The Chain Unbound

Chapter 6

"Second Sister"

First was the crashing of waves, then the calls of birds over the water's roar. Next she sensed the wind on her skin, ruffling her hair, swaying her antennae, carrying with it the scent of salt and the perfume of tropical flowers.

Then she felt the overwhelming heat.

Andorians were a cold-weather species, their tolerances for warmth marginal. The heat pulsed down from the bright blue sun, fighting the ocean spray for thermal dominance. Distracted by the sudden change in scenery, she strayed away from the cool, wet, wave-soaked sand. The dry sand was much hotter, burning her feet like coals.

"Klahz!" she cursed in native Andorii. Jumping out of the hot sand and into the water brought relief to her scorched soles. The tropical sun still beat down on her barely clad skin, darkening her turquoise tone as it battled the defenses laid on by a thin layer of dermaplast shielding. This did not prevent the hot sun from coating her in a flowery-scented sweat.

She looked at her hand again. Older, wrinkled, though not nearly as pronounced as her trip to the Hall of Heroes. Her joints were significantly less sore than she recalled. She could stand upright. Her mobility, though not as good as the future she left behind, was still impressive for someone so aged. She looked down at herself. Exposed by flower-patterned bikini and sarong, she marveled at the physical shape of her ancestor. Her arms and legs were wiry, her abdominal muscles defined and strong. Her youth was long gone, but her physique was strong.

Mikolo felt shamed she wasn't as fit as her ancestor.

Her mind went back to the crisis she left behind. "My ancestor! I left her in my time to... oh Gods!!"

The switch from beach paradise to prison cell hell was quick, and for a second disorienting.

Mikaiu had an advantage her ancestor lacked.

She was prepared mentally for the sudden onslaught of violence.

Her hand snapped the time crystal necklace off her neck. Rooting her feet to the ground and her bottom to the bench, she pushed herself up to deliver more power to her blow. She threw an elbow at the smaller and younger of the two humans. She felt flesh and bone resist against her blow, then a reverberation as his head impacted off the plastcrete's hard surface. He fell in a curled ball on the cell bench, clutching his head.

The faces of an older, larger human and an even bigger Andorian, turned from libidinous to apoplectic.

"You stupid little..." spat the foul-breathed human as he took his hand off her chest balled his fist to punch.

"Mika!" James Corrigan called out from a distance. He looked younger, still old, though now closer to thavey's age. He had more hair. Some of it was a light brown, most of it was grey. And he still had the strong posture of middle age. He waved a drink in his hand, beckoning Mikolo-as-Mikaiu to come forward.

She ran through the sand, ignoring the burn felt through her foot, surprised how fast her ancestor could run despite her age. It was an urgent run, one James Corrigan caught immediately.

When she stopped, James' smile changed to a look of concern. "Honey, what's wrong?"

She spoke under ragged breath. "I'm not your wife. It's me."

"Mikolo?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"...biYYYYAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

The older human had participated in more fights, more assaults, and more struggles for his life than his younger counterpart. He was quick to identify the change in mood of little Andorian. He put little thought into how she found her nerve so quickly, only reacting with his vitriol and a thrown punch.

He was a brawler, a thug, and a bully. His was simplistic, inflict maximum damage and intimidation. For all the simplicity and practicality of his brawling style, the human lacked the Andorian's heightened senses and formal training.

He might as well had telegraphed the move for all the good it did.

She tilted her head to the side and leaned to her left. The wall did the rest, instead of her head, he hit the hyperdense plastcrete surface.

A wall resistant to digging, tunneling, and phasering.

Also excellent for breaking knuckles.

She had her follow-up already in motion. As she moved her head, her right hand grabbed the howling human by his collar. A kick to his shin unbalanced him. Pulling herself up by his collar and yanking with all her strength, she let gravity and her weight drag him down. Her left hand, the time crystal laced around her fingers, clasped the back of the human's head and pushed.

The crunch his forehead made when impacting with the plastcrete wall, the flecks of blood landing hot on her neck, and the smear of dark red trailing from his dragging gave good indication

No time to speculate whether the attempted molester would live. There was an intense and hulking Andorian barreling down on her.

"Sorry? What for Mika?"

She spoke between pants. "Your shi'yi. I was protecting the time crystal. I didn't mean to send her back there."

