LtCmdr Jovenan – You think Gila still preferred this beach to Risa?
Jovenan
((Campsite, inside the cliffs, Callis I))
Think.
It was difficult to think. Although she heard the others throw options and their opinions at her, Jovenan could barely put them in order and analyse them. Fear and exhaustion were pressing her down and occupying her mind, and there had been no help from her quick nap of – what? It had simultaneously felt like five minutes and fifty hours, but in either case, not refreshing. It was either Doctor Bancroft’s or Lt K’Wara’s watch, so anything up to four and down to zero hours, assuming even watch duties and that they had not altered the order she had commanded. That was, after all, a possibility with these mutineers after their other transgression against the chain of command ordained by Starfleet, but that was a matter she preferred not to focus right now. She needed a solution.
It was studying the tarpaulin extended over the mouth of the tunnel. An animal. A cavedweller. Like the giant scorpion-like creature on Ura Neteos she had banished from the hollow in the jungles of Lesser Prash with Genkos and some junior officer she didn’t even remember any more. They had used torches. Animals were afraid of fire. Animals that lived deep in caves might also be sensitive to light. That was something one of her current teammates had said too, right? Photophobia. She glanced at the campfire.
Jovenan: The tarpaulin’s fireproof, right?
Bancroft: I– yes, ma’am, but–
Bergmen: ::doubts in face as he whispers:: Technically more like one twenty resistant…
That was good enough. Jovenan picked up two small objects from the ground without paying what they were – a rock and an odd piece of metal, perhaps – and held them in her hands as she approached the fire. The burning moss was rather difficult a material to handle, especially compared to the burning sticks they had used as torches, so she needed to carefully take a ball between her two improvised oven mittens and keep it all an arm’s length away from her body. The light painted the tarpaulin first in the shades of orange, then the yellow hues took over.
If everything went well, the creature would be freaked out by the appearance of light itself and flee. Should that not work, she could try and throw the fireball past the reinforced cloth now acting as a drumhead as the creature pushed against it. Throwing a fireball at someone was generally considered an unfriendly act. The possibility of the creature just getting angrier somehow didn’t cross her mind, but her legs sure were growing weaker and less steady as she approached the tunnel.
Just as she was reaching the tarpaulin, the growl stunned her. Its intensity, its power shook Jovenan to the core. Feeling the air and her own body vibrate, Jovenan dropped the ball of moss and her mittens to the floor just as a claw breached the surface of the tarpaulin. It tore the cloth – no, tore didn’t do justice to the precision of the creature, it cut the tarpaulin, slit it. She almost tripped to her own feet as she backed away, away from the reflection of the fire dancing against a row of eyes.
Jovenan: Not working. Not working!
Bancroft: ::shouting:: Away from the tunnel! Toward the water!
On the first point, Jovenan had no cause for objection. She turned on her heels and rushed towards the water without raising her question on their objective yet. Not seeing a reason to hold back, she pushed her feet against the ground with all the energy she could draw to the muscles of her legs; though sprinting was not her sport, her long-distance exercises were close enough for a pay off. She reached the shoreline together with the others as it sounded like the creature had broken through the tarpaulin, though she didn’t turn to check if that was the case. Doctor Bancroft didn’t stop but rather hit the surface hard.
Jovenan: Why!?
The Doctor was gasping on air, throwing water around and pressing on to the deeper extends of the pond. He struggled, but he didn’t stop, not to redirect his run towards one of the exits, not to hide somewhere, just deeper. He looked like in pain.
Bancroft: ::gasping:: Not… fire! Not… people! Maybe… water!
Now, Jovenan had a choice to make, not for her team but for herself. The creature was far too close for her to do anything to get the Doctor out of the water should she choose not to entertain his untested hypothesis. It could barely be called that, a hypothesis, because although technically falling under the definition, scientists didn’t just make stuff up and expect it to work based on absolutely nothing. Doctor Bancroft was guessing. Not even making a good guess, there were no argument to support his guess, he just made it up on the spot. And Jovenan had only one measuring stick to consider the suggestion against: how much she trusted the Doctor?
An argument for trusting him: He had been very insightful and thorough in the previous few missions they had been together.
Argument against trusting him: She didn’t actually know the Doctor at all, not beyond what she had gathered on the missions and the debriefings.
For: He had kept them alive so far.
Against: He would have had the creature eat her in her tent with his mutinous decision to not wake her up.
For: She’d die anyway, what did it matter if it was in the pond or in the tunnels?
