Weightless, part II of II

Posted on 29 Oct 2017 @ 2:53pm by Ensign Miraj Derani & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Edited on on 30 Oct 2017 @ 2:04pm

1,913 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco, Starfleet Medical
Timeline: MD 40, 1130 hrs

Previously on Weightless

Constantin breathed hard at the return of gravity, frowning slightly as his body slowly settled back. That brief moment of relief made being in normal gravity harder. But instead of complaining he suddenly smiled. "I feel like we should do that again," he said and met Kohn's eyes. "Isn't it liberating? The sensation of floating, the way the world slows down around you. How graceful it is?"

And now the conclusion...

[ON]

"Yes it is." Kohn agreed. "Once more Ensign?"

"Yes, sir," Miraj turned back to her helm, and began the cycle again, and Beaufort shot upwards again taking only a second or two to reach the top of its parabolic curve, before diving again.

Constantin was grinning at the sensation, closing his eyes for a moment to savour it. And it was worth savouring, these seconds of just...floating. He opened his eyes and looked at the doctor, reaching out and gently flicking his cheek, seeing how the skin moved, the almost rippling effect without gravity to pull skin and fat downwards. It had made the doctor look younger. Seconds before it ended he pulled his hand back and shifted, ready for gravity to hit once more.

They dropped back down to seven thousand meters and then again to five thousand meters, and accelerating hard, shooting forward and Mraj called out, "Mach One! hold onto your hats." and she decelerated hard, snapping the waverider around turning so they were perpendicular to the ground as she banked into the turn and then flipped the nose up and over to do a sharp hairpin turn that put them into a dive, before turning again, throwing Beauforte to port at just under one and half times the speed of sound.

The change in speed made Constantin grimace. Correction, what made him grimace was the pressure. He tried to breathe normally, eyes closed, holding onto the seat...not too hard though. He didn't want to snap anything. His heart worked harder in those moments, his lungs trying to expand as easily as they did when he was weightless.

They levelled out, and Kohn leaned forward "how are you feeling?"

Constantin grimaced, swallowing hard before he opened his eyes slowly. Nothing broken. "Like...something very heavy smashed into me...and turned my skeleton into mush."

"You should be pleased." The benzite beamed. "You experienced four seconds of 5Gs, with no ill effects. Want to try some more?"

"No," he shook his head, trying to breathe normally. "No...no thanks, Doctor..." he breathed and reached to remove the restraints, bowing his head. He felt bruised. Battered. He touched his nose, to check for blood. That was good. No rupture. It did mean he was better. He had never done 5Gs before. Never. But he wasn't proud, he was exhausted. "All vitals fine?" he asked quietly. Nervously.

"Perfectly." Dr Kohn assured him. "Naturally some elevated stress levels, due to both the situation and your own anxiety, but nothing outsidr the realms of a fit young man used to Earth-normal gravity."

"Good...good...can we go back now?" Constantin asked and ran a hand over his hair, pushing it back.

"unfortunately, we are going to go again. This time not so extreme a level gravity, but for a more sustained period. Nothing that spuld make you pass out, but there may be some discomfort."

Constantin looked at him with something close to panic before he took a shaky breath. He nodded awkwardly. He was already in pain. He made sure he was strapped in again and shifted. He made sure he was sitting properly, closing his eyes. "I don't want to go again," he said quietly. A confession. But nothing else. He knew it would happen. Not much you could about it.

Dr Kohn frowned at him. "Are you sure you're allright? If someting is not right, then you need to say so."

"I just hurt all over. Like I've been tackled by something," Constantin said before he smiled weakly. "You got my vital readings. If you say I am okay, Doc, then I am okay."

"Hmmm. the suit should be preventing that." Kohn made some adjustments on his padd and srnt the new settings across. " We'll try that. Two minutes at 2G, please ensign, but be prepared to abort at any moment."

"Yes doctor." Miraj looked over her shoulder an winked at Constantin. "Hold onto your stomachs."

Constantin let out a shaky breath, frowning as he looked ahead. 2G he could deal with. He was sure of it. Well. Sort of. Mostly. He felt the shift as it happened. Usually, change of gravity changed things with bodies too. Like where blood flowed. The suit he wore helped that, he knew it. Had kept him from passing out as well, that was helpful and good. He took that as a win. He got to be conscious and feel it. He took a breath, or tried to, struggling slightly as it became more and more a conscious effort and tast rather than what the body just did. Blood vessels that had been brought up with less gravity, that wasn't used to the stress, struggled. He grimaced as he felt something wet on his upper lip, his tongue coming out to catch it. Metallic. Blood. A blood vessel in his nose then. It wasn't the first time he had experienced a nose bleed during similar situations. He bowed his head to it instead, knowing better than tipping his head back. Ingest enough blood and you'd throw up. And no one wanted to throw up in front of others. That was a private thing people did when they were alone and felt rubbish.

