Tiberius IV: The Storm Passes, part 1

Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2010 @ 7:27am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine & Commander John Sheridan & Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola

940 words; about a 5 minute read

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

ON

Samantha was monitoring the team on the surface -- or as much as she could with her ultrasound scanner. So far things looked good. The giant eel-like creature seemed to be circling around, but hadn't done anything yet.

Damon leaned heavily back on his chair as the group continued to pour through data to try and punch through the static caused by the storm. To say he was frustrated with the task would be a vast understatement.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw something change on the panel he was monitoring. He leaned in and looked again at the pod's anemometer. It didn't change again for several seconds, making Damon think it was just his imagination at play but, sure enough, the number gauging the exterior wind speeds began dropping off dramatically.

"I think the storm is dying." He said to the others. Their relief was evident on their faces as they once again worked at the comm station. The icon showing a solid communication link to the Orion suddenly started flickering to life. "It's good enough." He said with a smile "Patch me through."

The link opened up with a quiet squeel and the sound of static. "Away team to Orion, please respond."

"This Sheridan, Report"

Damon grinned widely and ran his hand over the top of his head. "Glad to hear from you Commander. We request immediate evac. Our firefly went down in the desert and we have injured. The sand storm prohibits both communications and safe retrieval, so if we have any chance of getting out of here it's before the sands kick up again."

Sam walked over to Damon and stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders as she listened.

"Got it, we have your location and are sending another firefly now. Medical is standing by for your injured."

"Copy that Commander. We'll be waiting for dust off." He closed the channel and chuckled to himself at the irony of his last words.

====

Outside, Kaj felt well enough to don some semblance of sand-resistant gear and cradle the rifle he had been given while looking at the sand. As far as he was concerned being in orbit aboard the Orion was about as close as he wanted to get to the local fauna.

This thought was foremost on his mind when he spied a hump in the sand that shifted and was definitely not the result of the usual drift. Bringing the weapon to his shoulder he shouted to the nearest marine that could hear him.

"Hey, somebody get over here, I think one of those sand shark things is up to something!"

Allan heard the call and rushed over to where the Lieutenant was standing. He raised his weapon and lightly placed his finger over the safety. "Better go get our scientist." He suggested to Kaj, as he was also unable to figure out what it was doing.

Sam walked outside to see what Kaj was yelling about. "What's going on?" she asked.

Kaj pointed down to where the hump was shifting in a decidedly non wind-influenced fashion.
"One of those snake things is up to something down there, that hump rose up on its own less than 30 seconds ago. I don't like it Skipper, the sooner we can get a dropship down here the better, and I would feel better about sending the Naga down to cover us too."

"We don't need the Naga. We're fine with just the firefly. The creature, whatever it is, doesn't appear to be hostile. It's been reacting to the sound waves I've been sending. It hasn't reacted in any hostile way to the team."

"Hostile or not, I'm glad it's over there and we are on solid ground Commander. I wouldn't want to test a working theory." He lowered his gun and turned away from the sands.

"I don't know. I'd love to see it up close and find out what it was and how it behaved," Sam said, looking in the direction of the sand. She, too, could see signs of it here and there as it moved about.

Kaj rolled his eyes a bit, but didn't say anything. He knew if he pointed out the extreme danger of tangling with whatever the creature was, she would probably point out his own proclivity towards breakneck speeds.

She thought about heading down to the sand to have a closer look... She reached out with her telepathy to Damon. ~I want to go down to the surface and have a look at the creature in the sand.~ It might be her only chance to get a good look at it.

"No!" Damon said out loud from his seat eliciting the surprised looks from a number of Marines sitting near him. He shook his head to them dismissively as he quickly rose from his seat and ran to the door.

He slammed the door panel with his palm in frustration and he waited until there was just enough space for him to squeeze down the ramp. Looking up he saw Allen patrolling the perimeter.

"Riley." Damon said in a loud enough voice to capture his attention. "Where's the Commander?"

Allen quickly pointed in the direction he just came from. "Last I saw she was near the sands' edge."

"Damnit." he mumbled to himself as he started running in the direction.

(To be continued...)

Commander Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Orion

Marine Captain Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan
Executive Officer
USS Orion

Lieutenant Kaj MIkkola
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Orion

Staff Sergeant Allan Riley (NPC)
Marine Squad Leader
USS Orion

 

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