SET - Rojar I Orbital Survey (Part 4 of 4)

Posted on 18 Apr 2013 @ 8:31am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes

2,149 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Rojar I (Surface) - Shuttlecraft Virginia
Timeline: MD 04 - 1135 hrs

Previously, on Rojar I Orbital Survey (Part 3)...

A drop of sweat began to collect and tickle the end of Theron's nose as it dangled from the end. He blew up from his mouth to get it to go away, but it didn't help much. When he turned back, he saw Lamar leaning against the shuttle and onto the ground. He stepped over quickly, just as his eyes began to sting. He realized that sweat had run into his eyes. He knew that the environmental suits were being pushed to the limit. Rhodes called out, "We need to all get inside very quickly."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Rhodes reached down and grabbed Lamar's suit from the front. He prepared for a very impossible weight, but he lifted easily. Theron had forgotten about the low gravity.

In every EV helmet, Kohl's voice asked, "Do you have Lamar?", as he could mostly see what was happening through sensor composite video as well as the biofunction monitors in the suits.

"Yes." Rhodes replied. "He appears semi-conscious. I am carrying him to the hatch now." Then he added mostly for himself. "It's odd. His weight actually makes it easier to walk."

The warrant officer was still groggy and his vision was blurry...but most importantly, he was alive. "...Are you calling me fat?" he managed to joke to Rhodes as he did his best to downplay the situation.

"Yes." Rhodes retorted. "And I'll call you ugly too, if it will get us off this rock any faster." He laid Lamar down in the hatchway, stepped over him, and then pulled him inside the rear airlock.

Since they still had their helmets on, Kohl continued to speak through his combadge. "Rhodes, take off Lamar's EV suit," Kohl instructed.

Maenad was on the other opposite side of the shuttle and so was unaware that anything was wrong. The talk between Darius and Rhodes she thought was immature and actually getting annoying. But just because she was the senior officer didn't make it right to shut them up. Her suit was working as it was supposed to and neither Rhodes nor Darius had complained of theirs, so she made a leisurely pace back to the shuttle, which she thought glinted eerily in the reddish light of the sun and molten glow. But when she heard Kohl say to take off Lamar's suit, she frowned to herself.

"Are you guys back inside the shuttle?" she asked. Her surprise was apparent. They left her outside? What was their problem? Ever since Lamar had told her to fix something she had no idea existed beyond than a word she'd heard, she had felt almost undermined. This whole mission was a failure and everyone would attribute that failure to her. And it was her first mission on the Galileo. Maenad Panne never failed, she reminded herself half-heartedly.

Even though the shuttle was in plain sight and only about ten meters away, Maenad suddenly felt alone and frightened. She was on an alien planet, outside the only bastion of safety on the whole planet that basically hell. If she tripped and fell, no one would be there to come help her. If some alien beast they couldn't detect burst from the ground and ate her, no one would be there to shoot it. She could disappear and no one would even know, really. A hole in the ground could open and she could fall into a lava pool and burn to death. She became furious and almost panicked as she increased her pace. In the low gravity her first few jogs of steps were awkward, but she was able to quickly adapt. What if they took off without her? She knew they wouldn't, but they could, and the possibility was what frightened her most.

While still in the airlock after it cycled in fresh air, Theron removed Lamar's helmet. He then drug Lamar forward through the door into the rear compartment and began removing the rest of Lamar's EV suit.

As the disparate pieces of the EV suit were removed, Kohl was by his side to take them off Rhodes' hands and stuff them away into the storage compartment.

With his bulky space suit now removed, Lamar let out an exhausted breath as the cool air of the shuttlecraft's interior began to wash over his head and body. He took several deep breaths and sucked in air while attempting to recover from the sweltering heat he had just experienced. "Water." he managed to say, hoping that someone had a thermos on hand so he could cure his parched mouth.

Kohl's medical kit was laid open on the deck with its guts spread out on surfaces around the shuttle. That meant Kohl knew just where to grab for the thermos and hand it over to Lamar. "Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a shock," Kohl said. As Lamar was lifting the thermos to his lips, Kohl applied a couple of silver cold-patches to the sides of Lamar's torso, right under his arms. Retrieving something else from his medikit, Kohl lifted an armband that was attached to a hypospray with a larger than average cartridge. "I'd like to get you on a saline drip," Kohl said as he brought the hypo to Lamar's left upper arm. As his eyeline drifted over Lamar's shoulder, Kohl asked, "Oh, where's Panne?" but his comm-channel was closed.

Theron began removing his own suit. With the fresh air, he began to cough and get a few chills.

Maenad got to the rear of the shuttle. Because she was alone, the sealed hatch looked welded shut, like it would never ever open. She pressed the control panel and climbed into the decompression chamber. It filled with air and the force field went down. She wanted to yell and scream at them, which she had every right to do, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not now. She saw Lamar looking like had just gotten out of the shower; was that sweat? Had his suit malfunctioned? Maenad reached up to unlock and take of her helmet. It made a hissing noise as she undid the couplings and set the helmet down on a chair. "What happened?" she asked, shaking her hair free of the neck piece.

