Mirror Has My Face IV

 Episode Name:  Mirror Has My Face IV

   Written By:  Spider

         Cast:  Alethea, Edwards, Hurley, Spider, Stewart, 
                Takamura, Thorne and Valentine.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Spider

     Aired On:  Mon Aug 16 01:32:45 2004

     Stardate:  54316.5

Time: Sun Aug 15 16:51:50 2004

Stardate: 54315.6

Edwards wanders into the bunk room, away from most of the hustle and bustle of the secret rebel base filled with secret rebels dedicated to overthrowing the evil Alliance. Idly, he glances around to see who's present as he steps over to a bunk and takes a load off his feet.

Hurley is present on her bunk, back against the wall, hunched over while pouring over a datapadd in her hands. Her hair is disheveled, uniformed quite wrinkled and she certainly doesn't look like she's slept very much over the last night.

Edwards peers over at Hurley, taking in her appearance. "You look like hell." he says diplomatically. Not that he looks all that better, really. At least he has less hair to get disheveled. "What are you reading?"

Hurley lifts her eyes from the datapadd, looking at nothing in particular save the wall across the room from her. Slowly, she turns her gaze towards Edwards, choosing the more diplomatic route. "Thank you, Sir," she begins with a somewhat small smile, "I'm looking over the notes I took over their communications system and a few diagrams I was able to make late last night without looking too suspicious. Between Ensign Birev and me, we really should have everything online and working in just a couple of hours, but I just don't understand what the conflict is. I'm trying to isolate it."

"What the conflict is?" Edwards asks, his brow furrowed.

Hurley nods slowly, explaining, "Their communications system seems to function just fine without the anti-tracking device maintained by Michael Cross enabled. However, shortly after the anti-tracking device is turned on, the communications system goes offline. Working one without the other isn't an option - using the comsys without the anti-tracking device could lead Alliance troops to this base, and potentially endanger /other/ resistance bases. And, using the anti-tracking device without communications is rather pointless. They work fine independently, but conflict when both online."

"That sounds... dumb." Edwards, always eloquent. "I'm guessing the Michael Cross here is different on account of being brain damaged." He looks around quickly, before returning his attention to Hurley. "You look like you might do better with some more sleep."

"I sincerely doubt he's dumb, Sir," Hurley insists gently, her attention returning to the datapadd. "Despite Ensign Birev's rant about the state of their electronic equipment, these rebels, if you'd like to call them that, are making due with little blueprints and completely inadequate supplies. In a perfect world, they wouldn't even *need* the anti-tracking device, which, incidently, I think is an extraordinary idea." She pauses and looks back towards Edwards. "At least the design of it is incredible."

Edwards shrugs. "Keep it in mind. Maybe it'll come in handy someday. Just, you know, make sure it works right." He begins to search around the bunk, looking under the pillow and below it. "And, uh, in a perfect world, we'd be in ours. At least compared to this one."

Hurley smirks. "Sir, I don't think this idea would work large-scale like for Starfleet." She considers a moment, then asks, "Did you ever have a secret decoder ring when you were a child?"

"No." Edwards pulls his sign language book up from below the bunk with an 'ah ha'. "And it doesn't need to work large-scale for Starfleet. That's the sort of thing that might come in handy if you're out on a mission, stranded behind enemy lines or something like that."

"It would only be handy if someone on the other side of enemy lines had a similar device," Hurley says. "This device scrambles out-going messages to look like simple subspace noise - nothing suspicious and not likely to be intercepted. The receiver descrambles the incoming message. It's a very simplistic means of stealthy encryption." She stops, eyes the book, and can't help but smile. "How's the studying coming along?"

"Just... humor me, okay?" Edwards looks down at the book, and segues into the better topic. "Not bad. I mean, it's studying, so... I spent a good portion of last night trying to remember some of these." He looks back up. "This isn't exactly what I had meant, I was looking for something to leave behind... At least we shouldn't need an extra body translating for us."

Hurley thinks for a moment, then states, "They don't need anything left behind, though. They can all very effectively communicate with her. The problem is *us* communicating with her."

"You must have slept through the class at the Academy where they taught you to agree with your superiors." Edwards notes wryly.

Hurley eyeshifts, bites her lower lip and exhales with another small smile. "Yes, Sir. I must have slept through that class, Sir."

Edwards gives Hurley a mock stern look at that. "Ha ha." He flips through the book, eyeballing some signs. "She must be pretty damn important if everyone around here can speak sign language. Or I guess they could've just decided it was a good secret language to use."

Hurley suggests, "Or, maybe, they're all very close and attached to each other and care enough to be able to speak with her without forcing her into surgery or any other uncomfortable options."

Stewart meanders into the area, looking around. "What's going on? Any news?"

"Maybe." Edwards does not at all sound like he believes that could be the case. He stands up from his bunk when Stewart enters. "Nothing. Just passing the time."

Hurley still seated on her bunk with her back against the wall, glances over to Stewart, pales slightly and goes right back to reading the datapadd in front of her quite diligently.

Stewart shoots a glance towards Hurley, and says, "Well, I can see my popularity here is immeasurable." He takes a seat on the floor with his back to the wall, and says, "Which isn't really surprising."

Edwards looks between Hurley and Stewart with a frown. "Let's try to stay friendly people, okay?" He retakes his seat on the edge of his bunk. "We have enough trouble without turning on each other."

Hurley, confused, looks up between Edwards and Stewart. "I can be friendly," she says, in a very quiet voice. She lowers her gaze to Stewart and draws in a small breath. "I.. just assumed... you would still be angry, I mean, it makes sense? I would certainly still be angry, and am.. but.." Giving up, she again looks to her datapadd and goes back to studying the information contained therein.

Stewart shrugs, and says, "I'm always friendly. Just I'm no good at it, and people take it the wrong way." He leans his head back, drumming his fingertips against his leg, "And I'm not angry. Just, you know, don't do it again. I was annoyed, annoyance passed, and... yeah. Be more careful. But you're not really used to this sort of situation. Here's the basic rundown. Right now, the Alliance are our enemies. This rebellion are our friends only because they can blackmail us into helping--when that goes away, we're possibly just someone to steal from and strand, or kill. And Starfleet isn't much going to care about helping us, because we're not really meeting the Federation ideal here, and they don't get it. This is out of their field of expertise. So, we're going to catch holy hell about all of this anyway. Being in Timefleet, I'm used to the whole thing of having a job to do that leaves you hated by most of the station."

"Angry about what?" Edwards furrows his brow and looks between the two, his book forgotten for the time being.

Hurley lifts her gaze at one word - Timefleet - and looks directly at Edwards. "Starfleet has rejected our supply list, but what about Timefleet? And Intel?" Eyes widening, she swings her legs over the side of her bunk towards Edwards and quickly regains her earlier bounce and spunk. "We could send the message to Timefleet! I could encrypt a message using encryption methods in which Bristol is training me... and have *him* pass on the request to Timefleet. If we give him the whole story, I *know* he'd help. We're doing the *right thing* here, even if Starfleet bureaucracy doesn't see that. Timefleet would see that, right? We might still be able to get the supplies we /need/."

