A/N: What can I say, the fact that everything they do in the show feeds so perfectly into my fanfic is really very inspiring! When Lorca said "fortune favors the bold," I about lost it, since I titled one of the chapters "Fortune Favors the Brave." Also very happy that Lorca and Cornwell's relationship is as I expected, because that means I can proceed with the Cornwell stuff I had planned with only very minor adjustments. So, you can expect to see more of Cornwell down the line.
SarahELupin: Sorry, I meant to reply on the previous chapter and forgot! Fear not, Lorca is too clever to get blindsided by some sort of horrible scheme from Lalana of all people, though Lalana does have a secret of her own, and it will be revealed eventually... Also, I just realized you have the same first name as Billingsley! Even though it's just a coincidence (Billingsley's name was already Sarah in chapter one, it just didn't get mentioned), I hope you enjoy the increased role your namesake has in this and the coming chapters. Thank you for reading!
Carver parked the shuttle between the two little hillocks with ease, and though this wasn't quite enough to shield it completely from view, it was better than leaving it totally exposed. Dartaran homesteads were large by design and being parked far at the remote edge of two such estates lessened the chances of discovery considerably.
"All right, Carver, you know the drill. Anyone gets within a klick, you take this puppy up and keep out of trouble until we make contact. We can worry about extraction when the time comes, so long as you're still around somewhere to pick us up."
Carver flashed Lorca a smile that practically shone against the dusky tan color of her skin. She really was quite pretty. "You can count on me, captain."
"I don't doubt it. Rest of you, on me."
As they approached the barrier of Margeh and T'rond'n's estate, the difference was profound.
From the air, the hunters' domain was visibly much more green, carpeted with trees and other plants, but from the ground, it looked even denser. Layers of foliage dotted with flowers and growths of various colors were visible over the wall.
The wall itself consisted of two components: a concrete base that rose three and a half meters from the ground and an energy barrier generated by a system of poles and suspended wires rising another five meters from the concrete. The energy barrier had a faint hum at a distance that became more and more uncomfortable on approach. Not only was the barrier designed to keep prey inside, it was also designed to repel them by various means so they wouldn't approach in the first place.
Lorca winced and covered his ears. Russo seemed to be taking it especially bad, visibly reeling, and Billingsley looked disgusted.
Noticing the discomfort of her human companions, Lalana slowed her step and gripped her hands tightly together. "I am sorry, I did not know it was like this. I did not leave the house area."
"It's fine," grimaced Lorca, but Billingsley was glaring daggers at him and Lalana. "Russo, Morita, Lalana, you can hang back."
"Oh, this does not bother me," said Lalana, and continued forward with Lorca and Billingsley. Morita also proceeded forward, but only to grapple up the ladder so that Billingsley could reach the technological components of the wall to disarm the section. Then Morita joined Russo back at a more comfortable distance and scanned around with her rifle at the ready.
Billingsley opened her tool box. Her tools were packed in some foam. She ripped off two chunks, wet them in her mouth to soften them, stuck them in her ears, and wrapped her scarf around her head for good measure.
"May I?" asked Lorca, indicating her tool box.
"Fine," she said sharply.
The foam helped a bit, but even softened with saliva, it was a bit scratchy. Lorca put a hand on the ladder to steady it just in case.
"You don't have to be here," Billingsley said, taking hold of a ladder rung just above her head.
"I put you in this, don't make me regret coming over here to help."
With the rest of the crew standing out of earshot while she suffered through the pain, Billingsley felt emboldened to speak her mind. "Next time you want me for an away mission, don't. Just, don't." She proceeded up the ladder.
"Exactly why did you join Starfleet?" Lorca shot after her, but she either didn't hear him over the noise and the foam, or ignored the question.
After a few moments, she called down for a synchronic meter. Lorca located it in her toolbox and passed it up to her. Lalana sat on her haunches next to them, watching attentively.
Billingsley worked carefully but quickly, as eager to get the job finished as she was to do it right. There was a crackling sound. The faint energy glow on both sides of the pole she was working at flickered and went off. So too did the sound from those sections, lessening its intensity, though the painful buzzing continued from the adjacent sections so it wasn't completely gone.
Billingsley started down the ladder, hyperspanner in hand. "I've rerouted the power to bypass these two—"
Her foot slipped through the ladder as she stepped down and she tumbled backwards into the air. She didn't scream, there wasn't time, but for a moment she saw her hands stretched out into the sky towards nothing and panic swept over her like a rushing tide.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she landed, the air rushing out of her on impact, but instead of the hard ground beneath her spine, she felt like the ground had given way. She opened her eyes.
Lorca's face was inches from Billingsley's. One arm was around her back, the other under her knees. He looked mildly bemused. "Chief."
Horrified, Billingsley squirmed and he let her down. Jittery and embarrassed, she practically jumped away, almost stumbling over her own toolbox for good measure. She quickly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"You're welcome," said Lorca. Billingsley was still too shocked to say anything. Normally, Lorca would have thought this reflected yet another defect of her character, but in this instance, he let it slide. She was very clearly still processing what had just happened to her.
