Free Fall (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 27 Jul 2014 @ 12:41pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Petty Officer 1st Class Oliver Morris & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & M'Ressa & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Jameson

2,289 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: Lyshan III - Uridium Mine Access Shaft
Timeline: MD 07 - 0845 hrs

Previously, on Free Fall (Part 1)...

Laughing to himself at the calm demeanor of his CoB, John took aim with his rifle before advancing on the open lift cart. Taking a peek over the edge, he could see nothing except the long descent through the shaft and the merest hint of light at the bottom from the mining establishment.

Jared didn't carry much in the way of weapons, just the standard issue phaser. He didn't really want anything else, he was a linguist not a fighter. And he wasn't exactly the best shot with a phaser. Get him into street fight or back him into an alley, he was pretty damn good, but even then he would rather talk his way out of a situation.

He stepped into the cap waiting for others to follow suit.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Mormont frowned as he entered the lift, glancing around. He had his weapons ready, but Jesus...he felt as if he was entering a battlefield rather than anything else. And he hated to admit it, the push of adrenaline was addictive.

M'Ressa hated tight spaces but this whole mine was one claustrophobic space to her. Sealed in her suit she couldn't be anymore confined then she already was.

Slowly and methodically, the lift car began its descent into the bowels of the mine -- an almost two-kilometer trip straight down into the planet's outer crust. The makeshift lighting lining the walls of the shaft flickered and softly pulsed while the lift traveled downwards, and was accompanied by an ever-persistent creaking and groaning sound coming from the mechanical gears which operated the small elevator contraption.

The smoothness of the ride seemed to disappear about halfway down and suddenly the lift began to jerk and wobble as it struggled to continue the trip. The creaks and groans of the gears became louder and more pronounced which eventually gave way to a severe grinding noise. Unbeknownst by the away team, one of the primary pulleys attached to the upper right corner of the cage was failing, and it only took a matter of seconds before it snapped and sent a reverberating metallic whipping sound through the air. The cage, now only supported by one imbalanced pulley, suddenly lurched to the side and dangled, and the forces of gravity swung the door open presenting a fatal one-kilometer drop into the abyss for any crew member who was unfortunate enough to fall out.

'Uh oh.' The resounding snap was enough for the former trapeize artist to latch onto one side of the elevator's cage with a free arm. "Hold on!" He desperately attempted to give some form of a warning, ready to reach his arm out to help. As fortunate as he may have been to reflexively grab on, however, he was probably not the strongest in the group, and the sudden realization of that fact washed over him the moment the elevator tipped to one side.

Allyndra was already clutching the rails and sides. This was even more confined than the tunnel was and the beginnings of claustrophobia were beginning to threaten. It was then the lift snapped and for a moment the cage fell. She jumped reflexively trying to snap open her wings but then realizing the suit was holding them in. She could not help it but a scream which was unlike her escaped her lips.

John tried to think of something to swear with but in the heat of the moment, nothing came to him. As the cart suddenly began to tilt he reached down to his thigh and slapped the magnetic locks on his suit to secure him against the metallic object.

"Everyone! Magnetise your suits - that's an order!!"

Quinn followed suit immediately, activating his boots after he slid to the faced down opened hatch. He then threw his body across the opened area and grabbed onto the opposite side of the frame with his cybernetic arm and grimaced while being spread eagle across the opening. "Someone...grab...the...lift...control and...hit....stop!!!"

Jared had been totally unprepared for the lift's failure and he immediately started sliding forward towards the edge. He kept sliding,unable to stop himself. He was in no position to magnetize his shoes at that point, nothing seemed to be working. He just managed to grab hold of one of the doors with his right hand, his ff hand and was now suspended halfway in and halfway out of the tiny cab.

Abbey had managed to magnetise her boots as she notice the struggle of Jared who hung over the edge of the lift, uncomfortably and using all her strength she side stepped towards him and reached out "grab my hand" she shouted as her heart pounded from the sudden drop.

Jared, who's own heart was racing, hung precariously, dangerously close to plunging into the abyss. He really wasn't prepared to die, but it looked as if he might. Then he heard Abbey's voice and saw her hand reach out to him. With what remained of his ebbing strength, he took hold of her wrist, praying she had the strength to hold him.

Holding with one hand on the rail she attempted to pull but with one arm she was not strong enough, she could already feel the grip slip as she tried harder to pull up the lieutenant. "Arghhhhhh!" She screamed putting everything she had in it and finally letting go of the rail and hoping her mag boots would hold their weights.

Jared felt her grip loosen and he slid further out till his whole body dangled outside the car, only his head and shoulders visible, then her magnetic shoes took hold. He heard his shoulder pop and a wave of fire raced to the synapses of the pain center of his brain and he called out.

Quinn saw Jared being held on by a thread. "Abbey!" yelled Quinn as he demagnetized his boots and threw his body, feet first over the edge of the lift. He then re-magnetized his boots and the force of the boots gripping themselves to the bottom of the lift flung his torso over and under. Quinn reached out with his cybernetic arm and grabbed Jared by the left leg. "Abbey, I have him! Let go of him! Trust me!" Quinn made sure his artificial implant had a firm hold of the Lieutenant's leg. "I got you sir."

