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EPISODE 02: The Mysterious God Incident [Beginning - Ante Meridiem]

[ EPISODE 02: The Mysterious God Incident | Beginning - Ante Meridiem ]

[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room | USS Theurgy ]

"Captain's Log, Stardate 57505.15," said the female form of Jien Ives quietly as she nursed a cup of coffee, sipping it by the view screen in her Ready Room. She was 'dressed' in her uniform and held one hand folded behind her back, "The mission to Nimbus III was a success, and all departments have drawn benefit from the new supplies that the away team managed to gather from the planet surface. Engineering reports progress in the repairs that were, until now, impossible to complete. Sickbay's storages of medical supplies have been restocked and - with luck - the damaged Valkyrie in the Fighter Assault Bay can be repaired."

Jien turned from the window and downed the last of her cup. She headed for her desk as she continued. "Weapon Systems are almost fully operational, and in a couple of days, we will attempt to test the docking hatches. Perchance we will be able to enter MVAM-mode once again. Something imperative for our survival... now that we are all alone. Tomorrow, a Senior Staff meeting will be held, and each Department will leave a full report on the progress made. Only then can we decide what immediate measures we dare take, and what our next destination might be... in order to spread the truth about Starfleet Command."

After setting the cup down on her desk, Jien left her Ready Room and headed out.

"Captain on the bridge!"

"At ease, report," she said as she headed for her chair - her big brown eyes void of emotion as she gazed out the main view screen.

"ETA for the Federation border is 48 hrs," said the human helmsman, "current heading, Gamma-5-9. We have just reached the edge of the asteroid field. Current velocity, Warp 1." The lack of speed was a precaution so that their heavily augmented sensor-array might pick up signs of ship activity in their immediate vicinity in space. They were, after all, still in hiding. Regrouping for what seemed such a staggering challenge that would humble the most hard-headed Klingon.

Jien seated herself in the Captain's chair. "Lay in a new course. Follow the edge of the asteroid field. We need another day before we decide where we might take our fight."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

[Dr. Nicander to Captain Ives,] came the call from the intercom.

"Yes, Doctor," said Jien and looked away from the view screen.

[I have examined the stowaway as ordered, ma'am, and regardless how I examine the scans, I cannot isolate any kind of anomaly in his physique that would suggest he is one of the enemy. Given how little we know of the replicants, I cannot make a positive guarantee, yet nor do I find cause to disbelieve Mr. Bellde'side. If anything, his anatomy is is a state that suggests that he is the athletic celebrity that he appears to be.]

"Thank you, would you please ask the security detail to bring him up to the Bridge next? I would like to have a word with him."

[Yes, Captain.]

The chirp from the intercom ended the brief exchange, and Captain Ives frowned, wondering what she might do with Mr. Scosche Bellde'side now that the suspicions of his sudden appearance on board had been lifted.

OOC: Post above has been updated.

I will post with my other characters too in due time. Either here, or is some new (or one of Taguiera's) threads.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #1 –
[ Sickbay | The USS Theurgy ]

Lounging in his office chair, Dr. Nicander rested his head on top of its back - staring up into the titanium ceiling.

He had just sent off the stowaway to Captain Ives and before the next shift would begin, he had withdrawn to the CMO office for contemplation. His dark hair hung down the back of the chair and his open hands lay, palms up, on the arm-rests. One might think him dead upon seeing him like that - but his mouth was closed - chiselled features serene and eyes searching the blankness above. For once, he had time for reflection, in the minutes before he dug through the day's harvest of journals and reports. A glass of water stood upon the desk - forgotten.

He could easily have lied. He could have told the whole of the USS Theurgy that the celebrity that had hidden in the cargo area all that time had been one of his own kin. He would have made everyone believe, and he would have raised himself further above any kind of suspicion. Yet the problem was that he had no means to point towards any kind of medical fact or evidence in the scans that would merit such an accusation. No, not without forgery. And if he would resort to forgery, he would have had desired a lot more time of preparation. Sadly, he had been on the away mission, otherwise he might even have fooled the new XO's former host. He would have fooled the Ash'reem scientists too. Yet the risk of discovery by either party... No, it would not have been worth the risk. No, let the stowaway have his credibility, and do not cause a sequence of events that cannot be controlled properly.

There was no sound. No voices. Nothing but the quiet hum of the ship. No nurses nearby. Only him, and the reproaching silence. He felt like he was flying as he sat there underneath the titanium, sailing through a parallel world. A place... where there was no one else present to anchor his own existence to.

Am I real?

The thought echoed back in Lucan's mind - thrumming in his tainted heart. Too long had be been without Eve's touch. The balm of her loins and the tinkle of her laugh. Nothing to anchor him. If there was no one that could verify his existence - someone who saw him, or spoke to him, what did that make him? Could he verify his nature through his memories? Or could he trust the memories of other people; that they remembered him? Could he really trust anyone to give him credence - recognition? Even so, how would the galaxy remember him? As the hero? As the healer? As the replicant? Or the homicidal retributioner? The inamorato, who murdered and tortured in order to rectify a sin the world forgot?

Am I truly misplacing my beliefs... in a cause that does not merit my actions?

The beast inside twitched to life at that idea - began to slither around his soul.

Hate me then, he thought, addressing everyone and no one vehemently, I dare you.

The ambition for justice was not a quest to justify himself. It was not! I am lost without my love for Kisane. I merely need the love of others to remind myself what it is I am fighting for. I remind myself by looking into their eyes, seeing the reflection of myself as I were back then - the sweet feelings that were denied me. All those grave crimes of his would surely prove a sight, but without her - her - he was nothing.

Hate me then! The people around him, they were the cattle he was willing to sacrifice in order to find the bane of Kisane. I don't care! You are all about to die either way! When my kin smashes the Federation asunder and causes the rest to descend into war, nothing can be left to exist! I don't delude myself that my kin ever meant for their hosts to live on...

Yet before that, I have to find him, Sanael, before it is too late...

The thing crawling underneath his skin, it was slowly sated after he reassured himself in his convictions. The seizure abating, he tilted his head forward in his seat - black wings of hair falling forward to frame his clenched jaws. This solitude eats at me, he thought as his pale grey eyes scanned the reports on the desk. The rift in my soul screams, but I won't let it devour me from within.

No, there were other means to sate that hunger. His tattooed hands attacked the PADDs as if they were a lover's clothing. Revival in recognition. He needed to feel alive, else he couldn't prove his own worthiness - his right to do what needed to be done. The touch screens chirped like birds dying in his hands and he searched - cast about for a foothold. His pale eyes scanned the different reports, defined purpose and causes, filed them away for later scrutiny. Something!

His eyes stilled as they locked upon a message flashing on his computer console. Anything! Brutally, he snatched it up, jammed his thumb upon the lit key and bent over it - reading the two sentences under his breath - heart beating loudly in his ears. Anyone...

Letting out a breath, Lucan sank back in his chair again. Like kindling, a small smile entered his features while his heart calmed to a steady beat. Purpose. Meaning. Means. Another step to take, another step ahead. Another chance at feeling alive. Perchance partake in reality, and shape it to his ends. Again, the certainty that shed all doubt, and Lucan's mind was restored to its usual sharpness - sprung to life anew.

