Over On The Refugee Ship

Posted on Thu Feb 25th, 2021 @ 9:46am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Jinx Jorasco & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Mission 12 - Railway
Location: Refugee Ship
Timeline: MD 04 10:00
880 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Cassie hauled her backpack up higher on her shoulder, relieved that being in Burnie’s body made it easier for all the stuff that needed to be taken as, yes, she could carry more, but he was able to carry bulky stuff easily. “I am going to miss being able to carry big when you finally get your body back, Michael,” she murmured as they waited for anyone to join them in the transporter room. She was not sure who else was joining them, but they had strict instructions to fix the ship or get them back to Rosie and get out of the minefield. “You do not have Vulcan strength, but you definitely have size on your side,” she mused, hoping it was taken in the usual way he took things.

"I'm not even a big guy." Burnie laughed, pulling on the backpack he was taking and easily picking up a bag with the rest of the gear. "I'm looking forward to being back in my own body, but I admit, I'm going to miss your Vulcan strength."

Cassie smirked a bit, proud that he would miss something about her. “You are tall.” She shrugged, standing next to her body to prove the point that height definitely helped. “Maybe your super genius friend can build you something to help your weakness,” she teased before sobering up a bit. “Now it’s all out in the open for the most part, did you catch Nollel?” she wondered.

"Not yet." Burnie frowned. "I left a message though. I hope she understands that rescuing the people over there has to come first."

Jake wasn't sure if he felt more or less uncomfortable trying to do this job in Liha's form. The refugees would almost certainly look at him differently, and he didn't know if that was something he wanted. Seeing his own body standing nearby was equally off-putting. He gave Liha half of an annoyed glance before approaching the transporter pads.

"It'll be good to get back to doing something useful," Cami sighed, looking at the others.

"Yes," Liha agreed, shooting an annoyed look back at her own body. The refugees were going to think there was something with her. She suppressed a moment of anxiety that transport might not interact well with 'magic' and make the switch permanent, or result in something even weirder and worse. The people with the skills to help were the ones who had switched. She wasn't going to leave refugees in danger because of her fears.

"All right. Let's just make this work." Jake made a waving motion to the transporter operator.

A few seconds later they were materialising inside a compartment aboard the refugee ship. It had all the hallmarks of a repurposed ore hauler, which explained the poor state of the drive systems, but also the hideous smell and the humidity they now found themselves in. "We'll have to take a look at their engines," Jake said to Burnie. "I'll see if there's anything that needs doing for the passengers and crew."

"Yeah. Smells like something died in here," Burnie said, wrinkling Cassie's nose and regretting not having his less acute Human sense of smell. Then he immediately realized what he'd said and hurriedly added, "I just hope it's only the scrubbers that handle mold. With this level of humidity, if those went, it wouldn't take long for all kinds of nastiness to grow."

"I'll go with Jake," Liha said, not liking the idea of him unsupervised in her body around other Romulans.

Jinx hiked up her pack as well. Mostly she was here on support, carrying some extra parts and equipment that might be needed. She knew some engineering, enough to be useful, but her greatest attribute -- her size and ability to fit in small places -- was negated by being in Avalon’s body. Not that Avalon was large, herself, but she was no Kisongo.

After arriving on the refugee ship, Jinx pulled out her tricorder and started to scan their surroundings. Burnie-Cassie had mentioned mould, and some varieties could be toxic, so she was checking if they should have brought along respirators.

"Fine," Jake spoke through Liha's own gritted teeth back at his own body and the infuriating woman who now resided inside. "We'll take the fore section. The rest of you aft. And be careful; we don't know much damage we're dealing with."
Jinx headed aft with the second group. She got a few odd looks from the engineering crew that had accompanied them, wondering why the hydroponics operator was along on this mission. Jinx just flashed Avalon’s pretty smile at them.

“Looks like many of the refugees are in the cargo holds,” Jinx noted.

Cassie patted Burnie on the shoulder. “Should have taken the smell dampeners,” she teased, feeling sympathy for him. She knew what it was like, and the look on his face said it all as she tugged off the jacket she had worn. The humidity would have her currently Human body sweaty pretty quickly if she was not careful.

"I will never ignore your advice again," Burnie replied earnestly.

Cassie smirked and nodded. Most men came to that conclusion eventually. "Lead the way then, Mister Engineering Chief," she replied, indicating this was his show.