Mission 7: 'First Contact'

[michaelwallace]

Mike left Andy with the gps device in hand as he went to retrieve the body of the mirandan soldier. Mike lifted the body up onto his back and carried him over into the room where Loken was tending to Saryn. The guy musta weighed about 200llbs with all his militar gear on and Mike was struggling to carry him. He felt like he had never carried anything so heavy in all his life.

As he neared Saryn he dropped the body a few feet away from Saryn on the ground. Mike noted the Doctor turn and look at the soldier's body and spin away in horror... he must have seen worse Mike thought. Maybe Saryn was turning from him he thought.

Mike looked at Saryn, "Here is the body, I hope you can learn something useful from it. Although I don't think this is the idea of First Contact." Mike joked as he turned to rejoin Andy.

(Saryn)

Loken and the other paleskins had become wary of Mike, it was probably due to what had happened earlier when the bloodlust took over. He was certain they had learnt of what had happened and appeared on edge around him. Mike tried to not let it get to him and sat down next to Andy.

"So what do you think Sir?"

(Andy)

(OOC: Where is everybody?)

[Deleted]

The body's face had been gruesomely burned by the heavy phase fire it had taken, and at first sight, that was the obvious cause of death. Horrified at this image, Saryn turned away, before Wallace informed him that he had brought him the body to perform autopsy on. "Thank you," Saryn responded, unable to meet the young officer's eyes.

As Wallace moved away to join Kirk again, Saryn turned over again with Numike's assistance. The girl seemed to have formed an attachement to him, which Saryn was starting to find worrysome. "Loken, your assistance please," the Vulcan spoke up, as Numike handed him a local scanning device. Saryn was chargrined at the fact that he couldn't use his own tools, but the local ones seemed sufficient.

"Loken, you need to undress him, I cannot perform autopsy on a clothed corpse. Please cover his face and his gentials as you unclothe him. There is no need to upset your family or Numike." He reached towards the girl. "Turn around until Loken says you may watch, then I need you to hand me a scalpel."

Numike did as she was told, and Loken started to undress the corpse, tossing the clothes towards his family for them to examine. "You may watch now," he told the girl, after making sure the corpse was decently covered, "and hand Saryn the scalpel. Keep close to him, he may need assistance in leaning over or getting up."

Loken glanced up at Saryn from his crouched position. "Is there anything else you need?"

Saryn carefully shook his head. "Other than a few bowls to put the organs in, no." He accepted Numike's assistance in getting up then carefully made a Y incision across the male's chest. "I will need a cutter to open up his thorax," Saryn explained, and the item was handed to him. Numike covered her ears as Saryn worked, looking even paler than usual. Saryn on his part kept close watch on the girl, his eyes constantly darting back to her.

He felt weak, sick and extremely hungry, as no-one had thought of offering him any food since Wallace had nearly killed him. To Saryn, Wallace was a danger even though he seemed considerably contrite about his actions. ~Fear is illogical~ Saryn thought, as he worked and examined the Mirandan intestinal system. "Curious," he murmured, "Mr Wallace are you certain that you only shot him? With a phase pistol? I am detecting projectiles in this man's body, and recent insertions of other objects of torture."

He waited for Wallace to respond and during that time he moved on to examine the corpse's organs in detail. They didn't look much different than a Human's, except that the intestinal system was made for purely carnivorous diets, rather than omnivorous. The girl leaned close to him, wanting to get a closer look at what he was doing. Saryn sighed in annoyance. "Numike, please...take a step back, you are in the way."

Defiantly, Numike glanced up at him. "And you are getting weaker," she retorted, "you need to rest. You can finish this later." She placed her small hands on his shoulders and tried to press him back. "Please," she added, "you saved me, now let me help you. Please?" She leaned in to give him a hug, upon which Saryn reacted.

He meant to return the hug in the intention of which it was given, but her throat came very close to his fangs. Instincts took over at that moment and his fangs grazed her pure white skin. Loken saw what was happening and gave Saryn a hard shove as he pulled Numike away. Saryn fell back hard and he cried out in both surprise and pain as the back of his head struck the stone slab he'd been sitting on.

His cry in turn brought back the attention of both Wallace and Kirk, who came running back to see what was going on. Loken turned to them. "He went for the girl," Loken breathed angrily, "he's a danger to us now. You will need to care for him now, I'm pulling my hands off."

Numike, unaware of what had happened, struggled in Loken's arms. "Let me go!" she screamed, wanting to go back to her strange friend, "he's sick! That one made him sick!" She pointed an accusing finger at Wallace, "he needs my help."

Saryn lay perfectly still as one of the Mirandans held a knife at his throat, waiting for the word from Loken. His head was spinning and he tried to recall what had happened before Loken had shoved him. He couldn't, which annoyed him even more than not having the proper tools to perform an autopsy. "Captain?" he called out, wanting nothing more now than to find Jack and get out of here. "Captain, what did just happen?"

[michaelwallace]

Mike had left the vulcan doctor to carry out his dissection with the assistance of Loken and Numike. Mike was still not 100% trustworthy of Loken and the other mirandans, it felt like something wasn’t right. He didn’t know if he should trust his instincts anymore, after what had happened with Saryn earlier he was beginning to doubt himself. Mike’s train of thought was broken by a question from Saryn:

"Mr Wallace are you certain that you only shot him? With a phase pistol? I am detecting projectiles in this man's body, and recent insertions of other objects of torture."
Mike turned at stared at the vulcan doctor, then glimpsed at Andy: “I can assure you Doc, we only shot him with a phase pistol – 2 shots to his face from myself and the Captain…” Mike answered turning to Andy:

(Andy)

After Andy had reiterated what Mike had said, they both sighed as Saryn continued with his investigation of mirandan biology. Mike still wasn’t sure that this was right but he wasn’t about to protest it after what these savages did to Jones!

Just then Mike and Andy heard a scream from Saryn and raced over to Saryn and the mirandans. Loken turned to them in anger and spoke with venom:
"He went for the girl," Loken breathed angrily, "he's a danger to us now. You will need to care for him now, I'm pulling my hands off. Once Loken had finished one of his men held a knife up to Saryn’s throat, Mike instinctively reached for his phase pistol.

"Captain?" Saryn called out, wanting nothing more now than to find Jack and get out of here. "Captain, what did just happen?" Mike couldn’t take it anymore and pulled his phase pistol from its holster, pointing it at the mirandan next to Saryn. Mike hadn’t waited for Andy’s order he had reacted purely on impulse.

“Loken, Order your man to step back or I’ll shoot!” They had reached a stand-off, Mike dared not look at Andy’s reaction to all this, Loken stared straight into Mike’s eyes and he saw real hatred in the mirandan's eyes.

“Sir, your orders? I believe we have to get outta here!” Mike yelled across to Andy.

(Andy)

[Deleted]

Saryn felt the blade's edge bite into his skin and he held as still as possible. It became clear to him now that he'd attempted something unforgivable, and slowly the memory came back to him. Daring a glance sideways, he saw Numike struggle in Loken's grip, trying to get to him. "Numike, stay with Loken," he signaled her in the basic language they'd developed between themselves, "you're safer there."

"No!" Numike cried and issued Loken a fierce kick against his shin.

Loken reacted and yanked her back by her arm. He glared at Saryn, his eyes flashing in fury. Then he looked up at Somon, who had the knife at the stranger's throat. Loken no longer knew what to think; if he odered Somon to stand down, there was still the chance Wallace would shoot him and he didn't trust these strangers enough to risk it. If Wallace still shot Somon, he would risk killing Saryn and Loken wondered if the stranger was willing to take that risk.

