh great tall tree, 

Green beard of leaves, 

Shimmering in the sun, 

So tall you touch the sky. 

Furry Squirrel 

Oh creature of grey,

Your battle cries of small shrieks,

Your hoarding of nuts, 

Your big brushy tail.

M.

Mentor you two? That's funny. I don't think I have the patience for such things.

But perhaps I'll go ahead and start a mini's thread. Start a challenge in January see how it goes... 

M. 

I know this is a forum for online gaming and that doesn't exactly relate to miniatures... however, many of us play games in person as well and all the miniatures that go with it become a bit of an obsession. 

I personally paint miniatures and have really gotten into it over the past few years. I was wondering if there were any other mini-minded painters out there in this group. 

A few months ago I found another forum that had a monthly painting challenge, it really wasn't anything formal, but a nice way to build a little community and accountablility to get something finished each month, as well as get friendly feedback. Perhaps if we had interest I could start up something like that around here. 

So hey if there are any painters out there let me know! I'd really love to see some of what you all can do! 

M. 

O'Captain my Captain... 

Sent an email with my concept.

M.

Meri went, Meri went

Everywhere that Meri went Eol was sure to go...

Wait, Eol was here first! Dam*** the song is backwards. ?? 

Well anyway, here I am raising my hand. I've had an Eol whispering in my ear about Dwarves, so I suppose I should play so that I know what he's talking about. 

I'll send you a concept soon, Captain. But just as a teaser, Spider guard too... Tell me you are shocked. LoL

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 16:25

USS Peregrine - Deck 5 - Outside of the Armory 

As he made his way along the corridors of Deck Five, Zai was engrossed in his review of Zhay-la’s proposed interdiction with the asteroid… at least until his steps got him close enough to the Armory that he could hear the discordant, driving beats and rhythm of an ancient Terran tune that filtered through the door of the place. He stopped in his tracks, a brow arching as his eyes lifted from the PADD and fixed on the door. And people call my musical tastes esoteric, he chuckled inwardly, getting his feet moving again after indulging in a moment of trying to place that particular song, We’ll be sure to remind someone of this the next time I fuse Klingon opera with blues metal.

Upon reaching the Armory, Tochi cued the door and was assailed by the tune at an even higher volume along with the half-shouted words of the two women inside.

"I think that the hardest thing we need to figure out is how and when to bring it to the captain. I think I took a few missteps in my last conversation with him, and Zai is most certainly on thin ice with the Captain right now." Cali shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose as Tochi, yet to be noticed by either she or Zhay-la, leaned against the doorway and listened,, "This whole thing seems to have everyone shaken up and acting a bit impulsive." 

“If you can help me get this presentable,” the green-skinned woman suggested from behind a slight smile, “I’ll get Science on board and we’ll take it to the Captain.We have the equipment we need on the ship and it won’t take a tricobalt device to solve this issue, then.”

“Yeah, alright,” Cali returned, still engrossed in her perusal of the PADD, “I'll start up some simulations, pull together inventory…” She offered the other woman a nod and handed the device back over into the care of the Orion woman’s hands, “...Send me what you got. Gonna need some caffeine…”

“Quite a bit of it, we would imagine,” Tochi suggested, loudly enough to be heard over the music, as he pushed away from the doorjamb and stepped fully into the armory, “It seems the two of you didn’t need me here, after all. Got things worked out between yourselves before I left the shuttlebay, did you?”

Kennedy literally jumped and twisted her head to the door where the voice had come from.  A flush ran up from her collar towards her ears when she spied the spotted Commander in the doorway. “Jumping beans and pogo sticks! Zai. I’m putting bells on you. This constantly sneaking up behind me isn’t going to go on much longer.” She exclaimed a little too loudly even with the loud music in the background. 

At the same time as Kenedy, Zhal-la subconsciously dropped into a ready stance, knees bent, hands up, brandishing the padd that had just been placed in her hand. She snapped to attention once she realized it was the Commander. Her normally bright green skin took a slightly darker hue in the apples of her cheeks. 

Tochi offered a sheepish smile in reply and his spots flushed vaguely purple… Bells could be interesting, he managed not to say aloud… “My apologies, Kennedy,” he grinned, stepping into range where he needn’t raise his voice so high in order to be heard over the music, “We had informed Lt Taissud that I’d be here but, I assume, you missed the memo.” He flicked the CEO a subtle wink and turned his gaze to Zhay-la.

“As I said, it seems I am a bit late to this particular party and the two of you have things well in hand,” he said, “If there is anything we might do to assist, just let me know, hm? I’m doing little else but sitting on my thumbs of late, after all. If nothing else, we would be happy to accompany you when you lay this out in front of the Captain…” Though, presently, that might not exactly help you sell the thing, he appended mentally. 

“Trajectory.” Kennedy stated flatly. She shifted quickly and moved over to where the computer console was stationed, she drug over a crate of something and used it as a chair, squatting on the corner with one hand steadying her precarious position as the other flew over the console. “It feels off, Zhay-la’s gonna talk to science I know the magnetism is gonna screw with us, hopefully she can get some specs on how to adjust for that… but… it’s still…” she shook her head. “Look it over fly-boy. I’m digging into inventory…” and she buried her head into the lines of text appearing on the screen. 

“Actually,” Zai returned, lifting his own PADD as he rested a shoulder against a rack of phaser rifles. 

When Zai, casually began to dig into his own thoughts Kennedy turned her head from her console, her brow already twitching into a tight knit. She said nothing, though, as he continued along his thought process. 

“I was giving approach vectors a look on our way here, and giving some thought as to specific target points for Zhay-la’s proposed phaser ablation of the asteroid in order to affect its trajectory by way of mitigating and minimizing possible - or should we say probable - casualties planet-side…” 

“Computer,” the Trill called, letting the PADD in his hand fall to his side, “Access Aurora Angel archive file Kappa Zeta Five-One-Four.” When the computer chirped acknowledgement he continued; “Extract the proposed intercept trajectory, overlay and reconcile with Lt Taissud’s proposed vectors…” 

Kennedy’s hand tightened up on the lip of the crate. “I… you…” she fluttered, then throwing an embarrassed glance at Zhay-la she leaned over closer to Zai and hissed in a low tone, “I told you to delete that, first off. And what’s with coming in here and playing like you had nothing to offer when you obviously did… I… fine… whatever.” She shook her head, glanced at the files pulling up on his PADD with a look of mild curiosity, and then turned her back on him again. 

“We archived it,” Tochi murmured in reply, wilting a bit at her censure but casually dismissing it with a shrug, “Almost the same thing. Besides, I thought it better to keep it on hand just in case a contingency was required. Your math wasn’t as iffy as you led me to believe.”

“You won’t flatter me with comments about my math…” she huffed under her breath and she banged through inventory lists. “And fine… whatever, Zai, you’re the XO at any rate. Get the numbers on this one right, okay?” she sighed. 

He chuckled softly and gave a faint shake of his head as the computer completed its amalgamation of the nav parameters from both Cali and Zhay-la’s files. “Not to worry, Commander,” he replied, his tone returning to normal, “Astro-nav is a specialty of ours.” He held the PADD out at arm's length, turning it a bit so both women could see the newly modified flightpath rendered by the computer’s calculations. 

“You see,” he offered, tracing the tip of a finger along the proposed course, “If the Angel maintains a course keeping her within moderate phaser range of DN17 - say, one hundred fifty to one hundred seventy-five kilometers - and makes ablative strikes here, here, here, and here…” he tapped specifically targeted points along the asteroid’s flank, “...I believe that very well might shear enough mass that and final, lower output barrage, here, could feasibly affect the DN17’s kinetic energy enough to nudge her into a near-miss trajectory.” He rolled his shoulders and lifted his eyes from the display to regard Cali and Zhay-la; “We should, of course, consider factor in Ensign Elial’s geological analysis of the thing to insure that we have the best possible phaser modulation for the damn thing’s composition but, short of that, I think we might have a solution here that will keep casualties and environmental impact to an acceptable minimum.”

