The Hide Away

Posted on 22 Apr 2012 @ 3:45pm by Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn

5,010 words; about a 25 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: Main Engineering/Port Nacelle
Timeline: MD03 - 0900 hrs

[ON]

As soon as the first of the morning's training sessions had completed, Kestra gave the nod to her second that he could let them break and then handle the next round. She'd seen what she needed to see. They were a solid group and they were learning to work together, they She slipped out of the holodeck, PADD in hand to make her rounds. She'd gotten sidetracked the day before, meeting with an old friend, but she'd still managed to walk the ship and start making notes on potential containment areas. The people who would know the areas she hadn't yet travelled best were, of course, in Engineering. As were two people she was, incidentally, interested in talking to in any case.

As she walked into Main Engineering, she was unable to find the tiny sphinx of a Trill she'd misplaced the day before, but she did locate the Chief in his office. As soon as she laid eyes on him, her eyes warmed, her smile widened, and she went straight to him where he stood and kissed his cheek in greeting, forgetting for a moment that it was the first time he was seeing her. She had so many positive connotations and feelings about him simply from having been in the same headspace with Tarishiana for an afternoon. "It is good to see you," she registered the lack of recognition on his face and smiled, stepping back with a laugh. "To meet you," she corrected herself. "I'm Kestra Orexil. Rishi is an old friend. Are you busy now? I have a few things to run through with you, if you don't mind."

Markum sat up quickly, his eyes becoming as round as saucers. "Umm....hello...Kestra?? you said?? Ahh...yes, nice to meet you...and who is Rishi?" Markum scratched his head, and pointed to the seat on the other side of his desk. "Have a seat Lieutenant. I'm sorry, what did you want?"

"Tarishiana," Kestra explained with a delighted laugh. "You are sweet." She crossed around his desk and dropped into the seat he'd indicated, as graceful as a sack of flower petals.

Markum smiled at the mention of Tarish. He looked back at Kestra and wondered her background, and what she was doing here.

"Background, yes? I arrived on board yesterday, taking over as Chief of Security and Tactics. How are you finding the Galileo so far?"

"Umm, I like the ship. She is small and easy to get around on. What can I do for you exactly?" Markum smiled and got up and walked to the replicator. "Can I get you a beverage?"

Kestra nodded. "Water with uttaberries would be pleasant, thank you." She leaned back comfortably in the chair and folded her hands in her lap. "I have some basic personnel questions, routine really, to start with. How's your staff?"

Markum gave therequested order, then added his own, "Tea, double sweet, chilled over crushed ice." The replicator swirled about and then produced the requested order. He pick them up and walked over to Kestra and sat hers down on the desk, and took the seat next to her. "They are good, as far as I can tell. Chief Petty Officer Willis has been with me for almost eight years, so he is very good. My assistant is on top of things too."

"Lilou," Kestra smiled again. "Another old friend. Coming to this crew is almost like coming home." She smiled, lifting her glass of water and sipping it. "Everyone's getting along? You've got a young one on your team, if I read correctly. First time working on a ship. Is he settling in okay?"

"Rothgra. He is a very lucky kid. Almost lost his entire arm." Markum said, glad that he was healing well. "So you know my...fellow department Head, Tarishiana, and also my assistant, Peers. So that almost makes us family then." chuckled Markum as he took a sip of his sweet tea.

"I certainly hope so," Kestra said, her expression perfectly frank and accepting of either interpretation. "I'm sorry. Did you say the boy almost lost his arm?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah, he put his and somewhere it shouldn't of been, and unsupervised." Markum remembered the first time he did it...most do...but some aren't so lucky to live through it. "He's fine though. He won't make that mistake a second time."

Kestra nodded slowly. "I hope not." Who knew that fixing things could be so dangerous? Was that why Lilou had been so rattled when they'd met the morning before? "Aside from the injury... there haven't been other injuries, have there?"