As he wondered whether or not there was any hidden agenda behind the request, he pushed back his chair and stood, leaving the mess on his desk as it was. Intrigued, calculating, and calm as the sea after a violent storm, Lucan pulled on his white lab coat and left his office.

OOC: Attn: Anyone. Make up the message sent to Lucan yourself and he will be right there...

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #2 –
[ Holodeck 01 | Deck 05 | The USS Theurgy ]

Bereft of recourse, ThanIda only had her artistry.

The program was one she had created on board the USS Kintaro, which the database could load aboard the Theurgy due to a Starfleet-authorised data exchange done as a personal favour when she received her new commissioning. The setting was a circular chamber in white marble, with smooth pillars soaring towards a majestic dome with a central opening - an oculus open to the sky. Outside the tall and arched doorways all around Ida, there was a placid ocean stretching towards every end of the horizon.

Beneath the oculus, right in front of her, stood her easel - with the canvas under siege.

While she poured herself and her dark emotions out upon the virgin whiteness in furious smears of brush and fingers, all her previous work surrounded her. Faces and beings, creatures and scenery all gathered from a life in passion and shame, strife and regret. Features of yore lives, as an Andorian Guardsman and as a civilian, as a Cadet and a later Starfleet Officer, from vagabond times and commissions present and before, they all stared at her as she cried.

The drawings were all copies, added to the program from real work that she had made - uploaded to be displayed in that halcyon holographic chamber. While her portfolios were in her quarters, they were all gathered there too, assembled in white frames that floated in the air beneath the dome. They were all there, the people she had drawn on board the Theurgy, as well as the objects and memories she held dear - within reach by eye or command. The place was, in short, her gallery. It had been restored to her the night before, when the supplies from Nimbus III had allowed for one holodeck to be opened.

Though Ida saw not the displayed beauty, neither in the setting nor her artistry, for her midnight eyes were nailed to the blackness that she fought to exorcise from her soul; to purge her heart of wanton regret. Her breathing ragged, she gave the demon beneath her blue skin a shape and form - ripped it out and smothered it against the canvas so that she may think clearly.

The drawing was so dark in how she turned the demon into herself and made it bleed. The blood was poor compensation for her tears, but it was adequate to symbolise how she felt. She had only herself to blame, to have erred the way she did - with both the reason that she was passed over for a promotion as well as the Niga Incident. And now, with the turn-out of the meeting and dinner with David Grayson, her aggression had boiled over. Since that evening, even though she had found a strange kind of friendship with T'Less - their Chief Tactical Officer - the furious argument she had gotten into with her Pinkskin superior repeated itself in her head over and over again. Afterwards, she had been too agitated to return to the Vulcan - sending her a sweeping explanation and a promise to return another night. She had not slept that night from the adrenaline rush that the heated debate had given her.

With her artistry, several days later, she could now express how she felt. So little time to do it, though, given her meagre hour of rationed time in the holodeck, but it was enough. She did not need perfection for this work, nor did she need any critique besides her own. Until the final minute she worked, with no armour to guard her against her creation. No clothes to distance her from the ugly fury that he spewed into the drawing. Until...

...she suddenly staggered back - looking the dark mirror image in the eye.

Chest heaving, she clenched her jaws and glared upon the affront that was herself - not exactly captured in her finest hour. She hated it, but that was her intent. Time was at and end.

"Computer," she spat hoarsely. "Delete untitled drawing."

Both canvas and easel faded away, brushes and pain non-existent.

Demon undone.

Seconds passed; victory savoured despite the after-taste. Yet with a final look around, Ida ordered the program to end, and she left the holodeck perhaps wiser, yet certainly all the more satisfied. Her uniform re-appeared as she passed through the sliding doors, and after she wiped her tears, she set her grim pace towards the security office and her duties. Hopefully, the ire she held towards David Grayson would have subsided after having vented her feelings about him.

OOC: Again, open for any development.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #3 –
[Hydroponics Bay]

It had been several days and Lucan had been so busy as well as her own settling in that Eve hadn't had any time with Lucan.  She wondered if perhaps she'd read him wrong, that he hadn't wished to continue what they'd rekindled on Nimbus III.  It was silly of her, she knew, but they'd never spoken of being with each other exclusively and she wasn't even sure if a relationship between them would be allowed.  Still ...

Lucan, meet me in the hydroponics bay.  There are a few plants I think could be helpful, a more natural approach to some treatments that I'd like to show you.

She waited then, her heart fluttering slightly as she wondered if he'd come.  He was too intelligent and likely saw through her message as more a personal request for some alone time than any real medicinal benefits growing there.  Smoothing her hand over her uniform top, she spared a moment to think about wearing the uniform again.  It was good but it made her miss the man who raised her, to feel the sadness that things were not right anymore.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #4 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

As he stepped into the greenhouse of the USS Theurgy, Lucan's pale grey eyes took a cursory glance across the laboratory.

In natural conditions, soil acted as a mineral nutrient reservoir for all kinds of terrestrial plants all over the Galaxy, but the soil itself was not essential to plant growth. Here, the Science Department were growing plants in mediums other than soil, such as a nutrient-rich liquid and the like. Plants with their roots in mineral nutrient solution medium lined the pathways, water in a vaporised form transfered nutrients and oxygen to suspended plant roots, even rotary sections of greenery grown within circular frames spun continuously down the area. No nutrition pollution because of the controlled system. Stable and high yields without pesticide damage.

For the suggested meeting, Lucan noticed, it served as an exotic environment. The damp and warm air. The artificially and carefully nurtured canopy above the pathways. The white gravel flowerbeds and the play of light across pearly water. The misty air that clung to hair and skin. The cleanliness in abstract backdrop to savage growth and nature's presence in the most unlikely of places. The rich green hues in contrast to the crystal clear glass spheres and cylinders and the brute titanium alloys. It was not a large greenhouse, given the purpose of the Theurgy-class ship, repaired recently after the infected had tried to cultivate the Niga-plants there, but it remained nonetheless state-of-the-art. More so, it is a very pleasing setting for a meeting. Very... intimate.

Especially, as it were, when only Eve Jenkins was present in the laboratory. Waiting for him.

"I got your message," he said with a small smile on his lips, walking towards her with his tattooed hands in the pockets of his lab coat - eyes intense as they looked into hers. It was often the intensity of his pale grey eyes that... pulled, suggested and seduced. It made women - and men - become prone to fall for his charisma. It was, as it were, one of his means to get what he wanted. Never desperate for it. Not in the means that made him appear the madman that he actually was. No, it projected the aura of an exotic and untamed man... cultivated in the ways of the Federation. Looking upon him served to portray to the eye of the beholder that he should be suffocating in that uniform he wore, and that he would rather walk without shoes - just like the way of his people.

What no one knew, however, was that it was the very people the impeccable doctor meant to destroy.

"I must say that I am very intrigued," he said in his deep voice as he bore down upon her - closing the distance with slow yet confident steps, "since natural treatments are such a rarity in this day and age. Now, when medical science has come so far, and we ever keep upgrading our instruments and chemical treatments, botany seems so... unrefined and untamed. Alas, we stand in the presence of the very roots to modern medical science... and we have yet to reach the depths to which the proverbial roots may go."

