Sonic Boom

Posted on Wed Jan 22nd, 2014 @ 11:20pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & El'Shar Blackhorse

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Archadia Prime, remote area
Timeline: Current

Just as El’Shar had requested, she and Rick remained at the cabin for the rest of their vacation. Rick loved it. He could use the time to show just how manly he could be by felling trees and chopping wood for the fire and even going so far as to trap game for their food. Sure, they had a working food replicator and even quite a bit of stored food in the cooling unit, but this was more his style. Roughing it and doing his best, like men throughout the ages, to show his woman that he could take care of her in more than just the romantic meaning.

El’Shar, on the other hand, not to be outdone by Rick’s show of testosterone, did quite a bit for herself. He’d skinned and butchered game before, but it had been hundreds of years since he’d had to do it and wasn't quite going about it as well as he could. Being half human, and the child of a Mohawk chief, it hadn't been nearly as long for her. She could take care of the small and large game they managed to catch with great ease and enjoyed showing off her own culinary skills for him.

“It’s too bad that we don’t actually live here full time,” she said from the kitchen. She was filleting some fish he’d caught earlier and was working on breading them for their dinner. “I’m afraid that much of this meat is going to go to waste. We've got much more than we can actually use here.”

He was just coming in from bringing more wood for the fire and was pulling off his boots by the door. “Yeah, I think I got a little overzealous with the hunting. I was really enjoying it!” Walking into the kitchen he put his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find a way to preserve it all to take back to the station. It’s much better than the replicated stuff we get.”

She finished cutting the fish and tossed the scraps into a small bucket to take back out to the lake. “The other fish will enjoy picking that clean. A little treat,” she said as she washed her hands and then turned to Rick. Putting her arms around his neck she asked, “So you’d live in a place like this?”

Surprised, he smiled. “Of course! We’re always surrounded by technology. After a while it gets a bit bland. I like having the replicator and a few other things, but living off the land like this,” he stopped to inhale the clean air, “it’s just amazing.” Lifting her up onto the counter he moved in close between her legs. “And it gives us more time for each other.”

They kissed. He ran his hands up and down her back and held her close. “I like having ‘us’ time,” he said.

Pulling back, she took his head in her hands. “As do I, but that fish isn't going to cook itself. So if you’re hungry, you’ll have to hold off on the ‘us’ time for a bit and let me finish.”

“Damn my grumbly tummy,” he said with a smile, and one last kiss.

About an hour later, their dinner was set. Fresh fish fillets caught from the lake, roasted potatoes and green beans from the replicator with a surprise or two from El’Shar. She’d made fresh Irish soda bread and a chocolate pie for dessert.

“I've been a bit busy while you were out there flexing your muscles,” she said with an impish smile.

“You are an amazing woman, and I’ll go so far as to say an even better cook than I!” With a slap of his stomach, signifying that he’d had his fill, he stood and began clearing the table. “Is this how you lived with your family? Or were you all a bit more integrated with the technology?”

A quick memory or two replayed through her mind about time with her parents and siblings. “Mostly like this. We had our cheats, if you want to call it that, but--”

She stopped as the familiar sound of a sonic boom rattled the cabin, knocking a few things over in the process.

Without waiting, they both ran outside to see what was going on. Sonic booms weren’t a normal thing to hear, although everyone had heard them often enough, but with the current shuttles Starfleet used, and even those of the Archadian government, a sonic boom normally meant a ship was going to be landing, and probably out of control.

Above them they could see a smoke trail streaking across the sky. Following it to its origin they saw a shuttle barreling toward the trees at breakneck speed.

“Was there a med-kit in the house?” Rick asked.

Without a word, she ran back in and out with it in hand. “Let’s go.”

It was a bit over two miles before they spotted the wreckage. The shuttle was mostly intact but it had taken some serious damage from the fall. The door, usually sealed shut by magnetic fields, was hanging off of its hinge and sparks were shooting out of the drive system.

There were four humanoids in the wreckage along with the pilot. The first two they were able to unharness were conscious and suffered minor injuries. They pulled them from the shuttle and moved them a safe distance away. The pilot and the other two passengers were unconscious and had much worse injuries. But the first thing they had to do was get them away from the ship lest it explode and take them all with it.

Breathing hard from the exertion, Rick stood up from placing the fourth passenger on the ground. “I’ll go back for the pilot if you’ll begin working on the injured here,” he said as he ran back toward the wreckage.

A quick triage of the four and El’Shar pulled the tricorder out to begin on the last one pulled out. She had two compound fractures and what appeared to be plasma burns to the left side of her body. The med-kit suggested a painkiller before any further work was to be done, but the painkiller would be all she would get for now. The third passenger, a male, was also unconscious with plasma burns but his breathing was very shallow and raspy.

Digging into her pocket she pulled out her commbadge and activated it. “900, this is El’Shar Blackhorse with Admiral Wegener. We need a full medical team to this location. A shuttle has crash landed and we have five wounded in need of immediate medical attention.”

The reply took a moment but it finally came. =/\= This is 900 control. Message received. We are dispatching medical units. What is the status of the Admiral? And you? =/\=

She actually had a moment of humor. She knew that they were more interested in Rick’s safety but as an afterthought added her in the safety check as well. “We’re fine, control,” she said. “Some water for us wouldn’t hurt, though. We ran several miles to get here. And notify the local government to respond as well. Blackhorse out.”

Rick arrived back at the shuttle and climbed in, taking only a moment to glance around for any potential dangers. The interior was sparking and there was a small fire starting in the rear compartment, but otherwise it appeared okay. Some equipment had fallen up onto the pilot’s chair blocking him in, but it only took a few moments to move it out of the way. That’s when he saw the wound.

Embedded in the pilot’s chest, almost directly in his heart, was a long, thin piece of the shuttle’s front console. He knew that removing it could immediately kill him so that wasn’t an option. And the harness wouldn’t release. Having been living as he had the last week and a half, Rick pulled the knife he’d been wearing on his belt and made short work of the harness but only leaned him up enough to see if the shrapnel had fully penetrated. He ran his hand down between the pilot’s back and the chair and found nothing.

“Okay, this is gonna’ hurt like hell, but I have to get you out of here,” he said just before lifting the man to his feet. The pilot was in and out of consciousness and he couldn’t do a fireman’s carry with that piece in his chest, so he had to walk him all the way back to where El’Shar was with the passengers.

Seeing what Rick was coming with, El jumped up and helped him lay the man down and began running the tricorder over his chest. “900 is sending a medical team,” she said as she viewed the readings. “For his sake, I hope they get here quickly.”

Almost out of breath, Rick stood with his hands on his knees gulping the air that he so desperately needed. Just as he stood to turn back to the shuttle, he heard crackling. The entire ship was now in flames.

To be continued...

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Admiral Ricky Wegener

&

Captain El'Shar Blackhorse (ret.)