Storm Hit

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2022 @ 6:47pm by Nollel Livaam (*) & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Cargo Hold
Timeline: MD 05 08:30
1294 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Nollel looked around the space they were using that was becoming smaller and smaller by the hour as it came harder and harder to heat. She knew she looked ridiculous in a flight suit with Burnie’s hoodie over the top compared to her usual professional attire but she could not care at that moment when it was so cold now that she had woken up enough to venture out of her little space. She looked at the screens she had grown accustomed to checking and saw that they were pretty much reaching the storm. She sighed knowing it would be getting rocky soon before they veered off to the moon that would fix their engines. She saw Michael and Jake sitting at a table eating porridge that everyone else seemed to have as she passed. “I hope there is some left for me.” She murmured pulling a crate over as the ship lurched slightly. “We have hit the storm I feel.”

Burnie got up and filled another bowl. "Always some for you," he said, setting it in front of her. He paused a moment, balancing on the balls of his feet as though reading the ship's status from the feel of the deck plating. "Yeah, I'd say we're at the leading edge of the storm." He sat and resumed eating. "We knew it was coming. We just have to trust the old girl can make it."

“Course she will.” Nollel said as she managed to just sit herself on the crates at the ship lurched again before settling down. “Thank you.” She murmured pulling it towards her and taking it a bite. It hit all the right places at the right time and warmed her.

"Might need to hold it," Jake said, motioning to the bowl. "Otherwise you'll end up wearing it. I can't remember the last time I was on a ship rolling through ion storm turbulence. Maybe when I was a kid - made me sick to my stomach." He shook his head, dismissing the memory. "I trust Liha's work, but I'm not going to lie...a couple of times I was worried about the old girl..."

“I am sure the ship will be fine.” Nollel added as an after though as the porridge warmed her a little more to allow her to think on the current situation. “We’ve had the ship invaded, people blowing up cargo bays, other universe incursions. I am sure she will be fine.”

"Probably rates pretty low on the 'fun' side of encounters..." Jake sighed. "Don't imagine most of us will be getting any sleep, between the cold and the movement."

“Nope. I imagine people won’t be moving much. We have what less than 48 hours until we get to the moon? We need to make sure that the team that will be doing the work once there is able to do so.” Nollel said logically. She was brave enough to say what no one else would. She was worried about the rest of the crew but if the engineering team was no functioning then none of them were going to get out of the situation.

"No worries with me - I can sleep through anything that doesn't trigger an emergency klaxon," Burnie said with a quick grin toward Nollel. "But we may need a plan to force Liha into a pack of warm bodies. I'm going to need her for the extraction mission and," he glanced around, making sure she wasn't in earshot, "she's a Romulan and even if she doesn't like to admit being weaker than humans in any environment, she is cold-sensitive."

"I can't disagree with that," Jake said, recalling his rather spiky last conversation. "Unfortunately I promised to leave her alone, at least for a while. And it goes without saying that I'm literally the last man on board this ship she'd want to be anywhere near..."

“Cassie could persuade her as it’s likely she’s just as cold.” Nollel said thoughtfully as she savoured the brown sugar in the porridge. It hit all the right notes that was not chocolate. “Cassie will likely mock but she would listen to Cassie over Kalahaeia. Kalahaeia is likely to just get her back up.”

"She'd listen to you," Jake added, looking at Burnie. "Gotta be something you can say to her?"

Burnie frowned. "You mean like 'Those burning glares you and Kali are directing at each other won't actually keep you warm, you know that, right?' He sighed inwardly. How had he wound up having two Romulans he considered good friends, but who seemed determined to hate each other?

“That will go down like a … lead balloon?” She looked at the pair of the them to check her idioms but it sounded correct and exactly what she expected her boyfriend to say. It was not something that could be suggested by any of them here.

"Yep, a lead balloon on a high gravity world," Burnie chuffed, throwing her a brief smile. She'd picked up human idioms quickly, but then she was brilliant after all. Sadly though, she hadn't offered a solution. "If they don't sort this out from being forced into close quarters over the next couple days, I'm going to stage an intervention. I'd do it now, but ideally it should involve both them locked behind force screens."

"Don't tempt me..." Jake muttered.

“Well something needs to give before they freeze,” Nollel commented with a tut. “I still think Cassie could help. She’s more level-headed than the three of them and Liha likes her right? Unless I have a word with her?” Nollel offered thinking maybe she could help in the situation.

"Anyone but me at this point," Jake sighed, shivering slightly. He'd rather not lose the potential heat-sharing buddy that Cassie could be, but they were in survival mode at the moment. "All right, Nollel, give it a shot. If that doesn't work I'll speak to Cassie."

"We can both speak to Liha - united front," Burnie offered. He ate a spoonful of porridge, thinking. "I may steal Cassie for talking to Kali. I used to know her, but it was a long time ago. If she's changed a lot, I could use back-up from someone who is better at 'people-ing' than I am."

"She looked out for me when I was... unwell so it's only fair but if Jake wants to I have no issue," Nollel said relieved she was getting to pay the woman back for her kindness even if Liha did not see it like that in the slightest. She saw it as saving herself work but Nollel had a different mindset.

"Kali seemed fine with me when we spoke before," Jake offered, hoping distantly that he might escape from having to speak to Liha in any way. Kali was far more reasonable and open-minded as far as he was concerned.

"Okay. You talk to Kali," Burnie said, though the thought flashed through his head that Kali and Jake seeming to ally wasn't going to help things with Liha. Or - best case - Liha would see it as more evidence that Jake had not actually picked up any important Romulan traits, like suspicion and wariness, from her. "But if you need back-up, come grab me."

Nollel let out a huff of annoyance as the light flickered once, twice and then turned off for a few seconds before turning back on. "We need to sort it all out before that becomes more that a few seconds. Jake might be time to order people to bunker down in the cargo bay or something instead of being spread about."

"Spread the word," he agreed. "I want a full roll call within the hour: nobody gets left out."