Re: Rangers Redux
Bah, I can't write anymore. I don't like this. Entirely too expositionary and silly. Eeek. But I guess I'll put it down anyway.
the past -- tuzanor
The conference room door was locked, but the intercom was functional; Sarah pressed the button and waited.
"Yes?" asked a crackling, elderly male voice.
"Sarah Cantrell here," she said in return, hoisting a bag further on her shoulder, where it hung, digging into her shoulder uncomfortably. She began to wonder if it had been a good idea to bring the sim equipment -- she'd not had the need to deal with one of the older members of the Rangers since graduation from the training camp.
A long moment passed and the door parted on one side, disappearing into the wall. Inside the conference room was a luminous, backlit crystal table of Minbari design; seated at the table were a gaggle of unfamiliar faces, Minbari and human, and one she only knew by sight: the surviving exec of the trashed ship the Enfalli had rescued. He was shut up in a mobiler, a Minbari device that wrapped around injured bodies and assisted the walking, fighting, and daily work of injured Rangers too well to be in hospital but not yet agile enough from the recovery of injuries to fight unassisted. Four others were dressed in a variety of formal and informal Ranger clothes, all haphazardly put on.
"Ranger Cantrell," the voice said, and rose. It belonged to an old Minbari gentleman of indeterminate age, clad in a simple grey habit. "Thank you for coming at such a late hour, but, as you know, there is no time to waste."
Cantrell could only nod in shock as she realized she was speaking with Carall, a member of the Ranger Council, the body that was second only to Entil'zha herself.
"You have met Ranger Martel, have you not?" Carall said, calmly, noting the man in the mobiler with a flick of his wrist. When the Council chairman gave her no indication to sit, she remained standing.
"Not formally, sir," she said, nodding respectfully to the man.
Martel chuckled. He moved forward a bit in his wheelchair, grinning widely. "No, I remember you," he remarked. "You were the one screaming at me to release the access codes, after all that shrapnel damage."
Sarah hadn't felt so embarrassed since the time her sister had put her underwear on display for the whole school to see.
Carall harrumphed and Martel returned to a staid, respectful stance, a jaunty grin remaining on his face and his eyes alive with something other than respect. "Cantrell, we were very pleased with your gunnery work in recent weeks, and you certainly proved yourself capable of leadership after the death of the Enfalli's former captain. These are your new crewmates. Captain Tarrant," he noted, at which a mid-forties, curly-haired man nodded, "David Martel, Dulann sh'crai Chu'domo, Enrique Serra, Jack Roberts, and Sayal of the family Mir. You are their new weapons officer. Please sit."
Sarah exchanged nods with the others and took a nearby seat with gratitude, happiness coursing through her veins. Serra seemed as flustered as she, Roberts exhausted -- had they been raised from sleep, as well? Only Martel looked alert.
Carall turned and faced them. "Immediately following this briefing you will report to the light cruiser Lutia, which is due to ship out as soon as possible. You will join the front-line forces near Babylon 5 and await further orders."
The Minbari shut off the display. "That is all."
Sarah blinked. Carall, his duties finished, swept out the door with an aide, leaving the rest of the crew staring at each other from across the table. Restive, Sarah fidgeted; the others looked blankly at one another with the uncomfortable stares of strangers forced to immediately get along with other strangers, until Tarrant rose and broke the awkwardness with an order. His stance, and slightly bemused shrug, made her convinced that he, like the others, had been blindsided.
"Right," her new captain said. "Get what you need. I want you on the Lutia an hour ago."
He shoved his hands in his pockets and left. Serra followed, not saying a word; Roberts turned to the remaining four in the room.
"Tarrant's new, you know," he said, jabbing a finger over his shoulder casually. "New promotion. This is his first captaincy. I'll see you all there."
He vacated the room, as well.
Sarah smiled thinly at her new crewmates and went to pick up her bags. "Ok, I guess there won't be sim practice this morning," she said, hoisting them onto her shoulder once more.
The large Minbari female, Sayal, stuffed a mobile terminal in her pocket and stood. "I believe you will like the weapons facilities on the Lutia, Cantrell," she said. "They're second-generation, not third, like the Whitestars, but..."
The doors closed behind the two women, leaving Martel and Dulann in the room alone. After a tense moment, Martel whistled, laughing a bit in relief. An amused grin tickled Dulann's mouth as he regarded his human friend.
"I do see what you mean," the Minbari strategist said. "She does resemble the letters you showed me."
Martel stood, slowly. The mobiler clicked and moved into action, supporting his still-weak muscles and tissues. "Not good," he said.
"Good," remarked Dulann. "The resemblance is skin-deep, at most. Sarah Cantrell will be a completely different person than your fiancee. You would do well to remember that."
Martel sighed, and looked down. He poked a button on the mobiler; the machine howled its discontent. "Nope, this thing is not going to let me out yet. They must be desperate, sending me off to the front lines as exec when I can't even walk on my own."
Dulann nodded. "The situation is always what you make of it, David."
The human snorted. "I think you're full of shit, Dulann. This time, we're going to die."
"You say that every time. I don't believe you anymore," Dulann replied.
"I mean it this time," Martel said. "I'm an exec of no use, our captain is an idiot, and I look at my gunner and see -- and see --" he trailed off, sighed, and didn't finish the sentence. Dulann just regarded him with the patient eyes of the Minbari religious and extended his hand to squeeze his friend's shoulder in support. Not a Minbari gesture, but one Dulann had picked up from his time working with humans.
"Yeah --" Martel said. "You know what I see."
Dulann nodded.