"That was very impressive," said Lalana. "You really are very adept at saving people."
Morita and Russo arrived with their gear. "Up and over," Lorca told them. "Carefully. We can't afford to lose anyone."
Morita went first and extended the ladder down the far side of the wall, then helped Russo raise and lower his equipment. Billingsley's toolbox went next, followed by Lalana, who ignored the ladder and simply hopped up the wall and then down the other side with ease.
Billingsley hung back. "Captain, I..."
"You usually wear magboots and gloves, don't you?" asked Lorca. "Because you grew up in high-G?"
Billingsley's eyes widened. Her cheeks reddened. She hadn't thought Lorca paid that much attention to the people on the Triton, especially given how everyone knew the assignment was only temporary until the Triton's upcoming decommission. "Yes, sir, but... it's no excuse."
"Could've happened to anyone, high-G or no. You think you can get up there again?"
"Yes, sir." She went to the ladder again.
"And, Sarah?"
Hearing her first name, her hand tightened on the ladder. "Sir?"
Lorca's face seemed much gentler. Kind, even. "I'll be right behind you."
Billingsley hastily turned away. "... Thank you, sir." She went up the ladder and Lorca followed right behind her.
The jungle was lush and full of life. Everywhere they looked, plants and animals abounded. Strange bird and bat creatures darted through the air, while whooping sounds emerged from distant trees that might have come from some kind of bird, or perhaps something like a monkey. There were flowers and fruits of every color imaginable and insects lazily buzzed through the air.
It would have been heaven to a biologist or botanist, but since they had neither in their little party, the richness of the living tapestry was somewhat wasted on them. Arzo would have liked it, Lorca thought. But they weren't here to catalogue new and unknown forms of life, they were here to complete a very specific mission.
Lalana took to these surroundings like a fish to water. She leapt into the trees almost at once and ran across the branches above them, pulling off leaves and flowers and fruits and berries with her tongue to snack on as they advanced. She even snapped a few bugs out of the air.
Morita took point while Lorca brought up the rear. Both knew better than to let their guard down around such beauty. Both the undergrowth and canopy were so thick, there was no telling what was hiding even two meters away from them. Billingsley's tricorder was next to useless in this situation. There were simply too many living things for it to provide any sort of information on lurking dangers.
On the plus side, the abundance of lifesigns also provided cover for them. Even if someone had been looking or known about their intrusion, it would have been very hard to find them.
Though they had chosen the barrier wall closest the house, it was still a decent walk. Margeh and T'rond'n's tract of land extended so far, Lalana had used the travel time on foot as part of the planning for her escape, and Lorca now fully appreciated why.
Lalana suddenly landed in their midst from a branch a good six meters above them, colored green as the trees. "Sliggen!" she exclaimed, practically bouncing. "Get into the trees!"
"What's a sli—"
There was a faint rumbling nearby. Deciding it didn't really matter what a sliggen was, they rushed towards the nearest trees with any footholds, handholds, or branches within reach and began to climb. Lorca practically hauled Billingsley up with him, mindful that she had the least climbing experience and was most likely to fall. Russo struggled to draw his equipment up into the trees, too, but Lalana smacked him with her tail. "Leave it!"
The rumbling turned into a mini-stampede very quickly and something like a giant centipede burst out from the undergrowth, snapping four giant mandibles into the air. It was almost as big around as a human, about twice as long, and thundered across the ground on more than fifty pointy legs that looked razor-sharp. They struck the ground with such rapid force there was a sharp thudding sound, and this sound multiplied by the quantity of legs produced quite a noise. Its forelegs were four times as long as the legs it walked upon and even sharper-looking.
Lalana was still on the ground. She jumped, very quickly, away from the tree Russo was climbing and landed heavily on the ground some distance away. The sliggen immediately whipped towards her and charged, but she was already up into the air and into the branches of the nearest tree, stomping her feet as she did.
Undeterred, the sliggen rushed up the tree trunk, slithering around it like a snake in Eden. Lalana did not stop for even a moment. She ran across the branch she was on and leapt clear through the air, soaring across the small clearing and into Billingsley and Lorca's arboreal refuge. "Sliggens hunt by ground vibrations," said said. "They are very aggressive and sometimes come to the house. The only thing worse than a sliggen is..."
Something roared with such strength, the trees shook around them. The multitude of large insects and flying creatures that had been present in the area seemed to have vanished.
The sliggen, which had moments earlier seemed hungry and murderous, now seemed terrified. It twisted around the tree in such confusion, it ended up trying to walk over itself. It hastily slithered down to the ground.
Giant footsteps pounded and shook the earth. The sliggen splayed its many legs out in confusion, disoriented as its primary method of navigation became untenable.
