To the Rescue!

Posted on Tue May 3rd, 2022 @ 2:33pm by Evelyn Reynolds & Delaney O'Callaghan & Leiddem Kea (*)
Edited on on Tue May 3rd, 2022 @ 6:00pm

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Dark corridors
Timeline: MD 02 00:05
4042 words - 8.1 OF Standard Post Measure

It was, Delaney would have admitted to almost anyone at this point, exactly what she'd been wanting to do for days.

"We have a job," she declared, having made a beeline with Ford's backing to the impromptu security bunker in search of Leiddem. She knew exactly where he was because she'd made sure to check whilst doing the rounds searching for news on Ford's friend. For once, by some miraculous divine intervention perhaps, he was actually present and not dashing off around the ship on some overtly dangerous errand that he couldn't possibly let anyone else do. Laney would have been tempted by a fresh desire to throttle him if she wasn't about to drag him back out there herself.

The scoop of her arm through his actually got away with making him walk backwards with her at least a few steps whilst she explained.

"Ford's got a friend on board. Did you know Ford had a friend? News to me. Anyway, apparently she's not reported in, nobody's seen her. In fact, most of the people I asked didn't even know she existed, so who knows if Ford's imaginary friend is real. He is still insisting we head to the passenger deck to find her though." It was a stretch since she'd personally volunteered them both, but the look of concern of the First Officer's face had been enough to convince Delaney that he would have insisted had she not beaten him to it. "And since some Security hotshot put rules in place about us not being allowed to venture into the ship alone, I guess you're stuck with me."

Overtly innocent blue eyes stared up at the Betazoid, daring him to treat her like she was made of bone china. Stubborn. The angle of her chin said it all.

Leiddem was perfectly suited for emergencies, he calmly did everything whilst those about him panicked or did not work quite as well under pressure. He tried to turn at her words but she was already pulling him backwards and he was following. "Well he did go for Eden so imaginary would not be a big stretch," Leiddem commented as he finally detangled himself enough to turn around and walk normally. "Are you calling me a hotshot?" He wondered instantly as he dared he back with a look to say it was not him who had put the rule in place to manage himself and every other one of his colleagues.

"Hothead, maybe." Whether or not it was him, it sounded like his idea, and was likely something Leiddem would ensure was applied to every other person...except for himself. As she set the pace of their exit to a swift, elongated stride, Delaney made it perfectly clear that he was going to have exactly zero chance of trying to do this particular job on his own, at any rate. Ford had assigned her. Maybe there had been a little finagling on her part but that was beside the point.

Beyond the range of the makeshift ceiling lights, the darkness was almost immediate. To conserve flashlight batteries, Delaney considered the corridor ahead, took note of the lack of obstacle and the curve of the eventual turn at the end and then plunged forward until the gloom consumed her. "Do we even have a best route to the passenger deck mapped yet?" Secure passages and the whole red, yellow, green zone categorisation was the domain of the actual security force. If she was honest, Delaney wasn't entirely sure even how to navigate multiple decks without the use of the turbolifts.

The gloom did not unnerve him, he had spent a lot of the last few months before Robertson died in night shift as punishment he assumed for what he had, had been with Dixoho for a bit. It was easier to keep him out of the way if he had to sleep in the day. The ship was gloomy at night in an attempt to have nights and day. “I do in my head but everything is green until we get to deck five, if she’s in the quarters I would assume Ford would set her up with. Are you okay with climbing if I lead the way?” He asked wanting to remind her gently that they would be going into the dark and dark Jeffrey Tubes at that.

There was, for once, barely any impulse to shoot a spirited quip back at him. Something about the man's tone, that tender reminder that he did remember the little things and cared enough to take them into consideration, formed a lump in Delaney's throat that immediately annoyed her. She'd had more than enough Psychology 101 in her lifetime to understand that stress would eventually demand a release, but it was too early and she'd be damned if she was going to fall to pieces and succumb to the looming fear that plagued them all.

Reaching out, Delaney found his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll be fine."

It was a simple connection but, as they moved forward, it reminded Delaney of the partial impetus behind manoeuvring them both into the same task. As they moved well-beyond the cargo bay's threshold for interruption, swallowed by the silence of vast, empty corridors, Delaney considered the conversation that had bounced around inside her head for days and took a moment to wet her lips and readjust her grip on her flashlight before pitching for a tone that wasn't as impatient as she actually felt.

"So, it's felt like several weeks since we actually got to talk." As was her specialty, Delaney found the point and dropped the hammer right onto it. "For the record, I'm not avoiding you, I swear. It's just... Where did this week actually go? I must have wanted to talk to you a thousand times, but every time I was free, you were halfway down a jeffries tube, or stuck under a console, or definitely actually sleeping on the couch in the armory even if you claim otherwise." This last jest was accompanied by a dig of her elbow into his arm.

