Lt Alex Storm - They're Here
Karen Morris
((Unknown Monastery? - Callis 1))
Before transferring to the Artemis, Alex excelled at one thing - building walls. They were high and fortified. Walls that a Tactical Officer could be proud of.. But walls are hard to maintain. And over the past months, Alex had begun to wonder if they needed to stay up. Cracks had appeared. Roy started it, with his silent presence atop a Betazed waterfall. Cole cracked it further when they both discussed family members and grief. Brexis had chiseled out a whole rock on Ferenginar in a greenhouse, and Jira had knocked down a whole section of wall by volunteering to go on a futile errand to try and catch her husband and daughter before they had managed to evade her once more. And Sil. Sil had traveled much of the hardest part of her marriage as a cushion between her and Kona.
These people had become her family in a way she never expected. They were teaching her that she was accepted as she was, for who she was. They had wormed their way into her heart. They had shown her that people really did care. This emptiness in the pit of her stomach demanded an answer. Were her family okay? She reached out telepathically, and as she did, the emptiness she had previously felt filled with relief.
Storm: Can you sense anything more than they are alive?
MacKenzie: Are they close? Can we get to them?
The tactical officer's eyes fixed on Charlotte as she reached out, something in the other woman’s eyes looked pained.
Brexis: I’m sorry… I can’t.
Alex’s lips pressed together.
Storm: Thanks for trying.
MacKenzie: In that case, we can’t worry about them. They’re exceptional people, and I’m sure they have the ability to survive this. In the meantime, we have to focus on the task and hand and take care of ourselves. So let’s make sure we can keep this fire going and potentially capture some of this rain, that way we can make it through the night.
Cole: ::kneeling by the firewood:: Sir, this should be enough to keep us warm for the night, and provide some level of light. I would suggest as it gets darker we sleep in shifts to make sure it doesn’t go out. ::to Alex:: Lieutenant, how do our ration supplies look?
Brexis: Fire’s good for now at least.
Alex slipped the bag off her back and rummaged through it. She started pulling out ration packs and laying them on the ground. Next to them, she pulled out the water pouches. Underneath those, she found a first aid kit and metallic blankets and a few other solitary items. She started counting the rations.
Storm: There must have been another pack or two in the escape pod. We only have seven ration packs with water, which won’t last long between the four of us. We do have the bowls outside collecting water, though, so assuming that rain is potable, we will have more water. Maybe we can go back out tomorrow to look for the other packs.
MacKenzie: Come take a look at this. Are these claw marks?
Alex followed after MacKenzie and Charlotte. Three deep gashes had been made in the stone.
Cole: Is it too much to hope, that is part of their art style?
Brexis: Is it too much hope that whatever made these doesn’t live around here anymore?
Kneeling down, Alex ran a finger inside one of the claw marks.
Storm: Whatever it is, these claws are sharp, but they’re also powerful. It would take a lot of muscle and a very hard claw to make one gash in stone like that, let alone three.
MacKenzie: I wonder what happened to the people who built this place.
Brexis: ::Softly:: Nat, you okay?
Nat’s eyes had taken on a faraway look. Charlotte beat her to a question, but Alex had a more specific one, and she raised an eyebrow, silently asking Nat.
Cole: Sorry, No Ghosts of my past. ::beat:: Just lost in a memory for a moment.
A half smile graced Alex’s face, she touched Cole’s shoulder with a nod.
Storm: Glad to hear it.
MacKenzie: Hopefully whatever caused that ::pointing to the boot:: isn’t the same thing as what caused that ::pointing to the wall::. Otherwise, we might be in trouble.
Cole: I’m thinking whatever it was, those doors ::pointing at the doors they entered:: had been closed after whatever made those markings ::gesturing towards the wall:: left the premises.
Brexis: The scratches look kind of old, but that doesn't mean much of anything.
Storm: I’m almost hoping that what left that mound outside IS the same creature. And I’m not crazy, I promise. Wouldn’t you rather deal with one big creature than with two totally different ones?
MacKenzie: Response
Cole: Securing this place shouldn’t be too difficult. Those rooms Lieutenant Storm mentioned both have barred windows. The main door appears to be the only point of entry, unless whatever made those markings can somehow phase through the walls.
Brexis: Why would you even put that kind of evil out in the universe?
Looking at Nat through her eyebrows, Alex blinked once.
Storm: Not - even - funny.
MacKenzie: Response
Almost as if in defiance of Natasha's words a loud echoing growl came through the rain. Alex could feel the vibration from the deep noise through the thick soles of her boots.
Cole: ::running:: Let’s get these doors closed, before we get any uninvited guests.
Brexis: Good idea.
Storm: I’m going to close the doors to the other rooms, so the light from the fire doesn’t show through those windows.
So while the two other women went one way, she went another.
MacKenzie: Response
Brexis: ::Struggling:: Come on Cole. Push.
Cole: Response
Brexis: We should probably make sure there aren’t any less than obvious entry points in here.
Storm: Something able to make a sound that loud and deep has to be a good size. There’s no way it could get into this room unless it can batter down the door or walls. We should probably keep our voices to a whisper, though. We don’t know what its sense of hearing is like.
MacKenzie/Cole: Response
Another growl again rang out loud and low. This time, a little bit closer and in double.
Brexis: Whatever that thing is… Is getting closer. ::beat:: and I don’t think it’s alone.
Alex took some of the material left over from what Nat used to lash the knives to the staves, and she shoved it under the cracks in the doors to the rooms with the windows. Standing up, she placed her hand against the rough-hewn boards of the door. Just above a whisper, she said…
Storm: We don’t even want a little of that fire to show and call attention to us. But then again, they may smell it, in which case we’re in trouble anyway.
MacKenzie/Cole: Response
Despite the driving rain and wind, a close, low rumble reverberated, not through the air, but through the walls of the monastery itself. It happened again, but the epicenter of the rumble seemed to have moved down the outside wall. And then once more. Alex mouthed the words and gestured with her hands…
Storm: It’s circling the building.
MacKenzie/Cole/Brexis. Response
After a complete rotation around the monastery, a heavy silence settled in Alex’s chest. She set her hand against the wall where she had heard the last rattling breath. She didn’t feel any vibrations in the stone. It was still and cool to the touch. Again, she mouthed and said telepathically to Brexis…
Storm: ::Mouthing the words to MacKenzie and Cole:: ~~Maybe they’ve gone?~~
As soon as she did, the loudest growl they had heard yet shook the building. Alex jumped, and dust cascaded from the cracks between the stones that made up the walls. Even before her heart rate could recover, another growl echoed directly opposite the first.
MacKenzie/Cole/Brexis. Response
But as the second growl shook the monastery, Alex’s knees buckled, and both of her hands flew to her head. She felt an excruciating pressure inside her mind. She tried to breathe through the pain, but her diaphragm seized up. Her vision fractured at the edges. Something inside her skull twisted, sharp and invasive, and her breath hitched hard in her chest.
Storm: ::Holding her head in both of her palms.:: They’re here. ::Pointing at her head.:: Here!
MacKenzie/Cole/Brexis. Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2