By Rada Dengar and Dabin Reece
100109.2300
Concurrent With The Only Step Towards Failure
-=Jelca’s Underground Lair on Sibalt=-
100109.2300
Concurrent With The Only Step Towards Failure
-=Jelca’s Underground Lair on Sibalt=-
Reece and Grace wandered the corridors, growing more aggravated by the minute. They found doors to closets, doors to cells, doors some sorts of labs, but no doors that actually lead to an exit.
“How do you get out of this dump!” Reece shouted finally.
“I think we were here before, I recognize that dead bug.” February said, as they came around a corner. She huddled up against Reece, who was huddled up against the wall, allowing maximum distance between themselves and the terrifying deceased insect.
“I think you’re right. Let’s go left this time.” Dabin said.
“We went left last time.”
“No, we went right.” Dabin replied. February just shrugged and followed him. They came up to a “T” in the hallway. They each turned in opposite directions, and February smacked right into… someone. Both women yelped, and February instinctively drew back and open palm in self defense, with every intent of knocking out whomever she had come across, before she realized it was Landry Steele.
“I found them! Salvek will be so pleased.” Landry squealed with glee. February dropped her palm.
“You! Steele! Where is logic?” Dabin asked.
“Logic?” She replied, dumbfounded.
“You know, Salvek?”
“Oh! Right! Come on, I’ll take you too him, if I can find him again. I took three lefts and two rights. Or was it three rights and two lefts?” Landry spun on her heel, with Dabin and February in tow, as she filled them in. “So, like everyone is looking for you two. T’Dara then had Pon Farr, and challenged me to a fight to the death over Micah Samson, but I really want Trev Sterling, so I accepted her challenge to show off for Trev but he didn’t go for it, and I don’t know why. Anyway, while we were fighting to the death, Salvek nerve pinched her and knocked her out, but that was only after she threw me on the ground and we accidentally found the hatch to this place.”
Despite his seemingly endless supply of energy, Dabin was actually finding listening to Landry exhausting.
“Then when we came in here, Samson found the weather thingie and he’s been trying to figure it out with Salvek, who’s trying to see if there is someone to contact Captain Zanh or the Alchemy. And unless I’m still lost, they should be right around the corner.”
Reece was never happier to see Salvek’s stoic face then now. Or at least he was never happier in the last couple months.
“Are you all right? Do you need medical attention?” Salvek asked immediately. He hoped the answer was no, since their medical representative was currently slumped over unconscious.
“Of course I require medical attention! They locked me in a dark room for I don’t know how long! I’m emotionally scarred. Hey, what are you doing Samson? Is that the weather net?”
“Yes sir, it is.” Micah shifted his position to obscure the panel from Dabin’s view. Reece ducked, trying to look under Micah’s arm.
“Can I help? Two heads are better than one, Micah!”
“No, sir. Thank you, I’ve got this.” Micah snapped sounding a bit more annoyed then he intended. This was his specialty. Micah knew what he was doing and the last thing he needed was anyone else screwing it up somehow.
“Suit yourself.” Dabin grinned and backed off. He knew the implication of what Micah just said. Basically Samson wanted him to back the heck off so Micah could show he had the situation under control, and if one of his officers needed a little bit of glory, Reece wasn’t going to deny him.
“Were you able to get a message to anyone?” Landry asked Salvek.
“I believe so. There is a network of speakers scattered throughout the woods, as well as tracking sensors. I tried to contact over an hour ago. I said we located some sort of command center and gave them our position. It looks like some of the crew is heading our way.” Salvek answered. He then turned to February. “Who is responsible for this? Do you know?”
“It was Jelca. She’s after Dabin for something one of his old hosts did.”
Salvek held up a hand, indicating February should stop. The rest of the crew fell to silence, and then they heard what Salvek heard, voices approaching. February and Dabin raised the weapons they still carried, as Salvek dragged T’Dara out of sight. A moment later, a face appeared at the hatch.
It was not an entirely happy face but under the circumstances it was a welcome one. Ashton Ledbetter stood quite indignant that Salvek had found what appeared to a warm, dry place on this otherwise horrible planet and hadn’t immediately come and gotten him. Though Salvek did question the usefulness of Mr. Ledbetter under these and admittedly many other circumstances, he knew that he’d been assigned to Commander Blane’s team and that TC could most certainly be of use to them in case they were to encounter any of Reece and Grace’s former captors.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Help me get in!” Ashton whined. “You may not have noticed but it’s damn cold out here!”
Reece and Grace lowered their weapons upon seeing who it was though the grating tone in Ashton’s voice did make Reece question the wisdom of his decision.
“It shouldn’t be as cold for too much longer!” Micah announced with a quiet sort of pride as he made a final adjustment to the weather controls while Ashton peered down through the hole and asked himself just how much warmer it’d have to be for him to be willing to undertake the potentially painful drop down.
Ashton did not however have the chance to consider that decision for long because very soon he felt his head pulled away from the hole where it was soon replaced by that of TC Blane.
“It is good to see you again, Commander.” Salvek said.
“Likewise.” TC answered with an efficiency Salvek appreciated. “Have you located Reece and Grace?”
“Indeed.” Salvek said, as Bru stepped up so that TC would be able to see her through the hole.
