Chthonic (Part 1)

Posted on 09 Jul 2013 @ 6:57pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Commander Andreus Kohl & Petty Officer 1st Class James Watt

6,865 words; about a 34 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Rojar II R03
Timeline: MD6 - 0400

[ON]

The day before had held the promise of a change in her life for Kiri. The way she felt about things, relationships with people and herself. Ever since Kohl left her room yesterday morning she'd been hopeful, sadness seemed to be something that was behind her. Then the Borg. Then Stone. Death was meant to be behind them, this was a mission about life. Discovering new planets and what had grown there it should be safe, yet he died. Not from Klingons, not from Borg nor pirates, or any of the things she was worried about. It was from a wild animal that didn't display on sensors. She had been one of the people scanning the planet, she was meant to be an expert and she didn't see it. Things would have been different, she had told him there were no hazards, no need for armour. She was wrong. If she'd been faster, better, less afraid then maybe he'd still be alive. It was hard not to find all the points that she should have done something, should have tried harder, been more careful. Now there was another away mission, one she was in charge of.

It had been nonstop all day and the moment she had stepped off the shuttle from her visit deep below the ocean waves she'd gotten ready for the next one. It was meant to be only a short away mission but on a resource level it was the most important so far. It was a rocky world with only bacterial life and algae on the surface. Plumes of steam shafted up from the ground under huge pressure and then fell back down. Caves and tunnels cut by the water as it traveled back through the rock to huge subterranean bodies of water. They'd detected minerals down there Dilithium, Princessium, Poi and even Latinum but crystalline structures in the rock made detailed scans and transporting to the site impossible. So it was a walk along what appeared to be the most accessible entrance to the cave system then a trip down to one of the stronger sites to confirm their findings. Once that was done a real survey team would be sent to do the rest. Drinking an uncharacteristic cup of coffee Kiri finalised their flight and mission plans, just in case anything went wrong. There were no signs of complex life but that didn't mean there wasn't a million other ways to die.

Faint bags had started to form under her eyes, skin pale and overall looking more fragile than the night before. Her hair was almost back to normal as well, the last of the curls falling towards the tips, unless she did something more drastic her hair would always be straight. Cradling the cup and pulling a face at the smell she checked the equipment again. Ropes, harnesses, emergency antigrav pods, breathing masks, hammers, links, feeds and survival packs. At least doing things meant she didn't have time to think about what had already happened, about how scared she really was.

Heading to the entrance she looked outside for the rest of her team, they should be arriving soon and there wasn't that much time to explain. She'd sent them all a message explaining it in brief as well as what the planet was like, there wasn't much time to explain before the ship moved to the next planet.

Liyar walked into the shuttlebay first, punctual as ever. He was still dressed in the AT uniform from his time on RII's surface. He hadn't any time to change. The only time he did have was to eat, meditate and recalibrate his phaser for the projected conditions on RIII. His hair was stuck up thickly all over the place, giving it the appearance of being curly. He fastened his breathing apparatus on over his nose and mouth. "Good morning," he said more drearily than usual. Twenty-four hours of being awake was taking its toll on the recently comatose man.

Petty Officer Watt arrived and looked at Kiri, recognizing her even if she did not recognize the enlisted man. He did not mind, though. "Lieutenant," he said with a nod, "Petty Officer Watt reporting for duty."

"Good morning Mister Watt, but, I am a Junior Grade Lieutenant," Shifting her neck slightly to make it clear. If he was here then it just left one person, she was still rather eager to see him. This was a mission though, moving back inside properly she edged back towards the pilot's seat.

Wordlessly, Liyar followed her in and took a spot in one of the side seats. He pulled down the straps and fastened them over his shoulders, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. He looked down at the PADD in his hands, and scrolled through it. Planetary information fed through in long streams of numbers and data which he absorbed mindlessly.

