He had seen Parrish excited before or at least he thought he had. When the call came in for Parrish's help regarding a plant on a planet made up almost entirely of ice the man's eyes had glinted in glee. The whole jumper ride he was rambling, his words jumbled up as he pondered aloud. All of that didn't even compare to the trembling man that stood before him now. Although he had to admit the sight was much more than extraordinary.
The ice cavern was huge, giant pillars of ice reaching up high glinting under the artificial lights. The plant they had been summoned to see was that of the jungle planet, parts sticking out free from the ice walls where it had been chipped out. The vines threading deep into the ice and snow were lit with a soft blue hue becoming even more mesmerising as it disappeared within the ice. Veins of blue mingled with each other disappearing and reappearing through the walls, the glow spreading through the room giving everyone inside an almost ethereal look.
Looking around at the tables and equipment set up around the huge cavern he imagined this was what the Antarctic site must have looked liked so many years ago. There were no more than a dozen people milling around, some stood staring at the walls while their equipment beeped away, others buried into laptops and books at the tables. Each of them looked so involved in their work, a bubble of excitement contained just beneath the surface.
He didn't see her at first but then discovering she was hidden behind several huge cases it was of no surprise. It had been her soft voice that caught his attention. He knew she was talking to Parrish given the fact the whole conversation was solely about the plant but when he actually got a chance to look at her sitting in the little chair he realised she wasn't actually giving him that much attention. Her eyes were dancing from her notebook to the wall in front of her over and over fingers dancing along the pages as she scribbled down in her usual scrawl.
A sudden flash of light had his head whipping round. Seeing a young woman camera in hand moving along the wall behind him snapping picture after picture with each step he turned away only to have an idea strike him. Walking as casually as he could on the icy ground he made his way over to the pair watching Parrish trying to not talk with his hands and failing miserably sending his feet sliding. Grasping the man by his coat just before he crashed down onto Merry he saw the man's eyes dance between the two of them before he attempted to scarper off towards the far wall.
"Think I could get a copy of the photos of inside here?" He asked his mouth a hair's breadth away from her ear. He chuckled when she flew out of her skin.
"Yeah sure. You feeling inspired?" She replied voice low as she clutched her chest. Carefully he crouched down beside her holding the back of her chair to steady him.
"Something like that. How much longer are you going to be out here?" He didn't want to sound desperate but he was. It had been strange without her around for all these weeks.
"That depends if the weather holds out."
"Heard about the last snow storm. You managed to stay in the jumpers right?" When he had heard the image of them cramped in the jumpers for three days hadn't seemed that bad until he saw the damage it had done to the jumpers. And the state of the people who came back suffering from cabin fever.
"Yeah but if the one that's building comes our way we have to get out. It looks bad. "She stopped talking as someone passed them by her eyes following them as far as she could. He looked at her trying to read her, trying to understand. As she looked back to him however she just smiled and laced her gloved fingers with his. "I missed you."
Letting the diversion tactic stand he squeezed her fingers about to reply to the sentiment when a very nervous looking Captain joined them. Their hands parted in an instant and he felt the lost. It wasn't just the warmth it was the touch, her presence almost. Something he realised he had missed.
"Sir, Mer... Dr Briggs we have a situation." The nervous tint to the man's voice had them both turn to look at each other the same thought running through their minds.
Stood out in the freezing cold he could feel the difference from just a short time ago. Where the air had been bitter cold before it was now stealing his breath even under all his layers. Giving the order to evacuate the site was easy and clear cut given the short time frame they had. With less than forty minutes until the storm descended on them speed was of the essence. Anyone left behind was as good as dead by all predictions.
Adrenalin was running high as case after case, pack after pack filed out of the cavern. After just a few minutes two jumpers were ready to go fully laden down with people and equipment. Both pilots were confident that they would be well out of reach of the burgeoning storm. He had been surprised at the speed with which they had all worked to clear out but with an order like 'go the way you came' there was little doubt as to what went where.
They quickly discovered one large piece of equipment that had been overlooked and would not fit in the now half full third jumper. Parrish volunteering to switch jumpers with his supplies and equipment to make room in their jumper was a surprise especially when he explained Merry could take his place. Had he not known the difference in the amount of supplies the two of them carried he would have objected outright but the sheer hope in the other man's eyes made him agree. He couldn't really argue with spending time with Merry under any conditions but was certainly feeling suspicious of the good doctor's intention particularly when he saw him fawning over a young woman.
"That would be Dr Simpkins. She's a linguist and has been here for three months. They have been having at least one meal together almost every day for the passed month." He let his eyes drift from the closing hatch of the jumper seeing a secret little smile on her face.
"How do I not know this?"
"She spends a lot of time with us in the office so I've seen them together a lot. They look good together. She is a little on the shy side and he has been sort of protecting her a little. Softening the blow of the reality of the Pegasus Galaxy I suppose."
"You make us sound bad Merry."
"I didn't mean you. She's been translating a lot of text for us that mainly has to do with the tribe we found that eat Wraith. It's pretty gruesome."
"Doesn't bother you."
"No. I guess it doesn't." He watched her heading back into the cavern, her steps sure and sound over the ground much more so than his. Checking his watch he realised the twenty minutes were up and each minute meant the storm would get closer and closer.
As he stepped inside he could hear her scuffling around deep in the back. With the lights out the soft blue glow of the vines was the only light inside. It looked majestical. The pillars of ice twinkled in the light, the blue background making them look soft.
"Merry!" His voice echoed around the almost empty room causing him to look up and around the small sense of wonder slipping in beside his urgency.
"I'm here Major. I was just getting the last generator." Behind her she was pulling along a metal case on wheels a pack tossed over each shoulder. Tutting he removed the two packs quickly heading out the cavern feeling slightly saddened at leaving the blue light behind.
With each of them sat in their seats he twisted his wrist around spotting they were now at thirty two minutes. As they entered the jumper he could already see the white void on the horizon blocking out what was an impressive landscape. The storm was coming up on them faster than had been predicted. He powered up the jumper instantly feeling the push of the wind as they rose higher.
The heavy silence in the jumper made the tension even worse. They were both well aware of the situation they had found themselves in. He pushed the jumper as hard as he could the wind pushing at them more and more. In the open plains he knew they would be ok but up ahead was a gorge that he knew would put them in peril. He knew if he attempted to fly over it they would get caught up in the white void that was beginning to descend on them. He wasn't keen on flying blind but if he flew through the gorge there was a chance the wind could smash the jumper into the walls of rock and ice.
With a deep sigh he tried the safer option of flying over. He knew he would have to fly using only the jumper's systems to guide him but it was the safer option. Steadily rising the wind was already beginning to shake the jumper and he wasn't above the gorge just yet. Larger flakes were falling dancing around in front of him as the last of the landscape disappeared. Checking the HUD he couldn't believe that they were only just over the ten mile gorge.
The violent shaking of the jumper was getting worse making his grip tighten more as equipment clanged and bashed as it fell from its confines. As a pack skidded forward hitting the console he smashed his hand down closing the compartment door. Part of him wanted to turn his head and check on her but he knew the moment his eyes moved from the display in front of him anything could happen. A harsh gust of wind hit the side of the jumper sending it veering to the left but he managed to compensate working against the wind to try and gain some altitude.
Another gust hit them pushing them down and over but before he could he could compensate another struck sending them crashing into the edge of the gorge. He felt the sudden loss of power from one of the drive pods instantly knowing it was most likely sheared off in the hit. Pulling hard on the controls he tried to keep some kind of control but was failing against the strong wind swirling through the gorge.
"Hang on we're going down."