Rescue & Recovery | Part III-E

Posted on Monday, 30 August 2021 - 2:44pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Commander Soral & Lieutenant JG Maximus Mackenzie & Ensign Oriana Skye Sety & Lieutenant JG Hayashi Hamura

Mission: Operation: Lazarus
Location: USS Standing Bear | Deck 05 |

ON:

=/\= Later or on next Part=/\=

With the rescue almost complete Hamura's mind was elsewhere. "Alright, that's the last of them., Lieutenant Kingsley you transport away. I want to do a sweep of the deck to make sure nobody else is trapped."

"Absolutely not, at least not without someone with you," Lieutenant Kingsley countered as the sound of the transporter faded. Technically this was still Dr Rose's team; however, his skills were needed in Sickbay to try and keep the survivors alive. As such, by virtue of rank rather just attitude, Alex was currently responsible for getting not just survivors out but the rescue party as well.

Right now they had been down here too long as it was, yet another sweep was a sensible precaution. Could they really take the risk of missing someone trapped down here and essentially condemning them in the process? And an extra five or ten minutes was not going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things. "And since everyone else has beamed out, I'm your someone."

"NO!" Hamura said. "Are you trying to get me killed. Your husband would tan my hide."

Alex arched an eyebrow, "he can argue with me about it, I'm pulling rank Ensign. Nobody is down here alone, it is begging for trouble and arguing with me is wasting time, we have ten minutes tops. Unless you want to glow in the dark for a month..."

Hamura sighed. "I'd argue the point of Oriana's life wasn't in the balance." Hamura started down the hall. "Let's go." Hamura's hands shook as they used the flashlight to guide them both down the hall. Fear was palpable and radiating in waves off Hamura.

“You are certain she is here?” Alex clarified, unable to imagine why she would have ventured into this area when the Trel D work was underway. As she spoke she carefully picked her way through debris, “careful of the edges, you do not want to rip the suit.”

Hamura gave a tight nod. "Yeah...I can feel it. She's here and the computer said she wasn't on the ship this is the only sensor block area on the ship." Hamura let out a shaky breath. She called out. "Oriana!" There was no response as they made their way through the debris. "You're husband will kill me you know. His orders were clear. You get back as soon as this was done or I get my hide tanned."

“He worries too much and is too overprotective for his own good,” Alex quipped as they continued searching.

"That's only cause you scare him to death," Hamura said not aware that they were revealing too much.

“I scare him?” Alex repeated incredulously, “yeah right…”

"You do. He's always waiting for you to leave. Thinks you'll figure out you're too good for him and that you deserve better. For a Vulcan he's never had self esteem."

“But he is exceptionally good at keeping secrets,” Alex countered sadly. “May I suggest we focus, we can’t stay here much longer.”

"V'shar, remember. It's ingrained. It's all he knows. But he's changing for the better, I'm guessing that's a you thing. Takes a strong woman..." Hamura turned again. "Oriana!!!!" There was no response. Hamura pulled out a tricorder. "Damn it!"

“What?”

"Tricorder is not working!" She threw the useless device at the wall and called in desperation, “Ori? Where are you?”

“Hamura!” The voice drifted back to Hamura’s ears.

“Ori! Keep yelling honey! Keep calling to me.” Hamura’s heart hammered in their chest.

“Hamura! Hamura...” She chanted the name, called it, screamed it. “I’m here, I can’t move!”

Hamura cursed as they came across debris blocking their way. “Ori, honey the way is blocked. We’re going to go around.”

“Hurry Haya…I’m… trapped, can’t move

“Hamura,” She cried out again. “Please help me!”

“I’m coming Princess! Hold on!” Hamura looked at Alex. “We have to go around…maybe you should go back. I can take it from here. Can’t risk you getting hurt, ma’am.”

“We stick together,” Alex told her firmly.