He came to a stop a mere arm's length from her, and he looked around - released her with his gaze for a couple of seconds. "Who knows what nature still has to teach us. We have come so far from our natural belonging in nature's image that we have become distanced to the mysteries we still try to solve. We are, in the end..." he said, and his eyes fixed upon Eve's again, "...so very primordial in our nature. So very... primal underneath the skin."

He lifted a hand and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "So base... in our honest needs," he said to her quietly. "Such simple joy, so close at hand." The intellect of the modern species kept many things at bay. Yet between them, Lucan and Eve, lay the truth - the very foundation of progress.

"Now... I do think you wanted to speak of other things than botany, correct?"

The playful smile he gave her ended his monologue.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #5 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Eve was another who adored the freer clothing and shedding of shoes, letting her dainty feet feel the varying temperatures and textures ranging anywhere from pain to pleasure.  Yet she stood there in her standard issue uniform just as he when both of them would be more at ease completely bare.  Just as he had his charms, so did she and the closer he approached the more her body shifted to a more pleasing posture.

She was a sensual being, everything from her posture to her own expressive eyes luring him along.  There were no real games between them regarding the physical side, only enough to arouse them fully.  Her head tilted slightly as the back of his fingers brushed along her cheek and then tucked the hair behind her ear.  It was clear to him even without her being able to reach him psychically that the simple gesture was highly pleasing to her.

"It's true there are modern elements, technology that make things merely a matter of ordering the right settings," she agreed.  "Yet on Nimbus III we found ourselves back to more basic types of medical treatment simply because of the lack of technology or the inability to repair what there was.  People rely too much on those things and when they are taken from us for any reason, we find ourselves unable to cope with the realities."

Her hand reached out to rest over his heart, eyes dropping to that chest wishing the material was gone and she could press her lips to the flesh.  "Everyone is primal at the very base and there is nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with taking care of our most basic needs.  When we are hungry, we find food.  When we thirst, we find water.  For the most part we indulge in those quite frequently but there are so many aboard who restrain themselves too much and then the infection released those inhibitions yet so many feel the need to repress themselves more now."

He could practically see her thoughts, her concern for so many of the crew who were negatively affected by what had happened.  "The infection was dangerous, yes, and it needed to be stopped but so much emotional damage could have been avoided if they'd not denied themselves the pleasure their bodies crave.  Just like finding the balance between nature and technology for medical issues, there needs to be a way for the crew to allow themselves a bit of freedom, to accept and embrace themselves and their desires.  Yes, there needs to be structure to maintain order but that doesn't mean people can't simply enjoy being alive."

She hadn't meant to go on as she did but she'd been denying herself since she came on board and was feeling a bit of strain.  While she could probably approach almost anyone and enjoy a casual dalliance, her mind and body craved him like no other.  This close she could smell his manliness over the other things around them, luring her to step even closer and lift her face to his.  "I've missed you," she said simply and touched her lips to his, brushing lightly and lingering in the gesture as a soft sigh escaped as if she'd finally found exactly what she needed.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #6 –
Listening intently, Lucan's pale eyes came to wander her lips and her face, not to mention her eyes. They were so expressive when speaking of emotions, and more so when concerned about other people. She was an altogether kind and loving soul, this woman he had met in Starfleet Medical all those years ago. Had he realised this back then? Perhaps he did, before he become so much more than he was back then. The darkness tended to... stain things of the past. Superimposing a cynical interpretation of events, people and places that he had visited before that faithful night.

She spoke of her concern about the crew and its morale. What Niga had done to them all. He agreed with her in most part, and not only because he would never deny himself enjoyment if he was not forced to constrain himself for greater reasons. He could never act on his darker whims, of course, but nothing stopped Lucan or anyone else aboard to try and reclaim control of their own sexuality as best as they might - sufficed it was within regulations and not during duty.

Yet he had no time to make a reply to her, for as his thoughts touched upon what Amikris Neotin had given birth to in Sickbay after the Senior Staff meeting, she stepped close and lay her lips against his. A sigh into his mouth, the taste of her, she effectively made him raise his tattooed hands out of his lab coat's pockets and slide them around her lower back. Oh, she was Half-Deltan aright, with the effect of her intimate presence making him respond swiftly and without further thought. He should be thinking about ways to use her, to exercise his will through her and make her a useful asset aboard. Yet again, he found himself at her mercy. The only thing he could do was to try and compensate - to even the ground. She fancied the fact that she could not foresee his intentions, be it during lovemaking or otherwise, and it was how he could turn the tables on her.

The kiss lingered and evolved, with Lucan struggling for the initiative before he lost it. The guttural noise in his throat was his own admission to pleasure. The way he made her arch her back over the unrelenting embrace he had on her was his way of saying he demanded more. The hardness she caused him the evidence of his immediate and urgent need. Gasps for air had to be drawn, and his tattooed hands came to wander the pristine fabric of her new uniform. It was due to become quite rumpled soon unless he shed it for her, so the zipper at the front of her jacket was dealt with quickly. Balance was shifty thing, standing as they were. The risk of discovery immense, this being a frequented area by the Science Department. All the more arousing to Lucan, though he saw the drawbacks of being found in this way with the new Head Nurse aboard. Oh, Skye Carver - that ravishing pilot he had yet to enjoy - had most certainly spread the rumours about him and Eve already, but they were on duty, and this was not according to regulations.

"May the winds scythe down regulations..." he hissed in a heated and heavy voice against her face, "Computer, lock the doors."

Odd, how he rather enjoyed not being in complete control when it came to situations with Eve. He was always in control, always two steps ahead... but not now. There was no forethought when it came to Eve, only action.

Such blessed honesty... in a life riddled with lies.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #7 –
[Fighter Bay]

Thomas had been in the fighter bay for a couple of hours now, or so that's how it felt to him. He was doing a regular maintenance check on his ship and had come across some anomalies since the last time he had checked the ship. There seemed to be something off with the thrusters and he would take this up to one of the engineers. He had the basics on how his engines and all worked, but he never was really fond of fiddling with them. He tried it once and that nearly overheated his thrusters during a patrol. He planned to do some research on it later, since it was known that stretching these birds to their limit usually gave best performance.

WHile ovethinking what he should be doing, his mind started to drift off. A few flashes came to his mind from what had happened during the Niga incident. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had done or what had happened during that time. He took in  deep breath and tried to focus. A few more short flashes came to mind, nothing useful... The only thing he remembered was naked bodies ad the sweet taste of...

He sighed as he regained his focus to go over the final bit of his list and for a moment he looked outside the ship to gaze upon the other ships in the hangar. He was alone when he had enterred the bay, but he wondered if there would be anyone else in the hangar bay by now.
"Computer." He started with a slight hesitation "Are there any crew members inside the hangar bay at this time?"
While waiting for the answer he continued to check out his list in silence.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #8 –
Upon being addressed by the fighter pilot, Thea had the common choice to give him her answer over the intercom, but on a calculated whim - made in nanoseconds - she instead chose to answer him in person. Thus, she came to materialise next to him, appearing with her hands folded behind her back and dressed in her white Tac Conn body suit - chosen since she was on flight deck after all. Her hair was loosely tied up and her voice smooth as velvet, eyes kind as she looked towards the Junior Lieutenant.

