[M] LtCmdr Rahman: Respect

[Rich]

"Chief Engineer's Personal Log, Stardate 239012.28. It's been a few days now since Captain Kells resigned and subsequently disappeared, and I get the feeling it's finally beginning to sink in for the crew that he's really not coming back. Personally, I'm not even sure if I've accepted it yet either... but whether the captain's truly gone for now, there's still much work to be done before we get back to DSX."

((Deck 15, USS Mercury))

::Roshanara strode through the lonely corridors of the Mercury, making her way to Engineering. Most of the crew had relocated to temporary quarters aboard the Garuda, not just because of the extensive damage the Mercury had incurred but also because with the Mercury locked in a warp tow, the entire ship rattled continuously during the journey, making it most uncomfortable for a good night's sleep.::

::And yet, Roshanara had elected to remain aboard the battered Oracle class ship, which meant today, she was very tired.::

::She entered Main Engineering and shook her head at the sight. While it didn't look as bad as it had after the bombing in 2389, one major missing element was immediately noticeable: the ship's warp core. She walked forward towards the railing and leaned forward on both arms. The doctors on the Garuda had healed her arm, but for now, her two missing fingers on her left hand remained absent while she waited for the mechanical replacements to be readied.::

::The Kriosian looked down into the abyss where the matter/antimatter reaction assembly once stood. How had it come to this?::

((FLASHBACK: Shuttle William Schirra, three days ago))

::The captain clapped his hands and looked around at his senior staff.::

Kells: Please listen: You're about to be beamed to a Federation rescue vessel. Dr. T'Vai, please ensure that Commander Ross's medical needs are attended to -- and the rest of the team's, as well, along with Lieutenant Shryker's. Dr. Saveron, Commander Rahman, if you'd join me please.

::Roshanara had thought the order odd, but perhaps the captain had discovered something further.::

Kells: I have only the five minutes that the captain promised me, so I have to do this quickly.

::He pulled off his combadge and tossed it to Doctor Saveron, who, in true Vulcan fashion, caught it without a hint of surprise.::

Kells: Keep it. I've resigned my commission, as of this moment.

::If she'd been puzzled before, now she was thoroughly confused, but the captain continued.::

Kells: I've made this decision, but there are things I want to say to both of you before I leave. 

::He smiled uneasily, bringing little comfort to the awkwardness of this impromptu farewell.::

Kells: Before I abscond with Starfleet property, I suppose. (beat) Roshanara, first, to you. 

::She tilted her head slightly.::

Rahman: Captain?

Kells: I apologize for my invasions of your privacy. You deserved far more respect than I offered you, and my defense that I -- I, your all-knowing, time-traveling captain -- knew better than you how to conduct your life was, at absolute best, only disrespectful.

::Truthfully, she had been angry at the captain when he had decided to "intervene" in her personal affairs, and even angrier at Del for letting him. And that ambush they had planned!::

::Yet how angry could she really be with a man who had tried to save her from some horrible fate he had witnessed -- that he *knew* was to come -- in the next few years.::

::No, she was still angry at the captain. But she knew much of that had to do with her anger at the message he had brought her: that of a Roshanara Rahman who day by day, bit by bit, had become a hollow shell of a person unfit to even live in society, let alone remain chief engineer of a starship.::

::But worst of all was that she knew the captain was right to be concerned. There had been a few disturbing incidents here and there, with the worst having occurred in the holodeck during the Stardust Fair, but at least they hadn't yet interfered with her duties. Until today. They'd been fortunate -- no, *she*'d been fortunate that Alora DeVeau -- gravely injured herself -- was able to restore the missing component to the Gateway because during that moment, while Commander Ross was getting pummeled and the rest of the team were counting on her, she'd proven absolutely useless.::

::If it happened again...::

::When it happens again.::

Kells: However, I am friends with Niccolo del Vedova; we have that in common. And if there's one thing I believe is a certainty over the next decades, it's that your friendship will be true and deep. I take full responsibility for my actions, and I understand that you'll have to work through your friendship with him, but -- try. Please, do.

::She nodded meekly.::

Rahman: I will, captain.