If Loken ordered Saryn killed for his transgression, equally Somon would still be a dead man. He nodded to his brother to stay where he was and Somon nodded understanding. Yet, he eased the pressure somewhat, still holding the Vulcan against him as he did so. "You hurt a child," Somon whispered in Saryn's ear, "the punishment for that is death. However since she still seems to like you, I'll wait for Loken to decide on your fate. That friend of yours overthere seems ready to shoot me, tell him off."

Saryn sighed and hung limply against Somon. "I cannot call him off," he explained, his gaze darting back to Kirk, "Only Mr Kirk can do so. I am but a doctor, I have no authority to call Wallace back." He swallowed carefully and equally carefully tried to shift his position, but this only had the undesired effect of Somon reinstating the pressure on his throat.

Numike, meanwhile had struggled free and managed to reach Saryn's side. "You didn't hurt me," she whispered at him, "you saved me from the darkskins." Then she looked up at Somon. "Please, let him go. He's very sick, can't you see that?"

Somon gazed down at the girl, then with his free hand roughly shoved her aside. "Out of my way child, this is a matter for adults to solve." He increased the pressure slightly. "Tell him off or I'll cut your throat."

Fear taking a hold of him, Saryn glanced up at Wallace. "Michael, please drop your weapon. It is the safest option."

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk had heard a commotion behind him but he was too involved with working the small GPS system to react as fast as Wallace. When he did turn to see what was going on he instinctively drew his phase pistol but he didn’t train it on anybody.

"Tell him off or I'll cut your throat."

“Hold on,” Kirk said at a near shout, “Saryn is sick and he didn’t mean the young girl any harm.”

“That’s beside the point,” Somon replied, “Our customs say Saryn much be punished for his violent action.”

Kirk slowly walked next to Wallace who still had his phase pistol aimed at Somon, “We don’t share your customs.”

“Captain?” Wallace whispered in shock.

“We believe that misunderstandings can be forgiven in the right circumstances,” Kirk said, “and I believe this would be one of those circumstances.”

Kirk then continued to walk forward at a slow pace. He wanted to make his presence known but he didn’t want to force Somon to kill Saryn just because he had approached.

“Step back outsider.” Somon said just as Kirk was starting to get close, “Or I will kill this savage.”

“If you do,” Kirk said with a commanding tone, “We will kill you.”

“You would have no right to.” Somon replied.

Kirk took one step closer to Somon who then pressed the blade harder into Saryn’s neck, “I’m not a Mirandian, I don’t follow your laws. I can and will kill without remorse if you provoke me. Do you want the blood of your entire village on your hands?”

Kirk waited to see if his bluff had landed and for the moment it seemed to have caused a brief pause in Somon. He had a different look on his face, a look that let Kirk know it was time to make a deal.

“Saryn’s actions are forgivable and if you release him we will spare your village and be on our way. The choice if yours.” Kirk finished talked and stood next to Wallace who still had his weapon aimed at Somon.

<TAG ALL>

[michaelwallace]

Mike watched intrepidly at the exchange taking place before him, he had been quick to draw his phase pistol and had no intention of releasing Somon from his sights. He watched as Numike tried to fight Loken off and return to Saryn, the vulcan had bonded with the child. How strange Mike thought to himself, he had always thought of vulcans to be emotionless but Saryn seemed to be becoming more human with each passing moment he’d known him.

Mike stared at Somon with such intensity that the mirandan couldn’t look him in the eye… "Tell him off or I'll cut your throat." the mirandan said to Saryn as he pressed the blade ever closer, Mike rubbed his finger on the trigger of his pistol – ready to fire if he had to.

"Michael, please drop your weapon. It is the safest option." Saryn gazed up to Mike pleading with him, for a moment Mike thought about it but he feared if he lowered his weapon Somon would kill Saryn, he had no choice. At that point Mike heard the Captain’s voice echo from behind his right shoulder:

“Hold on,” Kirk said at a near shout, “Saryn is sick and he didn’t mean the young girl any harm.” Andy approached Somon as the two continued to exchange points of view about the culture clash, Mike queried Andy as he slowly passed him getting closer to Somon, he was worried for his safety.

“Sir?” He whispered, loud enough for Andy to hear but not the mirandans.

Andy continued to get closer and Somon threatened to sever Saryn’s head from his body but Andy showed his determination and continued to walk nearer and nearer. Mike’s eyes almost bulged as Andy spoke; “If you do,” Kirk said with a commanding tone, “We will kill you.”[/i]

He pointed his phase pistol at each of the mirandans slowly to make the Captain’s point. Andy continued to exchange threats with Somon, until he said something which Mike was unsure of…
“Saryn’s actions are forgivable and if you release him we will spare your village and be on our way. The choice if yours.”

I sure as hell hope he is bluffing Mike thought, he knew he was and that Andy wouldn’t follow through but did the mirandans? Mike looked across to Loken, the two had bonded when he made contact with the family.

“Loken look at us, we shouldn’t be fighting like this. We have different customs and beliefs, we should be working together not threatening one another. Call Somon off and help us!” Mike proclaimed as he placed his phase pistol on the ground, much to Saryn’s ease who seemed to be becoming increasingly concerned.

(Tag All)

[Deleted]

Numike finally managed to break away from Loken and ran to Saryn's side. Somon reacted by tightening his grip on his hostage, to which Saryn stiffened even more. "He bleeds green," Numike cried at Somon, "the other speaks truth. They bleed green!"

Saryn carefully shook his head, wanting the girl to remain quiet. "Loken, please send her away, she should not be watching this." He saw Wallace place his phase pistol on the floor, upon which Somon eased up a little too. Loken, however seemed torn and that worried Saryn, as Loken seemed to be the most influential person among the Mirandans.

Loken glanced from Somon to Wallace and Kirk, then back at Somon. Kirk still held his weapon trained on them, and Somon was so tense he might not listen to reason at all. And the doctor's words weren't helping him either. "You, shut up," he said as he pointed down at Saryn, "I don't want to hear another word from you, or I will let Somon have his way with you. Even though Numike is not hurt, and she seems intent on defending you and caring for you, your transgression is too severe to be overlooked. You touched a child, without adult consent, and you tried to harm her. That you are ill is no excuse, even the sick still can think before they act."

Then he pointed at Wallace. "You are partially to blame for your friend's illness. If you had better controlled your urges, he would now not be this ill." Finally he pointed at Kirk. "And you should not have led them here. Now put down your weapon or Saryn will be killed. You claim to be strangers, offworlders, but you look and act like us. Your accent is odd but you speak like us." Loken didn't know what to think anymore; he so wanted to believe them, and wanted to retain them as friends, but he was torn between truth and tradition.

At last, Loken walked up to Somon and held out his hand. "Give me your knife," he demanded, "they're not obeying. Give me your knife, I'll handle this myself."

Saryn gazed up at the man he had considered his friend. "Loken, no..." he whispered, all sense of control completely forgotten, "please..." He was experiencing an odd sense of fear, and not just for himself. Beside him, he felt Numike shiver as she wept.

Loken glared down at Saryn and bared his own teeth, displaying his gleaming fangs. "I told you to be quiet," he snarled as he thrust the knife he had snatched from Somon towards the Vulcan. Saryn's eyes widened in surprise as the long knife ran him through and he sagged against Somon.

Somon just stared at Loken, released Saryn and bolted from the room. Loken stood frozen, then knelt down beside Saryn as the realisation of what he'd done hit home hard. Numike screamed at him, but he wouldn't hear her. "What have I done?" the Mirandan sighed, as he checked for Saryn's vitals. "I am so sorry, please forgive me."

