Chapter Text
The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 8: South Side of the Sky
Scene 4: The Lower Way
8.4
The Lower Way
A massive snowstorm had completely obliterated the eastern trail. Not that there was much of a trail there to begin with. Now, in its place, was a wilderness of snow, sliding off of mountain sides and piling up in valleys, making it impossible to determine which bit of snow might have firm ground or rocks underneath and which was just piled on top of more layers of snow.
From the midst of this snowy landscape, three hoses snaked into the sky. They were nearly invisible as the tubes were translucent. At the base of these three hoses, what had been a flat snowscape developed a dome that rose steadily, sloughing off the snow to reveal a translucent blue fabric. The dome began to rotate a few degrees clockwise, then a few degrees counter-clockwise, faster and faster, causing more snow to fly off the fabric while simultaneously causing the hoses to twist and retract.
As the edge of the dome cleared the snow, gloved hands appeared and gradually, first three andorians, then the marines, then finally Captain Howard, the denobulan planetologist Cetris Rye, then the junior engineering officer from the U.S.S. Mako, 2nd Lt. Emily Li, emerged. The tent was of andorian design… It was actually two tents that had been linked. It took about 20 minutes for Li and Lt. Cmdr. Vranran zh’Kathar to collapse and bring the tents up out of the snow.
Only the andorians were able to walk on the snow instead of sinking into it, so the entire group stayed close to the campsite while zh’Kathar and Ensign Tos th’Taabrit scouted out the trail.
Privates First Class Tim Cho, Sean Young, and Elven Washington followed with shovels, throwing layer after layer of snow over the side of the mountain to their left. By the time the other party members followed, the remaining snow had been compacted enough to walk on. 2nd Lt. Iov Pushkin led this group, followed by Captain Skip Howard, Cetris Rye, and 2nd Lt. Emily Li. Sgt. Tammy Glick and Captain Osollaa sh’Zhiathis brought up the rear.
The trail had nearly disappeared under the snowfall and frequent stops were required to allow zh’Kathar and th’Taabrit to dislodge large drifts, creating cascades of snow down the east face of Thelochtor. After nearly four hours of hard slow slogging across this terrain, Tos th’Taabrit said something in his native language. The universal translators, like the rest of the electronic equipment, had succumbed to the dampening field, and Tos, who had grown up on the forest moon of Avradega, and Cetris Rye, who had grown up on a small farm on the denobulan homeworld, were both having difficulty communicating due to their very limited grasp of English.
“What was that?” asked 2nd Lt. Iov Pushkin.
Lt. Cmdr. Vranran zh’Kathar, at the front of the line, suddenly realized that the marines had no hope of understanding th’Taabrit’s warning. “Be very careful and stay to your right! The path is narrow at…”
Just behind Privates First Class Elvin Washington and Sean Young and just in front of Pushkin, PFC Tim Cho stepped on a patch of snow that was unsupported by the path and had been destabilized by the two in front of him traveling over it. The young marine screamed and scrambled wildly, trying to keep his footing while sliding inevitably to his left.
“Cho!!!” Pushkin lunged forward in time to grasp Cho’s coat, only to be pulled over the side with him as the snow gave way under both of them.
“STOP!!”
Captain Howard’s shouted command was enough to keep PFC Young from lunging after them. Some snow fell away from under Young’s feet and PFC Washington pulled him back onto the trail. Howard held his arms out to his sides to prevent anyone behind him from trying to assist.
“No one moves! And be quiet!” Howard ordered.
It took a few heartbeats for the importance of those orders to sink in. “Silence!” Howard ordered again, this time in a very hushed tone.
“Captain sh’Zhiathis, can you hear them?” Howard asked.
“I think they stopped falling…” the marine captain responded from the back of the line. She then shouted: “PUSHKIN!!! CHO!!!”
There was some indistinct shouting in reply.
“They’re too far down for us to be able to make out what they’re saying,” sh’Zhiathis said. “We’ll need to use code, sir.”
Howard nodded. “Everyone flatten against the mountain to your right. sh’Zhiathis, can you make your way up to me?”
The marine captain carefully skirted around her first sergeant, then around the young engineer from the U.S.S. Mako and the denobulan planetologist to stand next to Captain Howard. She knelt in the snow along with him, looking over the side and made a few loud barking noises, all variations of the word, “Taat.” A moment later, a faint series of shouts were heard in reply.
“They’re having to shout together to be heard,” said sh’Zhiathis.
“How strong is your telepathic ability?” asked Howard.
“Not bad for an andorian, but I’m no mind reader.”
Howard took off his glove and placed his hand on the marine captain’s neck. “Try to signal me and I’ll synchronize with you.”
“I’m not just using Morse Code, sir,” sh’Zhiathis said. “We use Bajoran Battle Language.”
“Captain, I have 28 United States Marines in my care,” Howard replied. “I know BBL.”
sh’Zhiathis looked at him in surprise, shook her head slowly, then nodded. “Of course you do, sir.”
It took a few tries, but after a moment Howard and sh’Zhiathis were shouting the word “Taat!” at various lengths and intervals in unison. And far below, the joint voices of Cho and Pushkin were responding. All that made it back up from them was the short “a” vowel sound (as in “that”.) But it was sufficient to carry the coded messages up from far below.
PFC Elvin Washington translated quietly for the two andorians in front of him. At the back of the line, Sgt. Tammy Glick did the same for the benefit of 2nd. Lt. Emily Li and, to a much lesser extent, Cetris Rye.
“They’re not seriously injured,” Glick whispered. “Apparently they have found another trail down there. They’re saying they can see a pass to the other mountain and also what looks like some debris that might be from that downed spaceship.”
After some intense discussion shouted in code, sh’Zhiathis turned to Howard. “I should go down to them. We might be able to get down there safely using rope and piton.”
“I better climber,” said Ensign Tos th’Taabrit, in broken English. “I go.”
“Is he the better climber?” asked Howard.
sh’Zhiathis nodded. “Tos has much more experience than either zh’Kathar or me. But he can barely speak English. And he won’t know what to do when he gets down there.”
“Pushkin will,” Howard replied. He then turned to the junior security officer from the U.S.S. Mako: “Ensign th’Taabrit, I won’t order you to go, but if you volunteer, I will give you the assignment.”
th’Taabrit gleamed and nodded, his antennae oddly moving opposite to his head movement. “I go.”
“Translate for me, Captain,” Howard said, “I want to be certain he understands my instructions.” He turned his attention to the young andorian ensign: “I want you to set up rope and piton so that the rest of us can climb down safely. Pushkin and Cho probably cleared out any snow that could fall on their way down, but take careful note of any loose snow and route around it so we don’t bury them in an avalanche. Once you’ve done that, climb back up and explain the route to Captain sh’Zhiathis here. She will explain to the rest of us how to safely get down there.”
8.4