Dem Bones

 Episode Name:  Dem Bones

   Written By:  Spider

         Cast:  Bright, Chakev Endilev, Javits, Prochazka, Savarna, 
                Shamash, Sharei, Spider and Townsend.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Spider

     Aired On:  Tue May 18 21:40:34 2004

     Stardate:  54102.5

Time: Tue May 18 13:32:13 2004

Stardate: 54101.7

Shamash sits near Javits, so that he is able to talk to him in order to pass some time, but at no specific console. He can be considered as Supercargo on this mission as being the Physical Science person, this is a training experience for Planetary Sciences for him. Currently, he is looking at that point near infinity, holding absently one hand to a small pendant he wears around his neck and contemplating inner thoughts.

The USS Baer lands on Fimdari, at a small, research-oriented ADF base about fifty miles from the nearest settlement. Upon landing, the crew disembarks and is greeted by Chakev Endilev, a tall, sturdy Andorian woman with cropped-short hair. Her heavy, ADF-issue parka is pushed back from her head, the wind pushing her bristly hair around. A chaka rests at her side, strapped to her belt.

"Lieutenants," she addresses the group as a whole. "Lieutenant Savarna," comes the more specific address. "Welcome to Fimdari. Please, follow me."

Savarna nods to Endilev, replying, "Thank you for the welcome," and moving to follow.

Townsend reveals his PADD.

Sharei rips open a slender velcro wallet-pouch. Inside are six slender airhypos. He checks each one before sealing the wallet and putting it in his parka's inner pocket. He then leans over to check the Bag of Nursely Goodness, making sure everything is in place. "Let's see you get me again, Fimdari," he mutters to the viewport as the Baer touches down. He zips up the Nursely Bag and slings it over his chest, settling the Bag against his hip.

Javits, seated in the pilot's chair, runs the shuttle through its shutdown routine, placing the vehicle in standby before following along with Savarna. With a smile, he turns to Shamash, "Been a while since I've been on Fimdari. It's definitely much nicer this trip."

Prochazka disembarks from the Baer with the others, looking around carefully, studying the planet they have now come to. "Ah," he says to himself, as he keeps on looking around.

Shamash stays a little back with Javits and looks around the area, squinting his eyes as he does so. "You've been here before? How was it?"

. o O Savarna thinks "Fish. Frozen prehistoric fish. Frozen perhistoric fish make _everything okay_."

Townsend gathers up some of his tools and materials. Leaving the Baer, he joins the group. His eyes are constantly surveying the environment. As he trudges the clink of tools can be heard as they jingle on his belt. He checks to make sure his tricorder and PADD are on the belt, as well as making sure that his more sophisticated sampling and collection tools are secured as well.

. o O Savarna thinks "And this time, less opportunity for accidental death by hora cat."

Leading the group into one of the camp shelters which form the makeshift town's circular border, "Chakev Endilev. I'll be your guide out to the site; it's approximately sixty miles from here. Please have a seat, and I'll brief you on the situation." She, however, doesn't sit; she remains standing by the doorway that leads out into the ice and snow.

. o O Shamash thinks "Its.. cold here. But I had to go to this gravity well, had to try to broaden my experiences. makes this entirely my fault."

. o O Sharei excited and trepidatious, all at once.

Savarna nods as she settles, watching Endilev. She looks quite calm, really. She's on a planet that goes with her complexion, life is good.

Javits glances over to Shamash with a frown, "Cold. I'll tell you about it once we're back on the station, preferably over a pint at the en-zee." Taking a seat on the furs, he assumes a comfortable cross-legged position as he looks to Chakev Endilev expectantly.

Shamash walked with the group to the shelter, sitting down with the rest of his teammembers, smirking about something as he nods to Javits.

Sharei nods his head, sitting himself down as he settles the Nursely Bag at his feet. He glances over his shoulder at Javits, a wry grin on his face. Then, he returns his attention to Endilev.

. o O Shamash is curious as to what the mission will bring in new experiences, but also strongly pulled back to the station, as if there is someone waiting for him.

Townsend follows Savarna's lead and sits, his attention is now only half on Endilev, his eyes are looking out on Fimdari. The ice and snow seem to have the Planetary Scientist in a trance. He glances now and then at the surroundings, his eyes ever fixed on the outside.

Prochazka follows after the others, sitting down and waiting for the briefing on the situation. As he hears the mention of cold, he smiles a little, but keeps silent still.

. o O Sharei thinks "This wretched ice-cube won't find _me_ sliding down any rabbit holes."

"Due to some unusual meteorological conditions over the past year, we are seeing shifts in the glacial ice on this portion of the planet; this is a portion of the planet which has been geologically stable for thousands of years, according to our calculations. It is entirely possible that the creatures we are going to see today are millions of years old," explains the Chakev. "However, due to the fact that they are... " she pauses here, and shivers visibly, "... very obviously deep-sea creatures, the Fimdari goverment is extremely reticent to have anything to do with them. This is one of the reasons you have been called in. The other reason, of course, is because of the scientific gravity of this discovery. Things such as this ought to be shared."

. o O Savarna thinks "Oooooo. Not just fish; creepy fish. Happiness."

. o O Savarna feels quite pleased about the concept of million-year-old deep sea creatures. She may as well be being offered a box of kittens.

Savarna nods solemnly, listening with all due attention.

Javits listens with studious frown, glancing over to Shamash with a slight arch of his eyebrows.

Townsend's attention becomes focused on the guide at the 'geologically', his face lights up, lips curling into a smirk, his attention becomes rapt, eyes twinkling in wonder.

. o O Javits thinks "This should definitely prove far more enjoyable than the last away mission."

Prochazka listens, nodding a bit to himself as he hears the words, keeping his attention on the Chakev, for the moment.

. o O Shamash thinks "so? what is the problem with bones of see creatures? I doubt she can be afraid of a few old bones? Maybe psychological problems? But surely not the whole race?"

Shamash listens through the explanation, at one time shrugging over a silent remark. Catching Javits' glance he tilts his head to him, inquiring with a silent hmmm.

"There is a storm moving across this portion of the planet. We estimate its arrival here in eight hours; accordingly, our time at the site will be only six hours, giving us a two-hour margin of error for return to base camp," the Chakev goes on. "We will also be going fully equipped. Any questions?"

"Have we any information regarding the genus and species of the creatures that have been uncovered which we might work from, or is this a 'blind' excavation?" Savarna asks.

Sharei blanches a bit when he hears about the storm, but shakes his head. "None," he says.

Prochazka grimaces a little bit, as he hears the mention of the storm, but shakes his head, "No questions," he replies.

Javits frowns at the report of an approaching storm, "Should the storm make an unpredicted alteration in course or speed, will we be able to take shelter and will we have appropriate equipment on hand in the event we must weather the storm?"

. o O Javits thinks "Perhaps it's not as enjoyable as I thought."

Bright has arrived.

Townsendfires a volley of questions, "Are the specimens trapped in ice? Or are there elements of stratification from that epoch with the specimens? Also how easily traversable is the area? What help can we expect in retrieval of these samples?" He pauses waiting for answers.

Bright clutches her equipment cases and is obviously eager to get on with things. She looks downright gleeful and she just keeps grinning. She's trying to contain her excitement.

Shamash looks to Javits and nods, having had the same sort of question on his mind.

Spider turns her eyes to Javits, then, raising an eyebrow. "I just said we were going fully equipped, Lieutenant. We will be able to take shelter in the shuttle itself, as we will be taking it to the site, and we will have appropriate rations and equipment should the shuttle somehow lose power." Her eyes turn back to Savarna, then. "We have no such information; it is a blind expedition. I do not expect we will accomplish much in the way of excavating on this trip as far as the larger specimens are involved, but at the very least, I hope we can bring in some of the smaller specimens and plan for the removal of the larger specimens."

"The specimens are trapped in ice; I do not know the answer to your second question at this time," Endilev answers. "Not very; the shifting of the glaciers has created a series of canyons. We will be taking the shuttle to one end of the closest canyon and hiking about a quarter of a mile to the site. As far as retrieval of samples, we will be planning for the removal of any samples too large to take in the Baer once we return to base camp tonight."

Savarna nods, and rises, noting, "As there is a time constraint and we are equipped properly, I believe I have finished my questioning."

Sharei nods his head. "Shall we, then?" he asks, getting to his feet.

. o O Savarna thinks "like doing a little dance while singing 'fiiiii-ish! Fish from the daaaaaa-aaaa-awn of tiiiiime!'. She also feels that this would be a bad idea."

. o O Savarna feels like doing a little dance while singing 'fiiiii-ish! Fish from the daaaaaa-aaaa-awn of tiiiiime!'. She also feels that this would be a bad idea.

Townsend stands, satisfied with the answers, he then meticulously checks his equiptment on his belt while he waits for the group to proceed.

Prochazka nods, as he listens, looking between the others. It's obvious that he seems quite ready as well.

Bright's head bobs. "I concur!"

Javits nods firmly to the guide, "Thank you, Chakev. After my last away mission here, I simply wish to be absolutely certain." Standing slowly, he stretches his legs with a few high stepping knee bends, then looks to Savarna, "Shall I prepare the shuttle, sir?"

