Getting Smoked (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 03 Apr 2022 @ 1:22pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Lieutenant JG Karras & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Ensign Amanda Turell
Edited on on 03 Apr 2022 @ 1:27pm

2,918 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 5, Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD 06, 0603 hrs

Previously, on Getting Smoked (Part 1)...

Tris had followed suit and picked up speed, hanging in the middle of the group. He then felt a pain in his chest, just slight, and placed a hand on his chest as he continued. After a moment he realised that his breathing had become laboured. This was definitely putting a physical strain on him now, which was the intent. He continued, knowing this would help him in the long run.

Though Karras preferred swimming, it did feel nice to just run. He wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to keep formation, but ultimately decided he didn't care and moved up towards the front of the group.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

7.5 Laps Later...

Blake was breathing harder as she glanced to the time. Seven and a half laps down, and they were slightly under target...but they weren't lost yet. She nudged up her pace a touch to try and stop the slide, but not too much, not wanting to pull ahead and cause a separation in the group; that would defeat the object of running as a team. Her gaze was focussed ahead and her features set in concentration until she glanced again at the time as she passed the line on the track, her hand lifting. "Half way there...We're making good time...Try and stay relaxed!" she called back between harsh but controlled breaths.

Not wanting to overtake Blake, Mimi ran only a few steps behind her enjoying the much faster pace, the few sweat glands her species did possess were keeping up with her heat regulation for now but her breathing was gradually getting a little faster.

At the other end of things Sofie found herself really beginning to struggle. Her limbs felt heavier by the second and she could see herself falling behind as one after another of her colleagues overtook her. Are we really this unfit? her brain cried out and the sound of her pounding heart and choppy breath answered Seems like we are. She couldn't keep this up, she knew she couldn't keep it up. She was about to look like the biggest idiot in the entire officer's mess but she just couldn't keep this up.

Amanda dropped back slightly till she was level with Sofie noticing the woman had been struggling. "Come on, you can do this." She told her. "Don't give that woman the satisfaction of being the first one to go down."

They can all see it, they all know I'm the weakest link... However well meaning Amanda might have been this was only thought running through Sofie's head. She tried her best to brush off the thoughts with a defiant laugh and a "Wouldn't dream of it!" but between choppy breaths it didn't quite come out as she wanted.

The pace had quickened and Tris fell in with the group. The exhilaration of running was a good feeling. Pushing his muscles to this extreme made him realize how he actually missed his Academy days. But now, the chanting was like an annoying insect in one’s ear. He hoped this would end very soon.

Marisa quickened her stride to stay with the lead pack. Her mind focused on her feet, her breathing, the position and movement of her arms, the person in front of her. It was a type of meditation to let her mind relax as she listened and ran.

Allyndra had been at the back end of the runners and she had no doubt she could easily outrun the group. She noted Mimi now that the pace picked up had been able to change her stride and looked much more comfortable. Tris looked fine as well, so the cooling apparatus must be working fine. Her attention to shifted to Sofie and noted Ensign Turell trying to urge her along. She was not sure if Ensign Ullswater would make too many more rounds. She suddenly picked up her pace, coming easily onto the balls of her feet and while not quite a sprint pulled past the others. She got just behind Commander Blake since it as she remembered it was considered bad form to be in front of the leader. As quietly as she could she called to Commander Blake.

"Commander, I have been observing the rest of the group from a medical perspective. This pace is good for Ensign Mimi but Ensign Ullswater is now struggling. I realize the point of this exercise to keep as one group, but as medical officer I am concerned. Too slow and we risk injuring one, too fast and we are risking another to fail."

Blake shook her head at hearing the voice, focussing on keeping her breathing even as she replied. Starfleet personnel were expected to maintain a level of fitness. "In order to improve...we have to push...even if it's outside our comfort. Keep her motivated...it's not long to go..."

"Very well commander, but I am making a notation later in the official medical log." She did not wait for a response since she noted the labored breathing but just dropped back until she was with Ensign Ullswater.

"You are doing fine, one foot in front of the other, but if you experience sharp chest pain or a cramp, you are to stop. I am the medical officer and will defend you on medical grounds. Still, come on, we can do this," Allyndra kept her pace with Ullswater. "Focus on the feet, not on the rest. One foot, next foot," she said quietly.