He looked around at the two humans. "Your other man, he's safe, though he's being held by the darkskins. We found him earlier, but we can't get at him. Vespis will stay here, I will lead you to him myself. Unless one of you wishes to stay with him." He pointed sideways at Saryn, who was trying to focus on the conversation.

"Loken..." The Mirandan turned when Saryn whispered his name. "You did the right thing," Saryn continued, before slipping into unconsciousness once more.

[michaelwallace]

Mike watched the events unfold before his eyes in shear disbelief, he had dropped his phase pistol in act of kindness but it seemingly had no effect. Yes, Loken looked to be having a crisis of conscience of sorts but he seemed bound to tradition. Loken pointed at Mike with what looked to be great disappointment as he bared his fangs:

"You are partially to blame for your friend's illness. If you had better controlled your urges, he would now not be this ill."

Mike had no answer to Loken and remained silent hoping for Loken to say… ‘But or However’ but it didn’t seem to come. Loken demanded the knife from Somon as both Saryn and Numike cowered in fear, Mike was frozen motionless as he looked on. As Loken snatched the knife he stabbed Saryn, Mike’s turned his head in shame at himself for allowing it to happen. Somon ran like the coward he was as Mike grabbed his phase pistol in rage and as he was prepared to shoot Loken in vengeful lust he felt Andy’s hand move his weapon down

“But, Sir…” Mike tried to find the words, as unbeknownst to him Loken lay next to Saryn cursing what he had done.

(Tag Andy)

"Your other man, he's safe, though he's being held by the darkskins. We found him earlier, but we can't get at him. Vespis will stay here, I will lead you to him myself. Unless one of you wishes to stay with him."

Mike stared at Loken, “You wil pay for what you did to Saryn, do not worry about that.” Mike murmured to himself.

“I will go with Loken, Sir we must find Jack we cannot do anything for Saryn at this time…” Mike looked down on Saryn the vulcan lay unconscious having endured so much punishment, Mike wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone except for Loken. Mike shook his head, as he turned to Andy as the two walked away from Loken and the other mirandan.

“Sir, I think we should allow Loken to show us where they are holding Jack and then use the GPS device for intel – we have superior weaponry and the element of surprise on our side. Although I believe we should stun Loken – he has already seen to much of our technology.”
Mike whispered to his Captain.

(Tag Andy)

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk’s eyes shot open as he watched the stabbing unfold in front of him. If you were to have asked him at a later time how he thought the situation would have turned out, this wouldn’t have been his answer.

As Somon ran off Kirk felt a itch run up his backside and right to his right arm where his phase pistol was being held. He wanted to shoot but something inside of him made him hesitate for just a split second. That fraction of a second was just enough to let Somon get out of range and turn a corner in the cave system.

Wallace had quickly retrieved his phase pistol and he too was in the mood for a fight but Kirk had stopped him with a single simply gesture.

“But, Sir…” Wallace started but stopped then saw Loken lying next to Saryn.

Kirk and Wallace stood in silence as they watched Loken talking with Saryn before he lost consciousness. The faces of his away team started to go through his head, first Jones, then Jack and now Saryn. The team was now down to just two able bodied crewmembers, himself and Wallace.

“Sir, I think we should allow Loken to show us where they are holding Jack and then use the GPS device for intel – we have superior weaponry and the element of surprise on our side. Although I believe we should stun Loken – he has already seen to much of our technology.”

“How can we be sure that Saryn will be safe if we leave him here alone?” Kirk asked. The last thing he wanted to see was another dead crewmate.

“Saryn will be safe.” Loken said, “You have my word.”

“Forgive me,” Kirk said, “But at this moment your word is not worth anything to me.”

Loken’s expression changed dramatically at Kirk’s words. It showed Kirk that he had struck a cord with the Mirandian and with that he learned just a little bit more about their culture.

“My word is all I can give,” Loken said standing up, “If it is not good enough and Saryn is harmed during our trek my life is yours to take.”

Kirk could see Wallace looking at him out of the corner of his eye. It was a familiar look from a human standpoint, don’t trust him was the feeling Kirk first got, but as he stood there looking at the Mirandian something else was there. He swore it looked like truth and honesty, a quality that he had yet seen with the Mirandans.

“Your life for Saryn’s.” Kirk said as he extended out his hand for Loken to take. Loken, not sure exactly what to do held his arm out in a similar manner and with one swift move Kirk grasped Loken’s fore arm with his hand. Loken was first shocked at the physical contact but quickly followed suit, “Then we have an agreement.” Kirk finished.

Kirk released his grip, as did Loken, “You will take us to where you saw our other traveling companion and help us rescue him. Upon our safe arrival back here your life will be yours again if Saryn is indeed unharmed. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Loken wasted no time in agreeing to the arrangement.

“Good, now lets get moving.” Kirk said as he moved toward the front of the cave.

“No wait.” Loken said stopping Kirk.

“What is it?” Kirk asked sounding bothered but Loken.

“There is another way to get to the Camp. A secret way. It is how we smuggle out weapons and supplies when we need them.” Loken said.

“Show me.” Kirk replied.

“Follow me.” Loken said taking the lead.

Kirk fell in behind Loken and Wallace took up the rear as they walked deeper into the cave. They walked for what seemed like hours before they came to a big block in the cave system. Loken was using nothing more than a torch to lead Kirk and Wallace through the system and it wasn’t until then that Kirk decided to use his flashlight.

Moving past Loken Kirk turned on his flashlight and illuminated the giant gray slab that prevented them from moving any further.

“I don’t understand this wasn’t here a cycle ago.” Loken said.

Kirk and Wallace stood in silence as they looked at the massive door. It wasn’t the door that had caught their attention it was the picture that was inscribed on the door. In front of them was a large threatening eagle grasping two planets under each one of its talons. A picture that could only mean one thing;

“Romulans.” Kirk said.

<Tag ALL>

[michaelwallace]

“How can we be sure that Saryn will be safe if we leave him here alone?” Andy asked.

Mike motioned to answer but was cut-off by Loken who had clearly been eavesdropping on their conversation. “Saryn will be safe.” Loken said, “You have my word.” Mike shook his head in protest, but Andy seemed to take Loken at his word, Mike watched in trepidation at the exchange between his Captain and the mirandan. Finally they shook hands in agreement, Mike was both shocked but part of him was relieved, working with the mirandans was their only chance at a favourable resolution and this was a first contact mission afterall.

“There is another way to get to the Camp. A secret way. It is how we smuggle out weapons and supplies when we need them.” Loken said.
Mike’s ears pricked up at this point, a secret entrance and he only mentions it now… this didn’t seem right and Mike was on edge. However, Andy was in charge and his word was gospel to Mike so he followed after Loken and Andy.

The cave was dark and dingy and constructed from grey slab stone, Mike wondered how these caves must have come into being. As they walked deeper and further into the tunnel, Mike began to look at the wall surfaces, it was all too smooth and seemed man-made. As Andy flicked his flashlight on Mike turned to Loken,

Asking, “How long have you been aware of this tunnel? Has it always been here?”

Loken looked at him and then responded: “This tunnel has been here for a generation, I recall it from even my time as a boy.”

Loken’s answer seemed genuine enough until the group hit a dead end. “I don’t understand this wasn’t here a cycle ago.” Loken said. As Andy brushed past Loken, Mike followed in astonishment as Andy shone his flashlight across the whole door… when the insignia marked on it caught both their attentions.

