Mission Beta: I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes [Back Post]

Posted on Sun Aug 13th, 2023 @ 12:17am by Lieutenant JG Kaydren Aukai & Commander Lorut Vila & Lieutenant S'Tera & Lieutenant JG Aurora House of Kor
Edited on on Sun Aug 13th, 2023 @ 12:25am

1,389 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Good Will Tour: Mountain Home [Part Two]
Location: Mountain Home Mountain
Timeline: MD28: 0900 hours

They arrived at their location in due time, and Vila stopped the engine. "Everyone alive?" She called, with a laugh in her voice. She wasn't much of a risk-taker in this sense, but she still enjoyed any opportunity to scare the crap out of people.

Kaydren used four of his six appendages to remove the seatbelts he had used to tie himself into his seat. The captain and the engineer offered what sounded like a child’s booster seat and he felt annoyed and degraded.

When that got home, he was going to have them build one. Especially if he was riding with this crazy, female driver.

"You guys call THAT scary!? That was safer than walking across a Bisa pit!" Aurora giggled as she jumped out of the vehicle.

"Okay, here's the plan. We need at least ONE specimen of the babies and one of the adults. I'd like five, at least. We're headed for that bridge," she said, pointing. "We can't drive across it, it's too icy, and like I said, I am not trying to die today. We have intel that there's ancient buildings that we think the Romulans were using as a storehouse while they rebuild this part of the planet," she said. She paused a moment. "This is the time to be serious," she said, more or less to herself than the others. "Any questions?"

“Yeah, who gets to die first and will their tunic be yellow?” Kaydren asked with a chuckle.

"Since you asked, why don't you go first Kaydren?" S'tera said

Aurora again burst out laughing.

[He sure walked into THAT one!] Aurora thought through a giggle.

“Sorry ma’am, but as your security team, we’ll rappel down and get you any specimen you need,” a young lieutenant with a gold bar across his chest indicated he was their first volunteer. “Lieutenant Lewis,” the man behind the man extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Can’t help notice you’re not wearing your pips, ma’am?”

"Nice to meet you too Lieutenant. As for pips, very observant," S’tera answered.

Vila looked at the man. "Lewis. Okay. Please...be careful. Get in, get the specimens, get out. Try not to die," she said.

Lewis walked out onto the icy platform, kneeling every meter to fire in a piton and anchor himself. Anyone on back up could follow behind him on the bridge that had narrowed to barely a foot path. Much farther and he might have to start looking upward to anchor himself.

Kaydren linked on. “I’ll, uh, follow him. Just in case…ya know.”

Vila nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Keep a channel open," she said. She turned to the women with her. "Let's start collecting samples. Stay in a 2O meter radius, though, please," she said. She passed out vials and specimen bags. "The spiders won't be here, but you can get other bugs, plants, soil, etc," she said.

"Yep! that's our deptartment! C'mon Aurora. Collections 'r' us!" she said with a smile. She liked her job. Esepcially her co workers. Aurora was good company and a very competent scientist and one of her best friends.

"Hi ho and away we go, S'Tera!" Aurora chuckled as she grabbed her gear and skipped after S'Tera.

Lewis placed two final pitons into the stone and ice mix. That way, if the arch did give out, he would have two pitons to, hopefully, slow and then stop him. He looked at the tiny being that had followed him and wondered what the hell he might do?!

He was probably there to cut the line in the event he did something stupid. He wasn’t there to make mistakes. Lewis gave himself a silent pep talk before dropping over the side. As he inched slowly downward, remembered not to dig his cleats into the pod.

Looking at his HUD, Lewis was detecting Romulan life signs. “There’s a Romulan in here,” he said, feeling miles away from any other person. A sudden gust of wind sent him and the pod swinging before they settled back into their positions.

Lewis rechecked his HUD, “This exterior is entirely webbing material. They’ve wrapped the Romulan like prey,” he reported. As he looked up, he could clearly see into the webbing as the Romulan’s face showed through.

Half of his face was gone, skeletal and the flesh eaten. The other eye was closed as a spider walked over the back of his head, across his cheek and nose before disappearing into the open eye socket. The only thing he could thing was not to scream and not to throw up. If he barfed, he would be stuck in the suit with it until the job was done.

Kaydren could tell the human below was losing it. His heart rate and blood pressure were nearing dangerous areas. “He’s dead, Lewis,” the S’ti’ach told him.

“What?” Came the timid response.

“He’s dead. He’s been dead for weeks. All he is now is a snack for those little bastards. The same about the rest of these poor bastards. This is a graveyard except for spiders. Let’s get the corpse and the specimen and get out of here. Get the webbing on that whole thing and you can come up.

“Right,” came Lewis’ response again. This time, he sounded less panicked and his heart rate and blood pressure, though high, was far closer to a high normal, not stroke or heart attack levels.

VIla's subdermal communication device picked up the interaction between Lewis and Aukai. She raised her hand. =/\= What the HELL? Wrapped in a WHAT? =/\= She definitely had have misheard that, right? RIGHT? =/\= I don't care about the bodies. I am not a medical examiner. Get me some spiders and get the hell out, =/\=

“We have to wrap these cocoons and the bodies at the same time or we’ll break the cocoon open and a thousand babies will spill out. Either way, Commander, these cocoons have to come up intact,” Lewis answered. This was based on the mission briefing, leading Lewis to wonder if the Bajoran had listened to any of it.

Though, on second thought, Doctor Greene might appreciate a body or five to look at. Plus, it would look good if they returned the men to their rightful home at the other end of the Planet. =/\= Change of plans. Get the bodies. Or at least some of them, for the good Doc. Do you need me to join you down there? =/\= She was stronger than she looked, and she was bored with collecting specimens.

“If you feel like you wanna tackle corpses full of spiders, Commander, by all means, be our guest. Maybe you and one of the other science officers might like a go at this danglin’ in the open wind? It sure at a hull walk over here,” Kaydren offered as his response, keeping Lewis out of the insubordination loop.

"Very funny. Use the transporter tech on your Chronometer, Aukai," she said. They WERE equipped with that, right?! "Take one, then. I'll radio to the Doc," she said.

Aukai muted his open channel as he grumbled. “Just use the transporter, Aukai…meh, meh, meh” He unmuted his channel. “Triton Seabase, prepare to receive a sample of Romulan corpse and spiders. Recommend immediate stasis and quarantine pending Doctor Greene’s orders.”

=/\= Acknowledged. =/\= came the transporter chief’s response. =/\ = On your command. =/\=

“Grab one of those bodies and let’s get the hell out of here, Lewis,” Kaydren said. “Just don’t risk yourself or that pod.”

“Understood, Lieutenant Aukai,” Lewis responded. The mountains winds whipped up, as if to remind them they weren’t welcome. “Triton Seabase, transporting specimen to you now.”

=/\= Got it. Acknowledging stasis and quarantine. Acknowledged Team Beta, now get down out of those mountains. There’s a storm brewing. =/\=

Vila was finished with her task, and waited for Aukai and Lewis to return. When she saw the Koala and human, she pulled down her sunglasses. "Lt Aurora, S'Tera. Let's roll," she said. Back to the base.

"Yes,Ma'am," came the chorus of replies, but she knew they were all thinking other things. They climbed into the ATV and headed back home.



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