LtCmdr Azura Ada - too trusting for anyone's good
Lazuli Davis
(( Lift shaft, Derelict Vulcan Ship ))
V’Nille: Alright, looks clear. No ghosts or mirages, I’m happy to report!
Xiron: Sorry to break the moment but I just heard from Is’Kah. Doctor Edrei has been beaten by their captures and is in need of immediate medical attention.
Ada: What?
Grallator: That is not good at all. Seems the universe has decided we’re not allowed a single break—not even the cheap kind,
V’Nille: Response
Xiron:: Through gritted teeth:: They are hurting the team planet side.
Ada: ::To V'Nille:: Maybe double time it from here, once we get this ship taken care of we can help planetside. Captain permitting.
Grallator: ::Words weren’t exactly lining up in his head just now, but he managed the essentials:: I second that.
V’Nille/Xiron: Response
(( Bridge ))
The door peeled open with the kind of theatrical timing that made Grallator instantly suspicious. When Ada glanced over her shoulder at V’Nille, Grallator caught the look and felt his stomach sink. Doors, in his experience, only ever paused for dramatic effect when they were about to ruin someone’s day. And if the ship was staging a performance, he had the distinct feeling he’d been cast as the understudy in a play titled ‘Things That Shouldn’t Be Touched.’
Ada: Ready?
Grallator: Ready as I can always be, ::he said, which in his case meant somewhere between ‘absolutely not’ and ‘already regretting it.’ He adjusted his grip on the tricorder like a man preparing to duel with a filing cabinet and added, mostly to himself:: Though in fairness, that’s about as ready as I ever get.
V’Nille/Xiron: Response
Ada: I'll go first, I have the most direct contact with the ship.
It wasn't a question, she didn't have time for those anymore. She walked onto the bridge, which was deserted and dark, but felt as if she was being shepherded towards one section. The bridge looked worn in a subtle but noticeable way.
One console was illuminated, and the text was translated for her benefit: "Orbital Planning." It was a simple layout, because the controls seemed to be automated and it was a matter of selecting the desired orbit. Perhaps the ship calculated its own orbits after one was selected on this console. Options included various Lagrange and other geosynchronous orbits. One read "standard orbit." No way to know if the two millennia old Vulcans had the same idea of what a "standard" orbit as Starfleet, but suffice to say it probably wasn't "burn up in the atmosphere."
Grallator: With everything this ship’s thrown at us, I was honestly expecting a few more dead Vulcan spirits to pop up on the bridge. Maybe holding a staff meeting. Or rehearsing a dramatic sigh.
V’Nille/Xiron: Response
Ada: How about "standard orbit"?
Grallator approached the console with Azura, lingering just over her shoulder.
Grallator: Shouldn’t we at least run a quick diagnostic before pushing buttons, Sub‑Commander? :: He gave a faint smile :: Call me cautious, but I like to know whether I’m about to activate life support… or the self‑destruct poetry recital function. :: looked at the console once again:: I know that it says “standard orbit” but nothing is Standard for this ship.
She scanned the console with her tricorder. It was able to confirm the translation, and that the control circuits it was attached to headed aft towards engineering.
Ada: Alacrity and caution in equal measure, Ensign.
V’Nille/Xiron: Response
Grallator: I know there are people down there who need our help. But we’ll be about as useful as a burnt‑out fuse if we blow ourselves up simply because we trusted a ship that hums like it’s plotting against us. And it will take just a couple of minutes more I guess.
Ada: It's suffering, Ensign. And so are our people on the planet below. If it wanted to hurt us, it could have easily by now, in any number of ways. Besides ::she waved the tricorder:: this confirmed the translation of the console.
V’Nille/Xiron: Response
Grallator: All right Commander. Will do.
Without waiting any longer, she pressed the button for "standard orbit." First, there was silence, then suddenly a loud hum seemed to emanate from all directions, followed by a ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk.
Ada: What? That almost sounded like explosive stembolts--
She was interrupted by a sudden, violent lurch throughout the ship, tossing her off her feet, through the air, and face-first into the deck. The sound her envirosuit mask made as it scraped along the decking was horrendous in her helmet, and klaxons sounded on the bridge as she struggled to her feet. As she tried to steady herself on a railing, a sharp pain shot up through her left hand. She looked down to see her index, middle, and ring fingers jutting at odd angles. She cussed under her breath.
V’Nille/Xiron/Grallator: Response
Ada: Suit integrity holding, but I have some broken fingers. What the hell happened?
Looking out through the viewscreen, she felt embarrassment burning in her cheeks and ears. She trusted the ship, and that trust was misplaced. Instead of entering a standard orbit, part of the ship had been ejected - a long, metal cylinder studded with consoles and ripped away gangways and conduits drifted away from the ship at speed, and already began to glow in the friction of the atmosphere.
V’Nille/Xiron/Grallator: Response
She rushed to help the others, and as she struggled to be of use without the skill to function with only one hand, she spoke in tense bursts.
Ada: I don't know, I don't know! Some kind of... Wait, do you feel it? The ship is different now. And that ::she motioned toward the viewscreen:: feels like the ship did.
V’Nille/Xiron/Grallator: Response
Ada: It used me? Tricked me to release it?V’Nille/Xiron/Grallator: Response
IDIC team member
ASDB team member
C239510LD0
(she/her, character)
(she/her, writer)
“For the wise person looks into space and knows there are no limited dimensions." --Zhuangzi