Up the Mountain

Posted on Wed Aug 3rd, 2022 @ 8:48am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Ensign Jeffrey Simmons & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Fri Dec 2nd, 2022 @ 2:48am

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: Zapara IV
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 1115
3735 words - 7.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Andrei, Maddie, and a two man detachment of Kazon and one additional security NCO, started off in the northern direction he had indicated. He had tied his long mane of hair back behind his head to reduce the heat and swung his strong arms as they walked.

"It's been months since planetside. Honestly, I'm a bit glad to be here." he said to Cassiel.

"Nice to be breathing fresh air." Madeline agreed as she walked behind and to the side of Andrei so she wouldn't be stepping on the backs of his boots. Her eyes moved briefly to Andrei's bruised arms. Even with his injuries, she really wasn't surprised he was here. Show no weakness. Though he had with her, even if only for the most fleeting of moments. "A little treasure hunting never hurts either."

“You couldn’t be more right. Though hunting for treasure and hunting for trouble so often take the same forms, don’t you think?”

“Sometimes there’s little difference between the two in general - treasure and trouble.” Madeline smirked and glanced over to him while still mostly out of his view. “Just a matter of what lies at the end of the road. A mystery.”

“Life’s not all about waiting, Maddie.” He said, less an instruction than a comment, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as well. “There comes a time we have to make our end, take our treasure in both hands, without regard for what anyone says.”

The group came to an improvised path up the side of the mountain likely created by running water ages ago. They started up together along a path that gradually increased in its steepness the further they went.

“I’m less concerned about what anyone says about it, more concerned about making sure I’m not grabbing a bag of snakes.” She said, falling in line behind him as they started up the path. “Besides, sometimes waiting for just the right moment makes the result so much sweeter.” Madeline purred it out, her voice lowering slightly as she spoke the words. It was the way she said it that hinted toward something. Something she was waiting for, it seemed.

“Yes, or more the destructive if it ends up being that bag of snakes.” He said, using the wall to pull himself up. He was in pain, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to show it. “I noticed Christoph is still out of commission. Everything alright with him?”

“Here I thought you would have preferred the company of a lady, but I can call up to the ship; see if he wants to come down and play?” She offered and stepped up after him.

"We've played enough, he and I." Andrei said, his voice without inflection as he scaled the difficult terrain, his ankle killing him. He managed not to limp. "I'm just oh so concerned about him and thought you might know how he's doing. You two are close after all."

“I’m sure you know just as well as I do.” Her dark eyes remained locked on him, only leaving when she needed to establish her footing. Madeline couldn’t help but wonder why he had selected going up the mountain when only hours before she had watched him limp away from her. There had been paths much less strenuous that wouldn’t have tempted fate on him showing that he was still injured from his fight with Christoph.

The group came to a landing where the large opening to a cave sat. A strange tiger-like creature was lurking there, it’s teeth baring at them. And taking slow steps forward.

Andrei smiled, almost like he though the creature was cute, and removed pistol.

“Well who is this?” He asked with no sense sense of fear, no sign of increased heartbeat beyond general adrenaline. “Raise your hand if you want to see me pet the kitty cat.”

Immediately the two Kazon raised their hands as did one of the security NCOs, broad smiles on their faces, though theirs were lined with fear as well.

For her part, Madeline just rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. Her eyes moved to the security officer and lingered there hard for just a moment, then slid back to Andrei. “Well, Andrei, if you get eaten I’ll make sure I kill it and send it’s hide to the captain for you.”

“You’re sweet talking me now.” He said, watching the viscous animal moving closer to him still, it’s long yellow teeth glimmering at him. He thought of requesting a kiss before he died, but thought better if it. The animal lunged at him, but before he was atop him, Andrei had vaporized him. He licked his lips in the dry air. “Let’s go inside, then. Watch out for the babies, if there are any.”

"Shame. That would have made a nice throw rug." Madeline commented and walked forward with him, seeming just as unperturbed as Andrei had been. "I'd be less concerned about babies... more concerned that it was the baby by the size of this cave."

“Oh, Gods that would be fun, huh?” He responded, taking several confident strides toward the cave. As he entered it, he activated a flashlight attached to his pistol. He kept his eyes open as he proceeded in for the sake of his already injured body. “Anybody afraid of the dark?”

