Commander del Vedova & Ensign Wil Ukinix - Little Temtibi Lagoon, Part 2
Tony Colella
((Top of “Kree’Ahk-Ukinix Ranges”, 4 hours and 1 minute since departure))
::Wil raised his eyebrows, smiled and reached into his bag. He pulled out a crude, handmade pruning blade. The handle was made from strong wood, which was lashed with some stripped vines on to some sharpened scrap metal from one of the escape pods. It was sheathed in layers of large, thick leaves, which had been reinforced inside and out with the same “vege-muck” that had been used to hold the pipes together at New Risa.::
Ukinix: How about this bad boy?
::Wil unsheathed the blade. It wasn’t a straight, even cut, but it looked sharp enough. The blade was approximately forty centimetres long.::
:: Del took one look at the tool that Wil held out and returned a true grin. ::
del Vedova: All I can say is, thank the stars I didn’t go alone.
::Wil had used it before, and it looked used from his trip to Camp Nickson. It was far from perfect and not consistently sharp, which meant that it was hard to use, which took a lot of effort. He knew it would make his arms tired. Unless…::
Ukinix: ::Smirking:: Del - Sir, you are ranking officer, would you like to do the honours?
:: Del gave him a short bow. ::
del Vedova: I wouldn’t dream of it. Your toy, your lead. Besides, you’re the one who knows where we’re going. ::beat:: Kind of.
Ukinix: ::Smiling:: ‘Course I do! We’re going ::pointing:: that way.
:: And so they bludgeoned their way into the underbrush. After fifteen minutes of very little progress, Del had changed his mind again: He would rather be going uphill, because it would mean they wouldn’t fight for every step they took. It was satisfying to whack the plants, but they weren’t getting there very quickly, and besides, he couldn’t imagine that many would want to make this trek, even if they discovered the best entertainment this side of Risa. ::
::After around thirty meters of cutting a narrow path through the dense plant life, Wil thought he heard something move. It didn’t sound like the same creature he’d encountered only two days earlier, but still he was wary - so he stopped for a moment. There was no sound, so he continued on. A few more “cuts” of the plants revealed an animal in front of them, sitting in what looked like a nest, which was huge. Wil stopped to look at the large bird in front of them.::
Ukinix: Uh oh.
::He hadn’t seen this species since his time on Limbo. It was the size and almost the shape of a pelican, except it’s red beak was curved slightly upwards. It’s feathers were a brilliant, shiny black - except for the large, white round circle on its chest. It turned to face them and spread its wings to make itself bigger.::
Ukinix: I think we made it mad.
del Vedova: Well, let’s make it un-mad!
::Suddenly, the bird flew towards them both, only a metre above Wil’s head, seemingly to defend itself. It made several large low pitched bellows as Wil ducked down on his knees. He heard it quickly circling back. He put his hand above his head, and this time heard the bird fly above Del, again only metres away. The bird circled back once more over their heads, flew straight up in the air, and then perched itself on a branch high up in one of the trees above, in a relaxed, almost content pose.::
del Vedova: :: whispering:: Let’s … leave … very … quietly.
::An aroma entered Wil’s nostrils. It was pungent, and made him squint his eyes and poke his tongue out. He turned towards the smell, to discover that the bird had left a large white “present” on his shoulder. The smell got stronger, and Wil felt himself hold back a vomit.::
Ukinix: ::Shouting:: Oh ::coughing:: that is rrrrrrank!
del Vedova: ::yelling:: Quietly!
:: Del clapped a hand to his mouth. Too late. ::
::The “Crapeliguin” looked down at them both.::
Crapeliguin: Yeerrrrrppp eep eep eep!
::Wil could swear that the bird was laughing at them. He watched as the “Crapeliguin” flew away. He grabbed a nearby leaf, to wipe the streak of fresh white dropping off his shoulder, and held his nose.::
Ukinix: That’s meant to be good luck, right?
del Vedova: I think it’s meant to be a signal that it’s high time we got out of here. Look!
:: He pointed into the underbrush just ahead. It thinned out a little, naturally, and he could see something blue. Sea or sky, it didn’t matter much to him, because it meant an end to the jungle. ::
del Vedova: Besides, at the moment, anywhere’s better than here.
Ukinix: ::Looking up, making sure bird was gone:: Agreed. If that bird comes back, it might cover us in more of its “defense mechanism”. Cole and G’var would never let me live it down.
del Vedova: I might not even want to live.
::Del and Wil stepped over the nest as quickly as they could, and pushed their way through the the thinning plants. The path naturally got a little wider, and side by side they pushed their way through, before they came out to a cliff overlooking a body of water.::
Ukinix: Del, look at this place.
del Vedova: Wow.
:: As responses went, it wasn’t Del’s finest hour. Still, it was the best he could come up with in the moment, thanks to the majesty of what they’d discovered. ::
del Vedova: I mean, wow.