Against: No she wouldn’t, the creature would be distracted due to eating the officers in the lake while she ran out; she didn’t need to be the fastest, just not the slowest.
For: Except if he was right.
She pushed herself to the water. The others did the same.
Bergmen: ::chattering teeth:: Cold! Too cold! Freezing!
The surface of the pool broke as they each rushed in. The water pushed against them almost as hard as they pushed against it. Against Jovenan’s bare legs, the cold water felt sharp and stinging; it wasn’t a stab, it was the substance of blade itself, covering her skin, pressing against it on each side, tearing it, burning it like flames engulfing her. She gasped for air as she plunged forwards, surged towards the depths, dipped more and more of her body into the water only to find the bottom and thrust herself back to the air as much as the water level permitted. The air burned now too.
Jovenan: Lieutenant!
K’Wara: ::slow breathing:: T-Testing a theory.
Bancroft: ::teeth chattering:: K-keep your breathing s-steady. Don’t… hyperventilate.
Jovenan: I - I’ll try…
They had stopped and turned to see to the shore. Jovenan was not deeper than anyone else, but the water still reached beyond fell her knees, soaking the skirt of her skant uniform. The cold water continued to drive spikes through her, but her attention was now to the creature on the shore.
It was large, larger than any of them. It had the appearance of immense strength, each muscle visibly moving under its skin as it moved with unexpected grace. The elongated face was dominated by the rows of glaring eyes and the enormous maw with sharp teeth that had the sole purpose of tearing flesh from the bones. It wasn’t a lizard, it wasn’t a mammal, but one thing there was certainty of was that it was a predator, deep to its bones. None of the species Jovenan had seen before looked more like a lethal hunter. And after studying their campfire, completely unharmed and uncaring about the burning flames, it turned straight to them.
Bergmen: ::teeth chattering:: Com..ander?
K’Wara: Well, ::shuddering breath:: time to put this to the test.
Jovenan stared at the powerful legs of the creature. It could probably launch to them from where it stood. Her only hope was that whatever the source of the Doctor’s conviction was, it was true to its word. Otherwise, there was no fighting, there was no running any more either, and she had to wish that the creature killed its prey quickly and before starting to eat it. Such mercy was not always guaranteed among the predators.
Jovenan wondered if their bodies were ever to be discovered. Starfleet might not send a rescue team to a planet so hostile to their technology, certainly not just to retrieve a few bodies. If they were left like the poor person in the other tunnels, just unidentifiable bones would remain of them, and without the help of a tricorder, no one would be able to suspect their species. They might even be forever lost in their watery grave. Would her old family on Rubicun hear of her death, would they learn it as a ship lost in the perilous space or would they not be spared of the true details? Were she to condemn the future generations of her species to fearful isolation once more as the words of the gruesome death reached their protector in the orbit? Those weren’t the thoughts she should have been occupying herself with, since in mere minutes, they wouldn’t matter any more. But Vitor… oh Vitor, how would I ever ask for forgiveness for the grief I’m going to cause you?
Bancroft: ::tight, chattering:: It’s t-toying with us. W-w-w-waiting us out.
Jovenan: I- it’s c- coming now!
The creature came closer. Jovenan could see the viscous liquid dripping from its mouth. It stepped to the shore, raised it foreleg over the surface of the water, lowered it… and pulled it immediately back, as if the water had burnt it, not just as it painfully stabbed her legs, but like the fire should have scorched its face in the flames. The creature jumped back, emitting a sound of pain, and kept its distance to the pool.
Bergmen: ::teeth chattering:: Looks… looks like it… it not… like… a cold, hm?
It… didn’t like cold. Or water. Or cold water. Or any of the myriad of other circumstances they had surrounded themselves with. It didn’t really matter, as Jovenan noticed taking a breath for the first time in minutes. She felt almost like sinking to the pool with how weak her legs were.
K’Wara: Well, problem is, neither do we. At- At least not indefinitely. ::to the others:: Get back to lower waters. No reason to completely submerge yourselves if it won’t even dip a toe.
Bancroft: ::grim, jerky nod:: We’re only t-t-trading for t-time.
Jovenan: I-it can still bounce on us. Even if it doesn’t like w-water or c-cold, it might still jump and drag one of us out.
Bergmen: Response
K’Wara: Frostbite is still a real concern though, ::breathes into their hands:: and if that thing’s half as intelligent as it seems, it’ll just wait us out if it has to.