And, if that should fail, he thought to himself, his gaze falling back to the display and fixing on an unmarked point near the end of the flight path, we eject the core, here, and hope for the best.

Zhay-la had taken up a perch on the armoury workbench, legs folded beneath her, half kneeling, half sitting. She’d stayed quiet, watching the back and forth between her colleagues. Seeing a gap, she cut in. “What if we made range a non-issue?” she mused.

She tapped on her padd and threw a schematic up on the security briefing display. An exploded diagram of a torpedo casing was up on the screen, however it looked like someone had swapped out all of its internals and replaced the usual matter/anti-matter warhead with what appeared to be a phaser emitter, a micro-fusion generator and a fire control and targeting suite.

Kennedy's neck snapped up to look at the screen above her head. The light of it danced over her face as whatever angsty feelings that were running below its surface melted. "What… by the saints and all the crackers. What are you doing to that torpedo?"

“It’s an autonomous defense drone, I designed while I was aboard the Calypso, it’s designed to quickly set up defenses and micro-meteor coverage for new outposts.” Zhay-la explained. “Basically it can be embedded in the crust of a planetoid or hull of a poorly equipped star base.”

"This isn't knocking the space-trash ***** off course… this is… vaporizing her." Kennedy sounded impressed, her fingers lifting to brush the image on the screen lightly. 

Zhay-la amended Kennedy’s statement as she hopped off the bench and walked towards the display  “Vaporizing her gently.”

She tapped the screen to show the casing of the torpedo, “The design relies on a reinforced casing so it can survive the impact and deploy, it shouldn’t need much modification.”

The Chief Engineer took another moment to look over the design on the screen, and to absorb what Zhay-la was saying. And then she burst into laughter. By the time she turned around the tears were filling her eyes and she was trying to figure out how to catch a breath between the collections of giggles. “Vapor…” she started, “v…” she shook her head and wiped at her leaking eyes with the backs of her hands and tried to take a breath. “Your green sparring partner wants to vaporize the **** thing gently!” She managed to get out at last. “And I think… I think…” still giggling she glanced at the schematics once more, “I think she just might… but gently… of course…” 

Tochi’s brow furrowed slightly as he, at last, started to truly comprehend the intricacies of Zhay’la’s proposed solution… So, not a ship, at all, he considered, his eyes ticking between the nav chart and the schematics the CTO had presented, but a modified torpedo. Brilliant!... Then, at the sound of Cali’s near hysterical laughter and the commentary she had managed to pepper in between giggles, he couldn’t help but grin and chuckle a bit, himself. Having personally sparred with the Orion woman (and gotten some small insights into the redacted parts of her service record), there was no way he could have missed the irony in Lt Taissud suggesting that the asteroid could be vaporized gently. It was amusing, in fact, that that particular word was so readily found in her vocabulary.

“Of course,” he concurred over his own snickering, flicking a wink at Cali and a grin at Zhay-la, “Gently would be the preferred option, we suppose. 

Well done, Lieutenant,” he said to Zhay-la, “Coordinate with Sciences on this as needed and let us know when you’re ready to present it to the Captain.

“Commander Kennedy,” his eyes flitted to the still laughing CEO, “I assume you’ve already found what you’re looking for in your inventories? If you require any additional resources to bring the Lieutenant’s idea to fruition, just say the word and we’ll make it happen, hm?”

Kennedy bobbed her head, wiping at the tears brimming out of her eyes and smiled. “Yeah… I think… yeah. Gently,” she repeated, shaking her head. “I can have it all lined up shortly here.” Her laughter began to die down slowly as she started to turn back to the console. 

“I suppose,” he mused aloud, tucking the PADD under his arm and turning for the door, “if I am to join you all in presenting this to Silas, I should get myself back into uniform.”

And I could use a fresh one… Kennedy thought to herself with a small sigh.

Stardate 2365.05.16 15:56

USS Peregrine - TurboLift 

Commander Kennedy squatted on the floor of the turbolift. An access panel lay discarded on beside her, the disemboweled guts of the turbolift came spewing out from hole she’d exposed. She was actively rewiring it, digging down into the wires with a screwdriver. 

“Come on!” She pleaded, “I just need you to start working, like you’re supposed to… alright? I don’t have time for this. You don’t have time for this nonsense, you’ve got important things to do, a whole planet to save… and you’re here, piddling around with this-”

=/=Taissud to Commander Kennedy. If you’re able to meet, I have an idea I want to run by you. I need an engineer.=/= A voice rang through her commbadge and stopped her diatribe to the ship. 

I need an engineer. The words rang back through her head. She stopped her work on the turbolift and popped her right index finger into her mouth. A light tang of copper covered her tongue and she ran it across the snagged fingernail she’d won in her intense battle with the access panel. And you're talking to me? Funny. The amusement didn’t hit her face though. This has to do with the asteroid, I really don’t want to talk about the asteroid anymore, I don’t want to deal with these turbolifts, I don’t think I can handle the green girl… I don’t think… I don’t know what I just let myself do down on the Angel and what the hell I was doing in the Captain’s Ready Room being overly passionate about Zai… I don’t think I should have gotten on this ship.

These thoughts rattled around in her head, bouncing around like hard marbles against the inside of her skull. Then she realized that time was ticking away and that somewhere in this cursed machine Zhay-la was awaiting her answer. She swallowed hard and yanked her finger back out of her mouth. 

“Taissud. Yes… I mean, well I’m currently in the middle of something” actually between decks is more accurate “but I should be able to get out of it shortly. Give me… say fifteen minutes. Where can I meet you?” 

=/= “The armoury, 15 minute is fine” =/= Taissud responded curtly over the comm line.

“Yes. Fifteen minutes, I’ll be down. See you then.” She kept her voice clipped and business-like, even though she was still internally screaming. When the communication ended she plopped down onto her bottom and continued to dig into the guts of the turbolift. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 16:22

USS Peregrine - Deck 5 - Outside of the Armory 

When the turbolift had, at last, spit her back out onto the proper deck she gave the door a light pat on her way out. “That’s it darling, now just keep that up and I won’t need to call you to task again…” She gave the small space another glance before the doors slid shut and she turned to wander down the corridor. 

Kennedy paused just outside of the door to the armory, and just as she had a short time ago she took a brief moment to try and improve the image she was presenting. Since leaving the Captain’s Ready Room she had added another layer of sweat, a hang nail and several more wrinkles to her uniform. What I wouldn’t do for a sonic shower and a strong cup of… anything right now. 

Instead of fleeing she licked her lips, ran her hand through her hair and then pushed the button that would let the door to the armory slide open. Should I have brought her a plant? The thought crossed her mind and it actually tugged the smallest of smiles onto the edge of her lips. Crackers and Christ this could get complicated… 

The door slid open and she saw herself inside. “Zhay-la.” She said, wandering in and immediately going over to the bench where the Orion was bent over. Comfortably she dug her hip into the side of a shelf and leaned over the Orion’s shoulder to try and take a look at her work. “You say you need an engineer?” 

—

Zhay-la had worked quickly, drafting her plan and having the computer mock-up drawing of what she thought they would need. She’d found some 20th century pop music in the ship's library and had it blaring in the background, it was labeled “The Beastie Boys”. The music helped her concentrate, keep intrusive thoughts at bay. 

 “This may not quite deal with the prime directive problem, but it’s better to present solutions than problems to the captain.” she mused as she looked at the rendering the computer had loaded onto her pad, it looked like she’d designed some sort of doomsday weapon but it was actually the opposite. A voice cut through her thoughts and over the music.

“You say you need an engineer?”

She felt a small surge of adrenaline, surprise, and she tamped it down. “Computer, pause recording!” she half shouted over the song, as she turned to meet Kennedy.