His eyes lit up with recognition. "Mikolo! You're back! Oh, dear... hold on." He eased a sympathetic hand on Mikolo-as-Mikaiu's shoulder and led her to sit under the umbrella. "I'm so sorry my dear. I know you're shaken. Sit down, take a breather. Regain your composure."

"But... there were three men. They were trying to..."

"I know, my dear. You warned us. Two visits ago."

Her panic turned to anger as Mikolo punched James Corrigan's chest with the flat of her fist. "Then why didn't you warn me!?"

Surprised, he landed on his ass, spilling his drink into the sand. James sprawled on his back. He let go of his drink glass "Oof! You certainly hit like Mika. Good think you weren't trying to kill me." James sat back up and laughed softly. He gave the red welt on his chest a good-natured pat. He added, "In our defense, we felt the need to minimize temporal contamination. But you know what? That's fair, considering you warned us about the prison attack."

Mikolo-as-Mikaiu didn't want to hurt the old human, not really. But as her excitability eased down, her guilt increased. She confessed, "Sorry! I'm just scared for your shi'yi, that's all. I couldn't take all those men on, and I've got an advanced martial arts rating. I just froze up!"

"Come now. Let's not mince words, my dear. It's not three men, it's three rapist fuckwits. And by assaulting, you mean having their asses handed to them on a latinum serving plate. Trust me, that's what's happening."

"Wait... are you serious? That's three grown men in a confined space with her... with me, with her as me! I know how to fight and all I could do was freeze up like a stupid, weak idiot while they held me down! What chance does my ancestor have?"

James said, "What do you know of your ancestor?"

She waited a fraction of a second to plant her back to the wall, curl up her legs, and kick both feet into the big Andorian's stomach. It was like kicking a sack of tuber roots, thick and heavy, but the Andorian staggered on wobbling feet, doubled over and retching.

Mikaiu, in Mikolo's body, stood up and assessed her surroundings. She was in a confined cell, just like she was warned. One human attacker was down, and the Andorian traitor was puking in front of the force field.

What happened to the other human?

She found out when she felt movement to her left. Screaming, the human grappled her by the midsection and pushed her to the wall.

Mikolo, historian of Clan Estihi, knew the history of her own family. There were many Mikaiu's in the Estihi family tree, and for good reason. The most well known Mikaiu, or 'Master Mika', was an inspiration to her clan and one of their most legendary figures.

Despite historical inaccuracies, to which James Corrigan was proof of such errors, she knew about the first Mikaiu sh'Estihi. Born on stardate 26163.25, trained in the classical Andorian courtesan arts, went abroad to college, graduating with a post-doctorate in exolinguistics. She spent a short time in the Federation Diplomacy Corp before setting down to become a teacher and scholar.

She was one of three surviving children of Clan Estihi, off-moon during the Species 8472 raid on Andoria.

Together with her eldest sister, the holoactress Mibandi zh'Estihi, and her youngest sister, Vice Admiral Mishune sh'Teliala, they rebuilt the clan and its institutions.

Such as the clan's academy of traditional courtesan and martial arts.

The School of the Three Sisters.

Her martial arts discipline, and she knew how effective it could be when used ruthlessly.

"Oh gods." The realization came out with heavy breath. "I just unleashed one of my clan's most celebrated grandmasters on three petty criminals."

"Three rapist fuckwits." Corrigan corrected, amused. "We went through this, remember?"

Years of taking hits and falls in the fighting salon conditioned her to expect pain, taught her to spread out the blows, and not not react in panic so she could effectively counterattack. She twisted her body and took the blow to her upper back and shoulders. It was a sloppy tackle, not enough to take the fight out of her, though it still hurt her back and drove air out of her lungs.

Mikaiu needed distance.

She saw an opening when the human exposed his head. Opening her palms, she clapped both his eardrums. When he brought his arms up to defend his head, she kneed his stomach. His guard dropped below, she elbowed the jaw, sidestepped a haymaker, and chained two rapid punches to the human's face, hitting the nose and the right eye socket. He staggered back gaining her valuable distance.

Wildly, he threw a right hook.

She ducked under the blow and stepped close. Her right arm went over his shoulder, her left behind his back, hands locked together as her leg went behind his. Thrusting her hip to his and tripping his ankle, she had little difficulty using leverage and his unbalanced body to lift and pivot her opponent.

