Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. Tomb Raider and the situations therein are the property of Square Enix. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit. Stardates were calculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com and may be slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.
Falling
USS Nautilus, Shuttle One Crew, Senior Science Officer Carlin Agran's Log, Stardate 81631.3:
After my friend Sam escaped the Solarii, I managed to reunite with her only to walk into a Solarii trap. When I awoke several hours later, Sam and I were being held by some creatures we don't yet fully understand: the Oni - some kind of aliens that dress in ancient armor and use primitive weapons to protect certain parts of the island. According to the Vorta's logs I found, they wiped out the Dominion garrison here thirty years ago. According to the Solarii the only reason they don't do the same to their cult is because Matan respects their territory.
We managed to escape the Oni and the Solarii - sent back to recapture Sam for use in Matan's Fire Ritual - but we were pursued. As we fled, the bridge we were on collapsed. Now we're falling...
Antori, if I don't make it out of here alive and you find this, I want you to know I love you!
Carlin's world tumbled about her as she and Sam floated helplessly in the middle of a section of the covered bridge - falling. What must have been only a few seconds of freefall seemed like an eternity. Carlin wondered if the proverbial god of falling Trill was still watching over her, and wished for a moment that such a being actually existed. Then, freefall ended and the impact began. A sheer stone face came out of nowhere and sliced through the walls, ceiling, and floor of the covered bridge like a gigantic stone knife. It hit just to the right of Carlin, throwing debris at her. She shielded her eyes and screamed. Everything pitched to one side and the wall rose to meet her. She hit, rolled, scrabbled for anything to hold onto. Her arms latched onto a wooden column. Sam's arms grasped her leg, then her waist, and a moment later Sam was beside her, clinging to the same column. The sensation of falling had momentarily stopped. The other side of the bridge segment they were in had caught on the far side of the chasm. For a moment, Carlin thought they would be safe, then the sound of water from below gave way to the tortured groans of splitting beams and crumpling metal. The segment collapsed, then fell apart completely. Carlin and Sam screamed together as the column they were holding fell three meters into the water below.
The impact felt like a full-body tackle and it knocked the air out of Carlin's lungs. Instinct took over. She immediately tried to breathe, only to choke on water. Her hands scrambled, holding onto the column, straining to pull herself up, toward the surface, toward air. Then something grabbed her under her armpit and hauled her to the surface. She coughed up water and gasped in air. She blinked, trying to see as she struggled to breathe. She noticed Sam beside her. Ahead of her she saw water, rock, water, then rock again. They were spinning.
Something hit them, an unseen force. Carlin's mind told her crosscurrent, but at the moment the name was meaningless. All that mattered was that the force stopped the spinning and sent the column rolling on its side instead. Carlin scrambled to stay on top of it, kicking hard to keep herself on the surface. Sam went under, then emerged a second later on the other side of the column, coughing. A moment later, their weight stabilized it - just in time for Carlin and Sam to realize they had other problems.
"Rapids!" Sam shouted. Carlin saw them. Jagged rocks rose out of the whitewater to meet them. "Left! Kick left!" Sam shouted. Carlin kicked, forcing herself against the column, blinded by spray. Too late she heard Sam cry out, "Your other left!"
A rock hit just behind Carlin, biting a chunk off of the column. They slewed sideways and another clipped the column right behind Sam. The twin impacts nearly broke Carlin's hold. She struggled to get a better grip. Before she could, though, Sam shouted, "Waterfall!"
Water rushed and hissed around them. The world pitched head over heels, then Carlin was underwater. Her hands slipped from the column. She scrambled for something, anything, to hold onto as the rushing current carried her away. Her arm broke the surface. A hand latched onto hers. She kicked, forcing herself upwards against the flow. Her head broke the surface and she could breathe again. She saw Sam holding her arm with one hand, and with the other keeping a grip on the column. It had planted itself upright in the riverbed, just past the short waterfall, standing like an enormous fence post in the middle of the river. But it would not remain upright forever. The current was forcing it over, centimeter, by centimeter. The torrent was pulling Carlin downstream, and it was taking the column and Sam with her.
"It can't support both our weight!" Carlin said. "Let go! You'll be safe!"