Shamash studies Javits, questions as to what this last mission entailed unspoken but close to the surface. He absently touches the pendant he is wearing under his uniform again, however he voices no questions, neither to Endilev or Javits.

Savarna looks to Javits, and nods. "If you would, Lieutenant? We shouldn't keep those fish waiting." She smiles. Savarna made a joke. That's not right.

Bright flashes Savarna a giddy smile.

Spider looks at Javits for a long moment, and then simply says, "Ah." Whether or not she knows what he's talking about, she's not saying anything more. To Savarna her attention turns next. "Yes, that would be best." One hand gestures toward the door. "Shall we?"

Sharei slings the Nursely Bag over his shoulder and steps out of the shelter, heading for the shuttle. He glances at the horizon, squinting at it as he scans the sky for foul weather. "Fana, be merciful," he says as he makes his way to the shuttlecraft.

As he listens to what's being said, and especially the mention of the fish, Prochazka can't hold back a grin, "It's always nice to go for a fishing trip," he comments, rather quietly, before he follows after the others back in the direction of the shuttle.

Javits heads back out to the shuttle, presumably for a last round of systems checks as he prepares it for the flight to the excavation site.

Savarna nods to Endilev, and moves to follow, heading towards the shuttle.

Bright scuttles after the rest, still beaming toothily.

Townsend follows along, prepping tools, waiting anxiously to see the site.

Shamash follows along with the group again, studying the reactions of his teammembers as he does.

Prochazka is studying the area they're passing through, watching it with quite a bit of interest.

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Systems Engineering (Engineering) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Javits, having run the proper checks and brought the shuttle up to full power, lifts off with a light jostling. Following the course loaded by Chakev Endilev, he takes the shuttle low over the rolling tundra and bright snow covered landscape that makes up much of Fimdari. Approaching the site, he takes the shuttle lower for a slow inspection pass, then circles back and sets down with a light bump on a flat safe spot.

Looking more than a bit uncomfortable, and progressively more so as time goes on and the site gets nearer, Chakev Endilev notes rather blandly, "I am at your disposal, Lieutenant Savarna."

Bright is really close to fidgeting. "This will be wonderful," she enthuses.

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Culture (Andorian) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Townsend taps his foot impatiently, he sits waiting for the group to disembark. His lips curl in a slight smirk, giving him a sarcastic expression.

Savarna nods to Endilev, solemnly. "We will, of course, require guidance to the site. Would you prefer to maintain some distance from the specimens?"

Prochazka keeps his eyes on the area that they're passing, for now, before he looks around at the others, "It will be quite interesting, yes," he replies, although he doesn't seem that enthusiastic as certain of the others.

Shamash keeps again with Javits and is generally slow to disembark using the time to set up a data retrival link and out of curiosity generally reading up on the planet in general and structural considerations of glaciers in particular.

Sharei nods his head. "Let's just hope that storm doesn't do something unexpected," he says, shivering a bit.

"I would prefer this, yes," Endilev answers, pulling her hood up over her head. Andorian hoods are an interesting thing: hers has two deep slots in it for her antennae, with closures across those slots to keep the hood up on her head in the wind.

Savarna nods. "That is easily arranged. I appreciate your candor. If you can simply guide us to the location, we can take it from there."

Bright tweaks her tricorder happily.

. o O Savarna thinks "I believe Bright may explode from sheer glee. Thankfully, everyone is wearing washable clothing."

GAME: Javits spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Javits remains seated for the moment, tapping away as he powers down the shuttle to hot standby mode and handles a few items of concern, "Lieutenant Savarna, the landing site appears stable, but I'd like a second opinion on that. I'm setting up a scan routine for tracking the storm as well. If it changes course or speed, we'll be notified." Looking to Shamash, he smiles, "Agrim, want to jump in here with that second opinion on the landing site?"

Savarna glances to Javits and Shamash, asking, "Can we make safe landing, then?"

Savarna glances to Javits and Shamash, asking, "Can we maintain our current position, then?"

Listening to the experts in this field, Prochazka prepares himself to the trip out on the glacier, and what should be done there, while still looking over at the others once in a while.

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Systems Engineering (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

GAME: Shamash spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Shamash (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Townsend adds another small tool to his belt. He preps his tools and waits, the other Officers concern gives him pause, and his fidgeting stops.

Sharei drums his fingers on the side of his bag, waiting for the order to move out. He gives Endilev a sympathetic glance as he moves his gaze out the viewport, looking over the site.

Bright is peering out at the site, expression rapt.

"Sure, Nick", Shamash nods to Javits and sits down on the co-pilots station as to access the sensors and to anlyse its data. "Hmm.. as deep as I can penetrate the ground, it looks well enough. Seems you found a solid patch to land on." He nods to his fellow officer.

Savarna nods. "Excellent. In that case," she looks around the group, "shall we get moving?" It's mild, but it's not entirely a question.

. o O Bright thinks "Must see fossils now. So excited. Dinosaurs!"

. o O Shamash thinks "and any tectonic movement that will break 50m or more of solid ground will wreck more havoc than we'll be able to handle anyway"

Bright unclips herself from her seat and straightens up quickly. "Yes, sir!"

Javits looks to Shamash with a nod, "Thanks." With a final set of taps to his console, the engineer stands and makes his way aft, checking his equipment and donning his parka. Looking to Savarna and Endilev, he smiles, "We'll be notified if the storm does anything outside of its predicted parameters."

Townsend stands up, tools chiming in the process. He pulls the hood of his parka up over his head, making sure to zip up the thick jacket before heading out.

. o O Javits thinks "Definitely, let's see those fish."

Prochazka gets to his feet, and moves a little in the general direction of the exit, nodding a bit at Savarna's almost-question.

Shifting uncomfortably, Endilev nods her head once. "All right. If you're all geared up, let's go." She opens the shuttle's hatch and leads out into the cold, shifting her equipment on her back as she goes.

Sharei follows the procession, hitching the Nursely Bag as he goes. As soon as his boots hit snow, he pulls up his hood, fastening his gear close.

Bright shoulders her equipment pack and cheerily takes up a position just behind Endilev.

. o O Bright thinks "We're losing precious excavation time!"

Shamash manages a small smirk at Savarnas words, interpreting her question as veiled curiosity for dead fish. He dresses without haste and declares ready with a wordless nod.

Savarna marches alongsisde Bright, equipped for the cold and continuing with her usual good cheer.

Javits gives his equipment and parka a final once over, then follows the rest out into the open air.

Townsend hoists the small equiptment pack onto his shoulders. He checks his tools on his belt, and pulls out his mittens, putting them over his hands. He departs the shuttle following the company.

"It was time for some air and a walk anyway," Prochazka mutters to himself as he follows the others out into the ice.

. o O Savarna thinks "Fish from the dawn of time. Giant ice floes. Lack of hora cats. Only large carnivorous squid could make this day better."

Wind in a canyon picks up speed incredibly, and the long, low howls of air moving through the broken ice-walls makes conversation almost impossible for the entirety of the march to the site. Endilev keeps her head down, looking behind herself every so often to make certain that no one is lagging behind too far.

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Bright contests her Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Savarna contests her Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

<CONTEST> Prochazka contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Townsend chuckles as the wind brushes him, saying yorkshire accent rolling the words to no one in particular, "Ach! No worse than a morning in Scotland."

. o O Prochazka thinks "This place is colder than I thought. I just hope none of us is caught outside in that storm they mentioned. That would be worse than worst."

Savarna falls back a bit, coughing once and looking marginally annoyed by this fact.

Despite her enthusiasm, Bright grimaces a little and begins to lag behind a little. She looks irritated.

Prochazka continues moving after the others, grimacing quite a bit, as he ends up a bit behind the main group as well. He makes sure to get his face even better covered from the cold, hoping that it could help against this stinging feeling.

Sharei keeps his pace slow, so he can help anyone who falls behind, should they need it. He doesn't seem bothered overmuch by the frigid wind.

Townsend moves up to trudge behind Endilev, his face looks red, his breath making clouds of white through the small opening for his face, in his parka.

Shamash grimmaces as the wind hits him, trudging through the cold and trying to keep up with the rest of the group.

Javits pulls the hood of his parka down a bit more as he trudges on, noting those who have fallen back and looking back towards Sharei.

. o O Shamash manages to hold the cold away through summoning the warmth of a certain face smiling at him... at least he thinks it helps to do so.

Endilev slows her pace a little when she realises people are falling behind; eventually, everyone makes the quarter-mile hike against the wind to the site.

It is truly a breathtaking sight, coming around the bend in the canyon, looking up at the largest of the specimens. Frozen partway up an ice cliff hundreds of feet high, the creature is splayed as if in action; a long, eel-like tail descends beneath the line where the ice underfoot meets the canyon wall. Flippers emerge from either side of the slender body: six pairs of them give the creature no small amount of resemblance to a viking longship. From this distance, the extended head (which appears at first to be a neck) lined with a series of gills evident even from a distance, looks almost delicate. The mouth is open, a pointed, sharp-toothed thing perhaps as long as any one of the Scientists is tall. Mottled skin, dark blue ranging to a cerulean -- resembling the pattern of sunlight through deepening water -- covers the entirety of the beast.

