Deus Ex Acreman

Posted on Aug 22, 2014 @ 11:54am by Lieutenant Commander Aerdan Jos
Edited on on Aug 22, 2014 @ 11:55am

Mission: http://thefrpg.com/sim/missions/id/7
Location: USS ARMSTRONG

"Deus Ex Acreman" (continued from "Homecoming")

Location: USS ARMSTRONG
Stardate: 2.140804.0005
Scene: Ready Room

~*~
"I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get."
~Anne Tyler
~*~

It was dark - dark enough that the stars in the windows were clearly highlighted against the massive backdrop of the blackness of the galaxy. But not dark enough to black out the feeling that this room was foreign, and somehow he was encroaching in someone else’s personal space.

Captain Harcourt had not used her ready room much. It had very few of her personal effects in it. This was the only consolation Aerdan Jos had as he used the darkened room for pacing space. He was trying to figure out a decent way of explaining to Starfleet Command what had happened, starting with how they came to be on Nimbus III and ending with Harcourt’s eviscerated body that lay in the ARMSTRONG’s morgue. Even a few thin hours of sleep had not helped and there was little sense to be made of the whole affair. Still, the burden of informing the higher ups fell directly on his shoulders. The only thing delaying the inevitable were the repairs and preparations for returning home.

His antennae snapped upright before the chime on the door sounded. “Enter.” He called, wondering who would be knocking on his chamber door in the middle of the gamma shift.

A tall, broad shouldered form was silhouetted by the dimmed lights of the bridge. “It’s fucking dark in here.”

“Hello, Cade.” Aerdan murmured back. “You know I see better in low light conditions than you do.”

“It’s dark even for you.” Doctor Foster replied with the canny tone of someone who had roomed with the recalcitrant Andorian. “Computer, lights up 35%”

With a complicit beep, the lights slowly brightened enough to be considered visible. Aerdan stepped forward from where he had been pacing behind Harcourt’s desk and turned towards Cade. “What’s on your mind?”

“You injured?” the human asked, getting a clinical expression on his face as he looked the smaller man over.

“No…” Aerdan started, curious.

“Good.” Cade pulled a hand back and without warning slapped Aerdan Jos across the face as hard as he though he could get away with.

Aerdan’s head snapped to one side, his hands flying up defensively as he stumbled backwards, antennae flexing to keep his balance. “What in the ever loving hell…” he cried out as Cade stepped forward and gently grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from falling.

“Get your damn hands off of me…” Commander Jos growled, pulling one hand back to retaliate, but Cade was quicker. He blocked the retaliation blow and pushed the Andorian into a chair.

“Sit.” The voice was curiously without anger. “You felt that, right?”

“Of course I felt it, what in the hell is wrong with you…” the reply was certainly with anger.

“Ok. If you felt that, all your nerve endings are intact, possessed of your faculties and still alive, would you mind explaining to me what in hell was wrong with you when you ordered the bridge evacuated and then failed to do so yourself…” Cade’s voice was pointed and curiously passionate.

Aerdan looked up, his blue eyes wide, the anger suddenly deflating. “What…?”

“I’m not stupid, Aerdan. I saw the tactical logs. The only thing that saved you from being sucked out into the vacuum of space was the uncanny appearance of the ACREMAN.” Cade leaned down to make sure he was staring the young man directly in the eyes. “You had the chance to evacuate with everybody else… so tell me, why didn’t you?”

“I had a job to finish…” he started

“Bullshit.” Cade cut him off hard and fast. “This ship already lost its Captain and its de facto first officer. It didn’t need to lose its acting commander.” He paused and gave Aerdan a cutting gaze. “We didn’t need to lose our first officer, either.”

“I’m still here…” Aerdan protested lightly.

Silence fell as Cade refused to move an inch. Very slowly Commander Jos started to feel very, very cold. What was it that Mav had first asked? He wanted to know whether he was alive.

