A Flash of Light

Posted on Fri Dec 9th, 2022 @ 4:29pm by Lieutenant Commander Amaya Capac & Lieutenant Cyrus Jericho

1,423 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 8 - A Blast from the Past
Location: Shuttle
Timeline: 1400 hours

ON

As the Communications Officer, and one fluent in Romulan, Amaya was the best choice to accompany Cyrus in scanning the planet. they considered including science, but the Chief was needed on the ship to go over the data they already had. Plus, if this went badly, they were better off with a team of two.

The first part of their trip around the planet was unremarkable. They kept to the wilderness areas--or as much as they could tell were wilderness with the abundance of trees and foliage. However, as they came over a small range of mountains, they were temporarily blinded by a flash of bright light.

"What was that?" Amaya asked as she checked the sensors. "I'm not sure..." There was something, but then it disappeared.

Cyrus looked over to Amaya, raising a brow slightly, before focusing back on the console. "What was what now?" He asked as he tapped his console. "Talk to me. What are you not sure about?"

"I saw...something. A flash of light? A reflection? It didn't look natural. Scanning now to see what it was." After doing a thorough search she sighed. "If there was something, it's not there now."

"Maybe it was an echo or something. I'm sure you'll find it again." Cyrus replied with a smile before adding. "There are so many signals bouncing around in space that, if you stand still for long, you're bound to catch something odd." He went silent for a moment before laughing softly to himself. "Reminds me of a time back home." He stopped again, this time hesitating slightly before clarifying. "Back home we have this sport they play. It's kind of like Earth's football but more combative. Bloody even. Anyway, our favorite team was in the semifinals and we wanted to see it. Problem was our monitor at home didn't get a good signal. So, genius that is my brother, decided he was going to steal a newer model of monitors... and he did. The details of which he never disclosed to me, but he managed to do it, however he couldn't exactly bring it home because our mother would be furious at him."

"I don't blame her. So, what happened?" Maya went back to scanning the planet, noting that there was an unusually high pollen level. She wondered what effect, if any, it had on the avians. She turned to look at Cyrus.

Cyrus let out a soft chuckle before continuing on with his story. "Sirius found this place to setup the monitor that was perfect. What made it perfect was the broadcast of the competition was clear as day. I guess the height and location where he put it caught the signal from towers that were broadcasting it just right that we could watch it without interruptions or interference. The fact that the weather was clear helped even better." He smiled a bit. "That became out own little hideaway until it was raided, but we had a lot of good memories there."

"It was raided?" Her attention was now back on Cyrus. "What happened?"

"One of my brothers friends was caught by Enforcers, what my planet calls its Security Officers, so he was given a choice. He spends a couple weeks in a holding colony, which you don't want to do, or give them any information he had on clans or gangs in the area that he might know." Cyrus turned to face Maya. "So, to score points, he gave out where they could find my brother. Luckily, never of us were there, but my brother was pissed. It wasn't just my brothers spot... it was mine... and I sometimes go there on my own to clear my head or just be away from... things." There seemed to be more, but he wasn't ready to share on those details. This had been more than what Cyrus would usually share and, with Maya, he felt comfortable. However, there was still some details he wasn't ready to reveal. Mainly because of his own personal fear of how she would look at him knowing it. "Enforcers aren't as friendly as Starfleet Security. Their anything but gentle and people have a tendency to get caught in one condition and arrive at their facility in another one. I've had my run-ins with them, over the years, but I was taught how to avoid giving them a reason to be nasty. It doesn't always work, but I've gotten away unscathed from time to time." He looked down for a moment, clearing his throat a bit, before looking back up. "Anyway, when my brother found out about the raid and who was sent them, he was none too pleased."

"No. I imagine not." She put her hand over his. "I'm glad you got out of there. Do you go back at all?"

"To the hideaway?" Caleb replied, pausing for a moment, before answering. "Yeah. If anything, to see what was salvageable. There wasn't anything personal there. Sirius insisted nothing be left there that would led back to our... home. So, I never left anything there, but we had some knickknacks and stuff we brought there to hide. Nothing major. Guy stuff and small things that no one would understand their significance but us, but nothing of major value. It was a wreck. Things were smashed and turned over. They were obviously looking for something that could led them to bringing my brother in, but they didn't get anything. You could tell, since there was nothing there, how they left it was mainly a message to my brother. Believe me, Sirius got the message, but it didn't slow him down. One thing my brother enjoyed the most is messing with Enforcers. Leading them on wild goose chases and screwing with their equipment." He let out a chuckle, smiling as he did so. "The stories I could tell you."

"I'd like to hear them some time." She turned back to the sensors to make a few adjustments. She sent a message to the ship to let them know of their progress, but for some reason it didn't go through. "That's odd. Comms aren't working. Must be something in the atmosphere. I'll try again when we're clear of this forest."

Before Cyrus could respond, an alarm went off. He immediately turned to face the console. "Proximity alarm going off. What the he-" The shuttle soon rocked from being struck. "We've been hit!" He shouted, tapping the console frantically as he looked at a monitor. "Sensors down! Shields to 70%! Hold on!" Cyrus increased their speed and headed away from whatever got close to them. A few seconds later the shuttle shook violently again. "That's definitely weapons fire! Weapons offline and shields down!"

Amaya tried to send a message to the America, but again it didn't go through. "I can't tell what hit us." She braced as well as she could, hoping that Cyrus could get them down in relatively one piece. But she knew that if anyone could, it would be him.

"I'm going to try to create some distance between us and whatever it is." Cyrus tapped the console frantically before feeling another hit. While it could just as well have destroyed them with their shields down, the hit knocked out their thrusters. "Thrusters down! I'm getting the feeling that was intentional! They could have killed us but opted not to." He looked over to Amaya before focusing back to the console as alarms sounded. "We have no choice. The planet is pulling is in. I'm going to do the best I can to make sure we get down in one piece. Brace yourself. I can't make any promises this will be gentle."

Maya nodded. She agreed that the pattern of the attack seemed intentional. She suspected Romulans, but they had no proof. The avians didn't have the technology. Either way, someone wanted them down, dead or alive. "Cyrus, I..." She wanted to say more, afraid she might not have another opportunity, but just then, there was another flash from the planet and the shuttle went down.

In the midst of the shuttle shaking, the alarms going off, and the front view of the planets surface getting closer and closer, Cyrus looked over to Maya. He looked into her eyes and smiled before replying softly. "I know, Maya. I know." before adding. "Me, too." Than turned back to the console.


____
OFF

Lieutenant Cyrus jericho
Chief Security Officer

Lieutenant Commander Amaya Capac
Chief Communications Officer/Executive Officer

 

RSS Feed