Still breathing hard, Rhode tried to explain, "I believe that our exertion, making repairs to the shuttle, exceeded the capacity for the Environmental Suit's intended parameters." He looked at Lamar and back to Panne, "Lamar here collapsed and I carried him into the shuttle."

Maenad looked at Lamar and decided that he was fine now that they were inside. She wanted to yell and scream at them for ignoring her, and the discontent on her lips and in her eyes was impossible to hide. She clenched her jaw for a moment, then looking back to Rhodes she asked "Can we take off?" She sounded relieved, but somewhere not quite in the recess of her mind she was still worried about never getting off this molten ball of rock.

Theron has seen her jaw muscles clench. He could not tell if she was worried or mad at them for something. Theron did not understand. They had just experience a life threatening situation and she was upset at them? Rhodes replied, "Lamar was able to make the necessary repairs. Taking off is another matter." He looked down at Lamar, "Are you ready to get off this dirty floor?"

With cold pouches on his sides and after drinking water and receiving a healthy dose of some type of fluid from the hypospray, Lamar was beginning to feel better. Not great, but noticeably better. He wasn't exactly sure if he was in any condition to be delicately piloting a shuttlecraft off the planet, but he would certainly try his best. Looking up at Rhodes, he gave the officer a nod and slowly got to his feet. He felt woozy and stumbled slightly, but eventually recovered.

"Yea...I should be fine...I think?" Lamar asked, turning to Kohl for his expert medical opinion. He did not know what was going on with Maenad, and she had not even bothered to check on his condition when she entered the shuttle. An officer was responsible for the health and well-being of all those under their command, and coming from a Marine background, it was almost unconscionable that she had not even spoken a single word to him...especially after he himself had so diligently checked on her when she was injured earlier.

After Lamar asked about his fitness for duty, Kohl screwed up his lips in a conflicted wince. Were they aboard Galileo, Kohl would have only recommended rest until Lamar was properly hydrated. But they were all alone on an inhospitable planet, and Lamar's particular skill set was the only thing they needed to get back to safety. This was battlefield triage. "The moment," Kohl said, "the very moment you feel dizziness or disorientation, you will shout out, yeah? You shout out and Rhodes takes over complete flight control."

"Yes, sir." Lamar replied, sucking up his extreme fatigue and stowing it deep inside of him. He understood an order when it was given to him and had confidence in Rhodes that he was able to competently pilot the craft.

"We will make it." Rhodes said encouragingly. "I will assist the piloting as before and we will get off this rock." He wanted to say melted rock, but no need for discouragement now. The security officer moved to the co-pilot seat in preparation.

Lamar followed Rhodes up to the front cabin and cast a quick glance back at Maenad without saying a word. When he took his seat, he let out a deep sigh and began the pre-flight sequence. "Can you run a quick diagnostic on the thruster we repaired to make sure it's functioning properly?" he asked Rhodes while he brought the navigation systems online. If their EVA repairs had been successful, then they would be headed home in only a matter of minutes.

Rhodes went through the diagnostics on thruster repaired and on the others as well, to get a better picture overall. "We have an overall 76% capacity. That one thruster is only providing 54%." He looked at Lamar and said confidently, "It will get us home." Looking back at his controls he brought the shields up to full, which was only 83%. "And a nice blanket to make sure we get there in one piece."

His co-pilot's report was reassuring and the warrant officer quickly finished the takeoff preparations. "Yea, that should get us home in one piece." he agreed, then brought the thrusters to full power. A cloud of dust and rock debris kicked up beneath their craft as the shuttlecraft lifted off, and Lamar took them out of the planet's gravity and set a course back home to Galileo.

As they launched away from the planet, Andreus Kohl was turning his head every five seconds or so. On his console, Kohl was preparing a medical log to transmit back to Sickbay ahead of their arrival. Over one shoulder, he was watching out for Maenad, and over the other, he was watching Lamar for alertness. "Well now," Kohl remarked to Lamar, "You can say you've flown through a debris field. And lived."

Maenad smirked, sharing a glance with the medical officer, but inside she wasn't happy at all. Lamar had gotten woozy because his suit had overheated. He hadn't told anyone until he had fallen over and jeopardised them all; he could have died. Luckily, he was only dehydrated. After a glass of water and getting rid of his suit. Moments before, he was giving orders that weren't his to give, and to her of all people. Like Kiwosk, the man forgot his place, and gave attitude when he was reminded of it. She watched the parts of the console that still worked, considering whether she should address him when they got back. Now was not the time.

A smile came upon Theron's face as they shuttle cleared the clogging atmosphere of Rojar I. It was an experience he would not soon forget. He glanced about the shuttle at the other members of the away team. Through difficult times there had been some ups and many downs, but they had worked as a team and were now returning to the Galileo. The wounds he received would heal, but it was a shower that he looked forward to the most.

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

WO Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

Lieutenant (JG) Theron Rhodes
Assistant Chief of Security
USS Galileo

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