”Romulans” Andy exclaimed.

Mike nodded deep in thought,
“Perhaps it wasn’t the mirandans who knocked us out of the sky, as we had first thought.” He spoke out loud as he examined the door.

“Some concentrated phase pistol fire may be able to clear a hole through this door but their could be romulans on the other side, and if this is a door where the hell is the handle?” Mike asked to no-one in particular as they all looked up towards the romulan insignia stamp.

(Tag Andy)

[Deleted]

Numike hovered over her unconscious friend like a mother hen, not allowing Vespis near him. "He killed him," she shrieked, as she desperately tried to wake her friend, "Loken killed him!"

Vespis knelt down beside her, gently pushing her aside so she could see for herself. There was, indeed, no detectable pulse, but she did see his chest rise and fall as he fought to breathe. "Why don't you try and make him a bit more comfortable dear," she urged the little girl, "grab some pillows and keep his airways clear. Yes that does mean opening his shirt. We need to get that off anyway, since it's blood stained."

The woman motioned for one of her clan to get rid of the corpse, as it was starting to smell and the sight of a person's insides made her feel queesy. As her kin obeyed, she probed the body of the unconscious male before her. Though his appearance proved otherwise, he did seem to be unhurt. There was a green-stained bandage at the base of his neck, and a fine green line at his throat where Soman had pressed down his knife.

Numike came back with a bowl of water and a stack of clean cloths and placed them at Vespis' side, then proceeded to cut Saryn's shirt from his body with a small knife she'd brought with her as well. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she silently worked. Then Vespis gently turned her away, even as the man stirred and moaned.

"That's good," Vespis urged him, "wake up dear. I need you awake to help me. That other man, named Kirk, said you are not from here, and you bleed a different colour than us."

Saryn opened his eyes and stared at the woman, his expression a mask of fear. "Who..." he started, but she shushed him, gently pressing him back as he tried to sit up.

"You're hurt," she told him, pointing at the long knife. "I'm sure you remember what happened, but that'll be of later concern. You're run through, the knife comes out at your backside. What I need to know is, will it be safe to pull it out. The blade is smooth, no jagged edges. What will it do to you?"

Had he been human, Saryn had no doubt that he would've been killed when Loken ran him through. "It is safe," he whispered, "apply pressure front and back so no air escapes." In brief, and with Numike's help, he explained that the knife had pierced his left lung and that it would collapse once the knife was pulled out. That was, apart from the risk of bleeding out, the only risk.

"Numike." The girl turned to the woman when she heard her name being called. "Apply pressure on his back with this, as soon as you see the point disappear. Press as hard as you can, don't worry about hurting him. You can't hurt him more than he already is. He'll know you're trying to help him." Numike nodded and moved to Saryn's other side.

"Ready?" Vespis glanced down at Saryn, who nodded slightly and took a careful deep breath. She gripped the handle of the knife as tight as she could, then started to pull it back. Saryn's scream echoed through the cave and made Vespis and Numike wince, but the girl did her part quite well.

Vespis nodded her encouragement to the girl even as she applied pressure to his chest. "Make a bundle of your sheets girl," she instructed, "and then we'll roll him onto his back. The rock face will apply the pressure for you then." She beckoned one of her clan to take over, then firmly slapped Saryn's cheek. "Are you still with me dear?" she asked softly, "we got the knife out, and pressure applied as you instructed. What will happen if your lung does collapse? We have no doctor with us, and as your Kirk claimed you are a doctor, we have only you to rely on."

"Without a doctor, that is all you can do," Saryn whispered back, then continued to explain what would happen. "I need to get back to Challenger," he murmured.

Vespis, Numike and Adon glanced at eachother in confusion as Saryn continued to murmur incoherently. "He's burning up," Vespis concluded after briefly touching his cheek, "and I feel no pulse. He must have lost a lot of blood earlier, he is very weak. And Loken said he was already ill when they first met. I can hear his breathing is troubled, as if there is fluid in his lungs."

Numike shivered in fear as she watched over her friend. "Please don't die," she begged him, "please?"

Saryn reached up to her and offered her a weak smile. "I have been in worse situations my dear Numike," he told her, "do not concern yourself with me. We must wait until my friends come back with our missing man. Then I must make amends with Loken, and your family. I am sorry for trying to hurt you..."

Numike screamed as his hand went slack in hers, but Vespis assured her that he was only unconscious again. "Loken, please hurry," she whispered, "lead them back safely." She had heard the bargain being struck. If this man died, she would lose Loken.

[Deleted]

Meanwhile:

Loken stared at his two companions, who were now utter strangers to him. He still hadn't made up his mind about them, except that he believed Kirk when he said they came from far away. That much had been obvious all along, but the more time he spent with them, the more alien they became. The technology they wielded alone was too alien for him to understand.

~phase burst? Romulans?~ The Mirandan had no clue what they were referring to, although he took 'phase burst' to mean that it was something to come from the odd weapon they were holding.

"What are Romulans?" he asked, pointing at the beautiful painting on the wall, "are they artists of some sort?"

By the looks he was receiving, he understood that Romulans were no artists. "What do they look like?" He watched the two men shrug and share curious glances. Loken looked back at the wall, which appeared to be quite solid. "Perhaps there is some secret code we need to break?" He suggested, "otherwise we have to turn back and take the long route. However..."

Loken's voice faltered and he cast his two companions an apologetic look. "Saryn may not have that time...he was very ill when we first met, then Mr Wallace's unexpected action made him take a turn for the worse....and my own uncalled for action may very well be the death of him." He swallowed at the look of hatred he received from the chief engineer. "Vespis will do all she can for him, she's very good with the sick. And he's got Numike, wherever that girl came from. I never saw her before today..."

The Mirandan gazed back at the wall and seemed to study it. "Suggestions?" he asked after a long silence, willing them to make this tough decision for him.

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk listened to both Wallace and Loken before he made his decision. They had a man down and a man in the hands of possibly the Romulans, there was no way they could turn back now.

“I don’t think we should fire upon the door,” Kirk said placing his hand on the thick wall like door, “It might just attract unwanted attention.”

Kirk then looked up at the sides of the cave and saw the grooves that were tell tale signs that this was indeed a door. To Kirk it didn’t seem like Loken was ready and willing to go any further, but like it or not he was going to have to.

Kirk reached into his pocket and pulled out his scanner in hopes of finding some answers. At first nothing was coming up on its scopes but as he moved closer to the door and did a close inspection it started to come alive.

“What is it?” Wallace asked.

“I’m picking up a huge power source that runs along the mid section of the door.” Kirk walked along the massive door and continued to scan until he reached rock again. As he moved slowly away from the door the scanning started to go crazy until he reached a point where he could go any further.

Reaching around the darkness with his hand, Kirk felt what seemed to be a depression in the rock for an electronic key. The size and shape felt very familiar to him and that’s when he remembered the key he had taken off the dead soldier just the other day.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the key and readied himself to put it into the slot. Wallace and Loken stood at a distance to the door and watched Kirk until he turned around to speak to them.

“Find cover and get your phase pistol ready.” Kirk ordered.

Wallace nodded and grabbed Loken and hid with his pistol at the ready behind a large fallen section of the cave wall. Kirk however stood with the key in his hand, nervous about placing it into the slot for fear of Romulans on the other side. Taking a deep breath first, Kirk placed the key into the slot and watched as the keypad lite up.

The rocks cracked as the massive door started to move. Kirk backed off the keypad and hugged the cave wall until the door stopped moving. Once the door stopped moving Kirk saw that the keypad was no longer illuminated; he wasn’t too sure what that meant but he was sure he wanted that key back just in case.

