Corriene made her way through Engineering looking for Evans, she needed to speak to him urgently. She finally felt like she'd collated enough information to report her suspicions to Commander Scott, she still wanted to check with her friend first. Somebody was definitely extracting data from the Enterprise, what's more they'd tried to cover it up and seemingly been successful for quite some time. She'd still not worked out who that person was but she felt confident it was only a matter of time, spotting Evans Corriene began walking in his direction.
"Lieutenant Lees, what are you doing here?" She couldn't help but shudder, Lucignano's voice was like nails on a chalkboard to her now. Turning she stood to attention.
"Sir, I was looking for Crewman Evans." She answered professionally, watching his dark eyes rake over her she thought back to when they were employers of DASO Co. He'd always carried an air of arrogance but he was good with people, knew what to say and when to say it. That's why she hadn't been surprised when she'd heard he risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was tall and handsome and he'd used that to his advantage, both with Women and Men. When he was one of her direct reports she'd always found him incredibly difficult to manage, the epitome of an Alpha Male, with the all the pitfalls that went along with it. The day she fired him, she'd watched as his hands had clenched into fists, that's when she knew he wasn't just arrogant, he was dangerous as well.
"Is it work related?" He asked her sternly.
"No Sir." There was no point her lying, she was a terrible liar.
"Well he's still on shift, I'd prefer it if you left my crew alone Lieutenant." She could tell he was enjoying himself, nodding curtly Corriene spun on her heel and began walking away. Peering over her shoulder she saw that Lucignano was still watching her, a grin on his face. Quickly turning back around she carried on until she was out in the corridor.
"Dick." She whispered to herself and then out of nowhere and for no reason whatsoever a thought came to her. "Shit." Making her was back to the databanks Corriene now knew what she was looking for, scrunching up her face and rolling her eyes she couldn't believe her luck. Of course it was Lucignano who was stealing the data.
"Seriously Lees, you've got a problem." Looking up Corriene scowled at Evans who was peering over at her.
"Get down here will ya." She shouted back at him, a moment later and she watched his boots step off the last rung of the ladder.
"What are you doing down here?" Evans asked as he sat crossed legged.
"For the past six months there has been a nought point three of a second deletion of data in the banks, it happens every week with seemingly no microelectronic or programme fault reason for it." Corriene had lowered her voice and her eyebrows were arched into a severe angle which Evans was finding very hard not laugh at.
"Okay?" Was his only response. "So, you think someone is doing it?" Corriene nodded silently. "Why?" He asked.
"I don't know?"
"What data is missing?" Rubbing his chin with his hand he already knew he was going down the rabbit hole with the woman sat in front of him.
"I don't know?" She answered quietly.
"Wow, you don't know much do you?" Evans replied sarcastically which only resulted in him getting a light punch in the arm. "Ow! Okay okay, do you think you know who's doing it?" He finally asked, Corriene nodded. "Who? Come on Lees, spit it out." After a pause Corriene nervously cleared her throat.
"Lucignano." She answered hesitantly.
"You have got to be joking?!"
"I'm as serious as heart attack Evans." Corriene said confidently, Evans was shaking his head and rubbing his face with his hands as if he hadn't slept for twenty four hours.
"Of course you are, so, where's the evidence?"
"I don't have any yet." Corriene answered as if that wasn't a problem. Evans paused and considered his friend. They'd known each other a long time, he felt like he knew her well enough to know when she'd lost the plot and when she was onto something. She'd never been one to be erratic or work off of gut instinct, her strength was her logical, methodical and composed approach. It had kept him out of trouble numerous times. So however much he wanted to tell her she was acting crazy because of what? A vendetta against Lucignano? He knew that wasn't the case, she was definitely onto something.
"So what's next?" Corriene smiled, knowing that he didn't doubt her and would help her with whatever she needed.
"Thank you." She answered, squeezing his forearm.
"That's enough of that, what's next Lees?" He took the PADD from her hands and started looking over the data, after a moment he looked up at her. "Christ Lees, this is serious!"
"Tell me about it." Pressing her lips together and widening her eyes she gave Evans a funny look, it indicated a level of panic he'd not seen in her before.
Evans and Corriene sat in the Rec room at the far corner, away from the gangs of off duty Crew members and Officers. The pair had been sifting through the collated data for hours, trying to piece together what data was being taken. Corriene sat with a PADD in one hand and drink in the other, Evans sat with his PADD in one hand and drink in the other. They were both dead tired and maybe ever so slightly drunk.
"Maybe he just wants all of Starfleet Catering recipes?" Corriene looked up at him and rolled her eyes, pushing her fringe out of her eyes and stretching her back out.