::She still just couldn't admit to the man that he'd done the right thing, could she? Absolve him of this guilt he felt he deserved. No.::

::Perhaps in another time, another place. But not now.:: 

((END FLASHBACK))

Reez: ::whistles:: It's a long way down.

::Roshanara turned her head slightly to see her Denobulan colleague approaching with a smirk.::

Reez: I would have said, "Don't jump!" but seeing as how you already did that the last time a warp core was ejected, I guess I should say, "Don't jump again!"

::The chief engineer just shook her head as the man chuckled and joined her by the railing.::

Rahman: Are you done?

Reez: Wait, I think I've got one more... ::grabs onto the railing:: "Don't pull me down with you this time!"

Rahman: ...

Reez: Hey, just trying to make sangrias out of lemons.

Rahman: Uh-huh. By the way, you're fired.

::The 84-year-old grinned and then put his hand on her head and tousled her hair as if she were one of his mischievous daughters. She returned a grimace, but he paid no heed.::

Reez: Oh, don't you try to blame this one on me, your highness.

::She brushed her hair back into place with one hand before pointing a finger at Reez.::

Rahman: I distinctly remember when I left this ship that it still had thirty decks, ::lifts another finger:: a warp core, ::lifts a third finger:: and a relatively fresh coat of paint on the hull.

::The two engineers continued to peer over the edge of the railing like two fishermen by the wharf.::

Reez: ::waves a dismissive hand:: Ah, it looks better this way. Admit it.

::Roshanara rolled her eyes at him before a voice interjected.::

Ket-Gavon (NPC): Sorry, I hope I'm not intruding.

::She turned to see a large Orion man, this one though dressed in engineering gold with lieutenant pips on his collar.::

Rahman: Not at all, mister...

Ket-Gavon: Ket-Gavon, chief engineer of the Garuda.

Rahman: Ah... a fine ship, you've got there, lieutenant.

Ket-Gavon: Thank you, commander. Yours is... uh...

::He looked around the abandoned engineering facilities.::

Ket-Gavon: ...charming-

Rahman: I'm going to stop you right there.

Reez: Hmmmph. ::nods his approval at the Orion:: Chief Reez, sir.

Ket-Gavon: Nice to meet you, chief.

::And now he, too, joined Roshanara and Reez by the railing. He took his own obligatory glance down, nodded to himself, and then looked back at the other two engineers.::

Ket-Gavon: So what are you two still doing here? I hate to break it to you, commander, but no matter what you plan on doing now, Mercury's not going back out without a nice long stay at a spacedock.

Rahman: Lieutenant, how would you feel if you left your pristine ship on an away mission, and when you came back, it was half-destroyed and needed to be towed back to a starbase?

Ket-Gavon: Honestly, I'd feel a bit shocked.

Rahman: Is that all?

Ket-Gavon: Well... maybe I'd be a little upset, too.

Rahman: Ah... "upset." ::She bit her lip.:: A perfectly good word for some things... like when the replicator gets my recipes wrong. That's upsetting. Or when someone leaves a mess after eating a snack at their workstation.

Reez: Ooo, very upsetting.

Rahman: But when half my ship gets blown away and has to be hauled like scrap... that's... ::nods:: that's a bit infuriating.

Ket-Gavon: Sorry, I didn't mean to-

Rahman: No, it's okay. (beat) But it does make me want to throw this guy... ::gestures to Reez:: ...down this convenient hole in the deck.

Reez: ::shrugs to the Orion:: It's kind of our thing.

Rahman: Fortunately for him, he's too heavy.

::Ket-Gavon just watched with a cautious eye. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.::

Rahman: Anyway, since I can't get satisfaction from throwing Chief Reez down the hole, I'll just have to divert that energy into making the Mercury less of an embarrassment before it gets sent off to spacedock.

Ket-Gavon: ...I can respect that.

::The man offered a smile. She turned and raised an eyebrow at him before returning a smile of her own.::

Rahman: Respect it enough to lend a hand?

TBC...

Lt. Commander Roshanara Rahman

Chief Engineer & Second Officer, USS Mercury