LT Gila Sadar - The Highest of Stakes
LT Gila Sadar
(( Outskirts of the Bantlox Colony - Laoi III )
There was a universal law in this universe: if a mission could go wrong, it would go wrong in the worst of ways. Gila was now reminded of that very rule, as a most unwelcome complication arose that made her blood run cold.
Sadar: K-K-Kids? Wh-What do you mean!?
Female Colonist: My son and a couple of his friends are missing, we can’t find them! We think they might’ve gone into the old caves down the coast.
‘Down the coast’. Gila’s head swiveled around to look behind her, down towards the cliffs where the water treatment plant rested. The cliffs that could, very well, house a vast cave network without any of them even knowing it. The cliffs that were well within the potential blast radius of a self-destructing Jem’Hadar scout ship.
Sadar: Oh no.
Gnai: ::turning its PADD around to show the coastline to the others:: There’s a good long stretch not far from here… but there’s no indication of where any caves might be.
Vailani: How dangerous are these caves?
Bim Pend: They’re usually harmless. We don’t have any dangerous wildlife around here. However, ever since we started the expansion of the water treatment plant, the caves have been off limits, just in case the digging disturbed the bedrock there.
A sound precaution, but also a precaution that was likely to make the caves even more tempting to alien rascals than they usually were.
By the Wheel, how frustrating aliens could be.
Gnai: From previous scans of the ground here… the bedrock is predominantly made up of carbonate sedimentary rocks, especially in the direction of the water. If these children are in the caves, there’s no telling how stable they might be…
While Lieutenant Gnai was conducting its analysis of the bedrock, trying to ascertain the risk factors involved with cave spelunking in this current situation, Vai-net showcased the diplomacy she was very capable of conducting, when the situation called for it.
Vailani: Don't worry we'll do everything we can to find the children before that can happen.
Gnai: Sirs, the Galaktoboureko can likely transport the children out to safety, this thinks, if they can be found… but it might be difficult if they’re deep underground in an extensive cave system.
Gila quickly shook her head.
Sadar: A-Absolutely not! I don’t want us transporting those kids out before we’ve got the Ship-situation under control. ::wrings her hands:: Though given the cave composition, even once the Ship isn’t fritzing up our equipment anymore, we have no guarantee that we can beam through it.
The very idea of attempting to beam the kids out of the cave system, only for the Jem’Hadar ship to scramble the signal mid-materialization... No. That was the last thing she’d allow to happen.
Vailani: If not, we can probably use portable transporter devices to boost the signal. Of course, we need to find them. Can you tell us where you last saw them
Any sense of the prior hostility or mistrust had all but evaporated from the Tellarite’s expression. It was clear to Gila that, despite his abrasive personality, Administrator Bim Pend truly cared deeply about the colonists under his care.
Bim Pend: It’s this way.
Gnai: Response
With the concerned parents and the Administrator showing the way, the three officers hasted back along the coastline, back towards the water treatment plant, only they weren’t following the well-trodden road leading up to the entrance of the facility. Instead, they skirted around, following the narrow band of coastline that went around an open grassy area with multiple mounds and towards the actual rocky cliff face itself. Thankfully, the disturbance from the Ship seemed to diminish as the source of the signal fritz had to travel through the actual cliff to reach them now, so Vai-net was able to use her tricorder to better effect here than back at the colony.
Vailani: Tricorder isn't picking up any children but I'm not sure if that's because they aren't there or the ship is still impacting the tricorder readings.
Hoping that the deadzone that had allowed the tricorder a semblance of normal functionality would work similarly for her combadge, Gila attempted to contact their colleagues up at the wreck itself.
Sadar: =/\= Sil-net? =/\= ::static:: =/\= Ensign Imril? Assistant Chief Morgan? =/\= ::more static:: By the Wheel, what’s going on up there?
Gnai: Response
Male Colonist: Wait, there!
At the word of the male colonist, everyone stopped. They still hadn’t fully cleared the grassy area leading up to the cliff itself, but the cause of the man’s sudden excitement immediately became clear. A small opening at the bottom of the verge, concealed by grey rocks, seemed to lead into the cave network that Vai-net’s tricorder had detected. A hole barely large enough for an adult, but the perfect size for a child.
Vailani: We're going to have to go in there :: to Bim Pend :: I'll leave it to you to begin coordinating the evacuation while we retrieve the children. What are their names?
It took the female colonist, the mother of one of the children, a few seconds to compose herself enough to respond. Tears misted over her blue eyes, long and slim fingers trembling with emotion.
Female Colonist: Iruh, Ahran and Nimo. P-Please, we have to get them out of there! I, I can’t evacuate without Iruh! I won’t!
Iruh’s mother then.
An unbidded memory surged forth in Gila’s mind, the memory of saying goodbye to a sleeping child, not knowing if she would ever see him again. The knowledge that each time she left the Artemis now, there was a chance - however slim - that she wouldn’t come back to him, and he’d be left alone on an alien Ship, far from home.
It formed a knot in her throat, but one she fought. She would come back to Kolya again, and Iruh would return to his mother, safe and sound.
Sadar: Administrator, please, do as Chief Vailani asked of you. We’ll get the children out. ::to the parents:: Are all of them able of hearing? Do they have any medical conditions?
This time, it was the male who responded, though he was just as agitated as Iruh’s mother.
Male Colonist: N-No, they’re all in perfect health. Please, let me come with you! Nimo’s my daughter!
Vailani/Gnai: Response
Gila was relieved that her colleagues were in agreement with her on this: having Nimo’s father come along would only increase the difficulty of their mission.
Sadar: Besides, you need to keep yourselves safe. They will all be very scared when they come back out, and will need familiar faces. ::to the Administrator:: Please, get the evacuation started as soon as possible.
The Tellarite seemed inclined to argue with them, possibly to insist that he too should come along, as the Administrator in charge of the children, but his argument deflated and a moment of genuine fear dominated his features. Then, he steeled himself.
Bim Pend: ... Of course… And thank you.
Gila nodded to him, watched him offer some quiet reassurances to the two fearful parents and then take them with him as headed back towards the main colony. Resolute, she looked back at her two colleagues. This was one mission they couldn’t afford to fail.
Gnai/Vailani: Response
Sadar ::to Vailani and Gnai:: We won’t be able to fit Lieutenant Gnai’s suit through that, but we don’t have time to search for an alternate entrance. What are our options?
Gnai/Vailani: Response
Tags/TBC
LT Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1