One More Miracle - Part Two
Posted on Mon Feb 4th, 2013 @ 4:04pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Commander Sakkath & Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Jackson Banning V
Mission: The Struggle Within
C&C
“Ensign, what’s the time?”
The Ensign being questioned, with his back to the inquiring Lieutenant Commander, rolled his eyes and responded, “It is seven point three minutes since the last time you asked, Commander.”
Oralia rubbed her forehead in irritation that the clock wasn’t moving along faster.
“Why not take a break Commander? We can call if something happens,” the ensign suggested, his tone hopeful.
Taking the ‘hint’, Oralia sighed and said, “Right, I’m going to the gym.” She nodded to the Lieutenant at Ops then stood and left C&C.
Dr. Harding had watched as Eli sat patiently, leaned back against the wall. Will had noted the time they had begun and if he was honest, was currently enjoying the quiet and the chance to sit down and be still without getting called for one thing or another. As the time wore on, he continued to watch as Eli went from sitting to pacing. Then he’d taken a break from the pacing to lean against the wall and watch the door. Twenty minutes later, the cadet was back on the floor lying on his back with his feet propped against the wall. A surreptitious glance at the time told him it had been exactly two hours and five minutes. Will glanced to Gilroy and Eric and simply smiled.
“Anyone want coffee?” he asked.
Gilroy shook his head. Waiting for Godot had never been his strong suit and, already, he was chafing at sitting still. Standing still was worse.
"I'll take one," Eric said as he continued to do push-ups. "Err, sir," he quickly added before standing.
“At ease, lieutenant. It’s going to be a long haul. I don’t think this is the time to be formal and stand on ceremony.” Will rose, then tilted his head to look at the nearly-upside down Eli. “Or lie on it.” He grinned at Eric. “I’ll be right back, coffee in hand. I need to stretch my legs anyway.”
“Me too please, sir.” Eli piped up from the floor.
“You’ve got it.” Moments later, Will was out of sight in the service lift.
Jackson checked the time yet again as he sat in his office and growled. “Tell me Jan, why is it when I’m sittin’ somewhere, just chillin’, that time flies? And now? I swear to you on my great grandaddy's grave that it’s been the same damn time for the last two hours.”
"You sure the battery in that clock is good?" Janice asked, forbearing from offering any commiseration. "Maybe you need to distract yourself. There are financials of that new endeavor on your desk."
Jackson eyed her and shook his head. “Numbers aren’t registering right now. I think I need to get moving, go for a walk, maybe see if Oz has gone insane yet. We can look at that later when I have a brain.”
“Yeah, sure,” she nodded and watched him head out.
“Arrrrg! Ow,” Oralia growled then meekly complained as the NCO she was sparring with tested her strength and then dropped her to the floor. As he backed off and she caught her breath, she asked, “What time is it?”
“It’s been four hours, boss.”
“Ugh...,” she limply lay back on the mat.
“At least you’ve got someone to beat up on.” Jackson spoke from where he stood in the open door. “I don’t think Jan would be game for somethin’ like this to pass the time.”
The Master Chief grinned at Jackson. “She has the benefit of ordering you around, whereas Oz? She orders me around.”
“Yeah... and the Master Chief is oh-so-upset about getting the chance to dump his boss on her ass on the sparring mat.” Oralia looked at Jackson, upside down, from her spot on the mat.
“So how’re you holdin’ up, sweetheart?” Jackson’s gaze returned to Oz as he studied her closely. “Good enough ya won’t kill the Master Chief here?”
“The clock’s not moving. Make it move!” She whined.
“I wish like hell I could. Why d’ya think I’m down here and not in my office? I was sure all the clocks in the club were broken, along with the computer. I spoke to Eli just for a few and he said....nothin’,” Jackson grumbled.
“Yeah, Gilroy and Edwards are reporting in at far-too-regular intervals. Shall I dismiss the MC and we can go a round? Just the two of us? We could say I’m just making sure your skills are still sharp.”
“What, and ruin my suit? Yer kiddin’ right?” Jackson’s smile lingered. “I’ll be happy to go a round or two once we close up tonight though.”
“Hmm... sparring after hours?” She smiled up at him. “Say too much more and you’ll make the MC blush. But, okay, we’ll spare your suit.” She wasn’t inclined to get up; maybe time would pass faster down here.
“Run home and change, come to the club. At least have dinner, it may help pass the time, Oz. I’m taking Eli’s set tonight too.”
She noticed the MC had moved on, giving them privacy. “There are other things we could do to pass the time,” she rolled over and hopped to her feet. “But that can be our last resort to making the clock move.” Putting her arms around his waist, she leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder; it was a move seeking comfort, not passion.
He wrapped his arms tight around her. “It will be over eventually, it can’t last forever. And they’ll find you as soon as there’s news. You know that.”
“It’s hard to lose the Station’s acting CO,” she blurted before thinking. Once she did think, and realized that the Station had already misplaced its real CO and XO, she winced. “Ignore that. I’m easy to find.”
“You are, and no jetting off to some other dimension. Now, go home, get changed, get to the club.” He grinned down at her. “This may be the only time I get to order around the CO of the station.”
Smiling up at him, she kissed him. “Don’t let the power go to your head.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Outside of the ritual chamber, many were painfully aware of the passage of time. Inside there were certainly signs of the chronometer marching on: candles burned down to nothing, their flames either long since extinguished or desperately clinging to the barest breath of life as still warm wax dripped towards the floor, solidifying into stalactites of various shape and size; the air had cycled several times through the atmospheric filters; the stars rotated above with the station’s orbit. Sakkath was unaware of all of it.
All he was aware of were the thoughts of Chance Conradi... no, he corrected himself, not thoughts. These flashes of the Starfleet cadet were Chance. His thoughts, experiences, knowledge, feelings, memories. His soul. His katra. It was the sum of a being without flesh, not just mental recollections to be gleaned or shared. Each sliver, each shard of his personality had to be located, hidden amid the alien but similar framework of the Hazari’s sense of self and returned to the vessel lying not a meter away.
Slowly, with great care and thorough resolve, Sakkath probed every corner of the Enforcer’s mind for each shred of Chance’s being, knowing that if even the smallest fraction were left behind Chance would never be the young man that so many recalled. The mind was like a tower: no individual piece seemed more important than the others, but missing even one can cause it to topple, its ability to bear the load of weight lost to poor engineering and shoddy construction.
It was simpler for the Vulcan to think of his task in such terms. He was seeking to build order from chaos, just the same as he did every morning when he regarded the kal-toh sphere atop his desk.
The only difference now was that two lives hung in the balance if he should make a wrong move.
_______________________
Commander Sakkath
Piecing together a puzzle
Cadet 2nd Class Eli Ziyad
Waiting For The Puzzle To Be Complete
Lt. Commander William Harding, MD
Keeping Calm, Not Worrying
Jackson Banning V
Owner & Distraction
The Nexus Club
Lt.Commander Oralia Zeferino
Trying to Beat the Clock
