A Missing Captain? Part 1

Posted on Mon Jan 2, 2023 @ 12:18am by Captain Maritza Soran & Master Sergeant Jian Zhao & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Means III & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant Commander River Morgan & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Master Sergeant Miranda Schultz & Gunnery Sergeant Terry Henderson

2,827 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Pangaea

ON

Alanna kept close to her "hobbit hole" so she could keep an eye on her comm system. It was partly to keep up on what was happening with the Cardassian occupation and partly to keep refugees safe. It was also so she could monitor Jason's activity. She trusted him implicitly, but he also had a propensity for running into trouble. Unfortunately, so did she.

She'd come in from helping Bri with the garden and putting out some food for her squirrel-cat when she noticed an odd transporter signal. She immediately called Amia.

Amia received the message and responded carefully, as they had all agreed.

Alanna couldn't come right out and say she believed the captain was on Pangaea because she didn't trust communications right now. The Cardassians were prowling the planet and anything could be intercepted if they weren't careful. At the same time, the doctor needed to find Soran, if she could. Fortunately, with Jason's help, Alanna had set up an encryption code to send a covert message that would make no sense to anyone who did manage to intercept it, but should be understood by Amia. "The weather will be good for the next few days, but it looks like a storm is coming." That should be enough for the doctor to receive the encrypted message.

Amia worked it all out according to the encryption that Alanna had shown them all how to use and replied in kind. "We must enjoy the sunshine and harvest while it shines, but be prepared for the upcoming rain. What is harvested needs to be quickly put under cover to keep it protected from the rain making it wet and spoiling it." she replied to let Alanna know she was going to be prepared, covered and watching for something happening. She could only guess as to what (or whom) the metaphorical "harvest" would be but she had a hope that it might be Soren and if not then Alanna's message would still give warning, initiate watchfulness and give a heads up that a movement had been, or would soon be, detected.

When Alanna was sure the encrypted message had been safely transmitted without interception, she ended the call and reset the scrambler. Only then did the niggling feeling of emptiness register. "No."

She couldn't feel Jason. It wasn't that he'd gone out of range. It was that he was...gone. She tried Jason's transponder, but it didn't show him, either. "No." Where had he gone? The north continent? No. That was where he intended to go, but he went south first. But to where? She could not lose him. They'd been through too much to lose him now.

Then she thought of the portals. Soran was still alive, but Alanna didn't know for how long. If the portals fell to the Cardassians, they'd lose everything. Cardassia would rule the galaxy. she knew where the external control panel was. She'd picked it up from jason's thoughts. But she wasn't a diver. She'd done some diving since moving down to the planet, but she wasn't up to cave diving. She shook her head. She'd have to be, if that was what it took to keep from losing the portal complex, the war, and their freedom. But how? She would have to figure that out. The shuttle could go under water, but it would be detected if she wasn't extremely careful. Even so, she couldn't transport to the location. She'd still have to swim.

Alanna began to pace the room. She had to come up with a plan. She had to do something. First, protect the portals. Then find Jason. He had to be alive. She wouldn't accept anything else without proof.

Amia took the news and both the warning and the hope it brought, on to River and the survivors that were gathered in the caves, they all set to a new level of activity and scouring for information, news and clues. It was a bit of a risk to have them too active but then again, their current despondency was bad for their health not to mention morale. They needed something to hold on to. The doctors started off some extra cave exploration with a view to more places to go if any of the "rain" in the coded message, were to fall their way. If any Cardassians were to turn up unexpectedly the colonists would need to be able to hide in more that their one main network of tunnels and intersecting cave passages.

Some of the stronger amongst them were set to make some more tunnels where they could dig safely and/or shore up other possible loops to scurry away down if the need occurred. Some would be linking like a rat run of tunnels and others might stop at a dead end but with storage of supplies safely deep to be protected and if necessary accessed later.

It was good for them all to have something to do and those who were too ill or still too wounded to actually dig or burrow, there was helping with the cooking, drying and salting of the food for preservative methods just in case they might be in for a long siege or stay hidden.

It was a defiant, buoyant, hopeful mood and it was both infectious and bonding. River and Amia were pleased with how well this was affecting the little community however it didn't seem to be progressing any of their goals other than to hold morale above the former sinking levels.