"Yes, Lt. Ravon," she said, and she took a step forward - hands still folded behind her back. "The flight deck engineers are on a short break though, but they are just in the adjacent area on the port side of the hangar. You can find Wolf-03 and Wolf-04 from your squadron on the starboard side, preparing to run simulations in Holodeck 01 in thirty minutes. I will personally oversee their simulation, as per request from your new SCO."

Jaru Rel, the former Squadron Leader, was safely in stasis and Lt.Cmdr Miles Renard had been named his successor during the past week. Thea's analysis stated clearly that it had been a good choice, and the new organisational chart seemed to have been accepted by the rest of the pilots as well. Yet when it came to Razor, the Ship AI deemed that there was something bothering him. She was a poor judge of such things, organics not too easy to make sense of, but she tried. It was a part of her new ambitions that correlated with Lt. Kae's continuous assistance.

"Forgive me if I seem intrusive, 'Lieutenant, but may ask if something is bothering you?" She paused, wondering for 1,232 milliseconds if the query was socially acceptable. "I can assist you in booking an appointment with the Counselling Department, should you feel so inclined."

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #9 –
Thomas looked up when he heard Thea materialise before him and he placed his datapad aside him. He looked at Thea now and his eyes narrowed down on her, wondering why she chose to reply to him in person. Thomas was always the curious one, he believed everything happened with a reason, it wouldn't just be a coincidence that right after his transfer to the Theurgy that command got unmasked.

As he let the information sink in, he suddenly looked up at her as she mentioned the simulations on holodeck 01. 'Wolf 03 and 04 in a simulation...' he thought to himself and he querried "Thea, would it be possible for me to join the simulation as a spectator? I'd like to see how both of them perform in the simulation. Or would this pose a problem since the order came directly from Lt. Cmdr. Renard?" Thomas was curious how the pilots had developped their skills since the first time he met them. They were top pilots, but he always found that they lacked some finesse in flying their ships in combat. It was as if they only saw their flights as just flights and not the immense freedom it could give one.

He was rather suprised though when she asked him if something was bothering him. "Why do you think something is bothering me Thea?" he asked on a lower tone now. That alone could give away that something was on his mind, but he hoped the computer would not have noticed it. He carried on however "The Counselling Department... I don't think so Thea, those psych test might cost me my wings if they actually figue out how insane a fighter pilot can be." He joked and diverted his eyes from Thea to his ship again.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #10 –
When asked whether or not he may join her and observe his fellow squadron pilots, Thea wondered if she could give him a more sociable answer than what was expected of her by her programming. Both because she had the ability and wished to explore the freedom that Lin Kae had given, but also because she wished to be more friendly than what the negative reply might seem.

"If it was up to me, I would love if you could join me as I try and challenge your fellow wolves..." she said with a smile to Thomas Ravon and took another step forward. She lay her hand upon his shoulder. It was nothing required of her, but it surprised her how rewarding the gesture was for herself. Her sensory programming, her "sense" of tactile touch, felt the fabric of his uniform through her fingertips and her palm. Moreover, she felt the heat of his body through the fabric, and the strength of that shoulder shifting under her touch. The notion of such things had meant next to nothing before the Niga Incident, but it had proven a catalyst for things she had yet to explore. Curious, how such horror that the infected had put her projection through had been the way she learned about the... things that she wished to explore.

Was it shame, this... feeling that made her wish something more benign and good had given her the epiphany? Did it even matter? Did she dare explore more than she already had in the privacy of her own physical quarters?

The self-searching she had undergone had made her pause for a second before she continued."...you might even assist me in learning their weaknesses, but I am afraid that you will have to make the request to your commanding officer. It is up to him if you may forego your scheduled duties and join me at the holode-"

And then... she simply vanished.

If addressed, only the disembodied voice over the intercom would answer the crew as according to Subroutine C-47 - the section of programming in a Starship's main computer that pertained to non-critical systems such as replicator selections, recreational programming and replies to common questions from the crew. Yet the holographic projection, along with the self-aware Ship AI sentience, had utterly vanished.

This, before she could even answer Thomas second question, regarding her concern for him after what he had been through since he came aboard.

OOC: This would serve as a good brain-teaser and investigation for Thomas until the pairing ahead, which shant be too long. *grins*..

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #11 –
In what seemed like something being dropped strait out of shadow into the world of reality a creature hit the ground in the hangar bay.  The creature was comparable to the Teran species of maned wolf and had seemingly appeared directly under the Fighter designated Wolf 01.   If one could read canine body languge it seemed to look around with a mote of confusion.  The fighter bay was all but empty aside from what appeared to be one of the pilots whom for some reason the mind behind the canid eyes seemed to feel it recognized somehow.The other was a female in a strange body suit that seemed to just appear as suddenly as he had.  For some reason the creature seemed a bit at ease at the female's sight. Still it was startled and shy it kept its profile low as it hid as best as it could in the shadows of the fighter to stay out of sight of the two people talking.  Then suddenly he was shocked when the female seemingly disappeared without warning.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #12 –
Thomas smiled as she mentioned that she would love to see both of them challenge his co-pilots. He was rather surprised though when she placed her hand on his shoulder. He hadn't ntoiced any other ship AI do this before and it seemed like to her it was a rather big deal.
He noticed the pause but eventually got to hear that he had to take it up to his CO. Just as he formed his lips to request her to patch himr through, he heard a light thud in the distance. It was as if someone had dropped a bag of meat on the ground and a second later  Thea just simply vanished in plain sight.

Thomas flinched for a second once Thea just suddenly vanished and he looked around a bit to see if there was a glitch in her programming or anything. "Thea?" he querried now to hear from the computer again but apparently nothing had happened. He stepped around his ship now and wondered what the sound was that he had heard. According to Thea he was alone in the fighter bay, so either something slid off a ship or there could be an intruder of some kind.

Thomas first started with the inspection around his own ship. Not noticing anything weird or unnatural about it he looked around in the hangar bay. He couldn't directly spot anything and he peered into the shadows of the other fighters in the fighter bay. "Mmmh, odd... Must be imagining things I guess." he mumbled to himself and he returned to pick up his datapad. He completed the final check ups on his bird and decided to take some of his questions up to one of the engineers. However he couldn't yet shake the feeling something was off with Thea just vanishing. A bit sunken in thoughts, Thomas took a small detour to the port side, hereby walking past nearly every fighter in the bay, including Renard his ship. He stopped as he noticed something at the landing gear of the ship.

Just as he wanted to investigate further when uddenly a white light surrounded him. He s baffled by it and he suddenly vaporized into thin air, his datapad falling to the floor thus rendering the hangar bay empty of his presence.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #13 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Eve had truly only meant to take a moment of his time, to express her concerns yes but to also just find a little comfort in his presence with the hope he would take a little comfort in hers.  She'd noticed how he seemed to keep to himself, that perhaps he wasn't happy with his life and if she could just bring a little joy then she was not just doing her job as a nurse but by being a good friend.