The shuttlebay was filled with the hydraulic-sounding wheezing of the heavy access doors to the passageway pulling themselves apart. Before the doors fully deinterlaced, there came the clomp-clomp-clomp sound of duty boots heedlessly sprinting across hard deckplates. Anyone looking out the aft hatch of the shuttlecraft would have seen Andreus Kohl bounding into the shuttlebay without a hint of grace. When Liyar had reported for duty perfectly on time, Kohl had still been asleep, in his standard duty uniform, in the sonic shower. Unlike some, Kohl was perfectly comfortable in his black, grey and teal uniform -- and it hung from him impeccably. Those clean lines weren't entirely evident, though, as he tore across the shuttlebay with his arms flailing. The medical kit that was strapped to him kept bouncing against his back painfully.

"Sorry!" Kohl shouted out, before he reached the shuttle. He came running up the ramp and practically threw himself into the aft seat beside Liyar's. Through huffing breaths, Kohl whispered another, "Sorry."

Turning back to see what the commotion was Kiri made sure she didn't get in Liyar's way she reached the door. Peering out she was concerned at first before that gave way to happiness. She was starting to worry that he wasn't coming and that would be a shame. Holding still with the mug in her hands she waited, stepping out slightly, "It's okay, it's not quite time yet."

Kohl laid his hand flat on his chest, and he only said, "Relieved. ...Thank you."

The Vulcan arched an eyebrow at Kohl, but again said nothing.

Soundlessly, Kohl pantomimed one last 'Sorry' at Liiyar. As he turned his chair, Kohl shared a questioning-affectionate-concerned look with Kiri. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kohl held his tongue when he picked up on slight movement from Liyar and Watt in his peripheral vision. Kohl tightened his jaw and stiffened his posture. He spun his chair around to face his shipboard environmental controls. Running his hand over the LCARS panel, Kohl sent an unobtrusive text message to Kiri's station that simply read, How are you? Really?

Watt smiled to himself. He had seen the look Kohl gave Kiri. Not that he cared, he was a petty officer, the fraternization of medical officers with their superiors bothered him not a wit... especially considering some of his own escapades.

Liyar ignored the thrilling display before him for his more pertinent planetary data.

What was she meant to do about that? Her normal way of dealing with things was burying them hiding them under work and not dealing with them until the festered. To talk about this now, how stunned and dull she was feeling inside. How many questions she had about death, how no one else seemed to even care. She didn't like Stone, he scared her and he even made her cry. Yet his passing seemed to effect her more than anyone else she looked at, with Vulcans at least she could understand it. Yet everyone else, an officer they knew was dead, right in front of her. His blood was on her face. Hunching over the console a little more she clenched her fists, it didn't make sense. Was the universe so much curler than she hoped? Yet it was Kohl, she didn't want to seem weak in front of him. Checking the start up sequence with one hand she replied, A little tired, I'll be fine.

"Are all preflight checks complete?" Kiri posed the question to everyone, wanting to make sure nothing was forgotten.

"Aye," Kohl replied, his hands and his eyes remained with his console. "Life support systems fully operational," he said in his formal timbre.

"Engines fully operational, all systems at ideal power output."

"We are prepared to launch," Liyar summarized from his console.

They weren't going to be getting any more ready. Carrying out her steps that she'd memorised since her second year at the Academy she cleared their launch with the bridge. Taking it slow the small shuttle Vincenzo started to drift upwards as the engines primed. The bay door opened and inch by inch, then foot by foot she passed them through the forcefield. Then they were away, loose in the moons of Rojar Two.

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Below a cloudy black moon came closer and closer, it didn't look very welcoming. Like a marble made of marble the crags and fissures ruined the facade. Kiri was busy checking that their landing site was still clear and open. Set in a small crater what didn't have anything by the way of rocks around it, one of the few larger open spots. Reaching the atmosphere she started to slow the shuttle and the computer started to help her more actively. Once they were safely down she turned back, "Is everyone okay?" Through the window a distant geyser started to spray upwards.

"Affirmatve," Liyar answered.

Kohl was quick to get up and out of his chair. He stepped forward to rest his hands on the backs of the co-pilots' chairs and he leaned forward to get a better view of the geyser. "There's no dents to the shuttle and no dents to us," Kohl remarked, "So I'd say we're brilliant."

