Hey peoples! Just wanted to say, once again, how much I LOVE all your great
reviews! They are very much appreciated!
And, I also wanted to say that there will be a relatively large setback in my story. I will not be able to start the next chapter until next Sunday because I will be away at camp. But, I'm sure as I'll be sitting outside enjoying the wilderness (even though it's gonna be stinkin' hot!), I'll be thinking a lot about my next chapter and will be writing more rather rapidly when I get home. It'll probably be done by Tuesday or Wednesday. So, c ya'll! Good luck with your stories! Auf Wiedersehen!
Chapter 12
"We're far enough away, we will rest here for right now until dawn." Lieutenant put his bag down and stretched.
Archer sat down and rubbed sweat from his brow. Loupa practically fell to the ground and leaned his head on a rock.
"If anyone wakes me, I'll kill him." Loupa grumbled.
Trip, on the other hand, felt great. The night air smelled wonderful, and he had high energy. He could've used a cold shower though.
"Hey, Cap'n, I saw a little waterfall a few meters that way, mind if I-"
"Go ahead, but bring your gun with you." Archer said.
Trip took his gun and a flashlight and followed the sound of the slow gush of water. After a couple of minutes, Trip found the pond and the petite, but steady waterfall emitting from the small cliff above.
Trip breathed in the scent of fresh, cool water and grinned in satisfaction.
Perfect. He thought.
Trip unzipped his uniform and laid it out on the grass next to his shoes. Trip quivered from the breeze and left his blue undergarments on. He then waded through the shallow water to the cascade and enjoyed the crisp smack of the water on his skin. That's when Trip heard the twig snap.
Trip turned around with a start and pulled his pistol out.
"Cap'n? Lieutenant?" No one answered. Trip squinted into the darkness to try and make out any shapes. Only the tree branches moved in the steady breeze.
"Who's there?" Still no answer.
"Now, you listen here! I'm armed, and I'm very ready for any ass kicking you wanna bring! So it's best you just turn around and go back to wherever you came from!"
The jungle was silent. Another branch broke; this time, even closer. But it only frustrated the chief engineer even more.
"Hey! Are you gunna just hide like a coward or show yourself?!" Trip waited for an answer he figured wouldn't come forth.
Then, Trip heard a rustling and someone running. Trip spun around and saw a man, with his uniform and shoes, running away, very fast.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Come back-hey!" Trip clambered out of the pond and ran in the direction of the man.
"Hey! Come back, you thief! Don't you run away from me!"
The dark shadow Trip ran after was getting farther and farther away. The man was running at full speed, which was a much faster speed than Trip could ever match. The engineer stopped, out of breath, and watched the small outline of the man getting further out of view.
Trip clenched his fists. "Arggghhh! Geeze, son of a-"
"Trip?"
The engineer turned around to have the beam of a flashlight in his eyes. He shielded the light with his arm. Archer, Loupa, Barik and Lieutenant stared at the chief engineer with quizzical looks etched on their faces. Rain suddenly started to fall slowly and Trip rubbed his arms from the cold.
"Trip, why were you yelling," Archer eyed Trip questionably, "and where's your uniform?"
* * *
"Ouch!" Ja'an stumbled away from a low branch that scratched his face, only to fall into a prickly bush. "Ow! Mother, that hurts!"
"Ja'an, please remain silent." T'Pol helped the man up and away from bush. Ja'an glowered at the shrub with a puckered brow and his hands curled into fists.
"Ja'an, it is only a plant. Let's go."
Ja'an followed T'Pol and glared at the bush until it was out of sight. Then he proceeded to trip over a tree root.
T'Pol cocked an eyebrow as she helped Ja'an up for the hundredth time. "Perhaps you weren't the best choice for this job."
Ja'an's eyes widened. "Come on, T'Pol. It's just so dark! And it's raining."
"Right. I believe the compound is only a few kilometers away."
"How do you know?" Ja'an asked, narrowly avoiding a large rock.
T'Pol pointed to the cloudy sky. Ja'an looked up and saw a search light in the distance.
"They have it on every night," T'Pol said as she took a water bottle from her pack, "we must keep moving, Ja'an."
"You know, T'Pol. You should still be resting. You're limping a bit."
"I am aware of that. But there is no time for rest. Not now."
"Yeah, I know-oomph!" Ja'an glanced up from the ground, his face caked with mud.
"What did you trip over?"
