One of Our Scientists Is Missing (part 9)

Posted on Tue Mar 9, 2021 @ 6:01am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon & Ensign Jessica Mayhew

1,084 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Up the Beantstalk and Back Again
Timeline: MD -01 to MD 01

[PREVIOUSLY]

That was the second time he used an innuendo and backed off. She liked it, but she also wondered why the change. She glanced at Bri. She'd have to ask if her friend knew. "As long as this is not a precursor to a lynching." She desperately wanted to get off this cloud and get away from the silence -- and back where she could feel Jason again. "Be gentle," she quipped.

[CONTINUED]

Ace's eyes widened further. Why in the world is she flirting with me? He choked down several responses that would have continued the innuendo, the first being, I'll use just the right amount of force. However, he scolded himself about flirting with Jason's woman. Bri was fair game, but Jason was his friend, or certainly a good acquaintance, and the bro code demanded respect here. "As long as we keep you connected, everything should be fine." Ace purposely kept focused on the rope and averted his eyes and brain from her physique.

Alanna looked at Brianthe and raised an eyebrow. This was not the Ace she'd met before.

Brianthe shrugged. This was the first time she'd seen Ace pull back and had no idea why.

When she was safely connected, Alanna asked. "Any idea which way to start?"

"Pick an edge, any edge? Did anyone leave breadcrumbs?" Ace quipped.

"Not this time. I didn't think I'd need them," Alanna replied. "Besides, they get lost in the mist." She glanced in the direction her friends went, then turned around so they would move away from the house. "This way."

Ace allowed himself to be tugged along as Alanna led the way. After all, any new experience was likely to be worthwhile, though he wanted to get back so he could have dinner with Bri, and hopefully dessert, too.

They went mostly in one direction, feeling along to make sure the ground didn't drop out below them. The further they went from the trees, the higher and thicker the mist.

Alanna didn't know what she was looking for, but the fog was a good sign. At least she hoped it meant they were getting closer to the edge.

Slowly it began to grow brighter.

"I'm not an expert on these matters, so I'll defer to these answers to you lady scientists. However, doesn't going up seem to be the opposite of what we're supposed to be doing?" Ace asked.

"It depends on the cause. If this is because of condensation, it may mean the ground -- or whatever we choose to call it -- is breaking down into its former state and will continue to dissipate until we find we are back in a cloud above Pangaea."

The temperature was noticeably cooler, too. Bri pulled out her tricorder, but she still didn't get any readings.

"Only one way to find out." Without waiting, Ace clicked on his anti-gravity boots and started running what he hoped was off the cloud.

The others had to run along with him. Alanna couldn't quite match his stride. If he kept this up, they were both going to fall down in a tangle of legs and rope.

Bri, too, struggled to keep up. If he got them injured, she'd... She didn't know what, but she'd think of something.

Ace called back, "Turn on your boots now!" as his last stride caused him to fall down and off the cloud. He tumbled head over heels a few times crying out, "WOO HOO HOO!" He did not engage the boots, crying up to everyone, "Isn't this such a rush!"

Since Alanna hadn't turned her boots off, they sputtered and failed. All she could do was hold on to her pack and hope Ace engaged his boots.

Bri had to wait until free fall to maneuver enough to turn on her boots. By then, they'd fallen several hundred feet.

Both telepaths were hit by a wave of thought and emotion as they re-entered Pangean space.

Travis had quietly shadowed the officers through the ordeal. Getting pulled over the edge was not something he considered fun. As soon as he could, he maneuvered his legs under him to engage his boots.

Noticing Alanna’s boots failing, Travis pulled on the rope between them, pulling the science officer close against him and increasing the power of his boots to accommodate her weight so she wasn’t left dangling by the rope. “Hold on, sir,” he said over the wind of their fall, his strong arms around her, holding her tight.

Once Ace felt the tug, he engaged his own boots. He shouted at Bri, "Get your boot’s anti-grav on now! We need all the leverage we can. Alanna's boots are failing."

Alanna was temporarily disoriented, partly from the sudden fall, but mostly from the abrupt return to normal. It was literally going from silence to pandemonium. She quickly focused and held on so she wouldn't be a burden to the others.

Brianthe took her position in the quartet so the three pairs of boots could effectively slow the four of them for landing. She took a moment to look around and appreciate the view from up here. She noticed Alanna was also looking over the landscape and grinned.

Once the slowing started, Ace asked everyone, "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Under the circumstances...no," Brianthe replied. "I prefer knowing what I'm getting into before I get pulled off a cloud." Maybe, if she'd done it on purpose, it might be better, but when they weren't sure how long they'd looked for Alanna and weren't sure the boots would work.

Maybe, Alanna thought. If Jason were here. She still wasn't sure how much she trusted Ace, although he'd been different this time than when she met him in the arboretum.

"Come on, Bri! Don't be such a stick in the mud. We found Alanna and got off the cloud and we're almost on the ground. Everything I promised," he told her proudly.

"Not like this," she replied. "On purpose is one thing, this is another."

“We aren’t on the ground yet,” Travis warned. He could hear the whine of his boats compensating for the extra load. He prayed his power pack would last. “Sorry to be so...physical, sir,” he apologized to Alanna for holding her tightly.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Assistant Chief Science Officer

PO3 Travis Nottingham
Security Officer

 

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