"Thank you," Kiri smiled at the compliment, landing was always the hardest part of landing. This was her first landing somewhere other than Mars or Earth. Not counting landing on space stations at least, it was scary. The planet looked more dangerous than the lush worlds she'd seen that morning, they had proved rather dangerous to say the least. With Liyar and Kohl she felt safer than she had before though. Being careful it she would make sure that it was safe before moving forwards.

"What are conditions like out there?" Watt asked.

"Tolerable," That was the best answer Kiri could give. It was on the cold side, there wasn't that much in the way of mist near the shuttle. There was one thing though, "It might be a little cold in the open, and there is a slightly lower oxygen content in the air. We will need breathing apparatus to breath comfortably. There was nothing bad in the atmosphere though so they'd need only the most basic of masks, covering their mouth and nose.

"Ah," Kohl said, only to himself, from behind them. He began to fiddle with his breathing apparatus, and fit it into place on his face. Reaching back into the supplies, Kohl began to pull out his harness.

Liyar looked up at that and blinked, checking the atmospheric data loading in his PADD as they got closer to the planet's surface and then as they set down. The stride in his attention didn't last long, and he reached up to grab the rebreather above his seat. He hadn't come with one, since he'd been requested on this mission for terrain navigation of a class-H planet. Obviously that was out the window. Even if his body could handle the oxygen level, the damp environment combined wouldn't be good for his lungs. Vulcans easily succumbed to a form of illness physically similar to pneumonia in those conditions. The SCBA and a shot of triox would hopefully prevent that. He fiddled with the back of the rebreather and attached it firmly, before standing and accessing the shuttle's medkit, pulling out a simple dose of trioxin.

----------------

Liyar stood once he released himself from the safety harness and made certain his regulator was functional before approaching the array of equipment spread out near the shuttle's single transporter pad. He efficiently and methodically began preparing for their journey on the surface. He attached the main belay, synced in the feed link for the antigrav pod, and snatched a survival pack along with climbing equipment as if he'd done it a thousand times before. He placed one of the hammers, a small sonic drill and several hooks into the loop of his utility belt and wrapped the large amount of grappling rope around his shoulder, under his arm.

Watching him Kiri knew she had made a good choice, Liyar knew how to do things like this, better than she did. He knew well, anything she ever seemed to need someone to know something he was there with an answer. Approaching she smiled with cold eyes, "Would you like me to check?" At the Academy you always had a buddy check your harness.

Turning to face her, Liyar regarded Kiri calmly. He had spent most of his life in harsh planets like the one they were about to explore. Liyar took out his phaser from the back holster and ran through a basic functions test, pulling off the back of it and manipulating the inside parts to ensure it would be functional against any sturdy predators. Stone's death had been another reminder not to take preparation for granted. He slid the modified power cartridge into position and replaced it behind him.

Tugging on the harness at the joints and checking the fabric attaching at various points Kiri made sure she was happy with everything before turning to her own equipment. There was a fair amount to carry but it wasn't quite unpleasant yet. Harness, backpack, rope and finally a blue hard hat with a light on either side. Before she startled to fiddle with her mouth and nose breathing mask.

Liyar knelt down and laced up the edged, serrated boots that replaced the usual Starfleet issue. He was finished first and stood to the side to allow the rest of them access to the equipment.

"Haven't done anything like this in a while," Watt commented as he pulled on his climbing boots and checked over his equipment one last time. "I've been to a few wild places though. Buffeting winds, hot suns, cold nights."

"Neither have I," Kiri added in return. It hadn't been ever so long since she did it at the Academy though and it was fairly fun, even if it was rather awkward working closely with someone. Starting to take her shoes off she found herself extremely nervous. Kohl hadn't been at the beach, he hadn't seen her feet before, even with socks on. There was no logic behind it but she did her best to hide them from his view as she changed boots.

Oblivious to Kiri's twisting and turning, Kohl worked on tightening his harness until it was well secure against his body. He settled his helmet on his head, and he said, "I can't say I've gone potholing since I left Argelius II, all those years ago..."

