Time Again Part 1
Posted on Wed Jan 31st, 2024 @ 8:04pm by Captain Ansel Benoit & Lieutenant Commander Michael Ki & Lieutenant Gregor Morgan & Lieutenant Katherine "Kit" Vulpes & Lieutenant Nicolette Riviere & Ensign H'Mesint & Ensign Evie Forde & Petty Officer 1st Class Amalia Darcy
3,735 words; about a 19 minute read
Mission:
Raising the Mast
Location: Earth circa 1805, British Isles
Timeline: MD 1 11:00 Hours
The rest of the air left Ans's lungs when he appeared in a brightly lit room. Was this the holodeck? What the hell was going on? He turned to ask his XO just that when he discovered she was no longer beside him. In fact, none of his officers appeared there, none he recognized anyway. He glanced down at himself and realized that he was wearing the uniform that had appeared on him in the staff meeting. An old British naval uniform if he was not mistaken but history had not been his best subject in school.
There was a shout behind him and he turned just in time to avoid being hit by men carrying large parcels as they walked toward the plank of a ship, a sailing ship. He stood there dumbfounded, his mouth no doubt hanging open to catch flies. Had he taken one more step he would have ended up in the water as he was standing on a long dock. Ans, not a fan of large bodies of water, scurried off toward land, looking around for anyone who could help him make sense of all this.
Amalia looked around wondering just where she was at. She felt a slight bit of dizziness, it soon passed, as she realized that she wasn't in her uniform of being an engineer but instead, she was wearing a loose fitting white linen shirt, dark brown trousers which were a held about her waist by a rope belt. Upon her feet were a pair of leather shoes. Upon her head was a red kerchief tied about it. She even wore a leather apron which held tools in it.
Amalia dodged out of the way of those carrying packages burdened by loads that were meant to be loaded upon ships. Amalia took it upon herself to scramble on top of some crates to get a better look around. She caught sight of someone who looked vaguely familiar, wasn't that the Captain? She'd not met him personally but, she saw his image upon the manifest. Her primary focus now was to catch up to him. climbing down from the crates she darted between those on the dock and wove her way through the throng. Amalia reached out and touched his elbow. "Hello, Captain Benoit. Any idea what is going on here? I am part of your crew."
H'mesnit came too and got up. He found out quickly that he was a little woozy, but a quick head shake solved that. "Why am I on a dock?" he asked himself. He looked around and all he saw was people decked out in ancient uniforms. He tapped his chest only to find his commbadge wasn't there. H'mesnit walked around, amazed that none seemed to notice a walking cat amongst them. He really wasn't looking when he bumped into the first familiar face.
"Captain?" He'd ask
One moment, Kit was striding down the corridor with a PADD in hand, listing the updated damage report from their little whiplash in and out of warp--and the next she was ramming her abdomen into a railing. She reached out, grasping at the rough-hewn wood to steady herself. She sucked in a breath, eyes widening at the sight in front of her. She looked down from the bow of a ship into the lapping waves below. She spun, taking in the horizon--which looked remarkably like her hometown, aside from the overwhelming array of men in uniform. A uniform, she realized, she was also wearing.
"Computer, arch." Kit stepped away from the railing, steadying herself as the deck rocked softly beneath her feet. She spun, making her way towards the gangplank at midship. "Computer, end program."
This elicited quite a few stares from onlookers. Not only was it practically unheard of to see a woman on a sailing ship but this woman seemed to be speaking in tongues.
Ans headed straight for her, finally realizing they really were on the planet and not a part of some holodeck program that someone cooked up as a joke. "Miss . . . " He couldn't recall her name but felt it was instantly important to make sure the crew didn't haul her off to an asylum.
Kit made eye contact with the source of the voice calling out just as she reached the top of the gangplank. She raised a hand, waving at the person she recognized from her pre-boarding personnel research. "Prophets, am I glad to see you, Captain!" Extending her arms, she deftly ducked and dodged the incoming cargo and sailors and made her way down the ramp. "I'm not sure what happened, but one minute I was on my way up with a damage report, and the next minute I was...well, here."
"Miss Vulpes," Ans said finally finding her name in his brain lexicon. "I think it's best we do not draw attention to ourselves. We don't know our purpose here and I'm sorry to tell you but a woman on a 19th century sailing ship was extremely rare, especially it being a military ship such as this." Ans whispered. "I suggest we move away from the docks and see if we can locate anyone else."
