<USS Avalon> Re: Survivors: Day Three...another fine mess (and then some)!

 Rut-ro!! This could spell trouble for sure! 


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Rowanna Darkwolf <rowannadarkwolf@xxxxxxxxx>
To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:20 pm
Subject: <USS Avalon> Survivors: Day Three...another fine mess (and then some)!














"...came out of the shadows,..., they were there... but they weren't there... 
How did they do that?" Duran whispered yet again. "How...how did they do that? 
Right out of the shadows...through the walls...right out of nowhere..."


?


Mac nodded to Linc, who moved to sedate the aggitated man. 


?


"Who'd we lose?" he asked Rae.


?


"Ensign Vickers, security. Enign V'reh, science. and Ens..."


?


"Marilyn French. Damn fine nurse, and genuinely good woman." Linc interrupted. 
"I'll?take care of notifying her family myself when we get out of this, if you 
don't mind.?I'd rather they heard it from me."?


?


Mac nodded. "I'm sorry, Linc."


?


"Sir...at the risk of sounding like Duran. How did they get in there like 
that?" Tran asked nervously. 


?


"Hell if I know," Mac answered honestly. "We searched every inch of that cave. 
You, me, Rae, Fielding. He was there that whole time, setting up while we 
brought everyone over. There was nothing there. They shouldn't have been there."


?


"The sun was rising...the fires dying out...so the shadows were.." Tran stopped 
a moment, then his eyes went wide. "They really are...sir...they're coming out 
of the shadows. Whatever these...things...are...they're in the shadows. 


?


Fielding scowled. "That doesn't make any sense. There were shadows when we 
searched it at..."


?


"No...there weren't." Tran interrupted. "remember...we lit up the inside 
first..threw in the portable lantern...in case something was in there. To flush 
it out, remember?"


?


"Shit...and I kept it lit when I was setting up so I wouldn't miss anything." 
Fielding agreed. 


He glanced at Tran, knowing someone had to ask. "So now what?"


?


Rae stepped up from Fi's side, where she'd been helping the woman to find a 
position that could at least pass for comfortable. "Now, we find someplace 
else. Our needs haven't changed. We need food..water...shelter. If the shadows 
are the problem, we have to make sure that there just aren't any."


?


"You don't mean we should go back in there?" Fielding asked, incredulously. 


?


"You've got somewhere else? Somewhere shadows won't ever be?" Rae asked 
seriously. 


?


"No, but..." Fielding turned to Mac, pleading. "Sir?"


?


Fi?watched and listened to the senior officers discussing the seriousness of 
the situation they had fallen into. Their number had dwindled by another three, 
and she knew morale was going to drop faster than the temperature. Her own hope 
of rescue began to dwindle when she heard about the deaths, and for a moment 
her worry over the issue of her Deltan pheromones seemed pale by comparison. 


?


Linc came over after sedating Duran and scanned her for what seemed the 
hundredth time. She didn't expect any different news, but he surprised her by 
smiling. 


?


"Good news, Ensign Kyla. The swelling's gone down around your spine, and it 
looks like the paralysis is being caused by a nerve pinched between two 
vertebra," Linc said. "I've high hopes that we can correct the problem with 
surgery, next time we visit a proper sickbay." 


?


Fi's spirits lifted immensely. It was the first piece of good news she'd heard 
since the crash landing three days ago. She smiled back, and then her gaze flew 
to Mac, hoping foolishly that he would be pleased. 


?


She drew her gaze away quickly, feeling stupid. It was the pheromones again, 
she knew it. She could---and would---do everything in her power to keep them 
under control, but her control would only last so long. Eventually they would 
break through what barriers she could build and would begin affecting the 
others. She was surprised, come to think of it, that Linc had yet seen nothing 
on the scans. Forcing herself to look back at him and only him, she said, 
"That's great. Show me the way to that proper sickbay and I'll pull myself 
there faster than you can blink." 


?


Clearing her throat, she said, "And about the shadow problem... I might not be 
able to chase them away, but I can keep them at bay. I can easily keep a fire 
going at night and I'm a pretty good shot---scored in the top ten percent of my 
class in arms training." 


?


Taking a deep breath, feeling sure she had her pheromones under control (for 
the time being), she chanced a glance up at Mac. "What say you, Mac? Gonna let 
the cripple make herself useful?"


