Storm World Ch. 03

"You came here on a ship," she said, still holding the tag. The tip of her tail was now flicking from side to side as she considered how to ask him what she wanted to know, finally coming to the conclusion that directness was the best option. "What happened? How did you become stranded here?"

"Stranded?" he asked, sounding surprised. He stepped back with a startled expression on his face. "Wait. Wait just a second. Yeah. I'm stranded. We all were after Dr. Troi forced the captain to relocate the ship. Fucking moronic bitch! She was scared of the tanglefish after they got Dr. Saito. I told her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn't listen. Grace, that is, Dr. Madan, our geologist warned her, too. Lava flow came down and covered the engines and the landing gear before we could get back to it. I got the emergency beacon going before we had to abandon her, though. Next expedition that heads out this way should pick us up. We'll be alright. You'll see."

"How long ago was that, Ben 'Jamin?" asked Liat 'del Qha.

"Oh, about..." he trailed off, looking confused again.

"Do not worry about that for now, Ben 'Jamin," said M'peth qHo soothingly. "Liat 'del Qha, do not distress him with such questions yet. We must get his mind into a more stable state. I do not wish him to relapse now that you were able to bring him around."

"Of course, Commander," said the Pah 'Tht with a regretful bow of her head.

"The chemlights are supposed to last for two years," Benjamin murmured speculatively to himself, turning away and taking a few steps.

"Ben 'Jamin, it is not important," M'peth qHo said, hoping to keep his mind on track.

"Two years," he said, scratching at his chin. "They've all gone out. Ha. You know, I didn't crack them all at the same time. Didn't need to. Found that moss and we started using it instead. Two, four, six... Holy shit! I've been here for more than six years!"

The Human's face went slack and pale and very slowly he sank to kneel on the stone floor with his shoulders slumped forward and his head hanging, a vacant expression on his face.

Instantly M'peth qHo squatted in front of him and looked into his eyes with great concern.

"He is in shock!" she said. "Bring a medical kit!"

"Shock?" Liat 'del Qha asked, surprised.

"Is he injured?" demanded TaH 'Kiy mTh.

"A medical kit, now!" roared M'peth qHo

Ima' Nef'Tn sprang from her place by the fire and fetched a kit from their packs. She also took one of their thermal blankets, opening it as she dashed across the cave to the Human.

"They never came for me," Benjamin whispered forlornly. He began to rock forward and back, repeating, "They never came for me. They never came for me."

"I do not understand," TaH 'Kiy mTh said, stepping a few paces closer. "How can he be in shock?"

"Humans react very differently from us to unexpected or surprising news," the commander said lifting Benjamin's chin to look into his eyes. He stared back blankly, still mumbling.

"I am sorry, Commander!" said Liat 'del Qha, helping to wrap the blanket around the shivering man.

"It is not your fault," M'peth qHo said. Hurriedly she ran the medical kit's scanner over Benjamin. Though she had been trained to deal with this sort of situation in case it arose during an interrogation, it was still surprising to see the extreme physical reaction his body was going through from a mere mental disturbance. The kit, programed with jZav'Etch anatomy and a number of their subject races, had also been programed with Human anatomy in case it was necessary to tend to prisoners. It recommended a sedative to stabilize Benjamin's condition.

Ima' Nef'Tn put her arm around the Human's shoulders to support him while M'peth qHo administered the injection. Benjamin looked at them with unfocussed eyes.

"They never came for me," he said to no one.

"We are here now," Liat 'del Qha said. "We will take care of you."

"Six years?" he said drowsily. "Six?"

"Come. We must take him to his shelter," M'peth qHo told the other two. "He will need rest."

Ima' Nef'Tn lifted Benjamin to his feet and held him steady as she and Liat 'del Qha walked him to the small enclosure. M'peth qHo followed, continuing her scans. She was reassured by what the kit told her of his condition.

Inside the low walled room, for such it was in spite of lacking a roof, they found a large cot with an air mattress and blankets. A low wooden shelf held a number of items including a dusty set of clothes, a uniform, perhaps. A battered plastic chest or crate sat in one corner. Propped in the other corner was another of the poles on which grew the glowing moss while upon the wall above the cot hung a long weapon of unfamiliar design. Between the three jZav'Etch they were able to settle Benjamin on his cot and cover him with his blankets. M'peth qHo handed the medical kit to Liat 'del Qha and took the weapon from its pegs.

