Together Again
Posted on Wed Nov 10th, 2010 @ 3:50am by Captain T'mpest Michaels & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Lieutenant JG Jason Fisher
1,347 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Structured Shoreleave - Marchwiel
Location: Eyton/ OP base camp
Timeline: Current
ON
T'mpest put her nuts and chocolates in her bag and added a sample of each of the spices for later analysis. The rest she left with Helda. She also left a note of thanks and most of her money. She kept one of each coin to add to her collection of information on the planet.
As Helda was still sleeping, T'mpest stoked the fire and fixed a quick breakfast for she and Vladimir. Then she cleaned up the kitchen, making sure the note and money was clearly visible in the center of the table.
Finally, she tidied up the bedroom, making sure nothing was left behind. "I have to check," she told Zhukov, "or I will invariably leaves something of value behind." She bundled the books into a shawl she'd picked up in the market and tied it onto her back. "Okay, I'm ready."
Vladimir nodded. It had been a good mission, so far. Now, all they had to do was rendezvous with the other members of the away team and signal the Ranger to beam them back. Zhukov was thankful they wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the ship.
The two officers left the house and walked out onto the cobblestone street. It was still dark, but you could see a glimpse of light starting to appear on the horizon.
"Let's hurry. I want to be out of those gates before it gets too light." said Zhukov. "Our makeup...its starting to ware off and you look younger now then you did three days ago." Zhukov said to her as he quickly began walking towards the direction of the large wooden gates they had come through two days earlier.
"Better to avoid awkward questions," T'mpest agreed.
The two of them reached the gates and were halted by a guard. "Halt. Why are you leaving?" he asked them.
Zhukov spoke up. "We are travelers, and we are only visiting the city for a few days. We want to get out on the trails before it gets to hot, and to try and get to our next destination before dark." he said to the guard.
The guard just nodded. "Just be careful out there." he replied as he turned and gave the sentry the signal to open a small door that was built into one of the large wooden gates.
The door opened, and Zhukov and T'mpest quickly walked through it and found themselves outside the city walls.
They walked until they were almost out of sight. T'mpest stopped and turned to have one final look at the city. Even though there was no one around, she surreptitiously took out her tricorder and scanned, then took a picture. "I'm actually going to miss this place," she told Zhukov.
He nodded in agreement. "Me too. I wonder if our journeys will ever take us back here?" he asked her. It was more of a rhetorical question then anything else.
T'mpest nodded. "I wish we could come back in a few years to see how things have changed." But she knew it was unlikely.
They continued to walk down the path another 400 meters. "Ok," Zhukov said, "The OP should be just over the ridge there." he said as the walked off the path and towards where they had set up camp a few days earlier.
"I hope everyone is alright." Vladimir said to her.
She looked at him and nodded in agreement. When they walked into camp, T'mpest slipped her books off her shoulders and set them on a rock. She rolled her shoulders, as her muscles were a little sore.
As the two of them came into camp, they were greeted by Lt. T'kaarch.
"Hi," T'mpest said. "How have things been here?"
T'kaarch had actually been slightly startled by the sounds outdoor, and after the events of 2 nights earlier it wasn't unlikely that they could be attacked again. With the phaser smoothly hidden in his long sleeves he sheepishly looked into Lieutenant T'mpest's face. "Oh, hi." He purred, relaxing. "Oh not much, just converrrted a few strrray sheep to save Lieutenant Fisherrr..."
"Sheep?" asked Zhukov. "I didn't even realize there were sheep on this planet." he said with a little chuckle. "Good work, everyone. Let's start packing up our stuff so we can head home." Vladimir said.
T'mpest grinned at T'kaarch. "I'd love to hear how that came about."
The next hour or so was spent telling stories about the city, the bandits and that freakish thunderstorm which had so conveniently cut off communications during the bandit attack.
T'mpest spent part of the time checking the data both groups had accumulated. She saved it onto backup data rods as she listened to the others talk.
"Couldn't we just teleporrrt everrrything out? Therrre's no-one arrround." T'kaarch pointed at the lifesign reading on his Tricorder, which, apart for six blips in the tent hadn't picked up anything in the area.
"Please." Jason Fisher cut in, clutching at his still-painful side. I don't think I'm physically able to walk back."
Zhukov nodded. "Once we have everything packed up, that's the plan." Vladimir said. "Right now, I'm quite content knowing that we won't have to hike back to the ship." he said.
Although T'mpest normally enjoyed hiking, she was glad she wouldn't have to hike most of the day carrying her books.
She slipped away long enough to go back to the river and get her clothes. They were still draped over the rock. She didn't want someone finding them and thinking she was still around -- or had drowned.
Then she struck the tents and cleaned up the camp. She stacked all their equipment and supplied in a pile for easy transport.
"Is everyone ready?" Zhutov asked the group as they assembled around him with the gear.
Zhukov tapped the comm badge on his chest that was underneath the robes he wore. "Zhukov to Ranger."
"This is Ranger, go ahead Lieutenant." came the reply.
"Six to beam back to the ship. Energize." he stated. The six of them, and their gear began to fade away with the familiar look of the transporter beam. Instantly, they were back onboard the ship.
T'mpest picked up her bag, her books and the tents and stepped off the transporter pad. The tents would be packed away for another trip. The books and data needed to be loaded into the computer and analyzed. She was eager to see what she could learn from everything they'd collected. She paused and looked at the others for a moment. Then she sighed. Time to get back to the real world.
Fisher let out a moan of discomfort as the others began to step off the transporter pad. "If it's okay with you Commander," he called after the departing Intelligence Chief, "I'm going to report to sickbay. Please tell the Captain, that I will be back on the bridge as soon as possible."
T'mpest nodded. "Take care of yourself first. I'll inform the Captain." She watched for a moment to be sure he didn't need help, then continued on her way.
Zhukov walked down the corridor with T'mpest for a bit as the rest of the away team made their way back to their individual quarters. He stopped her and took her hand gently. "T'mpest...can I see you tomorrow...you know...for dinner?"
T'mpest felt surprisingly shy after the two days they'd spent pretending to be married. "I would like that," she said, smiling softly. "What time and place do you want me?"
"My quarters, say...1900 hours tomorrow? Have you ever had Borsch? It's like a vegetable soup with a beef base?" he asked her.
"You know, I don't think I have." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I look forward to it. See you tomorrow."
OFF
Lieutenant Commander T'mpest Michaels
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Ranger
Lieutenant Vladimir Zhukov
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ranger
Lieutenant Dylan Blake
Chief Operations Officer
USS Ranger
Lieutenant JG T'kaarch
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Ranger
Lieutenant JG Jason Fisher
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Ranger
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