Stewart nods over to Hurley, and says, "Well, that's what I was thinking. If I write the message and address it to Tyler, it's none of Balin's jurisdiction. We take it out of our hands. And really, I think that Tyler's more likely to understand. And, quite possibly, less likely to ask questions if I send a note that just says, ''In danger, proceeding as we know best. Send weapons.''"

"We're on our own." Edwards says grimly. "I'm sure these people can loan us some weapons. But we can't keep running out to try communications tricks. Hell, after losing Jiasha, the Alliance will probably be patrolling that area, just in case."

Stewart shrugs a little, and says, "Which is why I wanted my replicator patterns. It won't give us phasers, but..." He shrugs once again, noting, "We have our own onboard replicator. We can theoretically get a message to or from anywhere. That means we can get patterns for the TR-116 and Takamura's grenade launcher, because they contain no non-replicable parts. But I don't think we could produce stun grenades. Or phaser grenades at all. Low-tech."

Hurley looks between Edwards and Stewart, her bright, cheery self completely back.

"Low tech means high kill. No." Edwards shakes his head. "This isn't our fight. We're not killing anyone we don't have to. And that's final." That said, he turns his attention squarely to his book.

. o O Edwards thinks "Why am I always put in this position?"

"But," Hurley says, looking directly at Edwards, "we *are* going to help them, right? I mean, the *human race* here is in danger. They've wiped out the Andorian race already."

Stewart shrugs once again to Edwards, saying, "Well, that means going into hostile territory in a world where, as far as I can tell, the stun setting was never invented. You saw the weapons the rebels are using, and they're as close to the good guys as we can find here. So anything we borrow is going to be high kill. So it's us, against an evil version of the Federation, with hand phasers."

"The key word being 'here'," Valentine notes lightly in response to Hurley, coming in enough from outside to lean against the doorway, arms folded across her chest.

Both of Hurley's eyebrows lift. "But, even though it's /here/, there's still in danger. They need us - you heard Randal say it himself! They're still alive, even if they aren't in our universe."

"We'll do what we have to do. Just remember that we are hostages here." Edwards doesn't look up from the book. He just flips pages and reads.

. o O Hurley thinks "Hostages? HOSTAGES?! Where are the cuffs! And the torture! We're fed! We're clothed! And all they want is a chance to /live/ against this genocidal alliance!"

"Hard to forget that, sir," Tara smiles wryly. "Chris- let's say you're back home and on a ship that discovers a planet with, say, level 2 tech. This planet has factions, one 'evil'," she sketches quote marks in the air with her fingers, "One fighting the evil. They find out about you, and the latter beg for help. What do you do?"

"They're all post-warp civilizations," Stewart comments, adding, "And let's say we're not back home. Let's say your analogy is therefore useless. What then?"

Hurley folds her arms over her chest and sticks her tongue out at Valentine. "So I missed that question on my OERs. *This* isn't that case, though. These people already have warp."

Valentine shrugs. "So they have warp. We're still interfering with a completely different civilization here." She glances toward Stewart, letting her answer stand.

"A civilization our Starfleet has already meddled with!" Hurley exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air.

Edwards keeps his nose firmly in the sign language book. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"Not to mention," Stewart points out, "A civilization that is, you know, meddling with us." He then adds, "Besides, even the Prime Directive is flexible. But hey, you never get off-station, so it's different here."

Valentine chuckles. "So you're saying that two wrongs make a right?" She considers Hurley thoughtfully though. "Did we create this situation? Then you might have a point. In fact, I'd love a rundown on the history around here. An unbiased one." Another look toward Stewart. "Okay, three wrongs then." Her shoulders lift in a shrug. "All a moot point. The word's already been given."

The disheveled Hurley looks between all the other officers exasperatedly, grabs her datapadd from her bunk and heads towards the door. "I'm going to work on getting their communication system back up and running," she pauses, looking at Valentine with just a hint of frustration, "Prime Directive or not."

Edwards actually does look up now. "Hurley. The rest of you..."

Stewart just stays where he is, sitting and leaning up against the wall. "You know, Ensign, I wish I could live in your deluded little world. I imagine it is a very nice place. And so, I'm not going to try to disabuse you of your notions. But I will tell you that if you do anything to endanger the rest of us for your idealism, I will stun you and stick you in the medical stasis facility on the shuttlecraft until we get back."

Valentine lifts an eyebrow, moving out of the doorway. "I'm refusing to help them. Just pointing out a few facts." She snaps a look toward Stewart. "You do your job, I'll do mine. You don't respect my opinion, /fine/. That's your problem, not mine. Don't go getting paranoid." Did Edwards say something in there?

<CONTEST> Valentine contests her History (Human) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Edwards contests his History (Human) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Hurley contests her History (Human) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Edwards contests his History (Federation) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Hurley contests her History (Federation) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Valentine contests her History (Federation) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Stewart contests his History (Human) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Stewart contests his History (Federation) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

Hurley pauses at the door, turns and looks back at Edwards and very, very calmly says, "The situation we're in right now is very directly caused by /our/ Starfleet. This universe's Spok, on advice from then Captain James Kirk, tried to change the Federation here to strive for our ideals." She stops, looks at Stewart, then Valentine in turn. "The *reason* their, what we would consider "evil" Federation was overthrown was because *we* told them to fight for *our* ideals. They were overthrown, and so many races that had been subjugated and oppressed by Federation human for so long decided to turn the tables on humans. This may not be our universe, but we are most certainly responsible for it."

"Are we going to resume pretending I'm in charge at any point?" Edwards asks idly. "And thank you for the history lesson, Ensign."

Stewart looks over towards Edwards, "After you, of course." He then rests his hands behind his head, half-lidding his eyes.

Valentine's brow furrows deeper and deeper as she listens to Hurley. "Huh. That certainly complicates things," she nods, then glances toward Edwards, an eyebrow arched inquiringly. "Hmm?"

Hurley exhales after her ramble and simply nods to Edwards. "My apologies, Sir. The Ensign wanted an unbiased account. I thought... it might be appropriate.. to recall a lecture I attended at the academy based on reports filed by a Julian Bashir." Biting at her lower lip, she shrugs and adds, "When Ensign Birev was talking about Captain Kirk's experiences in the Mirror Universe, it triggered.. well, it doesn't matter. Yes, Sir. You're in charge, Sir. With your permission, I'll continue work on their communications systems."

"Permission denied." Edwards stands up. "I want to say something. I know you're all tired and cranky and want to go home and don't know what to think about this place, or do and don't think kindly of it, or whatever..." He looks around at everyone. "But I trust you to remember two things: you're officers, and you're loyal. That means, keep the bickering between us. I don't ever want to see anything as shameful as what I saw last night. Not only arguing in front of your 'hosts', but there hostage as well." He drops back down on the bunk. "You can go now, Ensign."