The creature continued to watch them from the distance. It didn’t give up, instead seemingly waiting for them patiently. Its appearance may have spoken of physical strength, but its behaviour indicated nothing but intelligence beyond the basic instincts. Perhaps it understood that the officers couldn’t remain in their refuge in the water for all eternity. Perhaps it knew that they were only weakening themselves for it by staying. It wouldn’t likely surprise them by jumping into the water to get one of them, when by patience it could get all of them. Jovenan walked closer to the shore. The air didn’t offer much ease to her skin.
Bancroft: It has t-time. ::sharp breath:: We… do n-not.
Jovenan: Our time is shorter than its. ::shivers:: We have to show that we’re more intelligent than it.
Bergmen: Response
K’Wara: If we could just redirect some of this water... ::looks to the supplies in the camp:: Or get the pond to overflow, fill out the place with just enough of a shallow to convince it to leave.
Redirect water… overflow… Jovenan looked back at the waterfall. It was all just a matter of water dynamics. She was far too tired and too everything to even begin to with the calculations – hardly anything related to the those kinds of physics were ever easy to do in one’s head – but one thing didn’t require a scientific degree to understand: less water going out than going in caused a flood. And it appeared the others had come into the same conclusion, as the Doctor appeared to be eyeing for something.
Bancroft: ::carefully:: I m-m-migh’ h-have i-d-d-d-ea.
Jovenan: Th-they’ve worked so far…
Bergmen/K’Wara: Response
Jovenan watched as the Doctor left the group and walked across the water. Only when he approached it did she see it too, a chemlight, half-sunken into the pool and bobbing with the subtle waves the waterfall produced to the pond’s surface. She wasn’t yet sure what his plan was, but based on his ingenuity earlier, she was already willing to bet it was better than anything she could have come up with just a chemlight in that situation.
Bancroft: ::low, urgent:: Y’all f-fancy makin’ a d-d-distraction?
Turning to face her other two teammates, she hesitated for a moment. They were about to do something stupid again, weren’t they? Distracting the beast put them in danger of it just swapping its plan to get all of them later for a very reasonable alternative of one of them now, others later. It was just a matter of how much she trusted the Doctor… again.
Jovenan: Let’s… let’s spread out a little and try to approach the shore. If- if it starts moving, retreat deeper.
Bergmen/K’Wara: Response
They moved. The creature raised its head as it noticed the team trying to sneak out each to their own directions. Jovenan felt the air tingle her skin as she walked to even shallower water. It felt even colder than the water, although she knew that their only chance of escaping hypothermia was to get out of the pond. The creature moved just one of its legs, and immediately Jovenan took two large strides backwards. Just seeing it look at her made her heart bounce. She could vomit from the fear alone. Behind them, the Doctor was splashing in the water, hopefully working on his plan.
Bancroft: ::stunned:: … there.
Jovenan looked back. The Doctor was near the middle of the pool, looking down to the water. When she turned back, the creature had already stood up and approaching the shore with uncanny silence.
Jovenan: Get back!
Bergmen/K’Wara/Bancroft: Response
The water splashed all around them as Jovenan retreated from the shore. The creature walked up just to the edge of water and stopped there, staring at them. It was making very clear that it wasn’t letting them out before they were too weak to give even a token resistance, except to end up as its meal earlier.
Reaching close enough to the Doctor to see what he had discovered, Jovenan stopped. If they clogged the outflow, they’d flood the cavern. There was just the issue that they had nothing to clog it with. They had nothing with them but their clothes – at least those of them who had opted to sleep with their uniform on – but even those weren’t enough to hinder the drainage enough. The tarpaulin would be really handy right now, but it was all across the cavern, behind the creature, and also in multiple pieces.
Jovenan: Are there any loose rocks around here? ::looks to the camp:: I don’t think we can drag any of the tents in here either.
Bergmen/K’Wara/Bancroft: Response
Reluctantly but seeing few other options, Jovenan lowered more of her body to the water. When the water reached her neck, she stopped for a second, hesitating, but she then pulled her head all the way under the water. Immediately the cold slithered in, reaching every crease and wrinkle of her brain – or so it felt. She opened her eyes, and looked around. Her hair followed slowly behind every turn. She swam a little, trying to see something in there. She found some rocks that looked large enough to block parts of the outflow but not too heavy for them to lift. Just before reaching them, she pushed back to the surface.
Jovenan: H-h-here! He-he-help m-m-m… mo-ve!
Bergmen/K’Wara/Bancroft: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11