When we last left our intrepid adventurers

Posted on Jul 18, 2014 @ 12:44pm by Lieutenant Russ BaShen
Edited on on Jul 18, 2014 @ 2:03pm

Mission: All Our Yesterdays
Location: Various

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“When We Last Left Our Intrepid Adventurers…”

Con’d from: “The Freedom of Choice Paradox”

=/\=



Location: K-60-Alpha-Twelve

Stardate: 2.140705.2252

Scene: Forest



Russ nearly stumbled as he and the Captain drug the Chief Engineer on through the forest. The exertion was taxing their muscles, Russ knew. The hike prior to encountering the beast had felt a little tiring, but the men had gotten use to the higher gravity after a while, and they had been able to stop every so often to rest. Upon encountering the beast, they had all been operating off of adrenaline. And now… the effort of breathing into the oxygen rich atmosphere every few minutes as the men rotated the masks around lent a sense of nausea and disorientation to add to the creeping exhaustion that was threatening to overtake them. Worse, he added body weight of Commander Crichton shared between them weighed them down and slowed their progress through the underbrush.



Then Russ did stumble as Jake suddenly seemed to grow rapidly in weight; a moment later, he noticed that the Captain was no longer carrying the man. Russ managed to let Jake gently down, and then rushed over to Kane, who was coughing hard, his body convulsing mildly. Russ ripped the rebreather from his face and rapidly assisted the other man in placing the mask on. Kane began to fight him off.


“Captain, dammit, you’ve been exposed too long,” Russ barked in annoyance. “I’ll take my turn without the mask; we need to get us all back to the shuttle.”



Kane looked at him furiously. “I believe that I am the Captain, Mr. BaShen! I will decide when I have had enough!”



“And in lieu of any other medical professionals, I’m the closest thing you have to a medic,” the pilot shot back, holding his ground. “You are suffering from the first stages of oxygen poisoning. Now quit arguing with me, so that we can cover some more difference before I start feeling the same!”



Kane muttered, but as he breathed into his rebreather, some rationality seemed to return to him. He shook his head and merely helped Russ lift the Commander back up. Stumbling forward, the men began their trek again.



The truth was that it was not taking much before the onset of oxygen poisoning set in. A man with properly controlled breathing could forestall the effects of oxygen poisoning for a considerable amount of time, given the right conditions. However, these were far from ideal conditions, and the effects of the exercise caused the men to breathe harder than they normally would. Russ began to feel a tingling in his extremities only minutes after he and Kane had begun to move again. The trek out had taken nearly two hours. The men had been walking for twenty minutes already, and Russ was beginning to internally despair of reaching the ship on time. The progress had been slow, and Jake had not yet waken up.



Russ’s field of vision seemed to tunnel, and dizziness began to interfere with his thoughts. With a will, he managed, to grunt out, “Captain…”



The two men set Jake down and Kane quickly assisted Russ with the mask. Breathing into the rebreather for a few moments seemed to clear Russ’s head slightly, and he nodded at Kane. “Alright sir, when you’re ready…”



But Kane shook his head. “No. We both need a rest, and I’m worried about the Commander. See what you can do to rouse him.”



Silently, Russ knelt by Jake and dug out his tricorder, passing it over the man’s body. Commander Crichton’s rebreather would have to have been torn in the initial efforts to get away from the beast, Russ decided. The exposure could not have been for more than half an hour or so, but with the strenuous efforts that Jake had made in trying to get away from danger, the effects would have come more quickly. Thinking quickly, Russ grabbed his phaser from his belt and began to strip it, then rewire components. Kane watched him with some interest.



“What are you doing, Lieutenant?”



“It’s a field expedient,” Russ explained, still toying with the phaser. “I had a class back at the Academy on how to take any of the more common issue away team gear and modify it for survival situations… uh… Since there was always the possibility of getting stranded somewhere as a pilot, I thought it would come in handy,” Russ explained, though somewhat unconvincingly.



Kane raised an eyebrow. “Something more to that story, BaShen?”



Russ was focused on the phaser, but gave a chagrined smile. “I was a little bit of a cocky kid back then, so I really didn’t think I needed the class… but there was this girl…”



Kane grunted, but Russ swore that the traces of a smile were creeping around the corners of the Captain’s mouth. “So what is it?” Kane asked after a moment.



Russ had managed to finish rewiring the phaser. He held it up. “It’ll work like something between a cortical and cardio stimulator. It’s a little more primitive than what we have up in the ‘D’, but it’ll get the job done… I think.”



The Captain gaped at him. “You’re going to shock him?”



“The medical term is ‘stimulate,’” Russ corrected.



“Is that safe?”



“Totally!” Russ assured him, and then added, “But there is the smallest possibility of an electrical burn…”



“WHAT?”



“Kidding,” Russ said quickly. **I think,** he thought to himself, as he put the flat part of the phaser over Jake’s heart and activated it. A hum sounded, and then an electrical buzz.