Markum leaned back in the chair and scratched his beard fo a thoughtful moment. "No, not unless the daily beatings I inflict upon Willis for being a pain in my rear....No. We are a safe group down here, we just have dangerous jobs everyday. On misstep, or wrong ratio mix with the matter/antimatter, it will be a mistake no one will be able to see again.?"

Kestra watched him solemnly. "It makes sense that it's so dangerous, although it never occurred to me before now. You will be careful, won't you?" Lifting her glass, she watched him over the rim. It wouldn't do for the man Tarishiana had finally found joy with to go and get turned into charcoal. "Of course you will." She breathed in the energy around him and found he was pretty well centered. Without a deeper look, which she rigorously told herself she would not do despite her curiosity, there wasn't much more she could tell. But there didn't seem to be any worries over the crew when he spoke of them. Good signs, all round. "Good. Then that's all in order," she murmured, pulling up her PADD. "I had wondered if you might be able to send someone along with me while I scout the access shafts. I don't want to get in the way of your work, but it's to do with ship security. Would that be possible?"

Markum smiled and gave a nod as he set down his tea. "I'll go with you Lieutenant. Not many know this ship like I do and besides, it gets me out of paperwork." He stood up and grabbed a flashlight from a drawer in his desk. "Just give the word, and we can roll out."

Kestra smiled, taking one last sip of her water as she stood. "You needn't stand on formality," she told him. "We are family of a sort, after all, as you said. Please." She gestured for him to go ahead. "And if there are any pockets that access any of the corridors from above or below, that would be especially useful."

"Old habit when ever I'm around an officer, I guess." He replied with a warm smile. He began walking through the Main Engineering area first. He walked her to an access panel. With a short auth-code inputted into the console the door opened up. He looked to Kestra. "C'mom, this is a good one for you to see." He said grabbing the ladder inside the passage. "So how good of friends are you with Tarish?" inquired Tomas.

She caught hold of the ladder after him, following. "We were born two days apart and our mothers are quite close," Kestra explained. "I haven't seen her for a long time, but the bonds of friendship are longstanding things for us. Especially when we form them as children. I am very pleased to see her again." She paused. "And to see her happy."

Markum moved to the left as he reached the top of the ladder, as he waited for Kestra. "She's a hell of a woman. Sounds crazy, but I've never felt this way about someone before. I....well....she's great. She is very precious to me."

She could feel that much the moment she'd mentioned her friend's name, but she smiled in response to the words that echoed the emotion. "Not crazy at all," she added for his sake. "You're right. She is great and precious. I'm glad you have the sense to see it and the heart to follow your sight." As she spoke, she reached the top of the ladder and drew out her PADD, making a note about the entrance and the directions thus far. "Rishi mentioned you had a son. Markus?"

Markum pointed in each direction, "The left goes down ten meters and branches out to the rest of main engineering, and a junction to the rest of the ship. Now, right, which is where we are going leads over the Warp Core, and then in another fifteen meters, will branch to either nacelle." He smiled at the mention of his son. "Yeah, Marcus is a great kid. Always has been. A servants heart. He is pre-med at the academy. He has the galaxy at his fingertips. He is the smartest person I know. A lot smarter than his grumpy old father."

Kestra took her notes, nodding to Markum to lead the way. "You love him. You're close." She was pleased to see he had strong family ties. It spoke to his character and would also serve as a good reminder for Rishi to stay in contact with her family more closely. "That's important. You can access the warp core from here? Not only from Main Engineering?"

"Yeah, I' not sure if its a design flaw, or meant for easier repair access to the top of the core. Something I for one have complained about for the past fifteen years, at least." Markum's mind wandered a moment, remembering last night, and most of his morning in bed with Tarishiana...and on the couch...and the counter..the...suddenly, Markum wondered if Kestra could hear his thoughts. He knew he could not hear hers....Nah...she doesn't know. "Where was I? Umm....oh yeah, follow me. It's just down here."