Slowly Kirk peaked around the corner and what he saw impressed him; he was looking straight down into a gigantic mine. His jaw dropped open at the sheer size of the mine. Hundreds of Mirandans walked around with buckets and pick axes, while other drove heavy machinery. At the bottom of the mine was a large piece of machinery that looked out of place given the Mirandan’s current level of technology. It was a pyramid shaped tubular object with a spinning round top that emitted bright green colors with each revolution. In the center of the pyramid and attached directly to the spinning orb was a shaft that was digging into the ground.

Kirk couldn’t see what they were mining for but he had a gut feeling it was material for the Romulan war effort. This discovery had just made this mine a prime military target. Looking back he motioned for Wallace and Loken to move up.

Trying to not waist too much time and bring unwanted attention to the group, Kirk grabbed the key and placed it back into his pocket. With Loken and Wallace at his side he moved to the other side of the door and kept walking until he door started to close behind them.

As they walked he noticed that nobody cared too much about their presence. In fact as far as he could tell there were no Romulans around, they were all white-faced Mirandans who were doing the mining. To their right was a small shaft and Kirk walked them down it until he felt they were very much alone.

“Was this here a cycle ago?” Kirk asked Loken.

“No.” He replied.

“This thing is massive.” Wallace said.

“I know.” Kirk replied while at the same time keeping a close look out for anybody watching them.

“What are your orders?” Wallace asked.

At first Kirk didn’t know exactly what should be done, but what he did know was that he wanted to destroy the mine and not kill any innocent Mirandian miners.

“We need to first make sure this is being used by the Romulans. Mike I need you to go down and take a closer look at that drill. Find out what you can about it, most importantly, how do you destroy it. I’ll take Loken and we’ll try and find some information that tells us if this is being used for the Romulans or not. I would hate to send the Mirandian people back just because we made a mistake.” Kirk said.

<TAG ALL>

[Deleted]

Loken peered past Wallace at the massive construction, his jaw dropping in surprise. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at it. "I assure you, that isn't made by my people, we don't have this kind of technology." He moved his arms to include all of what they were seeing. "Perhaps the darkskins do now, but we don't. I promise, we're simple folk, farmers and cavedwellers. But we don't know what to do with that."

Loken was staring around in wide-eyed wonder, taking in everything before him. All was unknown to him, but he wanted to know it all. "What would this do?" he asked, pointing at the nearest construction, fingers reaching to touch it.

~~

Over the next few hours, Saryn drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, he was aware of his surroundings and spoke a few words with Numike or Vespis, but most of the time he was merely delerious and asking for items the Mirandans had no idea of what they were used for.

The woman and the girl tended to their patient to the best of their abilities. One of her clan had ran to go fetch their surgeon, and now they both returned. The surgeon looked thoughtful as he knelt beside the once more unconscious man. "He is not Mirandan," he finally concluded, "this colour is all wrong and his internals are in the wrong place."

Vespis nodded. "We already knew that," she confessed, "and he has pointed ears. But, he saved the girl, and he's harmless. He's done us no harm before he was injured, nor have the others. It was Somon and Loken who are to blame for this. Loken went with the two others, to find their missing friend."

Surgeon Tigis looked sideways as the girl tugged at his arm. "Yes?"

"They do act like us," Numike confided in him, "they do have our teeth. I saw Mr Wallace bite Saryn. That's why he's so sick, perhaps he should feed? He tried to feed, but Loken didn't let him. I wouldn't have minded you know..."

Tigis patted the girl on her shoulder. "Very brave of you little one, but children are not to be touched." He turned to his patient and carefully parted his lips to see if the girl's words were true. There were indeed two perfect fangs on each side of perfectly maintained teeth. But these were the teeth of a vegetarian, Tigis saw immediately. Carefully, he probed the man's body for further injuries but found only those Vespis already tried to treat.

"It would be best if he went where he came from," Tigis concluded, "if he is alien, I am not qualified to do this." He sat back as Saryn stirred again. "Ahh, he comes round. Hello, I am Tigis and I am a doctor."

Saryn opened his eyes and focussed on the older man. "Doctor?" he whispered, reaching for the man. "Help me," he continued, "where are my...friends? Are we going back to Challenger?"

"Challenger?"

"My ship..." Saryn relaxed and slipped back into unconsciousness.

"He's been like that for a while now," Vespis explained, "we don't know what he means."

"I can't perform surgery on him, he'll bleed to death. We don't have his blood in stock, and ours will kill him. We can only make him comfortable until his friends return. Comfortable and calm."

Numike held something black up to him. "He told me to get this earlier, it's his medical bag he said."

Tigis took it from the girl and examined it. "Yes this may help. Please, give me some room." The surgeon rummaged through it, then gave a triumphant cry when he found what he was looking for. "Antibiotics and antiseptics," he beamed, "I recognize the word. Keeps bad things out and wounds clean. I'm sorry my friend but this will sting a bit." Happily, the surgeon continued his work.

[michaelwallace]

Taking cover as Andy unlocked the massive door with no idea what would be behind it Mike grabbed Loken and the two took cover. Mike set his phase pistol to stun he rarely used kill, and if he were to shoot he better be sure they were hostile. As the door drew open the cave began to shake and bits of rock fell from the ceiling. What awaited them, had Mike gobsmacked – Andy let their way into what could only be described as a mine shaft, with quite possibly the biggest drill he had ever seen… with a bizarre green energy glow atop of it. The miners had taken no notice of them but they were all paleskins, it seemed the darkskinned mirandans were in cahoots with the romulans.

“What are your orders?” Mike said turning to Andy, who is deep in thought – probably pondering the very question he just asked.

“We need to first make sure this is being used by the Romulans. Mike I need you to go down and take a closer look at that drill. Find out what you can about it, most importantly, how do you destroy it. I’ll take Loken and we’ll try and find some information that tells us if this is being used for the Romulans or not. I would hate to send the Mirandian people back just because we made a mistake.” Andy responded.

“Understood sir, be careful.”

Mike parted and began to make his way down the mine shaft, he was carrying his engineering scanner, trying to subtly access it through his cloak without arousing suspicion. If this was a romulan mine where were the romulans and where were the dark skinned mirandans if the paleskins were being used as slave labour surely they would have to be supervised. Or maybe they are doing it of their own free will? Mike just didn’t know.

As Mike neared the pyramid structure his scanner beeped, arousing unwanted attention from some nearby miners. Mike just continued, the energy type being used to power the drill was consistent with romulan technology, well what little that Starfleet knew about romulan technology. It certainly didn’t look mirandan in design, nothing he had seen thus far had shown the mirandans would be capable of this. Mike neared the drill head in the ground as, he heard a commotion from above, not sure what was going on he dove behind a boulder at the lowest level of the mine and scanned the drill head discreetly, he hoped Andy wasn't getting himself captured or worse killed.

(Tag All - Sorry for my absence as late…)

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk tried to walk as casually as he could but inside his overcoat pocket his hand was firmly gripped onto his phase pistol. He had made sure to slide it over to stun before putting the pistol in his pocket but even having his weapon handy didn’t do much to ward away the nervous feelings he was having.

He had never seen a Romulan up close, as far as he knew nobody in Starfleet had seen Romulan, just their distinctive bird like ships and Empire symbol.

As they walked Kirk noticed that Loken was more awestruck about the massive construction process than the notion of invading held enemy territory. It was then that Kirk realized that Loken hadn’t the slightest idea of what a Romulan was and to that he hadn’t an idea that Earth and the Romulan Star Empire were at war.