?


"Maybe you should work on resting and...avoiding complications." Linc told her 
gently, intentionally drawing her attention away from Mac and hoping he'd be 
reasonably immune himself. He was trying hard to think of a way to address the 
delicate situation his readouts were warning of without blurting it out in 
front of everyone when he added a hopeful,?carefully enunciated, ?"Do you 
understand?"


?


"You sure, Doc?"?Fielding asked, unnaccountably pleased to hear of her 
progress. "I mean...if she feels up to it..."


?


"She needs her rest for more reasons than you know,young man. Now, let's focus 
on our jobs and not second guess one another, alright? You go on and?help get 
everything set up safely. I'll see to the sick." Linc answered, his tone 
leaving no room for argument. The last thing anyone needed was for him to be 
swayed, and have her control slip altogether. 


?


Fielding blushed, uncertain why he'd even argued, save he was suddenly looking 
very much forward to a late night chance to talk to her. Maybe spend a little 
time...get to know each other. "Understood, sir. Sorry. I didn't mean to ruffle 
feathers...just we're so short handed..."


?


"I?know, and I'm sorry if I sounded snappish." Linc replied, his tone 
gentler.?"Go on now. See what Mac needs."


?


"You boys play nice,"?Mac ordered?with a smile. "We'll?manage this somehow. Fi 
can stoke the fire and shoot for a shift. One shift. Then we'll switch up and 
she'll sleep.?That should satisfy everyones needs. Alright?"


?


Linc wasn't sure it was.?


?


"I still can't believe what just happened," muttered Starling, in a corner with 
her comrades from the previous night's shift. "It just couldn't ... I mean 
shouldn't ... have ... "


?


"I know, I know," nodded Oxenburg. "But we got the whole day ahead of us, and 
we can't exactly stand around doing nothing but ..."


?


"I think that didn't come out quite the way you wanted it too," said Townsend. 
"Look, the whole day is ahead of us. We're going to go crazy if we start a 
fight amongst ourselves. Come on, let's head over and see just what we can do. 
Mac will know just what assignments to give us."


?


Without a word, three very nervous "Musketeers" headed off in the direction of 
their de facto leader, worries on their minds.


?


Spotting the approaching crewmen, who he knew had just someone close to 
them,?Mac met them half way. He took in their nervous, exhausted features.?


?


"Hey, guys," He greeted them quietly, his voice filled with compassion. " I'm 
sorry about French." 


?


He had no idea how to help them through the grief he knew they must be feeling 
in the midst of all of this chaos. He remembered how he was after Bean's death, 
and how useless he was for awhile afterward. Unfortunately, he couldn't give 
them that kind of time right now. They just didn't have it. 


?


"How're you holding up?" he finally asked. 


?


"Ensign Kyla?" 


?


As she had a much harder time drawing her attention from Mac (what was his full 
name? she wondered),?Fi began to worry that she had less control over her 
pheromones than she thought. It was with a concentrated effort that she tore 
her gaze away from their CO and looked at the doctor, who was trying to get her 
attention. "I'm sorry, yes?" 


?


Linc smiled at the young woman, noticing how pretty her blue eyes were, then 
shaking his head. He could not afford to let this situation affect him, though 
from the readout on the tricorder, he knew it was only a matter of time before 
they had another major problem that had nothing to do with their already dire 
situation. 


?


"Ensign, I'm sure you understand my reluctance to have you..." he paused, 
wanting to say it politely, and in a manner that would not raise questions from 
those nearby who might possibly overhear their conversation. He lowered his 
voice, saying again, "You understand why?" 


?


Fi swallowed, nodding reluctantly. Oh, she knew alright. "I know, sir. I 
just...I want to feel useful. I feel like I need to do something, instead of 
having people constantly taking care of me." 


?


"But it's our duty to care for the injured, Fi," he said, addressing her by the 
name Mac had used. 


?


The Deltan-Betazoid girl looked down at her hands, which she twisted together 
in her lap. "I know," she said quietly, forcing herself to concentrate on the 
man in front of her, and not the dark blond LC with the beautiful hazel eyes. 
The fact that she couldn't seem to keep her thoughts from drifting to Mac was a 
concern, though she didn't voice that concern to Linc. 