“Commander, thank you for indulging me, I know you’re busy.” Zhay-la said politely, she’d been more than a little rude to the chief engineer earlier. 

Kennedy shrugged. "Off duty. Just been…" a series of possible answers for what she'd been doing tumbled through her thoughts, but she didn't want to say any of the, "...it doesn't matter. I liked your music selection. Computer, resume music, just quieter." She said and smiled a little more as the ancient rebellious voices began their cadence about sabotage once more. "Perfect. This is about that forsaken asteroid isn't it?" 

Zhay-la smiled as the music came back, she picked up the pad on the workbench she’d appropriated as a work space and spinning the pad like a knife she handed it to Kennedy. “It is, but I suspect that you might actually enjoy this.” she replied, her smile relaxing to a slight wry smirk.

Kennedy raised a curious brow, watching as the Tactical Officer lit up with a smile. She took the offered pad. "Well now I am at least curious…"

As Kennedy scanned the relatively crude technical drawings and assumptions she’d been handed, Zhay-la explained the gist of her idea.

“I’m good at dumping lots of energy into things in order to hurt them, you’re good at dumping lots of energy out the back of the ship so we can move.” she paused to take a breath, hunting for any sign of approval from Kennedy.

“I really hope she doesn’t think I’m some kind of dumb ground pounder. Introduction to propulsion engineering was hardly a strength of mine at the academy.” She pushed those thoughts back under the surface. She needed to give the CEO the benefit of the doubt. “Stop treating everyone with suspicion Zhay-la” the tiny voice in the back of her mind reminded her.

She continued ”I’m proposing we use a phaser emitter assembly to do that with the big rock outside. I think with some doing we can nudge the asteroid onto a near miss trajectory with the added benefit of using the asteroid as reaction mass. Basically the same way a torpedo makes course corrections using thrusters.”

Even if she was terrified that her crewmate and chief engineer of the ship she had just been posted to was going to shoot down her idea, she stowed those thoughts, she couldn’t let any of that show.

Careful not to betray her frayed nerves she finished her pitch. “What do you think? We’d need maybe two shuttles and a few crews should be able to pull this off without giving us away to the Calicans.”

“I hope I don’t come across as desperate” the negative voice blared in the back of her mind.

Kennedy gave the specs a final look and then lowered the pad to her thigh. She tapped the back of it against her knee as she considered it. "I have had similar thoughts of my own to be honest. Although with admittedly less… eloquence…" she smirked. 

The engineer paused again, at this time sighed heavily. "I think you should know… I just got done speaking with the captain myself. It seems that the Calican's have started emitting distress signals. I don't think that the Prime Directive is really too much of a concern right now." 

She clicked her tongue across the roof of her mouth a few times. "As to the feasibility of your plan…" she tilted her head, "... It's not far off I think. I don't see adjustments for the magnetic field, and this space lady has one hell of a magnetic field, that's gonna mess with anything we hurl at her. We're going to need to really ramp up whatever we use, and work on the interception point. Likely need science to step in and puzzle out the fine details… but yes I think you are on the right track here…" 

Here she grinned and let out a rueful chuckle, "I think that the hardest thing we need to figure out is how and when to bring it to the captain. I think I took a few missteps in my last conversation with him, and Zai is most certainly on thin ice with the Captain right now." she shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "This whole thing seems to have everyone shaken up and acting a bit impulsive." 

Zhay-la smiled at Kennedy’s response and she felt the tension leave her body. Not going in weapons hot seemed to be paying off. “If you can help me make this presentable, I’ll get science on board and take it to the captain.” She replied. “We have the equipment we need on the ship and it won’t take a tricobalt device to solve this issue then.” she concluded.

Kennedy lifted the pad again and blinked over the specs. "Yeah, alright. I'll start up some simulations, pull together inventory…" she nodded to the other woman and flipped the pad back, "send me what you got. Gonna need some caffeine…" she chuckled as she dug a knuckle into the edge of her eye. 

She cleaned up her mess!  

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 49:44

USS Peregrine, Captain's Ready Room - 15:52

“Your passion is plain to see, and I can respect passion." Silas met her gaze and she felt her stomach drop. He had seen right through her. She kept her eyes fixed on his, blinking only once as the realization hit her. It’s more than that… it’s this ship, that planet out there… it’s… She gave him back the smallest of nods and he continued. 

She listened as he rebuked her appraisal of the situation, corrected her thoughts and affirmed that he wouldn’t allow the planet to be destroyed, no matter the consequences. And with each word, with the finishing of every paragraph he offered her she felt herself feeling more and more like a cadet back at the Academy instead of his CEO. 

Drake sighed.  "Is there anything else, Commander?"

What else was there to say? “No sir.” She said, rising out of her seat. “Milvov has Engineering right now, but if something should arise that you need me for… I’ll be in my quarters.” 

The Captain nodded.  "Very well.  Dismissed."

Another curt nod of her head at being ‘dismissed’ by the captain. She gave a final smoothing out of her pants and turned on her heel to leave. Her hand reached out for the console button that would slide the door open for her, but paused. Cali’s head swiveled back and she gave Drake a long look. 

“We’re lucky, all of us. The Peregrine, Callican… we’re lucky to have you out here riding as our Captain.” She let her words, spoken with her typical stoicness, hang for a moment before she turned back and pressed the button for the door, it slid open with a hissing brush against the low pile of the carpet and she stepped out onto the bridge. 

An eager Ensign Owen caught her attention immediately as she wandered out onto the bridge, the door closing behind her. California offered a warm smile to the girl, she walked over and patted her shoulder twice. “Everything’s gonna be alright…” was all she offered to her, and Owen’s face remained puzzled as Kennedy simply slid away and back toward the turbolift. 

Once safely inside the turbolift, and alone, she tapped her comm badge. “Commander Zai.” 

=/=Commander Kennedy,=/= Tochi’s voice replied, =/=What can we do for you?=/=

“Commander.” Her voice was clipped, completely professional. “You’re still grounded for the time being, Ensign Owen will fly any missions that need to be flown. I believe that the situation is in hand, however. You should delete the navigation program I put into the Angel, not sure I trust my math, and it doesn’t look like it will be needed. The planet is asking for assistance. That’s all, Goodnight Commander.” 

She dropped her hand, and waited for his response.

The Trill’s sigh whispered over her commbadge and she could almost imagine the soft smile playing on his lips and the short nod of resignation he might have offered. =/=Understood,=/= he said, =/=I did warn you that taking Silas to task on the matter would be an exercise in futility, Cali, but thank you all the same. Good night.=/=

She listened to his words, the soft sigh from him and the way his tongue seemed to taste her name a moment when it passed through the wires. There was no response within her though and she simply let the comm badge fall silent when he finished speaking. 

When the turbolift ground to a halt between decks she screamed.

Well that was a long one, sorry. And I'm noting again for the record, yes I did this with Eol. 

I'm going to stop prefacing my posts after this though, it should just be known that any posts that either of us put out there with each other's characters have been done in collaboration and with the full permission of the other, we're pretty comfortable with this style of writing by now.  

Okay... now to sit back and see just what goes on in that Ready Room with the Captain...  

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 50:09

USS Peregrine - Shuttle Bay 2 - Aurora Angel - 1527

“By the Ancestors,” he shuddered, his lips brushing her skin and his tongue licking away the trickles of sweat it found there, “If I could do that every day, I’d never need to fly again.”

