taxonomites | oo1 ↠ [holo | the Sanctuary] when the sun is drown in a deathly sea

The first thing that enters Gaila's mind is that it's too quiet. Silence buzzes in her ears, worsening her headache, and she groans as she curls loosely into the fetal position. Memories rush into her, and Gaila remembers panicked orders and cries of pain — there were flames, and the brightness of the Farragut's destruction blurred her vision; she can't remember the expression on anyone's face. She isn't sure she saw them.

For a moment, she wants to stay curled up and safe and forget the ambush, forget her injuries, forget her dead crew. Gaila knows better, though; that's giving up, that she could still be in danger; that knowledge twists her stomach, and fear chokes her momentarily.

So she raises her head and, slowly, pushes off the floor. She expects to feel pain in her arm, burns on her side, blood in her mouth — but nothing. She assumes she is just too numb and doesn't check her healed injuries; she thinks she knows what's there.

Gaila recognizes the room is not part of the Farragut. It's too dim, too bare, too clinical. She, quickly, takes note of the transporter and a tablet, sitting on a pedestal — just sitting there, as if it's meant for her. It's ridiculous, and she regards it as part of another trap. Still, she examines the tablet, flipping through modes and every window, no matter how unnecessary or pointless.

That's when she finds the map, with dots and names — familiar names. Commander Spock, Jim Kirk, Nyota Uhura. Relief rushes over Gaila; she's safe.

Quickly, Gaila returns to the holo mode and pauses. Her throat feels raw, and she realizes she isn't sure what to say, besides shouting "HELP ME." She knows one look at her screams that loud and clear, though: her usually tight bun is loose, and her unform is obviously battered — singed and bloody. The dark green color of her blood stands out vividly against her uniform.

Gathering herself, she takes a deep breath and finds her words. "This is Cadet Gaila. The distress call from Vulcan — " Gaila swallows, her expression darkening. "It was an ambush. The Farragut is destroyed... I, I think the rest of my crew is dead."

Gaila's lower lip trembles for a few seconds, sadness squashing her relief. She's silent a few moments; the proper dialogue for requesting assistance is on the tip of her tongue, but she can't bring herself to speak anymore. She regrets beginning her message with the ambush.

"I need help. Gaila, out."

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"I wouldn't really call six months little time." While he wasn't willing to tell her that she'd died just yet, he had no reason to lie to her. After all, it had been five months within this place and one back home for him. He'd only been on his ship for a mere month before he'd been pulled here, but at least he had pieces of her here and wasn't completely ship-less.

And that causes Gaila to come to a screeching halt.

"Six months?"

He nodded. "Six months. I've been here for a while. Once you're brought here, you don't leave unless this place sees fit to send you back."

Had this been a few week ago, he wouldn't have said leaving was possible at all, but Xander had been sent away, proving him wrong. Of course, they didn't really know if Taxon returned people to their homes or if they sent them somewhere else, but he tried to keep an optimistic outlook. It was unhealthy to continually expect the worst, even if it was more realistic.

Six months...that's an awful long time to be kidnapped and held in one place, in a place that she had been told wasn't incredibly hostile. With people from alternate universes, too!

Gaila rubs her head gently; her head has been a dull thumping, and this new information is making it worse.

"Time must be different here," she finally comments.

"It clashes here and there," he said with a shrug. "I've upheld the Temporal Prime Directive to the best of my abilities, but sometimes it's impossible to keep your mouth shut here."

Like a few months ago when a truth glitch had caused him to spill everything from things from things Starfleet wouldn't want people of the past to know to things about Ambassador Spock to the older brother he never talked about.

He leaned forward in his chair, peering closer at the image on the tablet. "Are you alright?"

Gaila winces and laughs nervously. She's already thrown the Temporal Prime Directive out the window, for the most part; always a Orion, she just can't be damned with rules sometimes. She's rather sure she hasn't said anything to cause those infamous space-time continuum paradoxes, though. At least, not yet.

"I think so... Uhura is coming for me."

Little does she know the incident she was involved in that lead to both the destruction of her ship and her untimely death was a temporal paradox within itself. If Uhura didn't cover that part, he would. Eventually. The was a lot to tell her.

"Good, good. I'm assuming she's bringing you to the ship?"

Hopefully, Gaila will take most of it in stride; though, she hasn't even begun to imagine what the ambush at Vulcan meant or the events it led to.

"I don't know? She mentioned taking me to an infirmary."

It's probably best if she doesn't, for now. It's one hell of an image to paint for someone who wasn't there, but for someone who was and experienced part of the destruction firsthand? He couldn't even begin to imagine what that was like.

"Sickbay's here," Kirk explained. "Parts of the ship -- the Enterprise -- have been brought here and they've sort of stuck themselves together. The bridge, sickbay, the transporter room, science lab..."

Which reminded him, he was leaving something out.

"I'm actually her captain now."

Now, that is surprising — but she's happy for him; she knows he belongs there, too.

"Congrats! You didn't cheat your way to that, did you?" she teases.

He grins genuinely and shakes his head. "Didn't cheat this time. Proved my worth during the attack on Vulcan. Captain Pike was promoted to Admiral and I was given his chair."

Gaila's smile lessens. "So Starfleet knows about that...? Who's behind the ambush?"

"Romulans."

Well, that wasn't exactly it, though the story the Federation was sticking to. But, what he'd been ordered to tell those with questions didn't really matter anymore, did it? Not after the glitch that had made him spill those beans. And Gaila deserved to be told the truth.

"A group of Romulans from the 24th Century. They traveled back in time and attacked Vulcan in revenge for events that haven't happened yet."

People are dead because of a few people's need for revenge? Gaila can think of hundreds of legitimate reasons for revenge, but that doesn't make it any less stupid, any less pointless.

"It couldn't have been worth it to time travel and attack an entire planet."

oo1 ↠ [holo | the Sanctuary] when the sun is drown in a deathly sea

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[ visual ] playing this before Uhura meets her in person

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