"Hell no!" shouted Sam. "And if you let go, I swear I'll kill you!"
Before either of them had a chance to appreciate the irony of that statement, the column broke loose from the bottom and tumbled end over end downstream. Sam lost her grip on it, but the two of them held on to each other. They managed to make it onto their backs, keeping their heads above the water as much as possible. There were more rapids, but the current bore them around them, becoming swifter. Ahead, Carlin could see a crashed shuttle, an old Romulan design, she thought, and beyond it a ceaseless thunder that could mean only one thing: an enormous waterfall.
The column went down ahead of them. It slammed into the shuttle's worn-out hull and crashed through like a battering ram. "Aim for the hull breach!" Sam urged. They kicked and paddled their free hands together, steering themselves. They hit and tumbled inside. Water was rushing in behind them and the shuttle was starting to go up on one side.
"We need to get out of here, fast!" Carlin said.
"I bet that was his idea, too," said Sam, pointing to the half-decayed body of a Romulan wearing a suit made up of protective material and ceramic plates.
"Is that what I think that is?"
"Orbital skydiving," said Sam. "You should have tried it at the Academy with me when you had the chance: it's a good way to unwind. I think this fellow was doing it for business rather than pleasure, though." She pulled a disruptor pistol - holster and all - off the Romulan, then began stripping off his pack. "I'm taking his parachute," she said.
"Can't we practice unsafe forms of recreation later?" asked Carlin, wringing out her wet hair. "Help me find an escape pod or something!"
"Even if there was one, we're too low to use it, and there's no time." The shuttle was fully on its side now, and the column's weight punched through the other side, letting in more water. The current was enough to float the Romulan's body and carry it toward the open aft hatch, which hung over empty air. "That aft hatch is our only chance!" said Sam, holding out her arm. "Grab onto me and don't let go!"
Carlin embraced her friend in a death grip. The shuttle began to tip, water carrying the Romulan's corpse out into empty air as even more water poured in, forcing the shuttle over. Sam put her arms around Carlin, picked her up, and took the aft hatch in a running leap.
They were falling again, clear of the shuttle. Carlin could see blue sky retreating over Sam's shoulder. The thunderous roar of the falls was getting louder. "Pull the chute!" Sam shouted.
"Where?"
"Left shoulder! Blue cord!"
Carlin let go of Sam with her right hand and grabbed the cord, pulling. It came off in her hand. A gray parachute opened and immediately fluttered away. They began to tumble. Sky and tall pine trees alternated, and the trees were getting closer. "What now?!" Carlin screamed.
"Reserve chute! Right shoulder!" Sam shouted.
Carlin's eyes darted to the other shoulder. "I don't see it!"
"Red cord! Hurry!" said Sam.
"I don't see it!" Her hand fumbled over the barren strap. "There's nothing-" Then, she uncovered a black flap. Beneath it was the red handle of a pull cord. "Got it!" She pulled hard. A gray parachute opened above them. Sam jerked upward sharply and Carlin clung to her waist with both hands.
"Hang on!" said Sam. "We're too low, I've got to steer us through the trees!" She let go of Carlin and took hold of the shoulder straps. Carlin held onto her for dear life. Her grip was the only thing between her and a long, solitary fall.
Trees flew by on either side. Needled branches slashed at them. One caught Carlin in the leg, spinning them around. Sam grunted, tugging at the parachute, stabilizing their decent. More trees passed by, their grasping branches missing by centimeters. Carlin wished for a god of falling Trill to pray to. She hoped Sam was praying, for whatever good it would do.
"I see a palace up ahead," said Sam, "and a warbird!"
"The Solarii city!" Carlin said. "We need to land, now!"
"We may not have much choice about that!"
They were much lower now, branches slashing by overhead as well as alongside and below them. One caught hold of the parachute. Carlin and Sam were swung up, then sideways into the trunk. Bark scratched at Carlin's left arm through her uniform sleeve. She let go and her momentum rolled her against the trunk. She grasped for something else to hold onto. Her right arm found a tree branch. She grabbed it with both hands. It groaned under her weight, then snapped. She was falling again. She held onto the branch instinctively. It tumbled, catching on lower branches, trying to pull free of her grip. She wouldn't let it. Then, she met the ground. Her legs folded under her. The branch landed on top of her, and it was over. She pushed the branch off and realized that she was, to her great surprise, alive and only bruised from her fall. That branch must have slowed me down enough to save my life...and my legs, she realized.