There are other creatures frozen in the ice, but this completely alien, total unknown, is the most spectacular.

Savarna comes to a dead stop, eyes going wide. She looks like a Bolian who has just seen the Face of God. Or perhaps merely enough frozen fish to feed the entire station for a month.

Bright stops dead as well, lips curving up into a huge smile. Is she slightly teary-eyed?

. o O Bright thinks "It's beautiful..."

. o O Bright feels utterly awed; her heart hurts with the rare occurrence of feeling slight pain in the face of great beauty.

Sharei catches up, eyes going wide at the sight. "Sacred Altha," he whispers. "I've never seen anything like it." He puts his foot up on a hump of ice, leaning on his knee to catch his breath. "It's remarkably well preserved, isn't it?" he asks nobody in particular.

Townsend stops looking up an the ancient fish, he whistles, joking, "I'd expect Jonah to pop out of the mouth of such a beast!" The frosty air causing his breath to come out in white puffs. His cheeks are red, and look raw from the cold wind.

. o O Shamash thinks ""Impressive. Really. But the excavation will be quite an undertaking, especially trying to keep the integrity of the ice and the bones in the process." ...the rest is a mental potpurri of calculations"

Javits stops as soon at Endilev, giving the Chakev an inquisitive look before following her gaze to the cliff wall. His eyes immediately go wide and his jaw goes slack as he takes a step or two back, his eyes slowly following the creature's profile from head to tail. Taking a step forward, a rather giddy expression takes to his features, along with a wide, excited grin, "Well, well, this certainly beats mold any day."

Bright whispers, "Let's get started. Wasting time." She's still rooted to the spot, though.

Savarna starts towards the giant frozen fish-thing, expression still one of awe mixed with sheer and simple joy. "It's _beautiful_." Then she shakes it off, recovering quickly, and says, "All right. Now, we get to work."

There are certain times that people revert to speaking the language of their ancestors. And for Prochazka this is one of these times, as he spots the huge creature frozen there. He lets out some words in Czech, sounding quite awed. He then takes a few moments, before he adds, now back again in the right language, "Like a work of art..."

. o O Bright thinks "I have to remember this forever."

. o O Savarna thinks "Oh, Uncle, I wish you were here to see this. This is why you talked me into joining Starfleet, isn't it? Right here."

. o O Sharei thinks "But... it looks like it was alive when it was frozen. How could that be?"

. o O Javits thinks "Bears a close resemblance to some marine dinosaur species of ancient Earth, but none have ever been even nearly as well preserved as this. The surrounding animals should warrant some study as well."

Shamash smirks at Javits, "You don't say... Impressive. both, Ice wall and the bones." He rummages around for a small personal camera to capture a picture of the scene before quickly replacing the equipment again.

. o O Bright thinks "I have to breed so I can tell my children about this."

Townsend absently states, "I bet that a sample of the ice would yeild a treasure trove of answers to the ancient ocean of Fimdari!" He trudges forward, his gaze locked on the giant fish.

<CONTEST> Savarna contests her Life Sciences (Exobiology) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming advantage) contests her Life Sciences (Exobiology) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Life Sciences (Exobiology) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming advantage) contests her Administration (Logistics) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

GAME: Javits spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Administration (Logistics) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Dramatically Fails!

Sharei studies the frozen behemoth, rubbing his chin. "I wonder," he says, digging into the Nursely Bag for his tricorder. He detaches the probe and sweeps it in the direction of the ice, studying the screen. He scowls. "Drat. I'm not close enough," he mutters.

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Material Engineering (Structural) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Savarna studies the fish, then studies the area, and turns towards Javits, calling, "Lieutenant. Please get us some readings on the ice wall's stability."

Shamash is slightly more cautious than Townsend and pulls out his tricorder in order to scan where he is walking. Never trust a glacier. Saw too many bad holos.

Still looking a bit further in the direction of the creature, Prochazka looks around, quickly to see what he should do, getting ready for the work to be done.

Bright pulls out her tricorder and fusses with it; she gives the fish a mostly critical eye, but she's still distracted as all hell about it. Where is the professionalism?

. o O Javits thinks "If this thing suddenly comes to life on us, I'm grabbing everyone I can lay a hand on and /dragging/ them back to the shuttle."

Shamash leans over to Javits, curious in his crosstraining endeavour "Might I hook up my tricorder to yours and you show me what you are doing, Nick?

The big fish ate the professionalism. Savarna, at least, seems to be holding to hers. "We can take a few of the smaller creatures, hopefully; the large one will take months. Don't disturb the ice around him, he'll want to be as stable as possible until the main team arrives. Lieutenant Townsend, see if you can get some varied ice samples. We may be able to determine the past composition of the oceans here from what we find. Lieutenant Shamash, please assist Lieutenant Bright in assessing the smaller specimens to see which would be best suited for immediate removal."

Javits recovers enough to nod to Shamash, then pulls out his tricorder with a firm nod to Savarna, "Aye, sir." Turning to Townsend, he smiles with a nod, "A sample of that ice could easily contain all manner of microorganisms as well as chemicals and molecules present at the time of freezing." Activating his tricorder, he sweeps the device across the cliff face, paying close attention to the creature and the area immediately surrounding it. Lowering his tricorder, he looks to Savarna with a firm nod, "Structurally, it's stable, at least as stable as ice can be. I'll be making regular scans as we work, just to be sure. A find such as this is far too valuable to loose to a miscalculation. We'll need to proceed as carefully as possible, both for personal safety and so as not to damage the specimens."

Bright finally reports. "We can get a large potion of the smaller creatures by taking them from... these quadrants..." She picks them out on a quick grid map of the ice structure. She pauses, then adds, "It should be possible to get detailed readings of the large specimen if someone climbs up the cliff and scans. This is... an amazing discovery, and this is an opportunity that must be seized - in my personal and professional opinion. Nothing like this has ever been discovered on Fimdari before."

. o O Bright thinks "Someone has to climb this. I'll do it myself if I need to. There is no way I'm leaving without getting those readings."

Sharei studies the ice wall. "Lt. Savarna," he says aloud. "I was thinking of getting out some of the climbing equipment and getting closer to the big one. If I could get a little closer, I could take a scan of its internal biology. As well-preserved as it is, I imagine that its anatomy should also be perfectly preserved."

Bright nods in Sharei's direction emphatically.

Townsend stops his forward motion at the mention of his name, "Aye-aye, Sir!" He states, he begins unhooking tools from his belt, setting up a small tripod and unhooking what looks like a corscrew. He takes off his mittens using them to grip the metal tools while he preps them. Slowly he notes the areas that will be excavated, prepping spots nearby for his samples.

Savarna glances around the group before nodding to Sharei. "Do so. However, if asked to abandon your climb, please do so _immediately_. We must refrain from risking structural damage." She moves towards Bright, nodding to Javits as she does. "Please continue your scanning. Lieutenants Bright and Shamash, with me. We'll begin the preparation for specimen removal." She can actually give orders. That's creepy.

Endilev stays way the HECK away from that thing. As soon as possible, she edges to where she can't see it, facing back toward the shuttle and crossing her arms across her chest. When that becomes prohibitively boring, she begins to stretch out her muscles and wait. She's a guide, not a scientist.

. o O Chakev Endilev thinks "These scientists and their water demons. Ugh."

Bright launches an envious look at Sharei. "Yes, sir," she replies to Savarna, moving to follow the Bolian.

. o O Bright thinks "Lucky!"

. o O Chakev Endilev is excessively creeped out.

Javits looks to Savarna with another firm nod, "Aye, sir. Should anything change, I'll give you ample warning."

. o O Shamash thinks "I? Assessing specimen? I believe Lt. Savarna is mistaken as to my expertise. I'd rather learn some structural engineering or stick with Townsend. Ah, well, I can at least point that out."

Prochazka keeps on moving a bit closer to the sight, making sure that he's standing firmly before moving his next feet, he also looks around to see where he'd be doing most good.

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Savarna nods to Javits, and calls to Prochazka, "Lieutenant, if you would join us?"

"I had rather expected to observe either Lts Javits or Townsend", Shamash mentions as he moves towards Bright "So, where do you need an extra pair of hands, Lt. Bright? Just don't expect much help, after all, Life Sciences is your field of expertise."

Sharei smiles at Bright. "If you like, we can link tricorders, so any data I scan will be received by yours," he says as he starts breaking out the climbing gear. "This should be fun. I haven't been rock climbing since I was at the Academy."

Bright smiles back at Sharei. "I'll probably be needing my tricorder for my task, but thank you." She glances from Shamash to Savarna.

Savarna considers Sharei's statement for a moment, then looks to Prochazka. "Please spot Lieutenant Sharei in his ascent." Because splattering your fellow officers across a glacier is never good.

