Post 510: This Is Some Rescue

Stardate:71021.1430
Title: This Is Some Rescue
Author: Lt. February Grace
Scene: Yensul V
Time: Now
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Salvek of Vulcan was no fool.

He knew that if the situation continued to deteriorate and Lair Kellyn felt certain that the Yensuli military wanted to get their hands on the USS Alchemy and the technology within it, she would do what he would do in that situation.

She would destroy it.

He was not concerned about losing the ship -only its chief engineer and the Ensign who was working alongside her.

His brain worked several problems simultaneously as he followed Maffe to the location closest to the cave-in. When they finally arrived, Lt. Commander Maak was already waiting at the specified coordinates with all of the climbing gear that he could gather from the women at the camps.

Maak had also followed Salvek's order to dispatch the rest of Alchemy's junior staff, to lead the women and children left in the caverns as far away from Alchemy's location as they could, as quickly as they could in case Kellyn did activate the self-destruct and destroy the ship.

"We have a problem." Maak announced.

"No sh*t, Sherlock!" Reece cried, "My. . ." he almost blurted out the word 'wife', but stopped himself. "Our people are down there!" He leaned over the edge of the chasm and hollered, calling Grace's name.

He still couldn't read her thoughts and that troubled him greatly. He'd gotten so used to doing it in such a short time that he didn't know how he'd give it up, if he had to.

He began wondering if perhaps it was the chaos in his own thoughts that was preventing him from making a connection to her. So he tried his best to clear his mind of fear and panic, and after a moment, he thought he could hear her.

*I'm here,* February assured him, *I'm okay. Simon isn't.*

"Biggs is severely injured." Reece declared. "Let's get this show on the road, gentlemen." He used his tricorder to scan the rock face and locate the most secure location to anchor their ropes.

"We must use great caution, Reece," Salvek warned, also scanning around them. "The ceiling of the cave that collapsed, as you know, is unfortunately also the floor of this one. There are leading cracks beneath our feet and we must be aware they could give way at any moment. Let's begin."

Maak secured the anchors, while Maffe rigged Reece up with a harness. Dabin had insisted he be the one to lower into the collapse site to assess the situation and Salvek, knowing he possessed superior strength than the Trill physically for pulling people up and out, did not object.

Little was said as they tried to ignore the cracking noises and bits of rock that fell from beneath their feet at intervals- all knew that they had limited time to get everyone out and get away before the rest of the tunnel collapsed, too.

Salvek and Maak lowered Reece down over the edge into the cavern, as Maffe made sure the ropes of the pulley system did not become tangled. The Trill rappelled, descending almost nine meters to the bottom.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, Dabin unhitched the harness and rushed forward toward the small group, which was huddled around a dying fire. He scanned Biggs, who appeared to be unconscious. February looked at him sadly.

"I'm sorry, I kept him awake as long as I could,"

"You did fine, Bru," He kissed her cheek, then quickly counted the people around him. "We should get the children out first," he decided, "the small ones can go two at a time. Help me get them harnessed up?"

The children started to cry as Reece approached with the ropes, but February was able to reassure them that he was only going to help, and that they should do as he said. Their mothers stood nearby watching as Reece and Grace got the first two children secured to the harness and then yanked on the rope, hard, signaling Salvek that they should start pulling.

A short time later, the only ones left in the remains of the collapsed tunnel were Reece, Grace, and Biggs.

"Okay," Reece turned to his wife with the harness in his hands. "Up you go."

*No,* February insisted. *Simon goes first.* Dabin nodded, and they secured the limp Biggs to the ropes, and pulled to give the signal. Biggs began to ascend, and that was when the cracking noises returned and grew louder.

Without time to think or speak, Reece pushed Grace out of the way as a large chunk of ceiling came down on top of them.

Salvek, Maak and Maffe struggled to pull Biggs up the rest of the way, as they felt the ground beneath them disappear.

The two officers pulled as hard as they could, jumping backward and within an instant, Salvek watched in horror as Maffe disappeared from before him, and the harness became far heavier than it had been previously.

"Andara!" Salvek called, his vision impaired momentarily by the dust comprised of snow and rock. "Are you all right?"

"Pull, Vulcan!" she cried, "Hurry!" Her fingers were sliding down the rope, and she clung to it just above where Simon was harnessed to it.

Summoning all their strength once again, the Vulcan and the Klingon pulled again, and they managed to drag Maffe and Simon up and back onto more secure land farther back in the tunnel.

"We cannot try that again." Maffe warned, as she caught her breath. "We will have to find another way to get to Grace and Reece."
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Lt. February Grace
Helm/Flight Controller
USS Independence/USS Alchemy