Tiberius IV: Down and Out, part 2

Posted on Sat Mar 20th, 2010 @ 2:56am by Commodore Samantha York & Commander John Sheridan & Colonel Damon Raine & Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola & Lieutenant Commander Karma Sinclair & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen

904 words; about a 5 minute read

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

ON

[OLD]

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..."

[NEW]

However his time to get things done suddenly became rather short, for the wreckage suddenly heaved and started to sink. Kaj resorted to a bit more extreme methods, slapping Christian with his good arm and shouting instead.
"Petty Officer Christian Vital get the hell up!"

When that didn't work Kaj instead unstrapped Christian as fast as he could, the adrenaline momentarily overcoming the pain in his shoulder. When he was fully unstrapped he reached under the seat to get Christian's "crash pack", then moved back over to retrieve his own as well as the stowed TR-116 rifle.

Cradling it in his left arm, he re-took his straddling position between the seats and looked up at the glass, which somehow had escaped breaking in the impact. Since his good shoulder was occupied with the rifle he had to use his other arm to hit his commbadge, making him start his mayday as with a grunt.
"Ergh.. Kaj to anybody listening, both of us are alive but situation is deteriorating... require hasty evac!"

He then took aim and pulled the trigger on the TR-116 twice, blowing out the biggest pane but nearly knocking him back. Slinging the rifle as best he could over the two crash packs he started the cumbersome and painful process of hauling Christian out of his seat with too much gear and only one good shoulder.

====

Inside the cave, Sam felt the vibrations from the crash reverberate through the cavern. "What was that?" she asked Damon. Not waiting for an answer, she turned and ran back to the pod, not bothering to do more than throw her scarf around her face. As she climbed into the pod she asked, "What crashed?"

"The firefly," Lizzie replied. "They sent out a call for help but there was nothing we could do. We can't get in touch with them now."

Sam thought quickly. They would have to send someone over the side of the cliff. It was the only chance they had of getting to the two pilots before the ship sunk into the sand. Sam was an expert climber. Even through she knew it was dangerous, she was pretty sure she could make it down safely. But she'd need another person to go with her...

"Damon, do you have anyone who's an expert climber?" With two people, the chance of getting down safely and rescuing the pilots increased dramatically. With two, they'd have a chance to succeed.

He thought for a moment before responding. "I think I might actually. Private Kushner was saying something about climbing recently." He turned from facing Samantha and looked into the group of Marines huddled around the comm station. "Trent!" He called out when he couldn't see the Marine.

Trent heard the call from the back of the pod and he quickly weaved his way through the mass of Marines. Once through the men and women, he stepped up to the Captain. "Sir?"

"Trent, when we were working on the Argo together the other day you mentioned something about rock climbing, right?"

Trent nodded "Free soloing, Sir. It's one of my hobbies."

"You any good?" Damon asked.

Trent shrugged "Free soloing has a pretty low tolerance for screwing up. I would say yes."

Damon turned to face Samantha again. "I think he fits the bill. How many more should go? Probably only a few, don't want to sacrifice time"

Sam thought quickly before replying. "I think two will be enough. Trent and I will go down." She looked at Trent. "We'll go assisted. We'll need the added safety of the ropes this trip. The wind at the top of the cliff will be treacherous. Anti-grav packs as well. I want you harnessed up and ready to go in five minutes."

She turned to Damon apologetically. "I want the two with the best chance at survival to go down and I'm probably one of the best we have here."

Damon was torn between being happy that she wasn't going into the cave and concerned because he wouldn't be going with her. He could climb well enough, but he also knew that he would only slow the team down if he went with them. After a moment of running the idea through his head he finally nodded. "Alright. I'm no fan of this idea, but people need your help. Options are limited here."

(To be continued…)

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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