Something In The orlop

Posted on 05 Dec 2017 @ 5:17pm by Ensign Miraj Derani & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen

1,573 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Hathaway, Deck 4 Jeffries Tube
Timeline: MD 92 2100

ON:

Vansen prided himself in getting very familiar with a ship very quickly. It was the sort of thing that kept you alive, knowing the little sounds and groans of a ship, the steady hum of a warp core, the sound the ship made in general as it travelled through space. It was like his own heartbeat and the Hathaway was no different. It was a ship with its own little unique signature, from the frequency of the warp core hum to the sounds the doors did when opening. If he put his hand on her hull, he’d feel her vibrate ever so slightly. Like a quiver in the skin. He knew these sounds. He knew what sounds people made too, the sound of footsteps on the floor, the change in the air when one person left or entered. Even the air recycling took its own unique taste.

So when a sound he was unfamiliar with caught his attention, he didn’t hesitate. Unlike the man next to him who happily ignored it and dismissed it as a sound on a ship, Vansen went after it. He opened the panel that hid the Jeffries tube on this level, taking his kit with him. Rather than strap the light to his wrist he undid the collar of his uniform jacket to secure it there. He’d be crawling. Having it on his wrist was useless.

The air in here was slightly more dense than the rest of the ship. He closed his eyes, stilling, and just felt the space. He knew the layout well and judging from the lack of any obvious noise it wasn’t something broken. It was too…inconsistent. A part that has broken will either make no noise or a consistent noise. Random meant something organic, or certainly not attached to the hull. He opened his eyes and started crawling, taking his time. Turning a corner he stopped, catching a glimpse of pink. Hair. He frowned as he shifted, crouching, moving forward. He didn’t call out. If it was someone planting a bomb, he didn’t want to alert them too soon. Better to catch them in the act. His hand was coming close to his commbadge though, to press it if he needed.

The figure wasn't moving, but it was speaking, "...said the pirate, trying to hold back his smirk and not quite succeeding. 'Really?,' sneered Commodore Hawke, his pistol remaining steady. 'I have you surrounded, your ship is no where in sight, and you are unarmed and without a farthing on your person. If I didn't want to see you hang, I'd shoot you where you stand. And you think I'm going to let you go?'

"'Oh yes,' Bloodbeard replied, 'because a few days ago, we came across a ship called the Greenfield Shore. Lovely barquentine, straight out of Bristol.' Realisation dawned in Hawke's cold blue eyes and his jaw tightened. 'And it had the most interesting passenger.' Bloodbeard was smirking now. 'What have you done with my fiancee?' Hawke snarled. 'Me? Nothing. And if I get back to my crew, nothing will continue,' Bloodbeard watched Hawke's windburnt face, the cold-hearted bastard was thinking about hanging him, and his fiancee be damned. 'But if I miss the rendez-vous...'"

Vansen stopped, frowning as his hand lowered from his commbadge. Someone telling a story? He guessed so, it all sounded like a narrative. Unless the speaker had lost their mind as was busy explaining their evil plot. He reached for the bulkhead and knocked, to draw attention to himself.

Miraj jumped, shrieked, smacked her head on the top of the jeffries tube, dropped the padd on her bare foot and the pain caused her to say something nautical and vulgar.

"Didn't mean to startle you, but I am not sure you're supposed to be here," Vansen said as he looked at her, recognising her after a moment. "Ensign?"

Miraj's heavy brows drew together for a moment, then she recognised the handsome young man. "Constantin? The gravity guy?" she checked.

"Yup, the one and only. You still not supposed to be here," Vansen said with a small smile. "We like to keep the Jeffries tubes clear."

"I know," Miraj gave him a guilty smile, trying tol ook winsome so he'd leae her be. "But I can't sleep. And Anne and I need to get to know one another." She held up the padd she was reading from. "So I came to read her a bed time story."

"Okay..." Vansen said as he watched her, with some confusion. "Who is Anne?" he motioned around, because he sure as hell couldn't see a girl called Anne anywhere.

Miraj raised a hand, indicating the ship around them. "Named for Anne Hathaway, wife of Shakespeare. And she tells me she's Anne."

"Well, seeing as it is a ship with a lot of hull to her...you don't need to be in the Jeffries tubes," Constantin said with a weak smile and motioned to her. "I'm going to have to ask you to find another reading spot, ma'am. You can request from the Chief to just sit here and tell stories, but we sort of need to know who is crawling around here."

"I do need to be in the tubes," Miraj explained. "This is her body, her bones. You can hear her better in here. Be closer to her. Listening is easier."

"Well, you need to take it up with the Chief," he said and motioned for her to follow him. "I can't make that call, it's above my paygrade. Come now, Ensign."

What about if you stayed with me?" she asked hopefully "Would that be okay?

"I am on duty...got work to do," Constantin said and shook his head. "I am sure the Chief will clear it, you being an officer and all, but you have to go and see him. Come along now, ma'am," Constantin met her eyes, close to pleading.

She looked at him for a long moment, thinking. "Okay," she said slowly. "But come this way, its quicker..." She tucked her pad into her inside pocket, and started to crawl off in the other direction, moving with the ease of long experience moving in small spaces.

He rolled his eyes before he followed her. Sometimes, just sometimes, he hated being an enlisted. And people. He really hated people sometimes. "Let's just get out of here quickly, ma'am, and then you can talk to the Chief and we can go about our business..." he did make a point of quickly looking at the area she had been, his eyes looking for abnormalities. Just in case.

She wriggled through the crawl space, taking a turn here and there until she came to hatch in the floor. She opened it, and the panel dropped down. "Careful as you get out. Don't jump too hard. Just slowly." She swung her legs over the edge and dropped through.

He frowned as he stopped for a moment, taking a breath. He could feel it, the micro changes in the gravity. There were spots like that here and there, especially on older vessels. He followed and moved his body, one hand finding a place to grip before he shifted and swung his body, bracing himself against the top. He pushed his body and for a split second he felt the lack of gravity. Then his back gently hit what was the floor and he turned over, already feeling the shift back towards normal gravity.

"Feel better?" She asked. "Want to go again?" she crouched the jumped, letting the sweet spot pick her up until she was sitting on the ceiling next to the hatch.

He shook his head, watching her for a long moment. "No. Thank you though," he finally said. "Come on, let's go and see the Chief." He moved back, getting himself to normal gravity. "Should really put a warning sign up here."

"There's no rules about sitting here." the young pilot patted the ceiling next to her foot. The pull of the gravity plates above was stronger than those on the deck below. here she could balance on the ceiling but a foot or two in either direction and she'd end up on the floor. "As long as I don't go back inside, right?"

"Ensign," Vansen suddenly sounded extremely tired. "The Chief has to give permission, okay. Not about rules or not rules, its about safety. We have a ship full of cadets. We have to set a good example."

She sighed; she knew he was right. But it hadn't been all that long since she was a cadet herself. "Yes, sir." She grabbed the edge of the tube hatch to turn herself back the right way, then let herself drop onto the floor below.

He nodded weakly, relieved she was actually going along with it. "Okay," he said and nodded, motioning for her to lead the way. "And like I said, I am sure he will say it is okay. But I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't insist."

"I know." Miraj began to walk. She wasn't sure how to explain needing to read bedtime stories to the ship to the Chief Engineer. Maybe it could wait till morning.

[OFF]

Ensign Miraj Derani
Flight Control Officer

Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Operations

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