Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen - Even at your age, there are still lessons yet to learn, JG Bergmen
CPT Arianus
(( Campsite, Waterfall Cave, Callis I ))
Water. Food. Light. Safety. As things dwindled, a gnawing desperation to reclaim them overcame the instinct to preserve the meager resources they clung to. Day by day, as the wakefulness alternated with restless slumber, and a harsh reality began to seep into his consciousness. This would not be a swift rescue. The passive waiting it out must to shift into active gathering. And so they had to move forward, not just be stagnant in a world dimmed by scarcity.
Bergmen: Bergmen ready!
Bancroft: … ready.
K’Wara: Defenses prepped and Spelunking kit packed.
Jovenan: Good. I think we’re ready to leave then.
Ollie nodded with satisfaction and joined the others as they made their way to the pond.
Bancroft: Super. Let’s go find ourselves something that isn’t mush. ::beat:: Not that I don't love your mush, Commander.
K’Wara: I’d settle for more mush, so long as we get more.
K'Wara appeared more at peace with her dietary choices than the doctor seemed to be. In contrast, the Commander bristled at Bancroft's piercing comments, and Ollie could sense the sting of that offense. After all, cooking was as much an art as it was a science, and questioning her culinary abilities as a chef felt like a direct challenge to her abilities as a scientist.
Jovenan: Sounds like you volunteered for the cooking duties hereafter, Doc… No, never mind. I don’t want to risk you gloating about your culinary skills just because we found something better than the mush.
The opportunity to playfully poke fun at Bancroft was right there, just waiting to be taken. Bergmen couldn’t help but chuckle, realizing it would be a missed chance if he didn’t dive in and make the most of the moment.
Bergmen: You can still volunteer to peel potatoes, Doctor, if we manage to find any. ::winks at Bancroft::
Bancroft: ::lightly:: Hey, rule of the day from your friendly neighborhood doctor – nobody bleed more than once each. Anything past that we all start donating pieces of uniform.
Bergmen simply shrugged, considering that his jacket doubled as his backpack and his undershirt was already missing its sleeves. Even that predator couldn't squeeze anything more out of him, at least when it came to his clothes.
K’Wara: Shipwreck chic? I like it.
Jovenan: ::looking down at her skant uniform, then others:: People with sleeves, you’re the first to donate.
Ollie faced away from the path they were on and gave his bare biceps a pat.
Bergmen: ::giggles:: Looks like I’m free to skip this turn if you do not wanna see more of this Lieutenant JG, right, Lieutenants?
Bergmen swiftly turned back to the path they had been following along and began to leap gracefully from one stone to the next, navigating the uneven terrain that bordered the shimmering pond along which they wanted to reach the far side of the glistening water body.
Bancroft: What do y’all reckon the odds are of finding a tree… or bush, I’m not picky… that grows tuna melts?
oO Tuna melts? TUNA MELTS? Oo
Ollie just closed his eyes in disgust and picked up his pace.
K’Wara: We know so little of the flora of Callis I, your guess is as good as mine. ::verifies the marks:: The right-hand one is the one that leads upwards after a while, so that’s likely the best option.
Jovenan: The tunnels seem to be rather serpentine, but without evidence of the contrary, it seems like our best bet.
More climbing, more steps, more energy they had to expend. Great.
Bergmen: So it will be important to stick to the paths that lead uphill, right?
Bancroft: Response
K’Wara: Yeah, well, between the banshee winds and the echoes from the waterfall, our sense of hearing is basically useless.
Jovenan: The waterfall’s sounds should get muffled as we get further away. But if you do hear water rushing in the distance still after a while, it might be a sign we’re close to where the water enters the tunnels.
And that was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they would hear more, but on the flip side, they would hear more... Further from the safety of ice cold sanctuary where they could hide if their friend suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten dinner yet.
Bergmen: Hopefully will that mean we will be far away from You-Know-Who too.
Bancroft: Response
The lieutenant slowed down a bit as he checked their supplies, and the question he came up with belonged to the group that was not appropriate to ask in the context of maintaining morale.
K’Wara: How much light do we have left?
Noticing that the commander was hesitating to respond on number of her own supplies, Bergmen swiftly pulled the total supply number from his memory.