Stewart stays where he is, leaned back, and mumbles quietly to himself, "...he says as if he wasn't there."

"Understood, Commander." Tara moves to a bunk to flop down on her belly with her PADD to tap at it. She casts a sideways look toward Stewart, but doesn't comment.

Hurley turns back towards the door after murmuring a, "Thank you, Commander." and pats Stewart on the head as she heads down the corridor, padd in hand, with only a slight bounce in her step.

"Don't try me, Stewart." Edwards leaves it at that as he reads. Can you feel the excitement?

Valentine smiiiiiles without looking away from her game.

Stewart just remains where he is, leaning up against the wall, eyes half-lidded.

Valentine drops her PADD onto the bunk after a few moments, bored and twitchy, though she continues to play anyhow. "It sounded like you've been here before, Commander."

Edwards looks up from his book at that. "That's because I have been." he replies. "I hope that's not classified."

Stewart continues to just sit and relax, listening quietly.

Valentine chuckles. "I was just wondering what happened that time. The unclassified details, anyhow. I seem to recall overhearing something about a month of... mining?"

. o O Valentine thinks "Tell me a story, daddy!"

"Yeah..." Edwards closes the book, setting it down on the bunk. "A few years ago, some of us were on our way back to the station on a runabout from... somewhere. I don't remember. Then when nearly collided with another ship, got flung near the anomaly, and somehow wound up in this universe. All the power systems in our runabout were fried. Thankfully, we got picked up by some of the rebels... Wendy Tyler and Minos Evanginor among them."

Thorne has arrived.

The sitting, leaning back against the wall thing? Stewart continues to do it.

"Minos Evanginor?" Tara lifts up on her elbows on her bunk. "A rebel? I suppose that fits, in a weird sort of way."

Thorne pokes his head through the door because he's just nosy like that. For the moment, he's silent... undoubtedly a welcome change of pace.

"I think he was married to Gwen Poole too." Edwards, sitting on his bunk, continues story time. "Anyway, our Commander Poole picked a fight with Wendy, so we got tossed back onto our runabout. With no power and completely fried systems, remember. And we were stuck there for a week, before the Alliance came and picked us up. They sent us to Bak'TUR, where we enjoyed a month-long vacation mining dilithium until the rebels came and rescued us."

Stewart is still, well, quiet, and sitting. Not much more to it than that.

Valentine boggles. "Married to... oh lordy lordy." She shakes her head slowly. "I'm liking Bak'TUR less and less. Okay, why didn't the Alliance kill ya off right off the bat? That's the impression I got of what they'll do if they get their paddy little paws on us."

"They need someone to mine dilithium," Thorne remarks off-hand, scowling.

Edwards glances toward Thorne, just making note of his presence now. "They're the big, bad Alliance. I guess they only execute the bigger threats right away."

Valentine glances toward Thorne, grimacing slightly. "Well. If we should fall into their hands, I'd prefer to go the concubine route." She looks back and forth between the rebel and her Commander, hesitant. "Does that mean they don't consider Stewart- theirs, not ours- a big threat?"

Stewart sighs, "No, it means they consider him to valuable to use as grunt labour. Try to keep up."

"Jim's only the leader of the Resistance in these parts. That backstabbing Bajoran..." Thorne's fists ball up as he speaks. "Well. Let's just say that Churas and he are well suited for each other. They probably want to suck his brain out and read it, for all I know."

"Did you already forget what I said, Stewart?" Edwards gives Valentine a look, trying to cut off any trouble at the pass. "Mmm. Brain sucking." he says, glancing back to Thorne.

. o O Valentine thinks "Okay, you know you're in an alternate reality when Randal Thorne is better company than Jim Stewart."

Valentine glances toward Stewart, her lips pursing, then she literally swallows hard and takes a deep breath. "Okay, that would suck. No pun intended." Thorne gets a left-branch cousin version of a sympathetic look.

GAME: Valentine spends a courage point.

Stewart sighs once again, and says, "Well, when the game is going to be win friends and influence people, I can't win. I'm sure you'll call me when you need a whipping boy again." And with that he pushes up to his feet.

Thorne gives Stewart a considering look for a moment. "Yeah. So, he's too high-profile to execute until they know everything he knows. At least, that's what I think -- I'm not exactly a Klingon lapdog."

. o O Thorne thinks "I wish that you were my Jim Stewart. I really do."

"You don't have to play win friends and influence people not to be a /jerk/, Stewart. Remember that." Edwards sighs and picks his book back up. "Guess we better hope we get to him before he breaks, then."

. o O Edwards thinks "What is wrong with him? You don't need to be everyone's best buddy not to be a jerk. I'm tired of dealing with this."

Frustration grips Tara's expression as she watches Stewart, but it eases slightly at overhearing the Commander, and she nods. "You guys have plans for the prison?" she asks Thorne. "I mean, the layout and stuff. Any information on where he's likely to be held in it?"

Stewart shrugs irritably, and says, "All I know how to be is myself," as he passes through the room towards the door. "As I've said, I don't know how to deal with people. People don't know how to deal with me. I think everyone's better off if we can just avoid dealing with each other for a bit. Because I know I've had all I can deal with." And with that he walks out.

"I'm not the brains of this operation, sweetheart. I fix engines, kill Klinks, and patch holes in people, and that's about it." Randal folds his arms over his chest and leans up against the doorframe... making just enough room for Stewart to pass by.

Stewart heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Stewart has left.

Edwards watches Stewart move off and shakes his head. "What do you people do to blow off steam around here?" he inquires. "It can't be all fighting, all the time."

Valentine sits up on her bunk, peering toward Thorne curiously. "That reminds me- how in all the hells that ever existed do you break my command lock on the shuttle engines?" To heck with who's stolen what- this is the engineer in her talking.

Thorne considers that for a minute. "A lot of running," he finally decides, in response to Edwards. "Sparring. Sometimes we talk history, and what it'll be like when we overthrow the Alliance." Valentine gets a brilliant grin. "It's a gift."

. o O Thorne is proud of his engineering accomplishments. It's the one thing he feels completely adequate in.

"You're regular party animals." Edwards comments wryly. "Maybe you two should have a lock off."

Valentine snickers softly at the answer. "Remind me to ask for that one around Christmas." She gives Edwards an innocent look, eyes twinkling. "Lock you up, Commander? I'd win- I'm an expert with restraints."

"Parties fell out of style with Terrans a long time ago." Thorne gives Valentine a long look, raising both of his eyebrows.

. o O Edwards thinks "This woman has no shame. Not that that's a bad thing..."

. o O Thorne thinks "I wonder if they're all like that."

Edwards just looks at Valentine, as if he can't believe she said that. "Ahh... noooo, not me." He clears his throat. "I meant, you know, engines. Or something."

