JDL | Capt. Aine DiAgessi (CO) & Cdr. Jake Satie (XO) | "All Jammed Up" pt 2

Posted on Thu Oct 12th, 2017 @ 5:54pm by Captain Aine DiAgessi & Captain Jacob Satie

Terror. Cold. Broken. Unadulterated. Terror. It screamed through the normally confident Captain’s entire nervous system, breaking against every muscle and ligament and forcing her to stay down. She’d lost her footing, fallen against the side wall of the lift when it had bucked, and the last free fall had taken the wind right out of her sails. How she hadn’t puked was probably testament to the fact she hadn’t eaten breakfast, though she was acutely aware of the two cups of coffee sloshing around in there. Aine was panting, trying her damnedest to keep from hyperventilating. At some point in time the bobby pins that held her hair up in a regulated bun had come undone and released the ornery bounty of cocoa colored hair and her position, along with the station’s artificial gravity, turned it into a suffocating veil. At least he couldn’t see her face.

Trembling fingers gripped the grate-like bottom of the lift, clinging for dear life even though she knew that if it fell again, and didn’t stop, that clinging to a grate would do exactly bupkis for her, or him. They’d be dead. Her stomach lurched again, her eyes closed, and Aine was acutely aware of a throbbing in her shoulder where it had checked the bulkhead. He’d asked her a question. She’d managed an answer. But that didn’t mean he was unscathed. They’d both been thrown like rag dolls. It was her job to check on him, she was responsible for him. One hand left the grate, then found it again. The struggle was real, but she’d have to win and endure. Again her left hand left the grate and this time slowly brushed the hair back from her face, letting her re-open her eyes and find him.

Yep. He was ok. No blood. No broken bones. Standing. Ok. Meanwhile she was convinced that she was going to pass out or throw up or both. Why, God? Why did her worst fear have to be realized while trapped with someone who thought she was some snot nosed kid? Why bare the humiliation of that vulnerability? Why bring this to fruition at all? She groaned, a hollow, trembling sound as she forced herself back on her knees and over until she was sitting up with her back and head against the bulkhead. “I… I think… Gonna…” Use your words, Aine, “Pass out. Something. Oh Jesus.”

Jake had stood and brushed himself off, checking for injuries. He had none. The Captain on the other hand was still very much glued to the deck plates, her hair fallen down all around her face. She said she was going to pass out and that shoved Jake into action as the woman toppled over, spineless into the bulkhead of the lift. He pulled the tricorder from his belt holster and scanned her for injuries. Surprisingly she had nothing more than some bruises. He could tell she was slightly shockish and that worried him. "Ma'am, draw your knees up into your chest and tuck your head between them. It will help. Try and take slow deep breaths." The last thing Jake wanted was for her to pass out. They needed help. He reached up to his chest and tapped the combadge on his chest. "Satie to Engineering." The device chirped but there was no response. Jake looked around. The lift having been used to transport potentially volatile substances had been shielded and reinforced. The signal wasn't getting out. "It looks like we're incommunicado. Shielding won't let the signal through. This lift doesn't have a computer interface either. So we have two options, wait for help or try and escape."

He wanted her to do what now? Breathe? Yeah... She'd get right on that. First one knee, then the other, came up and her arms wrapped around them. Then her forehead met them, resting as Aine focused on trying to get her radically beating heart back under control before it exploded or came out of her chest or something. Each dead end, the lack of response to the cheerful chirp of Satie's combadge made that paltry little task all the more difficult to achieve. "Stupid." She breathed, shaking her head, "Stupid design. Jake..." Names. Satie was too far down the alphabetical chain and Commander was too many syllables. Jake worked, "Remember... Remember the fun fact?" She asked, "Wasn't kidding. No moving. We move. We die. Horrible death." Quiet time, Aine, quiet time. Just breathe.

Looking down at the woman drawing her knees up, Jake took a breath and knelt next to her. Hoping he wasn't being to forward he pushed back the cascade of soft hair from her face. "I'm here. We're not going to fall again. The emergency bolts are in place. This thing won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Jake sat down next to her. Closer than he should have, but if she was thinking of going into shock he wanted to offer his body heat as a counter to that possibility. "We are going to be fine. They will locate us soon when we don't make our meeting someone will come looking. The computer knows we entered this lift and it won't take people long to find it is malfunctioning." Jake was running through possibilities as fast as he could think them up. "So fun fact about me, I am allergic to cats. I can't tell you how glad I was to see a dog in your quarters last night, Ma'am."