Calli was still drifting, swimming even, in the luxurious wake of their shared moments when his words tickled at her neck. "Hmmm… hopefully Drake won't keep you grounded too much longer, in that case. If I did this every day I wouldn't have the strength to yell at the crew and the ship would fall apart." She giggled, curling her arms across his and sighing heavily as they sank back down into the helm’s chair. Goosebumps rose across her skin as his tongue and his warm breath moved across it. She closed her eyes tightly, trying for a moment to stave off the flood of reality, it didn’t work for long. “Speaking of…” she groaned a little and started to reverse the tangling of their bodies, “...um… crap, I’m late letting Milvov relieve me and giving him his report, and…” Her eyes opened slowly as she tried to get off his lap, “and I should get dressed again…” 

“Probably,” Tochi murmured in reply, his heavy-lidded eyes roaming over her slowly and his hands following behind, “but I’m not going to encourage it at the moment.”  

Calli twisted a little and she glanced over her shoulder, getting a good view of the flushed Commander and she blushed before tearing her eyes from the sight. “Easy for you to say, fly boy’s grounded… I’ve got a job to do.” She said as she managed to pull off of him, and even went the extra mile to use her own fingers to pull his from her hip. 

Despite the smile he offered in return, a sigh tinged with disappointment escaped into the air. “I suppose you do,” he conceded, his cool fingertips reaching out to trace along the intricate tattoo that adorned her spine before she managed to get much farther away, “I also imagine that we should find something to keep us out of trouble, as well.”

“We already did…” she muttered as she started to pad across the floor, although I don’t know that I like you using that term… and then it hit her, she bent over to pick up her pants before turning to look at him. “We as in you…” she let out a nervous laugh and shrugged as she went after the rest of her clothes. “That’s confusing at times, you know? But… yes you probably should keep your head down. I still think I should go talk to Drake, but… I feel a little calmer…” or at least shaken up about other things. 

“It confused me for months,” he chuckled softly, still rubber-kneed and reluctant to extricate himself from the chair, “but, after a time, we got used to it.” He gripped the arms of the chair and pulled himself forward though not completely out of the seat. At Cali’s mention of feeling calmer he smiled lazily and offered a slow nod. “Calm is a good frame of mind to be in when talking to Silas,” he offered, “Especially when he’s as tenacious about drawing the focus of Commands ire solely on himself as he is in this case. If that’s your plan, Commander,” he winked, the tip of his tongue dancing along his lips, “I’d be happy to help calm you all the more before you go.”

Kennedy hugged her ball of clothes to her chest with a layer of modesty that seemed almost comical at this point, she looked back at him and gnawed her bottom lip for just a second before she let out another small laugh and a shake of her head. “Rogue indeed, the rumors are true, but I believe you talk without putting much thought behind your words, Commander. You don’t look capable of walking, let alone anything more… athletic. And, Jesus… I am kind of still on duty, fraternizing with you just now was bad enough…” she let out a heavy sigh and turned to wander toward the hatch, intending on dressing in private. 

“Give me a glass of Altair water and five minutes,” he teased from behind a crooked grin as he finally managed to get to his feet, “I’ll be as athletic as you like.” The grin faded a fraction when she mentioned being on duty and he nodded as he allowed his gaze to let go of her and seek out his own hastily discarded clothes instead. “Fraternizing,” the word was muttered under his breath as he retrieved his jeans from where they had been flung over the OPS console, “I never did care for that word in that context...” Hopping on one foot as he tried to get the other through a pant leg, he lifted his eyes to her again and his grin brightened a bit… “We suppose it is accurate, though. Would I be able to talk you into some more fraternization after duty hours? Dinner in my quarters, perhaps?”

Her hand slammed on the button that opened the hatch, a little harder than she would have liked. While he muttered about fraternization she slipped into the little causeway before the bridge, it was darker here and she let her face fall in the shadows as she dropped her clothes and ran her hand through her hair, taking a long breath. Shaking off the tremors that threatened now she bent over and began pulling on her shirt. “You know, Commander, maybe we should talk about this after we break a bunch of rules to save a planet, huh? See who ends up in the Brig, before making too many plans, huh?” She started to yank on her pants and dipped her head back into the bridge to offer him a smile. “Just… I’m probably gonna be pretty busy…” Her eyes moved over him, and then moved back to the console and the little flower pot that was sitting on the edge. She threw her eyes back onto him and widened the smile. “So yeah, asteroid, and then… let’s see where we all end up…” 

“You’re right,” he said from behind a conciliatory nod, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She pulled back into the shadows and began to right her uniform, tugging and tucking all the parts of it back into place. “Had an enjoyable time,” she offered before stepping back into the light. “If you wanted to look over my calculations, navigation wasn’t exactly my best subject at the academy… that might be helpful. I might go and at least snoop around up top, maybe someone else is smarter than us and has some other plan figured out, one that doesn’t trash this beauty.” 

Enjoyable? The Trill glanced back to where Commander Kennedy stood in the doorway, already dressed. We had a few stronger adjectives in mind for what just happened. Only enjoyable? His ego stitched up his brows a moment but as she moved forward with her words he gave a small nod to her. “Thought you were tutoring Meg’s on that subject…” He said instead. 

“Just gotta pass, I passed. Just not head of the class.” Calli drew a wink and he couldn’t help but smile back to her. 

“Good point. Sure I’ll double check your numbers.” He finished belting his pants before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head. “Say hi to Silas for me, huh?” 

“Thought you wanted to try and keep me out of trouble…” She gave a laugh and a brief wave of her hand before she turned on her heel. “I’ll be in touch, Commander Zai.” 

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 49:59

USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Bridge - 1543

On the turbolift Commander Kennedy stabbed at her comm badge. “Ensign Milvov.”

There was a brief pause and the lights of the lift ran across her face in bright lines, illuminating the circles drawing under her eyes. =/= Yes Commander. =/= Milvov’s voice rang out clearly. She gave small puff of air that could have been a sigh before replying. 

“I assume you are in Engineering by now, everything seem in order down there? I have made up assignments for the evening, they should be on my desk.”

Another brief pause, during which she tapped her toe impatiently against the carpeted floor of the turbolift. =/= Yes Sir. Got the assignments. Everything is quiet. =/=

For the moment… She thought to herself then nodded. “Engineering is yours for the evening then. I appreciate your patience.” She did not give a reason for her tardiness, as the CEO she didn’t need to. “I am heading to the bridge now to check on the status of this asteroid, if you should run into any problems down there please don’t hesitate to call for me. That replicator problem should be fixed in a few hours at most.”

=/= Understood sir. =/= This time the reply came promptly, and she was pleased with this, there was hope for this engineering team afterall. 

Commander Kennedy paused in the turbolift as the door stuck midway open for a second, she gave a quick scowl and kicked it to get it to run the rest of the way on the track. As it finished opening she walked out onto the bridge. She gave her uniform a quick tug, feeling mildly self conscious over the wrinkles on her pants and a certain Trill-scent that wafted up from her collar. The wave of self-consciousness was accompanied by another sensation that was just as strong, though, and she used that to raise her chin and step confidently onto the bridge.

The only set of eyes that seemed to pay much attention to her arrival were the bright sparks coming from the Ensign sitting in the Command Chair. “Commander!” She bubbled over. 

Kennedy returned a small smile and a nod of her head. “Evening Ensign. How is the bridge tonight?” 

“Ship-shape. Ye seen the XO? Cap’n approved a flight ta th’ asteroid ta catch some samples, thinkin’ may’haps we could use th’ Angel for the mission.” The redhead asked. 

Yeah, I’ve seen him alright. Kennedy thought to herself, but quickly buried that line of thought and focused on what the girl was saying. Her head tilted a little to the side. “Approved a science mission, and you want to use the Angel. Umm…” the engineer paused here, the gears spinning in her head, she wondered just how much Owen knew. She knew that the girl and Zai were close, but did she know just what she was doing suggesting the Angel or was the sprite just as innocent as she looked? “You run that idea by the Captain yet?” Kennedy said, making her way across the bridge toward Owen. 

“Noh’yet. Thought I should get Zai’s permissions first, afore I stuck my foot in my mouth.” Owen beamed brightly. 

