Oddas Aria Posted July 13, 2017 Posted July 13, 2017 ((Gypsy Ranger)) :: The entire ship was deathly quiet and a shade shy of totally dark. Aside from the sound of the engines running, and the occasional noise that the computer decided to make, the small transport vessel was the perfect example of a ghost ship wandering aimlessly through space. But this little ship had a purpose. Find the USS Tiger.:: :: Coordinates had been set and the Gypsy Ranger had been flying on auto-pilot since it had left Til’ahn. It was only a short three day journey to catch the Tiger, but that was six days ago. After altering course to avoiding a plasma storm, and then plotting a direction change to avoid a federation warning beacon about pirate activity in the area, the little ship had lost precious time in finding its target. Now it was hunting for the trail once again.:: :: An alarm sounded. The computer detected a vessel approaching. There was no identification broadcasted from the other ship. It was not the USS Tiger. It was *not* the mission.:: :: The Gypsy Ranger altered course to avoid the vessel, but it continued to follow. Warnings echoed through the vacant cabin that a target lock had been acquired, and then the transport vessel shook and stopped dead in its tracks. The unidentified vessel had the Gypsy Ranger trapped in a tractor beam and it wasn’t letting go.:: :: Final protocol dictated that there was only one thing to do in this situation. Wake the passenger.:: :: Down in the cargo hold, a cryo-pod charged up its systems to thaw-out the patient. Slowly the occupant’s vitals registered as emerging from sleep. Once normal life signs were achieved, the pod’s hatch hissed open in a fog of cold. There was movement beneath the chilly haze. Vital signs started to elevate, and then they suddenly spiked to abnormal levels. Through the veil of cold the female body stumbled out of the pod and directly to the floor.:: :: Waking from cryo-sleep sucked on a good day. But waking from cryo-sleep at the peak of Pon Far was a total [...].:: Computer: Patient critical. Please return to the cryo-pod. Patient critical. Please return to the cryo-pod. Patient critical. Please return to the cryo-pod. T’Lea: SHUT… UP! :: Her scream ricocheted like a bullet off the walls of the cargo bay, and the computer, out of fear, or the voice recognition software complied.:: :: Clawing at the deck, T’Lea tried to get her motor skills to cooperate. Between the utter blood rage coursing through her veins and the still frozen muscles, her body felt like it was at war with itself. Meanwhile, her irrational popsicle-fied brain really only wanted one of two things -- to kill or mate. Unfortunately, she was the only one around?:: :: Sitting up, T’Lea reached for a wall to try to stand. Her legs wobbled, but her back caught the flat surface behind her providing a nice place to lean for the moment. What her eyes saw confused and enraged her. She was still on the Gypsy Ranger. Alone.:: T’Lea: …mother… FRELLER!! Compu- :: Woops, one foot in front of the other, that’s how walking worked. She had to get to the [...]pit and figure out what was going on.:: T’Lea: Computer, report. Computer: Unidentified vessel achieved tractor beam lock at precisely 1400 hours. Thirty-nine requests to disengage sent. A distress signal is being broadcast on multiple frequencies. No response. Awaiting instructions. T’Lea: Fire all weapons! :: She made it past the galley with a little more coordination than in her previous moments, but the struggle to stay sane and upright was etched on her face.:: Computer: This vessel is unarmed. :: Of course it was. She knew that. Damn it.:: T’Lea: Exhaust the engines and open a damn channel! :: Clambering hands used the wall for stability as she moved. She was entering the bridge now, and when she looked out of the front window she saw a vessel of ferengi design slowly dragging her ship in.:: Computer: Caution – engaging maximum warp will compromise the hull integrity. Communications are available. T’Lea: Then start slow and work your damn way up! :: She felt the impulse engines begin to work against the tractor lock and gradually increase. The master controls in the [...]pit were at her fingertips now. The ship began to shake a little. She reached out and slammed a fist on the panel to open the communication with the other ship.:: T’Lea: =/\= I’ll kill you. I’ll frakking murder your entire family if you don’t disengage your lock. =/\= :: A smug Ferengi face appeared on the tiny vid screen.:: Ferengi: =/\= Cut your engines and we’ll talk. =/\= T’Lea: =/\= How about I cut your throat, and then we’ll talk.=/\= Ferengi: =/\= Ooo… you’re a nasty one for your kind. So, listen, we honestly didn’t know the ship was occupied. There were no life signs, see. How about you cut your engines and we’ll let you go. =/\= T’Lea: =/\= Computer, increase impulse by two. =/\= :: Now the little transport ship was in a steady shake, and the older Ferengi vessel was feeling it too. T’Lea could see it on the Captain’s toothy little face.:: Ferengi: =/\= Are you insane? You’ll only be killing yourself. =/\= T’Lea: =/\= Can you out run the explosion from the engines when I go to full warp, asshole?