A crackling sound and a shower of twigs and pine needles reminded her that this wasn't over yet. She looked upward. Sam was still caught in the tree, struggling with the straps of the parachute. She was a good ten meters off the ground. "How are you going to get down?" Carlin asked.
"Getting down's the easy part," Sam said. "It's surviving the end of the trip that's tricky." She tugged at the parachute. "I'm stuck good, but I figure I can reach that branch over there if I swing hard enough and detach at the right time. It's thicker than the one you grabbed, so I should be fine."
"That'll take some very good timing," Carlin pointed out, wishing she had a better idea. Her hands went unconsciously to her hair.
"Exactly," said Sam. "So don't distract me." She tugged at the straps and swore. "The buckles are jammed. I'll have to cut the straps." She pulled out an arrow from her quiver and started using the arrowhead to saw through the material, first cutting most of the way through one strap, then the other.
Carlin noticed that she still had that enormous bow settled over her shoulder as well. How she had managed to hang onto it and the arrows through their ordeal was beyond Carlin. They'd lost the polaron rifle, though she still had the medkit hanging around her neck. She adjusted it to hang back over her shoulder, then looked up to watch Sam finish.
Sam concentrated on the branch in front of her and counted down from three, arrowhead poised to sever the strap. She sliced it and her momentum spun her around. What remained of the other strap tore and she met the branch she was aiming for, back first. She fell. A couple meters down was another branch, thicker than the first. She hit it, doubled over, but managed to hang onto it. She pushed herself off of it and managed to make her way from branch to branch the rest of the way, slowly climbing down the tree.
When she arrived at the bottom, she covered her lower chest with her arm and struggled to remain upright. Carlin pulled open her tricorder and approached. "I'm fine," Sam said.
"You're a lousy liar," said Carlin. She ran the tricorder over the injury. "You've got extensive bruising and a fractured rib. Unfortunately, my medkit doesn't contain an osteogenic stimulator anymore. It must have been lost, so all I can do for you is give you some pain-killers. All things considered, though, I'd say you're lucky."
"God was watching out for me, like always," said Sam.
Carlin shook her head. "Whatever you say." She loaded a hypospray and injected her friend. "We should find some place to lie low until that kicks in. If the Solarii saw the parachute, they'll come looking for us." Sam nodded and Carlin put an arm around her friend, gently, and together they started through the forest.
A few minutes later they came in sight of the ramshackle walls of the Solarii City. The kept low in an effort to stay out of sight of whoever might be on top of those walls. Sam was still holding her side - her painkillers hadn't set in yet. Carlin winced but not completely out of sympathy. When Sam had told her about the fortified shantytown the Solarii lived in, she'd expected it to look terrible and be dangerous. What she hadn't expected was the smell. She tried to wave it away, then froze. A gate was opening in the wall up ahead of them. Solarii were coming out! There was only one possible place to take cover: a broad, flooded ditch that ran along the base of the wall. Carlin laid a finger on her lips, signaling for silence and guided Sam into the ditch, moving quickly. Sam squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lower lip to muffle a groan, but she made no other sound. The officers crouched in knee-deep murky water while a half dozen or so Solarii walked by.
"I hear Brother Nikora's mad at you again," said one of the men as they passed by.
"Heh, is Brother Nikora ever not mad?" asked another. "What I hear is that you lost Brother Durtlhor's favorite toy, and that you let the Outsider who killed Brother Vamdar and attacked the Communications Base get away again."
There was a brief scuffle, followed by the whine of a powering weapon. "Funny," said the voice of Brother John, sounding strained. "I heard I was in charge of this mission. I also seem to remember dropping the Outsider down the Chasm at the Monastery. If you think she got away after that, maybe you should go down the Chasm yourself to check. I'm sure she wouldn't mind the company, if the Oni don't get you first, that is."
