Cloak and dagger – Laying low
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Lieutenant JG Linx Moonshadow & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Marie St. Helene

Post Details

Title		Laying low
Mission		Cloak and dagger
Author(s)		HoD Ro' Matlh & Lieutenant JG Linx Moonshadow & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Marie St. Helene
Posted		Tue Dec 24, 2013 @ 12:05am
Location		IKC FHew
Timeline		After the Crash

After the away team disappeared into the jungle the remaining personnel were put to repairs.

Tell led the majority of the crew in physical repairs of the various ruptures in the hull. In many cases this meant working knee deep in the sludge that had already seeped in where the breeches were below the water line. This did nothing to aide people's mood, nor did the discovery of a large lech like creature that infested said waters. While it's bite was painless the sight of a bloated, foot-long eel hanging from your ankle was sickening. As was the putrid smell.

"If I ever leave this hell hole of a planet I swear I'll spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to rid myself of the worst stench in the universe."

It was the thought that kept her going as Tell let loose a blade from its sheath around her wrist. It killed the leech that lurked near her almost instantly. Normally Tell would have got some satisfaction out of it's death but it only served to add to the already fetid and rancid stench in the air. No one thanked her for that.

With the much and blood being stomped around the ship, the risk of infection was growing alarmingly. Worse still, the more a Klingon was injured, the more keen they seemed to prove they were not and the more they volunteered for the dirtiest jobs.

Germite had cleaned sick bay to the best of his ability, but there was only so much that he could do given the current situation of the ship. He found Ro' on the bridge. "Captain, sick bay is functioning, but the crew is refusing treatment."

Ro' was about to shrug then though better of it. The metal had been removed from his shoulder, but he had refused any further treatment beyond a simple bandage. He knew it needed stitching, but he could not afford to be out of action while they were still on alert status and vulnerable.

"They're Klingon. We don't all share my brother's acceptance of medicine."

"I need you to set an example."

Ro' shot him a look, "You can't be serious."

"Yes, come with me to sick bay and let me get your wounds tended."

Ro' drew a deep breath to yell but the pain arching across his back made him breath it out in a rush before he could give wind to his vexation. He tried again quieter. "Doctor, this ship stands or falls on the strength of its commanding officer. If I appear weak, then it is the responsibility of the ranking officer to kill me and take my place so there is always a strong leader. I do not think there is anyone on this ship who is capable of getting this ship back in the air like I can. So, if you need to treat me, or my men, you will need to use those field medicine skills I was told about and treat them in the field. Bring your stitches to the bridge. Inject your drugs to them as they fix holes. Whatever it is you have to do, find a way to go to them, rather than dragging them from their duty. I tell you now, abandoning your post due to infirmity is a capital offence on most KDF vessels."

JaqwI' and Jared had been working on the computer systems which seemed to have had some serious malfunction during the crash. This had been upsetting Jared greatly and the normally placid figure was sharp with a retort and had little time for idleness.

He appeared on the bridge again as Germite and Ro' were facing off. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Uuuh... the... good news captain is I think we'll be able to get the warp engines online again. Umm... a lot sooner than I expected, actually. The bad news is that there might be... uuhh... another problem with the computers... that I might have... umm..."

"... You know what? You look busy. I'm just... gonna go and... see if I can... fix... the problem. You... just carry on!"

He hurried out of the bridge again, accidentally bumping into some welding equipment on the way through and apologising to it absent-mindedly. The little man was always a little odd by Klingon standards, but just recently he'd seemed almost unhinged.

Germite acknowledged that he had lost the argument, so he would do as Ro' wished, he would treat the crew at their posts. He turned and left the bridge to gather his supplies for 'mobile surgery'.

Marie was put in charge of camouflage, though if she wanted man power for it, she would have to convince Tell to surrender some of her repair team.

Lacking the resources to do a decent job, Marie was forced to improvise. She took to grabbing handfuls of mud and flinging them across the ship. Surprisingly, she found the activity therapeutic especially if a leech accidentally got splattered on the hull. She became inventive in her flinging and mud began to go in all directions.

Tell fought off the bile that was rising in her throat and threatening to overcome her. Repairs were... well... they just were... well, no doubt everything will be just fine and dandy eventually. The engineer badly needed some fresh air but the air outside was only marginally better than inside the ship. She supposed that anything was better than nothing and made her way outside. This place was definitely off her 'thousand places to visit' before you die list.

Meanwhile, the sky darkened and the fight continued, clearer now. Occasionally a flight of small fighter craft would pass over head; Tetras, or Remoras. They all seemed in a hurry to be somewhere else, though and not worried about anything that may lurk in the swamps. For now at least.

As Tell emerged from the Fhew, a gob of mud hit her smack bang on the side of her head. She looked up to see another flying towards her.