“I think this is it.” Kirk said to Loken as he turned a corner and walked into a room with computer equipment.

Kirk looked over the computer equipment and the first thing he noticed was the foreign language. He didn’t have the time to sit down and try and figure out each character with his universal translator she he decided to employ Loken in this task.

“Loken, I need you to find what information you can about this drill. If you can see if you can locate anything on captives, or prisoners, or space aliens, anything that could help us locate our missing man.” Kirk said.

<Tag Loken>

As Kirk stood next to the door was as the look out he wondered how Wallace was doing with the drill.

[Deleted]

He remembered the whispered conversation that took place a few meters away from him. He couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but he was certain that he had heard "Earth ship" come up in the conversation. In his current state there was nothing he could do about it, but keep on listening.

"This will pose a problem for us," the man behind the shadows said," if the humans discover us so far away from Romulan space our plans will be ruined."

"I agree, but we cannot destroy their ship in orbit just yet," another said as he joined the conversation," it will force Starfleet to investigate."

"It does not matter, I believe that this all involves him," the Romulan said pointing at Jack. Jack had been able to concentrate on the conversation while feigning sleep. It took a lot of self will to not tense up or give away his current state.

"Administer the drug, we need to take him to the base," the Romulan said still hiding in the shadows," we must see what he really is."

Jack could feel them approaching him and he wanted nothing more than to look upon the enemy, but he knew that it would possibily mean his life. He wasn't about to risk that just yet. As he felt the cold fluid course through his neck, he hoped that his friends were in a better position than him.

"Sir, we have an intruder alert, someone has entered our compound," was the last thing Jack heard before he fell into sleep once again.

(Tag All)

[michaelwallace]

Mike stared up from his concealed position, the dark skinned mirandans had seemingly returned. He assumed they were mirandans and not romulans, but it seemed that they were inspecting the proceeds of the day’s mining. Mike watched as everyone began to exit the mineshaft carrying their loads with them to the top for this inspection.

Mike followed subtly carrying some ore that the mirandans were mining as he continued up the snaking wooden structure back to ground level. He slipped out about half way up and sat down in a wall recess, here he could go unseen and try to listen to what was going on. It also gave him a moment to pause for thought and to review the results displayed on his scanner. Reviewing the results, he was certain that this was the work of the Romulan Star Empire. From his work in R & D he had analysed several mineral samples of romulan origin, of course this information was still classified but it matched. He placed his scanner back inside his pocket and set it to passively scan.

Mike leaned out of the recess every so slightly to try and hear what was being said above him by the mirandans, with only a basic knowledge of the language he pieced together what he could.

“This is a disappointing harvest, we must mine more for our allies.”

“We are working as hard as we can, we just cannot go any faster!”

“I do not care for your excuses slave… Failure is not an option.”

Mike heard the sound of machine gun fire similar to that of 20th century earth and then heard screaming from above. Then the same voice shouting instructions.

“You work or you will die, you do not work hard enough - you will die! Now get back to work!” He roared and the sound of weapons fire was clear to be heard again, as well as the hurried footsteps of the paleskins running back to their mining stations in fear of their lifes. Mike stayed hidden as he heard the patrol of darkskins move off into a side room above, he made his way carefully back to the surface – with his right hand concealed holding his phase pistol.

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk watched out of the corner of the small window as several light skinned Mirandans walked past. He followed them with his eyes and saw that each of them averted their eyes when approached by a dark skinned guard. This must be one of those cultural things Jack was talking about, Kirk thought.

Progress had been slow with the computer system as Loken wasn’t an expert on the Mirandian system. He made note on several occasions that he saw characters that he didn’t recognize and with Kirk nearby and able to rush over to look, he too confirm that didn’t recognize them also.

“The best I can offer you is that we are drilling for some sort of crystal.” Loken said.

Kirk looked oddly at the computer monitor but just as before he saw nothing there that stood out beyond the plain alien writing. He did though have an idea of what the Romulans might have wanted with this planet. Thinking back to the several engineering conferences he had attended through out his years in Starfleet he remembered a particular crystal that some said could amplify the power output of their matter/anti-matter warp engines.

“Is there a name for this crystal?” Kirk asked.

Loken looked hard at the monitor but couldn’t find any names, only serial numbers, “They are calling it D-156A.”

Kirk stood up for a second thinking. He remembered the Vulcans talking about this crystal but he couldn’t for the life of him remember the name of this precious item. It was then that he saw dark skinned guards heading their way. Kirk grabbed Loken by the collar and pulled him over to the back door and they left as quietly as they could only a few seconds before the dark skinned guard entered the computer room.

“Why did you do that?” Loken asked, “I nearly found what we were looking for.”

“We almost got caught.” Kirk replied with little patience for questions at the time.

They took a long walk around and finally they came back in front of the computer room. Kirk did his best to look into the computer room as inconspicuously as he could and when his eyes peered through the small window he saw that the guard was now manning the computer station.

“Damn.” Kirk said to himself.

“What is it?” Loken asked.

“Nothing.” Kirk said trying to keep the conversation to a minimum.

Just as he finished talking a door opened in front of him. Following Loken’s lead they stopped and bowed their heads down as the superior officer walked by. Kirk didn’t close his eyes and noticed something off about the guard’s boots. They looked to be black leather and nothing like the more tactical boots the normal guards were wearing. He was tempted to look back but decided it was best not too.

Just as they started to walk off again Kirk let his eyes wonder to the door the guard with the leather boots had come out of and he spotted something, rather someone. That’s Jack, Kirk thought to himself, nearly saying it out loud from sheer excitement. In that brief moment Kirk say that Jack was lying face down on the ground, he looked unconscious but his face was towards the door and he was able to recognize him in a those few seconds.

Still holding onto Loken, Kirk turned the corner and pulled back into another depression in the long, dark hallway.

“What is it?” Loken asked.

“That was Jack.” Kirk replied.

“Who’s Jack?”

“A friend of mine. We need to get him out of that room.” Kirk thought out loud.

“Should we try and find your other friend first?” Loken asked.

Kirk thought about his question for a second and replied with a single word, “Yes.”

<Tag ALL>

[michaelwallace]

Mike had snuck up to the ground level again, unsure of where Andy and Loken had gotten too he decided to head in the direction that he had heard the dark skinned mirandans move too. It seemed they had left the paleskins unsupervised again with only 2 or 3 dark mirandans guarding the lower levels. Mike found a corridor which seemed to have been bored through solid rock in the cave wall. As he entered the corridor he noticed it snaked ahead for 2 maybe 3 hundred metres, with several metal doors leading to other rooms or corridors. Mike had no idea where Andy and Loken could be, it was in that moment Mike remembered his pda. Mike could use it to locate Andy by scanning for his pda, gripping his pda he tapped the interface as the scan began.

Moments later, the pda beeped twice signalling the completion of the scan. Mike’s pda was displaying 2 results of the scan – Andy’s signal was about 200 metres east of his current location as was Jack’s. Fearing the worst, he grabbed his phase pistol and hugged the wall concealing himself in the darkness as he cut the gap between himself and what he hoped was Andy and Jack. As he snuck along the corridor he feared the worst, what if they had been captured by mirandans or worse romulans… Mike had never seen a romulan, as he reached the corner in the network he thought he could hear the voices of Andy and Loken. Also hearing footsteps, Mike ducked in a doorway and noticed the leather boots of a guard walking past. The boots did not look like those of the dark skinned mirandans, they were quickly followed by 4 sets of footsteps – this time of the mirandan military. Mike concealed himself and tried to hold his breathe to reduce the sound of his nervous breathes, once the coast was clear he continued around the corner to see Andy and Loken peering into one of the doors ajoined to the corridor.