Townsend slowly moves over to the ice, his steps are deliberate, his breath pointed away from the ice, so not to spoil the samples. He slowly marks the spots he will sample with a laser pointer coming from the tripod he has set up. Slowly he takes the coring device and places it against the first spot on the ice, "Sampling spot one." He states, like a cadet following a procedure. The coring device starts to spin at the touch of a button.

Prochazka nods, "Will do, sir," he replies, as he starts over in Sharei's direction, offering a grin, "Good luck with the climbing," he offers. "And be careful," he adds, as an afterthought.

Sharei nods his head as he starts strapping into an ascent harness. "Thanks," he says. "I will. I get the feeling that this is going to be worth the risk." He grins a bit.

Bright looks back to Shamash. "Well, you can certainly help remove the samples from the ice face."

Javits calmly stands a few meters away from the cliff, periodically scanning its face with his tricorder, with special attention giving to those areas around the officers at work.

Savarna nods to Shamash. "That effort will require the most assistance. If you can assist with that, we can be more productive." And take more ancient rotten fish away with us, yay.

GAME: Sharei spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

. o O Townsend focuses his concentration on the meter on the coring device, "Three centimeters in.. I need at least 10 centimeters."

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Well, so Shamash changes lessons in Planetary Science through those of BioSci, speciality handling dead fish.

Prochazka keeps on observing the climbing, for the moment, rather patiently. Because if people falls down there, it's not good. Especially if there should be some holes in the glacier.

. o O Townsend watches the meter on the coring device, "Seven centimeters in.. Three more to go. Thankfully the ice hasn't become too hard, and my corer is still sharp, I'd hate to crack the blades in the ice and spoil the sample."

Bright waves her tricorder slowly, then leans over to squint at a section of the ice. "Oh, these are cute."

Sharei starts making his way up the wall. At the twenty meter mark, he hammers in a set of climbing spikes, then starts climbing again. He gets about five meters up when his grip slips on a smooth bit of ice. "Aw, _vaask_," he mutters as he starts to drop. He gives a grunt as he gets stopped by his safety ropes at his last check point.

Savarna peers at Bright's segment of ice. "Agreed," she says, cheerfully. "I think almost anything is cuter when it has that many teeth."

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Javits winces at Sharei's sudden drop, then breaths a sigh of relief when the doctor's safety ropes stop his fall. Turning his tricorder in that direction, he gives the climbing area a close scan.

Shamash looks between the two women, trying to understand their excitement and simply waiting for instructions. Momentarily distracted by Shareis acrobatics, that is.

There is a loud chirp coming from the instrument Townsend is working on. He slowly pulls the sample out of the ice, producing a coring bottle from his belt, opening the sterile bottle he puts the ice into the container and snaps the lid shut. He places his equipment pack on the ice, opening a compartment and placing the sample container into it.

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

. o O Shamash thinks "Oookay... so it is cute. I think I'll never understand women. Including female scientists."

Prochazka grimaces, as he sees the fall starting, before he lets out a deep breath as the ropes does the works. He doesn't say anything, yet, though.

Townsend turns from the equipment pack, pointing his breath once again away from the site, pulling the corer out again, he moves over to the second sample site, and places the corer on the ice, "Sampling site two." He states, pushing the button on the tool. Slowly the tool enters the ice, humming as it does so.

Javits calls up to Sharei with a concerned frown, "You alright up there, Doctor? The area you're climbing on still appears to be relatively stable, but do be careful."

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Sharei grits his teeth, sloooowly making his way up the ice. At the 40m mark, he hammers in another set of marks. "Just a bit more, I think," he mutters to himself as he starts making his way up again.

Savarna requests, "Lieutenant Shamash, come assist me in this extraction." She moves to begin cutting the ice around something blue and slinky with far more teeth than any single blue, slinky thing should ever have. It looks like a horrible crossbreed between an eel and a food processor. "Lieutenant Javits, how are we holding?"

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming advantage) contests her Planetary Sciences (Geology) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Bright cheerfully sets about obtaining samples with her equipment; she seems to be in her element here. She finishes removing the first of her samples before she looks up at Sharei, grimaces, and watches him get moving again. Then it's back to her sample, which is a tiny little wispy green thing with antennae. And also teeth.

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

Once again a loud chirp sounds as the tool reaches its mark, Townsend moves more rapidly with the sample this time, placing it in its sterile container and then into his pack. His technique is now expedited, having successfully recovered the first two samples. He places the corer at the third spot, stating again, "Sampling site three." He then pushes the button the on corer, and waits.

Sharei finds himself confronted by a sheer face of perfectly smooth ice. Scowling, Dax taps at it with his hammer as carefully as he can, chipping himself out a handhold without damaging the rest of the glacier. Alas, it's not quite enough, and he finds himself dropping back to his safety catch at 40 meters. He mutters something unbecoming in Betazoid as he tries to ascend one more time.

. o O Bright thinks "This one's pretty, too. The colour reminds me of broccoli stems. Maybe I can work that into a name..."

Shamash was abesently fingering a piece of jewelry under his parka again, thoughts definetely someplace else as Savarna requests his help. He nods to his fellow Jig and moves closer to her, carefully avoiding to come too close to he specimen in question, leaving the more filligrane parts to the schooled expert.

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

And as he sees that next time of dropping, some Czech words escapes Prochazka, as he looks up to the medical officer, "All right up there?" he calls out.

Sharei grunts as he drops a little farther. He jerks in his harness somewhat, managing to remember to relax just before he snaps in the ropes. "Oof... a little shaken, but I'm fine," he calls. He shakes his head. "This face is too sheer. I'll see what I can get from here." So saying, he clicks open his tricorder and sweeps the probe as far as his arm can reach.

GAME: Sharei spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Savarna glances to Lieutenant Shamash, asking, "Begin on the plane, there," she indicates a shelf of ice, "and see if you can extract that butterfly-fish?" Butterfly-fish. A good name for something that has gauzy fins and nine million teeth.

Bright works on her second sample, a blobby white thing with blue veins. She looks up at Sharei, pausing to watch and frown.

. o O Bright thinks "He's not going to get the readings..."

. o O Bright feels disappointment, but still has a bit of hope.

Townsend scowls as he hears the commotion from Sharei's fall. His corer beeps, and he pulls out his final sample, placing it into its sterile container, then his pack, finishing he states to Savarna, "Sir, I have retrieved the samples, Shall I begin preliminary testing? If there is trace elements of strata in the ocean floor in our sample I could collect those as well or would you rather I help someone else in their sampling?"

Javits continues scanning as he looks to Savarna, "No discernible changes, sir. The cliff face still appears to be relatively sta..." His words are cut short as Sharei takes yet another another fall, wincing again, then turning his tricorder back towards the climbing site. "Sir, I'm picking up some hairline fractures in the cliff face. I think the good doctor is wise to end his climbing attempts at his present height, as the pitons could further destabilize the ice face."

. o O Savarna thinks "These are simply _lovely_. I wonder if any of them are well-preserved enough to reanimate?"

Savarna glances to Javits, nodding, and then looks up, calling, "Lieutenant Sharei! No higher! We do not wish to hug the glacier!"

Bright's face falls as she peers over at Javits. Disappointment.

Sharei studies his tricorder, biting his lip. He nods his head. "Acknowledged," he hollers back. His brows knot, and he taps a few buttons on his tricorder, trying to boost the scanning resolution.

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Impossible and Fails!

. o O Javits thinks "The less time we spend here, the better. There'll be plenty of time for study back aboard the shuttle, or even better, back at the station with a full suite of lab equipment."

. o O Townsend thinks after hearing Javits' report, "Thank goodness I retrieved my samples, going after that whale will probably destabilize the entire ice wall!"

Shamash nods to Savarna, "Certainly, Lieutenant." and proceeds to cut the ice where she indicated. Looking around the bones to find something that resembles a butterfly ..fish.

Bright presses her lips together and sets about extracting her second find, concentrating intently on the task at hand.

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Climbing) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Prochazka still keeps his eyes on the climber for now, deciding to do that until said climber is down safely, it's best to keep on watch.

Sharei makes his way down the ropes, carefully pulling the pitons as he goes. As soon as his feet are back on solid ice, he makes his way over to Savarna. "If I could only have gotten a few meters closer," he says, studying his tricorder. "I was able to get a preliminary scan, but there's too much interference from the ice for anything detailed." He squints at something as it scrolls past his eyes, and he glances over at the Chakev. "_Amazing_," he says to himself.

Savarna removes her first specimen, moving to set it out of the way as she nods to Sharei. "You have my apologies, and regrets. However, a reading and an interestingly-shaped smear in a Starfleet uniform would be of less worth than no reading and a man capable of taking more readings in the future."

Javits's combadge chirrups once. The computer's female voice announces, "Storm accelerating. Estimated time of arrival: three hours, six minutes, five seconds."

Bright suggests, "Maybe I could try to modify a tricorder to increase its sensitivity, sir..."

Sharei rubs his chin. "Perhaps... but I've got some interesting findings here," he says. He taps the tricorder's screen. "Based on these tissue density and biomorphology results, it appears that the speciman has a cartilaginous skeleton. Not unlike an Andorian's."

Chakev Endilev looks over her shoulder at Sharei -- of course she heard that -- and stares at him, shuddering and turning away.