As he suddenly crushed her to him, she reveled in the power and her body responded without hesitation.  She was his friend, yes, an intimate one but she dared to hope for more.  There was something about him back then that had only deepened over the years, like he was lost and searching for something.  If only she could help him find it and his healing could begin!

Regulations be damned like he said though as their most primal needs surged and he commanded the doors be locked.  Swiftly his own uniform was unzipped and that hunger boiled in her eyes as they both began stripping each other.  The humidity felt glorious as her skin was exposed but it was his touch and his lips that had her breathless is moments.

"I need you," she whispered huskily as she pressed her bare breasts against his chest and devoured his lips again.  "Not much time but enough to hold us over until later," she added as she pulled him down to the floor on top of her.  It was also letting him know he didn't have to stay away from her, that she would always welcome him anytime he desired her.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #14 –
the canid reacted in the startled way he would be expected to seeing the person disappeared jumping back a bit before darting over where the pilot was at previously.  It sniffed the ground for a moment trailing it to where the two had been standing but the trail was gone.  There was nothign at all to indicat where they had went other than a open door leading to the ship's corridors.   The canid began to look both ways before wandering out of the hangar bay and into the corridor as it began looking for anything that could offer a semblance of a place to hide if it needed to run.

((Location of "Rusty" 10-20 minutes of wandering deck 15 corridors aimlessly seeming to map out the area in his head.  then begins a patrol like walking pattern through the corridors between  the landing struts and the locations of the ground hover pods locations having established those locations as "dens"  It is being cautious to avoid being sighted by crew as it does patrols.

also sorry for the shortness of the post kinda hard to do a longer post when posting from the viewpoint of an external observer of the character))

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #15 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

The shedding of their garments was a hasty affair, if practised - the effectiveness impaired by their common needs alone. Something which was quite acute at the moment, though. The greenery around them, the mist and warmth. The slickness of their skin as their hands groped and wandered. Lucan went down willingly when she pulled him down, and he licked her throat, nipped at her ear, burrowed his lips into the nape of her neck... made eye-contact with her.

The image of her skinned face looked back at him.

He paused.

He paused in the haste they shared, but a playful grin touched his lips. His smooth bronze expanse of streamlined muscle and sinew had came to hover above her, breath joined with hers. His hard chest was suspended over her, tapering down to his taut, flat abdomen, and a rigid arousal so quickened it seemed unnatural in the combination with his serene face. "No," he said, having made a decision before he thought it through, "not yet..."

Having withdrawn with his words, Lucan stood tall on his knees between her spread legs - eyes resting upon hers. He said nothing to begin with, leaving Eve wondering, until he retreated a little. Suddenly, his warm arms were beneath her thighs, his inked hands spread over her abdomen - stroking her like his deceptive tongue teased her labia. He might be keeping her in place firmly with his lover's embrace, controlling and dominating her every sensation, yet he also allowed her to arch her back and to press more firmly against his mouth.

He paused only to speak in a hushed voice. "I want to savour you," he said and blew air against her, "I will take the time for it." He slid his hands higher and palmed her achingly swollen breasts - teased the twain crowns with his thumbs. And in realisation that he was taking his time to please her, Lucan came to think about the rolling graze of the sea lapping against the shore. His mouth parted and quested with the inflow, and thought about the winds caressing Envon's walls - slowly wearing down the resistance of stone and baring the titanium skeletons.

He had done this to Kisane. The past had returned to haunt him.

The swirling motions of his tongue inside her wet grotto. The flutter against her pearl. Absorbing her drugging nectar, Lucan was not persistent. He was thorough, and inflamed by the noises she made. The lithe and powerful animal that he had rediscovered in Eve was intriguing and distracting - serving to make him doubt as well. Still, he pressed his mouth to her sweetness as if he had all the time in the world - a dream of the past ever-lasting.

Or at least, as long as she would last under the pleasurable torture.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #16 –
[Security Offices | Deck 07]

Things were looking up.

David sat at his desk in his office, a cup of black coffee steaming off to the side as he browsed through the reports from the previous night's security patrols. Things had finally calmed down a bit on the Theurgy--at least, as much as they could calm down on this insane ship. There had been no serious incidents during the night, and David was pleased to discover that the brig's detention cells were now entirely empty. There had been one occupant when he'd come off duty yesterday, serving a brief two day sentence for starting a fight in the mess hall, but their time had been served by the time David had reported for duty in the morning.

So it had been a quiet night, and there were no indications that the current day would be any different. Work on the ship was still ongoing, as always, but people were returning to their normal duty shifts, and at long last some semblance of order seemed to finally be returning to the ship. Couple those developments with the new sparring partner David had encountered a few nights ago, during a session which still had the Chief of Security in an uncharacteristically pleasant mood, and yes, from where David was sitting, things were definitely looking up.

"Commander Grayson," said one of his patrolmen, who'd poked his head through David's open doorway. "Lieutenant zh'Wann just arrived."

David sighed. Okay, things were mostly looking up.

There was still the matter of his unfortunate meeting with ThanIda the other night. Just thinking about it caused David to briefly relive the nightmare. When she'd arrived Ida seemed even more agitated than usual, though she refused to explain why. She also didn't seem particularly impressed by the meal David had prepared, even though it was an authentic Andorian dish. Sure, maybe he'd needed to use a couple of different ingredients owing to the Theurgy's lack of supplies and strict energy rationing, which prevented him from replicating everything, but still...

Things had only gotten worse from there. David could no longer recall what exactly had started the argument--it was all just one giant, unpleasant blur to him now--but he knew that it had ended with Ida storming out. Despite David's best intentions, his misguided attempt to mend fences seemed to have only made matters worse between him and his second-in-command.

Steeling himself, David thanked the patrolman with a nod. He knew Ida would appear at his office momentarily. Part of her duties at the beginning of her shift included a short briefing with David to go over the previous day's reports and discuss the current day's patrol rosters. With that knowledge, David set aside his PADD and took a long drink of his coffee, then awaited the fiery Andorian's arrival.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #17 –
The sliding doors opened to accommodate the frosty countenance of the Deputy Chief of Security, and Ida strode right up to the desk with her PADD underneath her arm - on time and with a mind open.

Given that she had managed to book the holodeck that morning, she had managed to stave off her bitterness and anger towards David Grayson. So while her dislike still lingered, she did not come in to start up the argument where they left off. No, they were on duty now, and Ida would rather be caught dead than fail in her position. After what happened before Niga, the incident that resulted in David sitting in the chair before her instead of herself, as well as during the Niga Incident, where she had been one of the first generation infected and led the crusade cross the ship, Ida had a mind to be an impeccable officer, and try to keep the crew aboard from tearing itself apart. Lor'Vela knew the crew had been through a lot, after all.

"Lt. zh'Wann reporting for duty, sir," she said, and her midnight eyes were unblinking as they looked upon David where he sat with his coffee. "I have the report from yesterday's shifts here."