"Sure, of course. Totally makes sense." She replied mockingly.
"Good evening Lieutenant Lees." Looking up Corriene saw that Kirk was standing nearby, glass in hand. Her face creased into confusion, being completely caught off guard by his approach and acknowledgement.
"Umm, good evening Captain?" It came out as a question rather than a response, cringing Corriene plastered on a smile quickly. Evans just stared between the pair of them, his mouth agape.
"I'm going to get another drink." Evans excused himself and quickly left, for a moment neither of them spoke, until Corriene wondered whether or not he wanted to be invited to sit, as she began to speak so did Kirk.
"I'm sorry Captain, please, you go first." Kirk smiled at her gratefully, a blush evident on his cheeks.
"I just wanted to come and give you something." Corriene's eyes went wide and Kirk couldn't help but laugh quietly at her expression, moving his arm from behind his back he presented the cloth hat to her.
"You bought me a hat?" Corriene asked absolutely gobsmacked.
"I didn't buy you a hat, this is my hat. I'm giving you my hat." Kirk took the seat opposite her as he spoke. Corriene thumbed the rim of the hat and brushed the soft cotton with her other hand. "We don't want you getting a burnt nose again do we?" Kirk used the plural 'we' but Corriene was incredibly aware that her Captain was giving her a gift.
"I can't accept this Captain, it's yours and it looks well loved." Corriene tried to hand it back but Kirk was already shaking his head no.
"No Lees, this is for you, you need it more than I do." Looking up at him she couldn't help but stare into his eyes, the shock of electricity through her body made her physically shiver.
"Thank you Sir, Captain." She sputtered, biting her bottom lip and blinking rapidly.
"Of course." Kirk was finding it hard not to stare at her, standing quickly he abruptly started moving away from her.
"Captain!" Turning, Kirk looked back at Corriene, who was now sporting the old, beige bucket hat on her head. The rim of the which covered her eyes so all he could see was her beaming smile and frizzy hair poking out. "How does it look?" She asked him still grinning and folding the front of the rim up.
"Looks great Lieutenant." The use of her rank wasn't intentional, in fact it was completely unconscious but it startled both him and Corriene. He watched as her face fell and quickly pulling the hat off of her head she straightened her back and then also tried to straighten her hair. It was evident she was trying to appear professional, as you would and should in front of a Captain. For his part Kirk felt like a complete fool, nodding abruptly he turned and left.
"What was that all about?" Evans' voice snapped Corriene out of her thoughts, tossing the hat onto the table in front of her she turned her attention back to her PADD.
"Nothing." She answered quickly.
"It didn't look like nothing." Evans pressed, his voice laced with humour.
"I said it was nothing Evans, will you drop it please?!" He didn't think he'd ever seen Corriene upset, but she definitely was. He was sure she'd never snapped at him before in the whole time they'd known each other. Picking up his own PADD he continued to read peering up after a while to check on his friend, she was still breathing heavily, clearly upset.
"Corriene, are you sure you're…" But he never finished his sentence.
"My God Evans, I've found it. I know what he's taking!" From the look on her face, Evans didn't want to ask.
Corriene had been pulled onto an Alpha shift, one of the nacelles had become depolarized after a brief run in with a Ferengi ship meaning warp drive was impossible. Scotty had asked her to head up the team tasked with repolarization. The nacelles were housed on the outboard structure of the spaceship, the interior included a small control room accessible by a single Jefferies tube. Climbing up through the tube Corriene tried to keep her breathing in check, it was a fair way up and she didn't feel as fit as she should have been.
"Nearly there Lees." The voice of her friend Evans came through her communicator, she ignored it and carried on climbing. When she reached the top she dragged her body over the side and lay on the floor panting.
"I need to go the gym more." She muttered to herself as she rolled herself over and got to her feet. Entering the access code the door swished open in front of her. She'd only ever been up in the control room a handful of times, it felt strange to be completely detached from the rest of the ship. "Perfect for hide and seek."
Hours went by as Corriene carried out the essential maintenance, all the while the rest of her team worked away in central Engineering. Evans saw Lucignano before the man saw him, it had been three weeks since they'd been sat in the Rec room and Corriene had discovered he'd been stealing sensitive ship performance data. It would probably fetch a decent price in the private sector, people were always wanted to profit from new technology. It was beyond ludicrous that someone would risk they're reputation and career, not to mention the criminal ramifications for a quick buck. Evans couldn't help but shake his head at the man, he was a disgrace and he couldn't wait to expose him for what he really was.
"Crewman!" Evans closed his eyes despondently.