Kestra's lips twitched slightly in amusement as the visceral memory in the man's head overflowed into her general senses. It was almost dizzying, how much he cared for her... and her body. He certainly appreciated her body. Kestra suppressed a happy laugh for her friend, wondering of Rishi left herself open to feeling just how intensely this man felt for her. Only when you project them, friend. Certain thoughts are more... immediate... than others and therefore louder; and I have no distractions. Trying very hard to maintain a studious [removed]and failing around the corners of her smile and the amused flickering of her eyes), Kestra kept her eyes on her PADD. "Do all these shafts interconnect? There was an access code for this shaft, but are there those for every entrance?" She could double check who had access to which entrances and where; that information would be in her own console in her office; still, she made a note to do so. "There must be, no?"

Markum blushed and shook his head. "Umm, yeah. They each have an access code to them." As the duo moved down the tube they came to an intersection, with one passage blocked off. HE entered a code into the side console. With a pneumatic hissing noise the door unlocked, and opened. While the door was opening, Markum looked to Kestra. "You know? Next to the love I have for Marcus, I have never been so...." Markum think of the words he wanted to convey.... "Well...I just have never this strong for anyone." The doors were opened and the area was swashed with a blue pulsating light, and the familiar *swish-swish* of the Warp Core. "Dar she blows! The top of the Core."

Kestra paused in the doorframe, awed and impressed by the enormous engine from the bird's eye view. It was so easy to condense it when she simply saw the tiny portion of it through the access window in the engineering department, but looking down on the massive coil, energy thrumming so vigorously it made the hair on her arms stand up... She caught her breath. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" The words were lackluster compared to the feeling. But then again, they always were, she thought, considering Markum's own verbal failing only moments before. "Language isn't enough for some things," she added, referencing both their wordless wonders with the comment.

As both eyebrows raised, he replied, "Boy, that is for sure."

"And from here, that passage goes to the nacelles, you said?" she asked, pointing towards a hatch on the other side of the pulsating core.

Markum nodded. "Yes. The space can get tight, but it's doable. I can make it from the control room in either nacelle, to here in under two minutes."

Something had been nagging her and the thought finally gelled as she stood there in the vibrant azure energy. "Where is Marcus' mother?" she asked, unhindered by tact. It was an honest question, a curious one; this man had such feeling for Tarishiana, as powerful as the engine they stood before in its own way. And she liked him, beyond that; he had positive energy. He was grounded and intelligent. She wondered if he knew what was in Rishi's mind, with regards to potentially bonding. Despite Kestra's direct nature, she knew that that discussion wasn't for her to have, but the more information she had, the better she felt.

Markum nodded with a grin. "I was wondering when that question would come up. Where to begin?" he leaned against a support beam, then continued. "Her name is Alexia von Grauss. She is the wife of Aaron von Grauss, Federation Special Envoy to Andor. It was in sixty-seven, I was a Warp Systems Specialist Second-Class on the USS Galaxy. She was a civilian Scientist on board. We first met while docked at Starbase One-Two-One. It was purely coincidental. It didn't take long before we were quite the couple. We spent almost every waking moment together. Sometimes though, she would have to leave ship for a few weeks at a time to conduct research..or so she claimed. It went on for almost two years. Then we found out she was pregnant with my child.

"She suddenly became unavailable more than usual. It wasn't until she was almost four months pregnant that the Galaxy happen to make a stop at Andor to collect a new crew. I was granted a two day pass, so I went to the surface and visited a few old college friends, and went to the college to visit a professor. As I was walking across a large court with several cafes and fountains I saw her in his arms. I confronted both of them immediately. You could imagine my surprise to find out she was married, and had been for six years. Aaron was just as shocked at the discovery of her lover. I didn't see her again for four years. It was just before the outbreak of the Dominion War. She told me that Marcus didn't know about me, and it was best to let her and Aaron raise him on Andor."

