Posted by Lieutenant Mike Stone (Chief Engineer) in A lonely corner of the engineering deck

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in A lonely corner of the engineering deck

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Civilian, Former CO) in A lonely corner of the engineering deck
Snip
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Despite everything that had happened, despite the pain and weariness and disorientation coursing through her, Nakuto let out a deep and hearty rumble of laughter.
“Mr Stone, I think that is the best welcome back I could have ever asked for. And possibly far more than I deserved. But I have missed you too, my friend,” she continued, delivering a decent slap to the man’s back, “and I have missed this ship and my…this crew.”

His following comment, however, caught the half-Klingon almost completely off-guard. Only now was it beginning to solidify in her mind that she was no longer the commanding officer of this vessel. Only now were the full implications of the effect her year-long absence must have had on the rest of the crew being made clear.
“I am…sorry that I have not been here for all of you,” she offered. “I am sorry that I left you all to battle against this damned ship without me.”

Would she be willing to step back into the fray and take up command again? Deep down, in the pit of her stomach, something was telling her that Starfleet would be unlikely to ever offer her such an opportunity again. And then there was the matter of their new chain of command. Which unfortunate soul had been shackled to this most desperate of posts in her stead? Had Commander Akorem seen fit to seize his chance for the centre seat? Or was there another…a stranger…now treading in her own, worn footsteps?

“Surely you have a new Captain in command of the Viking?” she attempted to coax the information from Stone. “And judging by the current state of the ship, it would seem they are doing a far better job of it than I ever did.”

Had they also taken over her quarters? Were they too plagued with the poundings and voices and screams that had kept her awake and in fear every night? In truth she did not envy them for their lot and yet…to be relegated to the position of guest was a dishonour that she had not yet the strength to face.

“Whatever happens,” Nakuto concluded after a time, “I have no intentions of disappearing again. It seems I was destined to spend the remainder of my days on this vessel.”
Another laugh, although this one lacked the humour of the first. “The next time I depart from the Viking I suspect it will be inside a torpedo casing.”

Kara Nakuto

Mike smiled. He was really glad Kara was in good spirits and despite her appearance and pain she must have went through looked like she’ll pull trough. He didn’t doubt that. The half-klingon definately inheritet a lot from her klingon side.

“You know how it is, there has always been a high roster rotation on this ship. People come and go. We got a new CO for a while now, Captain Viktoryia Ravenfall,” He mentioned her name in case she knew her. “the ship’s same old, same old. We still never know what we’ll get from the replicatiors. But we’re managing, can’t complain too much.”

Lt. Mike Stone, CE

Ravenfall. The name was familiar to her, although in the current chaotic tangle of her subconscious, she was struggling to give it form.
“She came onboard as a medic, I believe?”

There was more to recall on this Ravenfall. Intangible wisps of memories danced tauntingly through her mind. Rituals, secret societies…something about the full moon? It was too distant now to recall fully. But the churning in her stomach was impossible to ignore. A warning…to be wary of her new CO.

“I suppose I should present myself to Captain Ravenfall,” she declared eventually, the requirement for deference to another like a bitter taste against her tongue. “…and see where she wishes to place me amongst the crew. I pray to the gods that she can find a use for me,” she sighed in desperation, “I can not spend my days pouring drinks and gazing out of the windows into the nothingness beyond.”

Kara Nakuto

“Take it easy and don’t worry about that right now. You need to recover first. Even if Ravenfall doesn’t have use for you, I could always use someone to give me a hand and pass me the wrench.” He thought for a second. “You know I haven’t really got to know our CO that well. Always busy with fixing stuff. But I think she was a security officer before.” He shrugged. “I could be wrong. I don’t think you need to worry to much about staying on Viking. We’re still understaffed as usual. That is if you will want to remain here with us.”

Trapped for a year. Mike would totaly understand if Kara would take the first opportunaty to leave this damned ship. Then again.... he doubted she’d ever leave if it was up to her.

Lt. Mike Stone, CE

A wide grin illuminated the half-Klingon’s distinctive features.
“I would like that,” she replied, “to work alongside you in engineering. I know my way around the innards of a starship almost as well as you do, Mr Stone. Perhaps here I could do some good? Or at least keep myself out of further trouble.”

It was like a chapter from a former life. Free from the heavy weight of Command, with a hyperspanner clutched between her fingers, Kara might yet succeed in finding that part of herself she had believed lost, torn from her soul one excruciating atom at a time by the anomaly that was the USS Viking. She might have failed them all utterly as their Captain, but as an engineer the damage she could wreak on an already-crumbling ship was minimal and…impersonal.

“Are any of our shuttles operational?” she asked the engineering chief then, an idea beginning to form in her mind. A flyby around the exterior of the starship would serve the dual purpose of allowing her to assess the vessel’s external state and at the same time afford her some space to breathe, after so long trapped in the claustrophobic confines of the dark.

“Would you…have the time to make a brief flight with me, Lieutenant?”

Kara Nakuto

Bump for Miha :)

OOC: Sorry, I though I replied this already.

OOC: Hehe, no worries!

IC:

“Well we have one fully operationaly and a spare one that could be used for a fly by. I’ll tell you what as soon as you’re cleared from the sickbay give me a call and i’ll make some room in my busy schedule for you.” He smiled.

Mike got a feeling as if Kara wanted to feel usefull again as soon as possible. Though not in a command position as she was before. He wasn’t sure if she felt hurt, that she got replaced as a CO of the ship or simply because she was away for so long from command that she now worried she couldn’t handle the job anymore. That was for her to resolve. To Mike the only thing that was important was that she was back from her imprisonment, and with time he knew she could achieve what she once had yet again, if only she wanted to.

“We’re nearly there.” He said as they aproached the sickbay entrance. “Don’t worry too much about command, fly-by’s or anything else. Get better first and later we’ll think of all that.”

Lt. Mike Stone, CE

“Aye, aye, Lieutenant,” Kara responded as the sickbay came into view.

As the doors parted she prepared to walk through them. Alone once more. But at the last she paused and, turning over her shoulder to look at the engineer she added, “It is really good to see you again, Mike. Better than you could ever know.”

Kara Nakuto

OOC: I’ll start a new thread for our shuttle adventure, tonight hopefully but if not then first thing tomorrow :)