Valentine just... smiles back at Thorne. "Oh, of course." After glancing toward Edwards, she has to stifle a giggle, almost successfully.

Thorne clears his throat. "Do you two want me to leave?" he asks, uncrossing and recrossing his arms.

. o O Thorne gets uncomfortable. It's... odd... to think of Edwards and anyone but Thea.

"I am a married man, I'll have you know." Edwards replies to Thorne defensively.

Valentine grins, shaking her head. "I'm just teasing him. The only one I play restraint games with these days is Hiro. Ours, not yours." She sighs. "At least Foster's stopped banging on the wall mid-game."

Thorne clears his throat. "Right." Pausing for a moment, he finally asks, "What am I like? You know, on your side."

"A jerk." Edwards pauses after blurting out that answer. "But a good jerk." Another pause. "Maybe. Would-be mercenary."

Valentine shrugs slightly, apologetically. "I don't remember ever meeting him." She pauses. "I was kind of wondering the reverse, myself."

"I don't know that I've ever met anyone quite like you," Thorne replies with a nod. "Not with your name, anyway."

"Maybe you're already a concubine, Valentine." Edwards suggests.

Valentine has to grin at that. "I always knew the universes couldn't handle two of me. Not with my name?" She gives Edwards a cheerfully disgusted look. "There's such a thing as utilizing one's natural talents in one's career, but that's going a bit far."

Thorne clears his throat. "Maybe you're in another cell. Who knows?" He's apparently not used to being the optimist.

"Maybe we'll find out." Edwards remarks. "There's more than enough people around here already to play 'spot the differences'."

Valentine lifts an eyebrow. "That's certainly a possibility, Mr. Thorne," she says smoothly, and nods to Edwards. "I about fell out of my chair when we beamed those three into the shuttle last night."

Thorne grunts. "Something along those lines." He glances over his shoulder, then back into the room. "I'm... uh... glad you decided to help. It means a lot to everyone here."

"We don't have a lot of choice, if we want to get home anytime soon." Edwards points out. "Of course, if you know anything about us, you know there's a little more to it than that, too."

Valentine clears her throat quietly, glances toward Edwards, and flops back onto her belly to play with her PADD. She doesn't say a word.

"I know that it was people from your side that set this whole horrible mess in motion to begin with," Thorne replies after a moment. "At least, that's what they tell us."

. o O Valentine thinks "I suppose 'speak for yourself, sir' wouldn't be diplomatic at the moment."

"It's a /little/ more complicated than that." Edwards replies with a frown. "And I was more pointing out the fact that we're good guys who help people in need."

Valentine bites her lips hard. Nope, nope, nope, not gonna antagonize.

Thorne clears his throat. "That's pretty much all I know about you," he replies. "That, and you have better technology than us. I've heard a rumor that you gave the Resistance at Terok Nor a battleship -- that it even beat the Regent's personal flagship."

. o O Valentine thinks "Of course, if humans hadn't screwed over the Alliance races in the first place, they wouldn't be taking revenge on you now. Seems to me it ain't /us/ that set it in motion."

Valentine looks up sharply. "We gave /who/ a /what?"

"What? We gave you a battleship and they won't even send us phasers?" Edwards grumbles and stands up. "Terok Nor? That's Deep Space Nine. Damnit. They always get away with this stuff."

"I've never been to Terok Nor or Bajor. It's just what I've heard," Thorne replies, taking a step back with his hands up. "Don't kill the messenger."

Valentine shakes her head, sending Edwards a look. "You're fine, Mr. Thorne. So. Why'd you steal my shuttle?" she inquires calmly.

. o O Thorne thinks "Maybe she didn't hear when I said we have better technology?"

Edwards just stands back, book in hand, grumbles, and mutters under his breath.

"We needed a few parts," Randal replies, as if it's obvious. "We figured you could spare us some of yours."

Valentine's eyes narrow a bit, then she offers a faint smile. "Well, I guess you got more than you bargained for, eh?" She blinks abruptly, looking toward Edwards. "You sure this isn't one of Balin's pranks? This is /just/ the sort of thing he'd do."

Alethea shuffles up behind Thorne, tapping him on the shoulder before stepping through the doorway. She's got a cardigan-style sweater over her tunic shirt, and she tugs on it and wraps it tightly around herself for a moment before lifting her hands to sign to her fellow MirrorWorlder.

"This would be a little much, even for him..." Edwards stops grumbling and peers over at Alethea, watching her sign. He opens his book and flips through, confirming something. "Hey, food wouldn't be a bad idea."

After a moment, Thorne just closes his mouth again. "Um... yeah, that's what she said. Are you guys hungry?"

Valentine's eyebrows rise. "Impressive, Commander." She sits up on her bunk, turning her head side to side to crick a few joints. "Yeah, sure."

Thorne nods his assent and passes that along to Thea via signage.

Alethea swats Thorne on the arm playfully, shakes her head slightly in amusement, and taps the corner of her mouth before gesturing toward Edwards and Valentine. Rolling her eyes in mock exasperation, she turns and pads out of the room, apparently expecting to be followed.

. o O Alethea thinks "Dork. I can still read lips just fine, even if they're /spooky mirror-people lips./"

"Been reading this book all damn night, I'm just glad it all hasn't gone in one ear and out the other." Edwards moves to follow after Alethea, presumably with the others.

Valentine chuckles quietly, reaching for her PADD as she rises to follow the Commander. "No pun intended?"

Thorne grins as soon as Thea's back is turned, and follows her.

. o O Thorne thinks "It's good to see her at least think something's funny. It's an improvement."

. o O Thorne's worry for Thea fades a bit as relief trickles through.

Leading the way toward another one of the handful of rooms in this honeycomb setup, Thea gestures toward the table, on which sits... another pot of stew. Fortunately, Nathan is /good/ at making stew. Unfortunately, it's stew. Again. The room is otherwise deserted. Thea settles down in a chair, waiting for the others before she starts dishing out the food.

Thorne plops into a chair, but not before he fishes his phaser out of its holster and places it on the table, next to where he'll be eating.

. o O Valentine thinks "Oh lord, not again. I am /so/ glad I have no appetite."

"Mmm. Stew." Edwards comments. Under his breath, he adds, "I hope." He watches Thorne and mimics the action, except with his book rather than his phaser. "I don't think anyone's gonna try to steal your food." He seats himself.

Valentine dittoes the phaser action, settling the weapon down carefully with two ginger fingers. "Hmmmm." She eyes the pot. "Mr. Thorne, how many folks are in this cell of yours?"

"Never know when the Alliance will show up," Randal replies simply to Edwards. "I'd rather have it where I can get to it in a hurry." He pauses for a minute, then adds, "There's twelve of us."

