Thanks go out to Diena Taylor, K. Presson, Samantha Quinn, Sara, Christine,
Two2feet, Swasthi, Silver-Eagle:Jessie-West, Kiddo, Treachery89, Frankie2,
Shadowsofpain, Tyger Magick, and anyone else who read Chapter 7.
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers.
Chapter 8.
Lucas stared intently at the gap in the trees that the bear seemed to be heading for. Closer, closer - silently he waited, not wanting to swing to soon and only be caught off guard.
Three... Two... One... Swing!
"Ouch!"
Ben skidded and slipped down onto the floor spluttering and spitting out pine needles, while Lucas, Katie and Ford stared at him in astonishment.
"Ben?" Lucas asked confused.
Ben looked up at Lucas and the branch the teenager was holding.
"If I get up, are you going to hit me again?" The moral officer asked, only half joking.
Lucas suddenly remembered that he was still holding the branch so he tossed it aside, and offered a hand to help his friend up.
"I thought you were a bear." Lucas explained.
"Obviously." Ben said giving the trio a sceptical look.
"Well, you see For- I mean Jonathan saw this film with bears in it and we thought you were going to attack us because we weren't singing..." Lucas let him voice trail off when he saw Ben's confused look. He cleared his throat and then added, "It seemed quite logical at the time."
"Jonathan?" Somehow the Commander being called by his first name sounded a lot more surreal than bears, singing, and what ever else was going on here.
Lucas smiled, for a moment losing the lines of worry that had etched themselves around his eyes since he'd been called in to try and fix a faulty radio.
"Concussion, the Commander hit his head on the way down, he's a bit fuzzy about pretty much everything."
"Why were you running through the words like that?" Katie called from where she was lying - her leg was now splinted so it was uncomfortable, if not impossible for her to sit up properly.
"I heard you scream..." Ben answered, glancing questioningly at her leg.
***** ***** *****
"Are you ok?" Tim asked Miguel.
Miguel nodded, at least Tim thought it was a nod, I might have been a particularly violent shiver, it was starting to become hard to tell the difference, especially considering how light headed he felt at the minute.
Miguel stared at Tim, he was still lying where he had landed, and Miguel was wondering if moving him would do more harm than good. There was still a thin trickle of blood making it's way down the gentle slope that Tim lay across, but the bleeding had almost stopped now.
"We're going to have to try to move soon, we need to find the others before it gets dark." Tim answered the unspoken question.
A few minutes later they were ready to try and move Tim. Gently but firmly Miguel lifted Tim into a sitting position.
Tim didn't scream out in pain, but he did bite down hard on the knot of wood he'd asked Miguel to find for him to bite down on. The young enlisted man didn't waste any time - he quickly dragged Tim vaguely upright with good right arm and stumbled towards the tree line.
Just about managing to keep his footing, Miguel gently positioned Tim sidelong against the base of a think tree trunk before making his way back to grab the supplies and Tim's parachute.
When he'd got back to the base of the tree, Miguel carefully turned Tim so that he could see his friends back.
Tim spat out the knot of wood and breathed deeply "How bad is it?" he asked, trying, all be it unsuccessfully, to hide his worry.
"Um..." The young Cuban wasn't sure if he should tell Tim the truth, or if this was a good time for a white lie...
***** ***** *****
It took over half an hour for Ben to be brought up to date on what had happened to who since they jumped, and another quarter of an hour was spent trying to convince Ben that Ford had not pushed him out of the plane. But eventually Lucas broached the subject that he had been considering for some time.
"We have to go and find Miguel and Tim."
Katie looked sceptical. "Standard procedure is to stay together after a crash..."
"Someone needs to go and find them." Lucas stated stubbornly.
"What if they are out there looking for us? You could be walking in circles around each other all night. And what if you can't find the camp again, even if you do find them."
"What if they're out there all on they're own with a broken leg," Lucas stared at Katie before looking pointedly at her leg, and then glancing towards Ford. "or maybe they have concussion? What if they can't come looking for us?"
Katie looked down and sighed. Technically Ford was the highest ranking and he was the one who should be making these kind of decisions, but apart from occasional giggles, the Commander was not making much contribution to the discussion. Katie was next in line, but since she couldn't even sit up she wasn't in a position to go hunting for lost crewmembers herself.