“You planning to pilot her?” There was the smallest hint of apprehension in Calli’s voice as she asked this. 

“If’n he’ll let me. Always wanted ta get a’hind those controls.” The Commander watched as the young excited girl almost bounced her way off the edge of the seat in anticipation of flying the Angel. 

That’s a ride that I am not sure you are up to yet, at least if my program gets set off, and why the hell shouldn’t it? This is exactly what we need. Outloud, though, Kennedy only bobbed her head and offered a smile. “I bet you are, she is a pretty ship. The Angel isn’t fully ready for any long term flights, she’s still got some bugs I am working out, but… I bet she could handle this mission. Captain in the Ready Room? Maybe I should discuss this with him, as I know the Angel so well and all…” Kennedy suggested. 

Owen bobbed her head. “Aye, Cap’n’s in the Ready. Wan’ me ta go wit’ ya? Seein’ as it’s my mission, I mean, kinda…” The young woman blushed furiously at that. 

Kennedy only sent her a confident smile, “No, you stay here, someone needs to run this bridge. I got it, we’ll call you in if there’s any questions I am sure.” And maybe we don’t need another witness to this conversation… Kennedy paused long enough to give Megan a gentle pat on the hand before she turned to head toward the Ready Room.

When she neared the door she stopped and tapped on her Comm Badge. “Commander Zai.” She didn’t wait for a response before she quietly spoke into the metallic arrow on her chest, “Owen has gotten a science mission approved to collect samples from the asteroid. She wants to use the Angel. I think that’s a great idea, but I’d prefer you at the helm… I’m going to talk to Drake.” Again she left half of what needed to be said unsaid, but figured he could fill in the blanks and get to the main point of what she wasn’t saying without any problem. Before he could offer any kind of argument or perhaps some caution about talking to the Captain she tapped the side of the badge and turned it off. 

Clearing her throat and adjusting the edge of her collar again, once more catching that whiff of Trill-scent, she pushed the Comm button on the frame of the Ready Room. “Captain Drake, Commander Kennedy here, are you available for me to take a few moments of your time?” 

((OOC: Assuming a positive response here))

The door slid open and allowed Kennedy to slide into the relative privacy of the Ready Room. She did not go for the chairs in front of the Captain’s desk, instead she maneuvered her way in until she faced the Captain and with the slightest tug of her uniform she cupped her hands behind her back and stood at near attention. Her eyes took on that cold steel look she’d given him in the briefing room earlier in the day. 

“Captain.” She said with respect as the door slid closed behind her. “I hear that Ensign Owen wants to run a science mission to the asteroid and is considering using the Aurora Angel.” She paused a moment. 

((OOC: Assuming a positive response here as well))

“May I speak candidly?” Her voice was clipped but not disrespectful. 

((OOC: Assuming another positive response, maybe an exasperated sigh lol))

“I have also heard that you have grounded Commander Zai. This science mission has the potential to be highly volatile, the Angel is a good ship, but she hasn’t been tested out in space very much. I believe you should have the best pilot you have on board at the helm for this mission. Zai’s ego says he’s the best you’ve got, and to be honest his record largely backs that up.” She took a deep breath before going on. “I recommend you unground the Commander and let him fly this mission. I will keep a close eye on the flight from here, make sure that the crew remains safe at all times. Perhaps this mission will provide us with a solution to the problem with the asteroid.” Behind her back her fingers dug into her own palm, and she kept imagining the little luck flower sitting in his pot, the flecks of gold running down its seam. 

“I realize that this is beyond my scope as CEO, but… sir… this is important and I wanted to make sure that you got my opinion on the matter.”

I aim to misbehave! 

M.

Sorry boss... I'll get back on task here soon. It was those damn spots! 

M. 

I was hoping to wait a little while for science to post or something, but was done holding on to this and tweaking it every few days. So here's pt 1. We'll see how this goes. 

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 48:16 

USS Peregrine - Shuttle Bay 2 - Aurora Angel - 1459

“But I shall always remember you.” Commander Kennedy sighed.

“We didn’t peg you as being so… sentimental.” 

Commander Zai’s voice pitched into the bridge causing Commander Kennedy to jump in surprise. “Christ on a ****** cracker!” She exclaimed. 

Despite the events of the past few hours, a mildly amused smile crept onto Tochi’s face as he stepped into the bridge. After adding some finishing touches to Meg's roster he found himself rethinking what the sprite-like creature had said to him, Ye'll be in Bay 2 with Commander Kennedy. So he'd gone to Bay 2, Not much else for us to do right now anyway, and caught the commander waxing sentimental over the Angel. “Your earth expressions are always so… colorful.” 

Kennedy straightened out her shoulders and willed away the flush in her cheeks. There was something strained in his face and he was no longer in uniform, she noticed, but she supposed everyone was feeling the stress of the situation and so she let the banter continue. “By ‘your’ do you mean me specifically, or just human’s in general?” A thin brow rose. 

His head tilted to the side while he considered, moving across the floor toward where she was working. “Human’s in general we suppose, although you do have a flair for them I have noticed.” 

“‘A flair’... you should have written up some of the reprimands I’ve gotten over the years for my tongue, it would sound a great deal more appreciative of my talents.” She gave a small chuckle before she returned her eyes to the screen, trying to find her place in the lines of command she was entering. 

“We tend to give credit where it’s due, Kennedy,” he grinned as he peered over her shoulder at the code she was compiling, “Though I can’t seem to recall a time in which I’ve actually issued a reprimand over harsh language.” A soft sentimental chuckle escaped him, then, and he shook his head; “The knack Asovil had for butchering idioms, though, might have been dulled had I written her up for each one. I’d have gotten nothing done in a day other than writing those up, we imagine.”

Her head turned to glance up at him. “I pretty much gave a poor ensign a verbal whipping that would have made the devil himself proud.” She winked. “Kid probably didn’t deserve it, but he… well… bygones.” She gave a small laugh and a shrug. “Butchering idiom’s sounds cute at least.” Her fingers went back to the screen and she tapped it with a dull nail. “You might be making up your own curse words by the time I’m ready to beam you off this lady, though. Got you set up for a bumpy ride I’m afraid.” 

Zai shrugged, a mixed smile on his face as he rested his hands on the back of the chair in which she sat, “A few bumps are to be expected in situations like this, I imagine.” How to tell her that we’ve been grounded? She’s actually in a much better mood than she was earlier, hate to disrupt that.

“Again, you dare doubt me?” A playful set of eyes glanced over her shoulder at him once more. She leaned back in the chair and let him take a look at the codes. “So I’m trying to cover your a** a little here, alright? Got the trajectories and flight plans all laid out, as if you were just taking her for a cruise, hell if you want I can set it up so it looks like you were skipping out and running to Risa. Doesn’t really matter… you get to about…” she pointed out a spot on the map, “... say here… and things begin to go awry. Everything on this ship’s gonna start to fail, alright?” Another glance at him. “System after system, you’re going to need those fly boy skills you keep bragging about. Get the lady out to here before the timer goes off…” she indicated another point on the navigation system, this one marked with a small pink dot. “Then the fireworks begin. It’s all very precise though, no room for error. You gotta be on that dot when the proverbial **** hits the fan. I’m still working on the escape plan to get you out, but I will…” Confidently she craned her neck to look back at him again. 

“If anyone pokes around the remains later, the ship is just gonna say we screwed up putting her together and she malfunctioned, catastrophically.” 

He nodded his approval at the explanation of the trajectories and the cascading system failures. “I knew we had left this in good hands,” he said from behind a thin smile, and continued as if the plan hadn’t changed since talking to Drake, “and I don’t doubt that you’ll manage to get us out. Though, if you can’t, I suppose one life in exchange for seven billion others is a small price to pay.”