Kit nodded, jumping the last few feet to the pier. "If it weren't for the schooner, I've half a mind to think we were back on Caldos from the surrounding scenery." She gave her pants and jacket pockets a pat, as if looking for anything that might have crossed with her. "Any idea what happened? This is certainly a far cry from the ship we were just on."
Amalia noted that the Captain had been distracted by another, reached out and took the shoulder of H'mesnit "Hi there, Looks like the captain is talking to our chief Engineer. I'm Amalia. Let's not lose sight of our ranking officers." moving towards where Kit and the Captainn were standing.
"Hello Captain, and Miss Vulpes. " Amalia greeting them.
Kit recognized Amalia from her initial rounds of Engineering staff meetings, and she gave a nervous smile and a nod. The Caitian, however, she didn't recognize, though it was likely that any Caitian in this time and place would likely also be members of the crew--as would most non-humans. "So, there's more than just a few of us." She turned, scanning the crowd and looking for the tell-tale signs of lost and confused faces, though she was new enough to the ship that familiarity was limited.
"It would appear so. Let us find a more secluded area and see if we can contact the ship. They'd be able to locate the entire crew if our comm badges still work." He motioned for the others to follow him.
After traveling for a few blocks, they were able to find a quiet alley to duck into. Kit pressed her combadge. "Vulpes to Victory."
Her combadge crackled and gave a soft squeal. "---ry t- --es. Wha--- -- tus?"
Kit's brow furrowed, and she tapped her badge again. "Vulpes to Victory, can you hear me?"
The squeal from her combadge was more intense this time. "--- to Vu---" Kit flinched at the sudden burst of static.
She gave a quiet sigh, looking up at the Captain. "The ship may be in orbit, but something seems to be impacting communications. I might be able to cobble together something to boost the signal, but supplies would be rather hard to come by here."
Amalia gave a nod towards Kit. "Will be a bit of a do but we can manage it hopefully." the engineer replied looking around with great interest.
Kit let out a breath, running a hand through her hair. "Wherever we've wound up, it looks an awful lot like home." She glanced up and down the alley. "No signs of electric lines, so we're going to have to get an electric current a little more creatively." She let out a laugh that was more nervous than humorous. "And my brothers called me crazy for learning to metalwork. Our best bet to get a signal boost to the ship is to find a blacksmith and hope I can sweet talk my way in." She looked up at the Captain. "We might be close enough to any other crew members down here to still use the combadges for a short-range communication."
"Yes, but I worry about blowing their cover," Ans answered. "Not that we're likely to last long in this century with our knowledge and experience." He bit his lip but nodded solemnly and tapped his combadge. "Benoit to Ensign Forde, do you read me?" He inwardly groaned that he had picked her to call first instead of the first officer.
As the Captain started calling out to other crew members, Kit gave a nod to Amalia. "Come one, let's see what we can scope out nearby. We're going to need a safe place to gather without arousing suspicion. I think there's a market nearby that we passed on the way here, and we might be able to ask around."
Amalia gave a nod. "Sounds like a good plan."
Michael was in Sick Bay reading over the latest in studies of Bendii Syndrome. He worked fervently on finding a cure, it was his passion project. He went to set the PADD down and pick up his sake when he felt a mild case of dizziness. Ki lowered his head to his hand and when he steadied himself and looked up he seemed to be standing.
Michael Ki stood in what seemed to be an old Sick Bay on a tall sailing ship. He held a jar of live leeches as he came to terms with where he was. He was unsure exactly what went on, however, he resigned himself to play the part until he could learn more. "Are you okay Doctor?" The voice of a sailor could be heard from behind a stack of crates. "Yes I am fine. Thank you. As you were."
Lieutenant Elizabeth Connor materialized in full early 19th century naval uniform in the middle of what she assumed was some kind of ancient sickbay and no one around her seemed to notice her arrival. Recognizing the doctor from his file, she was a security officer she was supposed to know these things, she went directly toward him and placed a hand on his arm. "What the hell is going on?"
Michael Ki had eidetic memory, as such when he reviewed crew files he never forgot a face or the name that went with it. "You're guess is as good as mine Leftenant. For the time being I suggest that we at least act the parts we seem to be assigned. That is until we can figure out what is going on or find the Captain, whichever comes first." Michael did not mean to sound so gruff, but he did feel that there was no time for pleasantries.