Though TC was not the type for large public displays of emotion, especially not of the soppier emotions, there was something of great relief in the look on his face upon seeing that Bru was alright that spoke very clearly of just how much his ‘official in every way but one’ little sister meant to him.
“It’s very good to see you.” He said, then asked with concern and with that certain tone which said that it’d be much better for anyone involved if all they’d done was to take her in and offer her a cup of hot cocoa. “Have you been hurt?”
“I’m fine.” Bru assured him with a soft smile that said she’d be much finer when she could get out of here and back into a nice pink room in a nice well heated ship.
“So am I, thanks for asking!” Reece announced as he stepped up to TC’s line of sight, sounding annoyed at not having been asked over even though he and everyone else knew that he’d only have been truly irritated if he’d caught TC worrying over him when there was a chance Bru was hurt.
“There, that should do it.” Micah declared with just a hint of triumph in his voice and suddenly the storms them had stopped and some of the clouds above them had even started clearing.
The team still outside of the hatch looked up in appreciation to the sky. The world hadn’t instantly changed from frozen to paradise, what with the ground still full of snow and all, but any change was a good one and so suddenly things were very much looking up.
Salvek was however not a man to believe in luck and certainly never one to believe that just because things were going well that they couldn’t start going bad just as quickly. In fact logic dictated that if there were a finite number of possible things that could go wrong and none had happened yet that that was when you should be most cautious.
Quickly he turned to February. “Lieutenant Grace, you said that it was Jelca Rued who kidnapped you as an act or retribution against one of the Reece symbiont's former hosts, did you not?”
“Yes sir.” Bru answered, nodding that she did.
“Do you believe it is likely that she will resume pursuit of Commander Reece once she realizes you have escaped? And of you as well?”
“Yes sir, she’s made her intentions pretty clear.” Bru answered with irritation about the situation masking her real concern. “She wants to get to Dabin and she wants to use me to do it.”
Salvek accepted this information then quickly began to incorporate it into his plans as he looked around their underground location, which would make retreat next to impossible in the case of an attack from any of the nearby corridors. He then looked up to the hatch again.
“Then it would be wise to move you both onto the surface.”
“You mean we have to go out in the cold?” Reece half asked and half complained though much to his annoyance he knew Salvek was probably right to suggest it.
“If Jelca wishes to confront you again, she will come here. If she feels here compound is compromised, she will come here. Either way, she will come here. Commander Blane, do we have any indication of her numbers?”
TC thought for a moment and slowly shook his head. “If she had others here with her, she kept them hidden. Was there anyone else with you?” He asked, nodding towards Dabin and February.
“Just the two guards we escaped from.”
As Salvek considered his next move, Jariel, Ryn and Dengar joined the rest of their team inside the hatch. The Vedek went straight to February, and hugged her. “I’m sorry Bru, I should have noticed you were gone.”
“That’s okay. You were exhausted; I’m not surprised you slept right through it.” She replied.
“Vedek,” Salvek began, as he strolled slowly up to Jariel with his hands clasped behind his back. “How well can you climb trees?”
“Trees? Well, that reminds me of a funny story actually. When I was just seven Vedek Timal sent me out to trim the low lying branches that were hanging over the walking paths. While I was out I noticed there was a nest near the top of one of the trees that was barely hanging on.” Salvek listened intently, waiting for a break in the story to issue his next order. “It had stormed the night before and the wind was fierce. I’m guessing the nest had become dislodged during the storm. Anyway, without even thinking about it, I just scaled the tree and moved the nest to a more secure branch. The eggs in the nest….”
“I will consider that a yes, thank you.” Salvek finally interrupted. “I would like you to scale a nearby tree to serve as a lookout, to give us advanced warning if Jelca returns. The Universal Sign will allow us to communicate without our voices being overheard. Ensign Steele will assist you.”
Blane had already begun pulling cable and fashioned a makeshift rope, which he tossed up to Ashton Ledbetter, who was still on the ever warming surface.
“I do not know how much time we have,” Salvek continued. “Commander Blane, please take Reece and Grace to the surface, and try to find a safe place to keep them until Jelca can be apprehended. Everyone else will assist me in looking for items down here that we can against Jelca. Mr. Samson, please continue working with the weather net to see what else we can do with it.”
Salvek turned to leave, with Sterling, Dengar and Ryn in tow, but halted when Samson shouted. “Wait! Commander Salvek, sorry, but, what about T’Dara?”
Salvek looked at the nurse’s still lifeless body. “Hopefully she will not awaken until we have the chance to move her to a medical facility.”
“But what if she does?” Samson asked nervously.
“It is unclear what state she will be in if she does wake up.” Salvek again turned to leave.
“That’s it?” Samson asked incredulously.
Trev, Rada and Lara’s eyes all darted back and forth between Salvek and Samson, as if they were watching a tennis match. “We could restrain her, if you are fearful of what she may do? But I do not relish that course of action.”
Micah’s shoulders slumped. There was no way he was going to accept tying up T’Dara as a solution. “No.” He mumbled.
“Very well.” Finally, Salvek and his team got underway.
*********
Lt. Commander Rada Dengar
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
&
Commander Dabin Reece
Chief Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Lt. Commander Rada Dengar
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
&
Commander Dabin Reece
Chief Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012