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Trojan Horse #87, 88 - "On your feet, Soldier!"-=On=- With the current disaster over, it only took a moment for Kathleen Black to realize how many other awaited her. She knew she was supposed to act properly as 'third in command', but she needed some advice! So as soon as people started working on their next tasks, she cleared the Ops station and left it for the person on duty. "Commander.." she told Petrova. "May I speak to you, in private, please?" The look on her face was troubled and earnest. Kristiana had just finished sending the report to Starfleet Central and was checking on Ryylar again. No need to call in a medical team. He'd wake up on his own soon enough, and those bruises will look ugly for a while, but there are people who need medical attention more. Like Evans, for example. She blinked a bit as Black addressed her, and nodded, rising to her feet. "Sure. In the ready-room." as she headed over there. Kitty followed her, and spoke just as soon as the door closed. "Half the engineers in my team are from the Lantree, and they don't know what happened. I've heard that other departments have been... separating the surviving Lantree crew, in case they were plotting against us, but these engineers have been pulling their weight without complaint." "I know, Lieutenant." She sighed softly, rubbing her temples a bit. "But right now, I don't have the luxury of calling in a meeting. Our ship is all but destroyed - honestly, I don't know which one is in worse shape - the Lantree or the Pegasus." "Should I keep them working with us? The engineers? And what should I tell them?" Kitty frowned. "......HOW do I tell them?" She glanced down, troubled. "I don't know how to do this." ".. You're the second officer of this ship, Lieutenant." Kristiana replied, furrowing her brows a bit, then reaching to take Kitty's shoulders. "That means that sometimes there are things that you need to do, that are difficult and unpleasant. This .. would be one of them. Have Security release every Lantree crewmember that they've rounded up, and tell them the truth. I wish I could do it for you, but with LaBrie missing, I can't leave the bridge long enough. I need to stay up here to organise everything else. Which is Also difficult and Also unpleasant." Kitty looked into her superior officer's eyes for a moment, then forced down her fears with a slight shudder, her eyes then beginning to fill with determination. "I'll take care of it," she said. Then she spoke again, hesitantly, quieter this time. "But I wish.. Evans was at that Ops station." Kristiana nodded. "I know. I know, Kitty. Believe me, I know. Right now, Ryylar is lying on the deck of the bridge, out cold, from the Lantree's attack. He's nowhere near as badly injured as Evans is .. But the effect is the same. I wish more than anything that I could be with him, to make him alright again. But I have a Job to do. And much, Much more depends on me doing my job than on me being with the man I love." "I know.." Kitty whispered, then she took a deep breath. "I won't let you down. I'll get a team over there and we'll get ourselves warp capable. We could probably even free up those corridors, with extra conduits. But... we won't be going into combat again, will we? I don't think we could take another pounding, and any way I rig the warp engines is going to be................... EXTREMELY unapproved." ".. If we get into another combat situation, then we get into another combat situation. And we'll break our heads over how to survive it when we get there. I know this is very difficult, Kitty. But you knew what you were getting in to when you chose the path of an officer, when you became chief engineer, when you accepted the 2XO position. You knew moments like this would come. Right now, what I .. We .. Everyone, Including Evans .. need from you, is for you to Do Your Job. You'll help us more with that than with anything else. Get our warp drive online. Anything else is secondary. Our warp drive is the only thing that will make the difference between all of us dead .. or all of us alive. Do you understand ?" "I understand, sir..." Kitty straightened up, looking a good deal more sure of herself now, even smiling just a little bit. "And That is something I Can do." Another nod, as Kristiana stood straight, and saluted the Lieutenant before her. ".. You have a Job to do, Lieutenant. An important one. So you'd better hop to it." Kitty saluted back, nice and crisp. "Yessir, I'll let you know how it goes. And thank you." And with that, she turned around and headed out the door again, gathering up her courage for addressing the Lantree engineers. Kristiana dropped her salute when Kitty turned and exited, and leaned her forehead against the wall for a moment, closing her eyes, heaving a sigh, rubbing her cheeks some, before straightening again and heading back onto the bridge. "Any update on clearing the corridor to LaBrie's quarters ?" she asked. -=Off=- Lt Cmdr Kristiana Petrova Executive Officer USS Pegasus Lt. Kathleen Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus |
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