She pouted slightly. Playing along didn't seem like a lot of fun as she didn't know a lot about this time period. Were women even nurses back then? She had no idea. History was not her strongest subject. But orders were orders so she pretended to be doing inventory on bandages. "This is so crude," she whispered.
"Out of the way boy!" Evie heard someone yell as they pushed by her. Lunging forward she almost went head first into the bar she was in before hearing a roaring of laughter from the incident.
"Who you callin a boy?!" she yelled back at him before realising she was not where she thought she was.
A large heavy set man with an eyepatch, a musky horrific odour and bad breath spun around quicker than those catching scurvy. Moving up closer to Evie he pressed his stomach against her body as if to make himself look tough.
Looking around Evie's eyes widened, this was not where she had been. She'd dosed off in the library researching something but to wake up to this?
The man had a gold tooth and seeing a small reflection she wore strange clothing. Ill fitting, yes, and she was dressed in similar clothing to the other men in there whom looked like sailor.
"I'm talking to YOU boy!" the large man bellowed and puffed out his chest. "Although I'd hardly call you even that!" he cackled. "Fair skin, poncy voice, this blonde hair..." he touched a bit of it and Evie smacked his hand away. This made him serious, "Bit of fight eh? I knew you Irish were uncivilised," he sneered.
"At least I know how to bathe..." she muttered causing a low laugh from some but as the heavyset chap looked at them they quickly shut up.
From inside the bar there was a ruckus, smashing of things, shouts etc. After a couple of minutes Evie was being tossed out of the bar on her backside in a very un-ceremonial fashion.
Evie lay face down for a moment as if defeated by the toss but soon saw an extended hand offering her aid. Looking up she couldn't see who it was as the sun was behind their back.
"Are you alright miss? " He asked as he helped her up. " I am Lieutenant Morgan, and this is my wife, Avelina. Are you in need of assistance? "
"Here now, let's get the dust cleaned off of ye. And yes, I am Avelina," the redheaded woman responded with a friendly gaze. "Just how did we get into this time period? Did someone cast a spell upon us?"
"At least you recognise me as a girl..." Evie mumbled almost unintelligibly as she tried to bob and weave her head to see who this man was. She accepted his hand nonetheless to get up from the ground.
'Lieutenant Morgan?' Evie thought, he knew that name. He was the security chief on the Victory. She couldn't say she knew many people yet but she made sure she knew the other senior officers. Question is how did they know she was from their ship and not just some down on their luck pirate of centuries past... but that didn't really matter.
"Oh I'm grand sir." she replied as she rose and started dusting herself off. "I love being called a boy, insulted for being Irish and then thrown outta pub for commenting on someone's personal hygiene." she laughed at the last comment. "But thank you... for, you know, picking me up."
"A spell?!" Evie grabbed her chest hoping she wasn't indeed a boy. "Oh thank Christ!" she let out a large sigh then looked around. "Aye, I'd definitely say we're in the 1800's lookin at those ships." she indicated the dock. "By those ship designs at least."
Gregor nodded. " I would agree that we are in the early eighteen hundreds. I also think we should stick together while we look for others from our group. But the main question I have is how did we get here and why? " He said to the ladies in a soft tone so as not to be overheard by others. " Fortunately I am a student of history and enjoy reading of such. My cover story is that I am Leftenant Morgan assigned to the HMS Victory. A four deck one hundred gun first rate ship of the line. If worse comes to worse, At least I could go to the naval base and demand housing for myself, my wife and if your willing to play the part as her cousin. " Not wanting to assume that she'd want to go along with the idea or had other plans already.
"Beats me sir. I was quite happy in my bunk before this." Evie looked around again. "You've really thought this out sir. I mean I was just trying to get out of that pub alive." she looked at his uniform. "Well having studied history myself at university," she began, "you're already in a Leftenant's uniform so that'll track. Don't know why I get relegated to looking like I scrub the deck for barnacles." she sighed. "But I do remember they don't like women on their ships back in this time so I guess that'll be why I'm wrapped up tighter than my grandpa's hand on a pint of Guinness."
Evie noticed some passers by give them odd stares. Her Irish accent obviously causing some attention she quietened down a touch. "If it comes to that sir I'd rather play a cousin and get a roof over my head than live in the streets here... my first experience of this century's hospitality has not been the best." she referred to being tossed out the pub. "If we are here, maybe others are as well? Maybe we should go look?"
