Strangers in the Grass, Part 4

Posted on Thu Dec 8, 2016 @ 5:24am by Lieutenant Daniel Rivera & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant JG Rhe'la Daughter of the Forty-ninth House & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant JG Noelle Bennett M.D. & Lieutenant JG Leonora Dell & Lieutenant JG Jason Fisher & Civilian Opal Oliver (Deceased) Dr

2,772 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Cardassia
Timeline: Circa 2373

[CONTINED]

"I want to go home!" Siana said after Bretav had removed his hand from her mouth. He had put it there to stop her from making that loud noise.

"We will," Bretav said, "but you have to stop screaming!" They had stopped momentarily, not knowing where to run. All around them were the sounds of weapons and people shouting. Now thick, black smoke was rolling in. Something was on fire.

"I'm afraid," Siana whimpered through her tears. Then she put her own hand over her mouth and began to cough.

"So am I," Bretav admitted. He couldn't allow himself to give in to tears, however. That's not how his father had taught him, and the thought of the man's disapproving glare was enough to keep Bretav in line. The fire's roar was growing louder. As was the smoke. Bretav began to cough, too. They couldn't just stay here. He stood and grabbed Siana's wrist, pulling her along with him. "Let's go!" he shouted.

"Where?"

"Away from the fire!" Even though the fire seemed to be in multiple places at once, the forested area seemed clear of the smoke. Bretav headed that way.

-----

The Vorta's voice inquired over the comm. "First, what is your current position?"

"Grid 315-048, moving towards the enemy. We should be there soon. Can you estimate their number?"

"We estimate twenty to fifty. A small, reconnaissance-sized force. Some seem to have panicked and fled into the grass. We're diverting other elements to intercept them. The rest of the enemy force is falling back under cover fire."

"Understood." The Jem’Hadar paused, then added, "One more thing, Commander. There are children out here."

"Children? What do you mean?"

"Cardassian children. They were in contact with the Humans. We have one with us now. He's leading us back to them."

A stern Cardassian voice cut in. "This is a restricted military reservation. How could children be out here?"

The Jem’Hadar looked down at Relon, who was in front of their column, fearfully quick-stepping back in the direction from which he had run. "I wondered the same. When this is over you can ask them," he answered.

The Cardassian Legate on the other end admonished him, "Make sure of your targets before you open fire. If the Humans are using children as shields then we must use caution."

The Jem’Hadar traded a glance with his Second and stifled the urge to laugh at that Cardassian idiot. The grass was tall, the smoke was thick, and the current, non-stop shriek of weapons fire across the landscape told him that no one else was taking any such precaution. "We'll do our best. The bigger concern is whether or not this is a prelude to an invasion. If so, then we have more important things to worry about."

-----

Caleb crept through the grass in the direction Dell had indicated. The fire was getting closer, with ample fuel in the dry grass. Smoke choked the air and heat reddened his skin painfully. He had ceased firing, not drawing attention to his position and not wanting to frighten the children any more than they likely already were. His rifle was tucked ready against his chest. His eyes teared in the smoke so much it was hard to see.

Caleb thought he saw movement in the grass and made in that direction.

Bretav still had a grip on Siana's hand. They were almost at the treeline. In the corner of his eye he caught a rustling of the grass. Before he could completely register it in his mind a Human emerged. The same one who had let them go only moments before. He was brandishing his weapon in his hand. The others of his kind were following behind him.

Bretav and Siana let out a simultaneous panicked shriek. He pulled her by the wrist, willing her to go faster. The two children took only three more steps before they saw someone emerging from the grass in the opposite direction. It was...Relon?

Relon also made a panicked shout at the Human Starfleet officer. The Jem’Hadar soldier behind him didn't hesitate. He brought his rifle up to his shoulder and loosed a shot. The range was nearly point blank.

Someone behind Caleb fired back at the same instant.

Caleb tried to spin. He couldn’t bring his weapon up. There was a child in the way! The Jem’Hadar’s shot caught him in the shoulder and he grunted in pain, but he managed to grab at the children.

“Get down!” he yelled at them, trusting the Universal Translator to do its work as he covered them with his body, trusting his people to defend themselves. He grit his teeth against the pain, his injured arm numb and useless.

Liam had been trying to follow orders and go with the rest where they had been ordered. He stopped for a moment, stiffening. Two things had just occurred. Caleb had been hurt; he could sense the other man. There were people starting to flank them in the direction they were heading. "Lieutenant," he turned to Annora. "They’re coming this way too. I can sense them. We are just going to end up surrounded. Maybe we should change tack," he suggested.