The small of his back landed hard on the prison cell bench. What followed was an agonizing howl as he fell to the floor, rolling and clutching his back.

Her antennae swiveled towards the Andorian. She turned her head towards the last threat and slid her left foot back, easing into a side fighting stance. In an imperious tone, she demanded, "You there! Betrayer! What mental illness has emboldened you to side against your fellow clanmate?"

"Yeah, especially Anib. He can rot in Earth's prisons for all I care. Stupid traitor."

James became suddenly delighted. "So you made it to Earth. That's great!"

Mikolo was not as enthusiastic. "Well... I don't know. We were in Sol System when our ship was caught. We were taken aboard an Earth vessel, given some groovy drugs, questioned, and then the prison. Could be on Earth. Could still be on their ship. Who knows! And when I get back, I'm still in jail and my jailors are real bastards, so..."

"So? Bastards or not, Earth's got a stick up its ass about rules and laws in my time. Chances are not much has changed. You ask for legal council, beg for sympathy, which should be easy now that your so-called co-conspirators attacked you, apply for refugee status, and bing-bang-boom, you're off to the next stage of your journey."

"Yeah, only there's a lot of ifs. If that fails?"

"They attacked you in the cells, meaning the local cops let it happen. You're a walking piece of blackmail. Find an honest cop, or if you're desperate an honest lawyer, and tell your story. Make a big enough headache for them and you'll walk."

"And you think that'll work?"

"Well, I'm here talking to you, and I already talked to you years ago when you gave me the head's up about all this, which, by the way, we appreciate despite bending the rules of the prime directive. Trust me when I say it's nothing you can't get past, because from my perspective you already have."

Mikolo sniffed, skeptical. "What happened to all that chroniton pollution bringing a certain amount of random chance stuff?"

James shrugged. "Ok, it's not perfect, but it's not like we have control over that. Besides, odds are still in your favor."

The odds looked in Anib's favor.

Over fifty kilograms and nearly a half meter towering over the petite Andorian woman, Anib held many physical advantages. Superior strength, longer reach, more muscle mass, and a testosterone-powered rage, Anib set off when Mikolo addressed him in the antiquated accent of a clan matriarch.

"YOU CONDESCENDING BITCH!" His swung a haymaker, missing her chin by millimetres. He followed up with a snap kick aimed the little Andorian woman's chest.

For all his physical advantages, to the temporally swapped Mikaiu-as-Mikolo, Anib seemed incredibly slow and easy to predict.

She caught the leg under her arm before it could complete the kick. Stepping forward, she slipped her heel behind Anib's planted foot, while her free palm struck between Anib's guard, smacking him under the jaw. A pull of his leg and a trip of his heel expedited Anib's trip to the prison cell floor.

Mikaiu spoke softly and with naked contempt."I doubt she will be too angry about this."

Anib's next screams took on a high-pitched tone as she controlled the leg, spreading it wide, and stomped her foot down on his groin.

"Alright, fine, but I'm still angry." Mikolo retorted. "Maybe you think she can handle it but I don't. And it doesn't change the fact I froze up."

"Yeah, I get it." James conceded. "It sort of takes away any chance to redeem yourself so you feel powerless and uncertain, doesn't it? I've been there, trust me."

"You? The big, bad ex-Starfleet Admiral?"

"Believe it or not, yeah. My first action was the Battle of Sector 001 back when I was a cadet. Froze up when the Borg boarded our ship. Watched my squad mates get assimilated. When I finally found my nerve, I shot every drone I could find. When my phaser went dry, I pistol whipped the last freshly assimilated ensign to death with it."

"Gods..."

"And then I spent the Dominion War attempting suicide by combat, only I was too good at killing. I got more dead bodies on my conscience than I do happy moments in my life. Talk about overcompensating for past cowardice! It ruined my closest relationships, and it made me miserable. But you know what redeemed me?"

"What?"

"Mika, who made me want to be a better person. Who's now in your place and has her own reasons to turn three sexual predators into pretzels. So don't feel too bad. You may not get your chance to prove yourself now, but you will, you'll do it way better than I did, and it won't come at the expense of my loving wife. Thankfully, you know that in the future, hence the warning."

She wanted to be angry, but found James Corrigan's pleading eyes had a neutralizing effect. Her anger, frustrated and impotent, subsided, not fully, but a manageable burn.

