Tanna woke up with to the alarm blaring from the screen in the wall of her bunk. She sat up from her pillow, stood up and stretched, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Her quarters were still pitch black as she turned and headed for the head, stubbing her toe on the leg of the old armchair she had set up opposite her old TV. Cursing under her breath, she made it to the entrance of the small bathroom and slapped the button to turn on the light. Stepping inside, she slid the door closed behind her and began her morning ablutions.

After a few minutes, she emerged from the bathroom and donned her uniform. She tied her hair up in a neat ponytail, turned out the lights and headed for the mess hall for some breakfast before her shift started. As she walked down the corridor towards the turbolift, she bumped into Lieutenant Commander Lorra Niala, the Valkyrie’s Chief Engineer.

“Good morning, Commander” she said in a cheery voice, “headed for the mess hall too?”

“Hey, Lieutenant, I am,” Lorra said, her voice distant as she strode toward the turbolift, boots striking the deck in a steady rhythm. Her fingers twitched at her sides, as if already working through the problem she had spent the night unraveling.

The turbolift doors slid open with a quiet hiss. She stepped inside without hesitation, her gaze unfocused, lost in the storm of calculations spinning through her mind.

Tanna sped up to match her speed. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind. Can I help?” She asked, pausing a step behind as they made it to the Turbolift. The doors hissed open and Tanna followed Lorra inside.

Niala met the Lieutenant’s gaze, forcing a brief smile before shaking her head. “The main deflector’s giving us trouble,” she said. “We’re seeing unstable resonance feedback in the EPS grid, and the quantum stabilizers keep falling out of phase. We tried recalibrating the adaptive subspace relays, ran a level-four diagnostic—twice—but the field harmonics keep slipping. It’s almost like there’s an external disruption at the quantum level, but we haven’t pinpointed the source yet.” She crossed her arms, tension flickering across her face. “If this keeps up, we might have to take the dish fully offline to isolate the issue.”

“Wow, that does sound like a problem,” Tanna said thoughtfully. “Have you already tried cycling the main power couplings? That always seems to work for me when my VCR acts up.”

Niala let out a sharp, exasperated sigh, her eyes narrowing as she leveled a glare at Tanna. “I lead a team of top-notch engineers,” she snapped. “Of course we’ve tried that—twice. Do you think we just sit around twiddling our thumbs down here?”

Her fingers curled into fists at her sides before she threw up her hands. “You don’t see me barging into your lab, randomly poking at your experiments like a clueless cadet, do you? So maybe—just maybe—trust that we actually know what we’re doing.”

Tanna crossed her arms in a huff, a scowl now playing at her face. “There’s no need to be rude, I’m only trying help.”

Niala rolled her eyes, her lips curling into a sharp sneer. “If you’re actually going to help,” she muttered, her voice dripping with disdain, “then stop talking and start doing.” She turned away, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

“Well, you’re the Chief Engineer aren’t you? Can’t you get it going again?” Tanna asked sarcastically.

Niala’s eyes locked onto hers, her mouth half-open, ready to retort, but before she could speak, the turbolift shuddered. The sudden jolt threw her off balance, and she barely managed to catch herself against the wall as the entire cabin ground to a halt with an unsettling screech. The lights flickered, casting brief shadows across the startled faces inside.

Tanna picked herself up from the floor of the turbolift, where she had been thrown by the sudden stop. She straightened her uniform and turned to face Niala. “Oh boy, a chance to watch the Chief Engineer work her magic.” she said sarcastically.

Niala shot Tanna a sharp look, her lips twisting into a wry smile. “What was that?” she asked rhetorically, but her gaze flicked to the now-still turbolift controls, her jaw tight. The quiet after the jolt felt oppressive, the flickering lights casting fleeting shadows across the cabin.

Tanna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Do you have any ideas as to why we’ve stopped, Commander?”

“I have no idea,” Niala muttered, tapping her combadge. “Lorra to Engineering—can someone explain why my turbolift just stopped?”

Only silence answered.

Her brow creased. She tapped the badge again, firmer this time. “Lorra to Engineering, report.”

Nothing.

The faint hum of the lift was gone, leaving only the muted sound of her own breath. The emergency lights cast long shadows against the metallic walls, their dim glow doing little to ease the unease settling in her chest.

She turned to Tanna, eyes sharp. “Something’s not right.” Her fingers hovered over her combadge before she dropped her hand. “Could be a disruption field. I can’t assess it from here.”