“Psssst… Its good to see you both. What are you guys doing?” Mike whispered from a few metres away to Andy and Loken.

“Mike, its Jack we’ve found him…” Andy replied. “We need to get him out of there, the door is locked.”

“Try that key you found on the dead guard.” He suggested, as quickly as he had finished suggesting it Andy had opened the door and the three of them entered the room.

Mike watched Andy kneel down to where Jack was lying face down on the floor, “Is he alright?” Mike asked

Andy nodded in silence and ushered Loken to close the door, Mike knelt down beside Andy, “Jack are you okay?” Mike whispered as he gently nudged the Commander.

(Tag Jack/Andy)

[Deleted]

Loken remained close to the strangers, wanting to learn as much from/about them as possible. Though it was evident his people were being used as slaves to drill up something, Loken had no idea what it was that they were drilling for. While his people possessed basic technology, Logan had never seen anything as monstrous as this before, and it frightened him.

"Your other friend, the pilot..the dead one," Loken started in a whisper, as he watched Kirk and Wallace care for their injured companion, "he was stored in a laboratory. I'm not sure it's safe to go for him. I understand if you want to take him back, but caring for this one, and Saryn, should be your priority."

The Mirandan's face fell in shame at the mention of his alien friend. "We should get back to the cave," he urged them, "before the Darkskins find us."

~~~~~~

Vespis did all she could for Saryn, but he had stopped breathing twice now and she and Tigis were starting to worry for his health. Twice now, Tigis had managed to revive him, after locating the alien's heart. "Odd place to have a heart," he murmured as he examined Saryn's naked torso. "His lung is still not functioning, and the other is filled with fluid. We need to help him breathe, and hope for the best. He lost a lot of blood and I don't know how long it'll take him to substitute the loss."

Vespis nodded as she wrapped Saryn's chest and neck with clean bandages. The wound at his throat was starting to infect, but she couldn't properly treat him. When he was conscious, he had declined the offers of bread and milk, explaining they would make him very ill. Tigis understood the concept of allergy, but since their diet mostly consisted of wheats and milk, there wasn't much else they could offer him. It was too dangerous to go out for fruits and vegetables at the moment.

Numike hovered close, grasping Saryn's hand tightly in both of hers, her face even whiter than usual with fear. Her dark blue eyes were wide with worry for her strange friend. Vespis and Tigis let her, as it would keep the girl out of their way. The three of them were startled when a beeping sound came from Saryn's bag. "Numike, see what's making the strange sound," Vespis said as she gently shoved a tube down Saryn's throat and attached a fairly large inflated balloon to it. She felt Saryn respond and gently brushed her hand through his hair. "Don't resist dear," she whispered at him, "we're trying to help you. This'll help you breathe. Stay with us now, that's my boy, look at me. Breathe now.."

Saryn gagged in response, but was too weak to give any other form of response. He knew these people were trying to help, though he couldn't remember who they were again. The girl hovered close to him, babbling at him in a language he vaguely understood, using signals he did understand. He felt weak and strangely out of place, feeling sharp teeth biting against the inside of his mouth, instilling a sharp hunger in him.

Meanwhile, Numke returned with the beeping instrument and handed it to Vespis, who opened it. She started when a voice resounded from it. "Doctor Saryn, respond," the voice said.

"Who is this? What is this magic?" Vespis called, using the language she and Saryn had been conversing in.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Erica Watson, who is this? Where is Doctor Saryn?"

"This is Vespis," Vespis replied, "Saryn has been gravely injured. We're tending to him while his friends are looking for a missing friend. Can you get him back and give him proper care? He's dying..." Beside her, Numike gasped in horror.

"I am reading four people," Watson responded, "and we are able to get a transporter lock on you. We will beam the four of your aboard."

"Trans-" Vespis broke off as she felt a strange sensation take hold of her, and a second later she found herself on a strangely lit platform. Numike screamed and clung to her in fear. People rushed forward, placing Saryn on what appeared to be a mobile bed, the rushed off with him. "Where are they taking him!" she cried, even as Tigis climbed to his feet and started running after them.

A pink-skinned woman appeared from behind a console. "I'm Erica Watson," she introduced herself, "please follow me to sickbay, then you'll see that Saryn will be fine." Once they got there, they arrived just in time to see the Vulcan disappear into a large tube. "We're scanning him for injuries," Watson explained, then beckoned a young dark-skinned male. "Ensign Owens here will take care of you now, I have to find my captain."

Owens smiled brightly at the aliens, even as the bed slid back out of the tube and four nurses transferred their patient to a different bed. "Two units of Type T-negative!" he barked at the nurses, "packed cells only. And prepare a surgical unit, he's in critical condition." Owens turned back to Vespis and Tigis. "I understand we have you to thank for saving his life. Had it taken us much longer, you would've lost him."

Another nurse approached and held out a sweet to Numike. "I'm sure you'll like that," she said, while turning to Owens. "I need to scan our guests for contaminants," she explained, as she guided the 3 Mirandans to separate beds, "with their permission of course."

Owens nodded. "Might I have your names please?"

"I'm Vespis, that's Surgeon Tigis and the girl is Numike. Saryn saved her from the Darkskins." She continued to tell Owens what happened on the planet, including Wallace attacking their chief medical officer. "We'll find them," he promised, "until then, you'll be our guests here. Saryn will certainly appreciate your presence when he comes to. Tigis, perhaps you would like to assist in surgery? Perhaps we can teach eachother a thing or two."

Tigis nodded and walked off with Owens, while the female nurse stayed with Vespis and Numike, talking quietly to them to calm their nerves. Watson in the mean time had returned to the bridge and continued to scan for her missing captain and chief engineer.

[Deleted]

The pain he felt as he was uncermonicly dropped on the ground was excruiciating. He had only regained consciousness seconds before and he was sure that he would loose it just as quickly. Even though he was in pain, he refused to cry out. He knew that it would get him killed. Hopefully they would leave him there and he could try to get himself some help.

As luck would have it, the guards carriering him left as quickly as they had arrived, but he still refused to move. He was very aware that they could still be watching him. After a few minutes of just laying there, he moved a few centimeters, but instantly stopped as he heard the door chime.

His worst fear had been realized and now he was going to pay with his life.

“Jack are you okay?”

He wasn't about to open his eyes when he first felt the light touch on his arm. He preferred going out as quickly as possible, but when he heard his name he immediately opened them to see the unfamiliar face of his best friend. Jack immediately broke down emotionally having already accepted his fate. Moments before he had been ready to die.

"I've been better," Jack said trying to stop his tears, but unable to do so.

(Mike and Andy)

[michaelwallace]

Mike watched as Jack weeped with emotion, he must have been relieved to have been found by his friends. Mike could not even imagine the torture that he must have suffered at the hands of the mirandans and the romulans and he could only watch as Andy consoled his good friend. Andy knelt down next to Jack and exchanged some words of comfort and encouragement.

Mike approached Loken to give his crewmates some privacy, “You’ve been very quiet Loken, is everything okay?” he asked

“I am worried for my people, Wallace. We are being worked to death in the ‘mine’ as you call it. But what can we do, we are but a simple folk.”

As Mike considered his answer very carefully, a claxon sounded across the complex. Mike spun on his heel to face Andy and Jack;
“They know we are here Captain, Commander – we must leave now! Can you walk Jack?”

(Andy/Jack)

Mike quickly grabbed his phase pistol and opened the cell door, Loken left the cell first to check if the corridor is clear. After a couple of moments he nodded back to Mike,

