[Planet Hadallion]
When they finally reached the giant rock Nikta casually pulled off her back pack and tossed it to the ground. Bifra was speaking with Mullen and Sokan was pacing the periphery wielding his tricorder. "There are no large life signs within a five kilometer radius. I believe this location will be secure from local wild life, for the moment."
"Good." Bifra nodded "Mullen will hand out rations. Nitka help me get camp set up. Put up three lanterns" he pointed to three corners "there, there, and there. It doesn't rain much here so I don't think we'll need to set up tents though it's going to be very cold tonight. Sokan go see if you can find some good rocks we can heat with the phaser."
"Lanterns" Nitka muttered and went over to one of the packs and pulled out the three lanterns. They were basically torch stands with three rings. Each ring added to the level of brightness and the stands were basically fool proof. Setting them on the specified corners she brought the first rung online giving them a decent level of light as the sun dipped halfway below the horizon. Finished she returned to her pack and the small roach she was using as a stool. Mullen tossed a pack of rations to her "eat up; you'll need energy for the hike tomorrow."
Nitka took the pack- looked at it and then sighed "thanks" she said sarcastically and pulled off the pack's foil covering. The whole thing looked like a bunch of stacked wafers- all were nutritionally sufficient for several species. She bit into one of the wafers and grimace "wow- I've never tasted chalk quite like this before. What a delicacy."
"Your sarcasm will not add to your comfort." Sokan said as he rounded the side of the rock cradling several large stones "we should be able to generate sufficient heat with these." He continued and dropped the pile into the center of the camp. Accepting the phaser from Bifra, Sokan adjusted the setting and then fired at the pile of rocks. After a few seconds the pile was now glowing orange.
"Hey Sokan, toss the phaser here." Nitka said as she chewed on one of the wafers.
"What do you require of it?" Sokan asked.
"If I stun you we might be able to have a decent conversation tonight." She smirked and the other two chuckled. Sokan's brow simply lifted for a short moment before he handed the weapon back to Bifra.
"Humor, how illogical."
Nitka grinned- if she didn't know better Sokan had been offended. Sliding off the rock she eased into the cool sand. A gentle breeze was now weaving its way through the landscape bringing cooler air with it. "When do we set out again?" She asked.
"A little before dawn." Bifra said also chewing one of the wafers "I made a small bet with Arani and Nenma- first group to reach the two hundred kilometer mark will get to use the sonic shower first when we get back to the Talladega."
"Shower-" Nitka groaned longingly. She ran a finger through her hair and felt clumps of sand roll out "I hate deserts. Captain Zar is such a bitch. I bet she's really enjoying this. I wonder where we would be if Va'verin hadn't accepted that assignment?" She looked up at the twinkling stars "probably somewhere a lot nicer."
"It is only logical that survival training be conducted in a hostile environment." Sokan nibbled his wafer casually "there are only a small number of Minshara planets in this galaxy. The statistical probability that in an emergency situation you will be near an amenable planet is low. Without this training you would likely die."
"Probably" Nitka finally said "but I still wouldn't mind being on a beach or somewhere with at least SOME water. This place is hell."
[Base Camp]
"They hate you, you know?" Barstowe grinned "they're all wondering where Va'verin would have conducted the training exam."
Zar looked up from her book "do they?" She chuckled "well, I wonder what they would think if they knew that Va'verin was the one who selected this planet before he went off to work with Starfleet intelligence? Though I don't mind the hatred, it'll motivate them to prove me wrong." She looked at Lukewan "how are the teams progressing?"
"Nenma group have made their way fifty kilometers out. Bifra group are currently fifty-nine kilometers out and Arani group is only thirty-one kilometers out. All vitals appear normal- I'd say most of the Nenma and Arani groups are currently asleep- their vitals have settled."
"So Bifra's group has made the most progress? Interesting." Zar nodded her head slowly.
"You looked surprised at that. I thought Bifra and Sokan were two of your best students. At least…" Barstowe's voice trailed off as he walked over to one of the tables and searched through a stack of PADDs "yes- I thought I read that. Sokan is your top student and Bifra is your second- why would that surprise you Elaris?"
"Oh, I'm not really surprised. They're both excellent students but I was wondering if Nitka Korialis might hold them back- I'm generally impressed." She rubbed her hands together "it'll be fun to see how long they can keep that pace up."
"Nitka Korialis?" Barstowe thought about the name and then remembered the Trill girl "ah, her, hmm" he sorted through the PADDs "she seems to be a mediocre student but definitely not one of your worst- do you dislike her?"
Zar twisted around to look at Barstowe "it's not about liking or disliking students Doctor. I don't dislike Cadet Korialis but she seems to believe she is entitled. You know her father is an Admiral right? From day one she's always been aloof and half assed everything. It's one thing to be genuinely average but she had potential- she's very bright but she seems to be relying on her father's coattails to get through the Academy."
"Admiral… Oh… Her father is Jolias Enor?" Barstowe immediately recognized that name. Jolias Enor was now the commander of Alpha Fleet and in charge of all the fleet operations in the Alpha and Gamma quadrants. In term of Admiralty he was basically one of Starfleet's highest "he's a trill, do you know him?"
"I knew Enor once, a long time ago though." Zar scratched her temple "it's been over two hundred years since I last spoke to him- er, well back then Enor was a female. One of my college professors actually, she was a very bright and talented woman- and very pretty."
"Sounds like someone had a crush." Barstowe smirked.
"You could say that…" Zar's voice trailed off as her commbadge chirped. She instinctively pressed it "Captain Zar here, what is it?"
"Sorry to bother you Captain. We detected a distress signal in the system over from here. We're going to go investigate but we should be back in forty eight hours."
"Understood Talladega, we'll still be here when you get back."
"I hope so Captain." There was chuckle on the other end "Talladega out."
"A distress signal? This is a pretty isolated region." Barstowe said. He set the PADDs down and walked over to Zar "seems a bit odd?"
"Maybe but we are near some major shipping lanes. It's not unheard of for a transport to go off course." She looked at the stars. The brightest one flashed and then disappeared "we should be fine for forty eight hours. We have plenty of emergency equipment here."
Lukewan scratched his neck and then suddenly cursed "shit- all the vital readings are gone…wait it seems all the readings are gone. I've lost the uplink to the orbital satellite the Talladega put up for us- I can't see what's going on anymore."
Zar stood up and motioned for Lukewan to get out of her way. When he stood up she replaced him and slid her fingers over the controls "damn it- you were right Doctor. We're being jammed, or more specifically the satellite is being jammed. We've lost our uplink to the cadets but I think I can send out a short message to them…" She typed frantically.
"Uh Captain." Barstowe was now holding a tricorder "I'm reading an energy spike…" he twisted around just in time to see a bright orange glow as a group of at least ten individuals dematerialized "oh crap, they're Nausicaans!"
[To be continued…]
Ensign Nitka Zar
Assistant Engineering Officer
USS Charon