At this she rolled her eyes. “Playing the martyr? I don’t think it suits you. I said I’d get you out and I intend on doing just that. Hell I left you my wilting luck flower, what more can you ask for, huh? She’s getting sacrificed, not you. Just gotta set up a whole teleportation program as a back-up, because, like I said, this girl’s gonna flip. Be ready.” Grinning, she got up out of the chair and turned so she could face him a little more directly, leaning back against the console she’d just been working on. 

“You know, I’m almost starting to believe that this whole thing isn’t so bad…” 

Martyr? Tochi thought to himself as he watched her rise up from the chair. His hands dug into the back of the chair as she slunk away. They eased when she settled onto the console, though, and stared at him in the eyes, seeming to dare him with her observation. Curiously he leaned over the top of the chair and simply raised a brow back to her. 

“Honest.” She said, dragging her hands down the tops of her thighs as she spoke. “This crew needs a victory. We need something to celebrate. Saving an entire planet might just be enough. It might help to bring some cohesion to the crew too, right now there’s a firm line drawn in the sand; ‘Those That Survived What Happened,’ and ‘The New Guys’. As for the Angel…” Here her hands moved from her thighs and spirited across the smooth surface of the navigation panel, the tips of her fingers lightly passing over buttons without triggering them, “...I get the impression that she holds a great many bittersweet memories, especially for you. Blowing her up might just be…” she ran her tongue across her lips as she considered the right word, but her eyes went back to his as it came to her, “...cathartic.” 

“As sad as I’ll be to let her go, myself, I think I could enjoy the crap outta blowing something up right about now…” She grinned at him, leaning forward as her feet swung under the console. “And I’m bringing you back to enjoy the fireworks with me, alright? No one’s dying on this one, got it, Commander?” 

“I certainly won’t be,” Tochi agreed, the tense smile melting from his face as he let go of the chair and the ruse, “I’m afraid we’ve been grounded.” He trudged a few paces across the deck and propped himself against the console next to her. “Until we manage to figure away around that conundrum, I’m confined to the ship… not allowed to so much look at a shuttle or anything remotely similar.”

Her expression darkened and her lips pulled tight against her teeth at this admission. She took a moment, breathing in deeply twice before speaking. “And yet you are sitting here on the Bridge of your ship…” She turned her head to look at him, her lips coiling like a snake. “Drake didn’t like your plan, eh? And you let me continue to twiddle around on it nonetheless?” 

“It is still our ship,” Tochi shrugged faintly, “even if I’m not permitted to launch her. And, despite Silas’ opinion that our plan is equivical to a suicide mission, I believe it to still be a viable course of action…” A lop-sided grin tugged at one corner of his mouth as he regarded the woman then. “...Besides, I rather enjoy watching you twiddle. Who are we to stop you?”

Kennedy stretched out her arms behind herself and leaned back further into the curve of the console. Flirt… I’ve heard the stories about you, Tochi… she thought to herself as she gave him a long appraising look. “You’re right, I can’t find another solution to this problem that’s any better. And yet… he really grounded you? For just… suggesting it?” Her tongue ran across her teeth as she thought about it further. 

“I believe it was more than just the suggestion,” Zai answered, trying not to pay her tongue too much attention, “He may have taken some offense to my resignation and, like you, apparently, he got it into his head that I was playing the martyr despite our assurances to the contrary.” He sighed, shrugged, and folded his arms across his chest. “You’re too noble for your own good, Tochi,” he smirked, mimicking Drake’s inflection, “Your judgment is clouded by pain. I don’t trust you…” He shook his head to chase the remembrance of those words away and scowled as they continued to echo in his thoughts, anyway. “After all this time, after all we’ve been through together, he doesn’t trust us.” He rolled a hip and pushed away from the console. “That, I think, hurt more than being grounded.”

Kennedy sat up, a scowl beginning to eat at her own features. “That’s bull****!” She exclaimed, starting to scoot off the console herself. “Too noble? What in the actual…” Her head shook and she ran a hand through her cropped hair. “You’re a rogue, and you know what if you really wanted to risk your life for an entire planet full of people who the hell is he to stop you? Your judgment is clouded by pain? Hypocritical bastard! That’s it, this whole ship is insane and I just… I can’t… I’m going up there, he needs someone to shove a little truth down his gullet…” She said, pushing her uniform back into place a little as she took a few steps past Tochi toward the exit for the bridge. 

The smile played on his lips again when she referred to him as a rogue and there was something truly endearing about the way her indignance at his plight spilled from her. As she stomped past him, intent on seeking out Silas and giving him a piece of her mind, Tochi reached out and took hold of her arm to stop her. “I don’t know that that’s the best course of action, Calli,” he said softly, “It’s more likely that he’d confine us both to quarters as see the reason behind it all.”

Her feet stopped when he grabbed her arm and she turned her intensity back on him. “Then what are we supposed to do? I’m done walking on eggshells around everyone here, especially my Captain… I’m not just going to sit back and let all those people die because someone’s got their panties all bunched up and is too scared to do what has to be done.” She paused, staring at him as her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths. “God I hate the Peregrine sometimes!” She admitted with a long heavy sigh.

The Trill chuckled at that, his eyes searching hers as she whirled around to face him. He’d forgotten to let go of her arm once she stopped and, as he looked at her now, he found his other hand lifting to rest against her cheek. By the Ancestors, he mused, I can’t imagine your temper and Silas’ is the same room. A full spread of torpedoes might be less explosive. “No one is asking you to just sit back, Calli,” he assured her with a languid smile, “I’m just asking that you don’t confront him as full of fury as you are now. He’ll not take it well and I’d hate to see you mar your career for the sake of trying to defend my hon… er… roguishness.”

Under his touch her skin burned. “Screw my career, screw your honor. I have a plan running through lines and lines of code in that console behind you, and Captain Drake is going to hear about it, whether he damn well wants to or not. Seriously, I get that you all went through some ****, but this is getting ridiculous!” 

A scant nod was offered by way of agreement and, for some reason, he couldn’t help but smile at the fire that had been kindled inside of her. He almost chuckled when he imagined her and Drake butting heads, their respective temperaments only fueling each other and resulting in a conflagration that might reduce the Peregrine to ash if left unchecked. “Would you like to hear something truly ridiculous,” he asked, his voice little more than a whisper as he found himself pulling her closer.

She slid into his personal space, and found that her heart skipped a beat or two as in the wake of her anger he smiled. Instead of speaking, and risking another outburst she knew she was all too capable of, she merely narrowed her eyes and locked them onto his. 

“What’s truly ridiculous, especially in the midst of all of this,” he said, his whisper becoming something more like a purr, “is that, in this moment, all I can think about is kissing you, for some reason.”

“Rogue…” she said, her feet shuffling her half a step closer to him. 

“Powder keg…” he smiled as she stepped into him. The hand at her cheek slid around to cradle the back of her head and his lips pressed to hers, softly at first but more insistent as the seconds multiplied. His other hand, at last, let go of her arm and snaked around her waist, pulling her closer still. Oh, Tochi, what are you doing?

Whatever doubts plagued his thoughts disappeared as she let out a low moan and returned the kiss with a deep ferver. She never let anything but the moment get into her own thoughts, her hands wandering across his arms and down to his stomach, gripping at the edge of his belt buckle and pulling him in close even as she whispered, “Yes…” against their kiss. 

Nothing too big, but a little check in from the CEO... More to come... 

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 48:28 

USS Peregrine - Shuttle Bay 2 - Aurora Angel - 1447

The raktajino was strong, very strong, and yet Calli found herself yawning as she walked back into the shuttle bay. She carefully bounced the hot mug in one hand while she balanced a small square box in the other. Wending her way through the Angel she set the box down on the console and slipped her mug onto the arm chair of the captain’s seat. All day she’d bounced back and forth between working on the Angel and trying to attend to her duties in engineering. With the replicators ‘not working’ currently all work on the satellite had stopped, so she’d found a variety of other tasks to delegate out to her crew. Perhaps someone would finally figure out the glitches on the turbolifts, and regular maintenance needed to be run on the life support system. Tasking these things out had given her the time to get things ready for the Angel. Now it was time to start getting the lady ready for her last flight. Hopefully she would hear back from Commander Zai, Tochi (she reminded herself with a smirk), soon on how the Captain was reacting to their plan. It really was the only plan that would work. 