“Yeah. No thanks to you.” Cade retorted. Still, his words couldn’t hide the pleasure at that fact.

“No…” Aerdan felt a blue heat creep up into his cheeks. “Thanks to the ACREMAN.”

“How did they know we were here, anyways? How did they even get here?” Foster folded his arms across his chest.

Shaking his head, Commander Jos slumped backwards into the chair he was seated in. “I’m not sure.”

“I thought you were supposed to meet with Mav?”

The Andorian took in a slow breath. It had slipped his mind. Sort of. The ACREMAN was looming in the viewscreen, and yet with so much to think about, it was the think he kept unintentionally putting off. “I think he’s waiting for me to call him.”

“Then call him.”

~*~
Time index: about a half hour later.


Aerdan has gotten up, only to be called out for pacing, prompting him to sit back down again as he waited for Mav to arrive. In the meantime, he has fallen into a quiet staring contest with Cade as he rubbed his still-smarting jaw.

“Here, drink this. It will settle your nerves.” Cade pressed a mug of tea towards his daydreaming face.

Aerdan snapped his gaze upwards, vaguely dismayed that he hadn’t noticed Cade heading to the replicator. “What makes you think my nerves need calming?” He accepted the offered mug anyways.

“You’re gazing out into space with your antennae twitching.” Doctor Foster wore the smirk of a man who knew his companion all too well.

The Andorian opened his mouth to protest and found he had no good leg to stand on. He closed his mouth with a look of consternation and took a sip of the tea. Orion white with Andorian blueflowers, which was, in fact, his favorite tea to sip when winding down. For a moment he flickered his gaze upwards to find Cade watching him with an uncannily smug expression. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be? Like sickbay?”

“Sickbay’s dead. All the important things are done and I left Suvek in charge. You can’t tell me Suvek can’t hold the fort.” Foster grinned.

“What about Lieutenant Phia. You said she was infected with the necrotic virus?”

“She was.” The elderly human puffed his chest out. “However being the medical genius that I am, she is no longer infected.”

Aerdan was unsurprised. “How is she?” he asked in the tone of ‘don’t you need to check on her?’

“She’s sleeping, Harcourt’s dead, O’Malley’s frozen and Bomba’s sedated into next week. If Suvek can’t handle everything else that comes into sickbay, we have problems.” Foster snapped back with a grin.

Aerdan sighed, trying a different tactic. “Why do you want to talk to Mav? I can’t believe you’re just hanging around to feed me tea.”

“Mav said he was sent here by Peter.” Cade admitted. “Peter, of the PENDRAGON, which is twenty some years away at maximum warp barring another little artifact accident. However the artifact is connected here not… wherever the ACREMAN was. It’s a mystery.”

“And you can’t handle not knowing.”

“I like answers.” Cade lifted his own mug. “Cheers.”

Mercifully, they didn’t have much longer to wait. Maverick was punctual, entering the small ready room with a look of business on his face.

“Commander Jos.” He paused and frowned upon seeing Cade. “Lieutenant Commander Foster.”

“General Maverick.” Aerdan stood, greeting the other man politely. “Thank you…” he started.

Mav waved a hand a little. “Don’t mention it.” As they settled themselves, Maverick frowned. “I know you want answers.” That much was clear from their communications setting up this little meeting. “And I’m going to start by apologizing and saying that I don’t have many of them.”

Commander Jos nodded slowly. “You said Peter sent you? Peter Aspinall?”

“Yes.” Mav gave an assent.

“How?” Cade interjected, leaning forward.

General Maverick took in a long, deep breath. “Peter traveled back to the alpha quadrant in the PENDRAGON. And then he traveled back in time. I do not know the details. But he indicated he has a very important mission that concerns the future of the Federation. I am assuming he will meet up with you in person to discuss that. My orders were simply to get here and make that meeting possible.”

“Make it possible…” Cade started and then trailed off. The unspoken implications were all too clear. The ACREMAN really had saved the ARMSTRONG from an early grave. “That’s how you were able to pull a deus ex machina?”

