Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Franks gave Alden the hypo before he could change his mind. He picked up his drink to cover the grin on his face. Anyone who knew Rand knew she wasn’t a problem. She went out of her way to be accommodating. He, of course, didn’t know anything about Alden and sickbay. What he did know was that Rand had bribed Alden into taking the meds the ‘night’ before. Morgan seemed to catch the look between the Cmdr and Yeoman and finally put 1 + 1 together to make 2. The look on her face made Franks laugh and then choke on his drink. He started coughing rapidly getting everyone’s attention. He shook his head and held a fist to his mouth, coughing into it. “Wrong.” More coughing and then a breathless “Wrong way.” He coughed a few more times before sipping at his drink. Then he dug into the food.

Roman was just happy it was only a hypo and quick. He was too distracted to catch the look on Morgan’s face. When he heard Franks choke on his drink, he looked up and smiled, shaking his head. “Inhaling your drink is generally bad for you,” he said, teasing Franks a little.

Franks cleared his throat once more and then a sip of his drink. Did Alden just crack a joke? Franks always liked working along side Alden. He was insightful and listened, and his strict rules kept the labs safe and running smoothly. He was easy to work with as long as you didn’t break the rules. But he had never heard Alden joke. He wasn’t going to hazard a guess, but it was either the field work or Rand or both. Either way, Franks didn’t mind the jab. “I’ll remember that, Sir.” At the same time he was keeping an ear turned towards the outside and any sounds that might warn of large animals.

Rand knew he hated it. She would have held his hand if he had wanted her to. He probably did, but not as much as he wanted to keep his secret. Instead she went back to her work on the PaDD. A few minutes later she handed him the PaDD. Franks knew how much Alden hated paperwork. He figured Rand was getting some of it done while he couldn’t get away. At the same time he was impressed with Rand’s work ethic. It was paperwork. Reports from each person and then a summary report. Things like “Read this page, sign on the next, initial here, and here. Then read and sign the last page.” The reports were thorough as always, but the last one wasn’t a report. Hidden underneath all the rest was, I love you.

Yeoman Rand

The paperwork was already starting. It was all Roman could do not to groan out loud. He signed each page that needed it, reading through the reports. There weren’t too many, yet, but missions like this always generated a bunch of paperwork. Come to think of it, the injuries would mean yet more paperwork. Making it through the stack, there was just one left. The smile spread slowly across his face as he looked up at Rand. If only they still at least had the privacy of the tents. He’d hug her.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Valos on the other hand noticed the change in Alden’s attitude after Rand got picked on and he didn’t like it. He also didn’t like the way Alden was smiling at her because she’d been working on paper work rather than eating. There was no reason to make her work while the rest ate. But heading the Cmdr’s words he kept his thoughts to himself. He figured Rand waited all day for their work to be done so she could do hers, but still…

Rand took the PaDD back and didn’t quite hide her reaction to him smiling at her like that. She covered it by logging the actual reports into the PaDD’s memory and then leaned back against the wall to eat. It had gotten eerily quiet outside the cave, minus the crackling of the fire. Rand knew the reason for fire when camping, and she wondered if it was simply precautionary or if the team had found something worrisome.

Yeoman Rand

Roman finished up his food. Then he settled into his sleeping bag, taking some time to find a way to work into it without causing himself too much pain. He’d have one ear open all night, figuratively speaking. Though if the creature was like Earth big cats, listening for it would do little good. Cats were excellent at keeping silent footsteps.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand was awake for quite awhile after everyone else fell asleep. At first it was just the work. Rand didn’t see the point in putting it off. The samples didn’t take long to finalize. Harvey had done all of hers, she said it was too hard to tell one sample container from another when it was just air inside, so Morgan had helped her. Her PaDD was not nearly as efficient as the Sentinel computer, so it took longer to compile the recordings and readings into finished reports.

Rand really didn’t mind though. One that meant less work when they got back. Two, and most importantly, it gave her something to focus on. She hated her anxiety and the constant awkwardness and the endless little issues that it caused. Right now that meant she couldn’t sleep. She was too wound up, her nerves too jumpy. So she covered it by working. The idea there was a dangerous predator the fire was keeping away, actually didn’t bother her at all. Eventually though everything was done: reports created, samples organized, files saved, tricorders charged, data disks labelled and organized. Rand settled into her sleeping bag, but for the next 45 minutes sleep was elusive.

Roman could hear Rand working as he tried to sleep. Laying in the sleeping bag with his eyes closed, he tried to make himself relax. The night before, he’d simply been so exhausted that he’d had no trouble sleeping, but tonight it appeared the issue had returned. Just like it had been on the ship recently, his leg made it difficult to sleep in two ways: The pain made it difficult to fall asleep, and when he could fall asleep, the pain triggered the nightmares and he woke up.

Typically, he’d pace or read until he felt like he could fall asleep. On the ship he could also go to Rand. But he didn’t want to wake the others moving around and so instead, he simply lay silently. It was a little after he heard Rand settle into her sleeping bag that he finally fell asleep.