She gave a small pause as she thought about the Captain. A frown tugged at her lips and she pulled a PADD out of the box she’d put down and settled into the Captain’s chair. A quick flash of her fingers across the surface and she had a brief message prepared to send to Drake: Replicator issue is being diagnosed and I expect repairs to be made by the end of the day. As soon as those are completed I can return to working on the satellite problem. Discussed this with the XO earlier.

It was the ‘paper trail’ that needed to be laid down, she thought. All the proper documentation in all the proper places so that later when an investigation came it might not go as badly. The last line, though, was more for Drake to possibly decipher, letting him know she was on board with what Zai had to tell him about the Angel. With the message sent to the captain she took a look back around the little ship and let out a long sigh. 

“Alright, darling… you and I got a little work to do.” She said to the ship, dancing her fingers across the smooth curved lines of the command console. “This part isn’t going to hurt, I promise… as for later… well darling you are just going to have to be brave, okay?” 

Commander Kennedy took a long sip of the coffee before she reached back into the box. She came out with a small pot containing a bright blue flower. A jagged golden seam ran the length of the pot from one lip down across the bottom and back up to the lip on the other side. The flower petals were gnarled and a bit droopy, but otherwise it stood erect and tall in its mended pot. 

“Kintsugi.” She explained as she put the pot on a ledge near the viewscreen. “An ancient technique from Japan. Finding beauty even in the broken things. Instead of throwing away broken bits of pottery they would fuse them back together and leave the cracks, filling them in with gold.” Carefully she adjusted the pot to just the right angle and lovingly coaxed one of the petals on the flower up. “They’d go back to using the broken item, with the strands of gold reminding them about the devastation it had gone through and delighting in the new beauty it now possessed.” 

“Like this pot you’ve got your own scars.” She whispered as she went to the console for engineering control. “Within the pot, though, is a gift I got. A Ferengi luck flower. Figured you needed a little luck today. This is a big mission you are being tasked with, and I do not envy you for it.” She whispered as she began to run through a list of commands that needed to be input into the system. “Not one bit. I shall miss you, even though we’ve only just begun to know each other. You know…” her voice trailed on as she worked, entering trajectories and timings for systems on the precious ship to begin failing, “...every machine talks to me. They each have their own language and their own voice in which to tell it, but you… oh my Angel, you didn’t speak to me. You whispered seduction right into my ear the moment I saw you. There was no way I was going to walk away without falling madly in love with you. Yes, mon cher, I shall miss you.” 

Her eyes moved up from the console and back to where the little potted plant rested, the gold reflecting the lights of the view screen in a rainbow of color across the floor of the bridge. “But I shall always remember you.” 

We call them minions! And yes, at first that post was in the middle of the night but changed the time... so... yeah... time it's stupid. 

Anyway I got a blip in my next post that will explain her tasking things out while she's working on preping the Angel for it's potential last flight.  

M. 

Well crap, yeah I thought it was Monday too. Although I believe everything I have out there for Cali is good since her schedule is the same for Sunday and Monday... as for what I have brewing... um... *cough* well it's going to work out as well... I think I got it covered.  

Yay for new blood around here, just writing with Eol is soooo booorring...  

M. 

What are you having Kennedy doing with (to?) Tochi? LMAO  

Once they've finished up with whatever is going on in the Angel I had a whole bit on the bridge planned that kind of focused on Drake, but could easily be expanded out to whoever might be on duty and on the bridge at the time... 

M. 

Dude, that's disgusting! 

M.

I had an idea too, but you can't stop Eol once he gets an itch. Not even I could stay his hand... 

It will be fun to see where it all goes. LoL

M.

Well look at us go!  

M. 

'Interesting fact sir... with the extra time we had on our hands due to the replicators being down we thought we might send the Aurora out for her first test flight. Seems that something went wrong. We were lucky as hell that we got Commander Zai transported off the ship in time...' 

Calli dead pans again. Oh she's getting in so much trouble!  

M. 

Stardate 2365.05.16 

Shuttle Bay 2 - Aurora Angel - 1345

The ship was quiet, too quiet, Tochi thought. He tugged at the collar of his uniform to relieve the pressure around his neck. As he made his way down the corridor his footsteps echoed down the hall, each reverberation of sound shoved the metal spike of reality deeper into his skull. The weight of the decision he was in the process of making worked to finish driving that spike down into the base of his brain. 

Sacrifice. He’d looked up the definition of the word back in his office. It sang through his thoughts: An act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.

Valued. So much had already been given up, in the name of something more important or worthy. Who made those distinctions? 

His hand ran across the nape of his neck, trying unsuccessfully to ease out the tension. His fingers dug into his spots, and he couldn’t help but to think of Asovil’s face. Her sacrifice still hurt, it burned down into him. A loss of not just a beautiful, talented woman who was full of compassion and grace, but also the loss of something that could have been. Was it worth it? Was he more important than she’d been? 

When he reached the Cargo Bay doors he paused before punching in the access code to open it. What lay beyond wasn’t something he really wanted to see just then. And yet, yet it seemed important to go. Last time he didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye. Things had happened so quickly. He’d lost his friend and Asovil, without saying a word to either of them. 

What would I have said, though? What could I have said? Would taking her into my arms and finally taking that kiss I had so longed for made it any easier in the end? He frowned and stepped into the cargo bay. The overhead lights were dimmed at this hour, and the ship glowed in the light. 

She was gorgeous. Haunted but gorgeous. “Hey there.” He said somberly. 

The ship responded with a shriek and a clanging noise that made him jump right out of his skin. There was another loud clang and a half-sob shriek that came from deep within the ship. His thoughts ran out of his head and he darted toward the ship, running through the open back doors and into the belly of the Aurora. 

Crumbled on the metal flooring was Commander Kennedy. The bulkhead near her was battered and dented, and a wrench was cast aside in the space between them. Her strained wails were subsiding into tortured sobs as she slammed her fists against the floor. The sight of her lost in her emotions like this wasn’t something Tochi was quite prepared for and the surprise of it stopped him in his tracks for a moment. “Kennedy,” he prodded softly as he forced a tentative step toward her, his expression a comingling of concern and confusion, “Are you alright?”

Kennedy shot back up into a seated position at his voice. “Oh… Gracious me…” trembling still she started to scramble to her feet, eyes flashing between him and the battered bulkhead. “Sir. I’m sorry, so very sorry. I’m…” she scrubbed her fist under her eyes to wipe at the tears staining them. “Sir…” the words failed her. 

His gaze ticked from where she dragged a trembling hand across her cheek to the fresh dents in the wall and back. “We’ve told you before… Calli,” he chanced her first name as he took another step toward her, “Here, just as in the Aerie, there is no ‘Sir.’ No ‘Commander.’ Just Tochi, alright?” He reached across the space that remained between them and took her shaking hand in one of his in hopes of easing the tremors. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he offered a conciliatory smile as his eyes sought hers, “We know those conduits have been driving you crazy, but I didn’t think they were worth all of this, hm?”

Kennedy looked down at his hand wrapped around hers and she pulled it back, tucking it into her chest. “Wrong? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” She snapped, taking in a deep breath and bringing herself back under control again before his eyes. “I’ll fix the bulkhead… as soon as the replicators start working again.” She frowned with a heavy sigh at the terrible attempt at a joke. Then she took a step forward to collect the wrench from the ground. 