Alethea's eyes flicker between Edwards and Thorne for a moment, and she wrinkles up her brow in a quizzical fashion before reaching into one of her pockets and setting on the table, with great ceremony, a wrench. All the cool kids are doing it. She offers Thorne a lopsided sort of smile, and Edwards gets the same, just with a little more hesitation. Valentine... she just gets blinked at. Twice.

Edwards flashes a smile of his own back at Alethea. Then he ponders the evening meal. Somehow, he resists the urge to just dig on in and have at it.

Valentine's eyebrows rise. "Only twelve?" She turns toward Edwards as she picks up her spoon, stirring her portion. "You know, after this is all over with, we could probably replicate a decent amount of foodstuffs for these folks. Or at least some variety on the meat and veggies for their stew." Catching Thea's look, her own expression takes on a trace of confusion. "Uh... what'd I do?"

Thorne shakes his head, flashing a sign and grinning at Thea before he does dig in to his stew. Because stew is good stuff to him. "Dunno," he answers through a full mouth.

Alethea has no hesitation in dishing out food for herself and digging in; this is what she eats every day, and apparently she feels it's quite tasty. She sets down her spoon in a second and makes a few quick motions toward Thorne, signs, and then tilts her head toward the other two.

Takamura steps into the dining area, glancing around at those gathered. He then moves over to the table and prepares his own bowl of stew. "Good evening, everyone." He says with a brief nod to them all, noting the weapons on the table. "New flatware?" He asks with a grin.

"Thea says dig in -- Nathan's a good cook, and you need to keep your strength up," Thorne offers around another mouthful of stew before he grins at Tak. "Just in case some Klinks or Cardies drop in. We have the best stew in the Resistance right here."

"Hey, Takamura." Edwards watches the interplay between Thorne and Alethea. "And, ah, I don't know, Valentine. We'll see." Tentatively, he tries some of the stew, and apparently finds it edible, since he swallows instead of spitting it out. "If he's a good cook here, we probably shouldn't eat his food back home."

Valentine shakes her head a bit, muttering, "I think I'll borrow that book after you're done with it, Commander." Her gaze lifts when she spots Takamura, a broad smile appearing. "Yes, and doesn't it just look... stunning? Heya, handsome." She nods a bit at Thorne, leaning back just slightly to look under the table. "Oh, I've learned to get along with stew lately, no problem," she says with just a trace of irony.

. o O Valentine thinks "No dog. Damn."

. o O Alethea thinks "Not your people. Not yours."

. o O Alethea reminds herself of this with more than a little weariness and sadness.

Alethea contentedly digs right back in to the stew, raising a hand to wave to Takamura when he approaches the table. She doesn't appear to have an awful lot to say once there's food occuring, and absently swings her leg under the table. Her expression grows briefly sad, then returns to its 'eating now' one.

Takamura finishes scooping out a hearty serving of stew before finding an empty seat next to Valentine. As he glances over to Thorne, he pats the Type II on his hip. "That's what this is for." Once he's seated, he smiles at Tara. "Hey there. How's the stew?"

Thorne frowns as his eyes travel between Thea and Edwards, and he releases a soft sigh before returning to his food.

. o O Thorne thinks "I wish I could fix it."

Edwards glances around the table. "Now we're uneven. We need a sixth person." He catches the look on Thea's face, pauses, and racks his brain. That takes a moment. Then he makes a sign toward her hesitantly. He doesn't check the book this time.

Valentine glances toward Tak, leans forward to fish out a single chunk of meat to place delicately into her mouth. She chews, swallows, and nods, going back to stirring the stuff in her bowl. "It's good. Very good." One corner of her mouth twitches upwards. "Are you saying that we're odd, Commander?"

Alethea gives Edwards a long look, chews on her lip, and then raises her hand, seesawing it back and forth. A few other brief signs, simple enough to be caught by everyone at the table. She points at Edwards, and then shakes her head back and forth. Her hand gestures around the room, and she nods. Then her eyes trail down to her left hand, and she puffs out her cheeks in a sigh before shrugging, expression apologetic.

. o O Alethea thinks "You're not who I want you to be. And I'm sorry. I can't put that on you. But I can't help what I think when I see you. Or how I feel. It's too complicated to explain, especially in front of people, and you wouldn't understand the complexities of the sign language anyway. You're barely at 'fire bad, tree pretty.'"

"She misses Mike," Randal mutters, stabbing his spoon into the stew before him halfheartedly.

Takamura picks up his spoon to scoop up some stewy goodness. "I'm glad to hear that, because I'm hungry." He then glances ups at the hand gestures and Thorne's explanation. Sighing softly, he nods as he begins to eat.

"I don't need to say that, Valentine." Edwards remarks. Then, at Alethea and Thorne's explanation, he nods a bit. "Nobody can blame you for that." he tells her. "I would miss me too, if, you know, I wasn't me." He offers a smile.

. o O Thorne thinks "There's barely enough room for the rest of us at this table with an ego that size."

Valentine nods at Thorne's confirmation. She keeps her gaze down, in case Thea can do the lipreading bit. "Is your Mike... I mean, where...?" She clears her throat, giving up on finding a delicate way to finish that question. "Never mind." She shifts her seat toward Tak's.

Alethea catches the end of Edwards' speech, looking up from the table again; she raises an eyebrow in amusement, glances aside at Thorne, and shakes her head slightly before going back to her stew. Really, she looks more embarassed than anything else.

"They got Jim, and then they got Mike," Randal replies softly, having apparently lost his appetite. "He might be dead. We don't know."

. o O Valentine thinks "Oh man. Does that mean we're rescuing /two/ now?"

Takamura eats up, like a man who hasn't eaten in a long while. Anyone who has infantry experience would recognize it as an old habit. When Valentine shifts closer to him, he looks up with a smile. "How long ago did they take Jime and Mike?"

"Someone obviously forgot to tell you that Michael Edwards is indestructable." Edwards informs Randal. "Neither Klingons, nor Cardassians, nor Jem'Hadar, nor Borg, nor... anything else has been able to stop him."

Valentine looks up at Thorne, and winces. "Oh man. I am /really/ sorry to hear that," she says sorrowfully. Chair-shifting means she has to move her bowl too, and she does, placing it so the pot is between bowl and Resistance members. The engineer starts spooning surreptitious gobbets of stew from her bowl into Takamura's every time he looks up.

Alethea glances between the table's other occupants for a moment. You can really fall out of a conversation if you look down and are deaf -- and that's just what she did. When she looks up, though, she can tell the topic, thus, she looks down again, poking at her stew, appetite now gone completely. Poke. Poke.

"Three weeks ago. They won't kill Jim right away, but... Mike isn't as valuable," Thorne murmurs softly in reply. "It's hard for Thea, you know?"

Takamura nods slowly. "I am sure." He glances to Valentine as he notices her sharing her stew with him.

"What? Not as valuable?" Edwards doesn't like the sound of that.

Valentine chews on her lower lip a bit, watching Thorne. "Yeah, that's totally understandable." She glances toward Hiro, smiling faintly.