"I have never seen such a gun before," she said, examining it. "It does not resemble anything in our database from the CP."

"Commander, forgive me, but you should be more careful handling it," Ima' Nef'Tn said. "You could set it off."

"Are you familiar with this type?" M'peth qHo asked, offering the long gun to her.

"No," admitted the dTel'Qohar. She did not accept it. "It seems a somewhat crude device, though."

"Crude perhaps, but well balanced and well made," observed the commander, snugging it into her shoulder and looking down the sights. Dropping it to port arms she stepped to the corner where the short pole with the glowing moss rested and leaned the weapon against the wall.

"Should we not remove it?" asked Liat 'del Qha.

"I do not wish to insult Ben 'Jamin," she said. "Here it is out of his reach. I do not believe he will attempt to harm any of us, so it should be safe where it is. One of us does need to stay to watch over him until he is awake, though."

"I will remain to monitor his condition," said Liat 'del Qha.

"No," M'peth qHo said. "I need you to help go through the contents of the cave. You can read English. There may be things of importance to learn."

"But this is my fault," protested the Pah'Tht.

"You must not blame yourself, Pilot," Ima' Nef'Tn said. "I will remain with him. You do not object, Commander?"

"It is well," M'peth qHo assured her and handed over the medical kit. "He should sleep for a short time. When he wakes, alert me. Do not attempt to restrain him unless he does something dangerous."

"As you wish, Commander," Ima' Nef'Tn said, accepting the kit and settling on the floor next to the cot. Already Benjamin was breathing deeply, his eyes closed. Sleep had overtaken him quickly.

Leaving the weapons tech to watch over the distressed Human, M'peth qHo paused a few paces from Benjamin's enclosure and turned to face Liat 'del Qha. The much shorter Pah'Tht pilot stopped next to her and looked up expectantly.

"We need to inventory the things here and determine what can be of use to us," the commander said seriously. "More importantly, I need to know what happened after I was rendered unconscious. I understand I was moved to my cabin and the battle continued, but I need to know what happened to the mutineers' ship."

"The pursuit lasted for a full Taq'a Mowl*, Commander," Liat 'del Qha told her. "Captain Ama'al Tsu'Dig resolved to bring the mutineers back to base or destroy them."

"I understand," M'peth qHo said, raising her hand to stop her. "I would prefer to hear this in private where the others cannot overhear. You and I will explore the passages on either side of the cave and I will have the males inspect the enclosures. That should give us enough privacy for you to detail what happened without interruptions."

"As you wish, Commander," Liat 'del Qha said diffidently. "May I know why you wish privacy? The others already know what happened."

"I am simply being cautious and I wish to avoid interruption," she explained. What she did not say was that she held Chep 'Urt vEss in suspicion. She did not know if he was simply being young and foolish in challenging her or if he might have other motivations. Regardless, she felt it best to keep Chep 'Urt vEss ignorant of her machinations until she was more certain of his position.

Rejoining the group around the fire M'peth qHo issued her orders. She finished with the admonition, "Take nothing. Inventory everything."

"What am I to do, Commander?" asked Tem l'eth Tong, her tail flicking in an unsatisfied manner.

"You should rest," M'peth qHo said. "The sooner you are healed, the better. Rest and heal."

"I should do more than sit by the fire," the older jZav'Etch complained, her tail flicking harder. Clearly she was not satisfied with her role as invalid.

"Commander," Liat 'del Qha said. "Someone should examine the Human's computer. Tem l'eth Tong could do so without aggravating her injury."

M'peth qHo glanced at the machine sitting amongst the clutter on the wooden table and gave a nod.

"It is well," she said. "Do you think you can read enough English to make sense of the data?"

"I do not read English, Commander, but I can read several of the standard Human code languages. I am sure I will be able to learn much from the machine," Tem l'eth tong said, her tail going still. She appeared pleased to have something useful to contribute.