"I was devastated. I wanted to see my son, and I still loved Alexia. That was like a Bat'leth to the back. So, I pulled a few strings and got put on a new Defiant-Class ship, knowing full well that it would be in the thick of the battles with the Caradassian's and Dominion. I signed up for suicide detail. I was not afraid to die. I was fearless. Death, I welcomed it, hoped for it. Obviously that idea went bad. After the War I got transferred to Command Headquarters in San Fran to join a classified research division. I ran into Alexia while stationed there. We talked, and she agreed that Marcus should know the truth about me. He was almost ten. Her husband wasn't too thrilled with it, and I spent the night in the brig, while he had surgery done to correct his broken jaw.

"Anyway, that's the story of Marcus' mother, and step-father." Markum was surprised he did not become upset with the story. Up until a week or so ago, it still bothered him. He let out a sigh, and his thoughts were only of one woman now. "I love her." he said as more of a questioning whisper. Somehow....I always have...even before now... "HOLY SHIT KESTRA!" His eyes opened wide, as if seeing clearly for the first time..."That's it. I love Tarishiana Barel." He gave Kestra an enormous hug and then realized he must look like a complete idiot, he took a step back and his whole face blushed brilliantly. "Sorry Kestra. I'm not sure what came over me."

Kestra listened attentively, shamelessly skimming his story for the feelings under the words. What she found did not disappoint, in tale or telling. Before she could thank him for his honesty, she had the immense joy of both watching and experiencing his emotional discovery and teared up with the swell of it even as she was yanked into his arms. Laughing as he stepped away, she shook her head, amused at his blush. Gently, she rested her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek. It was so silly and human, apologizing for what he felt, and she let that thought and the supportive joy around it brush his mind gently. "Holy shit, indeed," she agreed, beaming at him. How many times in a life did anyone have the chance to watch that moment of precious monumental discovery occur? Not very many. She was humbled and grateful to have been a part of it, even peripherally.

Markum smiled broadly, from ear to ear. "I've never been so full of joy Kestra, or so sure of anything. Now I just hope she won't think I'm crazy for telling her." He looked to Kestra, "Do you think she would...I mean...she feels the same?"

Kestra mirrored his smile, chuckling. "No one ever feels exactly the same as anyone else, but if the question you're asking me is does she love you - I think you know the answer to that," she said, patting his cheek gently. "Think with your heart and not your head; when you're stuck on a Betazoid, it's the only logical course of action."

Markum smiled and chuckled a bit to himself. She was right. "Kestra? I am very thankful for you, and your insight. You're a good friend." He looked over to the other branching corridors. "Even been inside a nacelle before? It's the best duty station on board."

"Inside..." she followed his gaze and looked back at him. "You mean you can actually stand inside of them? Without turning into fried pork?"

"of course. Each one even has a small control room with full environmental controls too." Markum got a childish, devious grin on his face. "C'mon Kes, you need to know how to access it anyway. "

His enthusiasm was infectious. She grinned back and waved him ahead, "Show me."

Markum smiled and lead the way through the vast maze of junctions and intersections. After a couple minutes of steady climbing they reached the floor hatch to the Port Nacelle Control Room. "Ahh, here we go. After he stood up he reached down to offer Kestra a hand. An Andorian petty officer was standing there, with an odd look on his face. "Chief? What are you doing here?"

"It's my fault," Kestra readily assured the officer. "The Chief generously agreed to give me a run down of the ship's access passages." She held a hand out, "Kestra Orexil, Chief of Security. And you are?"

"Petty Officer Second-Class Taul'ethla, ma'am." he responded as he took her hand.

Markum patted the Andorian on his shoulder. "Go check on the bussard collectors intake manifold will yeah, Taul? I want to make sure they are completely clean before we set sail." With a nod the PO2nd-Class walked out of the main control room and entered an antechamber. Markum looked to Kestra. "So this is it. The port nacelle's main control room. There is also an access hatch to the top of the nacell in the side anteroom, there. You can't beam-in here either. Well, not unless you know the internal shielding freq."