"It's not that hard, we shouldn't have far to go," From the rough idea that the scans had given her they needed to go around kilometre down but most of it shouldn't be too steep. Now that her feet were hidden she felt more comfortable, actually ready to do this and a little excited.

Watt did a final check after he put his breathing apparatus on, making sure that his equipment was secured, then gave a nod to the others.

Checking that everyone was ready and wearing their masks Kiri turned back to the door and pressed her combadge. A lump forming in her throat, "Communications diagnostic," A second later it beeped, Diagnostic complete, no errors. That was the last thing, that done she reached for the door controls and reduced the interior atmosphere to the same as outside. Finally with a very slight hiss, the door opened. A a dark, cool moon greeted them on the other side.

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Taking the lead Kiri stepped out, the ground was rough, not exactly easy to walk on. Rather than an even pace she had to place each one carefully, it smelt slightly like sulphur. A few steps from the shuttle she turned back to the others, "It's not far to the entrance to the caves." Her voice muffled by the mask and the wind but not terribly so. Hair still slightly curled ruffling slightly as it buffeted her.

Liyar followed her, his phaser down at his side in the low-ready position in case something decided to welcome them. The planet was desolate. Barren, blues and sandy browns mixed with rock, dirt, wind. It was cold, but not intolerable. Liyar focused on raising his internal body temperature to compensate as they headed down a small hill toward the cave entrance. Affixed over his head, the light of his hardhat illuminated the gaping maw of the caves. A creepy, forsaken leviathan on an abandoned world.

"Nice place," Watt offered with a tone of dry humor. "Summer home up on that ridge maybe? How far we going, Lieutenant?"

Kiri was slightly surprised as a tiny ridge she stepped on crumbled, forcing her to hop in her stride. Under the blackish surface the sandstone was a light-ish yellow, unexpected. Making sure where she was now was a little more secure she looked back to Mister Watt, "About two hundred meters," She could see the entrance to the cave from here across the open, cracked ground, "It's just over there," Raising her arm slightly towards it.

Keeping apace with Kiri, Kohl reached out a hand when she hopped. Although he was too late to steady her, and she found her own balance, Kohl reached out a hand and briefly grasped her shoulder. Kohl's eyes followed the direction Kiri was pointing and locked onto the cave opening. "It looks like something, I think, the shape of the opening," Kohl said, "If you blur your eyes a bit. ...I can't place it."

Liyar pointed a hand straight over Kohl's head. In the dark atmosphere, Liyar actually saw better than he did in the bright lighting of the ship. "It is there."

She knew it was Kohl before he said anything, it made her smile a little. It was nice to have someone concerned for you in that way, another hint to her. Glancing up at Liyar's hand she kept going, keeping one eye on the ground that threatened to break an ankle if they were unlucky and careless.

Peering down at the ridge briefly, Kohl returned his gaze to Liyar and then to Kiri. Without entirely intending to do so, Kohl took half a step back. "What's the safest route?" Kohl asked.

Liyar turned his head to the side as if perking his ears up. Changes in pressure, wind and temperature all calculated in his brain unconsciously. "I suggest that we descend down that hill and continue along the flattest path, that way." Liyar gestured. "The changes in the barometric pressure surrounding us is a possible indicator of a storm. The rockface that way will protect us while we make our entry."

"We need to make sure its stable," The rock face would protect them from the wind but presented its own problems, like getting squished. Keeping fairly close to the other men she took the lead but followed theirs, her hope was to get inside before the storm hit. Looking up with her Tricorder she tried to pick out any structural weakness in the rocks, nothing too bad seemed to show up.

Following Kiri closely, Kohl took steady paces down the path. Although he kept apace of Kiri, there was something awkward and calculated about every step he took. "It's looking stable then?" he asked, wanting it to be certain and explicit.

"It shouldn't just fall, but it does have weak points, as long as we are careful," Her voice a little tight in her throat. Her expertise was not in this area and while she had covered it at the Academy, she was relying a lot on what the tricorder told her.

