action // video

[candothat]

[Chekov is, to put it mildly, alarmed to find the bridge of the Enterprise replaced by the City--the fountain, specifically. As startling as the abrupt change of scenery is, there are, as far as the young navigator is concerned, worse places to find oneself than in a fountain. The shallow water feels good after hours--he can't even begin to guess at how many hours--spent running around in the bowels of a beleaguered ship, issuing orders and trying to nurse failing systems along.

There's no time to enjoy the surprise reprieve. It takes several moments for his City memories to hit and several more for them to fall back into place but, once they do, Chekov has the presence of mind to remove the gold tunic that marks him as a Starfleet officer. Harrison is here. The captain had warned them against making themselves targets.

The captain. Captain Kirk, who's alive here...

Chekov, wet curls plastered to his forehead and stripped down to his black undershirt, clambers out of the fountain and disposes of his gold shirt. He fingers his hair into some semblance of order and fumbles for his waterlogged communicator.]


[video]

He--? [Audio and video distort and give way to static. After some minor adjustments, they return. Chekov doesn't look all that different than he did prior to his disappearance (thanks to the City's temporal isolation from other universes, he's actually a few months younger than he was over a week ago, if sturdier), but recent events have given him a somewhat haggard countenance.] Hello? This is En--Pavel Chekov. I realize that very little time has passed--relatively speaking, I mean--but I must ask: Who is here still?

[Starfleet people, that's directed primarily at you.

And, hesitantly:] Has anyone fed my dog?


[ooc: Action or video! Chekov is back in the City and updated to the not-quite-end of Into Darkness (immediately after San Francisco getting smashed up and Spock beaming down). I tried to steer clear of major spoilers here, but I make no promises for the comments.]

Comments

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

Sorry you don't have some better choices, between the two.

...which crash? After Kronos? _{( because that is horrendous timing. )}

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

It could be worse.

Yes, after. And after the ship was stabilized above Earth. Is that when you left?

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

Yeah? _{( and his tone is definitely reflecting a smile, now. he's talked to a couple of people who know chekov, so he's gotten a sense of his life in the city, but it's different to hear it from the horse's mouth, as it were. )}

Try ten months later. Things calmed down, a bit.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

Yes, always. There could be zombies, or we could all be riding around on horses, convinced that we are cowboys.

[There are things that have happened.(The cowboy curse was fun, though, in all fairness.)]

Good--I think that we have earned calm. [And, carefully:] The captain recovered? Doctor McCoy said so, but that's difficult to imagine.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

I'd rather be a knight, than a cowboy. If horses have to be involved, I mean.

"Recovered" is a weird word for it, but yeah. Last time I saw him, before coming here, he was giving a pretty impressive speech. So he's very much alive.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

And you would rather pilot a ship than a horse. Have you ridden a horse before?

[Most languages aren't equipped with a word that entails some kind of coming back from the dead in a non-zombie capacity. If English has one, Sulu should probably share it.]

Have we finally left on the five-year mission, when you're from? I was afraid we would be delayed indefinitely.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

...no. But it can't be that hard.

_{( he grew up in the city of retro cable cars. there were no actual live horses to be found. )}

And if the captain ever stops talking and lets us get to it, we'll be ready to go.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

Of course not. Sometime soon, we should go to the stable so you can try riding.

[Guess who also grew up in a horseless city and thought riding would be easy? Yeah. Chekov might have slipped off once. Not that Sulu would ever do that.]

Maybe he hopes to stall until he is promoted to fleet admiral.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

Sure. I can definitely try.

_{( he's going to fall on his face. )}

Unconventional promotions are his trademark. Maybe he's trying to have them overhaul the whole system.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

[Chekov won't laugh out loud much. Really.]

All I ask is that he find a way to have the rest of us promoted, as well. I like the sound of Lieutenant Chekov.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

You'll get there. Maybe not before I'm made Admiral myself, but. Eventually.

_{( totally teasing. chekov can laugh with the horse and get his revenge. )}

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

[Scoff. But no, teasing's good. Much easier than talking about things like home.]

Is that a challenge?

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

Might be. I mean, if you're up to it.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[candothat]

Unfortunately, I doubt that the captain has the authority here to promote anyone to admiral.

starfleet frequency » private audio

[excelsiors]

That's probably more fortunate than not, actually.