Thorne skewers Edwards with a glare. "Yeah, not as valuable." He looks like he's going to say more, but just stuffs some stew in his mouth instead.

. o O Thorne thinks "Why don't we just talk about it a little more? I'm sure Thea just loves us talking about him while you're sitting here, mocking her with every moment that you continue to exist."

. o O Thorne seethes a bit internally.

Alethea, without looking up or at anyone around the table, makes a quick series of hand gestures as she rises and stumbles over her own chair in her haste to take her bowl and leave, headed for the cleanup area in the next room. She sets the chair back up, and almost drops her bowl: by the time she actually /flees,/ her face is bright red with embarassment.

Takamura disguises a grin at Thorne's comments with a spoonful of stew. Even with Valentine filling his bowl, he has managed to eat most of it. When Thea fumbles around, he looks up at her, then frowns with a sigh.

. o O Alethea is simply mortified. Her self-consciousness has reached new highs today, with forecasts predicting embarassment and self-recrimination for the rest of the day.

. o O Takamura thinks "As much as I like Thorne putting Edwards in his place, it really has hurt Thea."

Edwards jumps up to his feet and shoots a glare back at Thorne. "I should deck you." But he doesn't. Instead, he grabs his book and moves to follow after Alethea.

Valentine leaves a little bit of food in her bowl when she finally pushes it away from her, and her smile for Tak is warm, before looking up so her gaze can follow Thea with some puzzlement. "Okay, missing her honey I can understand perfectly. But why is she blushing?"

Thorne tosses his spoon into his bowl and pushes himself to his feet. "You leave her alone," he growls, putting himself in persuit of Edwards after grabbing his phaser off the table.

Alethea doesn't stop, doesn't look behind herself: she disappears into the next room, almost knocking into the edge of the doorway for lack of looking around.

Alethea heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Alethea has left.

. o O Valentine thinks "Time to sell tickets to the Big Fight."

Takamura sighs heavily as he polishes off the last of his stew. Turning to Valentine he comments, "Now you know why I shoveled my food down. You never know when you're going to have to jump up from the table." As he says this, he gets up to follow Thorne and Edwards to help defuse things.

"Or what? You'll bruise my fist with your nose?" Edwards shoots back. And, as that likely indicates, he pays no heed to Thorne's demand and continues on his way.

Edwards heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Edwards has left.

Valentine groans softly, reaching for her phaser as she rises. "Yeah," she nods to Tak. "I suppose we should stop 'em from slaughtering each other."

Thorne pulls his phaser up into a ready position. "Wrong call, dirtbag," he growls as he follows after.

Thorne heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Thorne has left.

. o O Valentine thinks "Uh oh."

Takamura arrives from another area of the resistance compound.

Takamura has arrived.

Valentine arrives from another area of the resistance compound.

Valentine has arrived.

Stewart has found a quiet, out of the way space, where he is sitting off in a corner, back against the wall. He's sort of staring off idly at nothing.

Alethea flees through the clean-up area, tossing her bowl into the wash basin before running back toward one of the work areas. Some things never change -- upset Thea looks for work to do. Her face is burning with embarassment, and she brushes past Stewart without as much as a glance, knuckling at her eyes as she goes.

Edwards trails along behind Alethea, trying to catch up to her. And he's toting his all-important book as he goes. He's starting to look mighty pissed off too.

Thorne is hot on Edwards' heels, and he's armed to boot. He pauses just inside the door, lining up a shot on Edwards and pulling the trigger. Apparently, Randal's a magnitude of order angrier.

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Energy Weapon (Bajoran Phaser) skill vs Edwards's Dodge skill (given advantage) and Fails!

It's back to the room that serves as the closest thing they've got to a 'bridge' or a center of operations that Thea goes; she reaches into her pocket for a wrench, and then remembers she left it on the table in the other room. This leads to her kicking a wall. Twice.

Stewart looks up at Alethea as she passes, and then over towards Edwards. And then he frowns to himself, and stands up between them. Just standing, but of course, now he's in the way. And, drawing his phaser, he fires at Randal. Because it's the thing to do.

Takamura follows after Thorne and Edwards quickly. When Thorne fires at the commander, Tak draws his ohaser to level it at Thorne. "Stand down, Mr. Thorn. I don't want to have to shot you."

<CONTEST> Stewart contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs Thorne's Dodge skill and Succeeds!

Valentine follows on Takamura's heels, her own phaser held rather awkwardly, and moves off to his left a bit... totally out of her depth here. About all she can do is watch helplessly.

Edwards just manages to dart to the side before a phaser beam goes flying past. "What in the hell is wrong with you!?" Thankfully, his people come to his aid. "Idiot." That leaves him free to do what he wants. "Let him sleep it off." That said, he moves to head over to the oblivious Alethea.

. o O Edwards thinks "Ha ha. I win."

Thorne drops like a rock, because that's what people do when they get shot.

. o O Takamura thinks "Just great. Now we have to deal with a shoot out amongst ourselves. Just give me an excuse, Thorne."

Stewart sidesteps, to keep in Edward's way. "How about you go back and finish your dinner? I'll make sure Thorne doesn't swallow her tongue, and if Thea comes out armed, I'll make sure she doesn't interrupt you. But, you know, from the look on her face, I don't think that's an issue."

The vibrations of Randal's body hitting the floor -- not to mention the multiple phaser flashes -- draw Thea's attention. She turns, blinks, stares, and -- you can see it happening -- something very vital in Alethea's brain just /snaps/ at the image of Stewart, phaser out, framed in the doorway, having shot down Thorne. "NO." In her atonal, rather off-kilter voice, she shouts at Stewart and, by extension, the rest of the group. "No. No. NO. NO." She flails an arm at the toolbox on top of one of the consoles. "DAMNIT, NO. STOPIT." Covering her face with both hands, she slides down and leans against one of the consoles. "Stop."

Valentine gives Stewart a disgusted look and moves back to the door, checking to make sure all the phaserfire isn't bringing nearly a dozen Resistance members in with phasers blazing. Thea's outburst gets her attention realy quick, though, and she stares at the woman.

. o O Valentine thinks "Way to go, hot shot."

Takamura lowers his phaser after Thorne drops from Stewart's expert marksmanship. Stepping over to the collapsed body, he kicks the phaser out of the way. "Nice shooting, Jimmy." He then turns at Thea's outburst, waiting for her to do something.

Edwards comes up short. "This is... bad." he mutters. "She's not a problem, Stewart. And shouldn't be, because I'm assuming you stunned him. And thank you." He motions back at Thorne. "Check on him. I'm going to check on her, and make sure she's neither insane now nor ready to have us all shot. Okay?"

Stewart remains where he is, and says, "Sure, Michael. Just tell me why she was running away, and why Mr. Thorne over there was shooting at you. Because from where I sit, this is all rather unusual, so I'm going to be keeping everyone apart until I'm satisfied that things aren't going to get worse if I don't."

