MAH 1 [T'Lara and Rama]

Rama awoke his head and arms draped over a console. The cabin was filling with smoke. He opened his eyes part way. He was disoriented and confused. He had been on his way to Vulcan. Fortunately a Starfleet officer needed to travel so he was able to secure a free transport with her.

As he slowly faded back into consciousness the full scope of what had occurred began to become all to apparent. The shuttle had crash landed. He inched his way upright and looked from side to side in a half hearted attempt to assess the situation. He knew it was likely in vain. He was no Starfleet officer and was certainly not trained or equipped to deal with this type of situation.

He locked his eyes on T'Lara.

"Hey there." He stammered. "Are you okay over there Vulcan?"

Rama wrote:

Rama awoke his head and arms draped over a console. The cabin was filling with smoke. He opened his eyes part way. He was disoriented and confused. He had been on his way to Vulcan. Fortunately a Starfleet officer needed to travel so he was able to secure a free transport with her.

As he slowly faded back into consciousness the full scope of what had occurred began to become all to apparent. The shuttle had crash landed. He inched his way upright and looked from side to side in a half hearted attempt to assess the situation. He knew it was likely in vain. He was no Starfleet officer and was certainly not trained or equipped to deal with this type of situation.

He locked his eyes on T'Lara.

"Hey there." He stammered. "Are you okay over there Vulcan?"

T'Lara opened her eyes and felt a searing pain on her forehead. Instead of crying out, she channeled her pain and let out one deep breath. Then the memories of recent events came flooding back. The letter from Father, leaving the Phoenix, finding the runabout, and...the Ferengi. Somehow, in her disoriented state she had let him come along with her. Now they were crashed, and T'Lara had no idea if she would hold out long enough to find a way home.

She saw that the Ferengi was looking at her, and after a few moments she realized he had asked her a question.

"I...I am alright, for the moment," she said. She slowly stood up and felt a wave of pain swell over her. Perhaps standing wasn't the best idea right now. She sat back down and leaned heavily against the chair. Even though moving her head caused her much discomfort, she looked around at the damage. It wasn't too extensive. Of course, when she was better she would have to inspect the systems to make sure nothing had to be replaced, but just from looking it seemed that she could get things up and running eventually. With a little help, of course. Noticing the smoke, she looked back at Rama.

"I would recommend you find out the source of the smoke," she said dazedly. "I would assist you, but I'm afraid I do not have the strength yet."

The smoke could mean a lot of things, but since it continued to fill the cabin it was their top priority.

"I'm a bartender, not an engineer. How hard did you hit your head Vulcan?" Rama said in a joking manner but it was the truth. He lacked the technical knowledge to make more than the most basic of repairs. He decided his best bet was to help get T'Lara back into a condition that would allow her to make the necessary repairs. He located a medical tricorder and moved closer to the Vulcan. He scanned her and took a moment to analyze the readings. He knew little more than basic first aid but he knew enough to know that, from the scans, she would be alright. "You're going to be fine." He said. He loaded a hypospray and injected her. "That will help relieve swelling and bruising." He reloaded the device with another medication and as he injected it he said; "And this should help with the pain."

Rama wrote:

"I'm a bartender, not an engineer. How hard did you hit your head Vulcan?" Rama said in a joking manner but it was the truth. He lacked the technical knowledge to make more than the most basic of repairs. He decided his best bet was to help get T'Lara back into a condition that would allow her to make the necessary repairs. He located a medical tricorder and moved closer to the Vulcan. He scanned her and took a moment to analyze the readings. He knew little more than basic first aid but he knew enough to know that, from the scans, she would be alright. "You're going to be fine." He said. He loaded a hypospray and injected her. "That will help relieve swelling and bruising." He reloaded the device with another medication and as he injected it he said; "And this should help with the pain."

"Apparently very hard," thought T'Lara. She supposed she should have assumed the Ferengi wouldn't know the first thing about engineering. With that established, all T'Lara wanted now was to get started on the repairs, despite her injuries. As Rama scanned her with the tricorder she waited patiently, secretly anxious to get working. Even though they had crashed, the thought of her dead mother's Katra in Vulcan was still pressing on her mind. Time was running out.

"Yes, I will be fine," she said in an icy tone.

When he started injecting her with medication, she desperately hoped the dosage and type was safe for Vulcans. She wasn't sure if she could trust this Ferengi even with simple medicine.

"Thank you," she said in a gentler voice. If the medication was wrong, she would simply have to adjust her metabolic rates to keep herself stable. Standing up, she took a few cautious steps then went to the back of the shuttle where the source of the smoke was. Kneeling down, she pulled out a toolkit. The Ferengi stood near the main navigation. T'Lara looked over at him.

"I would appreciate it if you would take inventory of our supplies. Food rations and so forth," she requested. Again, she had no idea how long they would be stuck here, or what supplies had been lost during the crash.

T'Lara wrote:

"Apparently very hard," thought T'Lara. She supposed she should have assumed the Ferengi wouldn't know the first thing about engineering. With that established, all T'Lara wanted now was to get started on the repairs, despite her injuries. As Rama scanned her with the tricorder she waited patiently, secretly anxious to get working. Even though they had crashed, the thought of her dead mother's Katra in Vulcan was still pressing on her mind. Time was running out.

"Yes, I will be fine," she said in an icy tone.

When he started injecting her with medication, she desperately hoped the dosage and type was safe for Vulcans. She wasn't sure if she could trust this Ferengi even with simple medicine.