=/\= Ferengi: =/\= I have shields. ::he smiled:: And phasers. ::at crew:: Fire phasers. =/\= :: Three shots split from the Ferengi ship and slammed into the Gyspy Ranger. Tossing the Vulcanoid.:: Computer: Impulse engines failing. Ferengi: =/\= Just give up, okay? All I want is the ship. I swear on the Grand Nagus. We won’t harm you. =/\= :: Fingers clawed her way back in front of the screen.:: T’Lea: =/\= Computer initiate self-destruct. Shehkuk, teh, dah-leh. F.U. Begin ten second count down.=/\= Computer: Self-destruct code authorized. Ten. Ferengi: =/\= That’s it, I tried to play nice now you’re-=/\= :: He turned to give an order, but something else grabbed his attention. Something huge. T’Lea’s sensors chirped at the same time.:: Computer: Warp signature detected. Identification received. Prometheus class, Federation vessel. USS Tiger. Computer: Eight. Ferengi: =/\= … skritz. Skritz! Drop the tractor. Drop it now! Drop it! Go to warp! GO! GO! GO! =/\= :: T’Lea hunkered over the sensors. Her skin tone was flushed and she was panting heavily. She looked ill, and she felt ill, but there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. The Tiger was here! In one split second her brain shorted-out. She went from ecstatic, to furious. Or was it aroused. No, it was furious. Or maybe it was a furious arousal. Either way she was brimming with emotion that she could barely contain.:: ((USS Tiger, Bridge)) :: The Trill woman sat in the centre seat seemed rather relaxed, legs crossed casually as she idly swirled the coffee that half-filled the mug in her hand. The crew around her on the bridge knew her well enough by now, however, that they weren’t fooled. Especially not the Betazoid manning the Tiger’s tactical station.:: :: Della’s head turned, eyes meeting his, and for a couple of moments silence reigned as the pair communicated on a purely mental level. That silence was broken, however, when Della let out a cynical-sounding snort and turned her attention back to the main viewscreen.:: Vetri: Collins, please make a note that Dai’mon Snek has earned himself another... talking to. And hail the other ship, please. :: Calm, collected, and seemingly unconcerned. All of these were a mask that covered the fact that the Trill really, really, REALLY wanted to know what the frell her daughter’s ship was doing out here.:: Collins: Channel open. :: The Ops officer hardly needed to say it, though, as the last syllable was kind of drowned out by the sound of a very ticked-off female Romu-vulc. Oddly, her familiarity with the voice – and it’s tone – was something of a reassurance to Della.:: T’Lea: =/\= Are you frakking kidding me?! Six days! Six frelling days of chasing your [...] all across the galaxy and all it takes is a damn Ferengi scav ship to get your attention? What the hell is wrong with you?! =/\= :: Della opened her mouth to reply, then frowned at something she heard in the background.:: Vetri: =/\= How about disarming the self destruct first, lilyali. Then you can carry on ranting without the risk of annoying Gina by blowing up her ship. =/\= :: And herself, which was something that only surprise at seeing her wife out here kept from being a rather terrifying prospect.:: :: The Romu-vulc glanced off screen for a second.=/\= T’Lea: =/\= Computer, shut the frak up. =/\= :: Apparently that was the deactivation code because the countdown stopped and the warp core powered down. When T’Lea flashed her gaze back at the video, there was barely controlled anger glistening in her baby-blues.:: T’Lea: =/\= Were you ever going to comm. me back, or was I just supposed to die of insanity? Do you know how close I came to killing someone? Do you even care?! =/\= Vetri: =/\= Ah... how about we continue this in a more private setting? Would you like to come over and yell at me in my office? =/\= T’Lea: =/\= Would I like… No. I’ll just stay here in my cryo-jammies and watch holo-vids all day. Open your damn docking bay doors and tow me in, or I’ll vent my atmosphere and ram your frelling bridge. How about that for a mother-frellin’ reunion? =/\= Vetri: =/\= ::dryly:: I’m looking forward to it. =/\= :: She wasn’t sure whether she was surprised or not when the channel was abruptly severed, simply letting out a long sigh that mingled exasperation with a very large dose of relief that she wasn’t about to watch her wife blow herself to atoms in a fit of pique.:: :: Not trusting herself to be able to keep her hand as steady as it should be, she set her mug aside before rising to her feet and looking around the bridge – noting, as she did so, the very obvious attention to what they were doing (even if they had to make something up) being shown by the staff around her.:: :: With a wry smile, she shook her head and let out a soft laugh.:: Vetri: You think that was bad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Collins, you have the conn. Zebriel, if you’d care to escort our visitor to my ready room, I’ll be sure to say something nice about you in your next performance review. :: Rolling his eyes, the Betazoid gave a weary, put-upon sigh, muttered something that sounded a lot like "That’d be a first", and took his leave to do as he’d been asked.:: :: Which left Della about as long as it took T’Lea to get to her ready room to try and work out just what she was supposed to do with the woman...:: Simmed by: Captain Della Vetri Commanding Officer USS Tiger Author ID: O238506DV0 & Lieutenant Commander T’Lea Chief Science Officer Embassy, Duronis II Author ID I238301T10
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