“The corridor is clear, Sirs – Follow me and Loken. We may need to shoot our way.”

Andy had to prop Jack up to his feet to remove him from the cell, he was still worse for ware and suffering ill effects. Loken led the group forward as they snaked along the corridor hiding in the shadows as they progressed. The whole complex was eerily quiet until they reached the end of the corridor and a large metal bulkhead blocked their only exit.

Mike looked at Loken “This wasn’t here earlier! We’re trapped!”

(Andy/Jack)

[Andrew Kirk]

“This wasn’t here earlier! We’re trapped!” Mike called out.

Kirk was lagging behind because he was carrying Jack across one of his shoulders and could only take slow hobbled steps.

“We must have taken a wrong turn.” Kirk said, “Wallace get our your PDA.”

Wallace quickly reached into his pocket and quickly called up his scanner. The look on his face was one of quiet confusion combined with the adrenaline rush of the moment.

“What do you see?” Kirk asked in a near impatient tone.

“There appears to be a corridor beyond this bulkhead. I’m also picking up a small power source really close by.” Wallace said.

There wasn’t much time to waste so Kirk had to let Jack brace himself up against the wall. He then approached the bulkhead, key in hand and watched in amazement as the bulkhead suddenly vanished in a strange sound to reveal a doorway.

Looking down at the key he saw the tip was now glowing green and so was the panel that was attached to the doorway. As Kirk took one more step closer to the door it suddenly opened and on the other side was a Mirandian guard. He had a look of shock on his face at seeing the group of people.

Kirk stood frozen by the sudden appearance of the Mirandian guard but Wallace didn’t. From off his left shoulder Kirk saw the bright orange stream of light that could have only come from a phase pistol strike down the guard, he quickly feel in dramatic order upon being hit by Wallace’s shot.

“Let’s go.” Kirk said turning to let everybody else pass before him. Just as Wallace got to his side he stopped him and quietly thanked him for his quick action and then passed the key onto him so they could keep moving.

Moving quickly Kirk again rushed and propped Jack up on his shoulder and the two officers again began to move out at a tortuously slow pace.

In the few yards they had just moved things had changed dramatically in the cave system. The walls of rock were replaced by smooth polished titanium looking walls. Lights lined the ceiling in perfect succession and there was writing on the walls as if to guide them to their destination.

“What does that say?” Wallace asked.

Kirk brought Jack up to see the strange new words, but before he could say anything Loken spoke up, “Those are Mirandian words, but we don’t have technology such as this.”

“No but the Romulans do,” Jack said as he pulled away from Kirk, “Those are Romulan characters.” Jack finished pointing at letters just above the Mirandian characters.

Kirk stood in silence, and it meant only one thing. The Romulans planned on arming the Mirandan’s so they could align themselves with the Romulan Star Empire.

<Tag ALL>

[Deleted]

"What are these Romulans you keep talking about?" Lokan asked, his impatience starting to show. He eased Jack from Kirk's shoulders and took up the injured officer's full weight on his own, giving the stranger some time to recover as it was showing he was starting to hurt.

Before a few days back, Loken had not seen strangers among his clan, but had clanmembers disappear on a regular basis, never to be seen again. The girl, Numike, was not of his clan but as it was unclear who the girl belonged to, she was welcome among his people. When things settled back to normal, he would enquire among neighbouring clans to see who her parents were. If none claimed her, he would take her as his own, otherwise his sibling Vespis might. The woman seemed to have a connection with the girl.

~or perhaps this point-eared stranger will take her~ he pondered as he supported Jack Logan's weight. "We have to get out of here," he urged his new friends, "we have to get back to the cave. Your other friend, Saryn, is gravely ill, even before I eh...stabbed him." He shot a glare at Wallace, but didn't elaborate. Loken tapped at Wallace's PDA. "Doesn't this thing tell you which way to go? Can't it scan for that friend of yours and lead us back to him?"

~meanwhile~

Tigis looked on with interest as the Challenger's surgeon worked on his patient. He'd never seen green blood before, and by now it was evident that it was not a convenient birth defect as Saryn had claimed before. As there was blood of his type in stock, which couldn't possibly be all his, there had to be more people with this 'defect'.

Among his people, blood transfusions weren't very common, but the technique was known. Even that blood from one person couldn't just be given to the next person, and the complications resulting from doing so anyway. Basic haematological knowledge was passed on from surgeon to surgeon, even though there were people claiming to be experts on the subject. Tigis himself had an interest in it, but surgery was his field of profession.

His eyes widened as his suspicion was confirmed; the stranger did have his heart in a different place. "Wouldn't it be more dangerous for him to have it there?" he asked suddenly.

The nurse started, then shook her head. "It is normal for his people," she explained, "he's not a Human like me, or a Mirandan like you." By now, Saryn's translucent white complexion had been returned to a pale green, though his colour slowly returned even as the lost blood was being replaced.

Several hours later, Saryn had been transferred to a bed and allowed to wake up after keeping him artificially asleep for a few hours to let him regain some strength. Vulcans were known to be healing faster than normal, and Saryn was no exception when he put his mind to it. The Vulcan opened his eyes and was surprised to be looking at the Mirandan surgeon.

"You're all right!" Numike cried from a chair at the side of his bed. She climbed onto the bed and gave the Vulcan a tight but careful hug.

"Please," Saryn spoke up, gently pushing the girl away, "do not touch me." He saw the hurt in the girl's eyes as before he had allowed her to come close to him. "You might accidently hurt me," he explained, using that as an excuse as he was certain Numike wouldn't understand the real reasons.

Vespis gently placed a hand on his arm. "We were very worried for you," she told him, "and when you are able we need you to come back with us to search for your friends. They are out of touch too long. Loken wouldn't know you have survived, he would possibly think you dead by now and he will feel terrible about it."

Saryn nodded and looked past Numike at the nurse who stood close by. "How long before I can get up?" he asked her.

Nurse Genevieve Martinez glanced up from the file she was holding and making notes into. "How do you feel?" she asked in return, "any signs of weakness? Dizziness? Can you breathe all right?"

Saryn swallowed a few times, as he was still trying to get the dryness out of his throat. "I feel...fine," he said, sounding hesitant when he tried to describe how he felt. "I do not feel dizzy and I can breathe all right. I would take a respirator with me when we beam back down, as well as sufficient medication to keep from becoming ill again."

"You were suffering from aspirant pneumonia," Genevieve told him, a frown creasing her brow, "not to mention two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. If you were your own patient, would you release yourself?"

"No," Saryn answered her, "I would not. However, Captain Kirk and other crewmembers may be in danger. I have to beam back down immediately. When we get back, I will resign myself to being a patient under your care again."

Beside him, Vespis chuckled softly. "Sure you will," she chimed in, "I see in your culture, doctors make very difficult patients as well." She looked up at Martinez and smiled. "We'll take good care of him and make sure he stays safe."

"Very well." Martinez signed the release papers and informed Watson that Saryn was beamind back down to the surface where he'd been beamed back from. "Our guests will be going with him." She shot Saryn a glare. "Report in every two hours," she insisted, as she thrust a pile of clothes and his medical bag at him.

Saryn nodded then joined the three Mirandans outside sickbay. Ten minutes later, they were back in the cave. The Vulcan was no longer appearing as Mirandan, but his long cloak with hood cast enough of a shadow on his face for him to pass as a Mirandan. Tigis noted he still looked pale enough to pass as one.