Finally it was decided that Lucas and Ben would try to find Tim and Miguel, while Katie and Ford stayed put.
***** ***** *****
"Um, I don't think it's too bad..." Miguel hedged. Once more he forced himself to look down to Tim's back. It was difficult to be sure how many cuts there were altogether, but the worse one sliced straight across from Tim's shoulder blade, and straight across his back towards his right hip.
As far as Miguel could tell, that was where most of the blood was coming from, but the rest of Tim's back hadn't faired much better, smaller lacerations covered his pale skin. Miguel took a deep breath and methodically began cleaning the wounds as well as he could.
***** ***** *****
"It's getting dark."
Katie looked across at Ford in surprise, that comment had sounded suspiciously coherent.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I've had a visit from the alcohol pixies."
Well, maybe coherent was too strong a word... "Alcohol pixies?" Katie asked against her best judgement.
"Yep. They sneak up on you in the middle of the night - they hit you over the head with a huge hammer, steal all your money, and pee on your tongue." Ford chuckled. "When I was in military school, before I went to the academy, that was my room mate's explanation when ever we had hangovers. It was nothing to do with getting drunk, it was all to do with the pixies."
Katie smiled in the twilight and looked across the parachute come blanket at Ford.
"I don't remember much about you getting drunk on your military record." Katie pointed out.
"Of course not, there's a good reason for that."
"Yes?"
"I had enough sense not to get caught."
Katie tutted gently, "So, what else didn't you get caught doing?"
"That would make a very long story..." Ford said with a grin that could be heard, even if it couldn't be seen in the falling darkness.
"No problem," Katie replied, "we have all night."
Ford seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, I suppose I was quite different back then..."
***** ***** *****
"Miguel."
"Yes?"
Tim lay of his stomach under half of his parachute and wondered if Miguel was as worried about the rest of the crew as he was. "Do you think they're all right?"
Miguel didn't need to ask who Tim was talking about. "Of course they are. And there's probably a rescue party on their way right now. In a few day's we'll be back on seaQuest complaining because Westphalen won't let us out of sick bay."
Tim smiled at Miguel's prediction, before turning serious again. "I thought I was going to die..."
"Don't worry, I thought you were dead too." Miguel replied. Tim laughed, but then clenched his teeth when the movement pulled at the cuts across his back.
"I was wondering if I was right and there really was a heaven." Tim sighed. "Things like this are supposed to strengthen your faith, not make you question it..." Somehow Tim felt he had somehow failed his god by wondering.
Miguel cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the topic, but even more uncomfortable with the silence. "So, how did you end up so religious anyway?"
***** ***** *****
"Maybe we should sing to keep the bears away..." Ben suggested with false cheer.
"I don't need to be cheered up, Ben." Lucas responded. His tone of voice was verging on cool, but Lucas's couldn't help but crack a smile as his friend kept up a constant one sided conversation as the walked along.
Lucas tripped over a rock for the third time in as many minutes landing heavily on the bag he insisted on carrying - even though Krieg had offered to take it while they walked, and he said "Shhhh... ugar."
Ben couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Sugar?" but before Lucas could answer he added on a more serious note. "We can't see where we're going. We're going to have to find somewhere to rest for the night."
They hunted around for a while trying to find a comfortable patch of ground. After a while they gave up and settled near the base of a tree. For a moment they sat in silence each listening to the sounds of the forest around them. In the distance they heard a lone wolf send up a mournful howl, then gradually other wolves took up and joined the howl.
Ben sat up and leaned against the tree. "I don't know about you, but I don't fancy going to sleep right now..." Trying to take his mind off the wolves Ben cast around for a suitable subject. "So are you going to be after Westphalen's job when we get back to the boat?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you seem to know a lot about first aid."
"Not really, I've never taken any classes or anything..."
"So how come you knew how to splint Katie's leg?"
Lucas took a deep breath, out here looking up at the stars and listening to the wolves in the distance, there didn't seem to be much point in lying about the way things were...
***** ***** *****
To be continued...
***** ***** *****
And now I have a choice for everyone - What do you want to read about in the next chapter? Your choices are Ford and what he used to be like, Tim and why he's religious, Lucas and what happened before he went to seaQuest or I guess you could chose D which is, according to popular tradition, all of the above.