Hamura sighed. They picked their way carefully through the debris and it was a long way around. The minutes ticked by. When they finally came into the area where Oriana was Hamura's heart dropped. A tritanium beam lay across her not crushing her but pinning her solid. Hamura swore in Japanese. They burst into a run. "Ori!" They pushed at the beam knowing it's futile.

Oriana stared tears rolling down her eyes. "You have to go...the beam can't be moved."

Alex looked around them but there was nothing that could help them free the woman. But maybe they didn’t have too… As Oriana made her plea for Hamura to leave, Alex gestures to the bracelet around her wrist. “We can use this and beam her out,” she said, glancing across at Hamura. “We need to make sure Sickbay is ready for her, I can’t tell how bad the injuries are but I think there is other debris between her and the beam.”

Hamura shook their head. "We can't. Even that won't work unless we're a little farther away from the levels here." Suddenly Hamura started pushing at the beam again, pointlessly. "Senpai!!!!!!"

Back on the bridge Soral's head snapped up. He motioned for Mac to take tactical and stepped out into the alcove just outside the bridge.

Back on deck five the air went still. Suddenly a translucent shape seemed to appear next to Alex and then form into what appeared to be a ghostly shape of her husband.

“What the…” Alex’s voice trailed off as she saw Soral’s form take shape. Was she going insane? Had they been here too long and Soral had been right about the extra risk…? But no. She could feel it was him. Somehow. Through the bond she could feel the strain it was taking on him although he was attempting to keep it from her. Not keep that wasn’t right. Shield her from it.

Hamura saw him too. "Senpai...I...I can't lift the beam."

Soral spoke but not his voice it was as if his mind was reaching his wife and Hamura. "Indeed. You are lucky my wife has a...kind heart. I knew she would wish to use the bracelet to help another." His form turned to Alex. "I will need your help Mistress of my Heart."

Alex rolled her eyes, “not the time for sweet talking husband.” As I’d to emphasise the point both she and Hamura had to mute warnings from the suit sensors.

“What do we do?”

"Be ready."

Hamura was kneeling by Oriana who was fading fast. "Senpai..."

"Hamura... Push the beam."

At this point Hamura didn't argue. They pushed and as they did Soral's form seemed to fade, merge with Hamura. The beam creaked and it seemed that almost Vulcan strength pushed the beam up. It was the cue for Alex to pull out Oriana and get that bracelet on her. A lingering thought Soral sent to her mind an image of instruction.

Alex hooked her arms under Oriana’s and pulled with every ounce of strength she had. There was not a lot of room to move and she inwardly wished she spent more time on weights in the gym as she tried to pull the ensign as far as possible until the debris would make it impossible. Kneeling down beside the woman she was glad to still detect weak life signs as she affixed the bracelet, tapping in a sequence of colour codes that somehow seemed to activate it.

It was several heartbeats before the form vanished. Hamura let go of the beam and stumbled back falling to their knees. Soral sent another image, weaker this time to tell Alex to grab Hamura.

Alex turned in time to see Hamura stumble and almost collapse, grabbing her before she could tear her suit against sharp fragments of deck plating.

There was a hum and then the two forms transported back to the point where they entered Deck five. Soral’s forms briefly shimmered there and then winked out.

Hamura fell back against the wall trying to pull the helmet off with shaky hands. "S...son of a bitch...could have put ...himself in a coma doing that."

“No, helmet stays on,” Alex said sharply, pulling Hamura’s hands away. “We need to go through full decontamination protocols in sickbay or you’ll just be giving the Doc another patient and he has more than enough as it is.”

"You don't understand...Vulcans can't do what he did safely." Hamura scrambled to their feet. "We need to find him."

“Mac and Haru will help him, we can’t go running around the ship, Ensign “ Alex warned her, “we’d be contaminating everything around us. Now get up, let’s get through decontamination and you can check on your friend and leave Soral to me.”

There was panic in Hamura's eyes but Alex was right. They had to decon. Hamura gave a nod. "Okay...okay."

As Hamura took her hand, Alex hauled her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”


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