"I am not a cryptologist. How can you learn anything from only the code languages?" M'peth qHo asked.

"Certain strings of characters indicate what kind of file is being used. Others will indicate how old the file is and how often it has been accessed. Still others can tell me what sort of tasks the machine is intended for and what it is actually being used for," explained Tem l'eth tong.

"Interesting," murmured the commander and then nodded. "Proceed."

Liat 'del Qha offered to help Tem l'eth tong across the cave to the computer, but the dTel'Qohr declined. She lifted her crude crutch and rose a little awkwardly to her feet, leaning on the thick piece of wood as she hobbled to the table. The others split up and went about their inspection.

M'peth qHo and Liat 'del Qha entered the first tunnel lit by more of the glowing moss. It appeared Benjamin had made extensive use of the stuff throughout the cave. There was nothing stored in the side passage, but the commander proceeded along the uneven floor a dozen paces into the cramped space until they were out of easy earshot of the others. Somewhere farther down the tunnel they could hear the susurration of water flowing into a pool. The air smelled strongly of the rain and wet stone and though the floor was uneven it had obviously been walked on regularly. M'peth qHo wondered if the passage connected to another chamber or perhaps it led outside. She was tempted to press on, but there were things to attend to first.

"I do not need details of the maneuvers and the battle unless you think them pertinent," she said, turning to face Liat 'del Qha. "I want to know what became of the mutineers."

"I understand, Commander," the Pah'Tht said with a nod. "We pursued them, exchanging missile salvos and cannon fire. Much damage was inflicted to both ships. Given their course and maneuvers, I believe the mutineers intended only to pass near this planet, but we had crippled their main drive and destroyed several of their maneuvering thrusters. They altered their course to approach the planet more directly. Perhaps at that point they intended to make orbit, or perhaps they meant to land on the surface. Either way, the captain pressed our attack. We shot away more of their thrusters and inflicted additional damage to their drive. In turn we took a cannon hit to number two turret. It overloaded the buffers and blew out conduits all down the line, eventually destroying the capacitors. Many died in the engine compartment."

"What became of the mutineers, though?" M'peth qHo asked. The pilot's story so far agreed with what TaH 'Kiy mTh had told her and the most important thing now was to learn whether there was still a threat from the enemy.

"As far as I could determine, Commander, they overshot the island," Liat 'del Qha said. "I do not know if they survived."

"We must find out," M'peth qHo said, her ears laying back and her tail slashing the air decisively. "Do you know where their ship went down?"

"We came down on the eastern side of the island," Liat 'del Qha said with a thoughtful frown. "All I can say with certainty is that they must have landed somewhere off the western shore. My systems were badly damaged and I was much occupied with our own landing. I did not have time to spare to track where they crashed. If Vil t'IIen Mi had survived she might have been able to tell you. Perhaps Chep 'Urt vEss could. He remained at his console until the Char'Noth came to rest. Then he was quite active, giving orders to the crew and getting the survivors out of the ship."

"But you are first officer. Why was the gunner issuing the orders?" demanded the commander.

"I can only say that Chep 'Urt vEss gave the correct orders and that he has always been somewhat cold towards me," Liat 'del Qha said, her ears lying out to the sides in a manner suggesting some resentment. "He is a male and I am female. That may be all the explanation there is, Commander."

"Very well," the commander said with a dissatisfied flick of her tail. "I will speak to him next. We will need to investigate the mutineers' crash site. We must be sure they are no longer a threat. I wish this Human were more sane. I fear he may be of little use as a guide."

"If the mutineers did survive, what will we do?" Liat 'del Qha asked evenly, her ears turned forward, but her whiskers back. She was controlling her emotions so as not to appear weak.

"I do not know, Pilot," said M'peth qHo thoughtfully. "We are so few I do not know that we could do anything to prevent them from completing their mission."

That consideration brought on another thought and she looked sharply at her companion.

"Pilot, is it possible there are other survivors aboard the ship?" she asked. "Surely not every crew member reached the launch bay before the ship flooded."

"A ship wide evacuation order was issued, Commander," Liat 'del Qha said. With narrowed eyes and ears out to the sides of her head she considered. "I do not think there are any others aboard the Char'Noth. It is possible, though. If some of the crew were rendered unconscious they might have been trapped in sections where the hatches automatically sealed."