Javits glance down at his combadge with a distinctly concerned frown, then turns to Savarna, "Sir, the storm is accelerating it's pace towards us. We've lost a little over an hour of on site time. New estimated time of arrival is about three hours."

Savarna pauses, looking from Bright to Javits, and finally says, "All right. Lieutenant Shamash, please get some detailed readings on this ice face, to see if we can begin planning the large extraction. Lieutenant Sharei, if you would assist me in this specimen removal while Lieutenant Bright attempts to modify her tricorder, we can send you back up the same route. Lieutenant Bright, you have fifteen minutes." Cartilaginous? Coooooool. "We need to move rapidly."

<CONTEST> Savarna contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

GAME: Javits spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Townsend patiently waits for a response from Savarna, he begins breaking down his tools, and placing them once again on his belt. he picks up his equipment bag, and pulls out a small camera to flash a few pictures of the coring site, as well as the general area.

<CONTEST> Bright contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Savarna calls to Townsend, "For the moment, belay testing until we're clear of this storm. Please assist Lieutenant Shamash in his scans."

Now that the climbing part and all that is over, Prochazka follows over again in the direction of the Fearless Leader and the rest there. He hears the words about the skeleton, and blinks, momentarily. "Interesting," he mutters, before he looks around again, "Time to pack up again?"

Sharei bends to help with Bright. Suddenly, he freezes, and slowly straightens. His face pales. "What was that?" he asks, looking around. He looks to Bright. "Did you hear it?"

<CONTEST> Chakev Endilev (claiming advantage) contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Townsend stops snapping his pictures, and moves over to help Shamash, pulling out a tricorder and working the other's samples.

Bright nods slowly to Sharei, then looks at the tricorder in her hands with furrowed brow. "Yes."

. o O Bright thinks "No, no, no! The big specimen!"

<CONTEST> Prochazka contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

Chakev Endilev slowly turns her head back and forth, antennae tracking around the area, and finally turning back toward where the shuttle has been landed. "We need to leave. The ice is beginning to give way somewhere closer to the shuttle." Her face has become paler and paler over the last few seconds, her eyes widened slightly.

Savarna straightens immediately. "All right: everyone, decamp. We're moving out." Trust the native guide. Trust the native guide implicitly. Or else you die.

. o O Chakev Endilev feels YOU SEE? YOU COME AFTER THE DEMONS, THE DEMONS COME AFTER YOU.

Javits looks back towards Endilev, then to Savarna. That's all he needed to hear to take action. His tricorder is still out, scanning actively for geologic structural integrity and activity. Turning back tot he group, he asks, "Anyone need help packing?"

. o O Bright thinks "Okay. We found good specimens. They're new and good and we have something to show for this expedition. Right."

Sharei starts grabbing up gear, slinging it over his shoulders. He suddenly sways a bit, clapping a hand to his left temple. He looks at the Chakev with a pained look as he fumbles into his parka for the wallet. An airhypo gets pulled out and jammed under his chin with shaking fingers. The airhypo hisses, and Dax lets out a sigh of relief. "What else do you need me to do, Lt. Bright?" he asks.

Bright says quickly, "I do. I have two specimens." She puts her tricorder away and bends to start to stow her stuff. No looking at the big fish. Okay, once. :says quickly, "I do. I have two specimens." She puts her tricorder away and bends to start to stow her stuff. No looking at the big fish. Okay, once. "Please take this specimen back to the shuttle?"

Townsend immediately stops his work, and starts helping fold up tools and such so that camp can be broken immediately. His hands move more slowly as he has put his mittens back on. He starts placing the remaining tools in his pack, the situation demands action, and the tools can always be given to their proper owners in the shuttle.

Obviously not having heard what some others have heard, Prochazka grimaces, as he hears the explanation about the giving way, and lets out a few choice words in Czech to himself. He then looks back to the real big fish, for a few moments, muttering something else. Then it's time to look back to the others, and gets ready to take whatever he's instructed to back to the shuttle.

Shamash was already in the process of removing his tricorder from the parka again but is spared this task as the less than positive remark from Endilev has the team move out rather unexpectedly. He is not yet alarmed by the statement of the native guide, simply because he did not see her pale. Distracted by Sharei's behaviour, he studies the medical officer curiously and mumbles "Medice, cura te ipsum?"

. o O Shamash thinks "I hope this will not delay us too heavily. I want to be back with my beloved."

. o O Townsend notes, joking to himself, "We need to be quick, this is no time to worry about samples, if the shuttle falls into the ice... Well, I guess I'll need to break out my long undwear..."

Universal Translators turn Shamash's words into, "Physician, heal thyself."

. o O Savarna thinks "Movement. Movement is good. Failure to join the pretty fish in their eternal sleep is better."

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Chakev Endilev breaks into a flat run, gear and all, once the whole crew is moving. Like most Andorians, she's a hardy creature, and beating feet across the slippery ice and packed snow doesn't seem to faze her in the least. Of course, since the standard ADF field uniform includes cleated boots, and she's used to them, she's got an advantage there. "I'll start the shuttle!" she shouts over her shoulder, "Hurry, but don't break a leg!"

Savarna keeps hold of her own specimens as she runs with the others for the shuttle, moving with somewhat more care, given the unfamiliarity of the terrain. Mustn't fall. Mustn't lose specimens. Also, mustn't be crushed to powder by falling walls of ice.

Javits takes a moment to scan out over the entirety of the worksite, then turns to scan out along the path leading back towards the shuttle, "Lieutenant Savarna, the worksite is still quite stable. I'm checking our path back to the shuttle now." He watches Chakev Endilev take off, calling out to her retreating form that the shuttle is in hot standby node and should be ready to go."

Bright hauls her samples and begins to run as well, feeling the cold air bite sharply into her lungs again. She hustles as best as she can.

Sharei shakes his head as he snags the specimen indicated. "Go on," he calls to Bright. "I'll bring up the rear." He waits to make sure that everyone's in motion before he starts moving himself, running as fast as the ice will allow, taking care not to slip and fall.

Townsend starts his run, stating "Sir, would it be possible to use the transporter on the shuttle to beam up the specimens we couldn't retrieve?" His mind working out a way to get all of the data from the dig site. Now that everyone is moving its time to think about the loss of data at the site.

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Prochazka gets ready to go off, grabbing hold of what items he can reach on the way, as he hurries to move on in the same direction as everybody else. Time to get away, isn't it?

Shamash moves with the rest of the group, though with much more care than the Andorian. He is a Scientist, not a trained runner, so having to walk fast on this kind of terrain takes most of his concentration as it is.

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Prochazka (claiming disadvantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Savarna (claiming disadvantage) contests her Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

. o O Townsend as he stumbles, "Bugger! 'Don't leave England,' Alice said, I should have listened to Sis!"

GAME: Shamash spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Shamash (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

GAME: Bright spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Bright contests her Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

It's the sort of thing that happens only in movies. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Real Life.

The team can /see/ the shuttle. It's a hundred yards away, maybe less. The shuttle, warm, safe, transportation. The way home. The sensors. The comm systems. It's still far away, but the Baer is close.

A loud crack, so loud it jostles the teeth and resonates right down through the team's bones, precedes by seconds perhaps the longest, slowest moment of their collective lives to date. A chunk of ice the size of the Thomas Paine cracks free from the canyon wall and slides

so

slowly

down.

In reality, it's a matter of seconds.

Endilev screams at the top of her lungs, scrabbling to a stop and trying to turn around; her gear weighs her down, but she manages to get herself turned, slipping down to her knees before she gets back up on her feet, waving them back /away/ from the shuttle. "RUN! RUN! DROP IT ALL! RUN!"

Savarna does as ordered, immediately, shouting as she does, "Come on, people! We can make this!" And then, faced with nature being anything but awesome, she runs for her life, hesitating only enough to try catching hold of anyone that falls -- assuming she manages to stay upright.

Javits takes off running on the tail end of the group, calling out to them along the way, "Careful! This area is covered in microfissures!" No sooner than he yells this, the engineer stumbles and is sent sprawling to the ground, losing his tricorder in the snow a meter or so forward along the path he's taking. Quickly scrambling to his feet, he grabs the tricorder and continues on, not bothering for the moment to dust himself off or check for injuries. He starts towards the shuttle once again, then stops dead in his tracks at the bone jarring crack, watching the chunk of ie break free as if rooted to the spot. Chakev Endilev's urgings give him the impetus to run again, only this time he's headed back towards the work site.

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Bright's feet pound the snow; she pants for a while, then seems to get her second wind and manages to up her speed and get past the sharpness of the cold Fimdari air in her throat. She clutches her equipment and samples, backpack jouncing along. And then, of course, the ice chunk breaks off and she's told to drop her stuff. She pauses just a second before obligingly dropping it and turning about to run again. No big fish. No more samples. Bad, bad day. Except for the part where she saw the cool fish.