Instead of her pistol, for a moment Madeline pulled out her tricorder instead. While Andrei may have found the situation amusing, death by kitty cat was not high on her list of ways to go. The endeavor was quickly abandoned though as the compounds in the rocks were making it impossible to get a good reading, because of course they were. The tricorder was exchanged for her pistol and she turned on the flashlight as well, this time stepping away from Andrei to cover more ground. She could feel the Simmons flanking her as the Kazon went with Andrei; despite not being her biggest fan at least he wasn't going to leave her high and dry. She'd take note of that.

Her eyes ran over the area as her flashlight pointed the way, eventually falling on a pile of bones with bits of rotting flesh still attached. "Do you need a skull to spruce up your ship? Maybe attach it to the bow to make it look intimidating?"

“The Lovarr is already incredibly intimidating.” One of the Kazon said with a boisterous and proud voice. Only a second later, when Andrei cut him a dangerous look, did he lower his head and his voice. “If you don’t mind me saying, Mistress.”

Madeline turned to look at the Kazon who had spoken up, quirking a brow at him. "It is very rude to interrupt, you know." She spoke as if she were chastising a child and crossed her arms.

“I’m sorry, Mistress.” He said, Andrei’s eyes still falling on him.

“I may have to teach him some manners later.” Andrei said, then set his mind in the task before them again. “Let me know if you find anything valuable-looking. Hopefully we can find some crystals in here soon.

She left the Kazon alone at that point and continued to look, finding nothing but more evidence of the big cat who had called the cave home. She had the sense to move carefully and quietly, glancing to the ground now and then to make sure the way was clear. She heard the sound of small rocks hitting the ground and stopped, her eyes narrowing as she looked into the darkness ahead. "We may have another friend."

"How did that stupid fat Talaxian find a crystal in so dangerous a place?" Andrei asked quietly as he moved forward, his weapon at the ready. Moving deeper into the cave, their way began to incline slightly, getting darker and darker as they went deeper into the cave. Soon, only their light shined the way. Andrei shrugged. "Cats aren't known to come this far into cave systems. I think there's a good chance we're in the clear."

Madeline was quite happy to let him lead in this situation (not that he likely would have accepted anything less) and while there was light to be had she enjoyed the view. She thought about reminding Andrei that though they looked like cats, these were alien beings about which they had no idea what their characteristics, habitat, and behaviors would be like, but she decided against it since it would most likely land on deaf ears; or worse, completely dismissive ears. They continued up the slight incline for another four meters or so before it began to level off again. While it was still extremely dark, the faintest of blue lights could be seen coming from what appeared to be a narrow opening to the left of where they were currently standing.

“Is that where we need to go?” Simmons piped up from the back only to be immediately answered by a low, rumbling growl from the darkness. Another quickly echoed it and another.

Madeline cursed under her breath at Simmons and brought her pistol up. Her light caught on one of the cats prowling toward them. She shot it immediately, the beast yowling in pain and then disintegrating into nothingness which brought a cacophony of renewed, angry roars from the other creatures.

Andrei flinched slightly at the sound and, watching the creature disappear in a painful yowling glow, he lifted his own pistol and trained it on the other creatures who were now barreling toward them at top speeds. Judging by the size of them, the one he had killed at the mouth of the cave had definitely been a baby. He fired, disintegrating one right before it got its teeth into Simmons, but was caught off guard by a quick paw to the chest. He flew to the ground, the wind having been knocked out of him and grunted with pain due to his previous injuries. His pistol was no longer in his hand and the cat-like animal was on top of him, its razor sharp teeth inches from his face.

The saliva dripped down onto Andrei's lips, the creatures multi-faceted eyes catching the light of his fallen pistol and glittering briefly. A low, angry snarl erupted from its throat and just as it reared back slightly to strike it Andrei's face, bright yellow light flared around it. The snarl became this strange, strangled trumpeting sound as it was shredded out of existence. Andrei would feel something press against his shoulder and then a hand on his chest, though it quickly withdrew as another cat surged down from a ledge above and to the left. Its claws were outstretched, its mouth open to devour but it too was engulfed in pain and light.

