Those Left Behind 4 - As below so up above
Posted on Fri Nov 25th, 2022 @ 11:22pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronson Mitchell & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Ensign Kitiuas Thenis & Lieutenant Thomas Haldeman & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell
Mission:
Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Current-Ish (Nearing Midnight)
The first sail had been deployed and as the bugs descended Ronson and Hadleman re-entered the Sunfire, closing the hatch behind him to ward off the insects. They made the long ascent to the bridge to see if Thriss had managed to get any power from the sail before the sun had set.
Finally arriving on the bridge and taking a few moments to catch their breath. Tom exchanged a look with Ronson as he collapsed onto the floor that their deployment of the first sail would show some power being drawn into the Sunfire's batteries and stored within. "Well?" He asked Thriss.
Before he responded he tapped at his console to pull up the full readings of the current power that came from the sun. "Given we didn't start at the beginning of this planet's sunlight cycle, we don't exactly have full power. However, it may be enough to start getting power to the fire suppression systems if there are even any left, and a few other systems" the Engineer reported.
"Hey, that's great." Tom replied flashing a dirty, weary smile at Ronson along with a thumbs up. "More sails will just improve the power we can get into the batteries, correct? How much power do you think we can get stored in the batteries in a full sun cycle?"
"You are correct about the sails, since the more we have collecting sunlight, the faster we can collect the power. As for a full daylight cycle with just one sail, I think we can fill up at least one power reserve" Thriss stated.
"That's great. Ronson and i will get more sails out. Just need to take a break. It's hard getting the sail into a proper position, but I think we have worked out most of the problems." Tom replied.
" A break? It's getting dark, let's park it here and continue in the morning" Ronson replied tiredly.
The weary duo made their way back inside, the smoke slightly less thick than before - a credit to the hard work of Bonnie and Kit. They all needed rest so they could work to get the Sunfire functioning as best they could in the morning.
Ensign Kitiuas was exhausted they had only cleared nine of the eighteen decks of smoke. Her shoulder was killing her, and she was feeling the effects of dehydration. Her uniform was plastered to her body as the silver fire/blast suit did not allow the sweat to evaporate. Every deck had seemed to be a challenge: vent here, pry open stuck vent panels, or fight a fire here. She sat back in the Jefferies tube she and Lieutenant Bonnie were in, having finally vented it, and thank the Thousand Gods no fires to fight.
"Well, Lieutenant I do not know about you, but I am in need of a very serious break. I need to eat something and drink my weight in water. Would love either a real water shower or even a good sonic shower but doubt I will get either of those. I can however get out of this duty uniform and put on a dry one, and perhaps catch a couple hours sleep before we tackle the rest of the ship. What do you think?" she inquired of Lieutenant Durnell.
For Bonnie, she was exhausted, though she didn't want to show it, nor did she want to quit. Progress was progress after all. She too was drenched in sweat and still wore the blood stained shirt she had in the med bay. There hadn't been opportunity to change. As she leaned back against the wall of the tube, her stomach let out a monstrous roar. She looked over to Kit, "Yeah, I could eat." She understood Kit was an Orion who likely had heightened hormones which begged the question of how she was able to control them without an injection or food.
They had spent so much time in the tubes, Bonnie desperately wanted to stand and stretch on top of getting out of her suit. And parched wasn't even how she would describe her mouth, having emptied her canteen four decks ago. She licked her lips, "I could also use a drink." She gave a look around, to orient herself, "Alright breaks over. As much as I'd love to finish, we need food. This way to the hatch." Bonnie made to crawl over and out of the tube.
The teams met up in what was left of the officers lounge, finding enough chairs intact for each of them. Pulling them around a large circular table Ronson broke out the ration packs before promising a better breakfast if he could find enough edible foodstuffs in the cargo bay.
"Cheers everyone. To getting off this rock as soon as we can" He raised his water canister in salute to the small team.
"Can't argue with that sentiment Ronson." Tom replied, raising his own water canister as well. "To a job well done with more to do."
"Here here." Bonnie added sheepishly. She was famished, and overly thirsty, but she remembered her training. When dehydrated, do not consume too much too fast or else you could become ill. Something about over saturating your cells too quickly or something. Moreover, Bonnie was struggling with the overwhelming smells of sweetness coming from Kit. It was enough to cause her toes to curl inside her boots.
There was the lingering smell of cinnamon, roses, and vanilla wafting off of Kit. She raised her canteen up to the toast. “Going to have to ask my sister if she can do something about Star Fleet emergency rations, they all taste the same, like mildewed sawdust.” She turned and sat up "if you folks do not mind, I am changing out of my sweat and blood-soaked uniform and putting on a clean one.”
With that she stepped out onto the bridge where she had dropped her emergency duffel and opened it up. She took out a small washcloth, towel and an emergency medical kit. She poured some water from her canteen onto the washcloth, just enough to wet it. She removed her uniform and did a kick scrub down of her body, the wound scar on her right shoulder was weeping a little blood, she quickly used a dermal regenerator on it, then placed an old-fashioned gauze bandage over it.
Finally she reached into the med kit and took out one of three hypo sprays that contained the pheromonal diminisher. She injected one cc of it in her hip and did a quick calculation in her head with that shot she had enough to last the next twenty-nine days, then woe to all around her that were not Orions. She quickly dressed and went back to the officer’s lounge.
She took her bag along with her as she had an idea “So who wants a hot meal?” she asked as she removed her Orion firepot of ornately design, that contained crudely erotic scenes from Orion mythology on it. She also pulled out the package of Kytherian Crab meat and Lokar beans she had.