Liyar stepped in front of them and surveyed it, looking over at Watt and then back up at the rockface. He tapped his hand against it and looked down at his tricorder, moving a few sets of data before detaching the portable scanner and running some in-depth scans. "The bulk of this rockface is buried underneath the ground," Liyar said. Most monolithic structures of this degree were highly stable, withstanding generations of winds and storms. "That will theoretically provide it enough stability to withstand whatever comes our way. I suggest we do not wait long enough to find out. We risk exposure the longer we remain in open area." He gave them all a single look before gazing at the sky and then moving out, stepping carefully over the upturned stones on the ground.

"If we move quickly and don't all decide to jump at once in the same spot we should be fine," Watt said, taking several steps forward. "Let's have our resident harsh-planet native lead the way?" He gestured for Liyar to go and then followed him.

The wind picked up a little but Kiri didn't notice that much of a change. A smattering of water trickled down the rock in front of them in tiny tendrils and other than the wind, and a distant hiss that was the only sound. Moving as quickly as she could with careful steps it didn't take them that long to reach the entrance to the cave. Checking the lights on her helmet Kiri looked around to everyone else, "Are we okay to start?" In front of them the black coloured rock gave way to a sandy yellow. Cracked rock fragments littered the ground of a cave that was comfortably wide enough for two people to pass, a few stalagmites and a tiny stream ran down the middle. It didn't seem like it would be that hard after all.

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Liyar tugged on his belay and began assembling his equipment as they approached the descent dropoff, pulling several large nails and the portable drill out of his utility belt. The cliff lead down into cavernous dank blackness. He began to drive several ports to the ground that would act as the steadiest anchor for their total weight load, before affixing the rope to the tension points. "I believe it is safe to begin our descent," he nodded to the rest of the team. He attached the self-braking descender to a simple carabiner protruding from his harness. He released the rope in his hands and slack, it fell over the edge of the cliff into the abyss.

Kiri looked around at the others, she was the smallest, they were all stronger. If something went wrong it would be far easier for them to pull her back up. Plus there was no life here, the only hazards were the rocks and the water. She was the leader, "I'll go first, okay?" At least going down was far easier than climbing up.

Kohl nodded at Kiri's assertion, and he said, "We'll be right here. Watching, of course."

Strapping herself to the rope and checking her emergency anti-gravity generator Kiri looked at them all, there was nothing to worry about. Scans showed nothing, nothing larger than a bacterium was on this planet. But nothing had shown up before Stone was killed either. Before she could rethink how bad of an idea this was becoming she pushed off. Springing her legs she bobbed down the first meter as she abseiled downward. Her lights getting smaller and smaller as she disappeared into the darkness.

The ground was hard, slightly damp, the air cool but comfortable. Scanning around with her tricorder she detached herself from the rope, free hand on her phaser. With the only light from her helmet meant cruel shadows were cast everywhere, the very faint trickle of water the only sound she could really hear. Looking up she could see a little of the light from above, it felt further than it was. Pressing her combadge she tried to pick them out, "It's safe." Taking off her mask she took a breath, the air was better here.

Above the steep pitch, Liyar looked between Kohl and Watt. "I suggest that you take the next turn," he said to Watt.

"All right," Watt said, stepping forward to move past Liyar. He made his way carefully after Kiri, matching her steps as he went. His movements were quick and nimble and in no time at all he had joined Kiri.

"It's bigger than I thought," Kiri's headlights were shining off the walls, that were much bigger than the section they had just come through. Some of the pillars stretched from floor to ceiling, at least ten meters tall. Water had turned some of it to sand and a breeze was wafting up towards them. It was actually rather pleasant.

"From the distance?"Watt asked curiously, following her gaze to look around them.

"From the scans," Kiri answered, "It's the biggest cave I've ever seen."

