Mission Post - Engineering - Day 13 - Open

[transwarp_beam]

The atmosphere in engineering was an interesting combination of grim determination and barely-suppressed panic. Some people were quiet, concentrating absolutely on their work; others thought aloud, little groups engaging in intense arguments before splitting up and moving on. On the whole, Scotty thought, it was oddly reminiscent of exam time at

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[redhaired_orion]

The plans she'd been going over in the Shuttle Bay were sound. Or as sound as they could be not considering the likelihood of human error. But Gaila had no control over that. She'd briefed her people, and they'd done the best they could, and the spores...well the spores had gotten out.

Now Gaila made her way to Engineering, knowing that her help was needed somewhere. But she could never be prepared for the state of the deck--tense with a side of panic.

She made her way to Scotty's office. "'Ello, love," she said, her attempt at mimicking his accent less than ideal. "Where do you need me?" And a little quieter, "How you holding up?"

[transwarp_beam]

"Oh god, bloody everywhere," he said, "There's so much t' dae. I don' think even the designers kent how they systems work." So maybe he was a little stressed. He tended to get rather incoherent under stress. He pressed a palm against his forehead, gesturing vaguely with the other hand. "Could use a second pair a' eyes. Been running around daft making sure nothin' anyb'dy's tryin' is gaunae compromise life support."

[redhaired_orion]

"Alrighty then," she said, patting him on the shoulder and trying to sound nonchalant. But it was harder to keep worrying about Scotty as she walked around to observe, wrists clasped behind her back. She began to feel nauseous, dizzy, and soon her fingers became weak, and her wrist slipped.

She had a fleeting image of the shuttle bay behind her eyes before she fell.

[transwarp_beam]

He was distracted from the schematics spreadout in front of him by the sound of someone shouting his name. Turning, he saw one of the junior engineers running towards him - an electrical specialist by the name of O'Reilly.

"What is it this time?" he said. It was nice to be needed, but really.
"Sir, the lieutenant's collapsed!" O'Reilly replied frantically.

He followed O'Reilly out along the gantry. There was a knot of people clustered around a prone form - he had to fight the urge to groan as he caught a glimpse of green skin and red hair.

"Don't you lot have work to do?" he barked, sending them scattering. He knelt beside Gaila, "Goddamnit, if it's not one thing it's the other. Come on love, wakey wakey..." he patted her cheek, hoping to bring her round.

[redhaired_orion]

She barely registered his words as she came to, only the feel of his hand at all relevant to her. But with the feel of his hand came the overwhelming feelings of nausea and dizziness, and God, the room was spinning when she opened her eyes. She felt an odd build-up in her lower stomach that felt a lot like...but she wasn't in that kind of mood, and ugh, it was just another pressure she didn't want to deal with.

Her own hand trailed up to fall haphazardly onto Scotty's wrist. "Need...need...help." And then another word, the one nobody on that deck wanted to hear. "Pollen."

[transwarp_beam]

"Ah, cock," he said, voicing the prevailing sentiment in the room. But how the hell had she gotten contaminated? No-one else was showing symptoms. "We'd better get you to medbay."

[redhaired_orion]

But then that feeling in her stomach was just too much--not the nausea, but that other pressure, and her back was arching, and it hurt.

"No," she said, her green face turning red beneath the skin. "Please, I don't want anyone else to see me like this."

[transwarp_beam]

"Great," he muttered. Not that it'd make any difference. Quarantine was broken, the spores were out...they'd already lost half the department. It wasn't as though she could do any harm.

"Alright, do you think you can stand?" he asked. Someone had 'borrowed' a sofa from one of the rec rooms, set it up by the still in what was becoming an impromptu ready room. She could lie down over there without getting in anyone's way, and he'd be able to keep an eye on her.

[redhaired_orion]

She didn't want to touch him--touching him would surely only spread the pollen to him--so she did her best to stand. She rolled over onto her side, balanced on all fours, but then her head was spinning, and she only managed to crawl. She crawled over to a wall, walking her hands up it and eventually standing. She could do this. She could make it over to that couch.

But as soon as she was standing, her knees buckled, and she was once again on all fours.

"I'm so sorry, Scotty," she said, tears pooling at the edges of her eyes. "I know..." God, this was a strange feeling. An awful feeling really. "I know you've got...so much...to worry about...already."

[transwarp_beam]

The troubles of the day did seem to be piling up a bit, true enough. But one more wasn't going to make much of a difference. He wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her to her feet, letting her lean on him - the hell with the spores. "Come on, love," he said, steering her towards the sofa, "Have a lie down and you'll feel better." God, he sounded like his nan. He'd be recommending a cup of tea next.

[redhaired_orion]

Gaila let him lead her to the couch, the movement of her head to the couch's arm almost too much. She lay on her side, head tilting much too far so that she was looking at the floor. It was the only thing that wasn't moving.

She wondered how long this would last. She would have to go to her room at some point. She felt almost drunk, the small number of thoughts too much for her mind to comprehend.

"Scotty?" she said, not knowing if he was still there, still focusing on the solid color of the floor. "You're a real sweet guy. I should have fucked you the other night."

She felt something in her stomach that may or may not have been embarrassment at what she had said. She wasn't thinking clearly. She hoped none of these people would judge her too harshly.

[transwarp_beam]

"Uh...thanks?" he hazarded, unsure of what constituted an appropriate response under the circumstances. He patted her arm absently, eyes darting briefly towards the loosely controlled chaos that was his department. "Don't go away. I'll be right back."

He nipped back into his office to retrieve his comm and the PADD he'd been working on. A moment off muffled swearing and mutters of 'where the hell did I put it?' later he returned to slide into a semi-sprawled sitting position with his back against the sofa.