Hostile Reception (Part 6)
Posted on Wed Apr 7th, 2021 @ 2:58pm by Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Lieutenant Dwight McCabe & Lieutenant Bela Swain & Ensign Satt
1,112 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission: Eye of the Storm
[PREVIOUS]
"We are going to the basement," she replied, looking confused. "We have to go out of the storage area to get to the elevator."
"Oh!" Bela exclaimed, easing her suspicion. "I did not realize that the opening was in a completely separate place."
[CONTINUED]
The woman nodded. "It leads off the lower level of this building, but you have to get down there first."
The man led them to the main staircase. "The elevators aren't working. Haven't since the storms hit." He opened the door and began to descend.
Frowning slightly, Satt was disappointed that he wouldn't have the opportunity to be reunited with his field kit. The Bolian enjoyed having it on him for emergencies. Holding his rifle loosely in his hands, he followed the others down.
"So, you have been surviving without any sort of power?" Bela asked. "That's awful. How long have things been like this?"
"What day is it?" the woman asked. "We don't have power, but we have battery-powered lights. And food. Built a fire on the concrete."
The doctor followed right behind Bela and the woman. Seeing that the security is on high alert, he decided to keep his guard up even if these villagers appear to be on the good side.
Bela told the woman the date and waited to hear what her response was.
The woman stared at her. "Really? We've been here for three weeks. The storms started three weeks before that."
"Six weeks of storms? That's not natural!" Bela exclaimed, putting her hands on the woman's shoulders. "How horrible! You have all been quite resilient in the face of these problems. You should be proud of yourselves. We're here to help. Please lean on us. We'll figure out the answer to this mystery and we'll help you as much as possible." She slightly increased the firmness of her grip trying to be reassuring to the woman.
The woman just nodded.
Raising a bald eyebrow, Satt regarded the settlers with a bit more respect. Six weeks is a long time to survive without comfort. Looking about the sparely decorated cave, he cut in. 'How many of you took shelter down here?' he asked in a raspy voice.
"Four of us here. There were a hundred that we know of who went down to the basement. But more could have joined them. And there are other buildings," the woman said. "They should know more below."
They'd gone down ten flights of stairs when the man in front opened a door. "This is as far as we go. The entrance to where the others are is down here."
He walked onto the basement level and called. "Yo ho! Peteron here!"
If Bolians could sweat, Satt would be from nervousness at this point. There seemed to be a lot of moving parts for the colonists, and not enough time to interrogate them as to how or why they were instigated. You're just being paranoid he thought, twisting his grip tighter on the rifle. But you still don't know who started all this.
Bela noticed Satt gripping his rifle more tightly. She whispered at him, "Don't worry, my friend. Everything is going to be alright. Just put it down for now."
Looking at the Counsellor for a moment, before nodding in return, and lowering his rifle to point at the floor, Satt let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding in. 'This all feels a little strange,' he offered to Swain.
"Of course it is. These people have been suffering for six weeks. None of what's happening can be natural and they're traumatized," Bela replied to Satt.
Peteron walked through what was clearly another storage area. In the back, he knocked on a door and cracked it open. "Yo ho! Peteron here." He paused before opening it further. "Stairs down," he said to the people behind him and began to descend.
The stairs were narrow and made of cement. There was no light.
Dwight was feeling uncomfortable with the darkness that greeted him. He moved closer to Satt and whispered in an Irish accent, "I hope this isn't a trap...going through all this. Now the claustrophobic feeling," he inspected the hard walls and the narrowness it provides. "Reminds me of the tour I took the medieval castles that were built in Ireland where there was a secret passage that had this narrow hallway, where the stairs led to a basement so that the people can escape because of a war with England. You probably never heard much of Earth's history...", he shook himself, forgetting that he is a Bolian.
Satt leaned in towards the Doctor, 'can't say I'm familiar with Ireland. But if they spent their time in places like these, they must have been brave people.'
“Yes, they were brave with ancient weapons...swords and a shield,” the doctor said, not feeling any safer.
The man in front began to whistle softly. It was an eerie sound that echoed in the darkness.
After several minutes, another whistler joined him.
A frisson of unease passed down Satt's spine at the whistling. He was sure he was being paranoid, but the Security officer had little to go on. It was the tunnels most likely. He had never been good in cramped spaces.
"That means they know we're here," the woman said. "Don't do anything sudden and we'll be fine."
"That's wonderful!" Bela replied, squeezing the woman's shoulder happily and then releasing it.
She then took Satt's hand and said, "See! Easy peasy! Nothing to worry about."
The woman looked at Bela quizzically. She'd never met anyone who was so touchy-feely.
The doctor wonder what is wrong with her behavior. Letting your guard down to people you don’t know can lead to trouble. “Have you been drinking Romulan ale?” He frowned at her, wondering if that is her normal behavior as he doesn’t know her that well. He almost chuckled at his question, but the nervousness has stopped him from changing emotions.
Bela laughed at the Doctor. "Of course not! I'm not sure you would like to see me when I've consumed alcohol."
The doctor raised his eyebrows, knowing that they cannot see his face expression. "I don't think you should," Dwight said.
"Yo ho, Peteron, who's with you? They're not from here," a voice called.
"Starfleet, they say. Here to help."
The voice laughed. "About damn time."
(To be continued...)
Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor
USS Calypso
Ensign Satt
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso
Lieutenant Dwight McCabe, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
USS Calypso
Lieutenant JG Mira Jayna
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Calypso
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