Lt. Commander Orson Marshall - Broken Planet, No Refunds (Part II)
Jo Marshall
((Caves in the Forests, Rogue World))
The joke, the sense of humour, falling off the young hybrid's tongue surprised Bear enough that he exhaled a gruff, if brief, laugh through his nose. A crate of kanar would go down well right about then, down a bottle each and see their way into the next life enjoying what was left of it, high on the viscous syrupy liquor product of Cardassia.
Corliss emitted a quick laugh that echoed around the stone surroundings, crawling up the crack in the roof.
Fortune: Hey now, we’re on the run! Why not break out the month-old ration bars then?
O. Marshall: I hate to say we've had worse, ::he swallowed, remembering a Ketar V sandwich he'd rather forget,:: but we've had worse.
Josett: Response
Kelley: The… scans… have detected a small chamber right up here.
Fortune: That’s good. Let’s go for that.
Josett/Alieth: Response
The team moved forward, Kelley out in front, young legs keeping the pace while Bear kept up the rear, often looking over his shoulder in case small rocks softly rumbling free of the cut above and falling to the ground with gentle taps were actually Jem'Hadar boots. However, he doubted a twenty-five-year stint on a rogue planet would make them move any more silent than they already did. Anything beyond twenty were honoured elders. Thirty-five was retirement age.
And without the ability to reproduce outside of the Dominion cloning facilities…
Not that Bear would be able to see them if their biological ability to shroud themselves still worked as it should. Being stalked by invisible, pensionable Jem'Hadar soldiers didn't sit well with him.
Kelley: At least the device appears to be working. I admit, I had my doubts – I’ve not used one of these before. I’ve been tracking our progress to the information that it has collected, and all the twists and turns have been accurate. When we find an exit point, would it be able to reach out with its scans to ensure that tachyons and chronitons, or whatever they are called – aren’t present so we don’t walk into another time cloud or whatever? Will its reach stretch out?
Josett/Alieth: Response
As if a charged strike of lightning had bolted down to Kelley's brain, the young woman appeared to brim with an idea, eyes widening a little, or maybe it was just the reaction to the illuminated screen in her hand when turning back to the dark.
Kelley: Your blue friend, the tall one with the antennas. ::She gulped.:: Perhaps she fell through time, too. People have disappeared before.
Corliss noticeably dropped her gaze and Bear found another frown appearing—not the first of the day, and undoubtedly, would not be the last either. Mention of Vylaa brought the hint of pink on Bear's cheeks beneath his blond beard, though the dark of the cave hid it well. Guilt swam up, and while his incessant need to be right in all things tried to push it back down, it was there to stay, doing the backstroke around his ribs.
Fortune: They just…fall through time?
O. Marshall: You should've said that instead of "I don't know, put me down". Spit time-bending possibilities at scientists and they go nuts for it. Learn your audience.
Kelley/Josett/Alieth: Response
Fortune: But, she was with us, not close to the chronitons. They were behind us…unless it just manages to pluck people at will?
O. Marshall: Or something else does. Teleporters do exactly that, only they don't freeze you in time just before they rip you apart at your atomic level.
Though the thought of that was somehow even more disturbing. Instead of being a random victim to a strange phenomenon, Vylaa could've been selected from the group, and pulled away before any of them could do anything about it. But to where? The question sank like a stone in a pond and Bear found himself concerned the rest of their crew on the other side of the planet were having about as much luck as they were.
Or less.
Kelley/Josett/Alieth: Response
The "small" chamber was, as expected, definitely small. Smaller than the first they'd walked into when they'd reached the inside. Crates were still stacked in the corner weathering the underground storage as if they'd been placed there only the day before. Layers of dust on top of them were marred only by smaller hands and fingerprints in decades of dust.
Off to the other end stood another opening and passageway, leading further down into the cave system beyond. Bending his ear, not literally, Bear tried to listen to the emptiness, as if it would reveal itself in thunderous boot stomps of Jem'Hadar shoulders rolling in with their anti-coagulant weapons and decimate them all in a matter of seconds.
Nothing sounded as bleak and empty as the passageway, however. Falling rocks continued, the odd duft of stones cascading down to the floor, the tremors still shaking the planet from the core.
O. Marshall: Battlefield caves, I imagine. ::He kicked one of the crates gently with the side of his boot.:: Cardassian symbols on here, supplies inside. If this place was safe enough, it was probably a command post. Plan the action from here and not be in the thick of it on top. Too bad it's not an armoured vehicle and a dozen shield emitters.
Kelley/Josett/Alieth/Fortune: Response
As before, another rumble began to shake through the core of the cave, tremors at first, growing in intensity as the seismic events increased in their wave pattern. Deeper in the cave it felt harsher, as though they were gripped hold of and shook around, rattling inside their stone cage. Bear threw an arm across Lena's shoulders and backed her up to the cave wall, only to look up to the ceiling to see the crack they'd seen before emerging anew there.
Following swiftly, by a glowing, bioluminescent tree root poking out of the cracked rock.
Kelley/Josett/Alieth/Fortune: Response
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Lt. Commander Orson Marshall
Intelligence Officer
USS Gorkon
G239304JM0