Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds - The Only Way Is Up (Baby)
Quinn Reynolds
((Echoes of the Past: Deck 15, USS Gorkon))
Their footsteps muted by the bottle-green carpeting, the small gaggle of officers moved forward, approaching a corner. But before they rounded it, Quinn held out a hand to stop them. Voices floated through the air, weary and rough, and a quick peek revealed a small band standing near the Jefferies tube they needed to access. Armed, grimy, and thin, she recognised some of the Gorkon’s security contingent from back then.
Reynolds: ::Low,:: Sevo... you may need to distract them so we can get past. I don’t think we have the time to go around or explain why we’re in the wrong uniforms. ::She flicked a bird-thin hand toward the Trill.:: You’re the only one who looks period-appropriate.
Sevo: I’m not sure if I should feel lucky or cursed.
Tahna: ::Quietly,:: Good luck.
After pointing at Tahna to echo her sentiment, Gnaxac raised his thumb. Sevo hoisted her phaser rifle over her shoulder, stepping around the corner to approach the trio of officers. Chief Frorr, Ensign Zhang, and Lieutenant LaMarr. Two who would make it home, and one who would not. Quinn was grateful for the distraction Tahna offered, murmuring a quiet question.
Tahna: How likely are we to run into others using the Jefferies’ tubes to get around? Should we try to, I don’t know, look grungier?
Reynolds: I don’t think it’s too likely. We lost two-thirds of the crew during our time here. The Gorkon was practically a ghost ship by the end of it. ::She exhaled a deep breath as she thought.:: My worry is there’s a good chance they’d recognise you and Gnaxac don’t belong. With so few of us, most knew everyone’s faces.
Tahna: Just an idea.
The Bajoran leaned her shoulder against the wall, listening to Sevo talk with the trio of officers. Talk of rations and routes, hungry bellies which wouldn’t get filled even if they got to the mess hall, because there simply wasn’t enough to go around. Never the most robust of figures to begin, Quinn still remembered the gasp her usually unruffled father had expelled, on seeing just how thin his daughter had become.
The charade proved effective, and the three officers moved off in the opposite direction. Sevo double-checked they had left, and then beckoned her allies forward. Quinn nodded, a faint smile of appreciation for a job well-executed. As they approached her, the Trill leaned over, resting her hands on bended knees. Gnaxac let out a small, soft cheer, followed immediately by a deep breath of relief.
Sevo: Whoooo.
Gnaxac: Imp-p-pressive ad-libbing, C-c-commander.
Reynolds: Indeed. Well done.
Tahna: Response
Sevo: I’m fine. It was just hard seeing them. Especially Lieutenant LaMarr. She doesn’t make it out of this.
While Gnaxac looked at the Trill wide-eyed, Quinn said nothing. She didn’t need an explanation or reminder. She remembered all too well the fate of the fierce, ambitious young woman. LaMarr had been an only child, the bright future of a family finding their way after the oppression of Cardassian occupation. She remembered exactly how her mother’s face had crumpled when told of her daughter’s fate, and the bob in her father’s throat as he struggled to ask questions he didn’t want the answers to.
Gnaxac: D-d-do you know when?
Tahna: Response
Sevo: Or… she didn’t. She dies in a plasma fire in a Jefferies’ tube as she’s passing a damaged plasma relay that explodes. We only know because she was with two others who managed to pull her out of the tube, but it was too late. It couldn’t have been Frorr and Zhang and that tube—::she pointed to the opening in the wall::—could it? Did I just save her life?
Gnaxac: I hop-p-pe you did!
One of the least enjoyable responsibilities of a commanding officer was that of the party pooper—especially when the news was like this. She slowly shook her head, and as much as she wished it otherwise, it was probably for the best. Even minor changes to the timeline could have dramatic effects, and one extra engineer could have untold consequences. Maybe they’d come out better off. Or maybe they’d lose someone else. She imagined Sevo wouldn’t look so interested in the possibilities if one of them was Stoyer’s death.
Reynolds: I’m afraid not. It happened on deck seven, and it was Nkai and Johns who pulled her out. ::She frowned, remembering a weary Kael Tam telling her of another death, his voice cracking with each word.:: They were trying to repair one of our internal communication relays when we went to warp, and the output shift of the drive blew out the damaged relay.
Tahna/Gnaxac: Response
Sevo: I wasn’t lying about the blockage in the turbolift. I remember doing the scan for a route from Stellar Cartography to the bridge. There’s a car stuck between Decks 12 and 13, offline and jammed by debris. I’m… not sure about the Jefferies’ tube, now.
There was one way to find out, and after a moment of discombobulation, Gnaxac did it. With a shake of his head, he lifted his tricorder and scanned the area.
Gnaxac: It’s unb-b-b-blocked, but there are a lot of ch-ch-chronitons down there. Who knows what ef-f-f-fect that could have?
Reynolds: If we’re right about the Kerla being the source, it would make sense for the chroniton concentration to increase as we get closer. : ::Her brow creased together in thought.:: Though I’m not sure what that means for our initial theory that the time disparity reduces as we move away from the shuttlebay. Things could be in a serious tangle.
Sevo/Tahna: Response
They could take a longer route, but if the Kerla was pumping out chronitons, they’d encounter this problem whatever path they took. The only way was up, and it seemed Gnaxac had come to the same conclusion. He attempted to open the hatch, but with a corner melted and warped, he found little success in the endeavour. Tugging a micro-tool from his kit, he jammed it into the seams and tried to lever the hatch open.
Gnaxac: Little h-h-help?
With little thought spared, Quinn hunkered down next to him. Tahna had been nursing her arm earlier, and Sevo might well be nursing malnutrition if her health was from the same time as her appearance. Besides, she had to deal with a few stubborn hatches when she’d lived through this the first time. Helping herself to the contents of his engineering kit, she pulled out a hyperspanner, holding it upside down in her hand.
While Gnaxac applied pressure to one corner, Quinn adjusted her grip on the hyperspanner and brought it down hard on the opposite. The engineer’s favourite joke: percussive maintenance. But jokes so often had an element of truth to them, and after a second ringing smack with the non-business end of the tool, a corner popped free.
Reynolds: There we go. ::She snorted a soft, sardonic laugh and passed the hyperspanner back to Gnaxac.:: Four years studying starship engineering at the Academy well spent.
Sevo/Tahna/Gnaxac: Response
The stale stink of smoke, burning dust, and decomposing gel pack fluid wafted out from the opened hatch, the Jefferies’ tube even darker and less inviting than the grimy corridor. But not too far inside, she could see the vertical tube and the rungs of a ladder glinting in the faint, flickering light. She scooted inside, navigating easily thanks to a bird-thin figure and the spatial awareness of someone who’d knocked their head in the tubes often enough to instinctively avoid it.
Reynolds: I forgot the smell. ::She grimaced..:: Let’s not linger too long in here.
Sevo/Tahna/Gnaxac: Response
And then something else familiar from the time. The blare of a red alert siren, a hollow echo through the Jefferies’ tubes, followed the deck lurching to the side. Quinn stumbled against the wall, smacking her shoulder into the panelling. Despite the analgesics flooding her system, she sucked in a sharp breath of pain, her already injured shoulder shouting over the white noise of pain relief.
Reynolds: Of course. ::She sighed out bleak amusement. Of course they hadn’t travelled to one of the Gorkon’s quieter moments.:: This is going to complicate matters.
Sevo/Tahna/Gnaxac: Response
Commanding Officer
USS Gorkon
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