Seemingly trapped on a hostile alien world wasn't entirely new to Annora, but the time factor added a new layer to it. Trying to ignore that, she focused on the situation as it presented itself. "Agreed. How far are we from the portal?"

"About eighty meters that way," Rivera yelled out, pointing in the direction close to the one from which they had come. It was hard to believe. By now it felt like they had crossed an entire land mass.

"So the same way we came. That's not going to work."

Annora had to consider her options on the fly, without much time to analyze the decision. She was never a fan of such decisions, but they were quite common in her career field. "We could try circling back around to the field, grab the rest of the team, and make a beeline for the portal. If need be a few of us can remain behind to provide cover fire while a majority of the team return to the planet."

She paused as an unpleasant but important question came to mind. "How do the Cardassians treat prisoners? We know the Federation won the war, so perhaps the rearguard could sit out the war as POWs. Not ideal, but at least we'd survive."

There was, of course, the concern over the timeline, but didn't have near enough time to ponder the philosophic implications. She would contact temporal investigations upon rescue.

Dan Rivera moved to Caleb to check on him. The security chief was still on the ground covering some kids with his body, and obviously wounded. The fire from the Jem'Hadar side was dissipating as they fell back.

-----

The Vorta's voice cut in over the comm again. "All units, evacuate the area immediately."

The Jem'Hadar First responded to that order with anger, even though he had done just that only seconds ago. After coming across the Starfleet unit and the ensuing firefight, his small unit had beat a quick tactical retreat. They had gotten several shots off, but had taken some in return. Three of his own were dead and he was nursing a graze wound in his flank. "What do you mean 'fall back?' We're on top of them!"

"The Cardassians are dispatching a warship in orbit overhead. They'll be putting some heavy firepower down on that position in less than a minute, so I repeat, fall back!" On the other end the Vorta was seething that he'd had to explain himself to a subordinate.

"As the Founders wish," the First replied gruffly. He motioned the rest of his team to follow him. They moved out of the area as quickly as their feet would take them. As they ran the First looked over his shoulder, wondering what had happened to the Cardassian boy that had led them. He'd lost him in the confusion.

-----

Siana squirmed her way out from under the wounded Caleb. She had been trapped under Caleb's arm. Bretav had been trapped under the other arm, the one that had taken a round from the Jem'Hadar. Bretav wasn't moving. "Bretav!" she yelled.

Rivera helped Caleb sit up, then moved to the motionless boy. "He's alive," he said, checking the vitals with his tricorder, "but he's taken a shot in the chest. He needs help," he said to Amia, who was already moving in to help.

"Got it," Amia replied, and put a shot of pain relief into the boy's neck, then sat him up. He flopped against her as she checked his wound. It was a nasty burn area and she had to try to use her regenerator quickly to patch it over as best as she could in the time they had. She gave him a shot of anti-sepsis, scanned him quickly, and then handed him to Rivera to carry. "We have to get him back to...anywhere where we can offer more treatment, some hygienic premises, and rest," she said, knowing this was a ridiculously tall order.

Siana spied another of her friends on the ground a few paces away. It was Relon. It was apparent he had been hit by several shots. He was dead.

The little Cardassian girl screamed in anguish.

Liam stiffened as they arrived back to the other group and he felt sudden pain and intense fear. His eyes searched round and it was one of the children from before. "Sir," he said to Caleb, watching Amia go towards a child that looked to be shot. "Permission to join Medical. That little girl is terrified. I can try calm her," he suggested.

He just wanted to help, but he didn't know what the chief's plan was now with the complication of them starting to be surrounded.

"Go," Caleb nodded to Liam. He held his own arm close to his body. It was still bleeding. "You need to give him a coagulant," he told Amia. "Jem'Hadar weapons have an anti-coagulant in the energy stream."

"Anti-coagulant??" Amia was horrified. "Primitives!" she spat and reloaded the hypospray with the medication Caleb had recommended. She had no reason in the universe to doubt him so she didn't do any tests, she just got on with it. They had so litle time.

Dell squatted down next to them. "We need a distraction or some sort of shield. This smoke isn't hot enough to cover our life signs. If they have any sort of targeting they'll be able to pick us up. I can use the sensor pack we brought to send out false signals, but i'll need a few minutes."

"Can it be mobile?" Caleb asked Dell. "We need shelter and a defensible position until we can get back to the portal."