The flight was simple circles, but at 90 degrees to the ground, faster and faster to keep up the centrifugal force and the G-forces it created. "Up to 3G's please." Dr Kohn called out, and the pressure inside the cabin increased. Miraj was humming to herself, the manoeuvre presenting her with no difficulties.

Please. Stop it. The thought was fleeing, pushed aside by grim determination in Vansen's brain as he closed his eyes. The exposed skin on his hands, face and neck ached with the increase. Keeping his eyes closed didn't make his eyeballs hurt less, it just meant he didn't have to see the world. He grimaced slightly as something in his left hand popped. He wasn't sure what it was, most likely a joint. Nothing that couldn't be fixed. He tried to take deep, even breaths, but it came shallow and shaky. The suit kept him from passing out. Small mercies, I suppose. After all, this pain is necessary. It is all necessary.

"Normal flight please," Doctor Kohn said quickly, and the ensign brought the ship down to level flight and normal gravity in a graceful swoop. As soon as the ship was stable Kohn slipped out of his seatbelt and came over to Constantin armed with tricorder. He scanned the hand with a frown. "You've got some swelling of the cartilage. That shouldn't be happening."

Constantin lifted his head slightly, smiling with bloodied teeth as he looked at him. "Everything about me is slightly weaker," he said after a moment. "Bone, cartilage, blood vessels, veins, muscle, flesh. Good thing my nucleus pulposus are normal now, when I was first brought on a Starfleet ship it was like balloons between my intervertebral discs..."

"The suit should be boosting medicaiton to help speed repairs." Kohn said, almost distracted by the minor failure of his equipment. "Lets get you back to the ward, we can get this looked at properly and see where it went wrong."

"Got a tissue, ma'am?" Constantin asked, his eyes focusing on Miraj. "Covered in my own blood isn't my best look...hate to have you have that as your last impression of me." He winked and grinned, shifting, already knowing that the doctor was distracted by it all. By the things that didn't work. Rather than what did. He had survived this a lot better than he would a year ago. He was better for it. Better than he had been, another slow step towards it all. He found himself grinning despite the discomfort.

Miraj waved a hand in dismissal of his concern, and put he ship on autopilot to get a damp cloth from the replicator. "I can cope witht he blood. I normally have to deal with a lot worse when I fly a vomit comet."

"My stomach's...pretty sturdy. You know, all that low gee stuff hardens it a bit. I'm used to it feeling as if it is all over the place anyway..." Constantin said with a warm smile, watching her for a moment. "I like your hair."

She touched it self-consciously, twisting a couple of strands of one bunch between her fingers. "Thanks. I hope it wasn't too awful for you."

Constantin shook his head weakly, taking a slow breath, closing his eyes. "Nothing I haven't felt before, ma'am. You're a good pilot." And it was true. She was good at this.

It was the one area wherr Miraj had no modesty and lots of confidence. "One of the best. The best. They haven't made a ship yet I cant fly. Whats your specialty?"

"Repairing stuff that breaks," Constantin said lightly before he smiled to himself. "Not met anything broken I can't repair yet, except myself. I...Operations." He looked over at her, studying her for a long moment.

"They should fit you with some EPS conduit and a gravity coil," she joked, "All borged up. You could fix yourself." She noticed him looking at her and feeling self-conscious, two spots of colour appeared on her cheeks. "Why are you looking at me?"

Constantin smiled at that, at the way she suddenly seemed embarrassed. It was sweet. "Because I still got eyes, ma'am," he said lightly. "Don't think the borging up is such a bad idea, I would certainly have it easy fixing all the bits and bobs. But I'm just glad that this is as bad as it gets nowadays. When some speed junkie of an officer takes me for a vomit tour..." he winked before he sat back. "Saying that...it was intense. I don't want to do that again anytime soon."

Miraj blushed a bit more, at the comment about his eyes., and twisted her finger in her bunches some more. She wasn't really used to anyone looking at her, not even Luke. "That's a shame. They're fun when you get used to them."

"Only if the body can handle it...shame though," he said and let out a soft breath and grimaced at the taste in his mouth. "I enjoy flying." It was true, he did. But he would never have qualified as a pilot with his condition. He watched her body language and smiled. "But I will leave it to great pilots such as yourself."

She grinned and took her seat, the compliment giving her a little warm glow. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes...please," Constantin said with a weak nod, letting out a breath as he looked over at the doctor. He knew what was coming. Full examination followed by rest for the rest of the day. He could handle it. He could handle it all. He was still alive despite Mother Earth wanting to kill him.

[OFF]

--

Ensign Miraj Derani

Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen

RSS Feed