<CONTEST> Savarna contests her Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Sharei (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

Sharei pauses when he sees the giant chunk of ice break free. His eyes go wide as teacups, then he's making double-time for the shuttle. "Not _again_," he hisses under his breath. He pauses to help Bright to her feet, dropping the samples and everything else, saving only the Nursely Bag. He's going to need it, after this. It is inevitable. "Come on!" he hollers. "This planet isn't getting me again!"

. o O Javits thinks "Here we go again!"

<CONTEST> Shamash (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

. o O Javits thinks "I hate Fimdari, I hate the cold, and I hate ice, especially ice with homicidal intent!"

. o O Bright feels fear. Great crashing waves of fear. Her Starfleet training keeps part of her brain detached from the terror, but the rest of her is scared.

. o O Shamash thinks "Running. Why always running. Why can't we for once park the shuttle in /walking/ distance. Or /beam out/ instead? I'm not going to make this."

. o O Sharei is both afraid and angry. His anger is directed at Fimdari itself. 'You have no feet, Fimdari!' rings though his mind as he runs for his life.

. o O Shamash feels more angry about his own physical ineptitude than any kind of fear.

<CONTEST> Prochazka contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

GAME: Townsend spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Townsend (claiming advantage) contests his Athletics (Running) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

GAME: Bright spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Bright (claiming advantage) contests her Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Savarna contests her Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

<CONTEST> Townsend contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

<CONTEST> Prochazka contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Shamash contests his Fitness (Vitality) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Townsend drops his pack, after fumbling with it to get the samples inside, he shouts in anger, "Bloody Hell!" As the pack slides off into a crevasse in the glacier. He screams more curses but the wind blots them out.

Dropping what he was carrying, Prochazka makes an attempt to run for it, but it's more like stumbling along, really. He's used to be running on a flatter surface.

Shamash clenches down on his teeth and proceeds to run after the group. After, as in being much slower than the rest, and running as in stumbling along in a speed others would consider walking. He clutches again at his throat, feeling the pendant that rests there.

. o O Shamash thinks "But. I. will. survive. for you."

. o O Townsend looks down at the crevasse, cursing his luck, "Blast! Bloody Hell! I was going to use that data in the paper I was compiling... A chance of a lifetime wasted!!!" Looking up and seeing everyone move on he thinks, "Best get out of here before I become a permenant addition to the collection in the glacier."

The ice continues its slow slide down, the bottom of the triangular-shaped piece coming away from the wall and collapsing slowly -- so slowly -- away from the wall. Endilev tries to hurry, tries to shed the equipment she's got strapped to her body, but it's too heavy, and the Fimdari native is too slow.

The team, running away from her, hears only a scream, cut short, as she -- and the Baer -- disappear under several hundred tons of falling ice.

. o O Chakev Endilev is filled with stark terror. Then certainty, mixed with the terror. Then? Nothing.

. o O Chakev Endilev thinks "... the demons..."

. o O Bright thinks "..Don't let that be her dying, don't let be dead, please can she survive, she never wanted to do this in the first place..."

Savarna is falling substantially behind; she's built for warmer climates, and cold slows her down, it seems, quite rapidly. "Keep _running_!" she shrieks, following that statement up with some highly impassioned -- and colourful -- swearing in Bolian.

. o O Savarna thinks "I am ready to see my Uncle again. I am not ready to explain bringing an entire survey mission."

Javits continues running for the work site at as rapid a pace he can muster under the present conditions, the only stable location he's aware of for the moment, not even trying to glance back behind him.

Eyes wide, Bright keeps running. She'll think about exactly how close she came to sharing Endilev's fate. Right now, there's only one thing on her mind: survival. The pure drive of a being to stay alive.

. o O Javits thinks "Keep running, don't look back. That scream told you everything you need to know. Just keep running."

Sharei pitches forward as the force of the Chakev's last terrified moments slam past the protection offered him by his medication. For a split second, he is paralyzed, his mind full of her terror mixing with his own. Then, he struggles to his feet, running on pure instinct as he makes his way to the work site. "You... have... no... feet..." he pants, determined to make it to safety.

Townsend swears loudly, "Bloody hell!" Then stiffining his upper lip states rather Britishly, "Bah! I wanted more time to study the site anyway, Now we get to be permenant additions to it." His flip demeanour masks the fear that is hiding deep inside of him. He moves towards Savarna, pausing to see if some brillant plan can be concocted.

Prochazka keeps on running, following in the same direction that Javits is heading. When he stumbles, he tries pushing forward with his hands until he can get back on his feet. His expression clearly shows just one instinct. Get to safe ground!

. o O Townsend feels deep dread at the loss of the shuttle, desperation seems to set in, although he's too English to show it.

. o O Prochazka feels terrified.

. o O Prochazka thinks "Go to see Space... Well, I just hope I can see it again, instead of just this icy cold... ice."

Shamash can't take this physical exertion much longer, panting more strongly and holding a hand to his side, he continues to pursue his teammates, simply trying to catch up.

. o O Bright thinks "Run, run, run, run, run, run, run..."

. o O Shamash can't help a asking himself with certain cynism: "all this.. physical exercise for.. nothing. I ask again, why run?"

The crew's running finds them back in the area they just left, and as the ice comes crashing down behind them, a gout of powdered ice surrounds the team.

Seconds later, they are surrounded only by ponderous silence.

Savarna comes skidding to a stop, gasping for air, and demands, "Everyone but Chakev accounted for? Any injuries?"

. o O Townsend thinks suddenly of his boyhood in cold and windy Scotland, the snow reminds him of the days when we has at boarding school. The boys used to throw snowballs, and make ice 'forts,' the memory makes him smile and gives him strength.

Sharei pants for breath. "I'm here," he says, looking over everyone. "Is anybody injured?" he asks.

Bright wheezes, bending at the waist. "I'm fine. I think. Poor Chakev..." She squeezes her eyes shut.

Javits turns to survey the damage, visually taking accountability of the team before he gazes out to where the shuttle once was, then shaking his head silently.

. o O Javits thinks "Wonderful. We've yet another science team lost on Fimdari, again with a Bolian in charge."

. o O Javits thinks "If she looks at me funny just once, I'm having her sedated."

Townsend states, "No Leftenant." Then to Savarna, "Sir perhaps its best if we construct some sort of shelter? How long 'til Operations notices we're overdue?" He asks, calculating in a strangely academic way, how long they will have to live.

. o O Sharei suddenly finds himself yearning for the warm rainforests of Betazed.

Prochazka's stop is both controlled and accidental at the same time, since he's attempting to stop, and then stumbles a bit. Getting back to his feet again, he takes a few deep breaths, "No injury," he replies, looking back at where they were coming from.

Javits looks to Townsend with a nod, then turns to Savarna, "Lieutenant Townsend has a valid point. That storm will be upon us in a matter of hours. Our first priority should be locating shelter. We may be able to make contact with an orbiting ship as well, but after we secure shelter."

Sharei sighs, trudging over to Javits. "At least we didn't have to fall, this time," he says. He pulls open the Nursely bag. "Do you think those walls will hold, sir?" he asks, nodding at the canyon walls. "We could set up a decent camp at the base of the walls while we wait for rescue."

Savarna gets her breath back, and nods. "Shelter comes first: then we establish how much we have in the way of rations."

Javits looks to Sharei with a reluctant nod, then sets about checking his tricorder.

Prochazka sighs, looking out into the ice, for the moment, shrugging a bit at the matter of the canyon walls. Looking up, he sighs a little, as he listens to the others. "So we'll need to build igloos, or something like that?" he asks, finally.

<CONTEST> Bright contests her Planetside Survival (Arctic) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Townsend smiles, "Aye, igloos a splendid idea. Anyone have anything to construct them with?"

Sharei pats the Nursely Bag. "I have one emergency shelter, but it's not a big one," he says. "It's meant to be used as a field hospital. It'll only sleep three with any kind of comfort. We might be able to stack five in, if we don't mind being sardines."

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Bright's head bobs. "I used to explore ice caves back on Codei, so I've got some experience."

Javits puts his tricorder through its diagnostic routines, looking to Bright with a smile, "That makes three of us. Doctor Sharei and I were in a similar situation such as this about a year ago on this very planet."

Bright murmurs, "You two have all the luck, then." She smiles briefly.

Savarna notes, dryly, "At least we're _good_ at the 'being stranded with the glacier'."

Shamash has catched up with the rest of his team, but simply stands there, trying to calm down from the run. And since you never know without actually giving it a try, he tests his combade, maybe raising someone on CQ, or getting the shuttles computer to respond if it is still operational.

Bright nods sagely; the smile's looking a bit sickly. "Of course we're good at it. We're Starfleet!"

Sharei shakes his head, letting out a sight. He looks up. "These walls aren't going to do anything for communications," he says. "But it's worth a go." He taps his combadge. "This is Lt. Daxaanos Sharei, to any vessels in orbit around Fimdari. Can anyone read me?"

Savarna nods solemnly. "And we have _lots_ of frozen fish, in case we have a lengthy vacation." She looks towards Sharei. "Anything?"

Prochazka looks around again. "I've always preferred ice that was smooth and meant for skating on, or ice that could be put in drinks," he mutters, before he looks over at the others, as he hears the mention of the frozen fish, unable to hold back a small chuckle. "When I grew up, I always wanted a vacation in the Alps," he says, finally.