"What if they break?" She asked, peering at him from where he'd gently unveiled her face, tucking tawny locks back behind her ear and shoulder. Space that was quickly taken up by the warmth of his body as he sat beside her. Focus on him. At least one of them was surefooted enough to handle the lift situation and she, no matter how much she hated to admit it, would need to rely on him until rescue came and set them free. It wouldn't be much longer. Couldn't be much longer. "Lunch. Fleet Admiral Red." She nodded and sighed, closing her eyes. Speak, damn it. Just speak. "She'll be worried... If... If I don't show up." Cats? The odd confession caught her attention, tugging her from the small little space she'd created for herself inside a nautilus of blinding fear. "No cats." Her head shook, "I actually don't like them." There. An actual sentence. For a second, Aine was actually proud of herself.

"We are agreed, then, no cats ever." Jake chuckled. "Don't worry about the lift. Right now it's just a room." It would be like spending a few hours in a holding cell during a deposition. "Think of it as a training mission. There is no outcome at the end that will harm us. It's how we make use of the time between now and then that defines us." That was the exact speech he had used on himself in the Academy when we went though the unwinnable scenario. It had worked for him, maybe it would work for her now. "Do you like music? I have kind of an eclectic selection of late twentieth century Rock 'n' Roll on this PADD. It helps me pass the time when I'm filling out reports." Jake gave her an innocent shrug.

"No cats." Aine nodded in perfect agreement, "Make it a station wide decree. Might cause incident with Caitians, don't care." Did she care? Nope. What she cared about was getting off that lift in one piece and gnawing on every engineer in sight about how absolutely dangerous it was to have them operating in such disrepair. "I do." She nodded, "I like music," Who didn't? "Late twentieth century rock is probably my favorite." She could think about that, music, lyrics, guitar solos. Perfect segue to her make believe training mission assigned to teach her how to shove her foot up engineering's ass sideways in a matter befitting a proper Captain. What was his name? Andorian. Something Andorian. "Fun Aine Fact... I had a huge thing for Freddie Mercury when I was a kid. Pity he's been gone for forever and a day."

Jake tried to place the name for a second and then it clicked, "Lead singer of Queen, right? I have a few songs here." He pulled his PADD out and scrolled through his listening list. With a few soft beeps, Jake had the song he wanted and hit play. "Are you gonna take me home tonight? Ah down beside that red fire light. Are you gonna let it all hang out? Fat bottomed girls you make the rocking world go round." He sang the whole first verse in his smooth baritenor voice while keeping rhythm with his hands slapping against his thighs. "Sing along if you know the words." Jake urged as he moved on to the second verse.

First her head lifted from her knees, though remained low and sort of tilted as she watched him. Then one eyebrow lifted as if to question whether or not he was serious. Then the other rose with it upon the realization that the Commander was, in fact, singing along with Fat Bottom Girls. At first she didn't know whether to laugh or cry or burrow her head back in her knees and pretend that the day was just a bad dream, but that wouldn't solve anything, and while he wasn't Freddie, he wasn't bad. Not bad at all. "I.. Me? No no. You're doing just fine." Aine drawled, "You get down with your bad self." It was her turn to chuckle. Holy shit on toast, she actually chuckled. Chuckling, laughter, took relaxation. In that situation it meant the man next to her was working some form of voodoo or another... And she liked it.

Halfway through that second verse she felt her toe tap out the time and her shoulders droop a bit from their rigid posture enough to ease up her death grip around her knees. By the start of the third verse she was singing along, "I've been singing with my band, across the wire, across the land. I've seen every blue-eyed floozy on the way. But their beauty and their style went kind of smooth after awhile..." Busted. Feeling his eyes on her she looked up to catch him looking over and that was when her singing dissolved into out and out laughter until they reached the chorus and, after every other embarrassing moment he'd already caught her in, Aine said 'fuck it' and belted out those damned lyrics like her life depended on it.

Jake wished they were standing for this battle of vocals. She was good. Her voice was clear and strong, her pitch was perfect and her voice blended well with his making a flawless harmony as the song moved toward completion. As the last, "Fat bottom girls." rolled off their tongues, she was visibly relaxed. Jake smiled and not wanting to loose the momentum they had built asked, "Do you want to go for another? How do you feel about Journey? A little "Open Arms"?" He set it up on the PADD ready to launch into the classic.

"Ok so... I don't do this. I sing in the shower, maybe while cleaning, but never with anyone else. Consider yourself lucky and quit while you're ahead." Aine grinned and moved to tuck straying hair away from her face. He was incorrigible, coaxing her from the chasm of her deepest, darkest phobia by way of music and his chipper personality. It was a look that seemed so alien compared to the hard assed attorney that had sat across from her at the dinner table the night before, picking at her age, boasting of Harvard and old family recipes. Whoever this person was, the one with the smile that ignited the fathoms of his eyes, Aine liked and knew she'd be able to get along with. This was someone who'd understand that nobody was perfect, least of all her, and could get down to business without being forceful or arrogant. "Like I said... You can get on with your bad self. I'll listen."

