Make a man outta you

Posted on Fri Nov 13th, 2020 @ 11:42am by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Mission 12 - Railway
Location: Deck 1 - Captain Ready Room
Timeline: MD 02 11:00
1190 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Gregnol stared at the two women who were stood there looking just like him and Jake. It was weird and uncomfortable but for the greater good they needed to figure something out and get both women acting and looking more like them. They barely had hours until the Fenris Rangers turned up and did they really want to expose themselves as not having it all together when it could bring in lucrative trade let alone save refugees who had already been through enough.

“We need to figure out how we are going to turn you two into us two.” He said wishing Eden’s voice was not so low as to make everything seem not as rushed or taking away the urgency of the moment.

“Turn us into you?” Liha cocked an eyebrow at the implication that it was the two women who needed work to be convincing. Her own body looked foreign to her because Jake apparently simply could not carry a proper Romulan attitude. Of course, Gregnol did not seem at all like Eden either, but that was a plus in Liha’s opinion. If Eden seemed a little butch, she doubted anyone would care. Humans were known to be a bit fluid about gender identities. “I agree Eden needs to work on how to come across as a believable Captain, but at worst I’ll make Jake look more badass than he is – which the Rangers will find reassuring.”

"Hey now," Eden objected. "I could pull it off just fine. I mean all he does is stomp around, give orders and look gruff. Easy peasy. I can actually keep my personality to myself, I just choose not to." She had decided long ago that if people didn't like her for who she was then they weren't worth knowing. She had mostly gone through life with a carefree attitude that didn't get weighed down by other people's opinions.

Gregnol glanced at Jake and shrugged at both women being different ends of the coping spectrum. At least Liha thought him at least a little badass with her needing to add to it. He looked at Eden, sat on his office couch and shook his head. She was never going to pass for him looking so poised and prime. “I do not just stomp around, give orders and look gruff Eden. I do, do a lot more than just that.” Gregnol countered with a small smile. It was not easy being him and running the ship but someone had to do it.

"I was a bridge officer for two years on a starship. I know how captains act. That was a severe oversimplification of it. I won't be giggling or skipping about. How do you think you act?"

Gregnol made a face like he was chewing on something unpleasant. He did not want to upset the woman or worst upset the man who was currently running the armoury and his second in command. He glanced at the man first then Liha but neither looked like they were going to offer words of wisdom or even looked like they wanted to be there. “Well, sometimes Eden you can be a little… out there. Head in the clouds.” He admitted. “Like Stan for example.” It was a good example to use when everyone else was afraid of the thing being onboard.

"Doesn't mean I can't be here and now and pay attention. What choice do you have really? Use my body and pretend to have had a sex change?" She wasn't amused but was trying not to get angry about it.

Gregnol rolled his eyes and sighed. Arguing was not getting them anywhere. They need to figure this out and if talking was not doing it then actions were going to have to happen. “So let us go to the bridge and see if you can fool the crew that are there. If we can fool people who have been with us for years then we are going to be able to fool the Rangers.” He suggested indicating the door. He just had to hope that the rangers did not get suspicious if they were unable to fix this before they rendezvoused.

"Fine," Eden said feeling like she were bristling. She would show them that she could be completely in character and let herself go.

Liha cocked an eyebrow at Gregnol. Going out onto the bridge as a practice run wasn't a terrible suggestion, per se, but she could imagine it going all kinds of wrong too. "If we can't fool the bridge crew, we're going to have some explaining to do. Do we have a story ready for them, or are we going to tell them the truth? Either way, we should think through the options and possible outcomes."

"We were talking..." Jake motioned to his own body standing opposite him. "If we stick together in our pairs we might be able to cover each other in a bind. Help out with clues or prompts or something. It's not much but it could really stop us from making some big mistakes."

Liha nodded. "It's either that, or one of us pretends to be indisposed and feeds the other instructions via a hidden comm."

Gregnol was very conscious of keeping himself less tense as he was in a body that was not his own. He did not want to give her own body back to her fall of knots and pain. “All very good options. Jake who is on the bridge right now?” He requested leaning over a moment to adjust the zip on the boots he wore to try and elevate the twitchy feeling he was feeling. Was this how it felt to be anxious? He never felt like this in his own body? He stood back up and sighed. “Can you take headache medication?” He asked Eden softly.

It took Eden a moment to realize what he was talking about. "Oh, you have a headache, yes, yes I can. But I'll warn you, some medications make me sleepy sometimes."

Jake let her finish before he responded to the Captain's earlier question. "Normally, Dixoho would be on helm duty, Kendra should be looking after the conn. But under the current circumstances, it might be the backup crew."

"Perfect," Gregnol responded to both the medication and who would be on the bridge. He knew Saa was definitely not there, he would not be surprised to find her drunk passed out on the Alexandria. It was how she handled everything then got her shit together. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to think clearly and logically. “Are we doing this test or are you wanting to try out your way?” He wondered if they were self-doubting. “We have 24 hours to either fix or fake so I am at a loss of what else to do here.” He admitted the headache he was experiencing was only making it worse.

"Might as well do the test," Liha conceded. "We can't say for certain that any of us can always stick with our bodies, so we should see how badly it might go."