"You know," Madeline's voice emanated from above Andrei. "This is what happens when you try to play with too much pussy at once, Andrei. Bad for your health."

Andrei grinned, despite himself, his heart finally racing. His dark eyes glittered up at her as he wiped the animal saliva off his face.

"I guess I'll just have to be more selective from now on, won't I?" he asked rhetorically, and then pulled himself to his feet with some effort. Standing then, he dusted of his exposed strong arms which had been caked with dirt. He picked up his phaser pistol and checked it to make sure it was still functional, before offering a much calmer grin. "Let's get back to it, shall we?"

For just a very brief moment, Madeline passively wondered how many people would have preferred that she let the beast shred into Andrei's pretty face, but as her eyes drifted she found Simmons standing there with a troubled expression. Instead of immediately following Andrei and his loyal hounds, she walked over to him and the two shared a few words too quiet to hear. It ended with Madeline briefly squeezing Simmons' shoulder which made the expression evaporate into a strangely pleased confusion, but it was short lived as Madeline finally turned to head after Andrei and Simmons followed suit.

The opening to the path was narrow and it was questionable who would be able to fit through the opening, though the burly Kazon would definitely not make it. Madeline caught up with Andrei, Simmons still in tow, and immediately sighed. Blue light was pouring out of crevice now that they were closer. It was strangely inviting. "I'll probably fit."

"It might not be safe on the other side." Andrei said, kneeling down and looking through the hole from a safe distance. "I can't make out what's on the other side. We might be able to widen the opening with our phasers."

His dismissal of her idea seemed based solely on the fact that it would put her in danger. He didn't make this fact obvious, but seemed eager to look for alternative solutions. He started messing with the settings on his phaser, looking for the one he though could adequately cut through the rock without destabilizing the rock around the hole itself.

"Or whatever it is could be highly volatile and we all just blow up." She pointed out. There was no bite in her voice to put down his idea, but the simple fact was that they couldn't really scan what was in here to know for sure. "I'll be careful."

Andrei looked back at her from his kneeling position, his eyes scanning hers. His expression communicated very little of what he was thinking, but his voice said more.

"You'd better." he said, and then turned toward the hole. "Go ahead, Lieutenant. At the first sign of trouble, get your ass back here."

For just a moment she looked at him, her eyes searching his just as he scanned her gaze. When he looked away she immediately started walking toward the opening in the wall. Her hand lifted in acknowledgment to Andrei's words about trouble, but her focus was on what was in front of her. She placed her hands on either side of the opening and inspected everything within her view before she even placed a single foot inside. Given the glow, she could see most everything well enough; it wasn't going to be a pleasant trip through, but that wasn't going to dissuade her. Madeline cast one more look over her shoulder and nodded to the others, then stepped inside and began to shift and squeeze her body through the rocks. She was out of view quickly.

"What if she gets stuck?" Simmons asked.

Andrei hadn't been shy watching Madeline's backside as she shimmied into the tunnel. His eyes moved over her body until she blocked out all the light coming from the other side.

"I guess we'll have to grease her to get her out." he said in a deadpan, though the idea did amuse him. "That failing, we can call Vengeance and use the transporter. It might take some pattern enhancers and a few hours, but we'd get the job done."

He crawled to the hole and looked inside, seeing little more than darkness beyond.

"Maddie, how are you getting on? What do you see?" he asked.

"Rocks." Came the slightly muffled, unamused reply. He could hear the clatter of a few small stones being dislodged and every so often she would shift just enough that blips of the blue light would pass just long enough for him to see that she was making progress. Simmons had moved over to stand next to Andrei, but was facing out into the cave to watch for any more danger. After another minute or so, there was suddenly a sharp hiss of pain.

"Gods dammed fucking crop top bullshit piece of uniform why the actual fuck..." Madeline's angry rant could be heard and then became muffled again as she began moving once more, more rocks being dislodged until there was suddenly a sliding sound and light flooded back through the hole coupled with a soft thump. There was a brief pause and she called out. "Found some shinies!"

Andrei raised his brows, having settled his mind on whatever minor injury she seemed to have suffered and her crawl through the hole. The return of shimmering blue light jostled him back to reality and her words did so even more.