Ja'an stood and wiped some of the mud off his face and pants. "Don't know." He turned around and yelped. An arm stuck out from the brush; an arm with a blue sleeve.
T'Pol felt a lump form in her throat as she stepped past Ja'an to the body. T'Pol knelt down and turned on her flashlight. Red blood formed a puddle next to the body, or what was left of it. The head and leg were torn off. But the clothing was unmistakable. It was a standard Star Fleet uniform.
T'Pol could hear Ja'an smack his hand to his mouth to try and keep down his dinner. The rain began to diminish.
"He-he was most likely attacked by a pa'lapus."
"What is that?" T'Pol said as she looked at the rank on the collar.
"It's a large, predatory animal. It hunts only at night; in these parts. It has," Ja'an gulped, "large horns. And lots of big teeth. Very dangerous. Very territorial too."
T'Pol was silent as she took a large leaf and covered the upper half of the body.
"He was one of yours, wasn't he?"
T'Pol nodded. "Our chief engineer. Commander Charles Tucker the Third."
"I'm sorry, T'Pol."
The Vulcan nodded.
"Do-I mean, should we say a prayer?"
"I'm not sure what religion Mr. Tucker had been brought up with. I know that he despised the Vulcan ways, so I will neglect from reciting any of the prayers I know."
"Well, it doesn't have to be a prayer. Maybe a few words of what he meant to you, or how he will be missed?"
T'Pol thought for a moment. "That sounds suitable."
T'Pol knelt down and crossed her hands in the Vulcan meditative way. Ja'an did the same after playing with his fingers a moment to get them in the right position. T'Pol paused, and then began.
"Commander Charles Tucker the Third lived his short life well. He served aboard the starship Enterprise: NX 01 for seven months-"
"No, T'Pol."
T'Pol shifted her gaze to Ja'an.
"Excuse me?"
"You're listing facts. Say something about what he enjoyed doing most, like did he have any kids or a wife that he left behind. You know, emotional things."
"I am not an emotional person."
"You don't have to be, just-say it!"
T'Pol sighed and gazed upon the body.
"From what I've observed of the chief engineer, Charles Tucker was cheerful and an inspiration to much of the crew. He was usually there to 'settle' the mood with incongruous humor. His most loyal friend was his captain, Jonathon Archer whom will probably miss this man the most-"
"Your captain!" Ja'an exclaimed.
"Ja'an, your interruptions are most irritating."
"No, your captain was one of your companions stuck down here, right?"
"Yes."
"Then if Mr. Tucker is here, doesn't that mean that your captain is possibly somewhere out there?!" Ja'an pointed into the jungle.
"That would be logical."
"Of course it would be! Except, where do we look?"
T'Pol gave a quick sweep of the area around her. She then pointed next to the body. "Footprints. From the beast."
T'Pol put her flashlight to the ground and followed the prints. "They lead over here, there are Mr. Tucker's footprints. Then they lead that way."
T'Pol stepped over a piece of torn flesh now covered with maggots.
"Ew." Ja'an said as he also stepped over it.
"You're a surgeon, Ja'an. I'm surprised you'd found the body and the pieces left behind that offensive."
"T'Pol, when I work on bodies it's all very concise and perfect incisions. This is vicious!"
T'Pol suddenly stopped and Ja'an bumped into her. "Sorry. Why did we stop?"
"It has just occurred to me that there is a twist in our situation."
"Huh?"
"Captain Archer and Commander Tucker would have stayed together when they escaped. This beast was obviously large and could have killed Mr. Tucker and Captain Archer. They both, most likely, didn't have any weapons and couldn't fight off a creature of that size."
"But your captain could've still gotten away!"
"I don't think so, Ja'an. That large of a beast had to have needed to eat more than only a leg and a head. Mr. Tucker may have been the second part of the 'meal.' "
"And that's why your captain's footprints aren't here."
"Precisely. Mr. Tucker was most likely running away. The shallow imprints leading for such a long way would be the indicator.
They were both silent.
"Then, I guess, we can't do much more here, can we?"
"No." The word was thick in her mouth, and her tongue felt heavy. She had failed to help her crewmembers who were so desperately in need of assistance.
* * *
"They WHAT?!" Schneider boomed.
"They escaped, Colonel. The entire unit." Lee said calmly.
"This-this-this is unacceptable!" Schneider raged, "Completely unacceptable! How can this happen?!"
"It couldn't have happened unless they had help from the inside."
The Colonel was pacing his office and he stopped at Lee's words. "You mean a spy." Schneider said, more as a statement than a question.