His lips drew into a tight line and he lifted the fingertips of the abandoned hand to run across a stubbled cheek. Too informal, Tochi, he sighed to himself as the iron curtain behind which the CEO typically hid her emotions came crashing down around her, Well done. Behind his fingers, he forced the corners of his mouth upward into something akin to an amused smile in answer to her joke about the replicators and let his hand fall away. “No hurry, where that’s concerned, Commander,” he offered, clasping his hands behind his back in order to keep himself from trying to take hers, again, “There are other, more pressing matters to consider beyond a few dents…” The hint of a sigh breezed out of him, then, and his eyes seemed to flit almost nostalgically around the space for an instant. When his gaze found its way back to her, his smile had gone from mildly amused to empathetic… “If we were to guess,” he said, “I’d imagine that’s what has you so upset, now? That you haven’t come up with a solution to the Calican problem, as yet?”

She bit her lip before she frowned, rising up with the wrench clenched tightly in her hand. “No. Seven billion people out there, and… and I know there’s a way to save them. I know it. I can’t find it. It’s what I do, I solve problems. I can’t find it. I lied to my Captain. I think I’ve had three conversations with him and I lied to him. I broke the bulkhead. I broke my little plant. Zai, I’m sorry. I’ll fix the bulkhead, I will. You aren’t a therapist…” She tightened her grip on the wrench but the look on her face remained stoney. 

“No. Not a therapist,” he agreed, his shoulders lifting in the semblance of a shrug, “But a friend, perhaps? Sometimes just as effective, we understand.” He leaned against the battered bulkhead, unclasped his hands, and lifted a finger to probe one of the divots she’d beaten into the metal. “Supposing, Calli,” he offered after a moment’s introspection, his eyes still fixed on the dent in which his fingertip lingered, “that we were to tell you that you may very well be standing in the answer to the riddle of saving those lives and that, if it works the way I imagine it might, repairing this bulkhead will be a moot point?”

Her eyes followed his fingertips along the battered wall, his words slowly seeping into her thoughts. “The Angel?” Gears began to spin through her mind, the teeth catching one by one as they moved and gained in strength and speed. “No. The Angel… no. Yes.” He didn’t need to give her the full explanation, she understood what he meant almost at once. “****!” She cried out again, raising the wrench and slamming it against the opposite bulkhead to the one she’d assaulted earlier. 

Zai flinched a little at the harsh clanging of the wrench against the wall and his finger fell from the divot as his eyes flitted back to Kennedy. “She’s not a Federation asset,” he said from behind a wan smile, nodding his silent affirmation to the thoughts that he was sure were chasing through her head just now, “and her warp core is large enough that, if we were to force a breach along the asteroid’s trajectory, the explosion might be enough to have the desired effect…” He folded his arms across his chest and lifted a questioning brow in her direction, almost as if he were seeking her approval for even thinking of sacrificing the little ship…”It’s not ideal, we know,” he sighed again, “but, given the time constraints and all of the other options we’ve explored and been forced to discard, we… I think it’s our best shot.”

While he spoke she kept her eyes down, daring the tears forming in them to stay put. When he finished her knuckles turned white as they gripped the wrench, but before she could do anything worse with it she flung it away, letting it somersault down the small passage that lead to the bridge of the ship. “It’s a good plan…” she gritted between her teeth. “I should have thought of it.” Cold pained eyes lifted up and looked into his a moment, “It’s a good plan,” she repeated, every muscle in her body pulled into tight cords. 

Pushing away from the wall, Tochi offered a curt nod and a faint shrug before turning toward the bridge hatch. “Lt Reid planted the seed for it,” he offered, wandering a few steps along the corridor before stooping to retrieve the wrench she’d flung, “As I said, not ideal for the Angel by any means, but certainly a decent chance for the people of Calican.” As he rose back to his full height, he stretched out his empty hand to cue the doorway to the bridge open and glanced back over his shoulder; “What’s a few tons of plasteel and a few years of work as compared to seven billion lives, right?”

Swallowing hard she gave a nod. “No, the choice is easy.” Even as she said it though she reached out and caressed a seam, fingers moving down the line toward where a control panel was set into the wall, like a lover might. “Rivets, wires, induction panels… not alive,” her voice sounded haunted, though. “It’s the right thing, of course.” At the control panel, though, her fist coiled back up and her knuckles turned white at the very thought. 

There’s more life in her than there has been in a while, Tochi mused, stepping onto the bridge and letting his green-gold eyes pan over the stations for a moment, Thanks in large part to you, California Eugene Kennedy. He strolled almost languidly across the deck toward the CONN, his cold fingertips tracing along every curve and across every surface they could reach as he went. “Erik’s life… his spirit, is in this ship,” he murmured without looking back at her, “Asovil’s, too, in some fashion…” Reaching the pilot’s seat, he sat the wrench aside on one wing of the console and rested his hands and chin on the back of the vaguely egg-shaped chrome of the chair… “and Meg’s… and now yours,” his voice was scarcely more than a whisper, “It will be difficult to let all of that go with her.” He chuckled and shrugged again, finally turning to set his eyes on the CEO once more; “That’s assuming, of course, that Silas finds merit in the idea.”

When he turned he found that Callie had followed him quietly into the Bridge. Her fist was resting against one of the consols as she looked back at him. “He will. It’s the only real option. You’re right, though, it will be difficult. I don’t even have the same attachments that you do, but… she’s more than just a hunk of metal. I felt it the first time I saw her.” She took a breath and peeled her eyes from his to look across the graceful curves of the bridge once more. “I needed her, in my own way. On this ship, she’s all that was bringing me joy…” she admitted at last. 

He sank into the seat and offered up a warm, knowing smile. “I’ve noticed,” he said with a slow nod, “which is why I was hoping that, when this is all over and we can find the time, you might consider lending your expertise in building her replacement.”

“If the Captain doesn’t transfer me off the ship for lying to him…” she commented dryly. 

“If we know Silas, at all, that’s not something you need to worry about,” Tochi grinned, languishing in the cradle of the seats upholstery, “He knew you were lying the moment you opened your mouth. More importantly, he knew why. If he were inclined to call you on such a transgression, trust us, he would have done so already.” Another shrug was offered and a vaguely mischievous glimmer flashed in his eyes as he turned the seat toward the console. “Besides, if he were to do that, we might request a transfer of our own and follow where you went. Who knows?” His fingers danced across the console and the analog FCS began to unfurl itself from the various panels. “At least we’ll finally get a chance to pilot her before we call it done, hm?”

Lights from the screens danced across her features, and her brow knitted up a little at his comment about following her, but she let it go. “Owen’s the one who is itching to fly her. I just want to hear that engine purring like a kitten…” She sighed a little. “It hurts, but it’s good. All those lives, it’s worth it. Lord, I hated thinking that I couldn’t save them.” 

“Megan’s sat at these controls more than I have already,” Zai smirked, reaching out to set fingers dancing across the crescent shaped arc of the CONN. The Angel’s engines hummed to life, sending a low vibration running through the deck plating. “I think we deserve to have this last one to myself…” He flicked a glance over his shoulder at her; “Think you can make new engines that purr sweeter than that, Eugene?”

“Sir, you won’t even hear them…” She gave him a small wry smile. “She’ll be almost silent if you let me build her.”

“Let you? I’m afraid we must insist, Sir,” he grinned as his hand settled on the controls, “After you and I walk through what we might need to do to make this plan work, of course.”

“Well if it’s an order Sir.” She gave him a light bob of her head and that smile grew on her face. “I guess we have work to get to then.” And while there was still a sadness to her eyes there was a determined confidence back in her voice.

“If an order is what it takes, Commander Kennedy,” he offered with a wink, “consider it given.” 

He tapped his commbadge then; “Zai to Captain Drake…” ((Assuming acknowledgement of the hail)) “...Sir, I believe we might have a solution where the Calican situation is concerned. If you can spare the time, we’d like to request a meeting to discuss it at your convenience.”