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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uhura reaches the Sanctuary, as promised, in a matter of minutes, and can't run up the stairs fast enough.

She spots Gaila and pauses for a second, just looking at her. She's really there. Her uniform's torn and dirty and her hair is a mess, but she's there and alive.

She should probably go over to her, but her feet feel frozen to the spot on the floor where she's stopped.

Uhura's feet may be frozen, but the moment Gaila sees her, she runs up to her friend and wraps her arms around Uhura's smaller body. She almost wants to cry, but the time between first receiving a message from her friend and now has calmed her considerably.

"It's so good to see you in person now," she whispers and hasn't the slightest idea how much weight that sentence carries.

Uhura hugs back as tight as she can, pressing her lips together to keep from bursting into tears.

"You too," she whispers back, her voice breaking despite her desperate attempt to reign in her emotions. "I'm glad you're here."

Gaila rubs Uhura's back, in an attempt to soothe the emotion she hears in the other woman's voice. Then, she pulls away slightly to look at Uhura, her expression concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she lies automatically. Except it's obvious she's not, not really, and she knows Gaila will be able to see right through it. And more than that, she doesn't want to lie to her.

She sighs, looking into Gaila's eyes. "No. But don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

Uhura pulls back further, looking Gaila up and down for injuries. Her uniform's still bloodstained and singed, but Gaila herself looks whole. Disheveled and shocked, but healthy.

She wants to get her checked out anyway - it doesn't mean there aren't internal injuries.

"I'm gonna take you to where I've been staying, okay?" She'd take her to the Enterprise's sick bay, but they're closer to the Sanctuary for All. "There's a sickbay there, we can get you checked out and find you a room."

Reluctantly, Gaila nods. "Okay..."

She doesn't want to not worry about her friend or not talk about what's wrong — but Uhura is strong, and Gaila knows she can handle it by herself until they can talk. And if she were honest, she still feels rather selfish.

"You've been staying here for a while?"

She nodded. "This place abducts people from different universes and points in time. I've been here for about three months. Kirk was here before I was."

Finally, Gaila thinks to ask: "but why? Everyone seems fairly okay here — it's not hostile. Why kidnap people and treat them well?"

"No one knows," Uhura says with a small laugh, because it's what she's been wondering since she arrived. "We don't know who abducted us or why or what their intentions are. They've been keeping us pretty comfortable - that silver band around your wrists gets you whatever you need from the hatches - but there's no way to leave that we know of yet."

This. Is. Crazy.

"Silver band...?" Gaila hadn't even noticed before in her confusion, and now that does, she isn't sure how to feel about it. It sounds convenient — and makes her feel like a prisoner. Worse, a slave.

She notices it isn't loose and digs her nails into her skin, attempting to pull it off. Then, she decides better of it and raises her arm to look closer. "Why won't it come off?"

"Don't do that," she says, placing her hand on Gaila's arm. "I don't know why they don't come off, but they don't and you'll end up hurting yourself if you try."

She pulls her hand away and heads toward the door, wanting to get Gaila somewhere safe and comfortable. "It gets you what you need around here - food, clothes, things like that. The hatches work like replicators - you put your hand and think of what you want, and it'll appear. I don't like it either, but until we can find a way to safely get them off, we're stuck with them."

Gaila eyes the band a few moments longer, tilting her arm to examine it. Then, lowers her arm and follows Uhura.

"It sounds useful, I guess." That doesn't mean she has to like it, though.

"It is. But I wish they'd found a way to provide us with what we needed that didn't involve something being fused onto our skin."

She makes sure to slow in her pace - she's been walking at a fast clip, as she usually does, but she doesn't want Gaila to get lost or to trip and injure herself.

"There's trams that take us where we need to go. The line we're going on now will take us to the place I've been staying. Jim and his friend Leonard have been staying there, too."

It's a sweet thought, Uhura, but Gaila is keeping pace quite well. Though, it would be naturally within Gaila's luck to trip just from walking — luckily, no tripping and falling flat on her face.

She nods, her expression mostly blank. "Anything else important about this place?"

With the two of them moving fast, they make it to the tram fairly quickly.

"Nothing that I can think of right now..." Uhura considers for a moment, then remembers. "Oh. Your item. When you arrive here, you bring an item or buildiing with you."

"Um..."

Gaila glances at Uhura. "I didn't seen an item in the room, so. I guess I brought a building?" She doesn't sound very sure but looks at the map on her tablet.

"Is it the building with a homing signal?"

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

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: taxon sanctuary]

[location: central]

[location: central]

[location: central tram]

[location: central tram]