"Yes."
Schneider's face burned red with fury. "EVERY GUARD IN THIS CAMP IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A BACKGROUND CHECK!!!" Schneider was screaming now, but Lee was forever calm.
"Every guard in this camp *does* get a background check, Colonel. The spy obviously wrote his own résumé."
Schneider walked up face-to-face with Lee. "May Ling, we are supposed to recognize fakes."
"Well this time, Colonel, we didn't."
"Don't defy me, child. I know what we can and cannot do. And what we can do, is recognize fakes!"
"You put too much trust in your officers, Colonel. Not all of them share the exact same beliefs as you do. For all we know, the officer hired to check the résumés is also a spy!"
Schneider paced the office again, rubbing his chin. "Do we have a location of the nearest Karthanian camp yet?"
"Yes. It is a large camp. But it should be fairly effortless to annihilate."
"Ready our troops. Destroy the camp."
"Do we take any prisoners?"
"No," Schneider stared down at the photograph of the woman on desk. He then waved a hand, "kill them all."
* * *
"He was most likely an escaped prisoner. It's not uncommon to see a few stray ones around these parts." Lieutenant said as he took some clothes from his bag.
"Yeah, well, is it not uncommon for them to be dirty rotten thieves?" Trip said as grabbed the clothing.
"It's not that simple. These people have nothing. If there is any chance for them to find something of use, they'll take that chance, without hesitation. They're desperate."
"So, desperate enough to be dirty rotten thieves. Okay. I get it."
Lieutenant glanced down at his wristwatch. "It'll be dawn in a few hours. We need to get back to the village."
* * *
"We are ready to launch the attack, Colonel." Lee said, now dressed in a military uniform. Lee smoothed a finger over her ka-bar and then put the knife in its sheath.
"I can sense your excitement, Commander." The Colonel said, staring out the office window.
"I've been waiting to launch this attack for quite some time."
"You're bloodthirsty, May Ling. Just like your father."
"My father was a coward," Lee smirked and her eyes grew yet even icier, "the man begged for his pathetic life. He begged like a dog."
Schneider's jaw dropped at Lee's words and he swung around to face her. "May Ling," his breath caught, "it was you?"
"Who else hated him more Colonel?"
To Be Continued.
And, I also wanted to say that there will be a relatively large setback in my story. I will not be able to start the next chapter until next Sunday because I will be away at camp. But, I'm sure as I'll be sitting outside enjoying the wilderness (even though it's gonna be stinkin' hot!), I'll be thinking a lot about my next chapter and will be writing more rather rapidly when I get home. It'll probably be done by Tuesday or Wednesday. So, c ya'll! Good luck with your stories! Auf Wiedersehen!
Chapter 12
"We're far enough away, we will rest here for right now until dawn." Lieutenant put his bag down and stretched.
Archer sat down and rubbed sweat from his brow. Loupa practically fell to the ground and leaned his head on a rock.
"If anyone wakes me, I'll kill him." Loupa grumbled.
Trip, on the other hand, felt great. The night air smelled wonderful, and he had high energy. He could've used a cold shower though.
"Hey, Cap'n, I saw a little waterfall a few meters that way, mind if I-"
"Go ahead, but bring your gun with you." Archer said.
Trip took his gun and a flashlight and followed the sound of the slow gush of water. After a couple of minutes, Trip found the pond and the petite, but steady waterfall emitting from the small cliff above.
Trip breathed in the scent of fresh, cool water and grinned in satisfaction.
Perfect. He thought.
Trip unzipped his uniform and laid it out on the grass next to his shoes. Trip quivered from the breeze and left his blue undergarments on. He then waded through the shallow water to the cascade and enjoyed the crisp smack of the water on his skin. That's when Trip heard the twig snap.
Trip turned around with a start and pulled his pistol out.
"Cap'n? Lieutenant?" No one answered. Trip squinted into the darkness to try and make out any shapes. Only the tree branches moved in the steady breeze.
"Who's there?" Still no answer.
"Now, you listen here! I'm armed, and I'm very ready for any ass kicking you wanna bring! So it's best you just turn around and go back to wherever you came from!"
The jungle was silent. Another branch broke; this time, even closer. But it only frustrated the chief engineer even more.
"Hey! Are you gunna just hide like a coward or show yourself?!" Trip waited for an answer he figured wouldn't come forth.