The other man grunted. "Fine...but if the Outsider's dead...then why are we still looking for the Girl? Why does Father Matan say the ceremony...is still on for tonight?"
"Because the Sun Queen told him to," said John. "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer." There was the sound of boots scuffing across the dirt as John shoved the other man away. "Now let's search the forest. No one knows where that parachute came from, and I don't like the idea of surprise visitors on our doorstep - more importantly, neither does Father Matan!"
The footsteps faded into the forest, leaving behind the two (supposedly dead) women they were searching for. A piece of luck at last, Carlin thought. Then she moved her leg experimentally in the pool of water and rescinded the thought. The water was pitch black on top and dark brown underneath, with the distinctive opalescent sheen of waste hydrocarbons floating on the surface. There were also chunks of what Carlin had, at first, mistaken for mud. The stench was overpowering, burning in the back of the throat, and the thought of what it was...Carlin fought down the urge to vomit.
"Welcome to the Creepy Scavenger Society of Yamatai Water Treatment Plant," Sam whispered. "Apparently they lost their concept of basic sanitation somewhere, probably the same place they left their morals and every other shred of decency."
"How can people live like this?"
"I don't know, but I do know I'm burning this uniform the moment we get back to the Nautilus," said Sam. "Then, I'm feeding its ashes into the matter/antimatter reaction chamber."
"I think it would kill the ship," said Carlin. She started moving forward, keeping low and out of sight, which unfortunately meant staying in the fetid water at the bottom of the ditch. "Right now, though, we need to concentrate on getting in and freeing Doctor Howard and Ensign McKensey, before your escape plan blows up in their faces," she said, and pointed. "This stuff looks like it flows out through that grate up ahead."
"You're not seriously considering taking us in that way," said Sam.
Carlin shrugged. "It's big enough. Besides, all sewers lead to Rome."
"I think the original proverb was somewhat different." She wrinkled her nose. "Still I have to admit, if I were a Solarii, this is about the last place on the planet I'd want to stand guard, Oni-infested monasteries inclusive."
"Agreed," said Carlin. She took hold of the grate that blocked the mouth of the pipe draining sewage out of the city. It was solid titanium and thick, but it wasn't bolted or welded in place. Apparently the Solarii never realized anyone could be stupid or desperate enough to try to enter their city this way. I guess they didn't count on us, then, Carlin thought. "Help me with this grate."
Sam grabbed the other side and together they were able to remove it. Then, they waded through the pipe. Carlin was immensely grateful that the flow was no deeper than the ankles on her boots. The fetid black pool on the other side, was significantly deeper, and wider, with more water pouring in from several pipes on the far side.
"This place is disgusting," said Sam.
"Agreed," said Carlin. She opened her tricorder and ran a scan, trying to ignore all the things the device told her were in the water. "It's less than a meter deep on this side, but there's a guard on the wall, twelve meters left and heading this way."
"He's probably just doing his rounds," said Sam. "I doubt he'll look down. Still, it's not a chance we can take, especially since it looks like we'll have to cross open ground to get to those stairs over there." She took her bow and nocked an arrow. "Wait here a second."
She stepped outside, keeping right against the wall, and drew her bow. She muttered something in Japanese, then loosed. There was a thump on the top of the wall as a guard's body fell. Carlin checked her tricorder. "All clear."
They waded out of the pool, keeping to the shallows, then made their way across open ground to a set of rickety wooden stairs that brought them to the top of the low wall surrounding the waste pool. Beyond, Carlin could see the jumble of the Solarii city filling the valley around the warbird's wreck at the base of the old Japanese palace. A long arched bridge - partially ancient, partially a Solarii patchwork - joined the palace to a high ridge on the other side of the shantytown.
"That bridge should be our objective," said Carlin. "I remember seeing several cave entrances just beneath it. It's unlikely the Solarii can have them all covered."
"That's not too far from where I came out, either," said Sam. "The only problem is, how do we get there? This place is a rat maze designed by a drunk scientist, or a mad one, or both."
