LtCmdr Cayden Adyr - To Go in Hope

[Marissa Jeffrey]

((Planetside, Unknown Planet))

Cayden would never take for granted the creature comforts of a briefing room ever again. As she looked around at the crew in various matter of dress, most with jackets off or around their waists, covered with the evidence of their week spent in the sand, the Trill first officer came to realize that of everything she could have imagined happening, this was about as far from even possible as could be.

And yet, here they were, doing their best to survive while coming up with shreds of hope that might possibly keep them going until the next shred could be found. With everything stacked against them as it was though, she was starting to wonder if those shreds weren't going to run out before they had found more. 

Adea: Right, thank you all. It’s not been an easy time, but you’ve excelled yourselves at survival. But now we have to start thinking seriously about how to get home. To that end, Commander Adyr and I have come up with a cunning plan, or at least part of one.

With as best of a reassuring grin and a raised eyebrow as she could muster, she looked over at the captain. While only a week had passed, the time was quite apparent on his face and in the way his hair had become; sandy and windblown, it only accentuated the concern that etched itself in every wrinkle, dip, and curve of his face. They had spent a good amount of hours talking and planning, and in all that time she'd not heard him say her name but once.

Perhaps action would not only net the solution they all wanted, but help heal the wounds that everyone was ignoring.

Adea: First things first, we need to get off this planet, and find the rest of the Federation, if it even exists. To that end, Commander Adyr will lead a team to ::he flipped open a tricorder and projected the map they had:: this location. It looks like it might once upon a time have been a small ship depot of some kind, possibly Starfleet. However, it has fallen into the clutches of someone we know only as Taammir; they appear to be attached to something called “the Emerald Chain”. Adyr, your job will be to infiltrate this depot, and recover us a ship, or ships, that can get us off world en masse. Braya, you’ll be joining her as you’ve flown over the depot, and you’re a pilot. You might need to do some tinkering to get it started, so take Tanner with you as well.

Even knowing ahead of time what she was going to be doing, the actual assignment had her mind set to go. Beside her the engineer she'd come to the planet with remained quiet, but the pilot spoke up. Somehow that was just as she was expecting.

Braya: Got it, Capt’n. We’ll bring ya’ the nicest one.

Adyr: Maybe even two.

Putting aside what little information they had on the Taammir person, or what the depot actually housed, Cayden let hope run for the moment. They'd need all the good feelings they coud muster, after all.

Adea: Commander Falt; we’ve discovered a huge chunk of the Proust Station managed to survive entering the atmosphere and is possibly a great mine of resources for us. Be careful, however, as Jashkaa, Oromis and the rest of the last team I sent there haven’t returned... ::he let out a sigh:: or replied to hails. You’ll be taking Favon and Frex, as well as Professor Numerdor - he will know what’s survived best.

As the next group of officers spoke up and acknowledged their assignments, Cayden let her mind move from the information she knew and had been mulling over with the captain to the hours and days yet to come. They were, most of them anyways, leaving the relative safety of the new base they had built with their own hands, to strike out into the unknown to find something, somewhere, that might get them home. They might never return or see their crew again, but then again, the other option was to give up on ever seeing their real homes ever again.

Which was the worse option? And how could the Q get away with presenting such a choice? Around her the teams started to split apart, everyone ready to go their own way. Cayden sighed. The Adyr symbiont had lived through war and destruction and death. Somehow there had always been another host on hand to make sure that the memories were preserved. 

Here though, well, here was where Adyr would die. And just what did history say about it? 

Adea: I’ll be staying here with Doctor Thalor and the rest of our medical team - we still have plenty of wounded to be looking after, and that’s where I’m needed best. Go in good faith, and remember - don’t let on that we’re here from the past - if the Department of Temporal Investigations exists in this part of the galaxy, I don’t want to get on their bad side.

Honestly, Cayden wouldn't at all mind running into one of them just then. Perhaps that was the best defense against the Q. Maybe. 

Eh...probably not. 

Tanner: Dunno if stealth is my thing, but if we find a ship, at least I can get it working.

Braya: You get it workin’, I can fly it. So all we need to do is get in. ::glancing at Adyr::

The other parties had all but split, leaving the three of them in a small huddle with the weight of some kind of future on their shoulders. This was far from where she thought she'd be when she accepted that appointment from Starfleet.

Adyr: I think I may have some tricks up my sleeves.

Nevermind the fact that she'd torn the sleeves off her shirt, allowing for as cool of a uniform as possible. 

Braya: Guess it’s settled, then. Depot ain’t exactly close, but I can’t fit three in her ::jerking a thumb at her Valkyrie: So I guess we’re hikin’ it. ::Lifting her canteen to make sure it was filled::

Cayden nodded. 

Adyr: Hopefully it'll be a one way hike, and a quick trip back.

What was it that the captain had said? Go in hope? They would go...hope would carry them at least until they got to where they were going. With safety anything but guaranteed, Cayden allowed her mind to fold into the thoughts of Adyr and the many hosts whose voices were housed within.

((Two hours later))

The company of all who once were Adyr made quick the time that passed on the trek through the sand. The heat beat down on them from above, draining hydration from them all as they trod along. Thankfully there had been no sign of dinosaurs or temporal investigators, though she still was willing to take a chance with the later. 

Braya: ::Pointing with her canteen, squinting in the sun:: It’s close now. Past this big dune here, then just over the next.  

Cayden nodded. So close, but so far, at least in the midday sun.

Tanner: Response?

Adyr: Remember anything we can use on our approach?

Braya: Never saw anythin’ comin’ or goin’. Just the main hangar and the scrapyard. As for what’s workin’, or closest thing to workin’, I couldn’t say.

Having done some work as an intelligence operative, Cayden hated going into things without information. At the same time, that was literally the epitome of what Starfleet did. 

Tanner/Adyr: Response?

Adyr: You at least remember kind of what it's set out like. Where would be the first best place to look?

Braya: Response?

Cayden nodded, encouraging discussion as they approached even if it was not very detailed. 

Tanner: Response?

The shimmers on the horizon had played tricks on her vision the entirety of the trip, so she paid it no mind as they approached what was to be the final crest before the final dune when puffs of sand seemed to rise to meet the similarly colored sky. Using the back of her hand she wiped a stream of sweat away from her eyes for the umpteenth time that day and went back to thinking about the idea that they might actually find a ship.

Adyr: You think there might be a ship there big enough to do what we're looking to do? 

Logistics and hope could go hand in hand, but only if physics allowed it.

Braya/Tanner: Responses?

More sand seemed to throw itself at the sky and this time it caused her to pause.

Adyr: Am I seeing things?

Braya/Tanner: Responses?

TAG/TBC

--

Lieutenant Commander Cayden Adyr

Executive Officer

USS Eagle

R238605KN0