Then, Trip heard a rustling and someone running. Trip spun around and saw a man, with his uniform and shoes, running away, very fast.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Come back-hey!" Trip clambered out of the pond and ran in the direction of the man.
"Hey! Come back, you thief! Don't you run away from me!"
The dark shadow Trip ran after was getting farther and farther away. The man was running at full speed, which was a much faster speed than Trip could ever match. The engineer stopped, out of breath, and watched the small outline of the man getting further out of view.
Trip clenched his fists. "Arggghhh! Geeze, son of a-"
"Trip?"
The engineer turned around to have the beam of a flashlight in his eyes. He shielded the light with his arm. Archer, Loupa, Barik and Lieutenant stared at the chief engineer with quizzical looks etched on their faces. Rain suddenly started to fall slowly and Trip rubbed his arms from the cold.
"Trip, why were you yelling," Archer eyed Trip questionably, "and where's your uniform?"
* * *
"Ouch!" Ja'an stumbled away from a low branch that scratched his face, only to fall into a prickly bush. "Ow! Mother, that hurts!"
"Ja'an, please remain silent." T'Pol helped the man up and away from bush. Ja'an glowered at the shrub with a puckered brow and his hands curled into fists.
"Ja'an, it is only a plant. Let's go."
Ja'an followed T'Pol and glared at the bush until it was out of sight. Then he proceeded to trip over a tree root.
T'Pol cocked an eyebrow as she helped Ja'an up for the hundredth time. "Perhaps you weren't the best choice for this job."
Ja'an's eyes widened. "Come on, T'Pol. It's just so dark! And it's raining."
"Right. I believe the compound is only a few kilometers away."
"How do you know?" Ja'an asked, narrowly avoiding a large rock.
T'Pol pointed to the cloudy sky. Ja'an looked up and saw a search light in the distance.
"They have it on every night," T'Pol said as she took a water bottle from her pack, "we must keep moving, Ja'an."
"You know, T'Pol. You should still be resting. You're limping a bit."
"I am aware of that. But there is no time for rest. Not now."
"Yeah, I know-oomph!" Ja'an glanced up from the ground, his face caked with mud.
"What did you trip over?"
Ja'an stood and wiped some of the mud off his face and pants. "Don't know." He turned around and yelped. An arm stuck out from the brush; an arm with a blue sleeve.
T'Pol felt a lump form in her throat as she stepped past Ja'an to the body. T'Pol knelt down and turned on her flashlight. Red blood formed a puddle next to the body, or what was left of it. The head and leg were torn off. But the clothing was unmistakable. It was a standard Star Fleet uniform.
T'Pol could hear Ja'an smack his hand to his mouth to try and keep down his dinner. The rain began to diminish.
"He-he was most likely attacked by a pa'lapus."
"What is that?" T'Pol said as she looked at the rank on the collar.
"It's a large, predatory animal. It hunts only at night; in these parts. It has," Ja'an gulped, "large horns. And lots of big teeth. Very dangerous. Very territorial too."
T'Pol was silent as she took a large leaf and covered the upper half of the body.
"He was one of yours, wasn't he?"
T'Pol nodded. "Our chief engineer. Commander Charles Tucker the Third."
"I'm sorry, T'Pol."
The Vulcan nodded.
"Do-I mean, should we say a prayer?"
"I'm not sure what religion Mr. Tucker had been brought up with. I know that he despised the Vulcan ways, so I will neglect from reciting any of the prayers I know."
"Well, it doesn't have to be a prayer. Maybe a few words of what he meant to you, or how he will be missed?"
T'Pol thought for a moment. "That sounds suitable."
T'Pol knelt down and crossed her hands in the Vulcan meditative way. Ja'an did the same after playing with his fingers a moment to get them in the right position. T'Pol paused, and then began.
"Commander Charles Tucker the Third lived his short life well. He served aboard the starship Enterprise: NX 01 for seven months-"
"No, T'Pol."
T'Pol shifted her gaze to Ja'an.
"Excuse me?"
"You're listing facts. Say something about what he enjoyed doing most, like did he have any kids or a wife that he left behind. You know, emotional things."
"I am not an emotional person."
"You don't have to be, just-say it!"
T'Pol sighed and gazed upon the body.
"From what I've observed of the chief engineer, Charles Tucker was cheerful and an inspiration to much of the crew. He was usually there to 'settle' the mood with incongruous humor. His most loyal friend was his captain, Jonathon Archer whom will probably miss this man the most-"
"Your captain!" Ja'an exclaimed.