Bergmen: In the last group recount, it was fifteen in total.
He could have said "not enough" right away, but the specific number of their supply of chemlights certainly felt less menacing than the actual number of hours of light they represented. Not that it would be a point in attempting to delude that anyway; others could easily have calculated that number just like he did.
Bancroft: Response
Jovenan: Hopefully the sun shines deep into the tunnel then. ::pause:: Assuming it’s daytime outside to begin with. Let’s keep moving.
Bergmen: Couldn’t agree more, Commander.
Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
They had been trudging along for what felt like an eternity, perhaps even two. By now, they should have heard the roar of the waterfall fading into the background, but instead, its thunderous sound persisted, echoing around them with almost the same intensity. This suggested that they hadn't covered much distance at all. Which made some sense to Ollie; after all, they were trying to move uphill, which came with the unpleasantness of climbing—a task that was never quick or easy. And this tunnel stretched on endlessly, continuing at a slight, tiring incline that forced Bergman to lift his legs higher than was comfortable for his knees. And so, as JG concentrated on raising his knees and stepping back carefully step by step, he almost rammed into the commander in front when Jovenan suddenly came to a halt.
Jovenan: Uh oh. ::touches the floor:: It’s moist too. Too slippery.
Ollie glanced up to assess the slope and nervously bit his lower lip, making a sound of uncertainty over the situation.
Bergmen: That can complicate the situation…
Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
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.
Bergmen glanced at K’Wara and Bancroft…
Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
…and listen to them just sighed. They made sense - K’Wara had a rank and seniority, Bancroft was more valuable to the group as a doctor… which still didn't mean he had to like it.
Bergmen: I’m an Operation Officer, not a monkey.
Bancroft/K’Wara/Jovenan: Response
Protesting had helped him as much as keeping his thoughts to himself. So, young JG stepped forward towards the slope, took off his shoes, and tucked them into a makeshift backpack. With a resolve to face whatever lay ahead, he reluctantly decided to part with a bag of dehydrated mashed potatoes—leftover from a time when he still had choices about what food to pick from the rations. He wiped his hands on the slick, glistening stone, leaving behind a faint trail of iridescent slime, before dusting some of the powder onto his palms and on his bare feet as well. Powdered mush clung to them with love, just as it had stuck to the stomachs of many Starfleet members before. It was a small consolation, but in that moment, it felt better than having nothing at all.
He paused for a moment, looking up to determine the best climbing route. Without saying a word, he wrapped the rope around his torso, took a few steps back, and ran towards the wall. As his last step approached, he jumped up and grabbed a hollow in the weathered rock, only to use that momentum to pull himself up higher and jump to catch the next. As he climbed, his push-to-jump motion slowed, yet despite his claim that he was not a monkey, he definitely moved along the wall like one.
As if he hadn't climbed the rocks for the first time.
Experience can bring two contradictory traits in climbers: it can make some more cautious, knowing that a mistake can lead to a fall; while it can make others overly confident, believing they are too good to fall.
With the speed with which he scaled that rock, it was easy to guess what life experience had given to Lieutenant Bergmen. And as the old Earthers already knew - Pride goes before a fall. Young Gideon still seemed to need to learn that lesson. And as he grabbed onto the overly weathered hollow that gave way under his weight, the lesson came sooner than he expected. His hand felt the air and threw a stone, and he staggered, balancing on only his legs while his other hand desperately grasped the rock, digging painfully with his nails to slow his body's movement.
Bergmen: Watch out, falling down!
His free hand quickly grabbed another hollow as he pulled his body closer to the rock, while the sound of falling drops, echoing as they bounced off the walls below him, faded away.
Bancroft/K’Wara/Jovenan: Response
Ollie ignored the voices below him as he tried to calm his breathing and heartbeat, which felt as if it might burst through his sternum. A quick look at his hand revealed that the darkening nail beds were a clear sign for him to slow down. When he glanced up, he noticed he was close enough to the top to allow himself to do so, because going slowly meant giving his body time to realize fatigue. And fatigue and climbing were never close friends. He sighed and continued up… slowly.
It didn't take long for the untangled rope to be sent down to the others after the call.
Bergmen: The rope is secured, you can go up!
Now it was their time to climb.
Bancroft/K’Wara/Jovenan: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1