Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Posted on Oct 18, 2015 @ 10:14pm by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on Oct 18, 2015 @ 10:14pm

Mission: Civil War

= Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World =

(cont'd from "Comings And Goings")



LOCATION: USS PHOENIX, in orbit over ELANDIPOLE IV

SCENE: Outer Hull, Dorsal Saucer Section

STARDATE: [2.15] 1018.1804



The vast black curtain hung above her head, riddled with the pinprick shimmer of a million faraway stars. Behind her, the world floated in the dark, it's soft blue glow diffusing out into the cold emptiness of space. Streaks of white drifted gently across its surface, occasionally parting long enough to expose small pockets of green - the islands and atolls that made up much of E-4's landmass. All in all it would have made for a breathtaking sight, but Cindy Rochemonte wasn't looking at it. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the hull beneath her. She tried to focus completely on her walk along the surface of the PHOENIX, making each movement in the EVA suit delicately and deliberately. Over the sound of her breathing, loud in the enclosed space of the suit, she could faintly hear the steady "whump ka-CHUNK" of the maglocks in her boots engaging and disengaging. The sound had a muted quality, as the only medium available for transporting it was the sealed environment of the EVA suit, but Cindy let the sound fill her mind, focusing on it like a heartbeat, and driving away all distractions.



Well... most of them, anyway. Despite her years of training and service, Cindy had never gotten used to clinging to the exterior of a starship, with nothing but a thin layer of adaptive fabric separating her from infinity. A million anxieties burbled at the borders of her mind - What if my mag-boots fail? What if the enemy fleet arrives while we're still out here? What if, what if, what if? - but Cindy pushed them aside and focused her attention on the hull. She had work to do, after all.



Cindy risked a glance upward. She saw the wide, white back of Chaucer's EVA suit. It was specially designed to include room for his tail, but it gave him an odd, bulbous look. The Gorn had been a huge help in refining Cindy's original plan. They hadn't quite hit the 10% shield boost that Jake had demanded, but they'd gotten it up to a respectable 7.93% just futzing around with the math, and had mutually decided that the only way to really see how much good they could do was to go out on the hull and try to do it. It was risky; their suits were comm-linked, of course, but Chaucer couldn't talk without his Vox, and they didn't want to waste time trying to link the Vox unit with the suits comms. Chaucer would have to be mute for the duration of their walk. The Gorn seemed to be taking this in stride - he had, after all, been mute all his life - but Cindy didn't like not being able to hear from him if something came up. The PHOENIX was an awfully big place, and while they were being careful to stick together, it was possible to get separated even on the flat, relatively uninterrupted plane of the ship's surface.



If Chaucer had any of the anxiety Cindy was feeling, he was doing a good job of hiding it. The Gorn's movements were a little jerkier than Cindy's, and clearly he wasn't used to moving around in an EVA suit, but he'd risen to this challenge with the same aplomb that he had for every other crisis he'd faced since coming aboard. Gorn were hard to read even when they could come out and tell you what they were thinking, and Cindy supposed it was possible that Chaucer was as terrified as she was, but he kept moving forward with a dogged persistence that seemed to belie any trace of fear. Still, she didn't want to seem unsupportive in his time of uncertainty (if that was, in fact, what this was), so she activated her comm.



{{Just a little farther,}} she said, trying to sound casual. {{You're doing great, Chaucer.}}



Chaucer didn't stop moving, nor did he turn back to look at her. But he raised one of his hands a little, out to his side so that she could see it, and gave a thumb's up gesture. It was another of his little quirks: in all his time aboard LIMBO, Chaucer had picked up on human gestures and body language. He'd probably had to, given his inability to speak. It was strange, sometimes, to see a huge lizard, with predator's eyes and rows of needle teeth, making an "Ok" gesture with his hand, or shrugging his shoulders in confusion, or some other familiar series of movements to which Cindy had yet to ascribe concrete meaning. She'd decided that the thing he did when he pulled up his lips to show his teeth was meant to be a smile, though she wasn't sure if she should let him know it made him look more fierce than friendly. He also occasionally made an odd motion where he would raise one leg slightly to slap his palm against his knee two or three times. Cindy thought this was supposed to convey laughter, since she'd once heard an old Terran phrase that described jokes as "kneeslappers", but she had been too embarrassed to ask the Gorn for clarification.