Discussing it and trying to make up their minds to see what they could actually do, Amia and River decided to split their efforts and whilst River remained in the community, Amia packed up a med-kit and with a few strong and useful volunteers, she set off kitted up for a foray. Perhaps they would find useful supplies whether more berries, roots, medicinal plants etc, or perhaps other helpful items cast off and likely to come in handy. Who knew until a careful search was undertaken.

With great attention to stealth, kit, camouflage and a small strong group who could move fast, quietly, and with ease, the party set out.

[Science Research Cabin Bag End]

Alanna needed to get out and do something while she thought over her options. The forest was large enough for a good walk, and she might be able to use that time to bond a bit with the squirrel-cat. It now came when she brought food, remaining in the tree to watch. It was a start. She let Bri know where she was going and headed out.


[Surrounding Woods]

An hour into her walk, Alanna came upon a 'clearing'. It wasn't a natural clearing. The clearing had been created by something ripping or slashing through the trees. A foul stench wafted through the air. In the middle of the clearing, the ground was blood soaked and there were bodies of roughly eight Cardassians. It was hard to get a solid count as the bodies were torn apart. Limbs littered the clearing ground and there were a few that had their chests slashed open.

She heard a groaning sound from one of the bodies. There was some slight movement from what seemed to be a survivor. They were covered in their own dark purple blood, their left leg having been ripped off at the knee it seemed from a distance.

She couldn't leave whoever it was to die, so she went closer. "What happened?" She didn't have a medkit with her, but she did have a weapon that might help, if they'd let her.

The Cardassian looked towards her having a hard time focusing on her. He gasped slightly.

"Tragga", he said. The universal translator didn't seem to have a translation as he was speaking in the Cardassian tongue.

His eyes rolled around some and he looked towards one of the trees. "Red eyes, fast.."

He faded off into unconsciousness.

The creature. She knew which one as she'd seen evidence of it in the pit of bones and that one incident on the planet. She sent a message to Amia that a doctor was needed and then used her phaser on a low setting to cauterize the blood vessels and keep the man from bleeding out. Fortunately, he was unconscious. If she didn't hear from Amia, she'd get the shuttle and drop him off at the Marine Compound.
While she waited to hear back from the doctor, she checked to be sure there were no other life signs in the area.

Amia received the message and responded that she was on her way. Taking directions and a location from Alanna, and leaving River to take care of the occupants of the cave-refuge, Amia set off with her med kit and two helpful volunteers who had been taught - or already knew - a few basics of 'first aid'. They set off at a brisk pace and made the destination in just under the hour, finding the clearing and looking around at all the broken and ripped up bodies. It was an unpleasant sight and the smell was sickening. One of the volunteers immediately emptied the contents of his whole contents of his stomach.

The second volunteer Amia had brought along was a woman and whilst she had managed to hold her gagging back with a struggle and despite having also had turned very pale, she was seeming to be coping. Her name, Amia knew, was Sarah Wilders, a Terran human medical cadet, and was clearly going to do well in her chosen career if she could cope at this early stage of it when being confronted with such a shocking and gory spectacle.

Approaching Alanna, Amia checked in and quickly gathered up the information that Alanna gave her, finally asking her if there was any spare drinking water she could use. She explained to Alanna that they would need clean drinking water for the patients but also some to clean them up and that she might be able to ask the recovering sick volunteer to go and find some, mainly to help him recover as well as sparing the supplies of drinking water, by getting some for cleaning separately.

Alanna directed her to a nearby stream of drinkable water. It was that or go back to Bag End, and the stream would give them plenty of options.

Then, whilst listening to Alanna's account of what had happened, Amia asked if there were any others who were still alive other than the two most obvious? As she spoke, Amia was already beginning administering pain relief to the amputee who was seeming to begin to come around. Judging the extent of his injuries, his cauterized stump but also the amount of blood he appeared to have lost from the pool of it all around him, Amia also sedated him to stop him getting himself active and endangering himself more.

Continuing to listen and respond to Alanna, Amia moved to the side of the second casualty where Sarah was trying to understand his mutterings and gesticulations. Seeing what trouble he was giving Sarah, Amia sedated him too but not so deeply as his companion. She also administered pain relief and at last Sarah seemed to be getting a little sense out of him as he calmed. She had been trying to ask him, by sign and gesturing 'language' communicated the universal question : Where does it hurt?