She stepped up to the desk and putt the PADD down before the human, then she stood straight again, folding her arms underneath her breasts while she explained what he was due to peruse. "Alpha, Beta and Gamma shifts reported a total of three arguments between NCO-ranking crew members that were dealt with, with no arrests made since they were caught early. What is not included in that report is the incident this morning, where a Cadet in Engineering, a certain Ester Hamburg, initiated a fight for the same reason as most fights have blossomed up lately."

Again, the Niga Incident, where the victims confronted their rapists openly. "Junior Lieutenant Kingston has just now taken Cadet Hamburg to her superior officer, Chief Engineer Howard. Adam will be giving us his report on how Nicole handled the matter during the day. In my own opinion, I hope 'Cmdr. Howard manages to deal with the Cadet before she get more ideas. While she might be disciplined in her own Department this time, she might have to spend time in a holding cell the next. Time will tell."

Taking a deep breath, Ida moved on. "Furthermore, there was a report from one of the Brig Officers that there was a malfunction in the controls when he left his shift this morning. It appeared like the force field for Holding Cell C couldn't be raised, so it has been left open this morning. Given the number of incidents that seem to increase, I would think it is imperative that we manage to get the holding cell operational again. If we are lucky, it is not the energy crisis that has robbed us of a working holding cell, but Ops having to redistributed the power elsewhere during the ship-wide repairs. While I am no engineer, by any means, I do know my way around the circuits, so if you'd permit, sir, I will begin trying to repair it immediately. If I need help, I will request Engineering to come by."

It was, also, a perfect way to stay away from David, for just being in the same room with him made her wish to visit the phaser range. this despite the way she had managed to vent her anger upon the canvas that morning.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #18 –
[Security Offices | Deck 07]

One difference with Ida that David had noticed over the past few days was how closed off she had become. He knew she'd been through a lot recently--more than most people on this ship, which was saying something--and while he wasn't sure if Ida was just doing it as some kind of defense mechanism, he hoped that was all it was. He wondered if she'd been down to see the counselor yet to discuss her trials, but considering how many other people needed to do the same, and how limited the counselor's time was, David doubted it.

He knew that he was not exactly Ida's favorite person in the galaxy at the moment, but he appreciated that she seemed to be making an effort to behave like a professional around him. When she appeared in his office and began making her report, David focused himself entirely on Ida, nodding as she informed him of the incident with Cadet Hamburg. Despite their differences, Ida was a member of his staff, and his deputy chief, and she deserved his undivided attention.

"Well, let's hope that Ms. Howard is able to deal with the issue satisfactorily," David agreed with a nod. "It's been a long time since the brig went without hosting at least one guest on this ship. It would be nice if we could keep a clean sheet for one day."

David continued to listen as Ida moved on to the subject of the damaged holding cell. While technically they should have called an engineer down to take a look at it, David knew that Nicole Howard's staff was already stretched thin as it was, and he also knew that Ida wasn't lying when she insisted that she was familiar with how to repair the cell. "That's fine, Lieutenant," he said. "I'm sure Commander Howard would appreciate it if we could fix such a small problem on our own without having to involve any of her engineers."

He took a quick look at the duty roster for the day to make sure that there weren't any more pressing matters that needed to be handled first. "It looks like we don't have anything else to worry about at the moment, so you're free to take a look at the holding cell." As for himself, well, he still had a mountain of paperwork left over from the Niga Incident to go through. It seemed like every time he made a dent in it, something new would come in.

He glanced briefly back at Ida and nodded to her. "Unless there's anything else, Lieutenant, you're dismissed. Let me know how the repairs go."

David watched as Ida left, then sighed and tried to concentrate on his paperwork again. His coffee had grown cold over the course of his meeting with Ida, a metaphor if he'd ever seen one. He wished he could figure out how to break through that shell his deputy has built up around herself. Honestly, he didn't understand why the two of them didn't get along better. He was certain that they had more in common than either of them really knew. Could all of this animosity really only have come from his being promoted over her?

Several minutes passed, and finally David shook his head and stood up from his desk, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. There was no way he could focus on his work right now. He glanced out of his office and saw that the rest of the security offices were empty. Everyone else was either on patrol or stationed at the armory or at various checkpoints across the ship. And with the brig being free of detainees today, there wouldn't be anyone else there at the moment, either.

David frowned and drummed his fingers on the doorjamb as he thought things over. With the rest of the department gone, this might be his best opportunity to speak with Ida privately and avoid any arguments happening in front of the others. He certainly didn't want to try speaking with her off duty again, not after what happened the other day. No, if he was going to do this, he wasn't going to get a better chance than right now.

His decision made, David nodded and stepped out of his office, making sure to lock it with his security code before making his way down to the brig. It was time to deal with this problem between him and Ida once and for all.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #19 –
Several minutes had passed and ThanIda was running a Level 3 diagnostic on the affected holding cell's systems - having a subtle urge to get her hands dirty instead of just delegating duties. Well, besides the need to stay away from David Grayson.

The diagnostic she was running involved verification of key mechanics and systems readings - intended to be performed in ten minutes or less. She was no engineer, so she would need more time. She was currently at the second phase, where she was running tests on the routes connecting the holding cell forcefield with the power supply with an auto-sequencer. Thus, she was on her back and sweating just inside a shallow control panel with her arms and tools reaching deep into the circuitry. The heat of and cramped space had her undershirt already stained with perspiration - having tossed her uniform jacket upon the cell's floor way too late.

"Computer, activate forcefield for Holding Cell C."

[Unable to comply. Forcefield generator unresponsive.]

"Damnable Pinkskin machine..." cursed Ida quietly and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. If she'd ever come to doubt she had done the right thing in declining deeper studies with the Engineering or Ops departments, this was a moment she ought to remember. Cramped spaces, blind troubleshooting and way to much time fixing things that should not have to be fixed all the time. If she...

What was that? Frowning, she propped herself up on her elbows and saw someone come to stand beyond her shoes in the holding cell. "Yes?" she asked from where she lay, her lower body on the floor of the cell and the rest of her within the opened panel. She shimmied back out into the light and met the eye of the very person she meant to avoid in being there - antennae lowering at the sight. Still, despite her current state, she lay the hand holding the heavy auto-sequencer between her breasts and delivered a casual, "Is anything amiss, Chief?"

Besides everything about you, as far as I am concerned.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #20 –
It wasn't hard for David to find Ida. He could hear her cursing and muttering long before he'd ever reached Holding Cell C. The sounds of Ida's frustration brought a bit of a smile to David's face; he knew how impatient Ida could be, and clearly the damaged cell was not cooperating with her. Still, as soon as he reached the cell he wiped the smile from his face. He was trying to repair his relationship with the zhen, the last thing he needed was for her to think he was mocking her.

He stepped into the cell and found Ida's legs and lower body poking out of the alcove as she tinkered with the circuitry inside. Her uniform jacket lay tossed aside on the floor nearby, and only then did David realize how warm it was in there.

Ida pulled herself out of the alcove and David greeted her with a nod, his keen eyes instantly assessing her, as they did with everyone he saw. He noticed the way Ida's undershirt clung to her perspiring body, offering David yet another reminder of his recent encounter with Ensign Carver in the ship's gymnasium. He cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his focus and shook his head in response to Ida's question.

