The first thing that Lennier became aware of when he regained consciousness
was a splitting headache. This was soon joined by the rest of his body
screaming in pain. The next thing he became aware of was the heavy thing on
top of him, and the soft thing underneath him.
He tried to move, but whatever was on him was too heavy. The soft thing beneath
him groaned and began coughing. He opened his eyes, but all he could see was red.
"God damn it." the thing below him, Carter, coughed out. She tried to move but
couldn't. "Hey," she said, "are you dead?"
"No," he managed to say.
"Oh good." She tried to move again, "hey, um, can you move?"
"No, there appears to be..several..very heavy things.on top of me."
"Oh, ok, don't worry then, I'm comfortable." She shifted slightly underneath him
and he found himself wishing she would stop moving.
She sighed, "Do you think we might want to get out of this?"
"The thought had occurred to me. However, this rock is too heavy, and I think I
may have broken something."
"Mmph, that puts a crimp on an otherwise good idea. Can you see anything?"
"Only your hair. You?"
She tentatively opened an eye to see what she could, "Hmm, well, we're not completely
buried, but we still can't get free without any help."
"Oy! Dr. Carter! You under there?" It was Huntington, Lennier felt the weight on top
of him shift as the technician tried to move it.
"We're both stuck!" Carter yelled back, "Can you move the damn rock?"
"Mph! Aw, this thing is really bleeding heavy."
"I know," Lennier winced.
"Hang on, I'm gonna need some help," there was a scuffle of feet, "Hey! You lot!
Over here, help me move this."
There was some more movement and then, through a series of grunting and swearing,
the heaviest rock began slowly to move. Lennier gasped in pain as it moved off,
freeing him. Slowly, he pushed himself up, trying to ignore the pain and the sickening
cracks of bone.
Once she was free, Carter also lifted herself. Aside from a small gash on her head, and
some purplish markings on her wrist, she appeared to be uninjured. He was afraid to look
down and see what he looked like, so he knelt there and concentrated on not passing out
again.
Dr. Foster came over and began checking them over. He himself had a nice cut on the left
shoulder. He grimaced when he looked at Lennier, "You look bad," he said, "we'd better
get you to the infirmary." He got up and helped Lennier get to his feet, but the Minbari
became dizzy and lost his footing. Carter rushed over and helped him up again, and then
she and Foster helped him get to the infirmary tent.
"You are extremely lucky," Dr. Foster said, "you get away with a minor head injury, a
sprained ankle, and a couple of broken ribs."
Lennier was sitting on a bed with Carter, while Foster finished his bandaging. She was
holding an ice bag to her head and there was a bandage around her wrist. Kendle was
unconscious in the bed next to them, her head was heavily bandaged.
"Is she ok?" Carter asked.
Foster nodded, "She took a nasty hit to the head, and her right leg is broken, but
she'll be fine."
"Good," she got up, "I better get back to the cave and help Huntington dig out survivors."
"I'll go with you," Lennier said, and tried to get up but was overcome by a wave of
dizziness, and had to sit back down.
"No," Foster said, "that head injury is making you dizzy, you're not going anywhere for
at least a couple of hours."
Carter entered the cave, which was a huge mess. There were hundred of injured workers
around, some were too hurt to move while others worked to free those who were still
trapped. Huntington was directing everything, and he approached her when she entered.
His arm was badly burned from when the monitors blew up.
"How many dead?" she said without even slowing down.
"So far, fifty-four," he said, "but there's at least a hundred injured. There's also
a lot trapped beneath the rock, we've gotten most of them out, however there's about
seventy men trapped in a side passage way."
"Goddess," she muttered as he showed her. There had been a large rock fall that was
blocking the passage. She looked at it and said, doubtfully, "are you sure they're
alive in there?"
He nodded, "I managed to get communications online and spoke with Toul Eldrig, one
of the head diggers. He said that most of them were ok, but the ceiling's not very
stable."
She looked down, suddenly worried, "What about the floor?"
"In here, it's fine. However, there's no way of knowing about the chamber beyond that door."
She nodded, "Right. Well, let's not worry about that now, let's get those men out. Get all
those who are well enough to help. Set aside ten people to move the injured out of the
cave and into the infirmary tent."
"Right," he said and ran off.