Sofie wasn't sure if she appreciated Allyndra being there or if she loathed that she was being noticed. Either way right now she wanted to be as small as possible until she could get through this and then maybe have a conversation with the doctor afterwards. Maybe this was the signal she needed to finally push her to look for help.

Aria looked over at Ullswater and Allyndra before she looked ahead. "We all got this!" she called out, because hey...they did. It might hurt and they might afterwards be curled up in balls of stiffness and general urgh, just put me out of airlock, but they could do this. They had done worse at the Academy just to pass.

After the initial burst of adrenaline Karras had fallen back into the middle of the pack, but he was keeping pace just fine. This actually reminded him of when he and his friends would just take off into the plains beyond their village and see who could run farthest.

Tris noticed Karras had fallen back and was now in front of him. The Andorian had not kept track of the repositioning of the officers and the laos went on. He wondered if statical analysis could be made by the individuals within the group. Possibly not, but it would keep his mind occupied during this long ‘procession’.


15 Laps Later...

Beads of sweat were rolling down the new captain's forehead. Her arms and neck glistened with perspiration and the back of her uniform vest contained a large wet spot. The officer corps was approaching the end of their two-mile run with a little more than one lap to go on the large oval track. Tarin didn't have her PADD with her to check the clock, so called out to the XO in between breaths. "Time!?" If she had to guess, they were making good progress towards their goal of 15 minutes. Though there was always room for improvement.

"14' 35"!" Blake called back, her voice holding strong between her heavy breaths. She had been sure to keep a sense of the group moving behind her, pushing the pace faster to challenge the time goal, but not so much as to lose the group entirely. So close to finishing, she took the chance to push the pace again, using the last of their energy in a final sprint to the finish.

Allyndra stayed with the last of the group. She cared less if there was a gap or not. She was more concerned with making sure that no one was going to have a medical emergency.

Marisa heard the time. She kept a couple of runners between herself and Blake so as not to draw attention to herself. She figuring following her would be good enough, even if they didn't make it under 15 minutes.

Aria was breathing hard, sweating heavily as she started to push through the pain to pick up the speed. She had danced as a child and teenager, pain was something she could cope with. Also, if you wanted to be in Security, no matter what size you were...if you couldn't hit the fitness requirements you were out. So she wanted to show that she could do it.

"Keep it up!" shouted Commander Tarin. A 30-second lap was going to be hard to manage, but a little extra verbal motivation never hurt. Maybe the group could shave a few seconds off their final time. She looked back behind her position to the rearguard then slowed her run to come alongside the stragglers. "Warraquim! Ullswater! ...Move it! Final stretch!"

But there wasn't much more moving it to be had from Ullswater. The ensign could barely find it in her to keep her current pace let alone move any faster and in that moment of vexation as the captain sidled up she wanted to much to say so many different things that she had no doubt would not be good for her career. Fortunately though she found herself with hardly enough breath to say anything so instead as she just shot the Tarin a glare with all the ferocity and bitterness of an injured tiger.

Karras knew that the captain was intending to encourage the ensign, but she was clearly doing her best and the call to 'move it' just seemed harsh. He really wished he'd dropped back to run alongside Ullswater and Allyndra as a show of solidarity, but doing so now would seem like intentionally trying to provoke Tarin. Again he wondered if she was really going to accomplish what she intended.


16 Laps

Galileo's commissioned officers started to cross the finish line on lap 16. It hadn't been the most exhausting exercise possible, but the 2-mile run was an effective test to gauge their sustained running abilities. Repetition of the run, over time, would lead to increased aerobic stamina and less risk of physical injury. The fitness benefits were obvious but such runs also helped maintain unit cohesion.

When Commander Tarin completed her laps, she slowed down to a walking pace with her hands on her hips and her head tilted high to capture oxygen. "...Take five!" she called out. "Get some water from the replicator and hydrate. That's an order."

