LtCmdr Jovenan – I like rocks as much as the next planetary scientists, but…
Jovenan
((Tunnels, inside the cliffs, Callis I))
Caves could be perilous. Although Starfleet officers frequently beamed in and out of caves without an injury, those spelunking without the backup of a transporter system and communications could get themselves in big trouble. Far too many people had got trapped in a cave – tripping into a pit, having something fall on them, trying to get through a too narrow passage, rising tide or a cave-in blocking the exit, even just a simple injury that couldn’t be treated at a time would prevent leaving. In the case of Jovenan and her team, they knew an exit, but they were in a sense still trapped for now. Without food in sight, they had to keep on going, but the tunnels said no.
Jovenan: Uh oh. ::touches the floor:: It’s moist too. Too slippery.
She looked up. The tunnel had suddenly turned into a shaft. They were standing at a bottom, while their path carried on several metres above. It was good as they had wanted to go upwards anyway, but she wished that it didn’t need to be so steep that they couldn’t walk it. For right now, it looked a lot like they had encountered an insurmountable obstacle and the tunnel was blocked.
Bergmen: That can complicate the situation…
Bancroft: ::grim, almost apologetic:: I hate to say this – especially as your resident medical professional – but if our choices are up or back…
Those were their only options. It would have been easy to declare this tunnel a dead end. They could have turned to explore the few other tunnels that there were and hope that those weren’t dead ends too, or even more difficult to walk. They might take hours or days to go through them all, and they’d be forced to return to the campsite in the meanwhile, all while their food reserves ran empty. If – if – this was a way out, they’d be unable to explore it while more famished than they already were. And it took upwards, the direction they were trying to go. It was worth trying to do something while they still had the energy for it.
K’Wara: Orders, Commander?
Jovenan: Anyone know anything about rock climbing? We have rope, right? So if one of us gets up, the rest of us could pull themselves up with it. Otherwise we need to find another route.
She turned to look at each of them. They were all glancing at one another, as if expecting one of them to raise a hand and reveal that they had done rock climbing as a hobby since childhood. Bancroft rolled his shoulders.
Bancroft: ::quiet, careful:: I… can climb. But not well. And not fast.
That wasn’t exactly something a professional rock climber would say. It was more like Bancroft had again tried to volunteer himself for the rescue of the others. K’Wara shook their head at the suggestion.
K’Wara: Our only trained medical professional is not the first on the chopping block, Roy. ::looks to Ollie with a tense smile:: Fancy a climb, Ollie?
Bergmen: I’m an Operation Officer, not a monkey.
… not going to represent Gideon in the Olympics for rock climbing either, huh? Jovenan couldn’t blame any of them for lacking skills that weren’t necessary for the exercise of their duties. She wasn’t sure how well she would have succeeded in the job either. Although she wasn’t unathletic, her lack of upper body strength was going to doom any attempt to get her up there unaided.
Bancroft: ::soft, firm:: Ollie–
K’Wara: You’re the tallest and most agile of us. If we want a good chance of success with this, I’d bet on you. ::to Jovenan:: And this is the only route we’ve not yet explored extensively. The others don’t lead anywhere but further into the cliff, or into cold water.
She turned to face Bergmen. His face had become a lot more familiar in the days spent in the cave.
Jovenan: I’m not going to order anyone to do a task they are unable to do, so if this is something you can’t do, then fine. But this might be our only chance getting up there, and we might not get food from anywhere else.
Looked like the persuasion had worked, as Bergmen started preparing himself for the climb. He dusted his hands with something to improve his grip, removed his shoes – probably so that he wouldn’t slip, but at the same time, Jovenan became concerned for all the cuts and pain – and took the rope with him before approaching the cliff. And it worked quite well. His movements up the rock face were surprisingly gracious for someone who hadn’t agreed to this task at first. Insecurity about his skills or natural talent, Jovenan didn’t know, but so far… and he slipped.
Bergmen: Watch out, falling down!
Bancroft: Ollie!
Bancroft and K’Wara both rushed to catch him, while all Jovenan could do at the rapid development was to hesitate and do a few small, undignified jumps back and forth. If they caught him, they might all get injured. If they didn’t, he might get injured even more, maybe even die. Both ways were incompatible with their long-term survival. However, nothing needed to be caught or let fall, as Bergmen managed to hold himself without falling all the way to the bottom. Jovenan grimaced at the thought of how it must have felt catching a possibly sharp rock and pushing most of one’s body mass against it.
K’Wara: ::slightly high-pithced:: Take a moment, Ollie! Don’t climb on until you’re steady!
Jovenan: Can you keep up?
There was no response, but Bergmen carried on after a moment, this time with a slower, less taxing pace. Eventually, he disappeared behind the ledge and the rope fell down. Despite his initial objections, he had made it.
Bergmen: The rope is secured, you can go up!
Bancroft: Commander, Lieutenant – if you don’t mind, I’d prefer you climb first.
K’Wara: I’ll climb first. Make sure the rope holds.
Instinctively, Jovenan thought she should have been either the first one or the last one to climb – the first so that she can make sure it was safe for her subordinates to get up, or the last so that at least the two of them would get into safety before the rope gave in or the predators found an easy snack at the virtual dead end. However, she had to relent for the Doctor’s request, since if one of them fell, he would be needed down there to parse them up. And for K’Wara’s volunteering… she now understood how the captains felt when their subordinates did their duty and reminded them that their place was on the bridge and not on some dangerous planet. It was difficult to lead by example when others wanted to keep their commander alive.
Jovenan: Fine. But you both better make it.