"Speak of the devil." Whispering under his breath Evans stood from his crouching position and stared stoically at Lucignano. "Yes Sir?" He replied professionally.
"I need someone up in the Transporter room." Lucignano spoke coolly.
"Is there a problem Sir?"
"Would I be asking Crewman if there wasn't? On your way." The two men eyed one another until Evans knew that he had no choice but to do as he was told.
"Yes Sir." He ground out, walking towards the bay door. Lucignano looked over the display panel, he could see that the nacelles had been repolarized. If he could get the ship back up to warp capability in record time it would be a pretty decent feather in his cap as far as Commander Scott and Captain Kirk was concerned.
"Let's power up the nacelles Lieutenant." Lucignano instructed the woman next to him.
"Sir, we haven't finished…"
"I said power up Lieutenant, that's an order." The woman nodded her head quickly, typing rapidly on the panel in front of her. "The nacelles are powering up Sir." Lucignano smiled, very pleased with himself that he was going to be the one who got the Enterprise back up and running in record time. "They're at forty percent Sir." The woman informed him, Lucignano watched as the proportion increased slowly but surely. "Sir!" The Lieutenant's panicked voice caught Lucignano's attention immediately.
"What is it?!" He asked, looking alarmed.
"It's Lieutenant Lees Sir, she's still in the Jeffries tube!"
"WHAT?!" Lucignano all but pushed the Lieutenant out the way, looking at the readings and then he went quiet. The woman watched on in astonishment as he seemed to stand back and watch the energy levels increase.
"Sir? Sir, when the nacelles are powered up to full capacity, they produce dangerous levels of radiation! Crew members are not permitted to be in the Jefferies tubes." He didn't seem to respond and when she knew that he wasn't going to do anything she went to the communication console on the wall. "Commander Scott, come in Sir." Lucignano was still staring at the floor, unmoving.
"This is Scott."
"Commander, we've initiated power to the nacelles but Lieutenant Lees is still up there!"
"Is she in the pylon or the maintenance room?" She could hear the panic in the man's voice instantaneously.
"I don't know Sir? I think maybe the pylon?"
"Power down Lieutenant NOW!"
"We're at fifty percent Commander, the system won't disengage until its reached maximum capability." She could hear in his voice he was now running, obviously on his way.
"You can disengage from the main panel! DISENGAGE!"
"Captain? We have a yellow alert in Engineering." Spock spoke to Kirk on the bridge.
"What's happening Mister Spock?" Kirk turned in his chair to address his First Officer.
"Unclear Captain, both nacelles were powering up however Commander Scott is disengaging the engines." Kirk creased his brow in confusion, tapping his comms badge he called for Scotty.
"Captain! I have someone in the Jeffries tube, they canny stand the radiation!" Kirk cut the comms to Scotty and opened one to the sickbay. "This is Captain Kirk to sickbay, medical emergency on deck four." Standing Kirk caught Spock's eye, the two men running from the bridge.
Corriene had heard the engines power up just as she'd started her descent down the pylon, cursing she'd tried to re-enter the maintenance room but the overlock was engaged, peering back down at the never-ending ladder she had an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. She didn't know what the hell was going on, there was protocol to follow, checks had to be made? Skimming down the ladder the pit of her stomach went heavy, she knew the risks, the radiation would become too high.
Her arms and legs were burning, she wasn't far from the bottom. Step after step after step she took, as quick as she could, all the while her head spinning with nausea and bewilderment at how she could have found herself in a Jefferies tube again fighting for her life. Reaching the access chamber, she slammed the button with her fist that closed the hatch. Her legs gave out from underneath her and Corriene slumped to the floor, tapping away at the panel next to her head she initiated the decontamination process, a failsafe for just these occasions. The medicine she needed was in a white plastic clear case on the other side of the chamber.
"Don't throw up, don't throw up." Corriene dragged her deadweight body over the metal grating, her hand reaching out for the box, her vision had begun to go hazy and her peripheral vision was quickly darkening and closing in. The box fell to the floor at the same time as her head, her world had become horizontal. Looking up at the entry hatch she saw the horrified face of Commander Scott peering through shouting orders at people she couldn't see. The decontamination hadn't finished which meant he couldn't open the door, she focussed back on the hypospray, not seeing that Scotty's face had been replaced by Kirk's. Her fingers finally took hold and she managed to pull the syringe from the box, her arm had never felt so heavy before. Corriene could feel herself losing consciousness and the last thing she remembered was the hypospray falling from her hand.
Hope you're enjoying the story so far, thanks for reading! :-) XOXO LLAP Please leave a review if you can!