She had been asleep for a couple of hours when the wind shifted, carrying the smoke into the cave and out through the chimney. But with the change in wind direction there was the faint hint of a cry. Something like a growl crossed with a purr.

Yeoman Rand

Roman woke with a start some time later. He looked around quickly and remembered where he was. The caves, on Kelmao. With a small frustrated sigh, he settled back into his sleeping bag. He could tell the wind had changed. The light smell of burning wood accompanied the chilly breeze.

The night seemed quiet. It sounded like everyone else was asleep. All he could hear was the soft rustling of leaves outside the cave entrance. He listened, hoping the quiet and natural sounds would help him relax his way back to sleep. Hidden under the soft sounds of the breeze was something else.

Roman strained to hear, listening quietly without moving. There it was again. A purring growl. He could not tell how close the animal was. It could have been loud and far away, or quiet and right outside. Whichever, he was sure he would not be getting anymore sleep tonight between his usual problems and listening to make sure the team didn’t get eaten by a giant alien cat.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand slept heavily, but was easily wakened. The sound of Roman stirring in the sleeping bag beside her woke her. She went from asleep to alert very quickly and sat up as she looked around. Her eyes landed on Roman, who was awake but quiet. She looked at him questioningly before her eyes travelled toward the cave entrance. Morgan held up a finger to her lips and then pointed outside. On the sides of the fire they could see a shadow moving, one side then disappear behind the fire to reappear on the other side. Franks was awake as well and both officers had their phasers out, as a precaution. But Franks was snapping pictures and had his tricorder open, recording everything. Seeing Morgan’s movement from the corner of his eye he turned to look and passed Alden the camera receiver. On the far side of the fire was a huge, of almost prehistoric proportions, cat.

Yeoman Rand

Roman watched as the others woke, glad they had, because the cat was right outside. He had been awake, watching, with his own phaser ready to use if it came to it, and now that they could actually see the cat, he hoped it was not interested in them as food. Taking the camera receiver, he began collecting his own data of the creature.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

The rest of the team was mostly awake now. Harvey was watching the smoke travel through the cave and taking readings of the CO2 levels. She got up and moved quietly toward the back of the cave. The CO2 levels were higher near the chimney where the smoke became slightly more concentrated before dissipating up the chimney; however, the levels were not dangerous. She returned quietly and passed a thumbs up to everyone else. They were safe to stay in the cave. Valos wasn’t too interested in the cat. He was curious but since it was a carnivore, the cat’s place in the food web was at least two, if not more, steps removed in the food chain. If they could sedate it he would love to get a sample of the seeds and pollen caught in it’s coat. However, based on the size of the shadow, he wasn’t going to volunteer to go get it.

Rand took a lantern and placed the shutter towards the entrance, so the light wouldn’t attract attention, and brought the brightness up enough to help Roman see to take his notes, but not enough to blind him as he looked from notes to camera to outside. Rand wanted to see the cat too. She leaned over trying to look over Roman’s shoulder at the camera or at least his notes. She watched as it paced slowly back and forth. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and air much like a dog would. However it’s attention seemed to be more focused on the wood, smoke, and fire than any scent they had left. It tried to sniff the smoke, only for the flames to dance and it backed up. It was curious, but cautious. The tail was down, dragging in the dirt. Rand knew most cats used their tails for balance. Did this one not use it or was it hurt? She had a hundred questions, but everyone else was quiet and so she figured she better be too.

Roman turned the camera receiver so both he and Rand could see it as he wrote notes in his notepad. He was getting as much data as he could while they had the chance. The quiet was to avoid drawing the cat’s attention. Roman could tell by Rand’s look that she had a bunch of questions. He’d answer them later.

Then it stepped fully into the fire light and Rand’s eyes went wide and her mouth opened in an ‘O’. It was iridescent! Like the northern lights on Earth. It was GORGEOUS! It was huge and the muscles rippled and it’s mouth was open showing off a full set of very dangerous teeth. Rand did not want to go near it, but she wondered if she could get Roman to give her a copy of photos. The face turned toward the camera and they could clearly see metallic purple eyes.

Valos mistaking Rand’s expression for fear sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder and pointed to where everyone had a phaser. She looked at him startled. She didn’t want to shoot it! Well not if left them alone. She couldn’t move away without actually sitting on Roman. She figured Valos was trying to reassure her, but she didn’t need it. Instead she quietly scooted forward near the stove and without a sound started boiling water for tea and coffee.

Yeoman Rand

When the cat came into view, Roman took as many pictures as he could of it, especially the face, teeth, and eyes. There were also several pictures of the cat’s full body. The cat was fantastic. Apparently, the bright colours of the animals was not limited to the diurnal animals.

Roman could not help the dirty look he gave Valos as Valos sat next to Rand. He pulled his attention back to his notes. Getting data on the cat was more important. He could glare at Valos later.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO