S2 - M2 - A Nice Day for a White Wedding

[Tess tLhoell]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[DS9 - Promenade - 5 weeks before the wedding - 3 hrs shoreleave]

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[DS9 – Promenade](5 weeks before the wedding  - 3 hour shoreleave)

Rayek noticed her hesitation, considered a moment then smiled as he began to lead the way towards the appropriate location.  "I believe the time and effort to making arrangements would cut into our brief leave him... Let us just enjoy it on our own."

When they arrived they found the establishment to be a small 6 lane center with a about a dozen 20th century style arcade gaming units.

"Quaint."

Tess smiled at Rayek, grateful that he was lenient towards her regarding her desire to spend some time alone with him. She followed him across the promenade and one deck down to where the bowling alley was. The center was small and almost 'private'. However, her attention immediately was drawn to the ancient arcade gaming units. "Oh, look! What is that?" Tugging at Rayek's hand she was already on her way over to the niche where the game units were. The bright neon colours really made this look all the more interesting.

Tess stepped closer to one of the game units that had buttons and a joystick. "It's so huge...", she chuckled amused as her eyes keenly took in all of the small details about the unit. Todays gaming devices shrinked to fit easily on the palm if you wanted it to. She turned to Rayek, grinning. "Wanna give it a try?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[USS Healy - Shuttlebay - 1 week before the wedding]

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy – Shuttlebay >>> tour](1 week before the wedding)

Rayek smiled somewhat sheepishly Tess at his slip and offered her his arm in escort as an recompense, then waited on Lek to indicate where he would like to go first.

[Shuttlebay - USS Healy]

Lek noticed Rayek's glance at the runabout, but as it was clear he didn't want to talk about it and he'd just gotten himself tangled in his own words, he had to take advantage of the situation.

"I am uncertain as to your preferences in that department. It's not my place to judge how you and your feemale... contort. As an engineer, I am most interested in starting in the engine room."

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy – Corridor>>> Engineering](1 week before the Wedding – arrival at Briar Patch – heading to Ba'ku to drop off civilians)

Rayek's expression soured briefly at having walked right into that one yet he chose to ignore this friends jibe and focused instead on Lek's actual answer to his question.   "Very well, Engineering it shall be."

As Rayek lead the way to the turbolift, he offered Lek a bit background on the ship.  "As I'm sure you are aware.  The Healy is a New Orleans Class.  She was commissioned in 2360."  Saying it out loud, Rayek found it a bit amusing that he and the ship were the same age.

"Originally designed with a Particle Dynamics Class VI-B Warp Core.  Which was upgraded in the 80's to the VI-C.  She has a cruising speed of warp 8 and max speed of warp 9.6 - sustainable for 12hrs at a time."

Rayek continued on listing off the Healy's specs, wondering how he might turn the conversation towards the topic of shields.  It was in his mind to have Lek and Rhade converse about the possibility of adapting the Healy's shields to include the Point of Impact shielding that Challenger had.  Rayek had seen how well the modification worked in comparison to usual shields.

Lek apparently wasn't done yet exhausting the source of innuendos Rayek's unfelicitous phrasing had opened up. Tess chuckled and finally the conversation moved on to more innocuous topics. Following both friends to the turbolift once the decision was made to go to engineering, Tess spoke up. "I think I'll head back down to sickbay. If you should happen to stop by there I'll be happy to show you around. Not that there is much to show, the medical station is tiny. But we've got all we need."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[USS Healy - Deck 6 - Sickbay - 1 week before the wedding - 2 hours into the Devil's Vortex]

Once they had entered the Vortex, Tess had returned to the sickbay. They had to be prepared for small to huge catastrophes. She made sure everyone was alert and ready to react to whatever awaited them here.

[John Saxon]

(I have permission to move Goodspeed to the Bridge)

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 1 Week Before Wedding / just before entry into the 'Devil's Vortex'

The doors to the Bridge swished open, and at the corner of his eye - as most of his attention was focused on the tactical data the passive sensors and probe telemetry were receiving - a shorter, white haired, but uniformed,  individual came into peripheral view, making their way out of his sight towards the back of the Bridge. Presumably this was one of the Engineering team come to oversee and manage the three auxiliary shield module operations; and also presumably, this was likely to be Ensign Goodspeed.

His presumptions were proved correct as her voice was then heard behind him at a moderate distance. His concentration was such that he didn't pick up on any particular reply, but he was long enough in the tooth to know the difference between background chatter that he need not concern himself with, and any comments that required either his attention or direct response - some subconscious process that automatically filtered in, or out, conversation depending on context.

Catherine Goodspeed. Until recently, a senior partner in Chiokis Starship Construction Corporation - a civilian shipyard contractor that had been in operation for around a hundred and fifty years, producing not only commercial craft but also bespoke technologies to StarFleet, including being instrumental in the standardisation of docking ports across the Federation. Saxon had not yet dug any deeper into her background, but from what cursory and recalled information he had come across, the CSCC were one of the contractors as part of the New Orleans-class project. Indeed, the entire modular system, and original warp core assembly, were part of Chiokis' contribution to what was essentially a new class of starship ideology. Despite her...years...it was unlikely Goodspeed had been part of that original team, but as her company had continued to be involved in the continuous upgrades of the somewhat now outdated class - working with the Fleet Lifetime Effectiveness & Extension Bureau - it was very likely she had become central to the refits in the mid-2360s. And as such, the shield modules that were about to be - quite literally - the only thing keeping them from immediate destruction, Saxon was somewhat grateful that if anyone were to be onhand to monitor the enhanced shielding while they made their way carefully - but purposely - into the tempestuous domain, surely it should be those whose name may even be etched within the platings.

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

The sensors saw the danger before Saxon's eyes did, and several screens began to scroll reams of data assessing energy composition, conjectural power-output, and interception time. While perfectly confident in the helm's own reactions, John called out to Goodspeed. "Ensign! Can the shields withstand a direct-"

His words were drowned out by what happened next.

[Catherine Goodspeed]

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

It had been a funny old week in all.  Goodspeed was slowly getting used to the ebb and flow of the ship and it's occupants.

It was one thing to have a ship docked and having your hands deep in its guts whilst it was still, calm and tethered to actually working and living on board one as it was free and flying.

Occasionally if she looked out the window as she walked along it almost felt like she was walking on a moving walkway.  Having spent a majority of her life on solid ground part of her brain was still trying to scare the bejesus out of her by silently knocking on the inside of her skull every now and then to remind her that she was basically in a contained shell in the vacuum of cold dead space.

She was  finally sleeping better at least.  She had realised she had been cold throughout her shifts and the lights were always just a tad too bright around the ship.  She was slowly turning into a Cardassian vole herself.  Luckily dimming the lights in her quarters and having an extra heavier covering was finally sorting it out her insomnia issues once her mind stopped worrying about the Healy.

If the Healy had turned up at her previous place of work she would be docked until every part of her was checked and double checked with a crew of at least 20 people per shift until everything was up to spec but Starfleet didn't operate like that.  They didn't have the time or luxury for such indulgence so everything needed to be done "as and when".

It was like the engineering crew were little repair ants; constantly repairing holes in the ant nest during a heavy rain storm as quickly as they could for as long as they could before the next ant repair shift came along. And now they were headed into  a tornado.

Ensign Catherine Goodspeed was always happy to boldy go somewhere but sometimes it was like Starfleet needed someone to go "Oh come on!" when it was suggested to go somewhere where there was a higher chance of something buggering up.  It was the space equivalent of smothering yourself in warm bacon fat and dancing naked in front of a herd of sleeping lions just because they ignored you last time you did it.  There is going to be a time when the lions wake up and wonder just how delicious a bacon fat covered human may actually  taste.

Cat looked up from the PADD where she was monitoring the shields in the engineering area and over to the main Bridge and looked at the view screen and time.  The further they got into the Devil's Vortex the more she became on edge.  Why weren't they heading into somewhere more pleasantly named like "Fluffy calm vortex" or "Rather lovely and definitely not going to try and kill you wormhole"?

She noticed John Saxon sitting at his usual station, pose upright with his back straight.  Like an old planted oak.  She was finally getting on nodding terms with some of the more senior crew but still was taking her time not to tread on toes but  at the end of the day the circle of people she met and talked to each day still remained largely confined to whatever shift team she was on.  She was pondering inviting the team to an actual cooked meal once they returned to the station as a small thank you for their support.  Well, her attempt at cooking at least.  God help them.

Cat dragged her eyes away from the screen and wandered over to the main engineering console (the 'pool table') at the back of the Bridge to check the shield harmonica.. again. She wasn't happy with the current set up but nothing she could do until the old girl was docked and she had time to do a complete health-check.

The sensors saw the danger before Saxon's eyes did, and several screens began to scroll reams of data assessing energy composition, conjectural power-output, and interception time. While perfectly confident in the helm's own reactions, John called out to Goodspeed. "Ensign! Can the shields withstand a direct-"

At the sound of her name Cat looked up and quickly back at the data streaming through the console; it looked fine, but-

[Rayek trLhoell]

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Ba'ku - Village >>> Wedding Site](morning of January 2nd 2398)

[Ba'ku - Village]

Lek walked along side Rayek and found this planet, Ba'ku, to be quiet pleasant. It had been a long time since Lek had been out of an artificial environment. As Rayek spoke, Lek found his friend's plans were somehow incomplete.

"As I had a lot of time on the Onizuka on my way to the Briar Patch, I read up on Hyoomon wedding rituals and customs. The idea of the honeymoon is rather antiquated given that couples did not couple prior to marriage. Thus that time immediately after the wedding was spent coupling furiously to make up for lost time and to procreate, as the Hyoomon infant mortality was appallingly high, which combined with a pathetic life span, the young couple had to... well, you know, to ensure their sad species survived. As modern medicines have resolved the latter two issues and a change in mores to allow the couple to 'sample the wares' prior to purchase, I suppose a honeymoon doesn't really serve any purpose on the cusp of the 25th Century."

Rayek listened to Lek's explanation.  It fit with his own research on the tradition.  "Yes, I'm aware.  Which is why we plan on taking the full allotment of leave, owed us.  Tess and I both want children, sooner rather than later.  So this is the perfect opportunity to...  continue our efforts." Rayek's grin was wide as he admitted to his friend that he and Tess had been trying to procreate.

Tess had explained to him early on how unlikely it was for a mixed species pregnancy to take naturally.  That didn't stop them from trying and enjoying each others company in the doing so.  They were waiting for after the wedding to consider in vitro fertilization.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC Lt jg Saqa7 Mountain-Khan
and NPC Tolun
[Ba'ku - outside the Village - mountainside](morning of January 2nd 2398)

After an hours walk up the mountainside Saqa7 was more winded than she'd care to admit. But since Tolun, even at his advanced age, was seeming to handle it, Saqa7 did likewise without complaint.

The view from the mountainside was amazing, as were the flowers.  Especially the flowers Saqa7 had been sent up here to get.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Ba'ku - Lakeside - Wedding Pavilion](afternoon of January 2nd 2398)

With the help of locals and Starfleet crew, the ceremony site and the reception area were finally set up and decorated.

A chairs were set out with an aisle strewn with flower petals dividing the groom from the bride's side.  Even the chairs were decorated with a type of ivy and swaths of cloth.  At the front of the aisle where Rayek and Tess would stand was a circular ivy and flower arch - a symbol of eternity and wholeness.

The tent pavilion with its flow of fabric and mesh was impressive.  Rayek look over the tables and wondered if there was even a table left in the village.  The size of the tent was massive.  Now that it was set up he was beginning to suspect he'd over estimated how much room they would need.  Yes the ship's crew was invited but how many would actually attend was an entirely different matter.

"I think we're done here." he announced.  More to himself than others.With two hours until the ceremony, Rayek needed to return to Rahul's to ready himself for the ceremony.

[John Saxon]

[Ba'ku - Village] - afternoon of January 2nd 2398

It began with a gentle sound, like a wind chime on a spring breeze. Then motes of light danced into existence, joyous fireflies in the sunshine.

A column of pale energy fell like a small, impossibly contained, waterfall, matching the sedate colours on the nearby crystal lake, into which strings of caught sunlight trickled. The lights and colours swam together, organising themselves into a familiar shape - sound and light replaced by fabric and body - with the pale hues sharpening in tone and shade.

Then, as if the world went back to sleep, all was quiet again.

'Something old' has arrived, thought John Saxon wryly, stepping from the grip of the confinement beam and into the village where Dr Moreno and Commander tr'Lhoell would soon tie the proverbial knot. It was just a day after his 98th birthday; one step closer to the sobriquet once gifted to him in jest, now becoming almost prophetic.

Wearing, for the first time in a long time, 'civvies' (a long brown hide jacket, crème shirt and rustic boots, all looking almost as old as he was) Saxon hoisted a battered holdall, a vintage Starfleet Academy bag with a number of repair patches varying in age and condition, and looked for the visitor centre, enjoying the glorious sunshine that caressed his worn features.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

Hrafn was sat praying over and over in her mind that something bad didn't happen.

The children, Crista and Ujo were in quarters on the Healy as they'd been invited to the wedding.  Now she wasn't sure it was such a good idea that they'd been brought along.

For her, this trip was work, the fact that there was a nice thing at the end of the Vortex, was neither here nor there.  She had faith in the crew and she believed they'd get there.  However, for herself, if she didn't, it would be chalked up to '...died in the pursuit of her duty to Starfleet...' no big deal.  It was one of the dangers of the job that one tended not to talk about but it was a fact of her commission that she sometimes has to be put in dangerous situations... she didn't normally drag innocent children and civilians into it.

She remained sat. Having on several occasions when the helm on various ships she'd served on had to take evasive action, be it in battle with another ship or as in this case, the elements, ended up injured, the CSO figured it was safer.

There was just no determining where the next pillar was coming from, no order, or least none she could tell from any telemetry she was getting.

And then the closest column shifted position, hurtling right at them!

Rather than waste time worrying that the astroplasma column was hurtling towards them, there were enough people doing the worrying for all of them, Hrafn started trying to deduce what had caused it to change in that way

"Can someone other than Mr. Ferris who might be kinda busy right now give me any data as to anything that's changed in our flight path, shields anything that might have triggered that to react like that?  If so, and we can work out why... that might give us something to not do to avoid..." she broke off wincing almost waiting for the impact, and also she didn't feel that she needed to explain further.

"And there's nothing Sciences are doing unless there's a lot of unauthorised experiments going on in the labs, that would have affected anything outside." she added as an afterthought.

[Eli Ferris]

USS Healy - 1 Week Before Wedding

Solluk nodded, "Two hours would be ideal, but do not break anything, Lieutenant."

Then Ferris suggested using something to scout ahead, and Solluk found the plan quite sensible.  "Excellent suggestion.  Tactical, have ten of our Class 5 probe casings prepped for launch with long-range drive packages."  The Class 5 probe was a reconnaisance type.  Normally used at medium range and speed, a long-range drive package would enable it to travel farther ahead and for a longer period of time than the standard model.

"Ops, prepare behavioral software packages for the probes.  Passive sensors only, subspace baffles at maximum.  Set them for line-of-sight tachyon transmissions only.  We don't want any intercepted signals to give us away.  When one probe is inevitably destroyed, we'll launch another.   But having a forward observational position will definitely aid in navigation.  We'll continue this way until Engineering has a protected shuttle fully prepared to act as a scout.  At that time, Mr. Ferris, I'll need a recommendation on who should pilot her."

They could remote the shuttle, of course.  But in the tight maneuvering and swiftly changing conditions of the Vortex, lag would become a concern.  Having a pilot aboard would be ideal, though it was a dangerous assignment.

Two hours later, at the entrance to the Devil's Vortex...

Solluk looked at the hurricane-like, swirling collection of charged plasma, ion storms, and stellar remnants that made up the most dangerous part of the Briar Patch.  This was the Devil's Vortex- an area of space so hostile that an unmodified starship could not be expected to survive within it.

Once they passed through the Eye of this ever-changing storm, everyone would have to be on their toes.  Charged particles would lance out with multi-gigawatt tendrils of power.  Volatile gasses would explode at random intervals.  Rogue stellar fragments would collide and create unpredictable gravitational wavefronts.  Tiny singularities might exist, unseen behind screens of dark-matter particles.  It was a churning minefield.

Solluk looked over his shoulder, to see who had been assigned to the 'table' at the back of the bridge.  They would be monitoring the shield systems during the journey- assuring that the unavoidable collisions with dangerous forces didn't crush the ship or burn through her.

Eli sucked air through his teeth, feeling an immense weight shift straight on to his shoulders. Blue eyes became intense on the screen, fingers feeling the thin plane of glass as the sensors responded to gentle twitches.
"Aye, sir. Moving ahead." The Healy continued its course with predetermined speed. Eli rested a hand on the side of the console, feeling the soft thrum of the ships push through it.

Their passage to the Devil's Vortex unveiled a vast swath of energy, ever undulating in a dance only the vortex knew the music to.
"A pity..." Eli mused to himself. "I never learned to dance."

USS Healy - Bridge - 1 Week Before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

On planets, the eye of a storm was usually a placid, quiet place.   Surrounded by mayhem on all sides, it was a reprieve from destruction.  There were many tales of the eye of a storm passing over a beleaguered ship or storm-battered home.  In these stories, occupants often came out from protected places to gaze about, thinking the danger was done.  But this was deceptive.  The eye of a storm only meant that you were surrounded by hazard on all sides.

The eye of the Devil's Vortex was even more deceptive.  It collapsed and reformed without any predictable pattern.  The Healy had entered the eye and found a quiet foothold within, but that soft landing was soon shattered.  Solluk mused to himself that he should have brought an astroplasma physicist onto this mission rather than a shield specialist.  Perhaps then they could have predicted the dynamics of the Vortex well enough to avoid its dangers.

But, no... Starfleet had studied the Vortex long enough to be certain of one thing:  Its innards were a wild chaos-pattern that defied all attempts at prediction.  Like a Roman Legionnaire, they could only march forward with their towering shield boldly presented, and weather whatever peril the universe chose to hurl at them.

On the viewscreen, the roiling plasma storm of the Vortex was festooned with columns of ionic light.  These huge energized tendrils dwarfed the more common variety, and held terawatts of power.  The slightest contact with one would shake the Healy as though she'd endured a frontal attack by a D'deridex warbird.

Solluk was at the edge of his seat.  As the columns of bright red starfire drifted close to the ship, he was tempted to shout obvious orders to the helm.  But there was no point in him telling the Lieutenant to 'watch out!'   He was already watching, and his skilled hands were at the controls.  Telemetry was coming in from the deployed probe, a talented Ensign was at the technical interface table monitoring the shields, and everyone here knew their jobs as well as anyone in the Fleet.

This was just two hours in.

Solluk had no idea how his nerves would handle a full day of this.

He tried to force himself to relax, and pushed himself further back into his chair.

And then the closest column shifted position, hurtling right at them!

Eli could feel panic rise on the Bridge, like a prick across the back of his neck. Instinct would be his guide here, though, not the raw emotions that so often threatened to consume him. His hands went to the controls immediately, as the column of what looked like Hellfire poured towards them.

"Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu..."* it surprised him that no curse came. Instead, an old Hebrew prayer his dad taught him flowed from unattended lips as Eli's hands felt haptic feedback of the shields, slight buzzing that something was desperately wrong.

Eli's right hand splayed out, fingers covering the directional controls, taking the ship both up and right, threading an extremely tight window just ahead of the column. His left hand increased their speed, lightly throttling it up.

"Increasing speed to give us clearance..." Eli's tone was grim. He pushed it just a little bit more, vibrations still pulsing through fingers. But, he was on it and wanted the captain to know too.

*Hebrew: Blessed are You, LORD our God*

[Solluk]

USS Healy - Bridge - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

Solluk was surprised to hear words in an unfamiliar language come from their helmsman, Lieutenant Ferris.  He realized that he didn't know his subordinates quite as well as he might have liked.  He made a vow to resume the dinners in the officer's mess on the way back, so that he could become closer with the senior staff.

A vow that will go unfulfilled...

It was at times like this that Solluk wished he could return to his old, emotionless self.  A self that did not undermine him with inner-voices that promised doom.  When he realized that Eli was saying a prayer, his anxiety only multiplied.

He turned all of his resolve to the task of sitting tall in his chair, chest puffed out, stoic expression on his face.

Hopefully, a stoic expression.

A countenance aghast in horror would not inspire confidence in his subordinates.

The ship banked hard, under Eli's deft ministrations.  Beside Solluk, Saxon called out to Goodspeed.  Ensign Goodspeed checked the displays on her technical interface table.

Hrafn wondered aloud if there was something affecting the energy columns, as they seemed intent on chasing the Healy down.  A good question.

Then: Mayhem.

The Healy brushed up against a plasma column carrying 200 terawatts of terrible destructive energy.  It was only a glancing blow, thanks to Eli's able piloting.  So, only a fraction of that potential energy contacted the shields.  But it was still enough that the Healy- absent its special loadout of shield modules- would have been burned through.

The lights on the bridge flickered, and the inertial dampeners failed for the slightest fraction of an instant.  It was enough to throw Solluk from his chair, sending him sprawling to the deck.  He slid ignominiously to Eli's feet.   An overhead light exploded due to a power surge that the breakers couldn't fully prevent.  A shower of plastic shards and sparks fell down like a fireworks display upon the bridge crew.

At the technical services table, the shield load flashed very briefly to 1000%, an alarming and unsustainable figure that would soon see them all cooked.  But then it quickly descended back into manageable ranges.  The Healy soared away from their brush with death, continuing further into the Vortex.  The column of plasma fire and ionic lightning was left in their wake.

Silence stretched on for several seconds as Solluk climbed up from the deck.

He coughed once in the acrid air, which was tinged with smoke from the destroyed lighting fixture.  Brushing pieces of plastic off of his uniform, he glanced about.  It looked to him as though they'd miraculously escaped the encounter relatively unscathed.

"Report."

[Rayek trLhoell]

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[DS9 - Promenade >>> Bowling Alley/Arcade](5 weeks before wedding)

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[DS9 - Promenade - 5 weeks before the wedding - 3 hrs shoreleave]

Tess smiled at Rayek, grateful that he was lenient towards her regarding her desire to spend some time alone with him. She followed him across the promenade and one deck down to where the bowling alley was. The center was small and almost 'private'. However, her attention immediately was drawn to the ancient arcade gaming units. "Oh, look! What is that?" Tugging at Rayek's hand she was already on her way over to the niche where the game units were. The bright neon colours really made this look all the more interesting.

Tess stepped closer to one of the game units that had buttons and a joystick. "It's so huge...", she chuckled amused as her eyes keenly took in all of the small details about the unit. Todays gaming devices shrinked to fit easily on the palm if you wanted it to. She turned to Rayek, grinning. "Wanna give it a try?"

Tess' grin was contagious and he nodded at her suggestion to try.  Rayek was somewhat familiar with the gaming styles from the early 21st century.  Yet these were obviously much older than the Xbox system he had purchased on the black market as a youth.  However he could see that there were instructions written on the console itself.   He nodded, but rather than head towards the games he moved towards the elderly shop owner that was sitting at a counter in front of a replicator unit.

Rayek inquired about the cost of playing both bowling and access to the 'coin' operated machines, and paid the required credits.   Rayek was handed a roll of 'quarters' and informed that when they were ready for bowling that special shoes were required and would provided as part of the rental fee.

Coins in hand Rayek returned to Tess and gave her half the roll.   "Which game would you like to try first."  He asked as he strolled beside her looking over the various game consoles.    Most seemed to offer a means for 2 or more individuals to play together..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Shuttlebay](1 week before the wedding, enroute Ba'ku to drop off civilians)

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[USS Healy - Shuttlebay - 1 week before the wedding]

Lek apparently wasn't done yet exhausting the source of innuendos Rayek's unfelicitous phrasing had opened up. Tess chuckled and finally the conversation moved on to more innocuous topics. Following both friends to the turbolift once the decision was made to go to engineering, Tess spoke up. "I think I'll head back down to sickbay. If you should happen to stop by there I'll be happy to show you around. Not that there is much to show, the medical station is tiny. But we've got all we need."

Rayek was a bit disappointed when Tess opted to head back to Sickbay, but didn't attempt to convince her to stay.  Rather he thanked her for joining him to meet Lek and noting he would see her later.   Then he led the way down to Engineering.  The staff there was busy - dealing with the many issues that crop up when traveling through the Briar Patch, so their visit to Engineering was short.

[Turbolift to the Bridge]
It was on their way to the Bridge, a short while later, that Rayek was explaining the Healy's selection for this mission.   "It's because of the New Orleans class modular design that we are able to upgrade our shields to better withstand the storms we will most certainly face.

The turbolift doors opened  and Rayek continued.  "Speaking of shields...  when the engineering staff have a free moment during our stay at Ba'ku I hope you will describe the Point-of-Impact shielding you have added to Challenger.   I recall how beneficial it was and believe that Captain Solluk would concur.  If there is a way to adapt a similar system on the Healy..."  he let the sentence trail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Security Office](One week before the Wedding, en route to Devils' Vortex after dropping off civilians)

[Security Office, USS Healy] One week before the Wedding, en route to Devils' Vortex after dropping off civilians

At tr'Lhoell's response about team effectiveness, Jada nodded in acceptance, feeling glad he understood that. Some commanders thought personnel were interchangeable as starship parts, that you could take one out of a team and slot another in without issues, seeing only skill-sets and roles and not the personalities and the relationships and experience working together. A good team was more than the sum of its parts.

She didn't show much reaction to his "You will" statement, but rather a very well-practised lack of reaction. Of course, Jada was too familiar with such statements and too experienced with Starfleet customs to let mere words bother her, it had just been the easiest way to explain. It was the belief behind them that she should follow orders without choice, flexibility, or protest that offended her Thiratin Orion honour, why she couldn't stop herself getting so annoyed with Solluk and Saxon last time. But tr'Lhoell was make great efforts to accommodate her needs, and for that Jada was grateful. It was just so hard to say that what she needed was in order to feel safe and connected, to avoid another breakdown. Her team would follow her to the end of the Galaxy, and had done, but Jada needed something, someone, to hold them all back. Musing on the proposal, she agreed 'Okay, that works for us, sir... If you like, you could take some of my T.M.P.S.T. boys for your team too. We have experience fighting Jem'Hadar, and it'll blur some of the differences between us.'

Enlightened by tr'Lhoell's explanation, Jada concluded 'So this is hypothetical and we're just being prepared, okay... My standard team would be me for point, Park and Bexx for ranged, Murv for heavy and demolitions, Tunnelmouse for scouting, and leaving one spot on the pad open for a support role, like a medic or engineer depending on need. All of us bar Tunnelmouse fought the Jemmies... And I'll lend you Daniel Lambe; he's brawled with them, seen the inside of one of their ships. He'll serve you well.' she assured him. Since encountering a squadron of rogue Jem'Hadar, lost in time when the Wormhole slammed shut on Dominion reinforcements during the War, the former Tempest crew perhaps had the most recent experience with them, rivalling that of veterans like Saxon. Jada just wished she still had th'Rasdar and Chav; the former had retired, the latter had died bravely against Hunters. Still, those Jem'Hadar had White withdrawal and were twenty-odd years behind on technology.

For a moment Rayek wondered if Jada had even heard his explanation of how her team would respond better with her not him.  But then realized she had already acknowledged that point, which meant this suggestion had some other purpose for her.   Was it just that having a member who had fought the Dominion before would give a bit of an edge.  That seemed reasonable.  Or was it just that Jada didn't trust her Romulan Commander or his ability to lead - given his past - and wanted a man of her own watching him?

There were times that he hated how paranoid he could be.  Second guessing everyone and everything.  Rayek was about to turn down her offer of Crewman Lambe when another possibility presented itself.  Jada's own words from earlier about not wanting "just us thrown to the frontlines".  She preferred "cooperation over existing in a bubble".   She had wanted to work together but his reasoning about the command styles and hesitation was sound.   By having Lambe on his team there was at least the attempt at some inclusion of the TMPST and herself.

"I would expect so." he commented at her assurance.  Then asked, "What position is he most used to?"

To involve her more Rayek even went so far as to seek her opinion on selecting his own team.  "From Saxon's men, who would you recommend? I'm considering Trenvale, Curdo and Parcetti...Lambe will take over Maybri's spot.  And like you I leave a spot open in case I need to add a specialist last minute to the team."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Armory](1 week before the wedding  - 2 hours into the Devil's Vortex)

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[USS Healy - Deck 6 - Sickbay - 1 week before the wedding - 2 hours into the Devil's Vortex]

Once they had entered the Vortex, Tess had returned to the sickbay. They had to be prepared for small to huge catastrophes. She made sure everyone was alert and ready to react to whatever awaited them here.

Two hours later and Rayek and his team were still in the Armory waiting for the callout.   Rayek was still observing the bridge via his PADD.

USS Healy - Bridge - 1 Week Before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex
On the viewscreen, the roiling plasma storm of the Vortex was festooned with columns of ionic light.  These huge energized tendrils dwarfed the more common variety, and held terawatts of power.  The slightest contact with one would shake the Healy as though she'd endured a frontal attack by a D'deridex warbird.

Solluk was at the edge of his seat.  As the columns of bright red starfire drifted close to the ship, he was tempted to shout obvious orders to the helm.  But there was no point in him telling the Lieutenant to 'watch out!'   He was already watching, and his skilled hands were at the controls.  Telemetry was coming in from the deployed probe, a talented Ensign was at the technical interface table monitoring the shields, and everyone here knew their jobs as well as anyone in the Fleet.

This was just two hours in.

Solluk had no idea how his nerves would handle a full day of this.

He tried to force himself to relax, and pushed himself further back into his chair.

And then the closest column shifted position, hurtling right at them!

It didn't help Rayek's nerves any that even Captain was on the edge of his seat during this stretch of the journey.  One wrong move by the helm and the ship could be lost entirely.  But that was a daily fact for when working in space.

Rayek noted the column on the viewscreen shift closer suddenly and it seemed that contact was imminent.  He tapped his commbadge.
"All hands. Brace... "

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

The sensors saw the danger before Saxon's eyes did, and several screens began to scroll reams of data assessing energy composition, conjectural power-output, and interception time. While perfectly confident in the helm's own reactions, John called out to Goodspeed. "Ensign! Can the shields withstand a direct-"

His words were drowned out by what happened next.

Eli could feel panic rise on the Bridge, like a prick across the back of his neck. Instinct would be his guide here, though, not the raw emotions that so often threatened to consume him. His hands went to the controls immediately, as the column of what looked like Hellfire poured towards them.

"Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu..."* it surprised him that no curse came. Instead, an old Hebrew prayer his dad taught him flowed from unattended lips as Eli's hands felt haptic feedback of the shields, slight buzzing that something was desperately wrong.

Eli's right hand splayed out, fingers covering the directional controls, taking the ship both up and right, threading an extremely tight window just ahead of the column. His left hand increased their speed, lightly throttling it up.

"Increasing speed to give us clearance..." Eli's tone was grim. He pushed it just a little bit more, vibrations still pulsing through fingers. But, he was on it and wanted the captain to know too.

*Hebrew: Blessed are You, LORD our God*

"for impact!

USS Healy - Bridge - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

Solluk was surprised to hear words in an unfamiliar language come from their helmsman, Lieutenant Ferris.  He realized that he didn't know his subordinates quite as well as he might have liked.  He made a vow to resume the dinners in the officer's mess on the way back, so that he could become closer with the senior staff.

A vow that will go unfulfilled...

It was at times like this that Solluk wished he could return to his old, emotionless self.  A self that did not undermine him with inner-voices that promised doom.  When he realized that Eli was saying a prayer, his anxiety only multiplied.

He turned all of his resolve to the task of sitting tall in his chair, chest puffed out, stoic expression on his face.

Hopefully, a stoic expression.

A countenance aghast in horror would not inspire confidence in his subordinates.

The ship banked hard, under Eli's deft ministrations.  Beside Solluk, Saxon called out to Goodspeed.  Ensign Goodspeed checked the displays on her technical interface table.

Hrafn wondered aloud if there was something affecting the energy columns, as they seemed intent on chasing the Healy down.  A good question.

Then: Mayhem.

The Healy brushed up against a plasma column carrying 200 terawatts of terrible destructive energy.  It was only a glancing blow, thanks to Eli's able piloting.  So, only a fraction of that potential energy contacted the shields.  But it was still enough that the Healy- absent its special loadout of shield modules- would have been burned through.

The lights on the bridge flickered, and the inertial dampeners failed for the slightest fraction of an instant.  It was enough to throw Solluk from his chair, sending him sprawling to the deck.  He slid ignominiously to Eli's feet.   An overhead light exploded due to a power surge that the breakers couldn't fully prevent.  A shower of plastic shards and sparks fell down like a fireworks display upon the bridge crew.

At the technical services table, the shield load flashed very briefly to 1000%, an alarming and unsustainable figure that would soon see them all cooked.  But then it quickly descended back into manageable ranges.  The Healy soared away from their brush with death, continuing further into the Vortex.  The column of plasma fire and ionic lightning was left in their wake.

Silence stretched on for several seconds as Solluk climbed up from the deck.

He coughed once in the acrid air, which was tinged with smoke from the destroyed lighting fixture.  Brushing pieces of plastic off of his uniform, he glanced about.  It looked to him as though they'd miraculously escaped the encounter relatively unscathed.

"Report."

[John Saxon]

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

Then: Mayhem.

The Healy brushed up against a plasma column carrying 200 terawatts of terrible destructive energy.  It was only a glancing blow, thanks to Eli's able piloting.  So, only a fraction of that potential energy contacted the shields.  But it was still enough that the Healy- absent its special loadout of shield modules- would have been burned through.

The lights on the bridge flickered, and the inertial dampeners failed for the slightest fraction of an instant.  It was enough to throw Solluk from his chair, sending him sprawling to the deck.  He slid ignominiously to Eli's feet.   An overhead light exploded due to a power surge that the breakers couldn't fully prevent.  A shower of plastic shards and sparks fell down like a fireworks display upon the bridge crew.

At the technical services table, the shield load flashed very briefly to 1000%, an alarming and unsustainable figure that would soon see them all cooked.  But then it quickly descended back into manageable ranges.  The Healy soared away from their brush with death, continuing further into the Vortex.  The column of plasma fire and ionic lightning was left in their wake.

Silence stretched on for several seconds as Solluk climbed up from the deck.

He coughed once in the acrid air, which was tinged with smoke from the destroyed lighting fixture.  Brushing pieces of plastic off of his uniform, he glanced about.  It looked to him as though they'd miraculously escaped the encounter relatively unscathed.

"Report."

The ship rocked with a ferocity that had Saxon been standing, it would have thrown him clear across the Bridge. Why did that tickle the back of my mind, so? As it was, the benefit of his station, snugged in the forward corner of the command centre, meant that most of the severe lateral motion was to his benefit. Thus, Saxon was the first to report in response to the Captain, as he waved away the miasmic vapour that hung in the air. "Damage assessments are underway" he called out, his voice brisk and precise, as the Tactical situation gave him immediate access to the ship's primary function status during Alert Status. "Auxiliary shields holding at 91%. Minor hull buckling on Deck 5. Tactical systems report full functionality."

Saxon turned to give Ensign Goodspeed a brief nod of gratitude at the same time his mind caught up with events. She had been standing at the rear Engineering Table...!

[Catherine Goodspeed]

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

The ship rocked with a ferocity that had Saxon been standing, it would have thrown him clear across the Bridge. Why did that tickle the back of my mind, so? As it was, the benefit of his station, snugged in the forward corner of the command centre, meant that most of the severe lateral motion was to his benefit. Thus, Saxon was the first to report in response to the Captain, as he waved away the miasmic vapour that hung in the air. "Damage assessments are underway" he called out, his voice brisk and precise, as the Tactical situation gave him immediate access to the ship's primary function status during Alert Status. "Auxiliary shields holding at 91%. Minor hull buckling on Deck 5. Tactical systems report full functionality."

Saxon turned to give Ensign Goodspeed a brief nod of gratitude at the same time his mind caught up with events. She had been standing at the rear Engineering Table...!

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

There were very few things Goodspeed had thought she would ever want to experience or take part in as she grew older. One was bungy jumping off a sheer cliff edge into deep dark waters and  another was free sky diving backwards into an undiscovered deep, wide darkened pothole.

Due to the sheer force of the hell storm parrying outside within the Vortex she had gotten to partake in what felt like both things at once.

One second she was checking the shield module status; her eyes skimming the readings and the next; she looked down and appeared to be splayed rather uncouth like on her back, her head using the panel that been behind her as a make shift bed head.

She stretched herself to make sure nothing was broken and placed a hand on the floor to pull herself into a sitting position.  Not her greatest idea so far.

Everything was slightly.. off...

She was sure she could hear someone calling her name but it seemed it came from rather further away than it ought to be.  She moved her free hand to the back of her head and pulled it away and stared at the wetness on her palm and fingers.

Part of her subconscious was trying to point something to her but she couldn't quite grasp what it was shouting about.

Goodspeed looked again at her hand and managed to mutter "Always wanted to be a red head"  before unceremoniously sliding hard onto her side.

[Jada]

[Security Office, USS Healy] One week before the Wedding, en route to Devils' Vortex after dropping off civilians

"I would expect so." he commented at her assurance.  Then asked, "What position is he most used to?"

'He's your classic Starfleet Security all-rounder, that is, mostly a phaser-rifle-man. I don't train them too far outside the mold for when they move on to other postings, just some extra skills.' But Jada's extra skills had been mixed martial arts, melee weapons, wilderness survival and tracking, and cultivating whatever odd extracurricular skills they brought to the party. She'd even had them defending starship corridors with Vulcan lirpas, a legacy of her friendship with Solluk in Tempest's early days. 'Lambe will fit any position... But maybe a support role would be good for interfacing the teams?'

To involve her more Rayek even went so far as to seek her opinion on selecting his own team.  "From Saxon's men, who would you recommend? I'm considering Trenvale, Curdo and Parcetti...Lambe will take over Maybri's spot.  And like you I leave a spot open in case I need to add a specialist last minute to the team."

Thousand Gods... Belshada Curdo had nearly died during the battle with the Dosi on Meridian, cleaved almost in two. She knew Bexx couldn't get the image out of her mind. They'd counted him among the slain at first, but Starfleet doctors like Moreno could work miracles, could even raise the dead. His recovery had been long and painful, but he'd come back. The demons of the mind seemed like nothing to the agonies of the body. 'I can't speak for the others from experience, but Curdo is tough: he'll take it all and come back for more.'

[Security Office, USS Healy] Two hours into the Devils' Vortex

Jada was working on basic mission parameters to adapt to whatever they faced, when Nine Hells broke loose. She was thrown forward into her desk, the edge ramming hard into her gut. One of the ceiling panels burst out of the buckled roof, crashed over her, put a bloody gash across her bald head. And the lights failed, strobing violently – black/bright/black/bright/black/bright/black – eliminating all sense of motion, blinding and disorientating and alarming. Jada was running through a ruined shopping complex, lights flickering, as Hunters loomed from the shadows. Lashing out, she threw off the panel, receiving a bloody cut from a Hunter's wicked skinning knife and she stumbled back, tripping over the chair. She drew her rusty scissor-blade, slashed into darkness slashed into the brightness where she knew the Hunter was, invisible. 'Why don't you fight fair, you bastard?!'

Bexx burst into the office, flooding the room with the steady light from the corridor. 'Chief! Are you— Jada, we're free and clear. Time to rest.' the Bolian called calmly.

Able to see clearly again, back in the office and in the present, Jada hesitated, just to make sure, and sheathed her knife guiltily. 'Bex... What happened?'

'We were hit by a plasma column. Some damage, but it looks like were moving again... Let's get your head looked at in Sickbay.'

Jada wiped orange blood from her green scalp, and looked at it on the back of her hand, as if surprised to see it. 'I'll keep.'

'Yeah, but do you want to end up looking like me?' the Bolian joked.

[Tess tLhoell]

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[DS9 - Bowling Alley/Arcade - 5 weeks before the wedding]

Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[DS9 - Promenade >>> Bowling Alley/Arcade](5 weeks before wedding)

Tess' grin was contagious and he nodded at her suggestion to try.  Rayek was somewhat familiar with the gaming styles from the early 21st century.  Yet these were obviously much older than the Xbox system he had purchased on the black market as a youth.  However he could see that there were instructions written on the console itself.   He nodded, but rather than head towards the games he moved towards the elderly shop owner that was sitting at a counter in front of a replicator unit.

Rayek inquired about the cost of playing both bowling and access to the 'coin' operated machines, and paid the required credits.   Rayek was handed a roll of 'quarters' and informed that when they were ready for bowling that special shoes were required and would provided as part of the rental fee.

Coins in hand Rayek returned to Tess and gave her half the roll.   "Which game would you like to try first."  He asked as he strolled beside her looking over the various game consoles.    Most seemed to offer a means for 2 or more individuals to play together..

While Rayek spoke to the owner, Tess looked at all the different aracade game units with excitement. She stopped in front of a pinball machine, looking at all the bits and pieces curiously while she tried to figure out how that game worked. The description was short and easy.

When she heard Rayek's voice she turned to him and gestured to the pinball machine. "How about this? We can play together by covering one side each or play against each other." She chuckled and looked at the coins Rayek was handing to her. "Do we need these to play?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno
[USS Healy - Deck 6 - Sickbay - 1 week before the wedding - 2 hours into the Vortex]

While her team was ready to jump into action, Tess had withdrawn into her office. She felt so tired. She felt that often lately. Sitting at her desk, elbows braced on the desk's surface, she closed her eyes to give into it just for a couple of minutes. She wouldn't sleep obviously, but just give into her body's desire to close her eyes even if it was just briefly. Surely the stress of the wedding preparations and all had gotten to her.

She heard the start of a message coming through her commbadge from Rayek directed at the whole crew when she all of a sudden was thrown forward, the edge of the desk ramming into her gut. She only realized that she had hurt herself when it was already over again. The lights flickered slightly for a moment. Tess jumped to her feet, taking a deep breath as she rubbed her aching ribs briefly before stepping out just in time to see Roberto getting to his feet with Jayce's help.

"Are you alright?", she asked, and then looked around at everyone else. "Injured anyone?" That was negated. "Let's hope we all had only a close shave. Roberto, please keep an eye on any incoming casualty reports." She expected only minor casualties if any.

"Moreno to bridge, do you need medics up there?"

Her thoughts were on Rayek and now she wished she would have put the stress monitor on him after all.

[Hrafn Falleg]

Eli sucked air through his teeth, feeling an immense weight shift straight on to his shoulders. Blue eyes became intense on the screen, fingers feeling the thin plane of glass as the sensors responded to gentle twitches.
"Aye, sir. Moving ahead." The Healy continued its course with predetermined speed. Eli rested a hand on the side of the console, feeling the soft thrum of the ships push through it.

Their passage to the Devil's Vortex unveiled a vast swath of energy, ever undulating in a dance only the vortex knew the music to.
"A pity..." Eli mused to himself. "I never learned to dance."
Eli could feel panic rise on the Bridge, like a prick across the back of his neck. Instinct would be his guide here, though, not the raw emotions that so often threatened to consume him. His hands went to the controls immediately, as the column of what looked like Hellfire poured towards them.

"Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu..."* it surprised him that no curse came. Instead, an old Hebrew prayer his dad taught him flowed from unattended lips as Eli's hands felt haptic feedback of the shields, slight buzzing that something was desperately wrong.

Eli's right hand splayed out, fingers covering the directional controls, taking the ship both up and right, threading an extremely tight window just ahead of the column. His left hand increased their speed, lightly throttling it up.

"Increasing speed to give us clearance..." Eli's tone was grim. He pushed it just a little bit more, vibrations still pulsing through fingers. But, he was on it and wanted the captain to know too.

*Hebrew: Blessed are You, LORD our God*

[USS Healy - Bridge, 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex]

"ikh davnen es azoy!"¹ the CSO answered Ferris's prayerful plea automatically in Yiddish being a Xenolinguist had it's uses.  She coughed twice as the acrid smoke filled her lungs.
¹ I pray it be so

USS Healy - Bridge - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

Solluk was surprised to hear words in an unfamiliar language come from their helmsman, Lieutenant Ferris.  He realized that he didn't know his subordinates quite as well as he might have liked.  He made a vow to resume the dinners in the officer's mess on the way back, so that he could become closer with the senior staff.

A vow that will go unfulfilled...

It was at times like this that Solluk wished he could return to his old, emotionless self.  A self that did not undermine him with inner-voices that promised doom.  When he realized that Eli was saying a prayer, his anxiety only multiplied.

He turned all of his resolve to the task of sitting tall in his chair, chest puffed out, stoic expression on his face.

Hopefully, a stoic expression.

A countenance aghast in horror would not inspire confidence in his subordinates.

The ship banked hard, under Eli's deft ministrations.  Beside Solluk, Saxon called out to Goodspeed.  Ensign Goodspeed checked the displays on her technical interface table.

Hrafn wondered aloud if there was something affecting the energy columns, as they seemed intent on chasing the Healy down.  A good question.

Then: Mayhem.

The Healy brushed up against a plasma column carrying 200 terawatts of terrible destructive energy.  It was only a glancing blow, thanks to Eli's able piloting.  So, only a fraction of that potential energy contacted the shields.  But it was still enough that the Healy- absent its special loadout of shield modules- would have been burned through.

The lights on the bridge flickered, and the inertial dampeners failed for the slightest fraction of an instant.  It was enough to throw Solluk from his chair, sending him sprawling to the deck.  He slid ignominiously to Eli's feet.   An overhead light exploded due to a power surge that the breakers couldn't fully prevent.  A shower of plastic shards and sparks fell down like a fireworks display upon the bridge crew.

At the technical services table, the shield load flashed very briefly to 1000%, an alarming and unsustainable figure that would soon see them all cooked.  But then it quickly descended back into manageable ranges.  The Healy soared away from their brush with death, continuing further into the Vortex.  The column of plasma fire and ionic lightning was left in their wake.

Silence stretched on for several seconds as Solluk climbed up from the deck.

He coughed once in the acrid air, which was tinged with smoke from the destroyed lighting fixture.  Brushing pieces of plastic off of his uniform, he glanced about.  It looked to him as though they'd miraculously escaped the encounter relatively unscathed.

"Report."

"Nothing changed for Sciences, Captain.  I'm still trying to see if there is any correlation between our movements and that of the columns.  But aside that...  Does anyone need medical assistance?" Hrafn asked.  She'd been relatively 'safe' sat down at her station, the jolt merely making her ache a little in a 'whiplash' sort of way.

[USS Healy - Deck 6 - Sickbay - 1 week before the wedding - 2 hours into the Vortex]

While her team was ready to jump into action, Tess had withdrawn into her office. She felt so tired. She felt that often lately. Sitting at her desk, elbows braced on the desk's surface, she closed her eyes to give into it just for a couple of minutes. She wouldn't sleep obviously, but just give into her body's desire to close her eyes even if it was just briefly. Surely the stress of the wedding preparations and all had gotten to her.

She heard the start of a message coming through her commbadge from Rayek directed at the whole crew when she all of a sudden was thrown forward, the edge of the desk ramming into her gut. She only realized that she had hurt herself when it was already over again. The lights flickered slightly for a moment. Tess jumped to her feet, taking a deep breath as she rubbed her aching ribs briefly before stepping out just in time to see Roberto getting to his feet with Jayce's help.

"Are you alright?", she asked, and then looked around at everyone else. "Injured anyone?" That was negated. "Let's hope we all had only a close shave. Roberto, please keep an eye on any incoming casualty reports." She expected only minor casualties if any.

"Moreno to bridge, do you need medics up there?"

Her thoughts were on Rayek and now she wished she would have put the stress monitor on him after all.

Almost on cue Tess's voice came through to the Bridge... she'd let someone else handle that, from what she could see it would be bruising and muscles strained at most, with the exception of....

[USS Healy - Bridge] - 7 days before Wedding - 2 Hours into the Devil's Vortex

There were very few things Goodspeed had thought she would ever want to experience or take part in as she grew older. One was bungy jumping off a sheer cliff edge into deep dark waters and  another was free sky diving backwards into an undiscovered deep, wide darkened pothole.

Due to the sheer force of the hell storm parrying outside within the Vortex she had gotten to partake in what felt like both things at once.

One second she was checking the shield module status; her eyes skimming the readings and the next; she looked down and appeared to be splayed rather uncouth like on her back, her head using the panel that been behind her as a make shift bed head.

She stretched herself to make sure nothing was broken and placed a hand on the floor to pull herself into a sitting position.  Not her greatest idea so far.

Everything was slightly.. off...

She was sure she could hear someone calling her name but it seemed it came from rather further away than it ought to be.  She moved her free hand to the back of her head and pulled it away and stared at the wetness on her palm and fingers.

Part of her subconscious was trying to point something to her but she couldn't quite grasp what it was shouting about.

Goodspeed looked again at her hand and managed to mutter "Always wanted to be a red head"  before unceremoniously sliding hard onto her side.

Hrafn chuckled and wandered over, holding onto consoles and anything else she could, to assist Ensign Goodspeed to her feet.

"There are worse things to be, Ensign.  I don't think we've been introduced and in the midst of a battle against the elemental forces out there isn't the best but then... I got together with my husband of several years and 3 children together in the middle of a firestorm of a battle so.... Lt. Hrafn Falleg-Tekin, Chief of Science.  C'mon let's get you up.  I find sitting on an actual chair in this sort of situation tends to be advantageous!!"

Hrafn offered her arm to Catherine to pull her up, still holding onto the side of a console.

"Do you want to catch your breath for a moment on my seat?" the redhead gave a look to the Ensign trying to follow her eyes.  "I'm no doctor but the force you hit that bulkhead you may have concussion.  How are you feeling, I can get Dr. Moreno up here pronto as she's already offered."

[Tess tLhoell]

Cadet Benjin Moreno
[Ba'ku village - Lakeside - Wedding Pavillon - Afternoon of January 2nd, 2398]

[Ba'ku - Lakeside - Wedding Pavilion](afternoon of January 2nd 2398)

With the help of locals and Starfleet crew, the ceremony site and the reception area were finally set up and decorated.

A chairs were set out with an aisle strewn with flower petals dividing the groom from the bride's side.  Even the chairs were decorated with a type of ivy and swaths of cloth.  At the front of the aisle where Rayek and Tess would stand was a circular ivy and flower arch - a symbol of eternity and wholeness.

The tent pavilion with its flow of fabric and mesh was impressive.  Rayek look over the tables and wondered if there was even a table left in the village.  The size of the tent was massive.  Now that it was set up he was beginning to suspect he'd over estimated how much room they would need.  Yes the ship's crew was invited but how many would actually attend was an entirely different matter.

"I think we're done here." he announced.  More to himself than others.With two hours until the ceremony, Rayek needed to return to Rahul's to ready himself for the ceremony.

Benjin, who stood near Rayek, was exchanging some smiles and shy looks with a Ba'ku girl when he picked up his brother-in-law's muttered words. Rahul had taken his leave back to the edge of the village shortly before.
The cadet looked around them, grinning. "We are! That was quite some work, wasn't it?" A little quieter he added. "It would have been so much quicker if we'd have used our modern tools and means to build this up. I can't imagine to live like this!"

He said to Rayek, ready to make the way back with him if he was ready to.

Lt. Cmdr. Tess Moreno and NPC Rahul Skuyanhjin

[Ba'ku village - Tolun's home - afternoon of January 2nd, 2398]

It probably had been not the best timing, but Tess couldn't help herself and had retreated to the bedroom to get one more hour of sleep. When she woke, she half feared she'd feel more sick again, but luckily it wasn't the case. Actually, she felt quite a bit hungry.

Sitting at the kitchen table now, Tess ate the last bit of the delicious pastries her friends had left for her. Along with it she sipped another herbal tea. Glancing at a clock at the wall, Tess' excitement spiked briefly. "Okay, only two hours until the ceremony. I guess it's time to get hair and make-up done", she grinned at her friends.

Her attention was drawn to the door as somebody knocked against it. "It's me, Rahul! Can I come in?"

"Sure, come in! Oh, wait! Is Rayek with you?"

"No, it's just me, Tess ..."

She chuckled. "Alright, come in."

He entered and gave his sister an amused look. "Everything is set up at the wedding site." He looked to Antonia and gave her a smile before looking back to Tess. "Won't you start to get ready? Don't make Rayek wait for you long at the aisle."