The creature that burst into the clearing was enormous. Lorca thought it to be about the size of an elephant, but had never actually been in the presence of an elephant, so wasn't entirely sure. Four-legged and covered in shaggy black-brown fur, the creature was shaped sort of like a yak or bison, with shoulders far more massive than its haunches, but with its head set almost flat into those same shoulders rather than protruding forward. You wouldn't think something of its size could navigate a jungle of this density, but it was built like a battering ram. It didn't move through the jungle so much as bash its way through any obstacles with a long trail of trampled trees and plants behind it.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that," said Lorca.
"Captain!" hissed Billingsley, aghast at his propensity to make a joke given the danger of the situation.
"Ssss!" Lalana hushed them.
The creature rose up on its hind legs and brought its front legs down on the sliggen with such force, it liquified the sliggen in two places. Dark purple goo splashed out across the ground. The intact sections of the sliggen writhed and twitched death throes.
But the monster wasn't done. It wasn't enough that it had killed the sliggen. It began prancing around on the sliggen's body repeatedly, seemingly just for the joy of watching the sliggen's innards paint the ground. It stomped and stomped until the sliggen was nothing more than eggshell fragments and purple paste.
The creature did not leave the clearing immediately. It began wandering around, sniffing, and walked up to a leafy plant. It opened its mouth and began chomping down on the leaves.
Unbelievably, the monster was vegetarian.
They waited as it meandered around, eating leaves, butting its deep-set head against trees for some reason. Wanton destruction? Dislodging of ripe fruit? Looking for companionship? Lorca had no clue. What he did know was that they needed this creature gone if they were ever going to continue, and it seemed unwilling to leave on its own.
He signaled Morita. They both raised their phaser rifles.
"Wait!" said Lalana, but too late.
Their shots hit the monster squarely in its haunch. Neither gun was set to kill; the goal had been to drive the thing away with a smack on its rump. Unfortunately, this was not how it reacted. It whirled about, bellowing so loudly everything shook again, and charged.
It hit the tree Lorca, Lalana, and Billingsley were in with such force, the tree groaned and tilted. Billingsley wrapped her arms and leg around the branch they were on with a shriek and Lorca barely managed to keep both his seat and his phaser rifle.
The creature backed up.
"Aim for the eyes!" said Lalana.
Lorca got off a shot just before the creature hit the tree again, hitting near an eye, but not directly in it. The creature hit the tree again with such impact it knocked the rifle from Lorca's hands. The rifle's strap was around Lorca, so it didn't fall far, but the tree shifted another five degrees and he was unable to get hold of the rifle while holding on to the tree for dear life. Additionally, though his rifle had been set to kill, the creature seemed entirely undeterred by its wound.
Morita managed a better shot as the creature backed up for a third go. The eye she hit burst and dribbled milk-white liquid down the creature's face. This drew its attention to the tree she and Russo were in, which was much smaller. When the creature charged them, it knocked their tree almost halfway down.
"Draw it's attention!" said Lalana, whipping Lorca's rifle back into his hand with her tail.
Precision was impossible, but also unimportant. Lorca fired off three shots in rapid succession, hitting the creature in its massive shoulder and successfully returning its attention back to the bigger tree. It charged them again. Lorca let out an involuntary shout as the impact reverberated up the tree and into his shoulder. Billingsley sobbed.
The creature took a step backwards, preparing for another charge. Lalana dropped from the tree onto its shaggy shoulder.
Feeling something land on it, the creature immediately bucked, but Lalana flattened herself against its back, the tendrils of her epithelial filaments grabbing hold of its fur like a thousand million tiny velcro hooks. It bucked again and again, each time pounding its massive, flat feet into the ground with tremendous force, but to no avail. Lalana was attached to it as firmly as its own fur. It was like she was an extension of its own body.
Lalana seemed to slide across the creature towards its face. Her tail managed to find its way onto the creature's wounded eye. Then it disappeared into the eye, almost as if sucked inside.
The creature roared with even more fury and began to charge with Lalana clinging to its face. Lorca could only watch as the creature prepared to smash Lalana into paste against a tree trunk.
Half a dozen monstrous paces from its target, the creature shuddered and collapsed, its momentum flipping it over as Lalana scrambled free and leapt away. The creature thudded harmlessly against the intended tree trunk, dead.
Lorca realized he had been holding his breath and gasped. Beside him, Billingsley whimpered.
The humans carefully descended from their branches, glad to be back on solid ground again. Billingsley didn't make it very far. Her legs were like jelly from how tightly she had been clinging to the branch and she remained shaken, but otherwise she was fine. "Nice shot," Lorca said to Morita. Russo went to check the communications equipment. It had gotten thrown aside when the creature hit the smaller tree, but was carefully-packed and intact.
Lorca and Morita joined Lalana beside the creature. Lalana's tail vibrated, expelling the creature's ocular fluid in a cloud of white mist. Morita nudged it with the tip of her rifle. It was well and truly dead. "Its eyes are right next to its brain," offered Lalana in explanation.
Russo and Billingsley made their way over together, Billingsley leaning on Russo for support. They all stood around the carcass, awed. "What was it?" asked Lorca.
"A leskos," said Lalana. "From Fhtadero III."