The scents coming of Kit were also significantly reduced when she returned.
Bonnie sipped before replying, "I'm game to try anything other than another ration pack." She sat forward and eyed what Kit was doing with utter curiosity.
"Did you say hot?" Tom asked, "By all means count me in.' Wondering just what Kit had in her package.
"Anything that's not freeze dried and vacuum sealed works for me" Ronson replied heartily, looking with interest at the pot. "Say are those...." He left the words hanging.
Kit put some charcoal in the bottom of the Orion firepot and lite them. She then took the bowls out of the upper chamber of the hourglass firepot and began cutting up the Kytherian Crab meat and Lokar beans into one of the pots. She looked up at her fellow crewmates as she pulled out a bottle of Orion whiskey and a bottle of Orion rum, along with her Orion spice packets, “Now my question for you is how spicey do you like your food. I am preparing Kytherian Crab and Lokar beans dish with sweet spice rum cake bread?”
Now that Kit was back and smelling less, Bonnie began to feel grimy by sheer comparison. She pulled her legs up to her chin, and wrapped her arms around her knees to hide the funk of a days work. She was too hungry to leave the table, a change of clothes would have to happen later, when no one was around. "Mild please, I don't want to be gassy." She answered Kir.
Tom's mouth was watering at the mention of hot food. "Mild for me as well. Not a fan of spicey food. I'm afraid." As he leaned closer to get a better look at what Kit was preparing. He had never heard of Kytherian Crab.
"I'll eat it however it comes" Ronson smiled "is there anything I can do to help? Rustle up some veges, fresh water? I know where the chef keeps the good stuff, if they didn't take said good stuff with them" he added ruefully.
Kit began to slowly mix the Kytherian Crab meat and Lokar beans in some of the Orion whiskey. As it came to a slow boil, she looked at the packets she had and added some to the mixture, then moved the pot up until it was a slow simmer. "What, you do not like Lokar beans Chief?" she asked in a teasing manner. She then took a couple of the ration packs and broke up the wafer like cakes. Once she had them in what she considered a decent powder she added some more spices from her spice packs, then some Orion rum. She then patted the sough like mixture up in her hands and then smoothed it out in another of the pans and placed it on the lower rack. "There give it a few minutes and we will have dinner." Thenis said as she sat back and put away her spices, the whiskey and rum.
Ronson shrugged "I wouldn't know a Lokar been from a coffee bean but don't tell the Captain that. It's food and it's hot and I'm starving" the Yeoman admitted as his stomach grumbled for extra emphasis.
"Your secret is safe Ronson, the captain will never know." Tom chuckled as the aroma from the meal Kit was preparing filled the room. Tom decided right there and then he had never smelled anything better.
While the food cooked, Bonnie attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, did you manage to get any of the sails launched?" She was hopeful they had made progress where she felt her and Kit were struggling.
"I am proud to say through sheer hard work and perseverance, Ronson and I got one sail fully deployed, so some power will be going in the batteries. "We're going to try to deploy another sail later." Tom replied.
"That's good. I bet it wasn't easy. At least now, even throughout the night, we should get a decent charge." She took a nibble of her ration bar and grimaced at the texture. "As long as there is heat, or wind, or radiation in the atmosphere of any kind, the sails should provide a charge." She looked at those around her looking back as though they had just learned something new. Surely they knew the solar sails worked even without active solar energy.
"Cumbersome. To be sure." Tom answered, "But like I said we managed, and we'll get another one out to get even more energy going into the batteries." He vowed. "How are you doing with the fires? I can tell the smoke is basically gone."
As Kit finished putting the finishing touches on their meal she replied "I think we should see if the batteries will have enough charge to run a diagnostic on the fire suppression system. If it is functioning, we activate it and that will free Lieutenant Durnell and myself up to assist with the sails. Otherwise, we have done about half the ship and are getting ready to head into the more dangerous areas." She then broke out some small bowls and began to dish out the Kytherian Crab meat and Lokar bean stew. She then pulled the sweat spice rum cake and started cutting it up and dividing it. "Bon appétit. My mother and sister are the chefs in the family. My mother did teach me a thing or two though."
"Yep, what she said. We managed to clear decks 1 through 9. Still have a long way to go. But if we can put the fires out, things will go much smoother." Bonnie uncurled her legs from her chect clutch and picked up a bowl and a spoon. "Looks good, thanks Kit, uh Kitiuas." She wasn't sure yet if they were on nicknaming basis yet. With Dean is had come naturally.
"Ronson and I will get another sail deployed and with two, we should see a big uptick in energy being stored in the batteries. Hopefully enough for the fire suppression system to work. Keep you and Kitiuas out of the more dangerous spots." Tom finished addressing Bonnie as he gratefully accepted a bowl and a piece of spice rum cake from Kitiuas.
"Rest first, we've had a massive day. I suggest we bunk in the same cabin, and take turns keeping guard. Less to guard that way" Ronson suggested as they tucked into their meal "Kit this is amazing"
Tom nodded at Ronson's suggestion. "Good idea Ronson." He said approvingly as he took a taste of the crab meat. "Say, this is good." Then tried the bean stew, "Good too," He said after a swallow. "Oh, I'll take first watch." He added.
"Sounds like we have a plan then." replied Kit. "I'll take the next watch." she looked around the room. "In the morning I can make it back to my quarters and grab some of my 'foodstuffs' and make us a strong and hardy breakfast. I will leave the firepot lit tonight for some light and warmth."
Ronson nodded and they all bunked down for the night after finishing their meals and cleaning the dishes. Tom took first watch and they would all take their turn equally through the night - for tomorrow there was much to do.
TBC