"They still robbed me of that chance, James."

Corrigan said, "It'll come back, trust me. Besides, I made a lot of mistakes for the sake of my bruised ego. I'd hate to see the same happen to you."

"Have I bruised your ego enough to garner your attention, clan apostate?"

To give her question more weight, she ground her foot into Anib's crotch, receiving a tortured groan in response.

"Exemplary response! I feared I had inadvertently struck your central nervous system during our bout of pugilistic prowess. Contrary to what I believed, an unkind creator did not store your brains in your pitifully inadequate loins. Therefore, you carry the capacity to understand my terms, which are as such. Acquiesce, afore I disable your ability to commit further belligerence."

"Go to... gre'Thor!" Anib cursed through blood flecked teeth.

Pulling her head back to avoid Anib's flailing, she looked down, her antennae flattened and mouth fixed in a scowl. Not out of wraith, but supreme disappointment.

"Very well." She nodded, laying Anib's foot on the prison cell bench. She let the foot go, stepped off his crotch, and raised her leg up. "You may want to bite down on your sleeve."

Mikolo asked, "How bad do you think it'll be?"

"She won't be gentle." James admitted, "But I trust she'll use an appropriate amount of force."

"Apologies. I may have used an excessive amount of force."

The human's scream was nothing compared to Anib's wail of anguish. He rolled on the floor, grabbing at a leg bent between the ankle and the knee in a sickening angle. The leg of his jumpsuit, soaking with turquoise blood, remained unpierced by the grisly tent poles that were his compound fractures.

"However, I am tasked with the safety of my host's corporeal form, therefore a certain finality was... regretfully necessary."

Stepping over the writhing, injured bodies of her opponents, she found an unoccupied patch of the floor to kneel.

She placed her hands behind her head and bowed her antennae as a sign of submission.

"I hereby avail myself to your judgment."

The juxtaposition of tormented criminals and the serene surrender of the last combatant standing took a few moments for Lieutenant Richard Corrigan, short of breath from running the boundary of the transporter scattering field, to process.

"What the..."

"Frag Anib. Hope she stomps his groin to pudding."

"That's a guarantee." James Corrigan smiled fiercely. "My darling Mika's a gentle soul, except when she's not. That reminds me, when you get back, don't flip out at the first jailer you see."

"What?! Why not!? They're the jerks who put me there to begin with!"

"Yeah, but this one's a special case. He's your guide on earth and a great help afterwards. His name is..."

"Richard Corrigan I presume?"

Lieutenant Corrigan caught the fight at its halfway point. His brain found delays processing the brutally elegant fighting displayed by the tiny Andorian woman. Mainly his own experience told him the speed, strength of her attacks was incompatible with her size and the number of opponents. The EDF officer doubted an experienced combatant like himself would have ended the fight so decisively.

He witnessed, in awe, a master at work.

One that knew his name, though he'd never told her. He nodded, slow and affirmative, while his hand moved to his pattern buffer wristband.

The prisoner's smile was sly and secretive. "Fascinating. You share a remote resemblance to my thi'yi."

He snapped his brain out its stunned silence. "That's enough, ma'am. Now I'm gonna relocate you to another cell. Then I'm gonna call the medics to scrape what remains of your cellmates off the floor. Don't try anything funny."

Mikaiu nodded her compliance. "Of course. I intend not to be an inconvenience to my hosts."

Lieutenant Corrigan's eyebrow rose skeptically. "You got a funny way of showing it."

She looked down at her injured, groaning opponents. "Noted. However, I beg leniency for my actions due to my more... immobilized cellmates." The prisoner rose to her feet. "Shall we? I find this cell too... confining."

Lieutenant Corrigan lowered the force field and stepped back, keeping a respectable distance and his phaser trained on the prisoner. "Yeah, sure. Let's do that."

She walked out of the cell, gingerly avoiding the writing bodies of her opponents, with the grace and bearing of a lady.

Who disregarded the unladylike stepping on Anib's antenna.

Richard dismissively addressed Anib's latest wail of anguish. "Yeah yeah, wait a minute."

"Wait a microt." Mikolo said, "If I'm on Earth... now what? Why did I come here?"