?


"I also know," she went on, "that considering the situation in which I have 
found myself, I should do everything I can so as not to adversely affect the 
thoughts and feelings of others. If it...if it comes down to it, is there 
anything in the?medkit that?can help?" 


?


Linc thought for a moment of the limited medical supplies they had. "The only 
thing that might help is to keep you sedated," he told her in a low voice. "And 
even that's not entirely preventative, as I'm sure you know."


?


Fi chuckled mirthlessly. "You want to know the bitter irony?" she said. "I was 
due for my weekly dosage today. Were we onboard the ship right now, this 
wouldn't even be an issue." And I wouldn't be thinking far too much about a 
certain lieutenant commander, she added silently. 


?


Linc nodded, sighing. "I know this is going to sound redundant, young lady, but 
try to get some rest. If you're going to take a watch tonight, you're going to 
need it," he told her, then?stood.?


?


"Doc? You...you're not going to say anything to him are you?" 


?


He looked down, his deep brown eyes looking intently into her bright blue ones. 
"The subject is a matter of doctor-patient confidentiality, as far as I'm 
concerned," he said kindly, then squatted again, adding, "I?won't tell Mac 
about your problem unless I absolutely have to, which I am afraid to say may 
become necessary if we're here much longer. Unless it comes to a point where 
have no choice but to sedate you in order to...ah...?minimize the effects..." 
he paused, knowing she'd understand, and hoping curious ears wouldn't before 
continuing ,"my lips are sealed. Promise." 


?


She looked back into his eyes, and nodded as she said, "I understand, sir. 
Thanks." 


?


Mac finished talking to the three distraught men and returned to the group, 
only to find himself staring down at Fielding and a young female ensign locked 
in an embrace at his feet. "Um, if you don't mind, kids, why not wait until you 
can get a room." he chided them, nudging Fielding with the toe of his boot and 
trying not to think of how good certain females around him were looking in 
spite of the sweat and dirt they were wearing. "We've got work to do."


?


?


A young lieutenant in security red approached. "Excuse me, sir, can I talk to 
you a moment?"


?


Mac nodded and followed him away from the others.


?


"How long do you really think we can afford to carry all this dead weight?" he 
demanded. 


?


Mac's brows shot up. "Excuse me?"


?


"You know what I mean, sir. " the lieutenant insisted. "We've got minimal 
supplies and no real hope of surviving this planet unless we find that downed 
shuttle. We need to be searching for it. Andros has approximate coordinates 
where it would have landed, based on it's estimated point of entry and 
trajectory when it entered the atmosphere, but it's at least a four day hike 
from here, and there's no way we're all going to get there."


?


Mac's eyes narrowed, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "What exactly are 
you suggesting."


?


"We need to unload some of the baggage here, sir. Think about it. You carried 
half the people from our crash site to here, back and forth, and it just about 
did you in. No way we're getting all of them to the shuttle. And we don't have 
enough supplies to leave behind, especially lights and?metal sheeting for 
the?ground. If we leave those behind for them, we all die." The lieutenant took 
a deep breath, "Face it. It's survival of the fittest time, man. We can either 
cut the dead weight, head for the shuttle, and those that make it survive, or 
stay here all die together."


?


Mac's fists clenched, seemingly of their own volition. "You're suggesting we 
abandon the wounded to die here on this god-forsaken planet because you're too 
damned chickenshit to defend them and too candyass to take them with you."


?


"It's not just me, sir," the lieutenant said quietly. "There are a few of us 
who think so. In fact, sir, you should probably reconsider your stand on it, 
because there are enough of us to make sure it happens,?with or without you." 
His hand rested upon his weapon as he stated what he clearly considered to be a 
simple fact. 


?


Rae looked up in time to see the lieutenant's hand close around his phaser. 
Before he could raise it, she'd cleared the ten steps to him and pounced, 
pinning him to the ground.


?


"Don't stand in our way, sir," the lieutenant growled as she zip tied his hands 
behind his back. "It won't end well for you if you do. You're pet mutant won't 
always be around to rescue you."


?


"Actually, I was rescuing you." Rae purred as she hauled him to his feet. "I've 
seen the LC in a throwdown, you see, ?and you were about to get your ass 
kicked."

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