LtCmdr Jovenan – Can everyone just stop for a minute, we’re having a cute character moment in here
Jovenan
((Deck 4, USS Karnack))
The tips of the welding torches shone like stars in the corridor, keeping it bright despite the setting sun no longer sending its rays through the slowly closing ruptures in the hull. The edges of the metal sheets gleamed briefly in the mimicry of the sky over the distant horizon, but it too darkened as it cooled. Jovenan lifted her visor regularly to evaluate the fruits of her work – she wasn’t expert in this craft, but so far, she judged it passable. It was not just the inexperience that caused her stress: If they did poor work, they’d lose the atmosphere. If they were too slow, the major ruptures remained and they’d lose the atmosphere. And then… there were the predators. Jovenan didn’t know if they were close, or how many there were, all she knew they were there.
At least she had Vitor besides her – armed with the unusual weapon or not, he alone helped her focus on the work better, even if only by a little. He was being brave, even if he was going through something even worse than she was. Jovenan didn’t feel brave, quite the opposite. Over the past week or so, she had tried to hide it or at least contain it, since as the senior officer, it had been her duty to show example to her subordinates, but now, with Vitor, she could lower her barriers for a moment and be vulnerable.
Jovenan: I’m terrified. Mostly for you. For what changes are happening. If we get out. But, um, I’ve also been terrified this whole time, before we even encountered the Dark Things. I’ve been imagining things, seeing movement at the corner of my eye or hearing people whispering. It didn’t start here either, but on the Frontier Day. This happens every time when I’m somewhere dark and restrictive. I haven’t been able to trust what I see or hear. I… I just wanted you to know. In case I start shouting but there’s nothing there.
It was difficult to admit that, ever for him. She was broken, she knew that, she had weaknesses. It wasn’t always bad. In the cellar of the Meirashi chieftain, she had been able to push those thoughts aside and complete the mission without further delays. Yet, the narrow caves and now the crumbling interior of the starship, in combination with the actual threat lurking somewhere in there, had repeatedly pushed her close to a breaking point. She wasn’t a bad scientist, in her opinion, but an officer needed to be able to function even in these conditions – maybe she was a bad officer.
Silveira: Nan…
Bancroft/Storm: Response
The voices of the other half of the team interrupted Vitor. Jovenan stood up and looked at the patchwork fixes she had managed to do. It wasn’t pretty, it probably wouldn’t hold for a long time in warp speeds or in a combat scenario, but it should do the trick until they were well off the planet’s atmosphere. Once they were safely in the orbit or further, they should be able to see if further improvements were needed without the hassle.
Jovenan: Okay, I’m done here. Let’s move to the next hole in the middle.
She took her tools and other equipment and walked off to the next rupture. They were now closer to the two junior officers, which gave them some added security, but also meant that they would more likely hear anything she and Vitor said to each other. Perhaps it was good, perhaps she didn’t want to hear what Vitor would say. Would he ask her to step down and seek cover? Would he consider her a risk, a weak link, a liability? They couldn’t afford mistakes, so he might have been wise to dismiss her, or he could turn all protective and insist she sheltered herself somewhere safe. She didn’t want to hear either of those from him.
Bancroft/Storm: Response
Jovenan kneeled down next to the rupture and gathered some of the debris around her. As she was fitting the sheets over the hole, she felt Vitor come closer. He placed his head just besides hers, she felt his breath against her ear, and he whispered.
Silveira: I love you.
Those words. They froze Jovenan for a few seconds, and melted her too. Maybe she should have expected them, maybe she shouldn’t have ever doubted he wouldn’t say them. Over a week in the tunnels of this forsaken world, ever longer in separation from him, maybe she had forgotten how sweet they sounded. She blushed, like she had never heard him say that, and bashfully looked aside to see if the Lieutenants had heard it. She then turned back towards the rupture, not hiding her smile – half of a smirk – and not bothering to lower her voice.
Jovenan: You too, Commander.
Silveira: Good work. I think we can break that time Alex.
Bancroft/Storm: Response
The sheets were slowly getting welded over the holes. Every rupture covered increased their chance of survival by an amount Jovenan might have been able to calculate if she wasn’t trying to focus in making as thorough job in the shortest amount of time possible. The torches and the sounds coming from her fellow teammates covered any possible indication Jovenan could possibly have of the predators approaching, so she was relying on the others to detect them on their own. Still, her gaze dashed to either side of the corridor a few times when she heard – or imagined hearing – something that turned out to be either nothing or nothing of importance. The work continued.
Silveira: We can do this.
Jovenan: Yes we can. ::to everyone:: Status? Any signs of the Things yet?
Bancroft/Storm: Response
The repair was almost done. After the uncertainty with the first one, Jovenan was picking up speed with this one. The pressure was working for them, she didn’t need to weld the sheets so that they could take a beating, just so that it stayed there and didn’t leak from the sides. At least, she hoped that she didn’t need to make the patches able to withstand more than the pressure difference. If the Dark Things would start ripping them off for whatever reason, they would be doomed. Better hope they weren’t that intelligent – or that stupid, considering they were going up, with or without the predators on board, if the other teams got their work done.
Silveira: We will do this.
Vitor. Her brave, courageous, heroic Vitor. Jovenan could tell that he was trying to convince himself as well. She felt bad for talking so much of her struggles when he was suffering from something that she couldn’t even imagine. He was going to need her as much as she needed him. She just hoped it was going to be enough. It was going to be enough.
Jovenan: When we’re done here, we get back to the Jefferies tubes together. We have to be mobile.
Bancroft/Storm/Silveira: Response
The metal was burning hot. Jovenan wasn’t letting the torch cool down as often as the previous time. Doing so might decrease its lifespan, who knew, but it only needed to work this one day. After that, they hopefully never needed them again. Jovenan would never weld a thing again in her life.
Jovenan: Done!
Bancroft/Storm/Silveira: Response
Once they were all finished, Jovenan picked up everything and rushed back towards the access hatch to the Jefferies tube. She didn’t turn to look back as she pushed the equipment into the small, cramped, dark tunnel and crawled in. They made way inwards, until they found ladders.
Jovenan: Deck 3 has sections that let the air flow to the multi-deck facilities. We have to fix those if there are ruptures, but otherwise it might be enough to see that the interior bulkheads are—
She was interrupted by a loud noise. At first, she considered the possibility that she had just imagined it again, but by now she had already learnt that whenever her issues were surfacing like this, the false sensations were visual and auditory – never tactile. And yet, she could feel the Jefferies tube’s interior vibrate, ever so slightly, following the sound she had heard.
There was no chance the Dark Things would fit into the tubes. Right?
Right?
Bancroft/Storm/Silveira: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11