Five Little Indians

Posted on Jan 20, 2016 @ 1:51am by Lieutenant Eve Dalziel
Edited on on Jan 20, 2016 @ 1:52am

Mission: Promethean

“Five Little Indians”
(Continued from “Slippery Slope”)

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"Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it."
-Agatha Christie

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Location: LAVENZA II
SD: 2.160118.2345
Scene: Exhaust Passage

“Kass and Barton are gone. We can’t find a trail.”

Even in the shadows, the disappointment was noticeable in Aerdan’s face and his antennae moved wildly as he took in the Chief’s words.

“If there’s no sign of blood or injury, that’s a good thing- right?” Ensign Perry offered.

She had a point, but Kass’ epithet still rang fresh in Eve’s ears. If whatever-it-was was big enough to intimidate the major, then it might also have been large enough to swallow them both whole. And that was no comfort at all. “I suggest we attempt to stick together, Commander.”

The Andoran nodded weakly.

Dalziel turned to the exotic looking aCMO, trying to gain further consensus. “You’re still next. We can lower you down as much as possible. That sound good?”

Sam nodded, adjusting the medikit she was carrying.

“Miss Perry’s on her way,” Eve called down to the men below, and through careful and somewhat awkward coordination of efforts, the medical assistant joined Russ and Jake. “All clear,” Crichton called up from the bottom.

And that left Dalziel and Jos.

“Ladies first,” the ExO stated.

“Chivalry is dead,” Eve shot back. “Age before beauty. Besides, they need a leader down there, and you need someone to cover your ass up here.”

Aerdan reasoned with his thoughts (but not for long) and sat on the edge of the slope. “It sounds like you’re spending too much time with Major Thytos.”

Eve grinned. He wouldn’t believe her if she told him how much more time she had been hanging around Cade. “No stalling.”

Aerdan made it to the bottom without much fanfare. “Okay, Lieutenant,” he said upward, while moving to the side. Maybe less than ten seconds later, Dalziel followed.

They were now standing in a passageway nearly as plain and nondescript as where they had come from. There was a long dim corridor on one side, and on the other side there was ten feet of hallway before going into a right turn.

“Dammit, ah, no,” Russ said to nobody in particular, waving his tricorder like it would somehow change what he was seeing. He was near the turning point.

“What’s wrong?” Aerdan asked.

Jake walked over and observed the readings the FCO was getting and frowned. “The same interference that’s affecting our comms is also skewing the tricorder display. I don’t know what I’m looking at.”

“Naturally occurring, or because of the forcefield?” Sam asked, making sure her medical supplies were in order.

“I’m guessing the second, but then again there’s no way to tell what these walls are made out of.” They seemed to be some kind of non-reactive metal, but other than that there were no clues as to who had created this icebound fortress.

“Do we have any way to tinker with it?” The Counsellor asked.

Jake ruefully cast side eye at the tall woman. “You mean, do I have any way to fix it? Maybe,” he admitted confidently. “But I think we need to get somewhere else before I try. We don’t even know what chased off Kass and Barton yet.”

“Or which direction they took,” Russ shrugged.

“Or why their phasers didn’t kill it,” Eve said softly. The ExO turned and stared at her for a few seconds. He was the only one to hear her, which did little to allay the feeling that things had already gone too far out of control.

Aerdan snapped out of his concerns and addressed the group. “Crichton’s right. We need to get out of here.”

“Do we split into two groups to try to locate the others?” Samantha wondered out loud.

Dalziel didn’t waste any time with her opinion. “With all due respect, I don’t think we should.”

The Andorian nodded. “Agreed. We’re already split into two groups, by force, but still separated. And we only have four phasers, three standard tricorders, Jake’s kit, and Ensign Perry’s medical kit and medical tricorder between those of us who are left. Until the situation changes, we’re together.”

“What about this Trixie character?” Russ asked. “We need to find her too, right?”

Aerdan Jos had almost forgotten about that. “Certainly. This isn’t a contest as to who we find first. We simply need to make some headway. I can’t tell where we are in relation to either Trixie or our own people, or the crew of the Lament.”

“I love those odds,” Eve said dryly.

“Which way do we go? Should we flip a coin?” the FCO mused.

Lt Cmdr Jos looked in the direction he thought was north. “We’re going around the corner there. Eve, Russ, I want you in front. Miss Perry, you’re in the middle. Jake, you and I will be bringing up the rear. Understood?”

Eve checked her phaser and joined BaShen as the rest of the group assembled. Aerdan tore a small piece of thermal material near the wrist cuff of his jacket and tied it around part of the grating.

“We’re not going back that way,” Samantha Perry commented. “I think it’s too steep.”

The azure skinned man looked at Jake and the aCMO. “No, but if we’re walking in circles, I want to be the first know about it,” he calmly replied. “Now, let’s move out.”


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Susan Ledbetter

Lieutenant Eve Dalziel
Cns
USS PHOENIX