"Its just a big backpack. It's mobile enough as long as no one has to sprint. We didn't pass any shelter getting here. I think we're just going to have to do what we can with the sensor pack," Dell told him.

"Do what you can," Caleb told Dell with a nod.

Caleb got up and walked away from the medics to the still form of the dead child. He knelt down in the grass and gently closed the boy's eyes. "I am sorry," he said sadly. Carefully he jockeyed the boy into his arms, ignoring the searing pain shooting up his injured arm, and carried him back to the group. "We need to get these children home."

Dell hauled the backpack sensor into her arms to start the reconfiguration. "Those Jem'hadar looked pretty target happy. Those kids maybe safer far away from us."

"We need to get our own home too!" Amia commented, watching Commander Ryan carefully and feeling the need to do something more constructive about his injuries too.

"Commander," Rivera chimed in. "I think the Jem'Hadar may have pulled back." He turned this way and that. "We've been holding this position for about a minute now. Why haven't they pressed the attack?" Other than the section of grass burning nearby, there was no activity around them.

Korudos held up his tricorder for a scan. He was looking for the energy signatures from their weapons. "But why would they pull back? Surely they know by now there aren't that many of us."

A second later a section of trees two-hundred meters away exploded in splinters. The shot had come from above.

"A ship!" Rivera shouted.

The little Cardassian girl, Siana, took that opportunity to escape from Liam's hand. She ran into the tall grass and vanished.

Liam set off after her, terrified for the child's safety. He was sure it wasn't the smartest move, but Caleb had ordered that they had to get the children home. That certainly wasn't going to happen if the Jem'Hadar were in that ship and got hold of the child. "Come back! You're in danger. We can help you!" he tried desperately, fighting to travel through the long grass.

An insistent chime from the science officer's tricorder caught his attention. Korudos flipped it open. "Increased verteron activity. The portal is opening again!" He nodded to the direction where the portal was located. They would have to run to make it.

With the ship above, Dell Knew they might not make it. All she could do was confuse it. She made a last adjustment to the sensor pack and then threw it as hard as she could away from them, into the long grass. Let the ship target that for a while. Then she ran for the portal.

Another shot rained down. This one hit the already burning grass, digging out a crater and causing an impressive geyser of dirt and rock to fly up into the sky. The Cardassians were still adjusting for accuracy.

Rivera ran behind Dell, followed by Korudos and the others.

Liam came jogging back from the grass. "I lost her," he said, apparently to no one as they were all running in another direction. Back to the portal, he reasoned, and followed suit, speeding up.

Once the ship arrived and opened fire, the decision was made for the rest of the away team.

"Everyone get to the portal now!"

Annora didn't want to leave the last few members behind, but was confident they could find their way back. Taking one last look at the grassy field, she joined the others as they made a beeline for the portal.

Mikaela Locke was still tracking with Lieutenant Fisher's security team. When the Jem'Hadar had attacked they had been separated from the main away team. Under fire, they had spent most of the encounter taking cover in the long grass, however, now, as the soldiers holding position and the ship focussed elsewhere, they saw their opportunity.

"Go," Fisher waved his team on, "get to the portal."

Mikaela looked up anxiously from her position flat on the ground.

"Mikaela, go!" Fisher yelled, "I'm right behind you."

Locke shook off the fear that had temporarily frozen her to the spot and got up to sprint towards the portal, pausing only briefly to place over her shoulder and ensure that Jason was following her.

Caleb hesitated, watching the others sprint for the portal. He looked down at the injured Cardassian boy and made a decision. He lifted Bretav into his arms and followed the others to the portal. At least the boy would live. Temporal Investigations could excoriate him later.

At the portal Dell glanced back. a huge phaser beam cut across the grass, hitting her sensor pack and igniting the grass all around. the pack exploded in to tiny fragments that rained around for a second. If that had been a hit on them... she swallowed and dove through the portal.

Amia picked up her med kit and ran alongside the others, leaping awkwardly into the Portal and falling heavily on the far side.

When the last of the away team had entered the portal, it closed behind them.

[OFF]

Lt. Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Lt. Liam Reynolds
Chief Diplomatic Officer

Cmdr. Amia Telamon
CMO - DS5

Lt j.g. Annora Tessaro
Asst. Security Chief

Lt. Dan Rivera
Engineer
NPC Bert

Lt. Mikaela Locke
Senior Intelligence Officer

Lt. j.g. Jason Fisher
Security Officer
NPC Iain

Lt (JG) Leonora Dell
Acting head of Operations
NPC notty

 

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