Javits manages a wry chuckle as he withdraws a set of fine repair tools from his tricorder pouch. Opening the back of his tricorder, he sets to work with the tools, a rather studious frown settling on his features as he makes the proper adjustments to the device, "We shouldn't have much to worry about so long as we're able to establish contact before the storm arrives. Now if I hadn't dropped my tricorder, we'd be in better shape. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to finish these alignments."

Sharei shakes his head. "Nothing now. But then, they'd have to pretty much be directly over me for them to catch anything. Any ADF ship _should_ be listening at all times for Federation emergency signals, but there's no guarantee." He gestures. "These walls make our combadges useless for talking to anyone in low orbit. It was the same _last_ time this happened." He scowls. "We are getting aggravated," he mutters to himself.

Javits glances from Sharei to Shamash briefly before returning his attention to his tricorder, "Line of sight for our combadges is twelve hundred kilometers, so we should have a good chance of reaching an orbiting vessel. All vessels should have the emergency channel open. Range is approximately half that for planetary site to site transmissions."

Sharei nods his head. "I don't imagine anyone else brought an emergency shelter along? If we get two close together, then we should all be able to fit. And I've got a few ration bars with me."

"I'm not receiving anything either." Shamash says to Sharei before asking "You were here before?" To Javits: "I set my badge to transmit an repeating emergency signal. It might help"

Sharei nods his head to Shamash. "Lt. Javits and I were part of a rescue team that came here a little over a year ago," he says. "We wound up sliding down into a deep crevice. If one of our team-mates hadn't found an abandoned field kit, we probably would have died down there."

Javits glances from Sharei to Shamash briefly before returning his attention to his tricorder, "Line of sight for our combadges is twelve hundred kilometers, so we should have a good chance of reaching an orbiting vessel. All vessels should have the emergency channel open. Range is approximately half that for planetary site to site transmissions."

Sharei nods his head to Shamash. "Lt. Javits and I were part of a rescue team that came here a little over a year ago," he says. "We wound up sliding down into a deep crevice. If one of our team-mates hadn't found an abandoned field kit, we probably would have died down there." (repose)

Shamash still mamages a wry smile, stress induced by the nearing storm still far away from him "You were right, Nick. I'd rather hear that story in the En-Zee over a drink than over an reenactment." He looks around, facing the ice wall again. "You said before, the wall might have started to get hair fractures? Think it will still withstand a storm? How strong are Fimdarian storms anyway?"

Savarna frowns as she listens to Sharei, turning to study the walls all around them. "This is...vexing."

Sharei nods his head to Savarna. "We are getting aggravated," he says, sighing a bit. He busies himself with erecting the emergency shelter out of the Nursely Bag.

"We'll probably want to huddle together for warmth," Bright remarks.

. o O Javits thinks "This is sounding more and more like the last away mission."

Sharei looks over at Javits. "Do you think there'd be any chance that somebody noticed when the Baer got eaten?" he asks as he hefts the dome of the small, blue dome of Federation standard goodness.

Javits completes repairs to his tricorder, then reseals the device and puts it through another set of diagnostics. While these run, he slowly surveys his surroundings. With a nod to Shamash, he holds up his tricorder, "We could use a tricorder's communications capability to send out an emergency call for a longer duration than a combadge." Turning to Sharei, he shakes his head, "Not until it fails to return before the storm. The ADF should take notice then, especially when their missing officer and her charges fail to check in."

. o O Javits thinks "I wonder if th shuttle is in any way intact."

. o O Javits thinks "If so, we could try using its communications systems to boost our signal."

Savarna notes, "They should check for us when we go overdue. If nothing else, Lieutenant Laco will want to find us so that he can shout at me for losing such a large percentage of the department without clearance."

Bright smiles crookedly, though she still looks somewhat ill-at-ease.

Sharei clicks open his tricorder. "I'll use mine," he says. He taps at the screen, giving it a message to beam on all the emergency frequencies. That done, he finishes getting the shelter set up. "Aye, sir," he says to Savarna. "But that won't be before the storm hits. We could be under five hundred meters of snow before they notice we've been gone too long." He looks up at the canyon walls, looking thoughtful.

Javits grins at Savarna's comment, "We should be fine here for a little while at least." Looking to Sharei, he shakes his head, "We may need your medical tricorder later on. Let someone use a standard model for that purpose."

Savarna notes, "But now that we're here for the interim, there is no reason to completely abandon the concepts of science. Lieutenant Bright, this should give you more time to isolate specimens in the stable zones, and when the storm becomes overly enthusiastic, there can be testing of meltwater." See her be encouraging. She glances to Sharei, and notes, more quietly, "We do what we can. We set up what beacons we have available to us. And we do not despair. Ships have been lost in worse seas than these." She offers her tricorder towards Sharei. "Here. Mine does not recognize frostbite as well as yours."

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Sharei reaches down to his belt and clicks the tricorder open enough to hit the CANCEL button. "Right," he says, closing the tricorder. He looks over his shoulder, at the BIG fish. "One of the last things I sensed from Chakev Endilev was the word 'demon'," he says. "I wonder just how much she really knew about these things." He looks out to the darkening skies, and murmurs a quiet Betazoid prayer.

Prochazka has been lost in thought, for the moment, shrugging a little, as he now turns back to the others again, moving the rest of the distance to where they're gathered. He keeps silent for the moment, though.

<CONTEST> Sharei contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Sharei fiddles with the tricorder Savarna has handed him. The lack of a probe seems to throw the Betazoid nurse, as his brow furrows. "Haven't handled a standard since the Academy," he mutters, tapping at a couple buttons, to no avail.

Shamash studies Javits as he works, a strange calm comming over him, pulling out his own tricorder and checking what the small database of the device has to say about Fimdarian storms. "Tell me when you are finished setting up the Tricorder, Nick, I got a few questions I'd want to brainstorm with you"

Townsend finishes helpin on the shelter, moving towards Savarna he asks, "Sir, if it all possible I'd like to help in recovering some of the data from the site, I don't feel like leaving here empty handed."

Prochazka still keeps silent, but seems calm. As he hears Townsend's words, he nods, "I'll help with that as well, if possible," he offers.

Savarna nods to Townsend. "Of course, Lieutenant. Once we're established and have our transmitters running, we needn't sit idle. Everyone should continue to help, as we can."

Bright remarks, "If we're here, we may as well try to do a more detailed scan of the large specimen again. From the ground."

. o O Savarna thinks "Idle hands make for vicious messes, especially with Starfleet officers. I'd like to _stay_ at zero fatalities."

Sharei nods his head. "I'd like to," he says to Bright. "But it was difficult just to get the partial readings I scanned. Maybe if we analyze what data I was able to collect, we can find something useful."

Bright inclines her head. "Yes, I think you're right."

Javits takes his now fully functional tricorder for a scan over the general area, taking care to make slow, even sweeps, "First, determine just how stable this area is. Then, I'm going to try and contact the Baer. If it's at all functional, we might be able to tap into its communications systems in order to broadcast a much stronger signal across a much wider band of frequencies. Otherwise, we'll still be limited to a tighter frequency band with a weaker signal strength."

Savarna nods to Javits, saying, "A wise course," as she turns to study the glacier wall, thoughtfully.

Sharei looks over his shoulder. "I suppose it's worth a shot," he says. He studies the shadow of the large specimen, rubbing his chin. Then, he goes over towards Bright, hauling out his medical tricorder. "What all specimens did _you_ find?" he asks, trying to keep his spirits light.

Savarna studies the glacier wall for a long while before turning to Bright and Sharei, and saying: "Ice. Cold. Boost the signal. Who wants to help me doing something functionally impossible?" It'll be _fun_! So speaks her entire expression. Because yeah, bouncing a signal beacon through a glacier? That's a good plan.

Prochazka keeps silent for the moment, looking around carefully, out into the great icy area, for now.

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Material Engineering (Structural) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Shamash starts to pace at a slow speed, inactivity not sitting too good with him, so he mulls over different ideas of how to build a shelter. Wasn't there the idea of an igloo? He moves towards Bright. "You mentioned you knew how to build an igloo? Can you give me an estimate how long it will take to build one, just in case we do need to prepare for the incomming storm?"

Javits glances to Savarna with a reassuring smile, then turns his attention back to his tricorder, tapping several symbols on the device's surface, "As far as I'm able to determine, our immediate area is stable. Now to see if our shuttle managed to survive."

<CONTEST> Javits (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Savarna raises her 'eyebrows' at that smile, and notes, "Cold can increase the durability and distance of a transmission. It may not work here, but it's worth attempting."

Townsend looks discontent at all the activity, and him little to do. He begins to absently fidget with items on his belt. Suddenly the realization of the fact that he has tools on his belt strikes him, He full out smiles as he strips off his mittens and pulls out a manual corer, and one sample tube.

Javits taps another set of symbols on his tricorder, then stows the device with a frown and a shake of his head, "The signal is good, but there's no response. Looks like we owe someone a shuttle." Extending his hand to Sharei, he asks with a smile, "May I have a go at Lieutenant Savarna's tricorder?"

