Cat Got Your Tongue?

Posted on Sun Feb 21st, 2021 @ 9:26pm by Major Ashley Rogers & Lieutenant T'Ango & Lieutenant Mila Lynn

2,268 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Chapter III: The Hunt is On
Location: Shuttle Bay, I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238702.04

Ash and Mila were back in the shuttle bay working on the ship from another universe and another time that they somehow came into possession of. Well, they bought it... but the fact that it was available to purchase was curious.

Ash was performing basic maintenance on the rear of the shuttle where she had slightly damaged the hull during their maiden voyage. If these repairs and buffing goes well, no one would be able to tell she backed the thing into cargo containers. "So Mila, have you had a chance to go through the data from our little test flight? Think we can control the ship enough to make it to Hobus and not have us accidentally time travel?"

Mila chuckled. It wasn't every day that one got to reverse-engineer a time machine, but that was exactly what she had done. Well, was in the process of doing. "It's rather fascinating, really. You know how faster-than-light travel was considered a scientific impossibility before the discovery of the warp effect and how it counteracts time dilation and all that? Well, turns out the principle of the Temporal Displacement Drive is incredibly similar to that, it just takes it to the extreme." In her excitement, she began talking faster and faster, before stopping herself. "But I won't bore you with the technobabble. To keep it short, I think so. We won't know for sure until we try it, but I figured out what was causing the jump. You see, the warp bubble around us, when we jumped, was too powerful, so it caused a time distortion effect - which is basically how the time travel bit works - but it was uncontrolled and-"

She giggled. "Sorry, I'm rambling again. I recalibrated the warp drive and now the field should be stable and linear."

Little did they pair realize that as they discussed the performance of their shining new toy they were being stalked - and by an expert. No one could move as soft and silently as a feliniod, especially one with years of experience as an operator. A giant smile had creased T'Ango's face as she spotted her old friend. Of course, she could have called out from the hangar bay door, but were was the fun in that?

With a step and powerful leap, she pounced! "Ash!!!" she cried joyously, as she came down on, arms wrapped around the woman in a squeezing hug.

Ash's eyes went wide as she toppled over from the momentum from being engulfed in the unexpected hug. She reached for the knife in her boot but fortunately it only took her a moment to realize that it was her old friend T'Ango. She returned the hug, "I almost stabbed you!!! It's been too long, my friend. I've grown soft in not anticipating being pounced on by a big cat!" She smiled as she sheathed the knife back in her boot. "Mila! Meet T'Ango, an old friend of mine. T'Ango, this is Mila, my young genius friend."

When the felinoid jumped out of nowhere, Mila shrieked and instinctively drew the small phaser pistol Miles had gotten her when they first moved to Drozana, firing a shot in the general direction of their "assailant". Luckily, her aim was completely off, and the reddish-orange bolt hit the ceiling, leaving a small black smudge. When Ash introduced her friend, Mila shrank. "Yeah, not so genius sometimes. But, you scared me!"

Ash glared at T'Ango, "You scared the kid!"

"Your adopted kid can be scared by little ol' me?" T'Ango asked ears straight up in mock surprise. Then she broke into a wide grin, and clamped Mila on the shoulder in Dosadi greeting. "Most pleased to meet you. Don't worry, using a weapon properly practice not genius. I'm sure you're brilliant at engineering based on what I heard as I came in."

Turning to Ash, she cocked her head to the side. "Time travel? I thought that gave you a headache?"

Adopted kid? Ash looked at Mila to see if she caught what T'Ango said before running her hand through her hair, "Time travel does give me a headache, not matter how many times Mila tries to explain it to me." She shook her head before unleashing a torrent of questions, "Are you the calvary that Renee called? When did you get here? How long are you staying? Who else is with you?"

For someone Renee and Gable had described as maternal toward toward the kids, Rogers sure seemed flummoxed by the idea. T'Ango laughed at the rapid fire stream of questions, then proceeded to respond by ticking off answers on her fingers. "Yes. Just a couple hours ago. Until we finish the mission. Arnason." She grinned at Ash. "Any others, or can I ask some now? Like, why are you playing with a time ship?"

Ash smiled. "Well, I'm not the one playing with a time ship... Mila, here has been the one that's gotten it up and running," she said proudly as she put a supportive arm around the teen. "We saw this thing in a hangar one day and I figured better us having it than anyone else. Who knows what kind of temporal insanity can happen if this fell into the wrong hands..." She turned to Mila, "You want to explain to T'Ango what we got here? I make things go boom, not vice versa."

Mila had remained silent during the exchange, and was a bit startled when Ash addressed her directly. "Um, this? Epoch-class timeship fighter. The temporal displacement drive doesn't work properly, but it's otherwise in pretty good condition, apart from a few scrapes. And we picked it up at a bargain, too. Got it pretty much for free." She looked at the Dosadi, and back at Ash. "So, how do you two know each other?"

A time ship that was pretty much for free... T'Ango hoped Ash felt all the internal yellow alerts going off that she did over that. But it might be better to discuss that later - like in a nice private sparring room with Ash flat on the gorund in a submission hold. T'Ango's tail swished as she thought about it. "We met when I was an exchange officer with Starfleet. Both of us needed someone to spar with who wasn't so, "she paused a beat and grinned, "committed to Starfleet's idea of fair play."