"We need a better view before we can plan out our route." said Carlin. She pointed to a nearby tower, just across a container-strewn space which might generously be called a plaza. The tower perched on the city wall and was four meters high with sides made out of hull plates. At its top was a wooden platform a few meters across topped with a metal frame that supported a windmill rigged to a large pulley. "That tower there should work. It even has some sort of cable-car system going," she said, pointing to a small wooden platform with a metal frame being pulled along a cable to the tower and then away again. It was powered by the windmill and appeared to be unmanned.
"Good eye, Carlin," Sam said. "That might even be our ticket there. It looks like the next stop on that tram is just below the bridge." She started down the stairs on the other side of the wall. "Come on, let's go!"
Carlin followed her down the wall and across the plaza. The only access to the tower from this side seemed to be a long duranium ladder salvaged from an old starship's Jeffrey's tubes. While Sam climbed the ladder, Carlin kept watch at the bottom.
Suddenly, Carlin's combadge chirped. "Drel to Agran! Drel to Agran, can you hear me?"
She touched her combadge. "Antori! It's good to hear your voice again."
"Yours too," he said. "Are you alright? Did you find Lieutenant Hayashi?"
"Sam's with me now and, yes, I'm fine," she said, rubbing the patch of blood matted hair at the back of her head.
"You don't sound fine," he said, perceptive as always.
"I'm fine, Antori," she insisted.
He let it drop. "Where are you?"
"I'm in the shantytown near the fortified palace," she answered. "I'm going to try to get in to the caves through one of the entrances just below the bridge. I figure the Solarii can't have them all guarded and probably haven't bothered with any of them."
"Smart," said Antori. "I'm just coming down the ridge. How did you get there so fast?"
"Long story," she said.
"You'll have to tell it to me over a couple of Risan mai-tai's when we get back to Nautilus," he said.
"Make it a bottle of Romulan ale, and it's a deal," said Carlin. She knew she would need something stronger when she remembered this place.
"If I can find it, you've got it," he said. "I can see the city now. Are you near that cargo transfer tower at the bottom of the bridge?"
"We're headed that way," she said. "We're at another tower, a little further south. It's the one with the windmill."
Suddenly, she heard a shout from the city wall, back the way they'd come. "He's dead! Somebody shot him!"
"There! On the tower!" Another voice shouted.
"We need some help over here!" Solarii started running toward them along the wall, scrambling over the short wall behind the sewage pond as well. Most of them were armed with bows, hatchets, and machetes, but at least one of them had something else. He threw a small metal sphere at the base of the tower.
"Look out grenade!" Sam shouted. Carlin dove to the side, out of the blast radius. The explosion shook the tower, but did not seem to cause it any serious structural damage. It did, however, loosen the ladder on the side, causing it to fall.
Carlin scrambled out of the way, then looked up at Sam in dismay. Solarii were streaming into the plaza from every direction. "I'm trapped!"
"There's some cable up here! I'll let it down for you," she said. "You concentrate on staying alive!"
An arrow whizzed by overhead. Then the Solarii with the grenades threw another one. This time, though, it glanced off a container and exploded several meters away, sending several of the Solarii in the plaza diving for cover. Carlin drew her phaser and fired at the man with the grenades, hitting him in the shoulder. He dropped and tumbled backward off of the wall. With any luck, that would be the last she saw of him or his explosives. Then a pair of arrows flew at her, one passing within centimeters of her face. She ducked and reminded herself that the fight wasn't over yet.
There were two archers that she knew of. They spread out on the low wall behind the sewage pond and set up a crossfire. Carlin struggled to remember her training with Antori. They weren't going to kill her this way, but they could keep her in place for the other Solarii to finish off, the ones with melee weapons. There'd been at least two of them. She had to deal with them immediately. But the moment she poked her head out, an arrow clanged off of the side of the container next to her. I can't deal with anybody like this, she thought. If I try to take a shot, they'll get me for sure.
"Sam! I could use some cover fire!" she shouted.
No sooner had she asked but a couple quick beams from a Romulan disruptor lanced out. Somebody screamed. She thought it was one of the archers. She raised herself in time to see the other one switching targets. Carlin shot him, then stood fully.