"So the nacelles are operated directly from this console?" Kestra asked, studying the referenced console and the rest of the room. "And also, indirectly, from main engineering? Is there a way to access them only from this room? A cut off that makes it so the main engineering console can't access the nacelle power?"

"Yeah, it can be done, but not without department head authorization. It's a back up system in case the ship were hijacked, and tried to be used against us." Markum motioned as he lead Kestra to the console.

Kestra nodded silently as she followed him over. "What about a way to hijack control of all the ship's systems from this console? In an emergency protocol, that might come in handy. An alternate bridge, so to speak."

Markum scratched his beard as he looked down at the console. "If I ran an independent odn line, highly encrypted, and under a simple subroutine program, say...waste disposal reclamation, not many would look. I just need to get with ops to set the program up."

Kestra nodded. The XO wanted to be prepared in the case of a boarding party; they'd give him the most secure research vessel the fleet had ever seen. "Let me know when you and... it's Remington, isn't it? When you've figured it out, then we'll run it by the XO and the Captain. How long do you think it would take to install the program?"

"Umm...about two, maybe three days? Not too long, the hardest part will be putting the security into the subroutine. The hard wire is a piece of cake."

"Right. Then we'd better get on it quickly. In the meantime, our safest bet would be to route any intruders to a part of the ship where they couldn't do much damage. At the moment, that looks like cargo bay 2 and 3 to me. Would you agree?"

Markum smiled, then replied. "Great idea. We can also decompress those areas. Talk about rapid evacuation."

"We'll see," Kestra said solemnly. "I'd prefer to avoid killing anyone if at all possible. If they can be subdued and then released back to the Klingon Empire, that will do more damage to their morale and have a more lasting effect on the willingness of their attacks on smaller vessels." She rubbed the back of her neck, "If we end up needing to use these safeties, which I pray the gods will see fit we don't need to." She took a deep cleansing breath, centering herself. "We'd need to figure out a way to route them. I can do it with manpower, but I don't have a very large team to work with and there are a lot of people on board I wouldn't want to get caught in the cross-fire. I've got control - from the security consoles on the bridge and in my office - of the individual doors throughout the ship, but I don't have a way of shutting whole lengths of them down. I think, between you, Operations, and myself, we should be able to come up with a quick fix for that. Routes, based on the four most probably entry points for a boarding party, leading directly to the cargo bay. That would also keep the unarmed out of harm's way."

"What about force field emitters, and holo projections? Use the force fields to act as walls, and the ship-wide holo-projectors to make them look like walls. That way, we let them think they are going somewhere else.

Kestra beamed. "Very clever. The force fields, I'd thought of, but never... holo projectors. Brilliant."

Markum nodded, "Might as well get some extra use out of them instead of letting the EMH hog them all. Now if Remington can get me a team for that too, we'd be all set."

She squeezed his hand, "I think we might just be able to give the Klingons a run for their money. Gods grant it's all for experience's sake. I shudder to think of the political ramifications of a brand new Fleet vessel being throttled by the Empire. Gods know we don't need another war." She shook her head, "I'll speak with Remington, then, and hopefully we can come up with some short term solutions while the long term ones are being worked out." Kestra met his eyes, smiling, "Thank you."

Markum smiled back at Kestra. "You're welcome, Kestra. I'm glad you came up here with me, to my area of solitude. It's always nice and quiet up here. I've gone hours up here without being bothered by another body." He looked back down to the console briefly, just to send it back into a standby mode. He then looked back at Kestra. "This is a great place to put things that you don't want found. No camera's, com's can be turned on and off to this area from this room too. I think this room could come in handy during a boarding incident."

"It could. I'm grateful that you shared it with me. This room, and the additional capabilities we can install... it gives us an edge. I'm surprised no one has thought of it before now." She cocked her head to the side, "Does the Captain know about this place yet?"

"I'm sure she knows it exists....I think anyways. She may not understand the potential for it though." replied Markum. "Although part of me hopes she doesn't. I'd hate to lose my hideaway, but it's better than being made defenseless if we got boarded."

