Commander Rouiancet: All's Well

[tonyrc...@gmail.com]

(( Operations Center, Deck 5, USS 'Oumuamua ))

As Lia listened with all her might, she heard Lieutenant Herrick try, fail, and then succeed to engage the manual release system, and then, in an act she couldn't really believe she was witnessing, let alone that she'd ordered, proceed.

Rouiancet: =/\= Confirmed. Separation has occurred. =/\=

Now, however, they had to get the pod away from the ship and the station.

Arlill: =/\= Ok, looks like the practice beam out worked (beat) Let’s try that again. =/\=

Lia, in a flash of sudden and obvious insight, connected the station at which she was working to the external imaging sensors on Decks D and E, as well as to the shuttle that Lieutenant Arlill and Ensign Nilsen had taken out. There! Now she could see what was happening out there, in addition to receiving the real-time reports and hearing from the officers.

S. Sherlock: =/\= Ummm (beat) not to make anyone worry, but, uh, we're still in the pod. =/\=

Herrick: =/\= It would be nice if we make it tomorrow Thunderbird! =/\=

Nilsen: =/\= Standby, we’re working on it. =/\=

Arlill : =/\= I have to reset the targeting system, it’s attempting to autolock and won’t release the locks once captured. =/\=

S. Sherlock: =/\= Oh! Ok! Um, do we have to do anything? =/\=

Nilsen: =/\= Nothing for you to do. Sit tight, your flight will begin boarding soon, please present your booking passes =/\=

Arlill: =/\= I got it! Stand by. =/\=

This all came rapid-fire through the commlink Lia kept open between all the members of their impromptu rescue team, and though the visual helped allay some of her anxieties, they also elevated cousins of those same anxieties. She couldn't do anything directly to help at this stage, and that chafed.

Herrick: =/\= Anytime now… =/\=

A yawning, lasting silence, and no changes Lia could see from her impromptu panopticon -- though that could be good, too, couldn't it?

Whatever she had expected next, Ensign Nilsen's words weren't it.

Nilsen: =/\= Yo, Sherlock right, you’re Aine’s sister? (laughs) What’s the best way to annoy her? =/\=

Rouiancet: (to herself) What?!

S. Sherlock: =/\= Well, if you really want to get under her skin, you can always bring up the zipper inc... =/\=

Rouiancet: =/\= Let's focus in, please. =/\=

Nilsen: =/\= Trust me bro, tractor the pod. It should increase the signal strength and, keep us relative to the pod, like a train. I’ve had an idea, Commander, how long we got until the pod's destroyed? =/\=

Rouiancet: =/\= Three minutes, at absolute maximum. Count on two. =/\=

Arlill: =/\= Do it! =/\=

S. Sherlock: =/\= Can we, uh, get out of here first? =/\=

Nilsen =/\= That’s not enough time when it blows it’s taking half the ship. I’m flying now. The tractor beam is holding. Sorry for the bumpy ride, we’re working on getting ya out. =/\=

Computer: =/\= Atmospheric Leak Detected, Emergency… =/\=

Lia couldn't hurry the shuttle crew along, but she could do something about an atmospheric leak, even if it was only a stopgap.

Rouiancet: =/\= I can briefly increase gas exchange at your location. =/\=

However, Sherlock's next words made Lia's gesture unnecessary.

S. Sherlock: =/\= Um, hey everyone, we, uh, have a big problem. We're about to go swimming in space. =/\=

Arlill: =/\= I got them! =/\=

Lia checked immediately. Yes, she confirmed, a moment before she slammed a celebratory hand on the console. Herrick and Sherlock had vanished from their previous location.

Nilsen =/\= I can’t pitch up. it’s weighing me down. I’m going to have to go with it. New heading. 000 mark 010. Straight on =/\=

Rouiancet: =/\= Get to a safe distance as quickly as possible. =/\=

She'd heard both Herrick and Sherlock speaking in the background, too, and she didn't know that she had much to add to what they might have said, but she did know that she needed to say something, or else the paired excitement and anxiety were going to make her explode.

Arlill: =/\= Commander, can you pull up a remote connection to the mission pod and override the airlocks on the turbolift shafts? =/\=

Rouiancet: =/\= One moment. (beat; working) Yes, done. =/\=

Nilsen: =/\= I got this, Tox on your mark I’ll fire keel thrusters and you break the beam =/\=

Arlill: =/\= Wait for it (beat) wait for it. (beat) NOW! =/\=

Rouiancet: (anxiously) =/\= What happened? Are they aboard? =/\=

Arlill: =/\= Yes Commander, it appears to have worked, well done. =/\=

Lia let out a breath she might have been holding since she and Ensign Nilsen had been interrupted by the first explosion. She heard the foursome talking through the still-open commlink, though they were talking amongst themselves, and she waited until there was a slight break in their conversation until she interjected:

Rouiancet: =/\= Come on back. We'll get you all checked out at Deep Space Nine's infirmary once the pod is secured. Rouiancet, out. =/\=

She tapped the channel closed.

( Much Later That Day )

Lia had been all over the ship, and back and forth to the station, several times. The pod was secure for the moment, if in pieces, and the rest of the ship had mostly been spared. There was no question that the 'Oumuamua would be going back to the Gamma Quadrant anytime soon, though, and that made Lia wonder as to the fate of the crew. Would they be placed on a period of extended leave? Or would they be reassigned? She, at least, knew where she was going next, but the immediate futures of her friends and colleagues were suddenly less than certain.

In the spirit of providing stability, she returned to the ops center that night, when she was still too restless to sleep and she found the center occupied (and likely preoccupied) by one person the computer identified as Ensign Nilsen. Under the pretense of a favor, Lia picked up his cane from their workspace in the lab, which he hadn't had time to collect yet, and brought it to him.

Nilsen: Oh, hey, is that my cane? I wondered where it went.

Rouiancet: I thought you might've.

He stood to greet her, and to her eye he was still a little wobbly.

Nilsen: You know sir, I’ve managed most of the day, I don’t think I need it anymore.

Rouiancet: Even so, we could all use a little extra support sometimes, don't you think? (beat) What are you up to at this hour?

Nilsen: Just some PADD work, I literally just submitted the report. How do you even put what happened today into one report like that?

He handed the PADD over and she skimmed through it. She would read it more thoroughly, but she read some subtext into it that she hadn't expected. He didn't seem to be doubting himself as deeply as before, but there was still -- something.

Rouiancet: You do your best, which is exactly what we all did. You included. Commander Etan will see that, and so will Commodore V'Airu.

Nilsen: Response

Rouiancet: Well, for what it's worth...

She leaned forward conspiratorially.

Rouiancet: I'll see what I can do to make sure you're recognized. The testimony of a commander isn't nothing. You deserve recognition for the good work you've done here.

Though, as she gestured around at the darkened ops center, and the broken ship that lay beyond, she realized that she might have chosen a better emphasis.

Nilsen: Response

Rouiancet: I think you'll be pleased. But I won't, I can't, say anything else tonight, so instead I'll say goodnight. But that report to bed and then (nodding to the door) do the same for yourself.

And, to demonstrate the direction she wanted him to head, she took a few steps toward the door.

Nilsen: Response

Rouiancet: (looking back over her shoulder) Goodnight, Lhandon.

Nilsen: Response

Tags! and END SCENE for Rouiancet!

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Commander Lia Rouiancet

Strategic Operations Officer

USS 'Oumuamua

V238208LV0

she/her/hers (this character) & he/him/his (player)