He shrugged and hit play. "Lying beside you, here in the dark, feeling your heartbeat with mine. Softly you whisper. You're so sincere. How could our love be so blind? We sailed on together, we drifted apart and here you are by my side." Jake quickly through in, "Harmony really makes this sound better you know." as he jumped right back in with the chorus. He didn't want her to have time to think about anything but the music. If they were going to come out the other side as friends he needed to keep her distracted. They had spent four minutes stuck in here like it had been nothing if he had to go through every song on his PADD he would to make sure she maintained her sanity.

For a second she eyeballed his choice of music with a quizzical look that was followed up with a shrug. Music was music. Journey was great and they were stuck in hell for at least a little while longer with him working his magic and ribbing her into joining him in yet another sing-a-long that would have made most people cringe. At least she thought. His singing was just fine, but hers? Yikes. Somewhere between the bray of a donkey and a squeaky wheel. "Fine. Damn it." She waved him off with a sigh and rubbed her arms. It was chilly in these lifts, even more so when you had the chance to sit and ponder about it, and maybe singing would keep her mind off the cold and the panic that was barely contained. "Living without you, living alone, this empty house seems so cold," So did the damned lift car, "Wanting to hold you, wanting you near. How much I wanted you home." She chortled along.

Sitting close to her, Jake felt her shiver and then rub her arms for heat. Without a second thought, he raised his arm and gently draped it over her shoulders scooting in slightly closer as he did so. He naturally ran warm and though the lift was cooler than most spaces on the station it wasn't exactly cold by his reckoning. Thinking maybe this was a side effect of the adrenaline, phobia, and shock, Jake decided keeping her body temperature stable took precedence over personal space and formality. He never missed a beat in the song as he maneuvered himself closer to her and as the final refrain played, he keyed another song, "Bobbie Magee".

"Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train..." They sang along with the PADD as several more songs played. In the middle of "Piano Man" the lift began to make odd popping sounds and through the deck, Jake could feel a slight jostling movement. Pulling his arm back he stood. Suddenly there was a slight sensation of moving and he thought of falling again but then the lift eased to a stop and the doors opened with their metallic grating sound. No one was waiting on the other side and a scowl formed across Jake's eyebrows. There should have been security and medical personnel here at the very least. Softening the scowl with some effort, Jake looked behind him at the Commanding Officer still huddled on the floor in her corner and held out his hand. "I think we should get off this lift and contact medical, have that shoulder looked at. What do you say we exit this joy ride?"

Aine didn't need any further encouragement, the fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through her body dictated that she find her feet, grab Satie's hand, and dash for the safety of whatever deck providence had chosen for them. Once free, she looked at the gaping maw of the freight lift and shivered heavily. Creeped out and thoroughly disgusted, the last thing she wanted to do was get on another lift and head to medical, but she knew he was right and she looked to him. "That thing needs to get off this station and be replaced before it kills someone. I'll go to sickbay and you put in the order?"

Jake walked back toward the lift and quickly punched in a sequence of numbers on the key pad. The lights in the lift went out and the doors stayed open. "This thing isn't going anywhere for now. I will accompany you to sick bay and then head to Engineering to have this lift moved to the top of the replacement list." Jake looked down and raised his eyes to look at her. "I apologize for this, Ma'am. It may not be totally my fault that the lift is in such disrepair but I lead you into danger. It won't happen again." Those had been Jake's first thoughts when the lift had started it's free fall more than an hour ago. Not fear for himself but fear of losing his Captain. He hoped he cooled down by the time he made it to Engineering. He didn't want his first meeting with the Chief Engineer to be in anger. He held out his hand pointing the way to another, newer lift at the end other end of the passageway. "Shall we?"

"Shit happens, Commander. It's not your fault. We're alive. Everything else is secondary." She nodded, stiffly, and regarded the dead lift. A couple quick tugs on the hem of her tunic and Aine was as put together as she was going to be, given the circumstances, and with embarrassment high on her list of the emotions flooding her system, she wasn't about to balk at his directions towards the next lift. Come hell or high water, she was going to prove she was more than just some fruity nervous wreck of a pretentious and over entitled brat. It would happen. Soon.

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Captain Aine DiAgessi
Commanding Officer
Cold Station Theta, SB-1170

Commander Jacob Satie
Executive Officer
Cold Station Theta, SB-1170