The phone lines are now open - any reviewers that state their preference will be carefully counted and the majority get whichever chapter it is that they want ;o)
If you want to post a "Normal" review, that's wonderful too :o)
Next Chapter will hopefully be up reasonably soon.
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers.
Chapter 8.
Lucas stared intently at the gap in the trees that the bear seemed to be heading for. Closer, closer - silently he waited, not wanting to swing to soon and only be caught off guard.
Three... Two... One... Swing!
"Ouch!"
Ben skidded and slipped down onto the floor spluttering and spitting out pine needles, while Lucas, Katie and Ford stared at him in astonishment.
"Ben?" Lucas asked confused.
Ben looked up at Lucas and the branch the teenager was holding.
"If I get up, are you going to hit me again?" The moral officer asked, only half joking.
Lucas suddenly remembered that he was still holding the branch so he tossed it aside, and offered a hand to help his friend up.
"I thought you were a bear." Lucas explained.
"Obviously." Ben said giving the trio a sceptical look.
"Well, you see For- I mean Jonathan saw this film with bears in it and we thought you were going to attack us because we weren't singing..." Lucas let him voice trail off when he saw Ben's confused look. He cleared his throat and then added, "It seemed quite logical at the time."
"Jonathan?" Somehow the Commander being called by his first name sounded a lot more surreal than bears, singing, and what ever else was going on here.
Lucas smiled, for a moment losing the lines of worry that had etched themselves around his eyes since he'd been called in to try and fix a faulty radio.
"Concussion, the Commander hit his head on the way down, he's a bit fuzzy about pretty much everything."
"Why were you running through the words like that?" Katie called from where she was lying - her leg was now splinted so it was uncomfortable, if not impossible for her to sit up properly.
"I heard you scream..." Ben answered, glancing questioningly at her leg.
***** ***** *****
"Are you ok?" Tim asked Miguel.
Miguel nodded, at least Tim thought it was a nod, I might have been a particularly violent shiver, it was starting to become hard to tell the difference, especially considering how light headed he felt at the minute.
Miguel stared at Tim, he was still lying where he had landed, and Miguel was wondering if moving him would do more harm than good. There was still a thin trickle of blood making it's way down the gentle slope that Tim lay across, but the bleeding had almost stopped now.
"We're going to have to try to move soon, we need to find the others before it gets dark." Tim answered the unspoken question.
A few minutes later they were ready to try and move Tim. Gently but firmly Miguel lifted Tim into a sitting position.
Tim didn't scream out in pain, but he did bite down hard on the knot of wood he'd asked Miguel to find for him to bite down on. The young enlisted man didn't waste any time - he quickly dragged Tim vaguely upright with good right arm and stumbled towards the tree line.
Just about managing to keep his footing, Miguel gently positioned Tim sidelong against the base of a think tree trunk before making his way back to grab the supplies and Tim's parachute.
When he'd got back to the base of the tree, Miguel carefully turned Tim so that he could see his friends back.
Tim spat out the knot of wood and breathed deeply "How bad is it?" he asked, trying, all be it unsuccessfully, to hide his worry.
"Um..." The young Cuban wasn't sure if he should tell Tim the truth, or if this was a good time for a white lie...
***** ***** *****
It took over half an hour for Ben to be brought up to date on what had happened to who since they jumped, and another quarter of an hour was spent trying to convince Ben that Ford had not pushed him out of the plane. But eventually Lucas broached the subject that he had been considering for some time.
"We have to go and find Miguel and Tim."
Katie looked sceptical. "Standard procedure is to stay together after a crash..."
"Someone needs to go and find them." Lucas stated stubbornly.
"What if they are out there looking for us? You could be walking in circles around each other all night. And what if you can't find the camp again, even if you do find them."
"What if they're out there all on they're own with a broken leg," Lucas stared at Katie before looking pointedly at her leg, and then glancing towards Ford. "or maybe they have concussion? What if they can't come looking for us?"
Katie looked down and sighed. Technically Ford was the highest ranking and he was the one who should be making these kind of decisions, but apart from occasional giggles, the Commander was not making much contribution to the discussion. Katie was next in line, but since she couldn't even sit up she wasn't in a position to go hunting for lost crewmembers herself.
Finally it was decided that Lucas and Ben would try to find Tim and Miguel, while Katie and Ford stayed put.