He indicated his side first and Sarah took a look at the depth and seriousness of the gashes, some deeper and some more shallow.

Amia stood alongside, with Alanna, and was very impressed with how well Sarah was dealing with this. The girl clearly had a lot of promise. "Have you checked him over for anything else that mightn't be obvious at first look?" she asked Sarah quietly to which the youngster nodded vigorously. "Great job" Amia congratulated her.

Just at that moment, Semmt returned with his tunic soaked in the water Amia had sent him for.

Semmt ripped his sopping wet tunic in half to offer one half to Amia and the other to Sarah, both of whom used these makeshift sponges and their contents of water, to start cleaning up where they could. Amia then asked both her volunteers to try to coax sips of clean water down their casualties' by wetting their lips and trying to manage to tip a little down into their mouths.

The Cardassian coughed as he was given the water. The water he coughed up was stained purple. He had obviously been beat up pretty bad. Despite his apparent disorientation, he focused on the trees as much as he could. He tried to speak, but the only thing he was able to get out was, "Shhhh."

Amia looked at Alanna. "He's in a bad way. Is there any kind of transport available that you know of? Or do you think it's best if we make a couple of stretchers and start back as best we can? Perhaps one of those historic old stretchers that you see in ancient films where two bamboo poles are lashed together, closer at the top than the bottom, supports of some touch leaves or the like across to keep the patient onboard and dragged, attached to our shoulders from behind? The unconscious patient could be taken like that and the other carried between two of us at waist height instead" she suggested, wondering it this might be the better option since Amia herself was sensing that Alanna had some more work to go and get underway with so there might only be the three "Medicals" hauling stretchers. She was hoping she might not be correct in this feeling but if worse came to worst... it was a way as opposed to no option at all.

"There are plenty of branches we could use," Alanna said. "I can replicate straps of some sort. WOuld that work?"

"Yes please" Amia replied, very glad of the helpful resources on offer.

They all set to work, each to their own parts of the tasks that were now necessary. In no time there were two very primitive stretchers constructed, one that could be pulled along the ground with it's two furthest "feet" sliding forwards and the top two strapped together with a loop of straps that would work as a form of harness to allow one person to take the head end and some of the weight on their shoulders, moving along with the patient almost on their back, facing outwards and set almost vertically, but yet, with the main weight still bearing down on the ground via the side poles and their contact with the path.

The other patient was on a more usual kind of stretcher construction, carried by two bearers in a horizontal manner, one in front and one behind.

Thus secured, the three medics were then ready to set off to return to the caves and bear their two wounded patients back without any further injuries caused by the journey. Bidding farewell and thanks to Alana, they set off and walked back the way they had first come.




[Marine Compound]

Means looked at the map again as the corpsman once again look at his shoulder. After their caving escapade supplies were limited and he insisted that the remain powered medical supplies be used to treat the those in worse shape than himself.

He winced as the corpsman test the range of motion. "Sir there is definitely something torn in there. A quick scan and even a few passes by a..."

"I already said no. Don't make me say it again. You get me?"

"I get you Sir." After setting a tight sling that would keep the arm immobile and the wrist high, he stood and let the brass to themselves.

Means could see the looks on the those around him. "I don't wanna hear it from any of you either." Standing he took a drink from his canteen, wiping his mouth with the back of his left wrist before speaking again. "The scouting patrols?"

"All have left. One to the south toward the coast, one to the north and south, the other to the west-northwest."

"Good, hopefully those medical yachts are intact." He knew they were deployed near the point to the west, hopefully near the bay to the south. "The hunting parties?"

A grin spread over the Lieutenant's face. "Well Cpl. Stevens wasn't lying when he said he could catch a fish in his sleep. He made a net and using a couple empty container deployed it into the lake and basically herded quite a lot of fish into our section of the lake. We also have 2 deer-like creatures, that we can also thank Stevens for."

"A regular back woods boy huh. Well at least we won't go hungry. Now if we just had some coffee..."

To Be Continued...

A Joint Post By
---

 

RSS Feed