"Once things got really bad, it just seemed selfish to be like, hey, remember me? The girl you made out with in a lift."

"The sofa is incredibly comfortable. Should join me for a nap." The Betazoid admitted with a grin as he did not deny his naps there. Even he could not deny that sometimes even he had the need for sleep. It had become apparent that he was holding the fort until Gregnol came back or they picked up a new armoury chief but he had forgotten how much his protective instincts kicked in. Why he had been a Marine instead of the medical professions like his older sisters or Engineering like Jeassaho. "I remember you very much and I am glad to hear that you are not just avoiding me. Just been a bit busy this week, and for your information, I did turn up at your quarters but you were not there."

"See," she turned on him, animated as always, though the sudden movement sent the flashlight beam as a chaotic flare far close to the Betazoid's eyes and Delaney immediately lowered it without losing a beat. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! The amount of conspiracy afoot is ridiculous." The good-natured protest carried with it an air of relief. The sheer weight of anticipation, on top of everything else, had not played to Delaney's strengths. She paused, however, quite a feat now that she had an opportunity to spill her thoughts out into conversation, and then held her light just beneath her chin to illumination the playfully suspicious narrowing of her eyes. "My quarters, huh?"

"Well I thought it would be a place you would go but you were not there." He shrugged. No judgement or malice in the sentence, it was just a fact that he had gone there and she had not been. "I do not believe it is a conspiracy more timing and us not being synched." He used his own torch to keep the corridor lit as he looked at her. "So yes I did come to your quarters but you were not there so I carried on with my search then went to bed instead of the couch as I thought if I slept there one more time I might be accused of neglect or something."

There was something about Leiddem's demeanour that, whilst unsurprising, calmed Delaney to a quieter pensiveness almost immediately. Quips about seeking invitations into her quarters died on her lips and, in many ways, the woman was relieved to find the conversation veering towards a more serious tone than she'd automatically reverted to. She nodded, having no actual belief that the universe was conspiring against them. Yet. "The entire timing of this has been impressively inconvenient but it's okay. This is serious and I know you've been pitching in more since the Captain left. I can partially accept that Ford has a greater need for you than me, but that's only because I'm generous."

"I am sure I can make it up to you when timing allows." He said quietly as he stopped and narrowed his eyes as he decided on the best route up. Did he want to go another two compartments left and up now or up now and two compartments over once they got there? "Can always IOU Ford? I am sure he would see the funny side of it all. I am only pitching in more because Reuben is my family and I know he will never give me department head due to familial bonds, just like Jeassaho, but I still want to prove every now and then that I can do it."

"That doesn't exactly seem fair," Delaney observed, though it wasn't the first time the Betazoid had mentioned it. "I don't even think we have someone more qualified anymore." It was, admittedly, an odd argument for her to adopt, given her personal opinions about Leiddem's tendency to drape himself over every metaphorical bomb to protect others from the blast. From that point of view, she understood keeping him safe, it just...didn't work. That was really what it boiled down to. And not allowing him to grow, to undertake tasks that might have eased a little of that aimlessness she sometimes sensed in him, only seemed like a recipe for making him more reckless. "I don't think you have to prove you can do it anyway," she added quietly, leaning sideways into him but, instead of just a bump, Delaney lingered, the tilt of her head tapping against his shoulder. "You've always done it."

The man looked down and brushed a kiss on her temple in a lingering gesture just as much as she kept close to him for a moment. "Not to you nor to Reuben but there was a time when some people just thought of me as the jock." It was the easiest way to explain his thoughts on it all. There would be time to get deep into his adventure onboard if things went further but for now it was easier to keep it simple. "We have to start climbing." He announced finally coming to a conclusion.

"It's possible to be a competent jock," Delaney retorted, though the bulk of her attention was yanked towards the singular consideration for what they were about to do. Tempt gravity, climb through the bowels of a ship that was doing its best to complicate things. Nobody was really talking about it but the imminent threat of atmospheric controls failing, or the anti-grav system shutting off, or shields and hulk integrity just deciding they'd had enough made walking in a straight line fraught with enough potential threats. Even without her tendency to lose her perspective in the dark, this was risky. A deep breath became an elongated sigh and, for a moment, Delaney turned to press her forehead into Leiddem's arm, simplicity despite the depth of the tenderness it displayed, and then she was upright, nerves girded and in check. "Okay, how do we do this?"