"You came here because your fastest ride out was going there. It's close to Andoria. It's the Federation capitol planet. It has the best archives outside of Memory Alpha. With strict border control, it's also one more obstacle between you and whoever comes after you."

"Yeah, learned about their border control hard way. Got a real wonderful welcome." She muttered sarcastically.

"Sorry about that. I couldn't tell you. Temporal prime directive."

"To Gre'thor with the temporal prime directive! Ignorance got me in a lot of trouble!"

James cleared his throat. "And I can only tell you what you told me, which is too much when you mentioned the Federation's collapse."

Mikolo gasped. The details of her time, facts taken for granted, offered too much insight into James' future. She realized, in less scrupulous hands, even minor details gave advanced warning, the repercussions more disastrous when viewed from a much larger temporal picture. From what she recalled, the Temporal Wars weren't common knowledge in James Corrigan's time. As for The Burn, a person of conscience with advance knowledge could save trillions of lives and the greatest stellar empire the Milky Way Galaxy ever known. Any preparation or warning about the cataclysmic event that shattered the Federation could prevent thousands of related events, such as the forming of the Emerald Chain, her own interstellar nation state.

The less he knew the better, making it the less she knew.

"Gods, I hate temporal quandaries."

"You and me both." James chuckled. "But don't worry, we're not the Department of Temporal Investigations. We have the freedom to exercise our judgment, which you did when you told us about the attack in your prison cell. So I'll tell you your next step. Boreth."

"Boreth?" Her antennae drooped down.

"So you know of it." James stated.

"I should say so. It's part of the Klingon's Kahless saga. The Story of the Promise, if I recall correctly."

"Yeah, that's right."

"When Kahless departed for Sto-vo-kor, he said he'd return one day. When asked where, he pointed to a star and said, 'Look for me there, on that point of light.'. They called the point of light Boreth, but they never found it."

James Corrigan gave Mikolo a strange look, as if she'd said something incredibly dumb.

"What?" she asked.

"Waitaminute, even after giving you all we knew about Boreth, you still don't think it's real?"

It was her turn to be incredulous. "I could give you the co-ordinates to Sha-ka-ree. Doesn't mean it's real. Boreth was an analogy used to justify the Klingon's expansion during your time, literally seeking Kahless through conquest of the stars. There's no such planet as an actual Boreth. is a myth, a legend, a work of fiction. It never existed. Odds are your co-ordinates are empty space. Sorry."

James laughed, loud and hearty.

"What?"

He answered as his laughs subsided. "Trust me, it exists!"

"WHAT?!"

"I took the whole quad there for vacation last summer. It's real, or I'm Kahless himself."

Mikolo deadpanned, "Bullshit."

"Bullshit." The attending medic deadpanned, waving the medical P.I.N. over Anib's crushed antennae stalk. "She did all this?"

"I caught the tail end of it, but yeah." Lieutenant Corrigan admitted. "She did it. Must be a master martial artist or something."

"Grandmaster!" The little Andorian woman piped up. "Federation Martial Arts Association certified!"

The attending doctor leveled skeptical eyes at the next cell over, where Mikaiu, in Mikolo's body, kneeled, eyes closed and antennae swaying contently.

"My sisters and I are establishing our own academy." She added.

"Great." The doctor sighed. "I look forward to the report I'm sending your superior officer about how you let fifty kilos of 'Federation Martial Arts Association Certified' terror hand three hardened criminals their collective asses."

"It was his idea!" Richard shouted, outraged. "I came down here to stop them!"

"Great! I'll go to his office and he can explain how this happened, and why he violated protocol by throwing a woman in a cell with three men!"

"By all means! You'll find him in sickbay."

The doctor asked, "Why would I find him in sickbay?"

"Because I put him there." Lieutenant Corrigan unclipped his portable pattern buffer and pulled the EDF tricom badge off his uniform, a pleased grin on his face. "As you're the senior officer here, I'm obligated to turn by badge and sidearm over to you and submit myself to arrest. I assume you can operate a force field?"

The doctor stuttered, "We haven't admitted anyone to sickbay in over five hours."

"Oh? Did I forget to report that? You'll find him in his office. Better bring a stretcher."

"So I have to find a mythical planet because...?"