"Is there any way to communicate with survivors?" M'peth qHo asked.

"Our com net is fairly localized. The systems in our suits are intended for short range when not aboard ship." Liat 'del Qha scratched the side of her neck as she thought. "Your suit might have enough power to send a signal to them. They would not be able to reply unless the ship's communications system is still functioning. Regardless, Commander, we cannot at this time effect any kind of rescue. Perhaps when the storm passes we might do something. From what the Human said, we cannot even risk leaving the cave to get your suit within range."

"We will finish inspecting the cave, then," said M'peth qHo. "When we return to the main chamber I want you to work with Tem l'eth tong to devise some way to call the ship. If there are other survivors, we cannot leave them to drown."

"You are right, of course, Commander," the pilot agreed. "Hopefully we will be able to convince the Human to help. I do not wish to risk swimming in those waters with whatever creatures attacked us."

M'peth qHo closed her eyes with a shudder and gave a nod before turning to continue along the narrow passage. Liat 'del Qha flicked her ears and followed.

*****

"We should kill the Human," grumbled Chep 'Urt vEss and tossed the odd package with its red cross or X back into the large crate he'd taken it from. "He is not sane and that makes him even less trustworthy than Humans normally are."

"And yet," TaH 'Kiy mTh said passively, "he is our only source of information about this world. You would not waste a resource in so dire a situation, would you, Gunner?"

"The threat of harm is greater than the potential benefits," the large dTel'Qohar said with an irritated lash of his tail. He lifted a long white plastic implement and frowned deeply at it. "What is this? A weapon stock?"

TaH 'Kiy mTh looked at the thing curiously and then took it from the gunner. He hefted it in one hand, feeling how light it was. There was a narrow pad at one end, a grip in the middle and a soft vinyl pad small enough to fit in the palm of his hand at the other end. The Thahn 'Den brightened, his ears rotating forward in a pleased expression.

"A crutch!" he pronounced. "A good find, Gunner. This will make Tem l'eth Tong happy. That stick of wood she leans on cannot be comfortable. Shall I take it to her?"

"In a taq'a**," the gunner said. "She has no need of a crutch while she is seated. Are all these things medical supplies?"

"Most of them," TaH 'kiy mTh replied. "There is little left, though. These crates are nearly empty. This machine looks like a portable surgical unit, but the power cell is depleted and it looks as if it is damaged."

"A shame," Chep 'Urt vEss said and lifted the lid off another crate. "Let us move on to the next enclosure. We do not wish to disappoint our new commander."

"Gunner, I feel I must remind you, though I acknowledge you are superior to me in rank, this is not a combat situation," TaH 'kiy mTh said, deferentially.

"You do not need to remind me!" snarled the gunner. "I am aware of regulations. If we do find ourselves in a combat situation, I expect your support. We are males."

"My support will depend on the actions of Commander M'peth qHo," the smaller jZav'Etch said. "If she conducts herself professionally, there will be no need to support you or one of the others."

"She will not," rumbled Chep 'Urt vEss derisively. "And what do you mean by one of the others?"

"Pilot Officer Liat 'del Qha is first officer," TaH 'kiy mTh said as if it were a self-evident fact.

"She is no true line officer," hissed Chep 'Urt vEss. "Weak as all females are."

"Not all females and not her, I think," retorted TaH 'kiy mTh.

"Think as you please," growled the gunner. "Let us finish this... inventory."

They entered the next enclosure, discovering a large stock of wood neatly stacked. Moving on to the next in line they found a cot, a low, roughly made shelf and a few articles of clothing. In a small box they found a mirror and a brush with long coppery strands of hair still entwined in its bristles.

"One of the Human's dead companions'," TaH 'kiy mTh said. He looked into the small mirror, examining his face. His red-orange fur with its burgundy stripes was somewhat matted and disordered. His mane was in much worse shape and he used the brush to correct these deficiencies. A snort from Chep 'Urt vEss drew his attention and he saw the larger male scowling at him with contempt. Flicking his ears sarcastically, TaH 'kiy mTh offered him the brush.