Request pt 1. A team must respond to a disaster: Doug is out of coffee.

Suggested by GhostintheWorld701

All the good things belong to MonolithSoft.

"Well. That tears it," Doug said with resignation. The lava pool far below his feet burbled with satisfaction. His team had dodged the large boulder which had ripped through their camp, but their supply tent had not been so agile. The boulder, the tent, and several crates had all plunged over the edge of the narrow plateau and into the molten rock.

"I'm sorry." The speaker behind him had the sweet voice of a child, with a matching kind nature, never mind he was bigger than several boulders stacked together.

"It's okay, Rock," Doug reassured him. "When Phog said try and shift the blockage, you did what you were told. It wasn't your job to restrain any moving parts." Doug glared at the responsible party, not that the other man noticed. Their team Prospector was hanging halfway over the cliff edge, staring with longing into the lava swirls. If his fluff of blond hair caught fire, Doug thought he might just count to 3 before helping put it out.

"..."

"What's that?"

"... lost ..." Phog managed to share with the others.

"Yeah, it's all gone. Now we gotta clean up." Doug looked across the clearing, in shambles from the boulder's visit. The sleep tent was flattened but probably recoverable. The cooking area was fine, fuel same. None of that worried him. Doug walked around Rock (quite the journey) and crouched next to the young alien sitting on the ground. "You okay, Celica?"

"I'm fine," she whispered.

She looked scared to death, her face almost as pale as the pretty white lace that edged her dress. Doug sighed. "You rest up for a second while we sort out the camp."

"No, no," she replied, getting to her feet shakily. "I'm part of the team."

"Fine. You and Phog can set up the sleep tent. Right, Phog?" When he peered around Rock, he saw Phog reluctantly pull himself away from the deadly plunge and scramble towards the wreckage.

"I can help," piped up Rock.

Doug shook his head. "I need to talk to you a sec." He waited until the others were busy. "You're not in trouble," he said quietly, noticing that Rock was gnawing on his massive knuckles. "But we have a problem. That boulder took our food supplies."

"But the stove is over there." Rock was doing his best to whisper to match Doug's tone.

"And the food is down there," Doug replied, pointing toward the lava. "Phog and me can ride it out, although I'm going to be missing coffee pretty bad by tomorrow. But you and Celica are organics. We need to keep you fed."

Rock giggled, there was no other way to describe it. "I'm fine. I ate a big meal before coming."

"We're supposed to be here for a week."

"It was a really big meal. I didn't expect you to bring enough oatmeal to keep me going, so I ate ahead of time."

"Oatmeal?"

"My favorite. If I eat enough, I can go for several days."

a/n: I am loving this suggestion. Doug will solve the problem by tomorrow, but I need to research about food in Maryland for reasons.

Next up: Request part 2.