***** ***** *****
"Um, I don't think it's too bad..." Miguel hedged. Once more he forced himself to look down to Tim's back. It was difficult to be sure how many cuts there were altogether, but the worse one sliced straight across from Tim's shoulder blade, and straight across his back towards his right hip.
As far as Miguel could tell, that was where most of the blood was coming from, but the rest of Tim's back hadn't faired much better, smaller lacerations covered his pale skin. Miguel took a deep breath and methodically began cleaning the wounds as well as he could.
***** ***** *****
"It's getting dark."
Katie looked across at Ford in surprise, that comment had sounded suspiciously coherent.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I've had a visit from the alcohol pixies."
Well, maybe coherent was too strong a word... "Alcohol pixies?" Katie asked against her best judgement.
"Yep. They sneak up on you in the middle of the night - they hit you over the head with a huge hammer, steal all your money, and pee on your tongue." Ford chuckled. "When I was in military school, before I went to the academy, that was my room mate's explanation when ever we had hangovers. It was nothing to do with getting drunk, it was all to do with the pixies."
Katie smiled in the twilight and looked across the parachute come blanket at Ford.
"I don't remember much about you getting drunk on your military record." Katie pointed out.
"Of course not, there's a good reason for that."
"Yes?"
"I had enough sense not to get caught."
Katie tutted gently, "So, what else didn't you get caught doing?"
"That would make a very long story..." Ford said with a grin that could be heard, even if it couldn't be seen in the falling darkness.
"No problem," Katie replied, "we have all night."
Ford seemed to consider this for a moment. "Well, I suppose I was quite different back then..."
***** ***** *****
"Miguel."
"Yes?"
Tim lay of his stomach under half of his parachute and wondered if Miguel was as worried about the rest of the crew as he was. "Do you think they're all right?"
Miguel didn't need to ask who Tim was talking about. "Of course they are. And there's probably a rescue party on their way right now. In a few day's we'll be back on seaQuest complaining because Westphalen won't let us out of sick bay."
Tim smiled at Miguel's prediction, before turning serious again. "I thought I was going to die..."
"Don't worry, I thought you were dead too." Miguel replied. Tim laughed, but then clenched his teeth when the movement pulled at the cuts across his back.
"I was wondering if I was right and there really was a heaven." Tim sighed. "Things like this are supposed to strengthen your faith, not make you question it..." Somehow Tim felt he had somehow failed his god by wondering.
Miguel cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the topic, but even more uncomfortable with the silence. "So, how did you end up so religious anyway?"
***** ***** *****
"Maybe we should sing to keep the bears away..." Ben suggested with false cheer.
"I don't need to be cheered up, Ben." Lucas responded. His tone of voice was verging on cool, but Lucas's couldn't help but crack a smile as his friend kept up a constant one sided conversation as the walked along.
Lucas tripped over a rock for the third time in as many minutes landing heavily on the bag he insisted on carrying - even though Krieg had offered to take it while they walked, and he said "Shhhh... ugar."
Ben couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Sugar?" but before Lucas could answer he added on a more serious note. "We can't see where we're going. We're going to have to find somewhere to rest for the night."
They hunted around for a while trying to find a comfortable patch of ground. After a while they gave up and settled near the base of a tree. For a moment they sat in silence each listening to the sounds of the forest around them. In the distance they heard a lone wolf send up a mournful howl, then gradually other wolves took up and joined the howl.
Ben sat up and leaned against the tree. "I don't know about you, but I don't fancy going to sleep right now..." Trying to take his mind off the wolves Ben cast around for a suitable subject. "So are you going to be after Westphalen's job when we get back to the boat?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you seem to know a lot about first aid."
"Not really, I've never taken any classes or anything..."
"So how come you knew how to splint Katie's leg?"
Lucas took a deep breath, out here looking up at the stars and listening to the wolves in the distance, there didn't seem to be much point in lying about the way things were...
***** ***** *****
To be continued...
***** ***** *****
And now I have a choice for everyone - What do you want to read about in the next chapter? Your choices are Ford and what he used to be like, Tim and why he's religious, Lucas and what happened before he went to seaQuest or I guess you could chose D which is, according to popular tradition, all of the above.
The phone lines are now open - any reviewers that state their preference will be carefully counted and the majority get whichever chapter it is that they want ;o)
If you want to post a "Normal" review, that's wonderful too :o)
Next Chapter will hopefully be up reasonably soon.