Tell let loose a very volatile string of Klingon vocabulary as she tried to get the sticky mess out of her hair. She had read somewhere that mud was very good for the skin but she some how doubted that was the case with this stuff. Another mud missile flew past her nose and made a satisfying shluck sound on the side of the hull. Some of it oozed down like rivers of blood, gross but oddly suited in a way. Surprisingly, most of it seemed to stick. Tell looked around for the perpetrator of the crime.

Marie was enjoying herself. She felt like a child again as she grabbed handfuls of mud and flung them with gay abandon. Her arm swung in a long arc and she released its payload with no thought to direction or distance.

Ro’ wants this to look as natural as possible, she thought, so natural’s what he’s going to get. Anyway, the more mud I can get to cling on the hull, the better I can stick leaves and twigs on. With a soft groan she realised the pun she had made.

Tell loaded up a mud missile, aimed and threw it at Marie. The Quartermaster didn't notice until it was to late too dodge it and she was hit squarely in the shoulder.

"Oops, my bad," said Tell

From the smile on Tell’s face, Marie knew the missile had been aimed, not randomly thrown. “Right,” she said. “This means war!” She dragged up a particularly large handful of mud and threw it straight at Tell.

"You want a war? I'll give you a war." Tell shouted "Prepare to meet your doom."

Very soon, mud was flying in all directions as both women sought to hit the other while dodging incoming missiles. Marie’s eyes started to sting from mud and muck which had dripped into them from her forehead but she kept on throwing.

Tell hadn't laughed so much in a long time and it felt great. It did her the world of good and all the built up tension inside had left her feeling euphoric and light headed. Every attack was met with counter attack and for every mudball that hit Tell two others lobbed their way to Marie. The FHew was caught in the middle of it all but it wasn't quite as camouflaged as two of its crew members.

Tell Was winding up, with Marie dead in her sites, bending over to expose a tempting target when she caught a clod to the side of her head.

Looking around for the new attacker she saw JaqwI' standing near the airlock.

"jaqwI' Datoy'rup, be'nalwI' bimojchoH," he intoned, as if he were reciting Shakespeare.

"What?" Tell asked him "You've picked a funny time to tell me your sister lives here. Take that." the engineer shouted and her true aim hit jaqwl' on his brow ridges with a satisfying thlunk, despite his attempts to duck. Tell grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Oops my bad again."

Tell turned her attention back to Marie and was about to launch another missile at her when she was suddenly hit on the derrière. She squealed, she didn't squeal , Tell never squealed like a girl at all. Need to put a stop to that now. she thought.

"tIqwIj Da'oy'moH law'
nachwIj Da'oy'moH puS!

Tell qaHIghmeH 'ej
Tell qaHIghqu'!"

jaqwI' belowed, a clod in each hand, encouraged by the apparent playful fighting from Tell.

Ro' watched what was going on outside from the monitor. He shook his head and gestured to the Lt Moonshadow, "Hey, Starfleet! Get outside and tell them to keep it down unless you want to be fighting of ground patrols."

Linx groaned, and walked outside to fine the two human females.

"HEY! You two, stop playing. You are angering the Captain, and that's making it difficult for me to keep the peace here."

Without any warning two particular large and ugly mud balls splattered the Starfleet officer in the neck and chest.

“Spoilsport!” Marie yelled. A third glob followed the other two.

Lynx jumped up with her feline reflexes, and leaped over the glob hurled at her.

Tells eyes were the only recognizable thing about her among the slime and the mud. They shone clear and bright and for some obscure reason JaqwI' found this rather appealing. The engineer, feeling like a child about to be severely told off, lifted a hand and pointed a mud dripping finger at Marie.

Marie saw the finger and ducked quickly behind the hull. “Angering the captain,” she called out. “Now there’s something we’ve never done before.”

Lynx did a couple of cartwheels until she made it to Marie, determined to avoid any other globs of mud coming toward her.

All four froze as the sound of a patrol ship passed over head. Suddenly the game did not seem to be so much fun. The group quickly finished off the covering of the ship and moved back inside.

They found Germite working on Ro's shoulder while he stood by the Tactics station.

"Is it done?"

Marie nodded.

"I am tracking the away team. They are moving back to us now, and should be here within the hour. The Hull is patched, though not well, and the Engine control systems seem to be operating again. Power reserves are still a problem. We need to switch off every non-esential system, including atmosphere scrubbers for now. I don't want any energy signal to give away our position."

He signaled the group to move off but gestured for Tell and HIchop to come closer.

"The situation is dire. We no longer have enough power to get the ship out of this mire. We can't risk sending an distress call, and we are relying on a thin layer of filth to hide us from any scans. I am not telling the crew, but my first officer should know and I forget which of you that is at the moment. If you have a plan feel free to kill me and get this ship and crew to safety."

Tell shrugged her shoulders and wiped a trickle of mud from her nose as she turned to survey the rest of the Bridge. "So... no pressure then?"