Jake’s eyes shot open and he sat up quickly, almost knocking Russ over. “HOLY HELL!” He shouted, clutching at his chest.



“He’s alive!” Russ proclaimed, putting away the modified phaser.



“Are you alright, Crichton?” Kane asked, concerned.



“I… I think? I feel like… like an electric fence grabbed me,” he said, shaking his head. “What happened? Where are we?”



Russ was checking him with the tricorder. “You’re going to have some low grade amnesia, Commander. It’ll pass. We’ll fill you in on the way back to the ship. Do you think you can stand?”



Jake tentatively tried his legs, and pushed himself up uncertainly to his feet. He stumbled against the trunk of what looked like a tree, and then let go, managing to stand without assistance.



Captain Kane stood then. “Alright gentlemen, let us continue on our way…”



=/\=

Location: USS CENTURY

Scene: Bridge



[[Ma’am, the last of the *loyal* crew is on board,]] came the call from Ensign Maynell. Doctor Reardon winced as the Engineer stressed the word. Neither he, nor anyone else had said anything about her original defection to Stonn. But somehow, word had gone around. Everyone treated her cordially enough, and did not countermand or contradict her orders, but she knew that when this was all over, she would have to pay the price for her participation in the mutiny.



“Raise the shields!” She sang out to the bridge.



“Shields raised,” called Petty Officer Borlat from his position at the conn. “They’re a little low though,” the Bolian pilot added after a pause.



“Maynell?”



[[Already working on it,]] the Engineer returned shortly. [[The Engineering staff is doing what they can to get the ship operational in a hurry. The Exocomp that we found is speeding things up, but it’s going to take a minute.]]



Bonnie pursed her lips. “Is there anything we can do to buy us some time?”



[[I…]]



Just then, the ship rocked as phaser fire lanced out from the DISCOVERY towards the CENTURY.



“Evasive maneuvers!” The doctor called out, as the mood on the bridge now turned frantic.



A new voice came over the comms – Rochemonte. [[Maynell, report!]]



[[We’re giving her all she’s got, Cindy,]] the engineer called back grimly. [[Any bright ideas would be great right about now…]]



Bonnie pursed her lips again, and then sat up straight with a sudden thought. “Ensign, the cloak! The CENTURY comes equipped with a cloak; can you get it activated and working again?”



There was a short silence before Maynell reported back, [[Uh… we’re a little low on talent with Cloaking operations. I have some idea, but we weren’t outfitted with any cloaking specialists…]]



Rochemonte’s voice came back over the comms. [[Get the Exocomp on it. I’ll be there in just a minute.]]



“Commander, we’re being hailed,” Borlat announced. “It’s the DISCOVERY.”



Bonnie drew a grim look. “On screen.”



Stonn’s visage appeared a moment later in front of her, gazing down at her. If he was surprised to see her in the chair, he did not show it. Instead, he simply raised an eyebrow. {{You disappoint me, Doctor. I had thought that you were dedicated to the cause.}}



“That dedication ended the moment that you allowed us to cover our hands in blood,” she shot back.



{{Our cause is for the greatest good – the preservation of the Federation. Fools have allowed this great civilization to fall into decay, and fail to tend to growing it’s strength. The Federation was once a strong tree, and now it is a sickly sapling. If we must refreshed it with the blood of others, then so be it.}}



Doctor Reardon stood up now. “This is madness, Stonn. I too wish for a stronger Federation, but this is wrong. You would kill the noble amongst us, and take away what makes us who we are.”



{{Doctor,}} Stonn replied patiently, {{I do not more than you in simply ridding the Federation of its cancer.}}



“You’re the cancer, Stonn,” Bonnie replied venomously. “I can’t believe I was ever lulled in by your words.”



Stonn stared at her for a long moment, and then inspected his nails. {{Doctor, your only hope for survival is to surrender to me now. You have obviously lost your way, and thus are no longer worthy of trust. I will ask for leniency for you if you lower your shields and end this charade. If you do not, you will be destroyed.}}



Bonnie Reardon stared at the screen for a long moment. When she finally spoke, her tone was calm and even. “Here is my answer.”



With a motion, she cut off communications. “Bridge, open fire, and prepare to take evasive maneuvers.”



Her face was grim. She glanced around the room, and saw a flurry of activity as her orders were carried out. The battle began as the ship began to pitch and maneuver and fire all at once in a deadly dance with the DISCOVERY.



There would be no surrender; Bonnie prayed that she had not just condemned more lives to death by her deeds.



=/\=

NRPG: I just had to buff out some of the rust in my imagination. Thank you Tay, Jamie, and Alix for getting us going again. J



Christopher B. Del Gesso

As

LT(JG) Russ Gerodi BaShen

Flight Control Officer

USS DISCOVERY



And


LT Cindy Rochemonte

Assistant Chief Engineering Officer

USS DISCOVERY