"I agree, we definitely need to do that. Hopefully they are not too far away from us. And do you know if you have the combadges?"
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Having finished stowing supplies Michael thought it best to get a look around and see if there was anyone else on this ship. He leaned over to Elizabeth and whispered. "We should make our way on deck and see if there are any of the other crew here." Before she could answer Ki mustered to his full height to take the stature of an officer of this time. "Leftenant accompany me on deck." He saw his hat on the desk before him and placed it on his head.
"Yes Sir," Elizabeth said, trying to disguise her voice and make it deeper again. She followed after him, attempting a swagger as well.
Moments later Ki was on the deck of the ship which was a bustle with people making ready to sail.
"Zounds, here now good doctor. Is the orlop up to your standards?" a tall blonde man asked of Doctor Ki. His attention was then caught by one of the other crewmen that were there.
"Leftenant Rutherford, a list was just handed to me, the bosun is requesting a bit more supplies before we set sail."
First Leftenant Aubrey Rutherford, the first officer of the ship perused the list. What was being requested needed the signature of the Captain. He looked over the bustling of the crew, his eyes zeroing upon Captain Benoit. Upon the list was also a requisition for medicines.
He turned to Doctor Ki, "Doctor, would you be so kind, you and your assistant to accompany me to meet with the Captain? I need you with me to get the proper papers and make certain the medicine is genuine."
"Of course Leftenant. Lead the way. Everything down below is ready to make sail. Thought I would take a breath of air since that was completed." Michael replied and fell into step with the Leftenant.
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Evie was sure she could hear a muffled voice. For a moment she looked around, leaned forward to see she could hear it clearer and looked at her chest in confusion.
It was coming from her.
She opened her waistcoat to see her comm badge upon her tightly wrapped chest and tapped it in response as she moved a bit further out of sight. "I do sir. Are you on the ship? Do you know what's happening?" she asked almost instinctually out of concern.
"Planet . . . stand by . . . . instructions . . . meeting place."
Avelina was looking about, she moved with Evie and motioning for her husband to be keeping a look out for anyone coming near.
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Where am I? Nicolette looked around and could have sworn that she was at some point in the 19th century. She built ships for fun but water.... No, she was not going to be caught dead any nearer to it than the shore. So, why was she here? Was this some crewmembers sick idea of a joke. Well, they certainly took it too far by placing her in this ancient clothing. Don't panic, Nico. You're not French like your parents. You're British. Stiff upper lip. Think about this, sort it out. Explore. Despite her conversation with herself, she could feel her heart beating faster.
She called out, trying to get her voice well above her normal quietness. "Holodeck, show arch!" Nothing happened. This is not a good sign. Think, Nico. Think. Getting a little more desperate, she called out again, "Captain Benoit? Commander Troconis?"
"Here now lad, I don't know of any Commander Troconis, however, the captain is on the docks, I seen him go there along with several others. He seemed in a hurry, musta forgot something important wit' how quickly he went. And he must have forgotten to tell ya. Mebbe while yer out do ya think you can get me something special for my lady eh?" the older man who looked like he'd been there for a little bit, having grey in his hair. "The missus is needing some more thread for fixing up the sails and doing some repair work." He was the master gunner for the ship. He slipped some coins to Nico. "Think you can do that for me?"
"Lad?" Nicolette tried to grasp what this odd person was talking about. She very clearly had an hourglass figure and there was no way that she could ever be confused for a male. And wait, did he think she was a boy? No, no, no. This makes no sense.
One mo', did he say that the Captain was at the docks? That meant water. Well, really, Nico, what else could that mean? Ancient ships went on water, not in the skies. Honestly, when did you get so daft? "Thread, sir?" she asked trying to keep calm and play along until she sorted this situation. "Where exactly would I do that? And who would your missus be?"
"That'd be Martha, my lovely wife. All ye'd need to do is go to the market and maybe buy a little bit of lace or even silk."
The market? That should be further away from the water, right? But even so, I have no idea why I am here or where the crew is. I have to be dreaming, don't I? It is certainly better than my nightmares so far. "Certainly, sir. Right, I shall get right on that. Thread for the sails." With that, Nicolette started to head slowly away from the docks, hoping that someone might point her in the direction of the market.
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