The End of Bag End? (working title)

Posted on Sun Jun 16, 2024 @ 4:44am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Lieutenant Jason Haines

1,146 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Tergum In Tempus

ON

Alanna arrived at Bag End, concerned that the protective shielding was gone. She couldn't even open the hatch to land the shuttle, so she landed it in the ancient village in the trees where it wouldn't be found, locked it so only she, Bri, and Jason could enter it, and cloaked it. Once she was sure it was safe, she ran to find Jason and Brianthe.

Jason, Trace, and Brianthe had started to go and find the others at the camp the Marines and them had put together. Who knew if it was still accessible. They were a half-mile from Bag End when Jason heard Alanna's shuttle go by. Then his head started to buzz. He wasn't able to communicate with her, but she had touched his mind so much that he could feel when she was relatively close.

"She's back", Jason said to Brianthe as he turned back to Bag End. "Guess it would be nice of us not to make her play hide and seek."

Brianthe smiled. "Yes, she is. We'll meet her back at the station."

As soon as Alanna was sure the others were well, she went inside. Her next priority was getting the power back on and the shields and cloak working. The research center had taken a good shaking and anything that wasn't fastened down was now strewn across the floor. She hoped her private covert ops center was still okay, but that would come after she restored power.

She took the hidden corridor that went to her shuttle bay and on to the power center. It, too, had been shaken up. The reinforced walls and ceiling were intact, but much of the equipment wasn't. She sent a telepathic message to Bri to tell her where she was and went about cleaning and organizing the room. She had plenty of spare parts and enough knowledge to do the repairs needed, thanks to a lot of research while the center was being constructed.

While she worked, she couldn't help brushing against Jason's surface thoughts to make sure he was okay.

It took Jason, Brianthe, and Trace about 15 minutes to get back to Bag End.

"Hello, pizza delivery,", Jason called out.

"Perfect," Alanna said, coming up from the tunnel. "I'm starved." She grinned and hugged Jason. "And I missed you."

He shifted Trace in his arms and gave her a one-armed hug. Before he could say anything, Trace spoke up.

"I'm hungry too!"

"Well, it's going to have to be rations given we have no power", Jason said and then gave Alanna a wink and smile. "but I think we can rough it."

"Actually, I was just working on that. The power is back on and as soon as I get inside, I'll turn the force field and cloak back on. So, we can have a hot meal and a hot shower."

"I'll take care of the food," Bri said. "I'm in the mood to cook." She also had some fresh herbs she was eager to use.

"I recommend turning the power off", Jason said. "Given the condition of the area, the power generator will stick out like a sore thumb to any ship or tricorder."

"It's supposed to be shielded as well as the facility. And what also concerns me is that I've been running covert ops from the top floor. I can't have any Cardassians or Xi-Cadians coming here to search. I can move it all, but I don't know where. Everything is interconnected and if they find this lace, they'll find my shuttle." She wondered if there was somewhere in the woods she could hide them, but she wasn't sure. Even if she cloaked the shuttle, there was a shuttle pad and the Cardassians would be looking for any signs of Starfleet personnel.

She raised an eyebrow. "I've gone unnoticed for a while now. I think my best bet is to get the power and shielding back up. I can set up a secondary power station that'll draw any attention. That should keep us safe enough for now. I'm also going to hide anything that will draw Cardassian attention."

"Sure thing", Jason said. "I still think it would be easier to remove the central Isolinear chips making everything inaccessible, but your call."

She shook her head. "I've put too much into this to give it up." She smiled. "But I can let Bri or the cousins take care of it for now." Then she grew serious. "How are you, Jason?"

"I've been better", Jason said, with a dejected look and Alanna could feel his mind was a jumble of emotions. "This is the second time I've failed at doing what I was meant to do here. This time however, instead of one person being impacted, a thousand or so have been impacted."

She went to him and put a hand on his cheek. "No. You haven't failed. There were too many little things that led up to this and you aren't responsible for them. I've been here for months, monitoring the portals and the Cardassians. I failed more than you." She leaned up and kissed him. "But I'm not going to give up now. As long as the captain is alive, we have hope. And if not, I have complete confidence in you."

"Alanna, I had the same dream for the month before the attack", Jason said. "It was of the station falling. I should have spoken to someone. I should have gone and spoke to a counselor or something. I could have at least gotten to someone who had strong psychic powers. Plus, the damn Fae as well. I'm not going to give up either, but this could have been stopped."

"Who would have listened to you besides me?" she asked, looking at him intently. "I couldn't get anyone to take what was happening here on the planet seriously, either. They'll agree, in hindsight, that you should have said something, but they didn't take your other warnings seriously, so why would that change because you had dreams? We need to figure out what we can do now--and whatever you come up with, I'm going with you."

Jason nodded and said, "I've got a few ideas jingling around in my head, but nothing solid. You'll be the first to hear when I do, most likely.

"Good. Now, let me get the place properly hidden and shielded so the Cardassians won't notice it or the power supply, then we'll talk about our options." She kissed him and ran off to make Bag End safe for the others and hide all her secret equipment on her shuttle. Everything was happening so fast she wasn't sure who might need a place to stay and her new home needed to look harmless.

OFF

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space 5

Lieutenant Alanna wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space 5

Jason Haines
Fishermon
Pangaea

 

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