Above and behind them, Kohl abseiled the rest of the way down until his boots connected with the ground. He was breathing deeply, slowly, while he was trying to coax his hands into letting go of the rope. Gradually, that panicked giddy feeling from hurling himself off a cliff went away. As soon as it did, he moved quickly to disconnected himself from the line, and stepped away from where Liyar would be arriving.

"Are you okay?" Kiri had the time to look around and this was going better than she thought. The next part of walking down was rather smooth, and they shouldn't need ropes, they'd almost be down to the possible resource levels.

Kohl nodded once and it made the torchlight from his helmet bounce. "My boots are touching ground again," Kohl said; "I'm fantastic."

"Good," Kiri smiled, her own lights bobbing slightly, "That section of the cave extended for about a mile. It won't take too long to get there," Pointing away into the darkness.

A short while after that, Liyar's feet were back on solid ground beside them. He shuffled the additional sets of heavy rope to the side of his shoulder and disconnected the descender from the carabiner, turning to peer around them. The lights on his hat cast an eerie glow around the stalactites protruding like crystals from the wide open chamber ceiling. They gave the cave around them an awe inspiring, if eerie quality. He gave Kiri a short nod. "Then I suggest that we make our way there."

Kiri was just about to answer when the sound of grinding stone roared around the cave. Before she knew it the ground seemed to jump from under her. Sand cushioning her fall, Kiri barely had time to look upwards before the stalactites overhead started to crumble. Tumbling downwards the sprawling Kiri let out a yelp as a chunk of rock crashed down next to her, before she knew it she was rolling away with dust filling the air.

Liyar's eyes widened for a split second and he guided the closest people to him to the closest wall. Reaching into his back holster, he grabbed the small portable ra-de'kutha beside his phaser and held it up. Unable to focus long enough to emit a strong, powerful and sustained burst, the portable shielding system created small bursts of flat overhead shields, enough to prevent a few rocks from crushing them as they tried to outrun their fate. A rock hurtled down just before him and he dodged it, narrowly avoiding being crushed to death as a large stalactite bounced off the shield which appeared briefly over his head. They had to break out of the path. Hunker down and find a safe place before they all died. They'd have to go deeper, he knew the cave extended hundreds of meters beneath the earth. He knew it was possible they could die, that they wouldn't get out of this cave, but he couldn't stop to think about it. Vaguely, Maenad appeared in his mind, and it made his movements quicker, fluid. "This way!" he pointed to a swerving stony 'corridor'. "We need to get out of the immediate danger zone," Liyar called loud enough for everyone to hear. He aimed the ra'de-kutha over Kiri to prevent a large pointed spike from impaling her as she rolled along the ground, but he felt before he saw the impact of a pointed rock burrowing through the flesh of his extended arm. He grimaced, nearly dropping the shield system and switched hands, holding his left arm - with a large rock embedded in it - close, heading for the area up ahead.

Watt rushed forward to join them. He'd ducked against one of the first fallen spears of rock and now caught up with their party, feet pounding across the cavern floor nimbly. He grabbed Kiri, who seemed a touch disoriented, and dragged her along with him.

When Liyar didn't cry out in pain from his forearm being impaled, Kohl let out a guttural Argelian curse from the back of his throat. The torchlight from his helmet was shakily illuminating the Vulcan's bloody arm. Kohl had been moving closely by Liyar's side ever since the Vulcan had pulled him away from the path of falling rocks. Liyar had sprung into action at the first sign of danger, and was adapting to an increasingly disastrous situation. Kohl, meanwhile, was just trying to keep up. He grabbed hold of the shard of rock and he tried to hold it steady. Kohl worried the weight of it might continue to tear through flesh or bone, as Liyar lead their sprint deeper into the cave.

At Kohl's fussing, Liyar stuck the ra-de'kutha under his chin and used his free right hand to grasp the stone at the base and yank it hard. His strength allowed it to separate cleanly from its fleshy prison, leaving a huge, jagged gash in the side of his arm wide enough that if one looked directly at it and pulled apart the skin, they would probably see bone. His knuckles bent backward and his arm tensed and shifted, contracting as the muscles were damaged and torn. Blood began pooling and dripping heavily out of the wound and ran down his hands, collecting in his palms and fingers. Arms meant nothing. He tossed the green-soaked stone to the side with a scowl and tipped his chin toward their destination. "Go!" he directed them. He didn't divert any internal resources to healing the miserable wound left behind, instead he repositioned the ra-de'kutha using his right hand and directed all of his remaining energy to aim shields over them as much as he could.

