Tiberius IV: Confessions, part 1

Posted on Thu Apr 1st, 2010 @ 7:08am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

1,450 words; about a 7 minute read

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

ON

Sam and Trent went ahead of the group to let the rest of the team know what was going on.

Sam paused outside the pod to catch her breath. The adrenalin she'd been using since the climb down was gone and the pain was increasing. She put a hand on the side of the pod and slowly stepped through the door.

Damon had been monitoring the sub frequencies, trying to punch a radio signal through the storm. When the large door slid open from the outside he had to cover his eyes from the sand that blew in almost instantly. Once the door was closed he removed his hand to see Samantha standing in the door.

"Glad you're back. We've been trying to raise a comm signal, but so far can only manage a hundred feet or so. The pilots okay?" He asked her.

She nodded. "They're coming with the doctor and the others." She walked slowly over to the science station, trying not to show how much her ribs hurt. She carefully sat down. "Lizzie, get some mats set out for the two pilots so the doctor can work on them."

Lizzie, who had been running atmospheric scans, got up and went into the secondary room to set it up as a triage center.

Sam had placed the sand in easy reach, so she pulled it out and set it in a compartment to begin scanning it.

That done, she leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment. "We need to keep monitoring the storm. There's a good chance the two ships sank into the sand." She turned her head to look at Damon. "I saw the firefly go under. Something in the sand... it looked like an eel or a snake or something. Big. We need to check it out. Then call the Orion to pick us up."

She hoped he would be more interested in what was in the sand and not notice that she was favoring her ribs. Or that he'd put it down to weariness and not ask too many questions. He wouldn't be very happy with her if he knew she was injured.

Then again, part of her wanted to walk over to him and ask him to hold her. Probably not a good idea. She was the skipper, after all, and her ribs hurt a lot.

Damon was indeed too distracted to notice her veiled pain. His eyes had quickly found their way back to the comm panel in front of him where a few officers had began fiddling with the mechanics. "I would rather get in contact with the Orion before you go off and get yourself into some trouble. First things first; we secure a ride out of here and THEN you can go put your life on the line with some sand snakes." Although he wasn't looking in her direction, the grin was still more than apparent.

Sam shook her head. "We cane here to find out what happened to the two ships. Now we know they probably sank into the sand. It's just a matter of finding out for sure -- and checking to see if there are any survivors." Since Damon was busy, she carefully pushed herself out of the chair and headed for the replicator. She replicated some bandages to wrap around her ribs and headed for a back room to change and to wrap herself as best she could.

The climbing harness fell away easily enough when she unhooked the carabiners. But getting out of the other anti-grav unit was harder. It was snug to begin with, and she'd used it to help support her ribs. She moved as slowly and gently as she could, pausing every time a sharp pain stabbed through her -- which came more often than she cared to admit. Finally, she wiped the tears from her face, gathered her composure, and reached out to Damon telepathically. ~If you're not busy, I could use your help...~

Damon was reading a report on the pods power consumption when he 'heard' Samantha. He was instantly confused as to why she wouldn't just ask him in person, but there was something about the way it 'sounded' in his head that put him off. He was worried. His last glimpse of her was when she turned into one of the rooms of the pod; it may have been the armory. He quickly dropped the report on the table in front of him and left to find Samantha.

As there was little other space provided on the pod, he was quick to find her.

"Sam?" He asked with a concerned tone as he approached her. "Are you okay?"

She was still leaning against the bulkhead, head bowed. When she heard his voice, she looked up and took a deep breath, knowing he was not going to be happy with her. "I bruised my ribs and I can't get this contraption off," she said in frustration, indicating her anti-grav pack. Almost in an undertone she added, "And I need help wrapping my ribs." She gave him a beseeching glance as she struggled a bit to stand upright.

"Aw, Sam!" He said in a cross between censure and concern as he moved quickly to help her out of the harness.

The 'help' was akin to ripping off a Band-Aid as every movement was met with a wince or a hiss of breath. He felt terrible more than angry that she had managed to find herself in this kind of situation. It didn't help that everything he did to remove the equipment was in his mind like some kind of abuse that he was inflicting upon her rather than help and support.

After what seemed like an agonising couple of minutes for both of them, the harness was finally free and summarily dropped to the ground in a heap. The ACE bandage was already in the corner of the room, so he quickly retrieved it and began wrapping it around her, loose at first but tighter with each rotation.

"We both know that your ribs aren't just bruised." The words came out nearly devoid of emotion, though he certainly felt them inside.

Sam had said little during the ordeal, using all her will to keep from crying out while Damon helped her get out of her anti-grav apparatus. The pain was slowly easing, at least a little, with the bandage. She gave him a half-apologetic look. "I hoped." Then she leaned forward and lay her forehead against his shoulder. "I was there to rescue to wounded pilots. I couldn't become a casualty myself."

Damon wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held them as tight as he could without putting her body through any more stress. His head tilted down as he gently kissed the top of her head. "I know. You did what a Captain should."

Though he praised her for the display, he couldn't feel any worse. It seemed every time they went on an away mission she was put in some sort of danger that could have been avoided had he acted differently. He couldn't help but feel that the pain she was feeling now was because of some deficiency on his part.

Some of his emotions began to seep into Sam's mind. She looked up and put a hand on his cheek. "No. I was the best person to go down the cliff. I had the training and the skill. It wasn't your fault I got caught by a gust of wind and knocked into the side of the cliff. It would have happened whether you were with me or not. On Tiberius X, I would have gone into the caves whether you were there or not. Nobody knew there were poisonous rodents. Who would have expected them to be there after all this time? Besides, I got out fine. You could not have changed the outcome there." She paused to look in his eyes for a moment, very serious now. "However, on the pirate planet, if you had not been outside the cave I would not be here now. I would have died in that cave. I'm here now because you didn't come with me. Damon, I'm an archaeologist. I've been in dozens of caves. What I do can be dangerous. It's not your fault there is danger. It's not your fault I got hurt today."

Sam kissed him gently, wishing she could stop him from feeling guilty. She'd really been quite lucky all three times. And she was very glad Damon had been there.

(To be continued...)

Marine Captain Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Commander Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Orion

 

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