::Four metres below them was a shining blue lagoon, around 250 metres long, and 50 metres wide. Out to the right there was a reef, and behind that was a line of rocks. The small amount of ocean in the small adjoining bay was much wilder and rougher here compared to New Risa, but that didn’t matter - the rocks protected the lagoon. The very large trees were ringed around the lake, meaning that their branches and leaves mostly shielded the lagoon out of the sun, and most of the light falling rain.
To the left, was more of the cliff. It was about a metre and a half wide to the edge of the lagoon. To the right, some easily negotiable rocks led down to the land next to the lagoon. There seemed to be a natural grass there, which was green with a blue tinge. In front of the grass, there was a sandy bank. A soft cooling breeze blew into the area from the ocean.
::As Del negotiated the rocks down to lagoon level, Wil simply shouted one word to Del.::
Ukinix: Microclimate!
::He pulled his tricorder out of his bag, switched it on and waved it around, then looked at the screen.::
Ukinix: Ambient temperature is thirty one point nine degrees. ::Looking at Del:: Thirty one point nine!
del Vedova: Well, that’s better than anything we’ve had the last few days.
Ukinix: And… there’s an aquifer underneath here so it’s fresh water/ocean water combination. It’s like a giant salt water pool. ::Pointing tricorder at the water.:: *And*...
::Wil trailed off, as he quickly took off his uniform, revealing his tattered boxers. He kicked off his shoes, dropped his bag, and jumped off the edge of the cliff into the water with his tricorder, plunging into the deep end. He felt his body instantly cool at the feel of the cold water. He swam to the surface, poked his head out, and raised the tricorder in front of him.::
Ukinix: ::Panting:: Fifteen metres deep at this end. Water temperature is 22 degrees. It’s mostly smooth rock at the bottom, not much sand.
:: Del, who hadn’t had a younger guy strip off in front of him since, well, a couple of days ago (modesty had become somewhat of a luxury among the stranded), was a little more flustered than he thought he ought have been. He didn’t dive in after, but he did crouch at the edge of the lagoon. ::
del Vedova: You, uh, sure are eager there.
Ukinix: Hey, I haven’t been to Risa - the actual Risa - but isn’t there a Lagoon that’s popular there? Tembootoo or something?
del Vedova: Tem-something. Tempity? ::beat, snaps his fingers:: Temtibi.
Ukinix: “Temtibi”. Well what would New Risa be with it’s own “Little Temtibi Lagoon”. ::Looking around:: This place is gorgeous. ::Leaning back in the water:: and refreshing.
::Wil could feel that hot feeling he constantly felt on Limbo oozing away.::
del Vedova: And it’s exactly what we were looking for.
Ukinix: Oh yeah. Teller would have loved this. Poor guy, he was so burnt at one stage he looked like a British tourist at Bondi.
:: Del could’ve sworn he got a cheeky wink out of that, but--even beside this perfect lagoon--he suddenly found himself feeling melancholy. They’d been trapped on the moon for months now, and even the fun asides they found couldn’t change that. ::
del Vedova: Do you miss it?
::Wil blew water out of his mouth, as he swam towards the water’s edge.::
Ukinix: Home you mean? ::Swimming slowly:: Yeah. I’m confident we’re going to leave Limbo, but - ::Picking up swimming pace:: hearing you today made me realise how much I miss my family.
::Wil got the the water’s edge, then turned his legs around, to sit cross legged in the cool water.::
Ukinix: How about you, miss home?
del Vedova: I suppose--I’m thinking of it more now than ever. ::beat:: I’m thinking more of anywhere else, really.
Ukinix: ::Cheekily:: Tholian space?
:: Del swiped his hand across the water, splashing at Wil. ::
del Vedova: I guess we’ll have to get back at some point, too. I don’t suppose there’s an easier way around?
::Wil lifted up his tricorder out of the water, to give it a few taps and look at the results.::
Ukinix: ::Screwing his nose up, slightly shaking his head:: Doubt it mate, that was the only way -
::Wil’s jaw dropped, as he looked at the tricorder. Even though there were rocks in the way, the tricorder showed that the heading south east along a winding set of high cliffs would have been quicker to get to this point. He promptly put his jaw back into place as he swallowed. He could sense something in Del…::
del Vedova: ::flat:: You’re joking.
Ukinix: ::Guilty look:: Commander, there’s a - trail. ::Pointing at the end of the lagoon.:: Um, some cliffs. That way we don’t have to go back down - ::Cheeky smile:: Well, better earlier than never, Del.
====================================================================
Commander Nic del Vedova
Diplomatic Officer
USS Veritas
V238208LV0
and
Ensign Wil Ukinix
Engineering Officer
USS Veritas
V239511WU0