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Thorne keeps still on the floor.

While Stewart asks the questions, Takamura holsters his phaser and kneels down beside Thorne. He checks the man over to make sure he actually was only stunned.

Alethea remains seated against one of the consoles, hands over her face, shoulders shaking, face red. She drops one hand to beat a tiny fist against the side of a console next to her hip once or twice.

"She was running away because Thorne made an idiotic remark about her missing husband, and the Commander, I believe, was going to try to comfort her," Tara informs Stewart, still watching Thea. "Why Thorne went off is anybody's guess. Overprotective, maybe."

"/Michael/?" Edwards' temper starts to flare back up, just after it had gone down with Thorne. "That's /Commander/ or /sir/." He fixes Stewart with a glare. "I'm going to ask her what her problem is. His? Is that he's an arrogant hot head. Now stand down, or I will put you down." Valentine's confirmation makes him just a tiny bit more calm, and he moves to finish heading toward Thea.

"I'm sorry, /sir/," Stewart says, still standing in the way, "But I believe my duty in this situation requires me to be certain here. Which means that I'm not moving until I get a story that makes a little more sense than the one I've been given. Or, until Tak verifies this, because he seems to have a good sense for things. If that's a problem, do what you have to. But I still don't know exactly why Thorne would be taking a shot at you. It makes absolutely no sense. Besides, from what I hear, there really shouldn't be any particular hurry for you to get to her, should there?"

Takamura looks up at Edwards. "He'll, be fine, sir. He's only stunned." Then to Stewart, he verifies, "That's the way it happened. We were talking about their Edwards, Thorne here said some things to make Thea upset. She ran off, the Commander followed after her. Then Thorne ran out with his phaser and shot at the commander. I have no clue what made him go off the deep end."

Valentine's staring moves to Stewart, and her jaw drops in disbelief. After a second, it hits her that she just got insulted again, and her expression tightens in fury. "Mister..." she grits between clenched teeth, struggling to control her temper.

"That's how they do things here." Edwards says through clenched teeth. "I don't want to degenerate to that level. But if you don't let me past now, I will drop you." With that warning, he again moves to continue on his way.

Alethea remains sitting against her console, looking between her fingers at Randal-on-the-floor. Her face is still red, and she rubs fiercely at her eyes, blinking rapidly, almost angrily.

. o O Alethea thinks "Stupid eyes."

Stewart steps aside, moving so that he can address Valentine while still watching the interaction between Edwards and Valentine. And so he turns to her, "Yes? You have something to say to me?"

Takamura stands up looking amongst the lot of them. "Alright. Everyone take it easy. All this bickering is getting us nowhere. Everyone needs to calm down and take a few deep breaths. And stop sniping at each other. We don't need this right now." He looks to Edwards before he continues. "Respectfully, you too, sir." Then he gives a sharp look to both Stewart and Valentine. "Cut it out. /Now./"

Valentine takes a deep breath, forcing herself to glacial... well, it's not calm, but at least she can speak without spitting now. "Not now, not here, Lieutenant Stewart." She glances toward Takamura, her brow furrowing slightly. "Cut what out?"

"Right." Stewart brushes off the front of his uniform, noting, "Now, if I recall correctly, before I was interrupted, I had moved off to be on my own to avoid you all. I think I'm going to resume that. If you want, Tara, you can follow along and tell me what is so important you don't want to say it in front of others. Or, more likely, just don't want to surrender what part of the moral high ground you have left. In any case..." And he then turns to head out.

Edwards just wanders over to Alethea, flipping through the book to doublecheck something on his way. He kneels down next to her, a lot of the anger draining from him, and makes a sign.

Takamura frowns at Stewart and Valentine as he continues to look at them with hard eyes. "Stow the sarcasm. The two of you are going to have to learn to play nice with each other."

Alethea looks through her fingers at Edwards, offers him a weak attempt at a smile that's more a grimace, and waves one hand sort of dismissively at his sign. Her hands then move through a series of symbols, very slowly, to try to allow him a chance to keep up. And she hiccups. Once.

That furrow in Tara's brow gets deeper. "You'll notice- /I/ refrained from bickering and insults." Her gaze snaps to Stewart's back, her empty hand balling into a fist as anger blooms anew. But she doesn't follow him.

Edwards nods at Alethea, holds up his index finger, the intergalactic symbol for 'one moment', and treks through his book. This is complicated. He starts to slowly make signs, pointing at the downed Thorne and himself and the retreating Stewart in the midst. Then he offers an apologetic smile.

"Really? I hadn't noticed. In fact, I thought you were doing it right now." And then he steps through the doorway, out of the room.

Stewart, that is.

Stewart heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Stewart has left.

Takamura lets out a deep sigh which comes out more like a low growl. "Tara. Can I have a word with you? In private?"

Valentine growls, and she drives her fist into the nearest item- the wall. Then she winces, shaking her hand out. "Oh, bad idea, Tara." She looks over at Tak, frustrated. "Yeah, sure. Dammit, Hiro, I am doing my best, but that... /man/, and I use the term lightly, is making it impossible."

Thorne's eyes slide open. He's got confusion painted on his features for about ten seconds, and then he realizes exactly where he is and what happened. "Nnngh..." is the first sound he makes, though.

Alethea sighs, heavily. /Very/ heavily. If this sigh were set on water, it would sink like a chunk of lead. She looks at Thorne, and then at Edwards, and then back at Thorne as he wakes up. She makes two short signs, pushing a piece of hair out of her face.

Edwards sheepishly points at Alethea, before going into some actual signs. It's pretty much a given that he has to reference his book, too. But he makes the signs with more confidence now.

Alethea signs back, matching Edwards's pace, offering him a vaguely amused and knowing half-smile; she glances over at Thorne, gesturing toward him, and then rises, rubbing at her face again, signing and gesturing toward Thorne once more.

As Thorne starts to regain consciousness, Takamura looks down to him. Glancing to Valentine, he says, "I know. That's the way Jimmy is. But, hold on a sec while I make sure wverything will be fine here."

Thorne pushes himself to a seated position, placing a hand on his forehead. "Ow."

. o O Alethea is worried about Thorne, but not too much: he was just stunned, right? She's still uncomfortable around Edwards, though a little less than before. And, oh yes, she's quite, quite confused.

Valentine nods at Hiroshi, her eyse going to Thorne as he sits up.

. o O Valentine thinks "Serves ya right, ya punk."

Edwards doesn't look terribly enthused about whatever Thea tells him, after he checks out what it was. e glances between her and Thorne, before he makes out a reply to her. He gives a 'what can you do?' shrug after the first part of it.

Takamura glances down at Thorne. "Besides having been shot, how are you feeling? Do you need any medical attention?"

"No, I'm fine," Thorne mutters, pushing himself to his feet.

. o O Thorne is still rather irritated, though.

