[Begin Act II] LtCmdr Jovenan – If you can endure listening to me for a week, you’ve earned your promotion
Jovenan
((Campsite, inside the cliffs, Callis I))
((Week after the crash))
//
Chief Science Officer’s Log, Stardate 240301 point something.
It has been several days since we got trapped on this planet. I am unable to say how many exactly, because we don’t have the means to measure time accurately. I would say it has been four to five days. However, I’ve read that people tend to underestimate the time they had spent in isolation, so the real figure might be higher. Additionally, we have been unable to observe the local sun’s movement due to taking refuge inside a cave and venturing outside only occasionally.
We have judged that our cavern is the safest place for us at the moment. Here we have fresh water, shelter from the elements and dry moss that we burn for fire. In addition, the local predator we encountered on the first day appears to be afraid of the cold water, so we are reluctant to leave the pool for a long time. Our contraption to control the water level has proven successful, though, and we have created platforms and moats to secure our camp.
Sadly, we have been unable to find a reliable food source yet. Some scarce mushrooms have provided an addition to our rations, but they won’t be enough to sustain us. We have already returned to our pod once to retrieve the remaining usable items and rations there – what an adventure that was – but we have avoided further exploration due to the threat posed by the predators. We might be forced to do so regardless, as our remaining food packs are running out, despite rationing. So far, hunger is something one has needed to get used to, but it is going to get worse.
As for our morale and mental health… there haven’t been too many incidents. The dark cave surroundings are difficult for us, not least to myself. The uncertainty about the arrival of a rescue party and the survival of our loved ones, friends and colleagues is… difficult to bear.
We tried interpreting the carvings on the walls – they were made by refugees of what was an advanced culture once upon a time, perhaps as high as D+ on the Planetary Development Scale – but we’ve since hit a dead end. Besides that, we’ve had little to do but wait. So, we’ve also needed to endure boredom. The various little tasks and sticking to the routines have helped. I’ve taken the habit of dictating these log entries, even if there’s nothing to record them with.
Luckily, I have my fellow survivors for company. I’m sure we can endure this together…
\\
Jovenan: … and then, the rogue vampire shouts: ‘You still need me against the humans! The Lord will retaliate if you do this! He’ll kill you!’, and the young vampire says: ‘No, he won’t miss you a bit either’ and then she ::does a stabbing gesture:: drives a stake through him and he dies!
Even without having any of the details and stripping down most of the description of the milieu, it had taken her days to reach this point in the plot. Now, she eagerly looked at the Lieutenant, hoping that they found the pivotal moment in the story as exciting as she had the first time reading it. She had expected the ancient vampire lord to avenge the death of the vampire hunter who had made him feel loved for the first time, but the twist that the least hostile of the vampires would do it instead was a shock twist.
K’Wara: Response
Jovenan: I think that’s a very satisfying scene. The criminal got served justice, and he died figuring out that the vampire lord wasn’t happy with his actions after all. So good. ::pause:: I guess it’s the time to wake up the boys, don’t you think?
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Doing the watches in pairs had made the nights much more bearable, although as a consequence, they now lived in shifts where they didn’t always have as much time awake together as a team. 8 hours together, 8 with just your pair, 8 sleeping – approximately, based on the uncalibrated timekeeping device they had made. It was safer and more secure to be with someone, and the setup was much better for the uninterrupted sleep too. That said, Jovenan had made sure that they always ate together, like a family. And now that they were all going to be awake for the next eight hours, she made her way to the food storage. It was running uncomfortably low of resources, but she picked one of the Starfleet ration packs from there anyway and returned to the campfire.
Jovenan: Good morning! Did you sleep well?
Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Jovenan: This’ll be the last pack of the brown mush, by the way. All there’s left is the yellow mush.
K’Wara/Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
----
Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11