Playing with Fire

Posted on Sun Nov 20th, 2011 @ 4:46pm by Lieutenant Norval Tigan
Edited on on Mon Nov 21st, 2011 @ 12:33am

=^= Ops =^=

As Brooke had headed off to make contact with the Dublin Admiral Wegener had appeared, which Norval was immensely thankful for. Sakkath might like being fifth in the chain of command, but this jay-gee enjoyed being care-free.

Of course, right now he was anything but, and the Admiral seemed quite confident in everyone to do their jobs. Trying to coordinate the dispatch of repair teams, the rerouting of power to keep atmosphere from venting into space and structural integrity intact, and controlling traffic around the damaged site were taking their toll on the Trill. Only the knowledge that Sakkath, his mentor for so many years, was counting on him to execute the duties of the Chief of Operations to the same standards was keeping him going.

"Hangar 51 has been sealed," he reported. "I've managed to repressurize the bay, but I'd recommend holding Security until Engineering can inspect the structure for stability.

His hands flew over the Ops console, manipulating LCARS, issuing new sets of orders across the station. Mostly, he was shutting down non-essential systems. There wasn't a functioning holodeck or holosuite to be found in the face of the crisis... something that had already attracted a few choice words from the Promenade Merchants Association... and Replicators had almost all been taken offline.

Life support was generally something Norval wouldn't touch, but the power in uninhabited sections of the base had been reappropriated, pending a life form scan and a security lockout from Lieutenant Darwin. The last thing they needed was someone asphyxiating themselves, and he didn't have the time to think why Darwin had been first on the scene at Hangar 51 issuing orders and not Oz.

He found himself wishing that Sakkath were back. Norval could handle the pressure of a situation like this far better when he was the support, and someone else called the shots, but to his credit he never let it show. Maybe that Vulcan stoicism was starting to rub off on this Trill Lothario...

Nah, he thought.

=^= Engineering to Ops. =^=

"Tigan," Norval replied, not even looking up from his display.

=^= Commander Kh'ali is requesting anyon bombardment in the Speaker's quarters. We'll need significant power to accommodate. =^=

The Trill's mind raced. That had been what found Kh'ali in the first place, which meant...

"Shit," he muttered, suddenly understanding that this whole explosion had been nothing but an orchestrated opportunity, and all of it had begun with a lily in his quarters. Kidnap the diplomat, stab Connor, threaten Oz, blow up a hangar... and assassinate the Federation's best friend on a politically important world.

Andam wanted to run down there and help, but Norval did what he had to do. He found the power, authorizing its use for anyon bombardment in the VIP section of the station. He could already see that Oz's last known location had been the Speaker's quarters... personnel were just as much a resource as power and materiel, after all. Kh'ali was there now, the Speaker himself...

Last known... Oz's last-known position...

Norval did the first thing he thought of, a knee-jerk reaction as he activated his comm badge. "Edwards, get your..." he almost said hot ass, "self... to the Speaker's quarters. Oz is in trouble, probably Commander Kh'ali and the Speaker too. I'm giving you my access level."

There was a distinct pause, but it didn't last long. Any hesitation that had surrounded the rumors concerning Norval was lost when the CSec needed help, or maybe EE was just having an issue absorbing what he'd just been told.

=^= Acknowledged! =^=

Norval sighed, but didn't have time to linger on the thoughts of what had transpired in the Jefferies Tubes. There were other fires, literal and figurative, that needed putting out.

* * *

It was hours later before Norval had been willing to relinquish Ops, but things on 900 were finally starting to calm. Repair teams had been dispatched and were keeping busy, the man who had kidnapped Kh'ali, threatened the Speaker and assaulted Oz was dead, and there seemed to be no threat of additional attacks.

The Trill rubbed his face, realizing how incredibly gross he felt, covered in sweat and desperately needing to release some stress... but mostly he just wanted to sleep. He didn't even bother to turn on the lights as he pulled himself free of his duty tunic and Ops gold. He hated leaving things out of place, but he'd deal with it tonight as his pants joined the rest of his clothes somewhere on the floor.

It wasn't until he entered his bedroom that he heard movement. Flashes of his quarters being invaded, a lily being taken, starting all of this flashed through his head... and then evaporated just as quickly as he heard a voice he recognized all too well.

"Hey..."

Norval sighed, almost laughing for having jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

"I may have told the computer there was a security emergency in here," EE admitted, sitting up in Norval's bed, at the very least shirtless as the Trill's eyes were adjusting to the light, or lack thereof.

Norval wanted to be mad, but found he couldn't be. After the pasts few days, the idea of not sleeping alone was far too tempting, and he crawled onto the bed over his companion, pressing lips into his that seemed far from unwelcome.

"I'm sorry I got caught up in all the rumors," Eric breathed. "I should've known better, and you helped me get to the Commander."

"Ah, you and everyone else," Norval spoke for the first time, fairly dismissively. He dug his hands into the short-cropped hair of his companion, feeling Eric's lips on his shoulder... his spots, that he loved so much. "You accused me of playing with fire," Norv recalled, suddenly grinning wickedly.

"I did," Eric resigned, his tone apologetic.

"Oh nooo," Norval drawled, still smiling. "You can apologize if you dislike it after I really do," the Trill said, reaching over and lighting a candle at his bedside.

Everything else was just a tangle of flesh, sheets and molten wax.

___________________
Lt. (JG)s Norval Tigan
& Eric Edwards

Playing With Fire