Scrabbling Kiri struggled to her feet, hampered by the weight on her back. Heart in her mouth she couldn't breath as she followed the light from Liyar's shield, thing. Finding herself pulling on Watts wrist she sprinted, half sprinted half tumbled after the other two. As quickly as it had started though, it was over. The last clunks of stone chipped off each other. Sand and dust filled the air and Kiri was doubled other for breath in the entrance of the smaller section. They were all here, she could see the blood on Liyar though. Somehow this was her fault, she was in charge, she had run the scans. Turning around she dropped into a sitting position, half by choice, tricorder out. Dust covered her, covered all of them but they were alive.

Watt pulled himself to a stop and released Kiri as she dropped. "Everyone all right?" he asked with a cough.

It took Liyar's pain-addled brain a few moments to catch up to the fact that they were no longer in immediate danger, sheltered from the small booms and shakes outside in the open until gradually the ground stopped trembling and gasping, movement stuttering to a slow halt. Liyar knelt down over Kiri and checked her with his tricorder, and indicated Kohl to come take a look at her. He breathed in deeply and slowly as nerve impulses fired in quick electric pulses along his arm, becoming more pronounced as the haze of adrenaline wore off. He quickly knew several things at once. His mental controls were fried. Fear and panic rose from everyone like a cloudy mist, clogging him up like sewage in a drain. He wasn't going to be able to stop the bloodflow on his own, he could barely access his An-Prele training. If Kohl didn't have any equipment, he was going to need a tourniquet. He elevated his arm over his chest and fixed the heavy ropes over his shoulder, surveying the rest of them silently and taking in the rest of the situation. "Is everyone uninjured?" He spoke quietly, voice modulated. One would think he didn't just have a giant rock spiked through his arm.

Kohl could see that Kiri's breathing wasn't regular, but his brief tricorder scan couldn't find any obstructions to her respiratory system nor any significant sources of blood loss. He would have asked Kiri questions to deepen his assessment, but Kohl's triage training was too compelling. He withdrew a thick black band from his medikit and he aimed his helmet-torch at Liyar's bloody arm. In an uncharacteristic display of anger, Kohl hissed, "You're not uninjured." Kohl wrapped the tourniquet around Liyar's arm, above the gaping wound, and then he pressed the control button. In response, the tourniquet tightened itself. "What were you thinking, just ripping it out?" Kohl asked incredulously.

"It was in the way," replied Liyar like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He rested his hand limply over his shoulder and tried to think about something other than the fact that his fingers were bending in ways that fingers ought not. The tourniquet quickly tinged an unsightly green as blood soaked it through. "We need to remain calm and attempt to find a way out." He juggled the ra-de'kutha and the ropes between his chin and shoulder until he could get at his tricorder. "That collapse was the result of a faulty foundation. It is unlikely to be an anomalous occurrence."

Kiri had managed to catch her breath and take account of the situation. The section directly behind them was okay, other than the rockfall it hadn't taken any real damage, the entrance though seemed to have given way. There wasn't any light coming in from outside any more, scans were saying that that entire area was unstable. The reason? Backtracking the scans she found that there had been a steep rise in water pressure deep underground. Somewhere a section had given way and it had resonated all the way up here. It wasn't volcanic, but it must be random, there had been no indication of this on her scans from orbit. Had she been careless again or was this really something that she couldn't have seen? Liyar was hurt and it could be her fault, they could be trapped. Looking up at him she wiped dust from her eyes, "I'm sorry, I should have," Falling silent, that wouldn't help. She had to find another way out.