"Ja'an, your interruptions are most irritating."
"No, your captain was one of your companions stuck down here, right?"
"Yes."
"Then if Mr. Tucker is here, doesn't that mean that your captain is possibly somewhere out there?!" Ja'an pointed into the jungle.
"That would be logical."
"Of course it would be! Except, where do we look?"
T'Pol gave a quick sweep of the area around her. She then pointed next to the body. "Footprints. From the beast."
T'Pol put her flashlight to the ground and followed the prints. "They lead over here, there are Mr. Tucker's footprints. Then they lead that way."
T'Pol stepped over a piece of torn flesh now covered with maggots.
"Ew." Ja'an said as he also stepped over it.
"You're a surgeon, Ja'an. I'm surprised you'd found the body and the pieces left behind that offensive."
"T'Pol, when I work on bodies it's all very concise and perfect incisions. This is vicious!"
T'Pol suddenly stopped and Ja'an bumped into her. "Sorry. Why did we stop?"
"It has just occurred to me that there is a twist in our situation."
"Huh?"
"Captain Archer and Commander Tucker would have stayed together when they escaped. This beast was obviously large and could have killed Mr. Tucker and Captain Archer. They both, most likely, didn't have any weapons and couldn't fight off a creature of that size."
"But your captain could've still gotten away!"
"I don't think so, Ja'an. That large of a beast had to have needed to eat more than only a leg and a head. Mr. Tucker may have been the second part of the 'meal.' "
"And that's why your captain's footprints aren't here."
"Precisely. Mr. Tucker was most likely running away. The shallow imprints leading for such a long way would be the indicator.
They were both silent.
"Then, I guess, we can't do much more here, can we?"
"No." The word was thick in her mouth, and her tongue felt heavy. She had failed to help her crewmembers who were so desperately in need of assistance.
* * *
"They WHAT?!" Schneider boomed.
"They escaped, Colonel. The entire unit." Lee said calmly.
"This-this-this is unacceptable!" Schneider raged, "Completely unacceptable! How can this happen?!"
"It couldn't have happened unless they had help from the inside."
The Colonel was pacing his office and he stopped at Lee's words. "You mean a spy." Schneider said, more as a statement than a question.
"Yes."
Schneider's face burned red with fury. "EVERY GUARD IN THIS CAMP IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A BACKGROUND CHECK!!!" Schneider was screaming now, but Lee was forever calm.
"Every guard in this camp *does* get a background check, Colonel. The spy obviously wrote his own résumé."
Schneider walked up face-to-face with Lee. "May Ling, we are supposed to recognize fakes."
"Well this time, Colonel, we didn't."
"Don't defy me, child. I know what we can and cannot do. And what we can do, is recognize fakes!"
"You put too much trust in your officers, Colonel. Not all of them share the exact same beliefs as you do. For all we know, the officer hired to check the résumés is also a spy!"
Schneider paced the office again, rubbing his chin. "Do we have a location of the nearest Karthanian camp yet?"
"Yes. It is a large camp. But it should be fairly effortless to annihilate."
"Ready our troops. Destroy the camp."
"Do we take any prisoners?"
"No," Schneider stared down at the photograph of the woman on desk. He then waved a hand, "kill them all."
* * *
"He was most likely an escaped prisoner. It's not uncommon to see a few stray ones around these parts." Lieutenant said as he took some clothes from his bag.
"Yeah, well, is it not uncommon for them to be dirty rotten thieves?" Trip said as grabbed the clothing.
"It's not that simple. These people have nothing. If there is any chance for them to find something of use, they'll take that chance, without hesitation. They're desperate."
"So, desperate enough to be dirty rotten thieves. Okay. I get it."
Lieutenant glanced down at his wristwatch. "It'll be dawn in a few hours. We need to get back to the village."
* * *
"We are ready to launch the attack, Colonel." Lee said, now dressed in a military uniform. Lee smoothed a finger over her ka-bar and then put the knife in its sheath.
"I can sense your excitement, Commander." The Colonel said, staring out the office window.
"I've been waiting to launch this attack for quite some time."
"You're bloodthirsty, May Ling. Just like your father."
"My father was a coward," Lee smirked and her eyes grew yet even icier, "the man begged for his pathetic life. He begged like a dog."
Schneider's jaw dropped at Lee's words and he swung around to face her. "May Ling," his breath caught, "it was you?"
"Who else hated him more Colonel?"
To Be Continued.