Lost & Found

Posted on Sun Apr 5th, 2015 @ 7:53pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Ensign Leela Carter
Edited on on Sun Apr 5th, 2015 @ 7:54pm

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Deck 42

* * * Deck 42 * * *

By Drusilla's mental count it had been two days. Two days since the Cardassian Daro had moved her from down below to this escape pod. She had to admit that as plans went, storing her in an escape pod where there wasn't much traffic wasn't bad. And with the device attached to her forehead, a crewman could be standing on the other side of the hatch and not know she was even there.

Which brought her back to her tally of hours. It had, indeed, beed two days since she'd seen him and she was hungry. Even worse, the lack of water was beginning to be a serious problem, as was the thinning air in the sealed up pod. She had never thought to be in a position to want to see him, but right now, if it meant the difference between life and death, she'd take her chances with him.

Two days...

Two days. A sudden worry began to weave its way through her. This wasn't like him. He had been hovering like a vulture and now...nothing. According to him, he'd planned to end this yesterday. Which means something must have happened. The worry grew bigger, threatened to swallow her up. This pod only had a limited amount of air. With the bio blocker he'd attached, they would never find her unless an emergency happened and that could be years from now. She would be dead in another twelve hours, if she recalled her figures right from her emergency training.

There was only one thing left to do and that thing, Daro had warned her, would be hellishly painful if she were awake when the disc was removed. But it was better than dying. She refused to let him get the best of her. She just hoped they were still scanning for her.

"Here goes nothing," she said to the empty pod and reached up to her forehead.

* * *

Nico was moving at a rapid clip as he and Carter took off for the turbo lift. And in true, infuriating fashion, when you are most in a hurry, the turbolift made you wait. He began to tap his foot and mutter.

Carter caught up with him. "Would you have left me behind if the lift were here already?" The door opened, having made Nico wait an entire thirty seconds.

“No. Seriously. I’m still in eating crow mode where you’re concerned, snaking the lift would be cruel.” The doors closed and whisked them down one whole deck.

"Good, at least you haven't forgotten common sense," she quipped, regaining a touch of her humor. Likely, it was rubbing off from Nico. She had to hurry to keep up with his long strides.

Down the main corridor, they saw a man in Security gold motioning to them. Now, Nico’s elation shifted course, anxiety taking over. “She shouldn't be in this mess, Leela. It’s my fault.”

"Life in Starfleet, Nicolao." Carter greeted the other officer and asked, "Have you...?" But no, she could see he hadn't opened the escape pod yet.

"I just got here as well, Lieutenant," the NCO said as he opened the panel by the hatch.

Nico watched as the NCO entered a code and the hatch whooshed open. No sound came from within and Nico realized he was braced for something akin to the opening of the storage locker where they’d found the Cardassian, Daro. He brushed it aside and reached out. He could sense her in there, alive.

“She’s still with us,” he informed Carter.

"Yeah, biosigns usually aren't detected from corpses," Carter agreed with a wry smile.

Nico smacked his forehead. “Well...duh. I suppose all the worry and….all that…..” His voice faded and he climbed into the escape pod.

"I'm sure," Carter murmured and followed him. "Drusilla?"

Drusilla lay on the floor of the escape pod, not responsive. Beside her outstretched hand was a small silver disc. Nico pressed his fingers to her throat. “Pulse is steady at least.” He picked up the object, looked at it only a moment, then threw it against the bulkhead where it broke into several pieces. He uttered a few words that would have burned the ears of passersby. “Sorry, Leela. Reaction. I’ll take that thing down so the Doc knows what he’s dealing with.”

"Sickbay, emergency transport incoming," Carter said as she crouched beside Dru. She gave the order to a transport tech and the familiar hum and shimmer of the transporter enveloped them.

******************
Lt. Leela Carter
Security

Nicolao
Relieved

Drucilla
Getting Desperate