Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen - Set the fire!
CPT Arianus
(( Campsite – Inside the Cliffs – Callis I ))
Moss slipped out of his arms and landed softly on the ground in front of the tents. He glanced from the pile to the doctor, his silence heavy as his teeth were biting into his lower lip. His face drawn in a storm of thoughts swirled in his mind, thoughts he wished would ease the burden on his already weary soul. In that fleeting moment, he couldn't help but break into an enthusiastic smile, even though his expression betrayed a trace of hidden shame.
Bergmen: Dînêo! Erê, divê ez li ser wê bifikirim!
Just one glance at the doctor's face was enough for Ollie to understand that his words had not been met with understanding. He smiled and gave him a thumbs up, which felt easier in that moment than trying to quiet his racing thoughts and take a step back, and sort through his words before trying to translate them to Bancroft.
Bergmen: Eeeeh… (beat) Chemlights! They are full of butyl lithium. Why didn’t I think that sooner? That thing reacts with water and creates flame. We know how to make flame, doctor!
The doctor's expression softened, and his shoulders eased as a genuine smile slowly spread across his face. Those words he understood...
Bancroft: ::soft, impressed:: Well… I’ll be. That’s great thinking, Lieutenant.
They exchanged glances, smile for smile. The realization of what it meant blossomed into enthusiasm, sparking a moment of understanding and, even more importantly... hope.
Bergmen quickly pulled on his pack and untied the two inactive chemlights from the straps of his bag, placing them down beside the moss he was beginning to spread out. While some clumps of moss he gathered in a pile, others he set aside next to what should have been a bonfire. And then, out of nowhere, he tore off one sleeve of his undershirt, then the other, handing them both to Roy.
Bergmen: Could you soak them in the meantime, doctor?
Ollie carefully spread the pile out a little more before the doctor came back. Satisfied with his work, he took one of the wet sleeves from Bancroft, tore off a slender strip, and gently tucked this piece of cloth between two clumps in the pile.
Bergmen: Wrap it around your face and cover your mouth and nose. The initial reaction will produce a bit of sticky smoke that is best not to inhale.
Bergmen showed Roy how to do it and checked that the doctor's sleeve was securely tied around his face. Once he was confident it was fastened correctly, Ollie crouched down to grab a chemlight. With a swift flick of his wrist, he twisted the cap off, feeling it give way with a gentle resistance.
Taking a deep breath, Bergmen mentally counted to three and poured a third of the glowing liquid into the air above the mossy pile, watching as it spiraled down in a shimmering arc. At first, nothing happened… but as the seconds ticked by, the moss began to change. Its vibrant green color faded, shifting to an array of gray and brown shades. Even a piece of the sleeve strip nestled among lost its hue, turning white, being covered in crystals that reflected the colors of autumn. Suddenly, their work hissed, releasing a cloud of black-and-yellow smoke that quickly swirled away in the cave's breeze...
And just then, the first flames burst from the moss.
Bergmen nodded to the doctor, his eyes sparkling with reassurance that it was safe to remove the mask, and when he took it off, he flashed a wide smile at Roy, happy that it had actually worked as he hoped it would.
Bancroft: Let’s keep the fire small, yeah? Enough for heat and light, but not much more than that.
Ollie gave him a slight shrug and gestured toward the moss resting beside the bonfire.
Bergmen: Well, since we don't have wood and we'll always dry leftover moss by the fire next to the fire to be safe, it won't be much bigger than the one we have now.
The doctor seemed satisfied with the answer, as he stepped back and began rummaging through his pack. Ollie, who had been warming his hands by the flames, suddenly heard the sound of fabric tearing and glanced over with a puzzled expression. Bancroft, however, paid him little to no attention and continued to tear his spare clothes into strips.
Bergmen chose not to fret and instead savored the comforting warmth of the flames. Before long, Roy began securing strips of fabric to a protruding rock a few meters away from the fire, then another anchor closer to the waterfall, watching as the fabric lifted and fluttered in the breeze.
Bancroft: ::seriously:: If these strips stop moving, or start drifting back toward us, we need to kill the fire and get out. Deal? ::softer, with a smile:: Fantastic work, Ollie. ::raising hand for a fist bump:: Welcome home, eh?
Ollie nodded slowly and bumped fists with the doctor, remaining silent as OPS JG considered whether to tell him that his idea was a nice one, but Ollie was intrigued by how he planned to extinguish the chemical fire if the need arose sooner than in ...about an hour?
Yeah, an hour was roughly how long Ollie estimated it would take for all the lithium to burn out.
Fortunately, Bergmen's luck took a turn for the better when a duo of explorers, aka their senior officers, emerged from the shadowy depths of one of the sprawling tunnels and stepped into the faint light, their faces aglow with the flickering light of burning moss.
K’Wara: A fire? Crackin’! ::looks at the two of them:: That’ll make things easier.
Bergmen: Yeah, just... (beat) I would wait a while before you roast anything on it, until the chemical accelerants burn out. Give it half, a hour max. ::smiles innocently::
The heat and light would have to suffice for now. While deadly heavy metal poisoning was akin to a marathon, there was still a risk of nausea from acute poisoning, and that was simply a nuisance he didn’t want to face, especially here and now.
Jovenan/Bancroft: Response
Bergmen: Did you find anything interesting in the tunnels, ma'am? Is there a way out?
Jovenan/K’Wara/Bancroft: Response
Bergmen: So, I've checked our rations, and we should be good for some time if we ration them a bit. With water and the ability to make a fire, we should be immediately out of trouble, ma’am. (beat) Sir.
Jovenan/K’Wara/Bancroft: Response
TAG/TBC
(OOC: JG involvement during the creation of fire was consulted and approved with the writer)
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Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1