"Nothing's amiss, Lieutenant. I just thought maybe you might need a hand down here." David knew the lie sounded weak the moment it passed through his lips, and judging by the look on Ida's face, she knew it as well.

He sighed. "Alright, the real reason I came down here is...well, we haven't really had much of a chance to talk ever since...the other night." David could already feel himself beginning to sweat, and couldn't tell if it was because of nerves or because of the heat in the cramped holding cell. "There's nobody else around at the moment, so I figured you and I probably won't have a better opportunity than right now. I know you're not very fond of me, Ida, but I'd like to try and fix whatever it is that's wrong between us. For the sake of the rest of the department, if nothing else."

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #21 –
Listening to David speaking his business, Ida lay on her back with her knees bent just outside of the alcove. After the first, false, claim of his, when he instead mentioned the topics he wished to discuss, Ida had lay her head down against the titanium plated floor and looked towards the electric fittings in the ceiling - her mind dissecting what was said.

On one side, she was the cynical, sceptical and snide Andorian Guardsman whom had been wronged by her commanding officers, while the other side - who thought it was unbecoming to fight for a lost cause and knew there was no chance for redemption - was the hoarse voice or reason. The voice whom told her the same thing that it had told her in the Gymnasium before she agreed to have dinner with the Pinkskin. It's for the greater good, and the best of the Department, and all that yellow ice. She had listened, she had went, and look how well that turned out!

Still, her commanding officer was present. It was not like she could vanish from the spot. Like her father had told her long ago, tact was the means of making a point without making an enemy. Alas, she might be too late now - all the tact in the world not going to help her make her point.

"We spoke in Below Decks on the eve of your promotion," she said quietly, still looking up towards the light coming from the ceiling - the still auto-sequencer resting on her chest. "The same words I spoke to you then come to mind."

She paused as she lay her tool aside and sat up, clasping her hands together and resting her elbows on her knees. She looked up at him with both antennae and midnight eyes, and she spoke very clearly - unblinking. "You are not making this very easy for me, 'Commander," she said, repeating her words from that night before they had reached Niga and all hell would break loose, "Ceaselessly, you try to approach me. To talk to me. To pity me. To try and make up for any hard feelings by generating new ones. You feel bad about my fate aboard this ship. You feel responsible. Even more so now when I am a social pariah, given what the virus made me do at Niga. When you talked to me in Below Decks, I was with close friends from Alpha shift. They have abandoned me now, as if I turned into a leper. I am a feared Deputy now; no one quite certain what to make of me any more. So you again blame yourself for my fate, and under the pretence of trying to smooth things over with me for the sake of the Department, you want to talk. You want me to tell you that 'it is okay, Pinkskin, I will turn the other cheek. I can handle this on my own. No, no, by all means, I can just roll over right here so that fate can fuck me in the arse a third time whenever it deigns to.' No, 'Commander, I will not make friends for you just because of your guilty conscience."

Her words very precise, she delivered them whilst being seated as she were. Only now did she stand up - looking him square in the eye. "If you continue to pity me, I will not respect your authority. I do not want friendship. I want a leader to look up to, so that I can tell myself that someone better than me got the position. I want a warrior sitting behind your desk: someone whom the Imperial Guard on Andoria would recognise. If you inspire me instead of cajoling me, you will have the most loyal and ambitious Deputy in the Fleet. Ready to take us to the Federation and spread the truth."

She took a step closer to him, her antennae raising. "You want to talk. I want to fight. I want to see what kind of warrior you are, David Grayson. Do you mean me to do your bidding out of Starfleet rank... or out of expertise, strength and resourcefulness? We have fought with words, but we have not fought in earnest. Neither of us look like politicians, do we, Pinkskin?"

The fight was in the air, about to start...

...when there was a plasma explosion in the opened alcove. First, the force-field was raised to lock them in, and secondly, the alcove was a furnace of hot air from overheated machinery. There seemed no overhanging risk for further explosions, but the hot air became even warmer. It all happened so fast Ida just stood there, realising that they were locked in. She thought she saw someone through the haze of smoke in the holding cell just outside, but if there was someone there, she was gone whens he stepped up to the humming force field.

She turned to David, speechless. Trapped with him in the sweltering heat.

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #22 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Sex was such a wonderful thing but whenever Eve was with Lucan there was something so much more, bringing her arousal and ultimate climaxes to even high levels.  Feeling him lay atop her, touching and kissing in near desperation, she moaned in pure contentment.  Then he paused and she felt her body pulsing with need yet she remained still, even when he said "no."

Her expression remained attentive and she was about to tell him it was okay, that they could meet up later.  He knew she would restrain herself, would wait for him until he was ready but then he proved he was more than ready.  Her eyes had been locked with his but she couldn't help dropping that gaze as he knelt there before her, drinking in his chest and how his navel drew her line of sight.

His movement brought her eyes back to his and she realized his intent, something he had never done with her before and it was something she considered extremely intimate.  "Lucan," she breathed as indeed her back arched and she reached to touch his face as his tongue swept along her nether region.  How she had always longed for him to do this, and his words added fuel to the fire.

Slowly he tormented her, his tongue expertly drawing her along to the point she was writing beneath him and rocking her hips to press herself more to his mouth.  "So perfect ... so good ... yesssssss ... wanted this for so long," she groaned.  Higher and higher the pitch of her voice rose until she was at the point of no return, crying out as her hips bucked and his tongue was coated with her sweet juices.

Her knees dropped out limply to the side as she lay there still cooing with release.  "Come here," she said finding the strength to sit up and take him by the face and drag him up for a deep kiss.  Her tongue licked every bit of herself from him and teased along those sensitive places she knew so well in his mouth then pulled back enough to speak.  "Somehow I have to repay you for that," she crooned with a teasing lilt.  "Your wish ... is my command."

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #23 –
[Brig | Deck 07]

David felt his patience with Ida wearing thinner with every word that passed through her lips. He'd come to her in good faith, offering her an olive branch of peace, and once again she threw it back in his face. Was part of his desire to make amends due to a guilty conscience on his part? Perhaps, but only a little. It certainly wasn't because he pitied her.

Ida may have been ahead of David in the chain of command when their superior died, but it was her own incompetence that had led her to this fate, not anything he'd done. He didn't pity her for that. Her bad judgment and her poor performance in the face of adversity had taken her down this road. David didn't want to heal the rift between them out of some sense of pity, but because he knew that Ida's constant rebelliousness was undermining his authority as Chief of Security. If even his own Deputy wouldn't treat him with the proper respect, why should any of the other officers under his command do so?

Had this altercation occurred several days ago, perhaps David would have responded differently. He might have taken Ida's words in stride and simply forget the whole thing had happened. But things had changed. No longer did David feel like it was for the best that he kept himself contained, that he should hold back his true self out of some misguided notion that he was not his own man, but someone else's creation. It was long past time that he stop pretending to be someone he knew he wasn't.

When Ida stepped towards David, he did not back down. He stepped forward as well, his eyes burning with icy fury. If this disrespectful Andorian wanted a fight, he was more than happy to give her one.