Ash laughed at T'Ango's summary of how they met... it was so long ago, yet it seemed like yesterday. She can't decide if those days were good memories or bad... obviously with T'Ango they were good but that was still a pretty dark time in her life. She wasn't sure she was comfortable with Mila or Miles knowing what kind of person she was then. Although, she's not that much better now when it comes to a moral high ground... and Mila had to witness that first hand when they ran into Renee. Hopefully, the Dosadi can bring about more of the good memories from back then. "T'Ango is a damn good sparring partner... not too many people can sneak up on me," she narrowed her eyes jokingly. "Doc Gable used to hate our sparring sessions... did you know she's on board too? I think we should go a round or two for old time sake... starting to see some gray in that fur..." Ash teased. "Maybe being away from good competition has made you a little soft..." she smirked. "I'm sure the doc would love to patch you up again."

"And you," T'Ango laughed. "In fact, she's the one who told me where to find you..." She looked Ash up and down with a merry predatory gleam in her eye. "Maybe she's worried you're the one getting soft... had to make sure someone whipped you back into fighting trim," she declared teasingly, whiskers flipping forward.

Then she laughed again, shaking her head. "Actually she's giving Arnason a tour of medbay since they're both expecting to need to patch us up. I'd hate to have them go through all that prep for nothing," she crossed a hand over her heart, "...you know I have only the greatest respect for medics. But I promised Arnason I'd let him at least digest Renee's excellent meal first. So for now, tell me, what is it you're planning to do with a semi-functioning time ship?"

Mila looked at T'Ango for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the story, before signing to Ash. Your call whether to you trust your old friend enough.

"I look forward to the challenge. Remind me to introduce you to Hatham..." Ash said with a mischievous grin before she shrugged about the time ship, "To be honest, I'm not sure. It's not just a time ship... it's from the mirror universe." Seeing T'Ango's ears and whiskers flicked in curiosity, Ash continued, "And if that wasn't enough.... it may have originally belonged to the mirror universe version of me... so there's a lot to unpack here. No idea why it's here. No idea where I am. Mila, here, has put up with me melting my brain trying to understand any of it. But... Hobus is involved somehow." She looked up at T'Ango again, "Cat got your tongue?"

It was a lot to take in. T'Ango's head had tipped to the side as if trying to find an angle from which any of it made sense. A sip from the mirror universe, that might belong to a mirror Ash who might be somewhere here? ...what would a mirror Ash even be like..? But she flicked her ears at the last question, covering her quandary with a feline grin. "A cat always has my tongue," she joked, before rubbing her chin as she considered the rest of it. "So a possible mirror you... and Hobus... which is near the Romulan home system. But the ship was just abandoned here... hrrmm... Seems like you have quite the alarming mystery on your hands." One ear oriented on Ash. "Again."

"Again?!" Ash chuckled before pausing, "Okay fine... so trouble tends to find me." She turned to Mila, "T'Ango and I used to get into a lot of trouble together..."

"But yes, it's quite a mystery, one that I'd like to get to the bottom of. And to be honest... I'd like to go toe to toe with myself..." she said with a smirk. "Maybe we do need a good sparring match... I need to know how I can defeat me if push comes to shove..."

"It does sound like you have a lot of stories, Ash," Mila said, finally feeling like she was able to actually get a word in herself. "Yeah, the whole thing is a mystery. We're actually planning to head to Hobus to see what we can find there, if you want to come along?"

"It has peaked my curiosity," T'Ango admitted, eyeing the ship. She could almost hear Gunnar arguing against it - 'What if something goes wrong? What about the people we came to help?' - none of which was wrong, but all of which was more his way of saying he was afraid this time he'd lose her. But it was an old argument, and one that went both ways often enough. Still, he would not be happy. If he knew about it, that is. "How long would it take? I came here to help rescue your Romulan crews' families, so I can't be gone too long."

Ash smiled, "We will get you back before dinner! For old time sake?" She signed to Mila, Help me convince her, please?

Mila nodded. "It shouldn't take too long. This little thing is insanely fast. Hell, maybe we'll get back before we left." She giggled. "Well, hopefully not. I think I fixed that. But having another person with us will definitely come in handy."

"Well, yes, Rogers is a bit much for a teen to supervise," T'Ango noted solemnly, though the movement at the tip of her tail gave away her interest. "But in case you don't have everything fixed, we should leave a message with someone. Just a note, like, 'Taking hot new ship for a spin. Be back soon."

Ash shook her head. "I'd like to think Gunnar would want me to supervise you!" she laughed before taking a more serious tone, "You guys feel free to let Gunnar or Miles know we're about to go do something crazy. You're are probably the only ones what would care that I'm about to hop in a time ship that we've only just repaired to go to a set of unexplained coordinates to investigate a mystery." She paused, "Wow, saying that out loud makes this sound crazier."

Mila burst out laughing. "Sorry, Ash," she said after a moment, struggling to catch her breath. "Is my implant broken or did I really hear you just call the whole idea crazy? You, of all people?" She shook her head, still giggling. "If Ash Rogers calls a plan crazy, that is proof that it is absolutely insane."

"And yet, we're going to do it..." T'Ango snickered, and shook her head. "I'll leave a timed message for Arnason. If we get back before dinner, no one will have any reason to worry."

Ash rolled her eyes at both of them. "If my life story is any indication... what's another insane adventure? Glad all of you are willing to join me though. Now did anyone bring snacks?"

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