Dusty Legends; Skeletons and Snakes (Part 2)

Posted on 15 Jan 2013 @ 9:28pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes

1,919 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: Vega Colony, Romulan War Battlesite
Timeline: MD 05 1430 hours

[Continued]

"It belongs to the Romulans," Kiri answered as a gust of wind buffeted her, "I could replicate you a copy if you would like?" Considering what Mor'an had taught her and they had talked about, she had her own interest in it. A sword was a better weapon than a dagger, plus it did look declarative. There was a more pressing matter though, "How are you going to get out?"

Theron still felt like arguing his point about who should keep the sword, but Kiri was right. How was he going to get out of the steep ravine? He looked all about him, up and down, back and forth. First, he tossed the sword overhand up onto the bank several meters away from Kiri.

Kiri was rather worried by the appearance of the weapon but once it had settled she moved to pick it up. Sliding her hands up her sleeve so not to touch it directly she marvelled at the design. Maybe this was why other people collected weapons, for the artistic appreciation for them.

He noticed a couple partial ledges and one rock sticking out of the side. He did some quick calculations in his head and said, "Alright. Stand back." and squatted slightly and leaned to the right.

Kiri did so, gathering what he was thing to do and almost at once stepped forwards again. It seemed like a terrible and dangerous idea, he should just walk down the stream and see if there was an easier way out. She was about to call out and say as much but it was already too late.

Theron then dashed to the left climbing the hill partially, then jumping across the ravine to two more foot holds, then jumping across again, where he was able to get one step, before the second gave way under him.

He leaned his body over the bank as he came down onto it. He grabbed for grass and vines as he began to slip back into the ravine. One vine did hold and he used his upper body strength, lifting himself up until his waist was at the top. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed another small bush and pulled some more.

Kiri watched with confusion as to what he was planning, maybe it was easier to get up the way he was going but, how was he going to get back?

He finally lifted himself up onto his feet and looked down into the ravine saying, "Hmmm, maybe going down there was not the best idea." Then, looking across the ravine he saw Kiri and realized that he was on the wrong side.

Kiri raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything expecting there would be a second part to his plan. At least he wasn't trapped below any more, it didn't seem likely that there would be a bridge nearby though.

Theron just closed his eyes, rocked his head back and around and chuckled about his predicament.

The laugh wasn't shared, gripping the hilt of the sword though her sleeve still she looked over at him. His actions overall confused her, it was so rushed and unplanned, "Are you okay?"

Kiri sounded so concerned by his unfortunate situation. "Do not worry." He looked side to side about the edge of the ravine. "I will be over there with you in a moment.

Her eyebrow raised again wondering what he had in mind, no that was too stupid, he wouldn't.

Theron backed up and moved to the left a few strides. With out warning, he hunkered down a little and took off running toward the ravine. His leap was high and long and his legs continued to move in mid air.

He was, Kiri shied away and closed her eyes. If he was going to kill himself she didn't want to watch it happen. She almost forgot that she was holding the sword as she backed away.

Theron landed on both feet just half a stride from the edge, ending in a squat with his hands ending all forward movement. He stood, wintzing a little and shaking his right leg a little. "That could have been better."

Kiri's reaction flee from her mouth as soon as she saw he had made it, "That was really stupid." Surprising herself she winched, "Sorry, are you okay?" Holding her free hand to her mouth.

"Eh." Brushing the dirt and grass from his hands on to the sides of his legs, "I have jumped farther, but it has been a while." Looking back at the ravine and then to Kiri, "If worse came I just would have fallen down and gotten really dirty and muddy." He smiled and held back a chuckle. He realized that this was not funny to her and needed to be understanding.

What if he had fallen and landed on his neck? What if he hit his head on a rock and knocked himself out? He would drown, "You could have died," Quite serious now she forgot about the sword in her hand, her tummy quivering as it recovered from the tension.

Theron could see her obvious tension. "Yes," he said with a straight face, "There are always dangers and risks about us each day. It is how we deal with these posibilities, helps us understand who we truly are."

Looking rather sourly at him she answered, "Not if you are dead." He was covered in dusty mud from his hands to his hair, water plashed up his shins it wouldn't be how she would want to be walking round. Letting out a small sigh she said, "We should contact the authorities."