“I wish I had my tricorder on me.” Tanna said, ” I left it in the lab last night.” She shifted from one foot to the other, slowly filling with regret over being snarky with Niala. “I’m sorry for what I said before. I’ll help however I can.”

Niala gave Tanna a quick nod before running her fingers along the edge of the access panel, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the seams. “I could open this up, try to release the brakes,” she murmured. “But without knowing where we are, we could be stuck between decks. One wrong move, and we might drop straight down.”

Tanna looked up at the hatch in the roof of the turbolift. She looked over at the Chief Engineer, who was still studying the access panel. “Give me a boost, and I can open that and check which deck we’re at. Then we’ll have a better idea of how long we’ll fall before we hit the sudden stop at the bottom.”

Niala bent her knees, bracing herself as she cupped her hands together. Her fingers curled tightly, ready to give Tanna a boost. She met Tanna’s gaze, giving a small, resolute nod.

Tanna placed her foot into the Lieutenant Commander’s entwined fingers gently, and then pushed off upwards with her leg, although the speed at which she ascended towards the ceiling of the turbolift took her by surprise. Wow, this woman is strong. She thought to herself as she twisted the emergency latch and pushed the hatch open. A rush of cool, fresh air hit her face as she pulled herself up so her head and shoulders were above the top of the lift.

“It looks like we are between decks Four and Five” she called down to Niala. “Quite a ways to fall if we’re that unlucky. Okay, I’m coming back down.” She lowered herself back into the turbolift, hand on Niala’s shoulder as her foot made contact with the floor. “Thanks for not dropping me, are your hands okay?”

She let out a sharp breath and turned to Tanna, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Well, since you’re the resident engineering genius,” she drawled, sarcasm thick in her tone, “any brilliant ideas? Maybe we should try cycling the main power couplings while we’re at it?”

Tanna, matching her energy, replied, “Nah, that won’t work. When the VCR stops, you have to smack it.”

“I’d love to smack something right now,” Niala muttered, clenching and unclenching her fists. Her eyes scanned the panel, fingers tracing its edges until she found a seam. With a sharp exhale, she wedged her fingers in and began prying it open. The metal groaned in protest.

“Let’s see if I can access the computer from here,” she said, more to herself than to Tanna. “If I’m lucky—really lucky—we might get a read on what the hell is going on.”

Tanna pulled off her tunic. The cramped space of the turbolift was getting warmer, and she wasn’t very keen on being in small spaces for long. She sat down onto the floor, and pulled a small antique pocket knife out of her right boot. She pulled off her combadge and stuck it to her uniform undershirt, and clicked the pocket knife open. “It was my grandfather’s.” she said, noticing the quizzical look on the Chief Engineer’s face, “Never know when you’ll need it.”

She stabbed it through her tunic and began tearing the fabric into strips. “I think,” she said, “Worst case scenario, the brakes fail and the lift plummets. If I can make some kind of rope out of this”, she held up her partially destroyed teal tunic, “I can tie us off to the rungs of the ladder out there. That way maybe we won’t fall to our deaths. And since turning it off and on again isn’t working,” she smiled, “This is the best way I can think of to help at present.”

Niala’s eyes flicked to Tanna, then down to the discarded tunic. Her brows lifted, and a slow smirk curved her lips. She let the moment hang before exhaling a soft chuckle.

“Well, Lieutenant, I have to say—I appreciate the show,” she murmured, tilting her head as she gave Tanna an amused once-over. “I do have an eye for the female form, but I’m not sure your uniform is strong enough to hold the lift.”

Tanna noted her bemused expression, and the quick once over. “Not the whole lift, Commander, just us.” she said, as she ties two of the strips together at the ends.

A grin spread across Niala’s face. “But,” she said, glancing back at Tanna, “I think you just solved our problem. We can use the service ladder to climb to the nearest hatch.”

“So, I ruined my tunic for nothing?” Tanna asked sulkily, dropping her hands into her lap.

She nudged the pile of fabric with the toe of her boot, eyes glinting with mischief. “Then again,” she mused, “your little strip act might not be in vain. We could use your improvised rope to assist us in the climb.”

Tanna stared down at the makeshift rope, which was already several feet long. “We’ll tie it between ourselves.” She said, resuming the work. “That way, if one of us slips, we have a chance to catch them.” She finished tying the strips together and stood, tying one end of the length tightly around her waist before passing the other end to Niala. “Don’t worry Commander, I won’t drop you.” she said with a smirk.