Two Solarii with bladed weapons were running towards her. She fired, hitting one and missing the other as he dodged behind a cargo pod. Carlin circled, wary. If he kept coming, then any moment now he would be close enough to cleave her with that machete of his. No sooner had she thought this than the Solarii man burst from behind a pile of debris almost beside her. Before she could turn, a green beam of distruptor fire hit him from above, felling him. Carlin swallowed and looked up at Sam. "Nice save," she said.
Sam smiled, and pushed a coil of cable over the side of the tower. "Let's get moving again before anything else happens."
But it was already too late. A siren wailed from the gate and three Solarii came running from that direction. There were three more down low, but she lost sight of them. All were armed with modern weapons. Carlin flattened herself as bursts of blue fire slammed into the cargo containers around her. Sam managed to get off a few shots. The alarm died and then one of the Solarii dropped. Then the next beam from her disruptor fizzled. She swore and threw it at the Solarii, then ducked as a salvo of weaponsfire slammed into the tower around her.
I guess that means it's up to me, then, Carlin thought, forcing herself not to touch her hair. Instead. She crawled out from behind the cargo containers, hiding behind a nearby pile of debris before the Solarii on the wall could spot her. One of them, a Denobulan, turned and resumed firing at her previous hiding spot. She popped up and fired at him. She missed him, but hit his rifle. The phaser beam melted a hole in the casing and the rifle spewed sparks as it began to overheat. He threw it away and dove out of sight. The other Solarii turned and fired at her, but Carlin dodged and returned fire. Her phaser was significantly less powerful, but she had cover and he didn't. In the end, that was what made the difference.
As that Solarii fell, Carlin stepped out, cautiously holding her phaser in front of her. "Sam? Are you alright?" she called.
"I'm afraid she's busy," said John's voice, coming from the tower top. Carlin spun and found him standing there on the platform with two other Solarii, one of which - a muscular Orion - was holding Sam with a machete to her throat. "Drop your weapon, or we'll kill your friend."
"Don't do it, Carlin!" said Sam, squirming in her captor's grip. "They're bluffing! They need me alive for the Ritual!"
"Matan needs you alive," said John. "But as for Somaraa here...give the Outsider a demonstration!"
The Orion grinned and began to slowly draw his blade across Sam's throat. The young woman winced as a trickle of blood was drawn.
Carlin simply could not stand by and watch this, and there was no way she could shoot the Orion without a huge risk of accidentally killing Sam. "Okay, okay! I'm dropping my weapon!" She held up her hand and let the phaser fall.
"No! You bastards!" Sam spat.
The Solarii ignored her. "Now, kick the phaser away!" the Orion ordered.
But before she could, Sam went into action. She jerked her head backward sharply, headbutting her captor in the nose. As he cried out in pain, she tore loose of his grip and slammed him in the side of the head with doubled fists. The Orion sprawled sideways and tumbled off the tower. Sam was already moving on. The other Solarii, a tall J'naii, lunged at her, swinging its rifle like a club. Sam ducked, drew an arrow from her quiver, and stabbed the Solarii in the neck with it.
As he fell, blue bolts of fire flashed by Sam. John was on the other side of the platform, near the edge of the wall, and a long drop. He had his communicator in one hand, his rifle in the other and he was firing panicked bursts from the hip. "Look out, Sam!" Carlin shouted, diving for her phaser. She wasn't going to be quick enough, though. She knew it.
Sam knew it too. With her bow still on her back and no time to retrieve it or another weapon, she did the only thing she could. She charged, screaming wildly. Bursts of blue fire flew past her. Then, she slammed into John, driving her shoulder into him. He lost his rifle and started to topple, but his free hand latched on to Sam. Together, they fell over the edge and out of sight.
"No! Sam! Sam!" Carlin screamed. But screaming didn't stop it from happening. In the end, it didn't make any difference at all. By the time Carlin could get back to her feet again, Sam was gone.
