Ice Planet Expedition: Reunion, part 1

Posted on Sat Feb 6th, 2010 @ 4:15am by Commander Raven Adams & Commodore Edward Fannin & Commander Basil Hart & Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,427 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: FORGING AHEAD
Location: Tiberius X
Timeline: current

ON

The two Argos returned to the base camp, the bodies of the dead wrapped and carefully stored in the back.

They pulled up next to the shuttles and stopped. A quiet, somber group climbed out.

T'mpest made arrangements for the bodies to be put on the shuttle and the gear to be unloaded.

Sam went looking for Damon. She found him, running through some drills. Not wanting to interrupt him, she turned and headed for the 'girl's tent.'

Inside, she unrolled her sleeping bag and sat on it. With a sigh she wrapped her arms around her bent knees and put her head down.

John and Ty entered their tent, Ty set to cooking up some fresh coffee while John guzzled half a gallon of cold water... The mood of the party was grim to say the best. Sam was taking it very hard.

Damon was teaching a lesson on cold shelter construction when the Argo's pulled up. He didn't even notice them until he spotted a large group of Marines huddled around the vehicles. Concerned, Damon extricated himself from the small shelter and brushed off the snow as he made his way over to see what the commotion was about. As he approached, his eyes widened upon seeing dead bodies being pulled out of the vehicles. ~Oh no, where's Sam? ~ His eyes eagerly searched her out as he pushed his way through the crowd to get a better look.

"What the hell happened?" He said as he finally made his way through. He didn't see her and was starting to really worry.

Harmos strode purposely over to T'mpest and Damon, ready for the only news such somber faces could possibly announce.

T'mpest looked over at Damon. "Venomous k'naar. Large rodents. They killed three of or team. Two Marines and a scientist."

She watched as the three bodies were carefully wrapped and put on one of the two shuttles.

"Whose Marines, T'mpest?" Harmos asked, bracing himself for the worst.

"One from the Orion, one from the Endeavor," she replied.

Harmos nodded. He was not looking forward to the eventual letter he would have to write to the Marine's family.

Damon felt his mouth go dry at the mention of a scientist being among the dead. "Whose scientist?" He managed to croak out.

"A girl from the Orion," she replied.

Damon's heart sank in his chest. He tried to remember who went with the group, but he had to admit that he wasn't really paying attention when the Argo's were loaded up. His eyes scanned the group again. ~Damnit, where is she?~ He was starting to really worry.

Zach had stayed with the shuttle, watching its systems. Plus he wasn't a big fan of caves, especially caves on a cold planet. Still when he saw the two Argo’s returned to camp he was relieved and zipping his jacket up even farther he went to see if T'mpest had enjoyed herself.

He arrived just as she was explaining that their party had been attacked by large rodents. His happiness at seeing her was dampened by the news of three of their party being killed. "Are you all right?" He asked

T'mpest nodded. "I am dealing with it," she replied.

Zach nodded at T'mpest's words. He understood what it was like to lose someone. No words could make up for the loss T'mpest felt. "Is there anything I can do to help you T'mpest?" His voice soft and concerned,

Beatrix was shaken by the k'naar and the deaths of the three officers. She wasn't used to this sort of thing and didn't know how to deal with it. So, to avoid thinking about it, she headed into the shuttle.

----

Basil made his way to the girls' tent, having seen Sam go inside. He knocked on the tent pole at the entrance. "Samantha, may I come in?"

Sam looked up. It wasn't who she hoped to see. "Hi. I'll be fine, Doctor. I just need some time alone to... assimilate."

Basil nodded. He thought it might be too early to talk about it. "Would you like me to go find Damon?"

Samantha began to nod, then shook her head. "He's busy with his men. I don't want to call him away from that."

"I understand. But I believe he thinks you are more important. He's already halted training for the time-being." Basil ducked out of the tent, leaving Sam to her thoughts.

Sam thought about it for a minute. She didn't want to be a bother, but at the same time, it would be a good idea to let him know she was okay. She washed her face to remove all traces of tears and went, once again, in search of Damon.

A large group had congregated around T'mpest and one of the Argos. After a minute she found Damon at the front, speaking with T'mpest. He looked... ~Damon!~ she hoped she could still reach him telepathically.

Damon's head snapped around at the sound of a voice in his head and once again he looked through the crowd of faces. This time he found her, she was standing near the back of the group, keeping to herself. To say he was relieved would be an understatement, and surely it would have been easy to read on his face. It took a moment for him to remember that others had still died, so he made a concerted effort to mask his relief.

After nodding to the others, he took his leave from the group around the Argo's and moved through the crowd of people. It took a few moments for him to weave through them until he finally made it over to Samantha. Unsure of how to proceed, he simply reached his hand out and placed it on her arm. "You okay?" was all he could manage to say at the moment.

"Physically I'm fine," she replied quietly. Having him there helped. "Psychologically... not so much."

She began to walk back towards the tent where she could speak more freely. When they were out of sight and out of hearing she stopped. "This was supposed to be a fun little side trip while we were on shore leave. Find information about a dead civilization and do some training. It wasn't supposed to cost people their lives." She shook her head sadly. "I feel like it's all my fault." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying not to show how deeply it bothered her. She looked in his eyes, her concern switching to him. "I came looking for you when I got back, but you were in the middle of training, so I went to the tent to work through it." She ran her hand down his arm from shoulder to elbow. "I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry." She knew how Damon felt about professional decorum in public so she refrained from wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

He nodded at her words, understanding what it was like to lose people unexpectedly. "I'm just glad you are okay." He could see that her eyes were red and it was obvious that 'working through it' involved a fair number of tears. Despite his inborn reservations, he moved closer and hugged her tightly. "It's no more your fault they died then it is mine for not sending more Marines to protect the group. We can only do our best to protect ourselves and others within reason."

Sam nodded, hugging him back. "You had no way of knowing there would be creatures living in the caves. I don't think more Marines would have helped. We had no idea the creatures were poisonous. The doctor could do nothing." She lay her head on his shoulder, trying not to dwell on it.

(To be continued...)

USS Endeavor:

Commander T'mpest Michaels
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Colonel Harmos Aurelius
Marine CO

Commander Zach Scott
Chief of Staff

Lieutenant Commander John Gifford
Chief Intelligence Officer

Lieutenant JG Anjen Torvil
Assistant Chief Science Officer

1st Lieutenant Lana Hunter
Platoon Commander

Ensign Beatrix Marelle
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist

USS Orion:

Lieutenant Commander Samantha York
Chief Science Officer

1st Lieutenant Damon Raine
Marine CO

Petty Officer 3rd Class Yvette Jaynes (NPC)
Nurse

Sergeant Kara Melo (NPC)
Marine Scout

Staff Sergeant Allen Riley (NPC)
Marine Section Leader

Trent Kushner (NPC)
Marine Rifleman

Starbase Typhon:

Lieutenant Commander Basil Hart
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer

Ty Seven (NPC)
Intel Officer

Lieutenant Lucinda Sprout (NPC)
Science Officer, Glaciologist

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