"Be careful, Lieutenant," he warned, his normally steady tone laced with an underlying hint of danger. "You have no idea what I'm capable of." He'd gone to great lengths to keep the truth of his genetic engineering hidden, and it was doubtful that Ida knew about it. Andorians were strong and hardy, but David was physically on par with the genetically engineered supermen of Earth's Eugenics Wars. In this cramped holding space, with so little room to maneuver, he did not like Ida's chances.

Then suddenly there was a plasma explosion in the maintenance alcove, and David took a step back from Ida as he was suddenly jolted back into reality. He immediately turned toward the open doorway, only to stop as the forcefield flickered to life, sealing both him and Ida inside. He could have sworn seeing movement on the other side of the forcefield, but the haze of smoke from the explosion clouded his vision.

He coughed lightly and waved some of the smoke out of his face as he turned to look at Ida, equally shocked. "Well, this isn't good," he muttered. He frowned at Ida and tapped his combadge. It would be a simple matter to have one of the officers come down to the brig, deactivate the forcefield, and get them out of there. "Grayson to Security."

David stood there for a moment, awaiting a response, and his frown deepened when none came. He repeated the motion. "Grayson to Security! Respond!" Still nothing.

He scowled and tried a different tack. "Grayson to Engineering. Grayson to the bridge. Grayson to anyone!"

None answered. The Security Chief released a frustrated snarl. He was trapped in this holding cell with the most aggravating woman on the ship, no one was responding to his hails, and the wrecked machinery in the alcove flooded the cell with an intense heat that was quickly verging on unbearable. David had already begun to sweat even before the near-fight with Ida had begun, but now he was forced to remove his uniform jacket and loosen the collar on his undershirt, desperately seeking some relief. One of the downsides to his enhanced physicality was his metabolism, which burned far hotter than the average human's and meant that his body could overheat very quickly.

He tossed his jacket off to the side, atop Ida's, and frowned as he turned his attention back to her. "It looks like we're stuck here. Unless you've got any ideas?"

Re: USS Theurgy Log: The Mysterious God Incident (Ante Meridiem)

Reply #24 –
[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Despite the thoroughness of his treatment and what it had brought Eve, Lucan was merely beginning, for he was desperate to cling to his fleeting memory before it vanished.

"I bid you lay back then," he said to her thickly with the lines of a smile in the corners of mouth. Then, as he made her surrender yet again, he quietly leaned down to lay his mouth against her neck, lips and then teeth brushing against her skin. Slowly, he made the warmth of the hydroponics bay become inferior to their bond. Knees were nudged to part. An insistent palm splayed against her inner thigh. One arm slid behind her neck so that she might rest her head against it. Fingers dug into her shoulder. The flick of a warm tongue against her earlobe. The returning presence of his breath against her lips, a following kiss - assertively tasting the torrid sweetness hidden behind her teeth.

Strangely therapeutic; to sear the years away by the heat of shared passion - not just to shed melancholy and induce strength to face the impediments and difficulties on his chosen path. Eventually, Lucan made a low noise in his throat... finally claiming her.

Oh, she would welcome him with her soft sounds, syllables older than language, solace lovelier than words. He knew she'd respond to the pressure of his girth with those cries that men longed to hear. They were the sweet deep moaning sounds that echoed the sigh of oceans, the ebb and flow of fields, the sough of the winds. He expected her legs to soon crushed his ribs anew, her crossed heels digging in hard, drawing him in.

To him, everything fell away. No stain upon his soul. No genocide in mind. No betrayal of the crew. There was nothing else left, nothing in the world but her and the delirious incoherent frenzy of pure sensation that her sheath and her body's response sent spiralling through him. The external impressions enforced those within. The grind of warm and wet skin and the play of the artificial light upon her. The taste of salt and sweetness of flesh and mouth. Her breath filling his nostrils. The churning surge against her making his dark hair fall forth, encompassing their faces - shading the intimate squint of their eyes.

Only when he had her close to her second climax did he tumble them sideways on the path... and came to lay back against the undergrowth. There was some kind of soft plantation next to the flooring they'd just occupied - now ruined by their weight. He did not care the least.

He kept his arms around her as she lay against him. Hard fingers running down her back, his tattooed hand descended to her hips in order to control her pelvic movements. Just like his lips may catch the shallow groove behind her collarbone and the nape of her neck, he would but try to match her dance. He would not lead any more, but make her apply herself to the here and now - to make him completely forget. There was no escape save for the release - no recourse but oblivion. 


[Brig | Deck 07]

Just before the plasma explosion in the alcove, when Ida had posed her challenge, she had glimpsed something about her new superior that she had not detected before.

He had become carved out of ice, his gaze burning and meeting her claims with the cold steel of his tone - as if drawing an ushaan-tor in preparation for the duel she had offered. It had been... surprising, for she had thought the Pinkskin carved out of softer materials. Then again, why would she have given him the benefit of the doubt? Especially when her people were known for their emotional, passionate and violent tendencies, as opposed to charity. Or sympathy, for that matter.

Now there had been the attitude of a leader she could respect - a superior to look up to and adhere to. In that brief moment when the Pinkskin had shown some spine and not backed out from the challenge, she had felt a sliver of hope that there was some kind of justice in the galaxy. That, perhaps, she would not have to grieve for the sake of the crew that they lacked an Chief of Security that could keep them safe during their mission back into Federation space.

Had the plasma explosion not happened, she would have told the Pinkskin so, and even smiled to him.

Yet when the small disaster happened, and they were effectively sealed in, Ida's mind turned to the present. When Grayson's combadge did not respond, Ida had gone to pick up hers from her uniform jacket, jammed her thumb upon it and tried to contact Engineering. She got the same result as David, as if the explosion had some kind of electrical surge that had blown out the circuitry within them. Odd, since they had not been that close to the alcove when it happened. In the end, she tossed the jacked and the combadge to the floor again... only to see David'd uniform land on top of it.

Lifting her midnight blue eyes and antennae in the smoke, she got a glimpse of a second thing that - while she had seen him in the gymnasium before - had been unnoticed since she'd thought him a spineless Pinkskin who'd won the favour from the Senior Staff just so they'd have an alternative to herself. Now, when she had caught on to a hint that there might be something more to him, the sight of his moderate undress got her cursory notice. It was not like she stared, but it was a vivid image of sweat, muscle and smoke that she might have to try and capture on canvas.

First, they had to get out though. She was getting heavy-headed and drenched in sweat because of the Andorian physiology, the metabolism and her compartmentalised insides keeping the heat from venting. Her own high metabolism didn't help either. Ideas.. ideas... she thought and looked around, following Grayson's example by unzipping her undershirt as far as she could. Blue skin pearled with sweat caught the artificial light from above.

"We need to keep ourselves from cooking inside here first," she ventured with her eyebrows drawn down in thought, "so we need to close the alcove with the hatch that I removed, but being that this is a holding cell, we need to fasten it with some of the tools I brought. Those are, however, there - outside the forcefield. We can place the hatch over it, but I think we need to seal it tight with our uniform jackets. If we stick those around its edges, it aught to not fall off from the pressure of this warm air."

And thus, Ida began to try and move the heavy hatch into position again, picking up her own uniform jacket on the way - fully expecting the Pinkskin to assist her in their common plight.
 
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