Starships were meant to fly [closed]

[james_t]

Following the events on Sarpeidon, he'd been relieved that the next few days had been relatively quiet. Their next assignment had involved checking progress of a new colony station on planet Bilaren. It looks as if the colonists' efforts at growing crops has been successful, which is promising. In the next five years, more people might be able to join the colony, and humanity can spread a little further out into the stars.

At the end of shift, he is smiling as he makes his way back to his quarters.

And then- a lurch. Like an explosion on the ship.

His body slams down hard against the ground. Bright light temporally whites out his vision and he rolls halfway down a hill before he can gain purchase and stop himself. With one hand he reaches out, noting grass. He's been transported somewhere. He pushes himself roughly up and takes a hurried breath- an oxygen rich environment. When he turns, he squints against the harsh sunlight to see tall buildings visible beyond the trees.

He needs to figure out where he is, but first things first. The most important thing to him is establishing that the ship and its crew are safe. He flips open his communicator. "Spock. Come in. Come in, Spock." No response. "Enterprise, come in. Come in, this is Captain Kirk." No response again. He frowns at the device. He's not even sure if it's working. As he replaces the communicator, he finds himself looking up at the sky, as if it might be possible to see the Enterprise circling the planet from here.

Comments

[james_t]

He takes the card and turns it over in his hands a couple times, feeling oddly thrilled at the prospect of using it. It's like up till this moment he's been an observer and when he uses this, it will mean that he's a participant in this time. The practical application however, is a little harder than he'd expected. It takes him a couple swipes before the machine will permit him entrance, but he smiles when he finally gets it right, and pushes himself through to the other side of the turnstile.

He doesn't have any pockets in which to place the card, so he does as Miss Asadi suggested and holds onto it. With his other hand, he reaches out and takes her hand again. He doesn't want to get distracted and be left behind. "All of this is...centuries ago, for me, but it seems like more." In his universe, things are supposed to have advanced more by this time. All of this seems so primitive by comparison. "What year do you come from? In your home universe."

[etherthief]

"Same time," says Iman. "A nice convenient 2013. But then, I basically sidestepped anyway. I think I had the distinction of getting the rift's attention on my own." She gets them to the platform they want and stops to wait, gazing into the dark tunnel. "I started in Central Park, 2013, and I came to a different Central Park and a different 2013. Just like I meant to. Only I couldn't go back. That was not part of the plan."

She laughs ruefully and shakes her head. It's not funny at all, really. "That all seems so long ago now. It's been... I guess some months? Not sure what date we're on, but we'll find out soon enough."

[james_t]

"I left Stardate fifty forty-five point seven. That's twenty-two...sixty-nine, in the old time." He takes his hand from hers, since they've stopped for the moment. He flips his pass over again in his hands, head dipping to read the text on the reverse side. It seems to be some sort of advertisement, which is confusing to him.

"I had sensor readings taken of the surrounding area after our shared dream. There didn't seem to be any unusual results, but my crew knows the circumstances of the scan. They'll know what to look for now." He doesn't know how long he's going to be stuck here, but he does know that his crew will do all they can to get him back where he belongs. From this side...he's not sure what he can do. He'd been an engineer, but he doesn't know what he can do with unfamiliar two hundred year old technology. Spock could put something together, but he doesn't have Spock's skill for technical improvisation.

He smiles a little to himself as he glances down to where the train should be appearing. The last time he was in a situation like this, Spock was grumbling about being forced into making a mnemonic memory circuit using 'stone knives and bearskins', but he managed to get them home all the same.

[etherthief]

Stardate, huh. That was sure some numbers. Under normal circumstances she'd be asking just how that works, but right now she can't really be bothered.

"Well, hopefully they'll find something," she says tiredly, not bothering to mention that his are not the only people who have the supposed means of searching and actually turning up results. And so far, whether or not results have come, no one's had any luck. For fuck's sake, some of the most brilliant scientists present actually managed to escape and haven't found a way back or even to send a message. What hope does that give them?

What use is hope, after all that's been taken away.

She manages not to verbalize any of this doom and gloom. She nods at the train as it rolls in loudly, and leads him on, snagging a pair of seats so she can slouch.

"I still don't remember what I'm supposed to be calling you," she says after a moment. "Unless you're fine with 'otter guy'. Otto for short."

