The Tirok Maneuver

III

Finally, a shower.

The hot water rushed over her, relaxing the tense muscles in her shoulders.

She sighed and leaned against the shower wall, relishing in the way the steam swallowed her.

It reminded them of the springs of hot water around the edge of their village where the volcanic activity was high.

They never learned to swim as a child, but still they would wade into the steaming pits and sink into them, enjoying the heat until their skin glowed green.

The door slid open and Uhura walked into her and Mac'hla's shared bathroom.

"Oh my god, it's like a sauna in here." Uhura noted, waving her hands through the dense steam.

"Saunas are typically made with wood, not tritanium." Mac'hla corrected, running her fingers through her hair.

She washed the blood from her toes, wincing.

"Remind me to spend more time on the rock wall." they said, straightening up.

Uhura giggled and began to brush her teeth.

"Is it me, or does everything feel a little... floaty?" she asked with a mouthful of toothpaste.

Mac'hla raised an eyebrow, "Define floaty?"

"I don't know, everything feels lighter. I feel like I'm walking on air." She said.

"Everything feels 'floaty' to me, as the gravity on Vulcan is slightly stronger than that of earth, which the ship's gravity is set to. I am not the right person to ask..." Mac'hla said, but trailed off as they noticed the droplets of water from the faucet slowing.

Suddenly, the droplets stopped all together and floated in their air. Mac'hla looked down and realized that she, too, was floating.

"Oh, okay." Uhura said rather calmly considering the fact that there was now no gravity.

"Grav plate malfunction." Mac'hla said, grabbing the edge of the shower, "This will hurt once it comes back on."

She grabbed her towel and quickly wrapped herself before floating out of the shower.

"We never addressed zero gravity without suits at the academy." Mac'hla mumbled.

"Neither did we." Uhura agreed, grabbing at her toothbrush which was making its way out of her door.

Mac'hla bumped their head on the ceiling and yelped, clutching the top of their head.

She casually pulled herself along and into her room where she was greeted by her two star-ferrets who were floating around and very confused.

They smirked and grabbed the little, fuzzy creatures, "You are fine."

Iggy squealed discontentedly.

Mac'hla placed them in the air above her bed so once... if the gravity returned they wouldn't be dropped onto the floor.

She awkwardly dried off and pulled her uniform, beginning to feel a little nauseous again.

What in the universe was going on with the ship today?
First the lift failure, then power failure, now grav plating malfunction? What was next, life support failure?

Mac'hla silently cursed herself, hoping they hadn't just jinxed things.

Pulling themselves into the hallway, they saw many officers floating around in confusion.

"Mac'hla!" Sulu said, propelling himself off the wall and towards her, "Isn't this an adventure?"

"I suppose you could say that." they said, "However, it is becoming rather inconvenient."

"I think it's fun." he laughed, flipping around in the air.

Mac'hla crossed their arms and floated down the hall with their legs crossed, thoroughly unamused by the situation.

"I was nearly killed by the lift this morning, then blasted with a fire extinguisher, then Chekov was caught in a door, and now I am unable to stand on solid ground." they muttered bitterly.

"Killed by a lift? Is that some sort of Vulcan joke?" Sulu asked.

Mac'hla huffed, turning upside-down, "Vulcans do not joke."

Sulu stared at her, "Right... okay. How?"

"It stopped, I crawled out, it started. I was almost pressed against the ceiling, but I was able to make it out of the hatch before it could reach me." she explained, "Something must be affecting the ship's controls."

"And what do you think could be affecting it?" he asked.

"I am not entirely sure. It could be any number of things. Perhaps an ion storm, or a passing mass of some sort of hyper-charged atomic...thing. Anything."

Mac'hla floated into the rec room, still rather miffed by the lack of gravity.

They generated a banana and tried to make themself comfortable in the air.

"You're upside down, Lieutenant." Sulu smiled, floating by her with his head towards the floor.

"I suppose direction is subjective in zero gravity." she said, biting into the sweet fruit.

"How can you be so normal in this situation?" Lieutenant Kevin Riley asked, floating past.

"It would be illogical to be anything else." Mac'hla said, raising an eyebrow.

Riley bumped off Mac'hla, sending them both in opposite directions.

"Perhaps you should sing a song to make yourself feel better," Mac'hla teased, "How about 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen'?"

Sulu snorted and bit his lip.

Riley laughed, "No one is ever going to let me forget that, are they?"

"I certainly will not." Mac'hla assured him.

"Maybe you should run through the halls biting officers." Riley teased back, referring to the one time Mac'hla had bit Scotty during a deranged fit of confusion.

Mac'hla almost laughed, "In my defense, I was suffering from amnesia."

"I was... just suffering!" Riley protested.

"So were we." Sulu smirked.

"GRAVITY RESTORATION IN 3...2...1." The computer suddenly announced, and there was a loud thud as everyone in the ship hit the floor.

Mac'hla groaned as they fell head first into the floor. They rubbed their forehead where a knot would inevitably be forming.

Sulu winced as he sat, rubbing his tailbone, "Alright, well at least that problem is fixed."

Riley groaned and sat up, "I- damn. That was rough."

"You have a talent for understatement." Mac'hla muttered, pulling squashed banana from her hair, "I am going to be late for bridge duty."

Sulu stood shakily, struggling now that gravity had been restored, "I'll go with you."