Aria stopped and bent over, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. She groaned after a moment, as soon as she had brought her breathing and heart rate down a little. She looked over at Ullswater with a small smile, sweat sticking a few flyaway hairs to her forehead, walking to her former roommate and touching her arm. "You did well," she said firmly. "Let's get some water in you, a few sips to start...it'll either come up straight away or stay..."

"Don't touch me!" Sofie hissed between ragged breaths and batted Aria's hand away with uncharacteristic bitterness. She couldn't and didn't want to deal with any of this right now. Heart, lungs and muscles all cried out in unison telling her that she had pushed herself to more than she had. She could see the others heading to get water but she couldn't seem to bring herself to walk to the replicator, couldn't even bring herself to brush some sweat drenched hairs off her face. She just stood still, screwing her eyes shut and feeling awfully like everyone in the room was watching her. As she caught her breath further she mumbled apologetically to her friend "Sorry Aria."

Aria had stepped back at seeing Sofie's reaction. She watched her for a long moment, taking a deeper breath. "It's okay. But some tough love, Sofie," she said, her voice quiet. "You should be able to do this. You are a Starfleet officer. If you're not at the fitness level...get yourself there." She walked away, heading to the replicator to get herself some water.

I really should be able to do this... Sofie glanced again in the direction of Warraquim, something would have to be done. She was going to have to do something, if she wanted to get better, wanted to be back to her normal self, it started with that leap of choosing to act. She held her head in her hand for a moment, trying to pull herself together for whatever else Tarin had planned, before making her way to grab some water avoiding eye contact with those she passed.

Allyndra went to get some water. She knew that for a species that got rid of excess heat through respiration that water was essential. As for the rest of her, that little exercise had hardly been that difficult. She cast a look toward Commander Tarin and thought to challenger to a run, but nothing would be gained by it but showing off, so she said nothing. She was still evaluating this new temporary captain in her mind and trying to keep things open as possible. In her thoughts she just said, "Damn, I miss you Lirha, hope the gods protect you wherever you are at and whatever you are doing."

Karras sipped his water and stayed silent, keeping a neutral expression but taking in the reactions and behaviors of his fellow officers.

"Not a bad warm up." Mimi said as she took in some water and shook out her legs a little, her breathing was heavy due to her physiology but she showed no signs of the exertion. She could have completed the 2 miles in a third of the allotted time if she wanted to but had kept together with the group.

Aria smiled to Mimi, taking a few sips of water before she let out a breath. "Let me guess...you are all ready for round two?" she said playfully, using the moment to do some stretches.

"We Nekomi are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances." Mimi responded. "Though two miles is not too bad, if I run it at my pace." She transitioned her digitgrade stance and did a few stretches that worked that specific muscle group.

"Whereas I am boring human, so the only danger I present is to myself tripping over," Aria joked, keeping a playful look on her face. She did admire the way different species had their strengths and weaknesses.

Five minutes to cool down and hydrate wasn't long enough, but Marisa was not going to argue the point this time. From what she'd observed so far the acting captain didn't understand how to be a proper leader. It was shaping up to be her baptism by fire and the science officer hoped she would rise to the challenge before she lost the respect of her entire crew. She ran through a quick cool down while she waited for the others to get a drink first. Many of them needed the water more than she did. She hoped the acting captain would also take into account the number of people needing a drink before she moved on to the next phase of her torture routine.

Only stopping to sip some water Amanda kept moving knowing her legs would likely seize up if she stood still for too long, she flexed her injured shoulder to try and work out the ache that the rhythmic pumping of her arms had caused grunting slightly as it ground and popped.

Allyndra listened for a moment to Mimi and smiled slightly. The two of them were probably the superior runners here. Instead she turned her attention to Tarin. There was still a balance going on in her mind. She was not sure of her as a captain. While she herself had grown up with a strict formality, it had been just that, formality for social interactions. The Mother's always encouraged one to observe, think, and act if one had the need to do so. Instead of making one run the entire distance, the Mother's would have noted the problem and though they might not have pulled the individual out, they would have called the entire exercise at an early place. Though she had been around humans for a long time, there were aspects to the culture she still did not fully fathom.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

Lt. Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Second and Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Karras
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Tris Shizn
Helmsman
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Commander Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

ENS Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

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