"What do you hide away from?" Kestra asked, genuinely curious. He felt so balanced and grounded, happy - exuberantly so. Though she could easily explain that as the lasting ripples from that one beautiful discovery he'd had only very recently.

"I'm working on the thesis for my doctorate in Propulsion Dynamics. My thesis is that a Coaxial Induction Drive, powered by a symmetric Warp field, could in fact transverse great distances instantaneously, and safely but utilizing a polaric modulator." Markum smiled as he spoke to Kestra. "No one knows about this though...well..except for you now. I don't want many to know, in case I don't pass the course. It's through Columbia University, on Earth. I pick up the feeds on subspace here, and can still keep an eye on things while I study. It works out great."

Kestra closed her eyes just to bask in the warm glow of excitement coming off the man. "Your version of hiding away is achieving great, mind-bending things. The Fates certainly know how to pair souls." She smiled. "I will tell no one of your studies, and when we notify the XO and Captain of our plans for this space, I will make it clear that only very select personnel should be allowed access outside of yourself and Taul'ethla. It wouldn't do for the place to become another noticeable hub, anyway. That would rather kill the secrecy of it, no?"

"Aye, you could say that, my friend." Markum felt a genuine camaraderie with Kestra already in this very short time. "I'm glad we had a chance to talk, and get to know one another Kestra. You're really great."

Her eyes slowly opened, heavy lidded, still happily absorbing his enthusiasm and joy as though it were a drug. "As are you, my friend," she murmured, lazily peeling back a single layer of her careful mental mask to brush her own sense of pleasure at his acquaintaince. Her happiness was a happy, lolling house cat. "Rishi is fortunate she found you first. Especially so since I have a very vivid understanding of what I'm missing out on," she laughed. "Then again, fortune has given me old friends and new ones and She knows best." She winked at him, perfectly at ease and glad to have found a new friend on board. Especially one who gave her old friend so much joy. Her combadge chirped three times denoting com activity and she tapped it once, listening as- =/\=Ten sixty seven deck four. Available units report- Reports of a possible four seventeen deck four.=/\=

=/\=Negative, ten twenty six,=/\= Ruktah's deep bass grumbled through the com. =/\=I am the four seventeen.=/\=

=/\=Ten nine, Ruktah?=/\=

=/\=Petty Officer Clearwater mistook my tricorder for a phaser and has locked me into the lab's latrine.=/\=

=/\=Ten seventy three?=/\= Kestra queried, brows drawn.

=/\=Hit me with some kind of metal sphere. No damage, but I would like to get out of here.=/\=

=/\=What's your twenty?=/\=

=/\=Geology lab.=/\= The half-Klingon sighed, annoyed and obviously containing it.

=/\=Copy that. Davidson, please send someone to escort Petty Officer Clearwater to my office and retrieve Petty Officer Ruktah from the lab's latrine. If I'm not there by the time he arrives, take a report, Davidson.=/\=

=/\=Aye, Chief.=/\=

=/\=Meanwhile, enjoy your code eight, Ruktah,=/\= she added, her voice showing none of the concern on her face.

He gave a snort of amusement through the com badge, =/\=Copy.=/\=

Kestra pressed two fingers to her temple and looked back at Markum. "Seems I need to get back to work implementing my ship wide cultural integration initiative," she smiled, a little tiredly. "Thank you," she squeezed his hand, "we will see much more of each other, I hope." She crossed to the hatch door and paused with a little hum, "Right, left, left, right, down, right?" she wondered aloud. "Or was it right, right, left, right, down, left...?"

He laughed and then gave a tilt of his head back towards the way they came. "C'mon, follow me. I'll show you."

Kestra lifted her PADD as she followed him, "This time I'm drawing the route."


[OFF]

Chief Warrant Officer Markum Quinn
Chief Engineer

Lt JG Kestra Orexil
Chief Security and Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

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