Going Home

Posted on Tue May 16th, 2023 @ 4:19pm by Caeda & Endia
Edited on on Sun May 21st, 2023 @ 10:03pm

Mission: S1 Episode 5: Ex Post Facto
Location: Transporter Room
Timeline: Date 2371-08-15 at 1450
1293 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Getting away wasn't exactly a difficult challenge given the current environment. Most everyone on the ship had a laser focus of trying to figure out what was going on with the power fluctuations, so nobody really paid much attention to her movements through the corridors. The past days had been tense to say the least, and it had been hard to keep calm and collected knowing what was to come. There was excitement, yes, but also an overwhelming nervousness which showed in her slightly too quick walking pace.

It really was a good thing nobody was paying attention.

She held a PADD in one hand and she was running her fingers through her hair with the other. This was it. Now was the time. Home. Her heart was racing, but she did her best to keep her face neutral as she stepped into the transporter room. Thankfully this time, it was vacant.

With a situation like this, the second woman in the pair had a comparably harder time getting away from things. Of course, in a few moments, her schedule would no longer matter. As she too entered the transporter room and spotted the other woman, she offered a nod.

“So, this is it, I guess.” she said with a meaningful tone, clear uncertainty undergirding her generally authoritative tone.

“Yeah… it is.” The first agreed, looking around the room and then back to her companion. It was a strange feeling. She wasn’t going to miss this place, but there was definitely an uncertainty in her in the moment of their triumph. They had learned to live among these people - as terrible as it was - what if something went wrong and they ended up somewhere worse? Was there a worse place?

The second woman watched the first for a long beat, her eyes scanning the other woman’s face. She could tell she was nervous; they had been together long enough to know how to read each other. Long enough to know most everything.

“Don’t worry. We’ve been planning this for a long time. We’re ready.” the second woman said and walked closer to the first.

“Yeah… yeah you’re right.” The first said, managing a small and unconvincing smile as she did her best to bolster her own spirits in the moment with little success. “Do I need to do anything or do we just… go?”

“We just go.” the second woman said, her expression softening a bit. She came in close to the first woman and, in a moment of the rarest genuineness and weakness, wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tight. “We’re going home…we’re just going home..”

The hug was returned with equal amounts of desperation and warmth, and she buried her head briefly into the other woman’s neck. There was nothing sensual to its nature, it was simply a moment of pure relief and affection. “We’re going home.”

After a long pause, the second woman released the hug and offered a genuine smile in return, then her hands were on the transporter console and she was keying in commands.

“It’s set to energize automatically in twenty seconds. We’ll need to get to the pad before then.” she said, her voice surprisingly even considering the nature of what they were about to undertake. “Mark.”

With a smile, the first reached out for her companion’s hand and took it without really “asking”. She had relaxed now and walked up toward the transporter pad hand in hand with her with a quick step. They’d make it easily, and they stood there waiting together for their salvation.

The seconds passed slowly, and when the rays of blue enveloped them, they smiled once again, anxiously. They disappeared, and a few moments later, reappeared again.

The second woman looked around, a bit confused. She pulled out her tricorder to scan the surrounding area.

“Are we back? Maybe we just happen to be on an Intrepid Class in our own universe?” She said, though her tone was not tremendously hopeful. “Can you detect anything?”

“Why wouldn’t it have worked?” The first asked, her face taking on a slightly more panicked look. She looked around the area, frowning a bit more, and then pulled out her own tricorder with shaking hands. “I… I don’t know…”

“A thousand reasons. But the one that comes to mind is the nebulousness of the return destination.” The second woman said, a frown marking her delicate features. “In the Alpha Quadrant, it was easy. One ship to another. But here…there are no ships in the Delta Quadrant in our universe..”

A sound of frustration and despair in one sounded in the empty room. The first stomped her foot down on the transporter pad and immediately stepped off. Her eyes were stinging with tears, and she whirled on her companion. “Are you saying we are going to be stuck here until they get home too?!”

“Maybe?” She the second asked, just as irritated. “I don’t know yet; I need time to think.”

She placed her caramel hands in her curly hair and tugged at it with a moderate amount of force.

The shorter woman gritted her teeth, wanting to snap at the other, but it would get them nowhere fast. She took a few deep breaths, and then let it all out in one long, slow sigh. “Okay. Okay, okay. It’s fine. There just has to be some sort of other calculations you didn’t think to make to make up for us being here. You’ll get it. I know you will. We should probably get out of here though.”

“Agreed.” The second woman said, logging out of the console. “You go back to your normal routine and I’ll return to Computer Control. I need to purge my code from the core before they can find it. It’s a shame so much time and work was wasted, but I can’t just leave it there.”

“No, you can’t.” The first nodded slowly, but her whole expression was glum. “Just… be careful. If they catch you I…” She frowned. “I don’t even want to think of what they’d do to you.”

“Well, if I fuck up again, you won’t have to think about it.” The other woman said with a sigh before clearing the transporter log and turning unceremoniously toward the door. She was clearly very upset under her typical tough exterior.

For just a moment, she watched her partner head toward the door. There was a frown on her own face, and with a quick decision she took the length of the room in a couple strides and grabbed the other woman by the wrist. “Hey.”

Her hand moved up to the woman’s shoulder next to the gold collar. “We’ll get through it.”

“That’s my line, normally.” The other woman said with a slight smile breaking on her pretty face.

“It is, and you should listen to it.” The first gave a smile and wink. “Do you want to grab some food later?”

It was a disaster, but what else could they do? Dwelling on it certainly wouldn’t help, so the best they could do for themselves was to simply… keep on going.

The second woman’s slight smile became less slight and she gave a shallow nod.

“Once I’m not knee deep in complex computer code, let’s grab a bite.” She said, and then turned genuinely to leave.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you soon.” The first said and as they stepped out, went the opposite way from her friend.

They’d just try again.

END