Damn Turbolift

Posted on Thu Sep 3rd, 2026 @ 1:17am by Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker & Lieutenant Commander Elyse White & Lieutenant Tholos Th'Keal

1,292 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Blade of Deceit
Location: Turbolift 1

ON:

Elyse was done. Between the walking HR violation, Tholos plaguing her mind and just being all-round tired, Elyse was ready for food and bed... Maybe just bed. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she wandered into the turbolift on autopilot. Hearing footsteps, she out her hand out to stop the lift from shutting, trying to be polite to whoever was rushing for the lift. Internally, she sighed upon seeing it was Tholos. She didn't need this right now. He'd seen her freak out and sort of snap earlier, she didn't need it to be a 'thing'. Still, she offered him a small smile as if to say 'you're welcome' and leaned against the wall.

Thol's fight or flight reflex kicked in but he entered right away. "Hi. How is your day going?"

"It went," Elyse sighed, "ready to get back to my quarters and switch off for the night. Did your day get better after the walking HR violation made an appearance?"

"Actually yes and I owe it to Walker. Delix came in reviewed everything, made adjustments and issued orders and then spent a few hours in sickbay, came to critic the work and issue more orders, and then back to sickbay so... we worked in relative peace."

Elyse nodded, "kept you busy and out of trouble, I supp--" suddenly the turbo lift faltered. The lights dimmed and they came to an abrupt halt. Elyse put her hands on the walls of the turbolift to stop herself falling. "Gawd damn it! I just wanted a peaceful evening," Elyse whined like a kicked dog.

"Calm down. We're one it." He hit the coms in the lift. "Thol to Engineering, Lift two is stuck with Commander White and I in it. Can you reboot?"

There was a moment and Eli came online. "Oh is there? That's too bad. We'll get on that. May be a while though lots of things went wrong just now. Lift is not a priority maybe a couple of hours."

Elyse's face faltered and suddenly she realised what was happening. She stepped over and hit the Comms, "damn it, Eli. Quit. You threatened this earlier and, so help me, I will write you up for this. Fix the damn lift and stop playing."

"Sorry...I....get....coms...fail."

The coms shut off.

Thol looked at her. "She threatened to trap you in the lift?"

Elyse slammed her hand against the wall in frustration with a grunt. "Oh, no, it is substantially better than that," Elyse laughed incredulously, "no, she stated that Walker threatened to put you and me in a turbolift together to make you stop muttering to yourself and wallowing in self pity about me. She's following through."

Thol flushed. "He did not!"

"Maybe not to you, but he certainly said it to her and now we're stuck here," Elyse turned way from Thol, trying to calm down.

He groaned. "I really don't like her. She's become freer since Del is here and he likes her enough to shield her."

Elyse rubbed the bridge of her nose, "well, luckily for her, I'm not claustrophobic. But, I have a date with my bed and I don't want to be late. Can you break us out?" She didn't give him much opportunity to answer before adding, "gawd, once more I find myself up a creak without a paddle because of you."

He flushed. "I don't see how that's right. I didn't do this or know about this." He turned feeling a bit angry that she blamed this one him. He pulled out the panel and started working on it.

"I'm not the one that's been muttering about me and our-- situation," she muttered, leaning against the wall, "would it kill you? It's bad enough that everyone keeps referring to me as a coffee goddess and seems to assume that I only drink hot chocolate. Today, I could have used a coffee, but I was handed a hot chocolate because you said that's what I drink."

He sighed. He didn't want to yell. That wasn't him. "Well I'm sorry I've made your life inconvenient. I'll make sure I stay out of your way."

The lift jerked in motion and then stopped.

He smacked the panel. "She disabled the secondary. Excellent."

He sighed. "Well only one thing we can do now."

"Seems to be one thing you're good at," she quipped regarding him staying away before sighing, "I guess we'll sit here and I'll consider all the ways I'm going to ensure that Eli lives to regret this."

"You know what Elyse. I've had a rough day. I'm sorry I'm not up to your standards." He hit the coms. "Tholos to Delix."

"Delix here."

"We're trapped in a turbo lift."

There was a pause. "Well reboot the secondary."

"I can't. Eli took that off line and she stranded me here."

Delix cursed. "Seriously? Sabastian is not one to allow this kind of petty behavior. Hold."

There was silence as Del closed the coms and then a few seconds later it rushed back to life. "I have Eli here. Did you or did you not trap Tholos in a lift."

There was a pause. "Yes but..."

"Enough! Get the lift moving or so help me you will both be in ops cleaning waste tubes with a toothbrush. This is an Engineering room and not a prank show!" Delix's voice rang through the lift as if amplified. "Tholos stand by, Eli will release the lift before the minute is out." There was a pause. "Clear?"

Eli's voice came through. "Yes sir."

The coms cut.

Elyse sighed, "well, don't worry, you get to run from me again soon enough. Thankfully, the walking HR violation seems to be proving me wrong already." She looked over at Thol and took a breath, "For the record, try talking to me instead of avoiding me and maybe you wouldn't have to mutter ridiculous things under your breath at work and get us put into situations like this."

Just as she finished speaking the walking HR violation came back on coms. "Delix to unstuck lift. Tholos report to my office. Eli mentioned something about you mooning over Commander White. We're going to have a talk about appropriate work behaviour and how you endanger the lives of this crew by bringing your issues to the workplace. This kind of childish crap stops now! Delix out."

Tholos' shoulders and antennae dropped. "Well shit."

Elyse eyes Tholos carefully, seeing the defeat written all over him. That said, she was unsure if it was because of Delix or her own words. But she did feel a little guilty. She hit the Comms, "White to Delix, drop it. No one's hurt but ego. I will expect a report on my desk regarding abuse of role for the person or persons who deprived me of my night off, inclusive of an apology, by first thing tomorrow. Th'Keal has had enough of a warning from me, professional and otherwise. It does not need a second, it's clear he's understood that message and I am satisfied with the outcome, although demand he bring you coffee for the rest of the week as a form of grovelling. White out."

She turned to Tholos, "I'll throw out any report that crosses my desk if it mentions you as cause. This wasn't entirely your fault. Any report on Eli will be a different question though,"

He sighed. "Thanks." Del would not give up. The doors opened. "I think that's you." He said.

Elyse nodded she went to leave but hesitated. She went to something a bit more profound regarding their situation, but shook her head, "night, Th'Keal."

OFF:

Lieutenant Tholos Th'Keal
Engineering Officer

&

Lieutenant Commander Elyse White
Chief Communications Officer

 

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