"We would have detected it earlier if possible. Apologies are unnecessary." Liyar squinted at his tricorder, ignoring the heavy pulse that struggled against the fabric around his arm. Ignoring the pressure. Arms later. Out now. "Our point of entry has collapsed. We will need to continue moving forward. Once we pick a direction we will need to stay with it. Otherwise we will only become lost and trapped further." He used the edge of his jaw to pull out the tricorder's in-depth screen and held it out. It displayed a rudimentary map of their surroundings and he held it out to Watt.

"I'll scout ahead and take more detailed scans do we don't get lost," Watt said, pulling out his own tricorder.

Kohl, meanwhile, had been waving a medical tricorder over Liyar's arm. He didn't want to leave the tourniquet on the limb, especially when they didn't know how long it would take to get back to Sickbay. Once he had identified the blood vessels that had been most badly shredded, he holstered the tricorder. Kohl grabbed Liyar's arm at the elbow and he held onto it roughly. He pointed his helmet-torch at the open wound and he positioned the crystal-tip of his vascular regenerator on the artery he wanted to repair. Kohl tuned out the escape plans and the maps. He didn't even pretend to be listening. He pulled the trigger on the regenerator.

Liyar, bent over the tricorder, did his level best to ignore Kohl, but having Kohl's mental state slammed into him through injury made it difficult. Screaming distaste, anger, sandpaper. Metal on rails. He fell silent as he tried to make it go away. Quiet. Peace. Microphone feedback looped in his head loudly, raging. He jerked his arm out of Kohl's touch as soon as he could.

There was no illusion in Kohl's mind that he could hold onto Liyar for one picosecond longer than the Vulcan chose to be restrained. Kohl's anger was dissipating in time with the blinding panic, and he took no offense at Liyar's action. Fiddling around in his medikit, Kohl traded the regenerator for a large silver bandage patch. Kohl slapped the sterilizing patch over Liyar's open wound and held it until it sealed over the exposed muscle and bone. With Liyar done, Kohl turned his tricorder towards Watt and Kiri, looking for any injuries they didn't shout out.

Standing up Kiri turned away from the group and started down the cave a little way. She'd need to map a new way out but from here she couldn't scan an other tunnels, they only option was to go deeper. Transporting was impossible through this rock, it wasn't meant to happen like this. Giving up wouldn't do anything though, she was meant to be an officer and a leader, she needed to act like one. Another breath and she turned towards Liyar and Kohl, "Are you okay?" Her voice a little scratchy and filled with false confidence.

"Functional. We need to leave." Liyar hoisted the heavy ropes back up over his shoulder and readjusted the ra-de'kutha in his hand.

Looking to Kohl for a moment Kiri didn't want to wait longer than they had to, "Then, we need to go deeper." Checking her tricoder again she added, "The rock here is denser and seems more stable, I think we should be safe, as long as there isn't a more powerful quake."

Liyar's eyebrows arched, meeting her eyes calmly. "Then we go." He took a step forward toward the deep, carved crevasse splitting open the cave wall in front of them. They would not be able to use their phasers to dislodge the rocks. Dislodging them was a bad idea in the first place. The structure before them was moderately stable. They would do well to follow it and get out as quickly as possible.

Shifting ahead of Liyar a few steps Kiri took the lead. She felt this was her fault and she wanted to solve it, plus Liyar was injured. Kohl was their medic and more important than her, there was no other way. The section seemed to stay the same size all the way along it didn't get any lighter though. Kiri didn't feel up to staying very much, focusing on the rocks around her.

Watt just followed the others in silence, using his tricorder to scan the areas they passed through, building a map so they would not be able to get lost easily.

Following Kiri's lead, Kohl strode in the same direction as the others. It would have been evident to anyone watching that Kohl didn't know what to do with his hands. He crossed his hands over his chest, he rubbed the back of his neck, and he palmed his tricorder. Kohl didn't want to take his eyes off the cave ahead and so he just flipped the tricorder over and over in his hands. He didn't have a patient to take in hand, didn't have a patient to distract him from self-reflection.

[TBC]

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Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Science Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 James "Striker" Watt
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
played by Psylus Anon

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