“Yes.” Mav coughed a little. “That and a Borg coil installed in our engine core. Which brings me to a small problem we have. The ACREMAN isn’t outfitted with transwarp and out little stunt jump was a one time affair.”

Cade whistled but it was Aerdan who spoke. “If I’m not mistaken the ARMSTRONG has the ability to create a transwarp conduit. From what I am reading in Harcourt’s logs, her husband made some impressive modifications to these engines. I will need to check with engineering to make certain, but if this is a possibility, perhaps you could piggyback with us?”

Nodding an assent, Mav considered this. “Quite possible.” He paused. “I take it you are headed back to Earth?”

“Yes.” Aerdan frowned lightly. “The ARMSTRONG has lost her Captain and there is obviously something wrong that went on here.”

“I don’t have any details… however Peter asked me to tell you to be very, very careful with who you confide in when we get to Earth.” The General returned. “Seeing the logs from this mission, I would agree. Something is wrong.”

Commander Jos found himself nodding in agreement. “I understand.”

For several seconds silence reigned in the ready room. The heavy questions of what would be so important that it would prompt Peter to risk a time travel jump hung in the air. The rest of the conversation was fairly cut and dry. Repair schedules, roster lists to get the right engineers and scientists in contact with the correct people across both ships and one last exchange of muted thanks. The reality of their situation was sinking in, more so as Maverick bid his farewells-for-now and the door closed behind him.

“Peter wouldn’t time travel for nothing.” Cade snapped in the silence.

“Agreed. However wild conjecture on what made him do it does us no good. I would rather focus on protecting this crew and getting the work done that needs to be done.” He stood and turned away from Cade, heading back towards the desk. There was several more seconds of silence before the Andorian jumped a little as Cade lay a hand on his shoulder.

“Peter sent the ACREMAN here to prevent us from getting killed.” He paused and his voice shifted, verbally twisting the knife. “Or more likely to prevent you from getting killed.”

Aerdan closed his eyes, feeling the same sickly cold seep into his bones. Like a man living on curiously borrowed time. “Maybe he’s our crazy time traveling guardian angel.” He joked weakly.

Cade pulled, spinning the smaller man around. “Point being Peter’s not going to keep time traveling to save our asses, Jos.” He stared his companion down. “One get out of death free card is all you get. The rest is up to you.”

Silence.

Opening his mouth a little, the Andorian looked like a fish out of water. He closed it when the words didn’t come out and searched his mind for some snarky come back but nothing leapt to mind. When he opened his mouth again two words dribbled out. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry you self sacrificing nutbrain. Be smart.” Cade Foster’s voice was deep with hidden emotion. “I’ll slap you again if I think you’re being an ass.”

“Please don’t.” Commander Jos sounded plaintive. “I’ve been knocked around the bridge enough. I don’t need more soft tissue brusing.”

For a moment or three Cade gently gripped his companion’s shoulder. Then a smug grin. “Stop by sickbay. I think you’re forgotten my medical genius. Give me ten minutes and I’ll have you right and rain to send home to Zabrielle.”

“Right.” Aerdan lisped back. “It’s a date.”

“Shhh… don’t let Phia hear.” Cade winked and waltzed out of the ready room.

Aerdan sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. He made sure that Engineering had the plans for the transwarp jump, getting everything settled and prepared before heading out.

All too soon they would be back to Earth…

~*~
NRPG: a bit short due to IRL craziness.

If I don’t get another post out before you guys post us being back on Earth we will simply assume that yes, they did a fancy transwarp jump and returned. I’m sure the ARMSTRONG’s reappearance won’t be nearly as magnificent as the CENTURY’s ;-)
~*~

Jamie LeBlanc
Lt. Commander Aerdan Jos
Acting C.O.
USS ARMSTRONG




"Why do we fly? Because we have dreamt of it for so long that we must"


~Julian Beck