Tiberius IV: Down and Out, part 1

Posted on Fri Mar 19th, 2010 @ 10:21am by Commodore Samantha York & Commander John Sheridan & Colonel Damon Raine & Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola & Lieutenant Commander Karma Sinclair & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen

1,136 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: Tiberius IV
Timeline: current

ON

Sam stepped out of the pod and looked around. The wind was blowing constantly, blurring the horizon in a sandy haze. The sand felt like fine powder, quickly covering everyone in a red-orange paint.

Sam covered her mouth and nose with a scarf to help her breathe. The powder filled her lungs and made her cough several times before she cleared out the powder.

Damon followed her out. Instantly he was likewise buffeted by the harsh dry winds and he quickly pulled up the cloth sheath found on all of the Marines desert fatigues. He adjusted his sunglasses to make sure as little sand as possible would find its way inside the lenses. "You alright?" He asked Sam loud enough to be heard over the wind.

"So far so good," she replied, grinning. She began to walk toward the edge of the cliff to see if there was a way down, but the wind was so strong that she knew it would be far too dangerous to risk any but the most experienced climber.

She glanced at Damon to gauge his reaction and headed for the nearest cave. She needed to get inside and find out if there was a way through the cliff to the ground below. It was either that, or they would have to wait for the wind to die down before attempting to climb down the Cliffside.

The cave opening was small, but the inside was considerably larger than Sam expected. Once inside, she shook off as much sand as she could and took out her tricorder to scan the cavern.

Damon followed after her with a frown at her purpose, not that one could be seen behind the coverings. Once out of the wind, he pulled down the cloth covering his mouth. "Sam?"

She walked over to him and smiled reassuringly. "It's safe. The cave is empty: nothing alive. There appears to be a network of caves that go down from here. They should be safer than trying to go over the cliff." It was part explanation and part plea for understanding. She knew he wasn't comfortable with her being in yet another cave, not after the last two and she didn't want to worry him. If the wind wasn't so strong, she would have tried the cliff, out of consideration for Damon, but the cave was by far the safest option.

Knowing Samantha's recent luck with caves, the cliff face looked much safer and decidedly preferred over another trip underground. Damon didn't like this option at all. "I really hope you are just kidding me. This looks safer to you?" He pointed his hand into the darkness that would be their path.

Sam nodded. "Yes. I don't want to get blown off the cliff. I'd much rather take my chances under ground. At least I won't fall to my death. Besides, there's nothing alive in here, so it should be relatively safe."

He turned his head back to the cave entrance. The blowing wind was gusting strong enough that some of the Marines outside had to plant their feet deep into the rock and sad to prevent loss of footing. Damon had to admit that the climbing conditions were less then optimal, but still, he was less inclined to have Samantha surrounded by rock again. He shook his head and turned it back to her. "Please tell me that I can make you reconsider."

She stepped closer and placed a hand on his chest and looked at him somberly. "What if someone from one of the previous ships survived and made it to the cave? We'll need to look to be sure. I can't scan very far in these rocks, so I can't be sure someone isn't alive somewhere below us." She gave him a hopeful smile. "You'll be right beside me so nothing bad will happen."

====

High above the people on the ground Kaj and Christian kept watch with their eyes and scanners, though it was mostly relegated to the latter since the sand was being blown in such quantity that using their eyes for anything other than monitoring in-cockpit gauges was useless.
They were about to perform a slow turn when their eyes and ears were assaulted by red flickering warnings and alarm klaxons.
As the accompanying flurry of button-mashing and hard adjustment ensued, the firefly started to shake and groan, and the two had to shout to announce what they were doing.
"Lateral thrusters slow to respond, attempting to shunt to a secondary intake!"
"Zero response from primary injectors, trying to clear, nothing!"
"Nose up, nose up!

Though they tried, the Firefly emitted an awful groan and thud, then started to spiral towards the sand, booming reports followed by blackened jets of sand issuing from the maneuvering thrusters as they tried to regain control.
Inside Kaj was broadcasting their plight on all channels.
"This is El Toro, we've lost all flight control and anti-grav systems, we're going down and LZ Beta-5, repeat El Toro is going down at LZ Beta FiURK!"

The last transmission was cut abruptly due to the sickening crunch that was made by the cockpit of the firefly careening into the cliff-face. The transport started to spin down like a horrible pantomime of a maple seed in summer, eventually hitting sand tail-first with a chest-rattling boom and a fountain of sand that was tossed into the wind.
Inside the cockpit Kaj and Christian sat slumped in their chairs like discarded rag dolls. Kaj started to wake, shaking his head to clear the haze that was rivaled only by Romulan Ale. Looking around he was greeted by the familiar sights, chorus of sounds, and bouquet of smells that accompanied an impact like the one that had just happened.

As he tried to un-strap Kaj winced and howled through his teeth. His right shoulder felt like it was on fire every time he attempted to move it. Using his only good arm he managed to un-strap himself and through a few manipulations got himself into a kneeling position on his now upright seat.
As bad as Kaj was, Christian looked worse. Though he was still breathing it was rattling and his skin was pale.
Kaj struggled to his feet and straddled both his and Christian's positions, then tried tor rouse him by shaking and talking loudly.
"Chris, Christian..."

(To be continued...)

OFF

Commander Samantha York
Chief Science Officer
Acting CO
USS Orion

Marine Captain Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant JG Kaj Mikkola
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant Karma Sinclair
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant JG Leanne Bowen
Chief Medical Officer
USS Orion

Petty Officer 1st Class Christian Vital (NPC)
Shuttle/Runabout Pilot
USS Orion

Lieutenant JG Del'ore (NPC)
Wing Safety Officer
USS Orion

Ensign Elizabeth Jackson (NPC)
Botanist
USS Orion

 

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