[james_t]

His smile shifts into a smirk as he sits down next to Miss Asadi. "Otto. Hm, you know, I kind of like that. New universe, new me. What do you think?" Once seated, he leans forward in his seat a little so that he can get a better look at the inside of the car. It's not a particularly thrilling sight, but he likes looking at all the different people and, as they start going, the klack and rattle of the car on the rails makes him feel like he's on some sort of roller coaster. He lets her request wait for the moment, taking in the surroundings instead.

He's continuing to get odd looks, which eventually dulls his enjoyment of the whole experience. He's not unused to being the subject of attention in a room, but those are usually rooms in which he has control over the situation. This is different. He feels out of place. A child holding his mother's hand stares at Kirk without subtlety. Kirk meets his eyes once and smiles, but the child doesn't smile back, so Kirk dips his eyes away and looks somewhere else.

When he finally sits back again, he extends his hand to her in belated greeting and gives her his best diplomatic smile. "James Kirk. Thank you for your help. I appreciate it very much."

[etherthief]

She chuckles softly at his joke, but then as he fails to respond for a few moments she wonders if it even was a joke. She's not sure she can bear the responsibility of re-branding a new arrival. She watches him make unsuccessful eye contact with a child before he finally turns to her and answers.

She manages a warm smile and takes his hand.

"Right," she says. "You're welcome. Normally I'd be better at this, but... my circumstances a little weird right now." It's as much a preemptive apology as it is a present one.

[james_t]

His smiles becomes a little more genuine as he shakes her hand, and then he grins, "Weirder than falling through an interdimensional portal and landing in New York City?"

Something in her face changes and he reevaluates his judgement about how she must be feeling- He'd figured that this is something of a return to status quo for her, but maybe that's not quite it. Maybe her coming back here is the last thing she wanted.

He takes his hand back, and his brow furrows. "Are you alright, Iman?"

[etherthief]

Weirder than that, yeah. She doesn't bother to answer, but it doesn't matter, her expression shifts and he sees it. The question is kind and kindly uttered, but that doesn't make it any easier to bear. She shuts her eyes briefly.

"Not really," she says.

She should probably say more than that. She should explain, or try to, but she doesn't have any idea how, and she seriously doubts she has the wherewithal. And she has no desire to repay his kindness with a huge helping of her personal mess.

"It's fine." She looks at her hands, then at him, forcing a smile. "I mean it's not fine, but I'm going to be okay. I'd rather just leave it at that."

[james_t]

"Alright." He pauses and purses his lips for a moment as he wonders if he should press the issue. Maybe later, if it becomes more of an issue, he decides. Until then, he'll let her keep whatever this is to herself.

He nods, but the concern doesn't completely leave his face.

Probably best to change the subject. "This has happened to me before. A portal. New York City."

He leans back against the seat, trying to go over the similarities in his mind. There aren't many. If he were to take a guess, he'd say that the two situations aren't connected at all. The portal before had been in place, immovable, not something that snatched him up on board his ship, and it had sent him to his own history, not an alternate universe. "We found ourselves in nineteen thirty. I think I like twenty thirteen a little better as a place to be stuck. For one, they hadn't opened the subway system yet."

[etherthief]

Iman perks up slightly when he talks about this having happened before - that's definitely interesting. She wonders if it was the same rift, or a different phenomenon altogether.

"1930?" She whistles and shakes her head. "Yeah, I'll take 2013, thanks. I would not have done well in 1930. Probably would have messed up the timeline if I hadn't been, you know, murdered or something." She sighs. "I mean, granted, Muslim women are kind of an oddity around here, though fuck if I know what everyone's god damn problem is. Wasn't like that in my 2013. If it's this bad now, can you imagine how shit it must be in 1930? To say nothing of the whole bisexuality thing."

That's a lot of personal information she doesn't mind sharing - maybe it'll sate his curiosity about her, since she's not interesting in talking about what's 'wrong'. Small talk is manageable, especially if it affords her the opportunity to complain. There's a guy across the train car who's glancing at them over the top of his book. Probably because they are talking very seriously about time travel. That's fine too. Rifties are common knowledge now, right? She smiles at him and nods, and he quickly redirects his attention back down.

"How'd you get out of 1930?" she asks Kirk, looking back at him. Only then does she notice he's still holding his metrocard. "Oh shit, do you not have pockets? Here, I can hang onto that for you."