The Fast and not so Furious

Posted on Thu Apr 14th, 2022 @ 2:38am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Remal Kajun

Mission: *CD*
Location: Bajor

“ Do you know where we’re going?” Rhen asked as they made good speed along the dirt track, random foliage swiping at them as they passed. Several large snakes and other creatures hastily moved out of their way as the motorized bikes careened through the undergrowth, the track becoming narrower and more treacherous as they went.

“Not fully!” He yelled over the engine noise. “But this is the only village in this direction. There should be a road-side stop at about the halfway point according to the guy at the counter.”

“ Should be…” Rhenora laughed to herself, knowing the directions given by some tourist workers could be half assed at best, and simply wrong at worst.

They continued on for several miles before reaching a bridge that seemed sketchy. One lane, solid planking a stonework, but Remal slowed down and stopped short. Patin on the other hand…

The small bridge creaked ominously as the quad sped over it without slowing, before a river of dust and debris erupted from underneath as the structure shifted. Patin careened across to the relative safety of the track when the entire structure gave one final groan then collapsed into the raging water below, leaving only a gaping chasm where it once stood.

“Whoo oooh, what a rush! Take that denai!” She yelled before she looked back. “Ooops….” Patin remarked as she turned the quad bike to reveal in her dangerous stunt only to watch her friends get stranded on the other side.

Remal sighed. There went the easy way. He turned off the bike and stood up. The chasm was too steep on either side and from what he could see of the river it was too rough to attempt a crossing here. He stepped off the bike and up to the edge of the bridge, peered up the river in both directions, then back at Rhenora. “Well, she’s your friend, any ideas what we do now?”

“ Hang on a minute, it’s my problem when she screws up going off half cocked?” Rhenora retorted, hands on hips and grumps on face.

“When she makes mistakes like this, she’s your friend. She can be my friend the rest of the time.” He said knowing Patin couldn’t hear him from her position across the river.

“ Humph!” Was the response as she plonked herself back on the quadbike and began rummaging through their bags for her tricorder. Hopefully she’d be able to find their location on a map and use the local topography to work out a crossing point. If the bag wasn’t on Patin’s quad safely stashed on the other side.

Meanwhile Patin had already grown bored and was mostly relaxing on her quad. She had pulled out a cigar and lit up and was currently revving the engine randomly and then listening to the sound the echo made in the chasm below. She was debating leaving the lovers behind to find a solution, but something within told her to stay put and wait.

"Looks like Patin is growing bored." He commented. "At least she didn't leave us considering this mess is partially her fault." He moved over to Rhen and knelt down. "Any luck with a map or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"

“ See that light green coloured bag on the back of her quad? The map is in there” Rhenora grumbled as she looked along the chasm to either side. The jungle was thick but not impenetrable. It would be slow going. There was a high point a few kilometres upstream “ If you can get us there, we should be able to see where the topography is better” She mused, hating the fact she had lost her touch with native navigation over the years and become more reliant on technology. If they were lucky there would be another crossing of the chasm they could use, if they not, they may have to make one. A couple of fallen trees, trimmed of branches and strategically placed would do it.

Just as they were about to move off the sound of a smaller engine roaring to life caught their attention. Patin, having grown bored with waiting for them to decide what the hell they were going to do had investigated the stored equipment on her quad. There seemed to be a small but powerful cutting tool, probably designed to clear tracks but would work in a pinch to fell some timber. The laugh that erupted from the tired fighter’s mouth would have been something to behold had the sound not been swallowed by the raging waters and the sound of the engine entirely. Still, they could see the expression on her face.

“Oh oh…. She’s got an idea. The last one entailed going down the mountain on a sled with no steering. Prophets know what she’ll come up with this time”

His eyes watched on, "if she could bring one of the larger trees down our way, just right, we could cross." He began looking at the size of the trees on the other side, many of them massive in size as though they'd never been touched by Bajoran hands. A few rivaled the giant sequoia trees on Earth.

As the sound of a distant chainsaw lit up the raveen, he saw Patin at the base of a very large tree. His face twisted in fear as he took a quick measurement and turned back to the quad, his eyes large. "How big do you suppose that tree is?" He asked as he climbed on the quad and attempted to start the engine on the old machine.

“Big enough to squash us into a very small size” Rhenora admitted as Patin seemed to find another setting on the chainsaw. The pitch of the engine changed and they could see a shower of woodchips starting to emerge.

A short time later the flurry of woodchip intensified along with a calculated pause of the chainsaw. A strategic wedge was cut out of the back of the tree and an ominous creaking could be heard.

His heart stopped. He continued to fiddle with the bike until it finally roared to life. Without thinking he steered it back the way they came and gunned the gas, hoping beyond all hope they could escape the oncoming fall, to coin a pun.

“Timberrrrrrrrrrr” The shrill shriek was swiftly followed by the groan and crash of the tree falling across the chasm.

As the branches crashed down mere feet behind them, he stopped the bike and turned it around. “Well, that was close. I guess an instant bridge is better than no bridge.”

“ I don’t actually believe it….” Rhenora started before Patin leapt into the fray again, chainsaw lopping off the limbs of the tree and clearing the way. It would be precarious to walk, and nigh impossible to cross with the quad. Unless she had any other hair-brained ideas.

It had taken many minutes to fell the tree and another half an hour for Patin to cross while cutting her path. For her part, she had done pretty well at trimming close to the surface of the trunk. At long last she emerged, five-foot up on the main trunk, the chainsaw slung over her shoulder. “Come on you lazy lot, what’re you waiting for?”

Remal heaved their supplies upon his back. “I suppose we’re going to have to walk. It’ll likely be dark by the time we reach the mid-point. I suppose we’ll sleep in tents tonight, surrounded by snakes.” He held out his hand to help Rhenora up and onto the trunk of the tree. Patin looked almost happy, yet also like she was waiting on something, a thank you maybe. Truth be told, she could have been preparing herself to drive the quad bike across the tree for all Remal knew. He wasn’t about to put it past her as they all came face to face on top of the tree.

“ Do you reckon the quad would handle the three of us?” Rhenora asked dubiously as she eyed crossing the tree. It beat having to walk kilometers just to cross the chasm at least.

“Sure Nozzie, would be nice and cozy, the three of us. I could sit in your hubby's lap, you know, feel all of the ups and downs.” She gave a hearty chuckle. When she was done she hopped down out of the way. “Get your gear to the other side. Then one of you can come back and help me get the bike up on the tree. I’ll ride it across, nice and slow like.” She stashed the saw and began prepping some rope. All she needed was a pulley point.

“Since when the heck do you do anything nice and slow like?” Rhenora retorted as they set to work, hefting their bags to the opposite side of the chasm and trying no to look into the depths below. If they got the quad across it would be a miracle.

'The one and only time I made love to someone', Patin thought to herself as she set to work.

TBC