Alethea reaches down and ruffles Edwards' hair, before coughing uncomfortably and making a brief 'sorry' sign. Seeing that Tak's tending to Thorne, she stays back for a second, standing over the Commander and signing back to him.

Valentine retrieves Thorne's phaser from the floor. She doesn't seem in any hurry to return it to him, though.

Alethea's hand extends toward Valentine, palm up, without her ever looking away from Edwards once her peripheral vision picks up the phaser-taking. Other senses compensate for the loss of one.

"Very well." Takamura replies to Thorne as he looks over to Valentine. "Go ahead and give that to Thea, Tara. Then we'll go have a little chat."

Edwards makes a face when his hair is ruffled, but waves off Thea's apology. He stands up and goes verbal, counting on her lip reading abilities. "I don't want to fight with anyone hear. But I'm not going to be pushed around, either."

Thorne grunts softly, rubbing at his face. He's still not quite back to full steam.

Valentine moves in a wide circle around Thorne and Tak to give Thea the phaser, as well as a little smile and a pat on the shoulder that's supposed to be comforting. That done, she nods to Edwards and heads back toward Hiroshi, giving the latter an an odd look.

. o O Valentine thinks "Why the hell /wouldn't/ I give it to her? She's not exactly what I'd call hostile."

. o O Valentine is very, very tired of Timefleet men not giving her credit for the brains she was born with.

Alethea offers Valentine a very strained sort of smile as the phaser is put in her hand, and tucks the phaser into the back of her pants, pulling her shirt down over it. She turns back to Edwards, signing briefly and then moving over to one of the terminals. She types out a very simple message on it: NO ONE IS ASKING YOU TO BE PUSHED AROUND. NO ONE WANTS TO BE PUSHED AROUND, EITHER. EVERYONE IS VERY TENSE AND UPSET. EVERYONE HAS REASONS TO BE TENSE AND UPSET. BUT UNLESS SOMEONE GIVES A LITTLE ON THIS, THE ALLIANCE WON'T EVER HAVE TO TOUCH US: WE'LL KILL OURSELVES OFF EVENTUALLY. AND I CAN'T HAVE THAT.

Okay, so it ended up being not so simple. It's still very straightforward.

Thorne hangs his head after reading the message.

Takamura motions for a nearby door as he puts an arm around Valentine's shoulder. Looking towards Thea, he offers her a supportive smile. "Let's go. I think things will be alright for now."

"Nobody would ever accuse me of being diplomatic." Edwards remarks, glancing around at everyone, his gaze lingering on Thorne before stopping on Thea. "But I'll try."

Valentine nods her agreement, leaning into Tak a bit. "Of course they will," she smiles a little, managing to sound confident.

. o O Edwards thinks "These people are practically holding us hostage, right? Damn, I'm accomodating. And she really does look better with hair..."

Takamura heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Takamura has left.

Valentine heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Valentine has left.

Alethea pushes her hair out of her face, and nods her head in a knowing sort of fashion, laughing a little in her atonal way. NO ONE IS ACCUSING YOU OF DIPLOMACY. She pauses, tapping out, BUT IF EVERYONE COULD REFRAIN FROM LEAPING AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, WE WOULD STAND A BETTER CHANCE OF NOT BEING KILLED OR SPENDING THE REST OF OUR LIVES MINING DILITHIUM.

Thorne clears his throat. "I've got to go work the impulse converters," he mutters darkly, turning to stalk out.

Edwards boils any response he can come up with down to one sign: calm. Sure, he looks all serious and dedicated to it, but... well, he's him. Sure it'll last. He watches Thorne stalk off and waves. Totally without smiling.

. o O Edwards thinks "Jerk."

Thorne heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Thorne has left.

Alethea nods her head slightly at the sign from Edwards, offering him a thankful and weary sort of smile. She turns to motion toward Thorne, but he's already gone. This leaves her, er, alone. With Edwards. And for a brief moment, she looks like she wishes the floor would simply swallow her up. Witness the brief playing of conflict on her face, before she simply signs, 'thank you' and turns away from him to crouch and start picking up the tools she scattered earlier.

. o O Alethea thinks "I was trying to avoid this."

Ever chivalrous, Edwards moves to lend a hand, kneeling down to pick up tools from the ground. "Here, let me help..." Nothing to see here. Just two people picking up stuff. Move along. He sets down his book, so he can use both his hands. 'Cause it's hard to pick things up while holding something else.

There are certain dramatic necessities in a situation like this. One of them is that Thea will not look up at him during the entire time that she's picking up the stuff from her engineering kit and putting it away. The other is that at some point, they'll both reach for the same tool at the same time, and there will be a Weird Moment, and after this brief Weird Moment, Thea will let go of the tool and move to start picking up tools like her life depended on it being done in /three seconds./

Check. No looking, Weird Moment, /three seconds/. At that point, Edwards still tries to help, even as he watches Mrs. Flash rush ahead. "This isn't a race, right? Because I'm gonna lose if it is..." When all else fails, say something funny. Or, well, in this particular situation... He frowns. As Thea goes for the last tools, he picks up his book and stands up.

Which, naturally, the deaf woman who isn't looking at him completely misses. She closes up the kit, and when he stands up, Alethea remains crouched on the floor for a second before standing and setting the kit on a side table. An awkward series of glances follows: at the kit, then up at him, and then off at this /totally fascinating piece of rock wall over there./ Wow, such interesting striation! Two signs, then: 'thank you,' followed by 'sorry.'

Edwards doesn't even know what striation means. He looks at the tools, the wall, and back to Thea, reading her signs. Two he doesn't even have to look up. Showing that he isn't completely oblivious, he opens up his book to U, finds a sign, and makes it. Uncomfortable. He gives her a questioning look.

Alethea raises a hand and scratches the back of her scalp, fingers getting briefly tangled in a knot in her hair as she pulls it away. She gives her hand a frustrated look, as if it's offended her, and then looks back at him, pointing first at him, and then at herself, brow wrinkling up in a question. Was that a question, or a statement? She taps her own chest, shrugs a little, and then signs yes, followed by no. Another shrug. She adds one last sign on the end, finger-spelling it out afterwards, since it's a new sign. /Complicated./

Edwards points at Alethea. He doesn't look quite so conflicted. Her responses to his query make him smile just a little. "I can see that." he says. "Complicated." He looks around at the otherwise empty room. "Maybe I should give you some alone time."

And even that's complicated. No Thea in any universe has ever needed someone to be empathic to pick up on what's going on in her brain. Yes, that's probably best but I don't want you to do that, also, I don't want to be weird and this is just hard and... damnit! She looks down at her feet for a moment, raises a hand to hook hair behind her ear, and nods slightly. 'Maybe,' she signs back. 'Sorry.'

Edwards shakes his head and signs 'no sorry.' He offers a genuine smile and just leaves it at that. Rather than make things more complicated, he turns and wanders off to cause trouble elsewhere.