"Thank you," she said in a gentler voice. If the medication was wrong, she would simply have to adjust her metabolic rates to keep herself stable. Standing up, she took a few cautious steps then went to the back of the shuttle where the source of the smoke was. Kneeling down, she pulled out a toolkit. The Ferengi stood near the main navigation. T'Lara looked over at him.

"I would appreciate it if you would take inventory of our supplies. Food rations and so forth," she requested. Again, she had no idea how long they would be stuck here, or what supplies had been lost during the crash.

"Sure thing Vulcan... That is something I can do." With the Vulcan distracted Rama took a. moment to check on his belongings. Inside his bag was a rare Vulcan artifact that he was planning on selling to a Vulcan museum. The history of the artifact was somewhat mysterious and the legality of his planned transaction was questionable at best.

With his cargo tucked away securely in his belongings he turned to T'Lara's request. "It looks like we have plenty of supplies for the both of us. You Starfleet types sure do prepare for anything." He said scanning the weeks worth of rations.

Rama wrote:

"Sure thing Vulcan... That is something I can do." With the Vulcan distracted Rama took a. moment to check on his belongings. Inside his bag was a rare Vulcan artifact that he was planning on selling to a Vulcan museum. The history of the artifact was somewhat mysterious and the legality of his planned transaction was questionable at best.

With his cargo tucked away securely in his belongings he turned to T'Lara's request. "It looks like we have plenty of supplies for the both of us. You Starfleet types sure do prepare for anything." He said scanning the weeks worth of rations.

T'Lara pulled a panel off of the hull and a flood of smoke rushed out. She coughed once and waited for the smoke to clear.

"That is acceptable," she said to Rama concerning the supplies. Then she scrutinized the damage. The impulse engines were shot, so those would need to be repaired. That meant she'd have to go into the Jeffries tube and realign the impulse flow regulators. Next was the warp drive.

"Computer, what is the condition of the warp coils?" she asked.

"Warp coils are fully functional."

That was good. At least they still had warp drive. She just needed to find the emergency fuel cell because without that they weren't getting anywhere.

She supposed it would also be a good idea to know what environment they'd landed in. After all, they'd be here for at least a few days. Standing back up, she went back to the navigation console and gazed at the star chart.

"We are on a planet near Andoria, just outside the Cardassian border," she reported, even though the Ferengi probably didn't care.

"It is Class-L, although I have never traveled here before. There is no animal life and the oxygen levels are somewhat low..." She hesitated as she realized she was rambling. "If we ever need to, we can leave the shuttle," she summarized.

Rama stepped behind T'Lara and leaned over her shoulder. He was slightly surprised to hear the warp drive was in tact. He looked around the damaged craft. "I know I'm not a trained Starfleet officer, like you, but somehow I doubt this pile of debris is going anywhere soon."

He pondered the assertion that they should leave. "What does your training tell you? Is it best to remain with the ship or venture out?"

T'Lara gazed once more at the pile of debris surrounding her. It was possible there was something else wrong with the warp drive that didn't have to do with the coils. After all, she couldn't always trust the computer. Frustrated, she sighed softly. Her anxious feelings were fighting to take over. It was hard enough to retain her strength without having to control her mental health as well. When Rama leaned over her, she cringed at the close contact. His statement didn't make it any better.

"That is true. I've made a diagnosis based on my initial findings. Once I delve deeper into the damage I may find more problems. And," she looked around again, "that is a distinct possibility." She closed her eyes a moment. "I simply thought you would not want to be informed about our situation. I did not want you to worry."

The Ferengi was putting a great amount of trust in her, and she noticed that he depended on her to get them off this planet.

When he inquired about her Starfleet training, she refrained from crying out in exasperation.

"I did not say it would be a good idea to leave the shuttle. What I meant was that if a situation arose where going out would be safer then staying in here, we could leave without perishing from the outside environment."

"Very well Vulcan." Rama was in a hurry to get to Vulcan and offload his artifact but the circumstances couldn't be helped. He pondered their situation. "If you're going to work on the engines i'll see about the communication systems. See if we can get a message out of this pile of rubble." He over toward the comm system and opened the access panel. He had some limited experience with communication systems so he decided to attempt to be useful. "It's a mess in here Vulcan. Let me see what I can do."

Rama wrote:

"Very well Vulcan." Rama was in a hurry to get to Vulcan and offload his artifact but the circumstances couldn't be helped. He pondered their situation. "If you're going to work on the engines i'll see about the communication systems. See if we can get a message out of this pile of rubble." He over toward the comm system and opened the access panel. He had some limited experience with communication systems so he decided to attempt to be useful. "It's a mess in here Vulcan. Let me see what I can do."

"A very prudent action," T'Lara said. When he mentioned the state of the communications system, she barely looked up. "I have every confidence in your abilities." She didn't often lie, but in this case the Ferengi needed all the confidence she could give him.

Standing up, she walked further back and removed the panel concealing the entrance to the Jeffries tube. Getting on her hands and knees, she began crawling through the tube. The impulse flow regulators were directly to her right. Sitting up slightly, she began realigning them, thankful that she didn't have to do this while the engines were running. At the moment, their unfortunate situation didn't seem so bad. Using her nimble fingers to carefully attach the tubes, she also tried to keep calm. Beads of sweat appeared on her brow. Stopping her work, she took off her jacket and cast it aside. When she was finished, she crawled her way out of the tube and closed the panel.

Next was the impulse drive. This would take much longer, since there were so many wires to decipher and rearrange. First she decided to recheck the shuttle for anything she might have missed. Going back to the cockpit, she checked on Rama. He was still trying to get through with the communications systems.  

"Computer, conduct a level five diagnostic on all systems," she requested.

While the diagnostic progressed, she went back to the impulse drive and began fixing it.