All in all, though, Chaucer had proven to be a competent crewmate. Cindy knew that John Maynell still had some reservations - when did Maynell *not* have at least a few of those about something or other? - but Chaucer's work ethic was even starting to win Maynell over. Of course, Jake had taken to the Gorn immediately, probably because Chaucer had saved his life during Embry's riot. The rest of the engineering staff had a range of reactions to Chaucer. Most of them were good, but an unfortunate few apparently couldn't get past their mistrust of the Gorn, and were visibily uncomfortable around him. As usual, it was difficult to gauge how Chaucer felt about all of this, but if it bothered him, he hadn't let it affect his work.



{{Up ahead,}} Cindy said, inspecting a holodisplay built into the gauntlet of her EVA suit and pointing in the direction they had to go. {{We'll cut through the ablative armor there to access the deflector grid generators. Then we'll just have to see what we can see, won't we?}}



Chaucer didn't reply, but he started off again in the direction she had pointed. It took them a few more minutes to reach the right spot, then Chaucer turned to help Cindy assemble the specialized cutter they'd be using to slice through the hull. Cindy kept her eyes low, on her work, and found herself talking as a way to keep her mind occupied:



{{One of the upsides of ablative armor was that it worked with the ship's deflector shields to disperse the energy of incoming weapon's fire, but that means trying to cut your way through it is a headache.}} she said. {{It'll take the better part of an hour to gain access to the shielding unit, then maybe another hour to make the modifications.}}



She risked a glance up to see that Chaucer was watching her, his yellow eyes faintly visible through the curve of his suit's faceplate. Cindy smiled a little.



{{Of course, you probably know all this already,}} she said. {{Sorry, I just... uh... it's a little creepy being out here, is all.}}



Chaucer reached out to rest a gloved hand gently on the shoulder of Cindy's EVA suit. With his other hand, he made an "OK" gesture. Cindy could feel the Gorn's strength, even with that light touch, and for a moment she realized how easily Chaucer could pull her off the surface of the ship, defying the maglocks built into her boots, and hurl her out into the black. But of course, Chaucer would never do such a thing. For all his size, his strength, or the ferocity of his appearance, Chaucer was a surprisingly gentle soul. Cindy didn't like to think of how the coming battle - if there was to be a battle, of course - would affect the Gorn. In the small amount of time she'd known and worked with him, she'd found she had developed a fondness for Chaucer, and a protectiveness that felt almost maternal. It gave her another reason to get these shield upgrades done quickly and correctly.



{{Thanks,}} Cindy said. She reached up to rest one of her own hands on Chaucer's, and patted it gently. {{Well... no rest for the wicked, right? Let's get to it.}}



Chaucer nodded, then activated the cutter. Their work began in earnest.



=[/\]=



SCENE: Main Engineering



Jake Crichton had just finished going over the updated duty roster. There were a lot more names to keep track of now, but he was glad for the help, and so was his team. Jake anticipated there would be some growing pains at first, as the new arrivals tried to assimilate into the established engineering crew, but everyone knew what the stakes were, and Jake didn't think there would be any interpersonal issues popping up. At least not until the fighting was over, anyway.



He started towards the warp core, wanting to check on how Maynell was doing overseeing the maintenance orders, but he stopped when he spotted a familiar face leaning against a railing, watching the steady thrum of warp core.



"Captain," Jake said, interrupting Kane's silent reverie. "Nice to see you down here, sir."



"Commander Crichton," Kane said, without turning away from the warp core. "I wanted to see how you were getting on with your new recruits."



"We're still ironing out a few wrinkles in the staffing," Jake said, coming to stand beside Kane at the railing. "Eliminating redundancies in work, that sort of thing. Plus I'm trying to give all the crew who've been with us since the beginning a chance to catch up on some much needed rest."



"That's good," Kane said, still not looking away from the warp core. "We need everyone at their best."



