Answers...at Last (part 1)

Posted on Tue Sep 1st, 2020 @ 4:18am by Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn & Lieutenant Trei Jansum & Lieutenant Remy Boudreau & Lieutenant JG Tiskatee Troilon & Lieutenant JG Tessa Nicoles

1,180 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Caverns of the mind
Location: Various

ON

Amber had stabilized Karl Pinder, the human they found in the caves, long before the others returned. To keep from wondering what was going on, she ran a scan to get a baseline for the doctor.

His breath ragged in his ears, Boudreau reflected he was fit, but he wasn't three-hikes-in-a-day fit. Still, at least they hadn't had to carry a patient between them on the walk back. Nodding to his fellow officers as they approached the now-familiar cave mouth, he stopped a moment to catch his breath.

"Y'all not going need physicals... I certify Yew after all this." Nicoles said in between breaths.

"Okay, take a moment to calm ourselves." Troilon was almost calm in her breathing. "I am suggesting wider angle stun in burst to knock as many out as we can in the shortest time." She explained. "Wish I had thought to bring a couple; or half dozen, Stun grenades." She shrugged. "We work with what we got right?

'That's right Troilon,' replied Boudreau after he caught his breath. 'So long as we keep our wits about us, we should be able to cope with what these caves can throw at us.'

"I am checking the population with the probes we put down earlier and have a good idea how to do this, hit both sides of the Cavern and stun them. "Troilon started. "Then we get our people and high tail it back to the station, after we get to mouth we transport the people to station maybe?"

Boudreau nodded his understanding, 'that sounds like a plan. I take it Doctor Nicoles is with you? You're the specialist in all this after all.'

"If you do not mind?" Troilon asked. "She is not the best with a phaser from her targeting reports, barely made her rating."

"Ah am a doctor not a soldier y'all know." Nicoles defended herself. "But even in this small confines I think I can hit a target."

"If you are ready we should get this over and out quickly?"

Boudreau smiled and said gently, 'it was less about your ability to defend yourself, Doctor, and more about my ability to look out for you.' He looked at the mouth of the cave, his smile fading, 'I'm ready, let's go get our people.'

"Doc and I will go around to our position." Troilon nod to the Lieutenant. "Okay Doc you have my back; please stay behind me for this." She instructed. "five minutes Lt. Boudreau. No need to really use comms, simple two prong in that time."

Troilon moved ahead with the rifle at the ready as she made her way around to the mouth of the cavern with care; the Doctor right behind her.

He nodded his understanding and moved off to their left, tricorder out, phaser held loosely in his right hand. As he approached the yawning maw of the cave, he kept an eye out for any reptilian bio-signs.

Boudreau was hyper-alert as he made his way down through the main cave entrance. Every drip of water, the sound of his breath in his ears, the crunch of his boots against the cave floor registered with him. Watching the other two disappear down the right-hand passage, he checked the setting on his phaser once more, and advanced slowly down to the leftmost passage.

Counting down the time from when they had entered the cave, Boudreau made his way as stealthily as possible down towards the main cavern where they had seen evidence of worship previously. As he came closer to the opening on to the chamber, he slowed, closing up with the wall, watching for Troilon and Nicoles' lifesigns.

Troilon was just getting near the mouth of the Cavern when she noted a person 'on guard' and she needed him out of the way. Looking about for a way to get a rock or something to distract him she spotted a slight movement, a Lizard like thing that was camoflaged with the stone coloring. She smiled and with fast reflexes and a little jump she snatched it off the cave wall.

The guard saw a Rock Crawler; some good eats and bent down to catch it... he never saw the boot that connected with his head knocking him out.

With no other hindrance when the Time went off Troilon stepped out and open fire with a wider angle higher stun setting. The wider beam allowed her to sweep the crowd and setting enough to assure they stayed down. Those few moving were her first targets...

Seeing and hearing the Orion officer making her attack on his right, Boudreau hefted his phaser, setting it to a wide dispersal pattern, and raked his side of the cavern. Most of the humanoids in front of him were down asleep, so he had little trouble.

He advanced cautiously, sweeping his phaser as widely as possible with each pass, trying to get into every nook and cranny. Boudreau remained wary as he stepped over the stunned bodies he left in his wake.

His circuit complete, he adjusted his tricorder to begin picking up the lifesigns of their fellow crewmembers. He signalled to Troilon and Nicoles his actions.

Trei came out from the corner and punched Boudreau in the face, loosening a few teeth. His mind may have been suppressed, but his muscled remembered his Starfleet training as a security officer, causing more damage than the average caveman would.


Saved only by the hard shell of the Hazmat suit's visor, Boudreau nevertheless went sprawling at the unexpected assault by the Security officer. He had no time to process how Jansum had been missed by the tricorder. The Science officer scrambled about on the floor, trying to locate his phaser.


"NO!...Bad Boy.." Nicoles said as she saw the man attacking the Science Chief. She hit the target in the center of the back for a full two seconds and watched him fall.

"Ah think Ah shot the Security chief." Nicoles stated.

Troilon took her aim and was stunning the tribe as she noticed a Japanese woman ; small in stature and her uniform now changed to be more like the skins worn by the Natives. Troilon shot her.

"Our local Engineer is also down." Troilon reported as she put the last few of the Natives down. "All clear..."

=^= Nicoles to Research Station we have located and taken-down our people will be bringing them to cave entrance for local transport if you all don't mind? =^= The Doctor reported as she tripped on a rock she stepped on and her ankle hurt from it. "This is not the time for a ... she managed to put weight on it. "Okay I will check it at station."

The Rock crawler had a taste after being stepped on as the wounded creature scurried away.


(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn
Executive Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Remy Boudreau
Chief Science Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant JG Tessa Nicoles
Medic
USS Aurora

Lieutenant JG Tiskatee Troilon
Security Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Trei Jansum
Chief Security Officer
USS Aurora

RSS Feed