USS PATRIOT: ESPERION: Tunnel (“The Tunnel Rarely Travelled”)

From: V. Rahul Chandra (vrccan_at_gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jan 18 2007 - 17:36:52 PST


 

 

========

“The Tunnel Rarely Travelled”

Con’t from my own “Defining Moments, Part II”

========

Location: ESPERION

Stardate: 2422 [2.7] 0118.2023

Scene: Tunnel

 

The three men had been walking down the corridor sometime now, and the
constant lack of scenery was starting to get extremely monotonous.

 

“Might want to turn on the lights now,” Daniel said.  “I think we’re far
enough away that there’s no chance of us being picked up.”

 

“They would not be able to see them through the holographic display,”
Palthainon reminded him.

 

“Even still,” Clarkson replied.  “It’s good to be cautious about these
things.”

 

He didn’t say that he lacked faith in the holographic device, but the
implication was obvious, and Palthainon smiled slightly, but refrained from
commenting.

 

Clarkson activated the light attached to his marine assault rifle, while
Harris activated the wristband flashlight that he’d had the presence of mind
to bring with him.  The two meager cones of light filtered through the
darkness well, and Clarkson was able to see pretty reasonably well in front
of him as the three journeymen started forward again.

 

“Have you ever been in this tunnel before?” Clarkson asked.

 

“Once, just before I inherited the compound from my predecessor,” came
Palthainon’s reply, and Daniel thought that he caught the slightest hint of
nostalgia in the priest’s voice.  “But we have already surpassed the
distance I had traveled that time.”

 

“And you never came back here again?” Daniel asked, a bit surprised.  He
knew that if the situations had been reversed, he’d have been bursting with
curiosity at where the secret tunnel led exactly.

 

“There was never a need,” Palthainon replied simply.

 

There were a few moments of silence, as each officer considered the priest’s
words.  “You were never curious?” Harris asked.

 

“Perhaps I was,” Palthainon replied.  “However I do not follow through on
all my curiosities – to do so would be illogical, not to mention that my
duties as one of the thirteen really do drain my time.”

 

A silence descended on the three again, and for the next few minutes Daniel
concentrated on the road in front of him.  He couldn’t tell much about where
they were going – his best guess was that they’d been traveling in a
straight line this whole time, with the elevation remaining approximately
constant.

 

“Is it really such a good idea to be traveling so unprepared down here?”
Harris asked.  “We could be down here for days at this rate.”

 

“The alternative is turning around, going back and fighting the entire rebel
army,” Daniel replied shortly.  He too had begun questioning whether or not
this had been a good decision, and the fact that Harris too had brought up
the same concerns didn’t alleviate his unease at all, it just served to
increase it.

 

“Do you have a better idea?” Daniel asked.

 

“No sir,” Harris replied with a sigh, after a few moments of silence in
which the trio continued to walk.

 

“Then we’ll keep going,” Daniel replied, in a voice that suggested the
discussion was over.  With a slight huff, he increased his pace slightly,
becoming more confident in his footfalls as the tunnel continued to lead
them in a straight away direction from the compound.

 

Behind him, he heard Palthainon and Harris increase their pace to match his,
as the three continued their journey down the tunnel.

 

Wherever it happened to lead.

 

 

 
==========
V. Rahul Chandra <vrccan_at_gmail.com>
 
Playing...
 
Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gorman, MD
Chief Medical Officer/2nd Officer
GATEWAY STATION, GS-2
 
&
 
Captain Daniel Clarkson, MD
Executive Officer - Marine Contingent
USS PATRIOT, NCC 5781-A
 
&
 
Lieutenant Sevlock
Junior ACT Instructor
Starfleet Academy, EARTH
 

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