Both Bancroft and K’Wara nodded.
Bancroft: Keep looking up. ::a little louder, for Bergmen’s benefit:: If there are apples up there, save one for Doc Crashcart.
K’Wara: No promises!
The senior goldshirt went in first. The rope made their ascent seem easy, in fact, it appeared that they had no issues climbing up and over the ledge of the rock. It seemed both people that had gone up so far had either decided to hide their expertise or it wasn’t all that difficult to get up, especially now that the rope was there.
Jovenan: Everything good up there?
Bergmen: Response
Shrugging, Jovenan took hold of the rope and jumped. Although it was probably just a fine start, moving her hands up along the rope and pushing against the wall with her feet, she hated it from the beginning. It was far from easy. Each half a metre up made her arms cry from exhaustion and pain, while all her legs were doing was pushing her off the wall. She couldn’t exactly use the legs to do much more, even though they were the stronger part of her compared to the upper body. Had she ever rock climbed like this? On Meranuge, she supposed, helping Lorana back up from the canyon, but it hadn’t been any more pleasant an experience. She wouldn’t have made it back up if it weren’t for the first aid she had received from Talos when he came rescue both scientists, so badly she had hurt her hands going down. She hadn’t become any better since then.
Halfway through, she regretted everything. Could she just fall down? Make Bergmen and K’Wara pull her up? No, she kept on moving her hands up, one at a time, no matter how awful it was, until she reached the top.
K’Wara: You did good, Ollie. Great job. ::shaky grin:: When we find those tuna melts, you get first pick.
Jovenan managed to get over the ledge and rolled herself to the floor. She breathed heavy for a while before getting out of the way for when the Doctor would be joining them.
Bancroft: ::to himself:: …anytime you’re ready, Roy. ::louder:: Coming up!
K’Wara: We’re ready for you!
Bergmen: Response
Jovenan sat down by the wall to catch her breath and wait for Bancroft to appear. His arm was the first one to appear over the ledge, and K’Wara took it, helping him through the last metre of the journey up.
Bancroft: Thanks. ::panting:: Ten out of ten, let’s never do that again.
K’Wara: ::glinting eyes:: Well, we’ll have to go back down eventually. ::checks water clock:: Just about 3 hours left.
Ugh. The thought of having to go down so soon hadn’t even crossed her mind. Descending didn’t require quite as much physical strength – at least so she hoped – but it wouldn’t still be too easy. And if one of them got injured up here and were unable to climb down, they were as good as trapped from their campsite. They had many of their basic necessities with them, except for food, and fire she supposed, but if the place turned out safe, they could rest for a few hours before heading back. Maybe she was just trying to come up with excuses not to do any more climbing.
Jovenan: Let’s make use of those hours, then, shall we?
Bancroft/Bergmen: Response
They carried on. The tunnels looked just the same as below, although there was a hint of moisture condensed to the walls. Still, the unfamiliarity of the place did no favours to Jovenan’s fear of the dark. The shadows looked like shapes as the chemlight passed them, and the barely audible scratch of K’Wara sliding their hand against the coarse wall echoed sounds that were not exactly voices. Still, she forced herself onwards, until a clear shout from behind startled her.
K’Wara: Wait. ::checks with fingers:: Jo- Commander, there are more etchings here!
She stopped on her spot and turned towards the Lieutenant, finding them touching the wall where a crack indented the rock. Except, as she walked to come next to them, she realised that the indents formed a shape, much like the carvings they had seen before. Not just letters, it seemed, but genuine shapes, figures, images. They weren’t too clear in the poor chemlight, but it was not just a waymarker like in the first tunnel.
Jovenan: ::to others:: See if there are more of them. ::to K’Wara:: What is it?
Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
K’Wara: This one’s not eroded as much as the one by the waterfall... They’re escaping from something. ::moves chemlight:: Water. There’s water behind them.
It took Jovenan much longer to figure out what she was looking at. First were the humanoid shapes, with similar proportions and also running like the figures in the waterfall cavern wall. The style wasn’t exactly the same, suggesting either another artist or a notable time difference between making them. She might not have recognised what they were running from if it weren’t for K’Wara making the interpretation for her: water, wavy, wild water, with what could have been buildings poking through the surface.
Jovenan: They escaped a… flood? Sounds reasonable, but with so little water around here now, something drastic must have happened with the climate since then.
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
She looked around. The tunnel was wider and higher again, almost expanding to a cavern. There were once again multiple entrances to different tunnels. Not quite the same as the waterfall cavern, but not just another tunnel it seemed. All the little indentations caught her eye as the chemlights scanned the area.
Jovenan: How many were there… A post-apocalyptic society doesn’t leave just art work. Let’s try to find out something more of them. Bones, tools, corpolites, anything. We might learn how they survived here.
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
Jovenan resumed studying the caves. The mystery had once again caught her mind and imagination. What had happened to cause the flooding, and what had happened since to dry up apparently most of it? This must have been the highest point close to the city for the people to seek refuge were, or at least the most survivable place above the risen water level. What made it so? And how did the predators fit into all of this? Were the people in the waterfall cavern there at the same time as the people here on the upper level, or did the people escape there… for the predators? Or vice versa? Pondering all the questions and imagining the people living in the tunnel, she lost all her caution and peeked into one of the tunnels behind a corner.
She froze.
Jovenan: Everyone! Come look!
She turned back. The oculus on the dome above let plenty of light into the cavern while also allowing a small pond of presumably rainwater to gather in the middle. And there were plants living around the pond, a small, untamed jungle. No, under all that wildness and abandonment, she saw order to it.
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11