"Did you? How many?" he wondered. It had to be enough to illuminate the cave so brightly.

There wasn't an immediate answer as Madeline now looked down to her abdomen and the long, bleeding gash there. She reached down to touch it and hissed in pain, but determined it wasn't deep enough to require anything immediate. Licking her lips, she placed her hands over it and began to count. "Hundred...ish?"

Andrei smiled and looked over at Simons. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder as a sort of congratulations, but didn't speak about it any further. Instead, he spoke through the hole again.

"Great. Now the question is: do you see a way out of there or are we going to need to bring in some heavy equipment to widen this one?"

"Looking." At least, she would in a moment. She stepped up to the wall where there was a cluster of crystals and poked at it to see if it did anything. When it didn't, she turned and began to look around. She could see what appeared to have been an exit, but it was another rather narrow passage and full of rocks. Moving back to the crevice she had crawled through, she spoke back through to Andrei. "There looks like there was another opening at one point, but its narrow and looks like it caved in. I'd say best be careful with this one too if we do decide to bring in equipment." She then moved back to the wall and looked for a stray crystal or two to see if she could pull them off.

"The Lovarr has a drill that I think will do the trick for us." he responded, his mind moving over the possibilities as he stood up again. "Come back here and we can return to inform a collection team."

He kicked the dirt under his feet and looked to the other three men standing in the dark cave. Giving a charming smile, he touched each of them on the shoulder one at a time.

"Great work, men. I'm sure my father will put these crystals to good use building our Imperial Enclave here in the Delta Quadrant."

Simmons for his part nodded at Andrei, though seemed strangely less affected by his charm than usual and looked back to the opening. Andrei would be able to see mild concern on his face which would have been a bit surprising given just two days ago he had been blatantly equating her to a warm hole.

Madeline managed to coax three of the crystals off of the wall without much effort and undamaged. Pocketing them she lined herself up to start moving back and then paused when she realized she wasn't going to be able to see anything. "Hey, if you gentlemen are done congratulating yourselves out there, could one of you be so kind as to flash a light my way?"

"Of course." Andrei said, his eyes resting coldly on Simmons while the other man's attentions were elsewhere. He wasn't a particularly strong mind, and Andrei could tell Madeline had already worked her magic on him a bit. He wasn't worried about it, of course, but it was still quite interesting. He turned and knelt in front of the hole, shining his light inside. "You did a great job getting through there, Lieutenant. Now just get back in one piece and we can get back home."

When Andrei provided the light for her, she crawled back into the narrow opening. She did her very best to be careful, doing more twists of her body to try and protect the gash on her abdomen as best she could and keep it from opening into something more serious. Simmons knelt down with Andrei to watch her and they were both now treated to a view of her body twisting and undulating, shifting and her muscles defining a bit more when she pulled or pushed herself through narrower sections. A few meters away she paused and squinted against the light. "Okay now that's blinding me."

Andrei put a hand on Simmons shoulder and roughly pushed him away, diminishing the light which was shining into the tunnel from both of them. Once Madeline got to the end, he grabbed her hand and helped her out of the tunnel. His eyes glittered over the blood on her abdomen.

"You're hurt." he said, looking up at her again. "I'm getting you back right away." He then looked at the rest of their party. "Let's get ready to head out."

Simmons nearly lost his footing and crashed to the floor, but he was able to catch himself and gave a rather confused look to Andrei though he was distracted by Madeline. He dusted himself off and moved closer again, though not too close since he wasn't exactly sure what he had done wrong.

"Its not as bad as it looks. Its not blee- well it wasn't bleeding anymore." Madeline growled softly in irritation and placed her hand and arm over it while she fished out the loose crystals from her pocket with the other hand. "These are what we came after, right?" She asked to confirm though she was quite sure that they were correct.

Andrei took one of the crystals and examined it, turning it over several times in his hand before looking at her and nodding.

"You've got it." he said, and then placed the one he had in his own pocket. "Now lets get out of here. We can drop a collection team as soon as we return."

Madeline watched him pocket the crystal and then gave a nod, sliding the other two back into her pocket. Her abdomen was now singing in pain and she was starting to feel an unsettling tingle in her body. She dug her nails into her palm to focus herself and push through. "After you."

END