Lt. Aine Sherlock - First Contact (of another kind)

[Aine Sherlock]

((Grove of Trees above Glyrshar Canyon, Bajor))

Aine was hardly dressed for the occasion and couldn't carry more than the backup phaser in her satchel and a rifle in her hands. She could only imagine how ridiculous she looked, battle ready in a dress. She'd never live this down.

Herrick: So how do we find her?

Promontory: Scans should be indicative—there’s unlikely to be many Cardassian/Bajoran hybrids around here.

Sherlock: We can try calling out. Or maybe being closer, the comms will work.

Herrick tapped his combadge but nothing seemed to be connecting to Commander Peri. The terrain, or possibly a dampening field of sorts, had to be interfering. Which meant they were on their own to find Peri and Etan and get them back to the transport site.

Herrick: Uh Lieutenants, there seems to be some sort of dampening field around here, I don’t think we’re going to have much luck with comms or instruments.

Promontory: That’s probably why Commander Katsim and the Oumuamua were having difficulty staying in contact.

Sherlock: Can you get any scans? Anything that might point us in the right direction?

Herrick: ::shaking his head:: I can’t tell if it’s artificial, I am quite literally getting nothing. Even if we're not being detected, I suspect that we won’t be able to maintain contact if we separate.

Promontory: So, maintain line-of-sight as we search?

Sherlock: Alright, keep it tight. We'll move...

Herrick: Do you hear that?

Aine stopped talking when Herrick had noticed something. She brought her rifle to her shoulder, muzzle down, and scanned the surrounding area. Faintly in the distance she could hear someone sloshing through water.

Sherlock: It could be her.

Promontory: It could be that Peri wasn’t alone out here.

Herrick: ::taking a step back into the woods to get a bit more cover:: What do we do?

Promontory: I think our efforts should be two-fold: 1) Find Peri, and 2) Find our own way out of here.

Sherlock: We need something more definitive. Sounds in the wilderness won't cut it.

Promontory: Josh, you’re an engineer, do you think you could… (waving hands towards the tac box) engineer something to help us punch through the interference?

Herrick: Response

Aine stood watch as the pair worked out a solution. She could still occasional hear the sloshing in the distance. It didn't sound like it was getting closer. She also figured it had to be a person as it was unlikely for wildlife to make so much noise for fear of becoming easy prey.

Promontory: Scanning now. (beat) Nothing yet. (beat) Let me try a different setting.

Sherlock: Are you seeing anything?

Herrick: Response

Promontory: That’s better. (beat) But I still don’t see… Oh! There! I think that’s a Bajoran on the far side of the ridge.

Herrick: Response

Sherlock: Then that's where we go. On me.

Aine began moving in the direction Promontory had indicated, which took them towards the sounds they'd been hearing. The natural trails in the terrain made movement relatively easy. Just ahead and up the trail she could see a shallow river and the ridge on the far side. Unfortunately, it was also very open and she wasn't about to expose them.

Sherlock: Move up on either side of the trail, keep cover near the bushes. We need to get a positive ID.

Promontory/Herrick: response

Sherlock: If it's Peri, we get her and fall back. If it's someone else, well, don't shoot first, but if you need to shoot, don't miss. We don't have any back-up out here.

Promontory/Herrick: response

As they moved up, Aine could see into the open area around the river and sure enough there was someone moving up the ridge. His clothes dripping water. And armed. Aine looked back at Promontory and Herrick and gave them a nod before she called out.

Sherlock: Stop! Starfleet Security, identify yourself!

The man stopped, but his choice of identification wasn't exactly a friendly, nor innocent, one as he turned and fired in their direction. It was a reactionary shot that sailed well over their heads and landed behind them harmlessly. Aine got a bead on him but he dove behind a rock for cover.

Promontory/Herrick: response

Sherlock: Move! Get across the river and flank him! I've got you covered!

She began laying down a steady stream of fire at and above the rock the man was hiding behind to keep his head down.

Promontory/Herrick: response

tags/TBC

Lt. Aine Sherlock

Security Officer

U.S.S. 'Oumuamua

R239712AS0