One of Our Scientists Is Missing (part 6)

Posted on Mon Feb 15, 2021 @ 10:49am by Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon

1,131 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Up the Beanstalk
Timeline: MD -01

[PREVIOUSLY]

It did not take but a split second for Ace to join Bri. "So, ideas as to who is tapping into Terran fairy tales?"

"Not yet," she said. "But I want to find out."

[CONTINUED]

At the shuttle, Travis had pulled out the climbing kit. It wasn’t much more effort to grab a pair of anti-grav boots for each of them to make the climb even easier. Travis grabbed the survival kit also, just in case. It had rations and water and shelter if they needed it, among other items. With three of them they would be cozy, but they could make it work.

"Good idea," she said to Travis. "I hope we won't need them, but I'm pretty sure now that Alanna went up there."

Ace put on his anti-grav boots. "I can't wait to see what trouble she has gotten herself and us into. Should be fun!" Ace responded very happily. The thrill of something new excited him.

Brianthe looked at Ace, surprised by his enthusiasm for something other than chasing women. Her boots on, she walked around a bit, testing them. "Okay, I'm ready to climb." She was grateful this once to be wearing her uniform and not a skirt like she preferred when off-duty.

Ace looked questioningly back at Brianthe, wondering what her surprised look was for. "Come on, let's get this started." He turned on his anti-grav boots and lent a hand to Bri. "Going up!" he announced, waiting to rush their advancement up the vine.

Travis shook his head. “Use your safety rope,” he reminded, threading them together. “The boots may let us go up and down, but they won’t be any use against any wind we might run into up there. I’ll go first.” He pulled out an ice axe/hammer and hung some pitons ready on his harness. “Ace, you take up the rear anchor position with the Lieutenant in the middle.”

Turning back to the beanstalk, Travis started up the beanstalk, progressively setting anchor points as they went up, with Ace pulling them out and handing them back up as they moved along. It was slower than just free climbing, but safer, and kept them tied to the stalk and not getting blown off into thin air.

Bri kept her eyes on the beanstalk. Travis had the lead, and Ace would make sure she didn't go astray, so she was able to look for seeds and sprouts she could slip in her bag for later. She wasn't going to let an opportunity like this get away.

Originally, Ace had intended to object to Travis because the man got his panties all in a bunch at the slightest bit of fun. He wondered how in the world Travis existed. Following all of the rules must be exceedingly dull and cause permanent constipation, which must be why Travis was the way he was. The other, more important reason for not objecting, was that Ace would have the opportunity to be beneath Bri and admire her fine derriere. And, if luck favored him, he might get better views or the ability to catch her from a fall. That would be most gratifying, he decided.

Travis’ boots hummed, raising him slowly up the vine, about ten feet of rope between him and Brianthe below. He kept his hands on the vine, climbing up it, placing and replacing pitons should someone’s boots fail. He used his climbing axe to hack at branches and leaves that got in the way, sending them tumbling down to earth below, off to the side so they wouldn’t hit his climbing partners. He took his job seriously to keep his away team safe. Officers tended to not think about such things, so someone on the away team had to, and that was the security crewman’s job.

The botanist admired the way Travis made the climb safe. It was better than letting Ace's thoughts get too loud. Did he have any idea how much he projected? Probably not. Or maybe it was just that he was below her and not bothering to keep his thoughts to himself. Well, she couldn't keep him from watching, but a peevish part of her wanted him to see what he wasn't going to get. So she got into a rhythm that let her body sway as she climbed. It actually made the climb easier. Taunting Ace was an added bonus.

It took about an hour to get to the first wisps of cloud. There were some broken leaves, but no Alanna.

Ace watched Bri as she allowed her body to writhe. Oh, my! She really is a feisty one! She wants me badly! Otherwise, she would not be doing that. He smiled knowingly to himself. So, she gets high off of adrenaline. This will be fun.

Bri had a bag full of beans by the time the clouds were thick around them. She paused to pull out her tricorder. "I'm not getting any readings," she said to the other two. "The tricorder's not working."

"How is that possible? Is your tricorder defective?" Ace called up. He then pulled out his and said, "Mine is on the fritz, too."

"Must be this place," Bri said. She turned to the beanstalk to see if it worked there, but the beanstalk was gone. "Uh oh."

Ace grinned. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" he asked, clearly pleased with the situation. "Jack is now Alanna. Perhaps I am the golden harp? Should I start singing for everyone?" He snickered, humored with the continuing similarities to the story.

Brianthe was slowly becoming aware of a ringing in her ears. No, she corrected herself. Not a ringing like a noise, but a ringing silence.

She looked at Ace. "What?" What was that about Jack? The almost ever-present lounge lizard thoughts weren't there. She put a hand to her head. "Something's wrong."

Travis was staring at his nonfunctioning tricorder and holding onto the limp climbing rope they had been using. He didn’t like this one bit. Slipping the tricorder away, he pulled his hand phaser, peering into the mist. “The power cells on these boots won’t last too long this high up,” he pointed out to the others. “We should descend now.”

Ace growled at Travis. "First things first! We have to figure out what's wrong with Brianthe. I thought the safety of the crew was first." What a hypocrite! Moving to Brianthe, he touched her hand on her head lightly. "What's wrong? Tell me what's going on, if you can," he asked in a concerned voice.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant (jg) Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer

Petty Officer Third Class Travis Nottingham
Security officer

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Assistant Chief Science Officer & Botanist

 

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