They stood in silence for a moment longer, with the warp core pulsing before them. Jake felt a little awkward, just standing here with his captain not saying anything. He decided to fill the silence with conversation, his go-to maneuver when things were starting to feel uncomfortable.



"Lt. Rochemonte and Chaucer - sorry, *Ensign* Chaucer - are out on the hull," Jake said. "Rochemonte thinks she's got a way to boost our shields, and if this thing turns into a shooting match, we'll be glad for the extra protection."



"I know," Kane nodded. "I do read your reports, Jake."



"Oh, of course," Jake said. Then, a second later, he added, "Uh... sir."



"You don't strike me as someone who has trouble relaxing around a superior officer," Kane said, finally turning to look at him. "But you don't seem comfortable when we talk, not since the Hyperion Expanse."

"Yeah," Jake sighed. "I guess it's that scene we had in here. You, me, and Barton."



"Water under the bridge," Kane said. "We discussed that."



"Sure," said Jake. "But you deserved better. I shouldn't have-"



"Jake," Kane said. "Water under the bridge."



Jake shook his head. "I think I'd feel better if you'd just chew me out," he said with a laugh. "You did it to Barton when he was out of line. I feel like I pulled the pin out of some grenade and now I'm waiting for it to go off, you know?"



"Barton was a different story," Kane said. "I didn't know where I stood with him. I still don't, to be honest."



"Do you trust him?"



Kane considered this for a moment, then turned it back on Jake. "Do you?"

"He helped us out when it counted," Jake said. "I think he did it more for Kass than the rest of us, but the result was the same."



"But do you think he's with us?" Kane pressed.



"Hell, cap, I don't know," Jake said, turning his gaze back to the warp core. "I had a hunch about him since we picked up him from LIMBO. Turns out it was right, more or less: the guy used to be Starfleet. But he's... he's..."



"Damaged?" Kane asked.



"Yes and no," Jake said. "Clearly, the man has issues. I'm not sure he's even left his quarters in the last few days. While everyone else was more than happy for our little mini-vacation on Beachworld down there, Barton's what? Sleeping? Pacing around his quarters? I'm not saying everyone on the ship is ready to give him a hug, but I'd say he's earned the chance for some camaraderie, and he doesn't seem interested in taking it."



"So what's the 'no'?"



"He knows what he's doing," Jake said. "I heard it was his idea to put the rioters in the transporter buffer during Embry's coup. That was smart. Really smart, actually. He knows what to do in a crisis, and when to do it. He saved Kass's life on LIMBO, and a whole bunch more since he came aboard, whether he meant to or not. Whatever he's dealing with, it doesn't seem like it's made him any worse at his job."



Kane took all this in, then stood in silence for a few more moments. A few techs came by, giving Kane the requisite salutations as they passed. Kane returned the gestures, but Jake could tell his mind was elsewhere.



"You still haven't told me if you trust him," Kane said finally.

"All due respect, sir, but I asked you first."



Kane smiled a little at that. "Fair enough. The answer is... I don't know. And as captain, I don't like not knowing. James Barton is an unknown quantity. I don't believe he'll work against us, he certainly doesn't strike me as the sort of man who'd run off and join the Neo-Essentialists. But can he be counted on? I'm not sure."



"We need him," Jake said. "That's the long and short of it. We're not in a position to turn down help, and Barton's exactly the sort of person we want in our corner if we find ourselves staring down the barrel of Edgerton's fleet."



Kane nodded. "Even not knowing if I trust him... I agree with you, Commander."



"So what do we do?"



"We need to find out where he stands," Kane said. "After that... we'll see."



"Better find out soon, boss," Jake said. "I don't know about you, but I've got a weird feeling in my stomach that isn't going away. Feels like premonition, you know?"



"Yes," Kane nodded. "I know that feeling well."



=[/\]=



NRPG: Nothing much, but hey, we never just talk anymore, do we?



JEROME: Hope I did okay with Kane!



DALE: Tag!



Shawn Putnam

a.k.a.

Jake Crichton

Chief of Engineering

USS PHOENIX