From: Bethany \ (mouse3of3_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Oct 01 2008 - 17:39:59 PDT
"Can You Hear Me Now?"
Cont. from "To The Mountains"
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Location: IRATHI III
Stardate: 2.81001.2039
Scenes: Caves
Despite the possibility of the cave being home to resistance units and ore mining, it was like any other cave- dark and slightly dank. It was cooler than the air outside, but at least there was no wind to chill them any more. The floor was fairly uneven, but the crew managed to keep from falling, crashing into each other, or any other calamity. The tricorders helped: now that they were inside the cave itself, the instruments could sense a limited number of feet ahead and behind them, although more than a meter or two around a sharp curve was impossible. It was still not reading any life signs other than the four officers.
If the mountain had been quiet, the caves were deathly still.
Corwin was leading the way and Clarkson was bringing up the rear, but neither of them had seen anything so far, and Tam and Song weren˘t picking anything up on their tricorders. After they˘d walked for over a kilometer, Corwin asked, "Are we sure we˘re at the right location? I haven˘t seen anything that suggests anyone using these caves, and there are some other entrances."
"It stands to reason that the rebels would be well-hidden. If there were any signs of habitation, then the Irathi government would have found them by now," Song replied, never losing step. "We˘re not that far into the system yet. We received estimates of several miles of passageways and caverns, including the chance that the entrances connect in various places."
"And there could be any number of things hidden back there," Clarkson added, "or any number of people." His displeasure at the thought was almost palpable to the rest of the party, and they fell silent again.
Tam, as she walked, considered his reasons for being angry at the Irathi people. More to reassure herself than for any other reason, she slid her hand down the carrying strap to the medical case by her side. They˘d already lost four people on this mission, including one that she knew personally, and she didn˘t want the same thing to happen to anyone else while they were here- although she˘d make an exception for some of the Irathi rebels.
After another kilometer or so, the surface started slanting downhill, and despite the heat that they were generating with their exertions, Tam found herself starting to shiver, and a quick sweep with the tricorder confirmed that the temperature was dropping precipitously as they continued. She was actually grateful when Corwin called another halt, if only so that they could spend a few minutes at a steady temperature.
The flight officer did not mince words. "I haven˘t been able to raise Morris. Can anyone else?"
One by one, they all tapped their commbadges and shook their heads. There was no response to any of their attempts. "I can try routing it through the tricorders for greater strength, but I doubt it˘ll get much stronger than it is now. Even if we can reach him now," Song looked up from where she was already starting to reroute the signal, "I doubt we˘ll be able to if we go any deeper."
Sighing, Tanith nodded. "Alright, try anyway. We˘ll move on either way."
A minute of programming later, Song shook her head. "Nothing. We can˘t reach him."
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NRPG: Just so something can happen.
Tag!
Bethany B.
Ensign Tam Niala
CMO
USS PATRIOT
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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