"Yes." He said without thinking, but added. "Everything in due time. We still have our little adventure to complete." and smiled slightly and raised an eye brow. There were a few other things that he wanted to possibly see while they were there.

"But," Kiri didn't want this all to be over but she couldn't just less this be. Before anything else could happen they should hand over everything they found and inform the colony. Trying to pull up some courage to argue she answered, "We can report it and when they arrive carry on, it might not take long."

Theron thought through the situation again, making facial gestures as the different possibilites were addressed in his mind. He finally said, "I propose we wait until we return. I have already made not in my PADD where the location was that we found the Romulan Sword." glancing down at it, now in his hand. "I feel the main reason is that . . Yes the authorities would come out and investigate and talk to us and go over the sight . . " He left that thought hang in her mind a moment, then said, "I would rather enjoy the rest of our day as we had planned and let them deal with it tomorrow." Again he ended with a smile and raised his eye brows, hoping she would see it his way.

Truly she didn't want to argue, spending the day walking around in the grass would be nice. Even if she was off duty she was still a Starfleet Officer, even if she wasn't then reporting it now was the right thing to do. There was also the small chance they would be in trouble for disrupting a historic site, it would look worse if they waited. Protesting was hard, it would be so much easier to agree. Kiri looked extremely pained as she answered, "I would to, but I can't," Her neck shook as she tensed her muscles, "Once they arrive, I'm sure we can leave. Sorry," Maybe he could go on a little way and she'd catch up.

Thinking another moment, Theron finally said, "Very well." Without giving her the opportunity to change her mind, Lt. Rhodes tapped his comm badge, =^= Galileo, this is Lt. Rhodes. Would you please patch this transmission through to the local Vegan Authorities? =^=


Dusty Legends; A Captains Sword

It had only taken two hours since them contacting the Vegan Authorities, that they released the two Starfleet Officers. Theron turned to Kiri, made a gesture with his head, that they should walk away now, and stepped away from the growing group of Vegans in the area of the crashed century old ship.

Kiri smiled, she was glad that everything was sorted and that they were grateful for them making contact. She had been able to learn a lot about the battle and the planets history from them over the last two hours. Still she'd gone against his will and that made her feel bad, "I'm sorry, for disagreeing still."

Theron glanced back and slowed to let her catch up. "I do not mind disagreement. You had good, sound reasoning." As they continued walking he pursed up his lips in thought and then said, "I guess it was being a bit selfish in the hopes of keeping the artifact."

"Oh," Kiri had assumed that he just didn't understand the situation, not that he wanted to keep the sword, that changed her perception of him somewhat. More selfish than she had expected, maybe she trusted him less now.

"And thank you," Theron began and looking down at Kiri as they walked, "for asking them to have the artifact scanned for duplication."

Thinking for a moment she remembered, "Did you give them the other thing you found, or talk to them about it?" It was a button wasn't it, not a sword but something.

Theron's eyes widened at the realization that he had forgotten about the button in his pocket. He pulled the button out of his pocket. It had been the thing that had started this whole misadventure. He turned to Kiri with it in his open palm. With uncertainty he asked, "What do you think I should do?" He looked back at the researchers in the distance. "Should we go back?"

Letting out a hint of frustration Kiri answered, "Yes," Whatever that small object was it might be far more important than the sword. Biting back saying anything else she looked at him for a moment.

With a big roll of his eyes, Theron added, "Alright" tossing the metal button up into the air and catching it in his hand. Then with a smile, "Come along then. Let us do this the right way." and stepped off with her.

Kiri still adapted her walk to place herself slightly behind him, watching all the museum staff walking around the site and starting to scan it with deep ground sensors. If she was on her own she really might stay here all day and learn more about them.

Lt. Rhodes approached the Researcher that he had spoken to before and explained about forgetting about the button and it being the thing that had caught his attention in the ravine to begin with. The Researcher was very kind and took down the information and said that he appreciated the honesty of Starfleet.

Silently this time Kiri watched the the work being carried out with heavy scanners and mapping tools. There might well be a time soon when she'd need to take part in an operation like this so every moment helped. Special care was spent focusing on the team leaders, they were most similar to what her job would be.


[TBC]

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Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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

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