Author's Note: This chapter is a compilation of several levels and events in the Tomb Raider game. In the game, Lara's fall from the bridge in the Monastery does lead to a river, but she is then deposited in a cave from which she makes her way down the mountain past several more Solarii mooks all while receiving transmissions from Sam who has stolen a radio from the guards and informs her of the capture of the other survivors and of Father Matthias' plans for her. Eventually, Lara is forced to try to recross the river by going from post to post through the swift current, but the final post breaks loose, washing her downstream through some rapids (where you can get poor Lara impaled on debris very, very easily - not that I had to restart this level a half dozen times because of this or anything *cough-cough*) and eventually depositing her in the unstable canopy of an old bomber perched on the edge of a very tall waterfall, which is where the parachute comes in. I decided to cut out all the middle stuff since I'd worked in most of the scenes with the Solarii elsewhere (such as at the second shuttle crash site in Chapter 21 or the west gate to the Solarii City in chapter 22) and to make the plot move along a little faster. After the parachute scene, the remaining content is a very compressed version of the shantytown level in the game, changed to incorporate more stealth and only one small-scale fight. In the game, Lara does pass through what is probably sewage at one point, but does not do this to sneak past the Solarii. Instead, she blazes a trail of destruction through the city, killing between 50 and 100 mooks (depending on how thorough you're being) in half a dozen separate fights culminating in the death of Grim. I don't have a Grim, and I think that kind of a kill-count would be pretty unrealistic for Sam and Carlin right now, so Sam was substituted and one small fight was made instead of the many in this level.
Carlin's log at the beginning is clearly just to remind readers of the story so far. There's no way she should have had the time or presence of mind to record that as she was actually falling. However, since the canon has a few examples of such fourth-wall breaking log entries (TOS: "The Naked Time" and "By Any Other Name"), I have no fear employing them myself when necessary, though as a rule I'll try to avoid them.
I had to modify the parachute scene a little to include two people. In the game, Lara cuts loose early (I have no idea why, she's still a long way from the ground and moving at significant horizontal speed: but then, I don't parachute, so there may be a legitimate reason why this is a good idea), doubles herself over a tree branch which subsequently snaps, but her fall is broken by other branches and painful impacts before she comes to rest on the ground just outside the Solarii shantytown. In the game, the impacts reopen her rebar wound, prompting the mid-game quest for a way to stop the bleeding. In reality, since there was no attempt made to stop the bleeding in the first place and Lara just ripped the rebar straight out the moment she could grab hold of it (as literally the second action players must take in the game) she would have bled out a long time ago. Points to Square Enix, though for even making players worry about the injury at all and for showing Lara's character habitually holding her hand over the injury (especially evident after episodes of physical exertion), as this is a much more realistic treatment of injuries than in most video games. In my chapter, however, Sam can't just run willy-nilly into tree branches to reopen her old wound because (1) Carlin is in the way and has to be gotten down first or else her back is the only possible injury from doubling the two of them over a tree branch and (2) her wound has been dealt with by a Starfleet professional using the magic of Federation medical science (field medicine, maybe, but still the kind that reduces a life-threatening puncture wound to a dull ache that requires no further mention in the story so far) and should be of no risk of breaking open. Still, I can't let them get away scot-free: so Sam get's a broken rib (certainly uncomfortable, but neither debilitating nor life-threatening). According to Memory Alpha, an osteogenic stimulator is a medical device used to repair minor fractures, and it should be standard in a shuttle's medkit.
Orbital skydiving was a recreational sport enjoyed by B'Elanna: an interest I figure Sam would probably share, though for entirely different reasons (VOY: "Extreme Risk"). It could also be used to make a tactical insertion of an away team where transporter use was impossible ("Star Trek" 2009), which is what I figure the Romulan's real intent was. Risan mai-tais are a fruity alcoholic concoction (ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights"). Romulan ale is an infamously strong liquor which has been in and out of legality in the Federation over the years, but has nonetheless enjoyed great popularity among Starfleet officers (Star Trek II and VI, Nemesis, DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"); according to Chapter 2 of "Airborne," Sam Hayashi had a bottle of the stuff she was saving and which she would not officially admit to possessing. The Denobulans are the race of Doctor Phlox from the prequel series Enterprise. In Star Trek Online, Captain Taggart from the tutorial is a Denobulan. The J'naii were a race of androgenous spacefaring humanoids in the Alpha Quadrant (TNG: "The Outcast").
Finally, of course, there's the question I'm sure you're asking: am I really such a dastardly author that I would kill Sam? For the answer to that, you'll just have to wait until next week! ;-)