Frost to Fans

Posted on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 @ 12:50am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Remal Kajun

Mission: *CD*
Location: Northern Continent of Bajor

Hours later, the white pack of snow was replaced by a dense forest of trees, broken only by winding rivers creating a lush canopy of growth within the tropical regions of Bajor. It was truly a majestic spectacle to behold, that was until the door opened and the immediate humidity outside, rushed in to greet them. Rhemal swore he could see the moment Rhen’s hair, after being frigid and brittle, began to swell.

“ Ugh…..” The sound was out of her mouth before she had a moment to think about a socially acceptable word. Stopping dead she stripped off several layers of clothing into a puddle at her feet as the humidity and heat assaulted them. She felt like a sweat drip and they hadn’t left the shuttle yet.

Patin, whose positivity showed an immediate drop with the temperature, hung back a bit as they exited the shuttle. She even muttered, “Who in their right mind would choose to live in a place like this?”

The irony wasn’t lost on Remal. “Someone not unlike yourself really.” Then he pointed towards a hut-like building. “We can get some transportation there. Her village is about a hundred kilometers into the woods where the river bends forming a reverse flow. At least, so she said the last we spoke.”

There was a raising of an eyebrow from Rhenora that spoke volumes. ‘Last time we spoke’ could mean yesterday, last week, or three years ago. “Lets just hope we get there first” Rhenora replied, her tone a little pensive as the humidity tried to suck the life from her body through her pores.

They moved towards the secondary transport hub, Rhen carrying her many layers of clothing whilst Remal carried their bags. They had packed light - which one could do when there wasn’t a frigid environment to deal with. Light airy clothing was much easier to pack than snow gear.

Glad he left the sweater behind, along with 90% of his other clothes, Remal forged ahead and opened the curtain for the hut opening. After the ladies entered the surprisingly comfortable hit, he followed suit and promptly moved to the counter and waves down the service desk staff. This left Patin and Rhenora alone for a minute in silence.

Rhenora moved to a series of comfortable chairs and dropped her bundle of clothing onto the floor, sinking into the chair as though a founder would melt into a bucket. “I almost prefer the cold right at the moment” She laughed, eying Patin who seemed remarkably uncomfortable in the high heat and humidity.

“You can always rug up with the cold, there’s only so many clothes you can take off in the heat “ Patin grumbled in return, finding a fan and bending over to allow the cool air down the front of her top.

Rhenora laughed at her old friend, desperately trying to cool down after years hibernating… or was it hiding from her past down in the frozen southern reaches of the planet.

Whilst Patin was literally cooling her cleavage, Rhenora took a few moments to check in with how things were going in other realms. She hadn’t heard from the Sunfire in over a week, and longed to know how they were doing. Using her tricorder she downloaded the last few logs, and caught herself up to speed. The ship had done it tough in the Gamma Quadrant, alien entities, mind control, stabbings and shootings, and the loss of a nacelle.

Continuing to fan herself Patin waxed nostalgic, "Swear I haven't sweat this much since… well since R'aul Eppitwar." She gently smacked Rhenora absently on the leg. "You remember ole R'aul? He had that strange accent, did that thing with his tongue?"

“ What.. you mean a lisp? The slight slur on certain letters? Or was that due to the volume of spring wine he managed to procure?” Rhenora laughed.

"A lisp huh? Could have fooled me. I thought he was well practiced with that thing." She laughed which eased her temperature slightly. Then she eyed the tricorder in Rhenoras hand. "Is uh, that one of those StarFleet gadgets you're always talking about Nozzie?"

“ It’s a tricorder, data gathering and can be a communications device. I’ve tapped into the Sunfire’s log’s, they’re back at DS9 after some sort of altercation with a nebula creature” She raised an eyebrow as she trawled through the major reports.

"What's it like up there, Noz?" She sat back and stared at the slow rotation of the fan blades. "So empty, lonely, cold? Sounds like paradise." She commented mostly to herself.

“It’s not lonely, there’s nearly a thousand people on that ship, and there’s always something to do, people to help, something to explore. You know me - I could never sit in one place for very long” Rhenora replied, considering the line of questioning from her friend. “ You got itchy feet? Or just want to get away from everyone?”

"Well… you know me, right. Adventurous. Is it so wrong for me to want my solace?" She continued staring at the ceiling. It was an interesting choice to say solace instead of solitude, Rhenora noted.

Remal walked up at that moment, "alright, so, they are planning to put in a transporter system, but it won't get her until next Tuesday. So, he offered us a set of quad runners. It's not much, but it'll get us there. Might take two hours so if we're lucky we'll get there by dusk." He was spreading optimism like a thin spread of butter.

“ Well it’s better than walking I guess,” Kaylen replied as a dusty set of antique quad bikes appeared outside the transport hub. Patin however seemed excited. “Just like my snowmobile… until that bastard shot it….” Instantly the old fighter was out of the fan and outside in the heat, strapping their bags down in a way only she knew the logic of. Still by the time it was done it appeared as though it wouldn’t fall off, if only the same thing could be said for them. Patin mounted the first quad bike, kicking the motor to life and twisting the throttle experimentally. Rhenora took one look and climbed behind Remal on the second, she wanted to arrive in one piece.

“ Lead on MacDuff” She whispered to her husband just before he too kicked the motor to life.

He gave a glance over his shoulder, “Who’s MacDuff?” Then he took Patin’s engine revving as a sign it was time to go, so he followed suit. Underestimating the quad bike's power, the front wheels left the ground as he gave it full throttle. Panicking a bit, he backed down and leaned forward to straighten it out. Then, catching his bearings he aimed the bike down the long winding path towards the village. It was 100 kilometers give or take. The terrain was patchy, filled with dense trees, rivers with very old bridges and creatures that would make Patin smile.

TBC