Ensign Jovenan – Remorse of Authority
Jovenan
((Shuttlebay 2, USS Excalibur-A))
The distance from the landing of the stairs to the closest shuttle wasn’t long, but someone still managed to stop her mid-sprint. A tight hand grabbed her arm, and she felt a sudden yank. The stress, the urgency of the situation, the relentless dread of impending doom that awaited them behind the flickering force field, and the unexpectedness of being seized, that all contributed to her reacting more strongly than she had even herself anticipated.
Jovenan: ::pleading frightened:: Let me go!
Lante: Where do you think your going Ma’am, we have an emergency here
The person’s voice was stern. Her anxiety towards those of higher rank and authority kicked in. Unlike usually, however, due to all the other factors that had terrified her, she didn’t freeze to her spot but instead became even less capable forming a rational thought.
Jovenan: I need to use a shuttle! I need to get this data decoded!
Yeah, that came out irrationally.
Lante: No way… ::he pointed to the teams trying to lock the shuttle bay doors.:: Flight Control ordered an evacuation of all non essential personnel, you're not essential here.
Jovenan: This is essential! The computers are down, I need to use unaffected machine for this!
She tried shaking her arm a little, slightly panicking and not realising the possible consequences of resisting someone keeping order. He just tightened his grip, and she had to stop to avoid bruising herself more.
Lante: With all due respect Ma’am, but I can’t let you go.
She was about to relent, but only when she did so, she became calm enough to assess the situation. It was only now when she took a proper look on her restrainer. He was wearing the typical Starfleet uniform, which came in no surprise to her considering the setting, but what was a surprise was the small emblem he wore on his neck. It was not a set of golden rank pips, nor hollowed ones either. It was a dark slab, with two diagonal silver lines.
Jovenan: ::sternly:: Crewman… Who do you think you are? Unhand me.
The man quickly let her go. She was pleased to see her words turning to action, but her expression changed for a mild confusion when the man became stiff.
Lante: Security Crewman 2nd Class Lante Ma’am. I was ordered to help evacuate not… Not… Devacuate…
Her first thought was concern over if the universal translator had also been compromised as there was no possibility the crewman had really said “devacuate”. But then her mind was occupied by embarrassment. She had given an order this person who had just been doing his job, and now he was in tough position with a superior officer. He couldn’t realistically have done anything else, either. He was under orders to stop her. She had felt pride when Kawarda had followed her directions in the astrometrics, but it had only made them to work more efficiently. This was different.
In the Academy, Jovenan had come across with a few officers or senior cadets who enjoyed having young cadets run around and making them discomforted, borderline humiliated. Those were sometimes seen as an initiation rite, even if the Academy Command was eager to put stop to them, at least their more sinister shenanigans. Even in a society as utopian as the Federation was and even in the community as idealistic as the Starfleet, there were those who would get drunk of power, however minor. Jovenan feared of becoming one.
Jovenan: N- No need for that, uh, Lante. You did what you had to so I wouldn’t… uh, devacuate. But I have something important to do.
She looked around for a moment. She still had her imperative mission to accomplish.
Jovenan: How about you help me, and then you can evacuate me as much as you want? We can get this done together faster and then I’m off.
Lante: Response
Jovenan: Follow me!
She began to move towards the closest shuttle, while holding a pace where she could talk with Crewman Lante by her side.
Jovenan: I have a couple transmissions here, in sensor raw data format. ::shows PADD:: Comm systems are all down, but the shuttles have independent transceiver sys that should still work and decode this. There might be something Captain needs to see.
Lante: Response
They soon arrived to the shuttle. It was one of the smaller ones, not even near a runabout but bigger than those workbees used for maintenance. It had been a few years since her shuttle course in the Academy. She had got a C- for that abysmal performance, a grade she felt she didn’t fully deserve. She stared at the shuttle rear entrance. Outside that one course, whenever they had been moving from a place to another, the enlisted crewmembers had prepared a shuttle for them. She tried hard to remember what was required to use one of these crafts. Did they need to turn of the power somehow? Was there some protocol to open the doors? She might have been able to tinker with computers and combadges, but she was no shuttlecraft engineer, barely even a qualified officer.
Jovenan: Uhh… Do you happen to know how to operate one of these?
Lante: Response
TAG/TBC
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Ensign Jovenan
Science officer
USS Excalibur-A
E239911J11