Jared was already losing his grip on Abbey, he could tell his shoulder was out of its socket and hurt like hell. He went ahead and loose his tentative grip and felt Quinn lock on to his leg,

"Thanks, just don't let go." Jared managed.

Allyndra did not want to let go of anything, not confined like this and no room to spread her wings. She wound one arm around the railing and finally let go with the other. She swung for a moment before that hand got to the button to magnetize her boots. She heard the commotion going on but could do nothing until it was all but over with.

"Is he alright?" Allyndra asked to anyone.

"He's gonna be fine..." Gabriel assured calmly, catching his breath as close to the edge as he was, looking down to the little chain of people. He got his body down across the edge, reaching out to help Quinn and Jared, getting a strong grip even with his slighter body to help still the men and strengthen their position. Having realised what happened, he'd twigged that every movement over the edge of the lift on the broken side was making the cab swing and putting more pressure on the only cable keeping them both up and alive.

Siren looked around for any possible signs of how to fix this mess, having realised the same thing as Gabriel. "Whatever we do, I suggest we stay really, really still as we do it...." she said with obvious concern, hearing the obvious groaning of the remaining cable as the cab moved unnaturally against its grip with their weight forcing the angle to an even more unhealthy tilt.

"I think I can climb up with a little help." Jared said, "if I can do it, it might restore our balance. Should I try?"

M'Ressa watched the group silently, her mind racing. Forcing herself to take slow deep breaths, she regained her composure.

Oliver stood against the wall of the car. the loud bang still resonated in his ear. "If Jared thinks he could climb up. I agree we should let him. He could examine why the car stopped."

Jacob's massive hand reached out as he allowed himself to hang out over the edge of the rig. The magnetized boots holding his weight just fine at the moment. He called out to Quinn, "Chief, give me your hand. I can bring both you and Jared back up here where we can balance this blasted thing better." Jacob's strength was pretty well known by now, as was his confidence. "In the meanwhile..." He added as he was able to take a glance at the remaining cable, "...We need someone to scan the other cable... we need to know it's integrity!"

Allyndra spoke up, "I can do that. I am light and can hold my breath awhile."

"Sorry Lieutenant Commander, ma'am, way ahead of you." By the time Asahi had his boots magnetized, he already had his tricorder out and was making his way toward the cable as gingerly as he possibly could. One wrong move, and he would have snapped it right off, especially if it was about as stable as the first cable. An arm latched itself around the opposite side of the rickety lift, using the magentized boots to his advantage. It didn't take long before he had a reading. "Looks like it's stable enough to hold, but for how long is dependent on how we balance ourselves. If we could get this thing to move, it could probably get us the rest of the way down."

"You can't have all these people on this side of the car, let the big man pull me up, everyone else balance yourselves. I won't be responsible for everyone else dying.'

John felt angry, powerless mainly, but angry nonetheless that the equipment here had been so badly maintained - had the away team not taken the precautions of an EVA suit, there would most likely have been a whole mess of paperwork for the Commodore to look after.

"Pull them up! Get everyone together, then we get out of here."

Jacob grabbed Quinn tightly and said, "Hold on Quinn and make sure your grip on Jared is secure." He then pulled Quinn like a crane would pull a beam of metal: Up and then to the side. Quinn and Jared's combined weight, plus the odd angle made the task a bit higher in difficulty for the "gentle giant" of the crew, but nothing he couldn't handle. He pulled them back on the platform with only a bit of strain.

Jacob smiled as the got them back to their feet. "Let's not fall over the side again ok?"

"I think I might be buying all of you dinner," Jared said as he moved towards the center of the cab to try to keep things as centered as possible, Despite the efforts of the EVA suit his face was covered with sweat, with no real way of wiping it away.

Once everything seemed to settle, Allyndra did a quick scan with her medical tricorder. She shook her head, "Lieutenant Nicholas, it would appear you have strained your shoulder joint. Would you like something for the pain?"

Quinn adjusted his stance one back up with the group and patted Jacob on the shoulder. "Thanks, Lieutenant. I had junior there well enough with my robo-arm, I just didn't like standing upside down too well. DO we have an engineer to look at the cable? We may be able to strengthen it."

Jared who had been running mostly on adrenalin was now beginning to feel the aftereffects of his little misadventure. His shoulder was beginning to throb painfully.

"Yes Doctor," he said to her "I could use something for the pain."

Allyndra got a hypospray and dialed in an analgesic that should help without making Jared drowsy. She had to move slightly which did not help things. Again, she had that impulse to use wings which were confined.

She pressed the hypospray home and then said to Jared, "There that should take the worst away. I would give you something stronger but we need everyone alert. If it flairs again, let me know."

Jared's shoulder was still tender and it felt like a constant pressure, but at least his pain had subsided.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CA Abbey-Mae Wyatt
Scientist Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Wyatt]

Lt Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USSGalileo

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Master Warrant Officer Amon Mormont
Security
USS Galileo
[PNPC Markos]

M'Ressa
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Zhao]

PO3 Robert Jameson
Transporter Chief
USS Galileo
[PNPC Zhao]

LT Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Oliver Morris
Senior Yeoman
USS Galileo

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