“You are going to have to climb up first.” He started to explain as the moment was broken and he moved away to undo the plating to slow them to get into the Jeffrey tubes. “There is a reason I need you to go first because if something goes wrong, I can grab you and if something goes wrong with me I will not take you with me.” He said simply having already done a thousand and one risk assessments in his head.

It was, given everything she knew about him, the most predictable strategy. And whilst Delaney very much felt the urge to argue with him about a plan that only provided for her well-being, she had enough presence of mind to realise it would only eventually descend into forced acknowledgement that she had the greater risk of slipping. That irked her, the sensation of feeling like a weak link prodding at her until it evoked a frown. It also wasn't comforting to know that she was going to have to forge forward into the darkness without a point of reference to guide her but at least, her naturally-buoyant optimism pointed out, it meant that she'd encounter any non-gravity related risks first.

Appeased somewhat, though keeping that possibility to herself lest Leiddem attempt to amend his plan to involve piggybacking her, Delaney shone her torch further up the corridor and settled it on a familiar security locker several metres away. "Head lamps should be in there, if people didn't ransack all my hard work."

With the equipment settled onto her forehead, and her flashlight and tricorder clipped to her belt, Delaney stared up at the gaping tunnel and let out a putter of air. "Ford better actually have a friend." The first few rungs were easily managed, and even as they moved up the shaft, it wasn't the sensation of height that bothered Delaney. An entire childhood climbing trees, and on rooves, and sheer cliff-faces, had gifted her a good head for heights. There wasn't even any sensation of distance now, however, just the endless plod of gradual ascent that otherwise resembled marching on the spot. She climbed fast, not so much because it was the best idea given her nerves, but because the only way Delaney knew how to deal with fear was to punch it in the face.

And tease a certain someone.

"Enjoying the view down there?"

The Betazoid did not answer her mumblings but he did reflect that Ford definitely better have a friend onboard that was missing. It would just be there luck to need to section the Captain at the moment. It only left Kendra or Burnie to lead them and Leiddem knew which one he preferred.

Leiddem had not been enjoying any view having been focusing on coordination but now that she mentioned it and he looked up he could not help but be distracted. “Yeah. It is perfect.” He said back feeling that she was teasing to make things seem less dire.

A scoff in the darkness proved him right, Delaney had no come-back for a question she'd only asked to lighten her own mood. Her saving grace, aside from the reassurance of Leiddem's bulk if she did slip, was the natural athleticism that took advantage of her excessive reserves of energy and had been honed, over the years, by participation in more sports than the woman had kept track of. Having set an accelerated pace, Delaney maintained it for the most part without incident, sure-footed enough under normal circumstances to make the best out of the combined light from their head-lamps to just rely on her hands and feet instead of her eyes. When they finally reached their destination, and she climbed first out of the tube to drop down onto the floor of a new corridor, Delaney took a moment to wait for Leiddem and leaned against the wall.

“Been a while since I have climbed that far.” The man said as he joined her leaning against the wall for a moment. It had been a steady pace which was nice for the man who worked out but maybe had been overdoing it recently. “Glad you did not fall.” He said brightly squeezing her arm reassuringly.

"I wasn't going to fall." Stubbornness created buoyancy; everyone knew that. If you could float on will-power alone, Delaney would have levitated permanently. "Now," she asked, swinging her head lamp left, then right, then left again. "Which way?"

“Of course not. Left.” It was not far at all until the guest quarters. “Two junctions along and then we can stand up properly.

The corridor itself, whilst just as pitch black as the rest of the ship, showed other signs of disturbance that hadn't been present in the first leg of their journey. Several of the unoccupied quarters had their doors partially open and, in several instances, smaller items that hadn't been properly secured had spilled out into the corridor. Delaney picked her way over strewn books and several broken vases and frowned down at the tricorder in her hand. It was an older model, its display not the most cooperative, but several bangs against her leg produced the steady, repetitious beeping of detected life signs. "This one," she called to Leiddem, approaching the door and lifting a fist to bang against it. "Hello! Evelyn? Jake sent us, are you awake?"

Silence.

"This is definitely showing life signs," Delaney frowned at the tricorder. "And they're mostly in the green, maybe she can't hear us."

“Mostly green.” Leiddem frowned a little but did not say how unhelpful that was. “Evelyn?” The Betaozid called louder as he moved his head around in a slow way so he could take it everything about the room. “There is definitely someone here. I can feel it.”

"I think this thing is dying." Another whack of the tricorder didn't do it much good. With minimal capacity to recharge their stock, Delaney had prioritised leaving the medical-grade ones for their intended use, but this particular model's lack of cooperation was a personal affront; how had this got past Operations' service tagging?

