Lt. Commander Ayiana Sevo - What a Let Down
Aaron Schimmel
((Moss Fields, Gateside Dimension))
The spectacle seemed to be ending. Most of the grazers had escaped while the predators were busy chowing down on the stragglers they caught. A couple of them tried to get at the group, but the sheer faces of the rocks prevented them from successfully reaching the trio. Settling for the meal the predators had, they moved off back to the trees; it seemed to be where they nested.
Sevo: Any…uh…any way we can get down from here?
zh’Tisav: So now you don’t want the rocks...
Kairis: Response
Sevo: Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Kairis: Response
Sevo: Well, we’re tethered together. Maybe we can lower each other down one at a time. Unless you guys want to give a go at thinking these rocks away.
zh’Tisav: That would work for the first two, whomever is left last would have to climb down unassisted. And I think we got lucky the first time, try thinking them away and we might spawn a volcano instead…
Ayiana couldn’t help but imagine a scene in a cartoon where a character is trying to lift a horse via a rope up a sheer cliff face. It would be like that in reverse, where Vylaa with her superior strength was letting down Thea and Ayiana as they dangled helplessly in the air.
Kairis: Response
zh’Tisav: Let me go last. Andorian physiology is better able to survive a fall if I slip.
Sevo: Just because you *can* doesn’t mean you have to. Surely there’s a better way.
Besides, the EV suits provided *some* measure of physical protection as well.
Kairis: Response
zh’Tisa: Well, I don’t plan on falling, it’s just in case.
Everyone moved around the boulder, checking the sides for any easier way down. Most of it was sheer cliff face, which was good at the time. If there was an easy way to get up, the herd or predators would have used it.
zh’Tisav: Here, there’s more rocks on this side. We can do it in two stages, to that boulder midway, and then to the ground. Hopefully there’ll still be ground when we get there.
Ayiana moved over to where Vylaa was standing and peered over the edge carefully. Sure enough, there was a smaller and lower boulder sticking out from the main one, roughly halfway down. It might work, if she cushioned her fall with a roll or careful leg bending.
Sevo: Looks like it’ll work, if we’re careful.
Kairis: Response
The path down decided, they filed up to make their way down. Ayiana let Vylaa go first. It was her idea, and she was the strongest; if Vylaa couldn’t make it, neither Ayiana nor Kairis could. Her biggest worry was similar to what Vylaa was thinking; that the boulders or ground could change at any moment. She just had to hope they remained stable long enough for them to get down.
Soon it was her turn. She stepped to the edge, eyeing the depth to the midway boulder, then carefully climbed down to it. There wasn’t much in the way of handholds so all Ayiana really could do was hang onto the edge of the top and let go. Fortunately, she was able to make it unscathed.
Sevo: Right, one more step to go.
zh’Tisav / Kairis: Response
The pattern repeated, and soon they were back on “solid” ground; well, as solid as moss and a nonpermanent landscape could be. Just a few moments after the last of them reached the ground, the boulder pile rumbled, sinking back into the ground to disappear as if it was never there.
Sevo: That’s interesting. You think whatever was controlling it knew we needed to get down, and kept the boulders up?
Then again, if there was really an intelligence behind it, they would have let the boulders sink back down with the trio still on it, gently letting them down to the ground. Maybe it was just timing.
zh’Tisav / Kairis: Response
Sevo: Right, with that excitement over, we need to find the “highway” again. Everyone, bring out your tricorders!
zh’Tisav / Kairis: Response
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Lt. Commander Ayiana Sevo
Mission Specialist
U.S.S. Gorkon
V239109AS0
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