James Corrigan explained. "Because in my time they were more than simple warrior monks. They were philosophers, artists, poets, and, as it applies to us, scientists with expertise in multiple fields." James Corrigan explained. "They know things about your time crystal neither of us figured out yet. So if someone's got answers, they do. I wish I could tell you more. I tried asking the Boreth monks myself, which was why we took our vacation there. They heard my story and decided they didn't want to talk to me."

"So why won't they talk to you?"

"Because they don't want to talk to me. They want to talk to you."

It took moments to sink in. "Wait, 24th century Klingon monks want to talk to me? How would they know to ask for me?"

"Don't know." James pursed his lips. "Tried to learn more. What did an Admiral's clearance and all my called-in favors get me? Only that the Boreth monks are balls deep in all sorts of mad-scientist chicanery. And good luck learning more because I retired last week. No more Admiral's clearance. No more favors. Just me, my shelthreth, my mai thai, and Risa's sandy beaches."

Mikolo chuckled, anger neutralized by the older man's irreverence. "Great, go to a pretend planet, talk to super science monks, learn what to do next. Shouldn't be difficult."

"Yup! All while adjusting to Earth and watching out for the Northern Cross. Not difficult at all."

"Says you." Mi'shune mused. "I'm returning to a prison cell. You're on a sandy beach. And hey, shouldn't you be to Andoria?"

"Oh this? Our visits are years apart from my perspective. I'm sure I can spare a week." James hand pans across the beach. "Mika always wanted to go to the Lohluhnat Festival, but I've always been too busy. Now that we're retired we can do whatever we want."

Mikolo sighed. "Only you can't, because of the causal loop. The next time you see me will be at the Hall of Heroes for Commemoration Day. Don't screw it up."

"The what day?"

"Commemoration Day, you know?" Mikolo stammered as she clarified. "Right, you don't. I think you called it Veteran's Day?"

"Huh... I didn't know Andorians celebrated that."

"It's more like human expatriates..." She stopped herself, realizing she'd contaminated the timeline by inadvertently establishing one of her people's most cherished traditions. "...you know what? Never mind. Veteran's Day. Hall of Heroes. See you in... several years I guess?"

"Alright then. Best of luck on Earth, and I'll see you after Boreth. Or my bedroom a couple decades before now. Just do me a favor and try not to freak out."

"Freak out? Why would I..."

"...freak out?"

She opened her eyes and stood up from a painful kneeling position. This was a EDF prison cell, but not the one she remembered. The room orientation was slightly different, and she was alone.

Did the assault ever happen? Did she blank it out of her mind, her trip to the past a delusion? It couldn't be. She looked down at her prison issued jumpsuit, torn at the front, tied by the corners to preserve modesty. She smelled the floral scent of her sweat, so some exertion took place during her absence. Her lungs held a receding, dull ache. She felt bruises on her fist and sore arms and legs. Relieved, she felt nothing else injured.

Whatever transpired happened minutes ago, she surmised.

So the question was, now what?

Speculation she instantly dropped when she saw the occupant of the next cell over.

A bald-headed, stocky human in an EDF uniform, minus his tricom badge.

The advice from her past forgotten in her rage, she screamed, "You son of a TEZHA WHORE! Was it you who stuck me in a prison cell with three rapists?! I'LL HAVE YOUR REGULATOR NUMBER FOR THIS!"

The human raised his eyebrow. "I just told you, Richard Corrigan, EDF Inspector. Seriously, we just went through this. Are you bipolar or something? And what happened to your accent?"

Her eyes bulged and her antennae sprang up. Her ancestor must have spoken to this human. A human James Corrigan already told her about on Risa. Which meant this was her guide.

Mikolo smacked the force field with her palm. The electric tingle fed back to her. Reflexively she pulled her hand away, cursing, "Stupid time jumps!"

"Huh." Corrigan leaned on his bench, crossing his arms. "And here I thought our scans somehow missed some sort of mental illness. Guess your story checks out, not that it helps our current situation."

"And why is that?"

Richard leaned forward and locked his eyes on hers. "Do you remember what happened the last several minutes?"

Her delivery was powerfully sarcastic. "No. I was literally in another place and time. Why?"

Richard whistled. "Best damn fighting I'd ever seen. You honestly don't remember destroying those creeps?"

"No... I wish I did though."

"I saw a bit. Want me to tell you about it?

"Sure." Sighing, she slumped to the wall. "Not like we're going anywhere for a while."