"Thankfully, it's not required."

A voice from the bedroom directed light to reveal a blonde woman, leaning on a walking cane, standing in the doorway. Delaney wouldn't have been able to articulate why, but the passenger's demeanour left her feeling immediately ridiculous for having been caught pummelling a tricorder.

"Evelyn? Jake sent us to evacuate you."

"Yes, you mentioned."

“Are you okay?” Leiddem asked moving forward to move the over turned sofa and items out of the way. He had not met the woman before but he could see that she was injured. “I’m Leiddem.” He added as he realised the woman has no idea who they were.

"Then thank you for your concern, Leiddem, but I'm fine. Which is more than can be said for the ship, it seems."

"Yeah, about that." Delaney swapped glances with Leiddem and then stepped forward with her usual open expression of welcome. Meeting new people was something she enjoyed. "We're in the middle of a pretty significant systems failure. Ford has ordered the crew to evacuate to one of the cargo bays so we're here to help you get there. I'm Delaney, by the way. Leiddem and I work in Security. Well, I work, he paces."

At the very least, Delaney was used to evoking raised eyebrows. The only reaction from the blonde was a very impassive, guarded look that swung back and forth between the two unfamiliar faces. It left the younger woman with a rather uncommon sensation of hesitancy. "Uh, we need to climb down some ladders, will you be okay with that?" Of course Ford hadn't mentioned that his not-so-imaginary friend was physically impaired. That would have been too simple.

Evelyn's gaze had settled on Leiddem, perhaps having cast judgement on who she suspected to hold the weight of seniority in this pairing. "Evacuation is mandatory?"

Leiddem had silently trying to think through the best course of action with the curve ball they had been thrown in Ford’s friend. “It is I am afraid. The ship like Delaney said has had a system failure.” He said backing up what she said quickly. They had to retrieve her and return before the area lost more systems like life support of gravity.

"Then I will be fine, as long as I'm not rushed."

It took several more seconds for Delaney to realise what the sensation of the woman's piercing gaze felt like. Bug under a microscope. She knew nothing about Ford's mysterious friend, aside from her name, and so as far as Delaney herself could determine, the woman might have been a telepath. She certainly seemed intent on scrutinising them as if they'd somehow insulted her by showing up.

"Let me gather my medkit," the passenger added, turning to limp back into the bedroom. There was only time enough for Delaney to raise her eyebrows at Leiddem, accompanied by a mouthed 'what the hell?' before Evelyn's re-emergence shut down the attempt at corroboration. True to form, Delaney glared back as the older woman stared at her, and a warning glance from Leiddem only resulted in rolled eyes as the trio picked their way from the trashed quarters, this time with Delaney bringing up the rear.

“Let me have that.” Leiddem said taking the medical kit putting it in his rucksack before he led the way back to the way that they had come through. “So how long have you been onboard? Have not met you before?” Leiddem questioned making conversation to pierce the silence that had descended.

"i arrived early yesterday." As much as Delaney had been prepared to adjust her pace to accommodate the woman, Ford's aloof friend was actually making decent time despite her slightly stiff gait. When the blonde didn't offer any further remark to Leiddem's questioning, Delaney stared at the back of Evelyn's head and pulled a face. They'd spent the entire trip hoping that this passenger wasn't just a figment of Ford's delusional mind; now it seemed almost preferable.

“Fair enough.” The man commented not looking back as he thought that she perhaps did not want to talk. He could talk for the federation but now he stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth keeping quiet. It would be hard but he could manage for the time it took for them to get to the Jeffrey tube that would lead them down.

As they moved, Delaney tried to work her way back to a more typical benefit-of-the-doubt. What was going on here was alarming enough for the crew, it was probably the last thing a passenger knew how to process. Ford hadn't told her a thing about his friend, so there was a chance this terse attitude was simply the product of confusion and concern. She wanted to cling to that as an explanation, if only to resolve her own annoyance, but the further they went in silence, the more Delaney grew frustrated. She and Leiddem had been having a perfectly nice, entirely necessary conversation and they were only here because someone had looked like he was about to explode with anxiety about Evelyn's absence. The situation wasn't the greatest but it wasn't their fault.

The trip back down the tube wasn't actually as bad as Delaney feared. It was slower, which did complicate things, since Leiddem insisted that he go first, with Evie following. It made sense but it also left Delaney staring up as her lamp beam disappeared into the gloom and, being uncertain of the sporadic pace they were setting, she couldn't really close her eyes and just go. By the time they reached their intended deck, she was dizzy and annoyed. It achieved the impossible.

Absolute silence.