The Heat is On
Posted on Wed Jun 9th, 2021 @ 11:07am by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Commander Sofia Nikedoros & Lieutenant Colonel Shaun Bradley
1,174 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Frizzle
Location: Cave Entrance
Timeline: MD 02 : 0230 Hrs
It had been a few hours since the meeting had been called, and the area around the cave entrance was a buzz of activity as teams began to prepare for the rescue efforts. Marine Engineers worked with saws to clear trees and open the clearing around the entrance wider for clearances. Shuttles overhead worked using tractor beams to move tree trunks around and shift materials out of the way. The efficiency of the teams was accented by the piles of materials that now surrounded the field. The sound of phase fire could be heard as the teams worked to level the ground and clear low level brush to make the area as safe as possible. Above, the sound of engines filled the space, and the two shapes of the Albatrosses as they lowered into the space, their rear spaces full with the heavy shapes of the medical bays that were slotted into place.
As the craft touched down, another engine sound flared past, as a set of fighters flew low over the treeline, sensor pods slung under the wings as they began passing over the area to build a continued map of the cave network that they could scan. One broke off and circled the field, touching down with its nose to the nose of the two transports, its engines died down and the cockpit slid open. Climbing out and tossing his helmet aside, Shaun approached the Master Warrant who stood in the middle of the two Albatrosses, and the pair exchanged a salute. "How're we doing Warrant?" Bradley asked, as the older man turned to walk with him. Master Warrant Eli Doyle had been a field Engineer his whole career, and you could tell. A wrinkled face and well greyed hair made his dark skin look as aged as he was. Scratching at his beard the man shrugged.
"We've got the LZ about as clear as we can," Eli said as he walked with a casual space. "Haumea staff and civies have been helping clear trees and level level dirt. You can see the healing birds are down, and we have replicated enough climbing gear for four search parties of five. Once the Haumea shuttles are here for their teams, we're good to go." Shaun nodded along, and pointed up as he could hear the sound of the runabout coming it. The Warrant nodded, and the pair approached the landing site to wait for the group to land and disembark.
The first shuttle to arrive was the one that carried the first of the Starfleet medical volunteers, with both Gunnar and Davna in tow. The young Orion was the first to step out, her typically bubbly expression replaced with the same determination that matched the hiking boots on her feet. She was there to provide information that the science teams had been scanning for. The sooner she could get this to the rescue teams, the sooner this could all be resolved. And not even she could ignore missing children.
"Sir," she turned to Gunnar, frowning. "While we still don't have scan results, the next shuttle has most of our gear and supplies. There were just too many volunteers for one go. We had to do a little rearranging."
"That's okay, until we have some idea where the kids are we don't need everyone in place," Gunnar replied, surveying the area. "Security and marines are running initial search and rescue so what we need to do is set up the field hospital. The lander there will be for critical care. God willing, most of them won't need it. We'll set up a triage just outside over here. Stage one area for broken bones, another for non-critical lacerations. We'll need hypos with treatment for shock, as well as triox ready for all of them," he said, gesturing to where he expected them to be brought in, as he paced off the areas. "Oxygen stations here as follow up for more severe hypoxia. We'll also want warm blankets and water on hand for them all."
Approaching the pair of Starfleet Officers, the two Marines stopped a half pace back. Stiffening, the Warrant Officer offered a curt "Sirs," as he stopped and nodded towards them. Salutes in the field were a Marine thing, sure, but they weren't going to get in the way of reports. "Marine groups have secured and cleared as much as we can, and are standing by at the mouth of the cave. We're waiting on a call from the science teams before we dive in. Teams will run a tether to the surface, pull real time data back here. Hopefully it will let us map the caves better."
"Fighter screens are in the air, running sensor sweeps," the Colonel added, "and we have the two birds on the ground here for medical support. If need be they can leave their cargo holds behind and fly people back to Haumea. We have breach teams on standby in case there is a cave in, we can clear paths for air fast."
"Thank you, Colonel," Gunnar said, returning his nod. "Air is an immediate concern. As I understand it, the passage they entered by is closed off and we don't know of any other openings to the surface."
"What's made worse -" Davna began, fingers playing with her commbadge, "Is that a set of scans have picked up evidence of some tachyon emissions about the area. The science team is discussing their best options, but it sounds like they're about to snag a shuttle to get a better reading."
Shaun nodded slowly, tachyons could means a lot of things, and it wasn't easy to pin exactly what they were related to. "I imagine we aren't talking a cloaked ship, does science have any idea what we could be looking at. Are we seeing Neutrino or chroniton radiation with it?" The Marine had spent a great deal of time being brought up to date with command requirements and that included the weird science tidbits a regular Starfleet Command member would need, and he was going to use it.
Just as Davna turned to ask a series of questions, an alarmed voice shot through her commbadge. ='Uhhh... Ensign? We uh... We got life forms."=
Perking up, Davna tapped her badge. "Life forms? How many? What kind? Where are they? Did they just appear, or did someone-"
='Hold on hold on! I'll transmit the data over, but they're all human, and they just appeared deeper set into those caves.'=
Gunnar felt a tenuous moment of relief. "How many, and in what condition?" he asked, already grabbing a medical kit to go see to them.
Davna frowned. "I'll make sure he gets that information to us too." Her eyes flickered down to the screen of her PaDD. "I'll get the research team down here too. Then we can have all the experts in one place."
She gave pause, looking out at the cliff face that held their current dilemma. "Time to get our hands dirty."
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