. o O Townsend thinks, "Now, I am in business, slow, crude, but it works. Must have been attached to the front of my jacket rather than the belt.."

. o O Javits thinks "At least last time we had a functional shuttle to get us out of this mess."

Sharei nods his head, handing over the other tricorder. "You'll probably be better with it that I am," he says, ruefully. He goes back to studying his medical tricorder. "I was hoping to get a scan of its genetic material," he says, showing the screen to Bright. "But I couldn't narrow the bandwidth quite enough. A tissue density scan was the best I could do."

Prochazka looks around for the moment, starting to walk a little around, before he blinks, as he sees Townsend's and the tools he pulled out. He then heads over in that direction., but still keeps silent, for the moment.

Savarna looks around, and asks, "Lieutenant Townsend? Can you refrain until we have finished preparing for the storm, and have done all that we can do to contact the outside world?"

Bright smiles at Sharei, leaning over to examine the screen. "Ahhh. That's still fascinating. I haven't discovered much about mine yet - I was trying to get them out and waiting to get to the lab." Her shoulders slump a little. "All gone now."

Javits accepts the tricorder with a smile, then a look to Savarna along with a firm nod, "We'll have plenty of time to work once our basic needs have been met." As he works on the second tricorder, he glances up towards the cliff face with a curious frown, then turns his attention back to his work.

. o O Javits thinks "No, a cave wouldn't work. The igloo is a much better option in this situation, so long as we make it large enough."

Townsend looks a bit embarrassed, "Sorry Sir, I suddenly discovered that not all my tools were lost. I'd be happy to help, simply direct me and I shall endeavour to aid the group in any way." He places his precious tools back on his belt and waits for a directive from the senior officer.

Sharei glances over at Savarna. "I have a few ration bars with me," he says. He looks back at the glacial site. "I wonder if any of those things _are_ good to eat?" he asks aloud.

Bright glances over at Shamash and nods. "We could. They do take a bit of time, but we could probably save some work on the igloo by building a half-dome against a wall or something to that affect."

Prochazka still keeps silent, as he looks out at the site again. As he hears Sharei's question, he shrugs, "Well, there might be only one way to find out, if we'll be staying around long enough?"

<CONTEST> Javits contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Shamash looks up at the skies and back to Bright, "We have to cut blocks out of the snow or ice, as far as I understand the procedure. I suggest we start with that. Once Lt. Javits has finished his integrity scan of the wall, we have some blocks ready and can either move them to the wall or start building a free standing variety."

Javits taps a long series of symbols on the second tricorder, deactivating most of the device's subsystems in order to extend its operational lifespan. With a smile, he closes the device and pockets it, then turns to Savarna, "There, we have a standard Federation distress signal broadcast on all appropriate frequencies at full signal strength. It should last for at least thirty-six hours, though I would expect longer with most of the superfluous subsystems deactivated."

. o O Javits thinks "Engineering on task."

Bright nods to Javits with approval and gratitude, then to Shamash again. "Just so. We should get started."

Sharei nods his head. "How much time do we have now?" he asks.

. o O Shamash thinks "one problem at a time. first we survive the storm, then we worry about the life span of the signal. But nice piece of work, Nick."

Bright glances up. "Two hours, two and a half hours on a generous estimate?"

Javits pulls out his tricorder and opens it up for a quick check, then looks to Sharei with a slight frown, then to Bright with a shake of his head, "Negative. Using the information provided by the Baer, we've approximately an hour."

Savarna nods. "So we should begin construction."

Bright exhales. "Even better." She steps off to try to locate some likely snow to start igloo buildin' with.

Shamash checks the ground for a compact area to cut blocks of ice from. "What do I need to look for, anything that keeps its form will do?"

. o O Shamash thinks "Another reason to get an additional pip: being able to kick people into action."

Sharei nods his head. "Agreed," he says. He glances around. "How can I help?" Of course, the Betazoid knows nothing about building igloos. The Betazoid is from a _warm_ planet.

Prochazka moves further over to the others, and looks around, for a few moments, before he asks, "So, does some of us prepare the ice blocks, some transport them to the right place, and some do the actual building?"

Javits nods emphatically to Savarna, "The sooner the better." Turning to Sharei, he asks, "What's the personnel rating for that emergency shelter? We could use it as a load bearing structure under the igloo, or at least as a makeshift entrance area."

Sharei glances over at Javits. "It's registered to sleep three--two patients and an attending officer. We could stack five inside, if everyone agreed to breathe in shifts."

. o O Javits thinks "Since it's stable, why not build a half an igloo right on the cliff face? We could work under shelter while we wait out the storm."

Shamash quenches a urge to tap his foot. Bright is the one with igloo experience, she should take charge.

Bright begins to awkwardly hack out large 'bricks' of snow. "Whatever holds shape will do."

Savarna moves to assist, silent for now.

Townsend's initiative quashed, he waits patiently for someone to give him something to do.

Bright points toward one cliff wall. "That looks like a good place to build the half-dome against."

Savarna catches sight of Lieutenant Townsend standing fallow, and requests, "Please assist with building our shelter."

Javits chuckles with a shake of his head, "Probably better as an addition on the side of the igloo then. It could always serve as a sheltered work area." Looking to Savarna, he asks, "Why don't we leave the igloo initiative to Lieutenant Bright? She's established herself as the resident expert, after all." He directs a smile to Bright, "What do you need me for, Lieutenant?"

Shamash's mouth twitches as he sees Townsend idling around. In between assisting Bright, he starts to speak up as to urge him to help, but Savarna is faster. He nods to the later in satisfaction.

. o O Shamash thinks "took long enough"

Townsend moves forward and silently helps with the construction, following the directions silently of the others.

Prochazka moves to help with what he can help with as well, muttering something under his breath, rather calmly. If anyone overhears some of it, it sounds quite Czech, and some of the words sounds quite alike, just like he was reciting a poem to himself.

. o O Javits thinks "We have clothing and shelter taken care of. Food is a problem, but a minor one for now unless we have to stay here long. All our equipment was aboard the shuttle, unfortunately. Hopefully someone will receive that distress signal and respond to it. If not now, they'll receive it soon enough, once a search has begun. They know almost exactly where to look, after all."

Bright nods to Javits. "Cut blocks out, and stack them when you have them. We don't have time to make it very large." She haults a trio of blocks over toward the wall she pointed out and starts setting up.

Savarna nods to Javits. "Of course. I am not dictating action. Merely requesting additional hands."

Javits sets to working as directed by Bright, alternately cutting out blocks with the tools available and moving them to be stacked properly under her direction. As he works, he looks to Savarna with an unsure shrug, "It's your mission, Lieutenant."

Sharei goes to help with the igloo-building, having nothing to do with his hands for the time being.

. o O Javits thinks "I'm here as engineering support."

Bright notes, "We're going for a curve - so after another row or so, move the blocks inward some bit. We'll need a little crawlway to get in and out, too."

. o O Javits thinks "With this many people working, we should have a decent igloo completed well before the storm arrives."

Javits nods as he brigs another set of completed block to the building site, pausing to take a step back and examine the work in progress, "How broad of a curve do you need?"

Bright grins toothily. "Fairly steep by this point - time's running out, and we could build a better small space than a large one." She holds out her hand some distance off the ground and says, "I'm thinking about this high."

Shamash considers the implications of a crawlway as he continues to carry neat blocks of snow "If we got the time, an L-shaped entrance is a good solution, and will prevent any wind from blowing in and also will work as a heat trap. A depth of 1 m might do it, then cover it with a square roof made of snow blocks?"

Javits nods slowly as he listens, then offers Bright a reassuring smile, "We'll have it done in plenty of time." This said, he heads off to cut and transport more blocks to the work site, intent on having the igloo done long before the storm arrives.

Prochazka continues cutting out blocks, and then bring them over to the building site, still reciting his poem under his breath, although it becomes a little louder now when he's bringing the blocks over.

. o O Javits thinks "A square roof? Aren't igloos rounded for structural integrity purposes?"

. o O Shamash thinks "never thought I'd need practical termophysics on this mission"

Townsend goes to the spot where the cutting is being accomplished, pulling a block and moving it over to the build site. He tries to catch what Prochazka is reciting as he passes by him.

Sharei does his part, sliding blocks along the ice to where they're needed. "Any idea how nasty this one's going to be, Lt. Javits?" he asks as he passes the other man by.

. o O Townsend muses, "Perhaps a song is in order? It may lift morale?"

Bright shakes her head. "I don't think we have time. A small straight one worked for the natives in the cold environments on Terra, it should work for us."

Javits, on his way back to the build site with another set of block, looks to Shamash with a shake of his head, "Since we weren't supposed to be here when it arrived, the intensity wasn't a concern. Unfortunately, we'll know soon enough. The igloo should handle it quite well. Humans native to the extreme northern areas of the Terran continent of North America built these sorts of structures to withstand extremes in weather."

Overhearing that part about the people who built the structures, Prochazka stops reciting, long enough to comment, "The fascinating thing, from what I've read of history is that up in Lappland in the far north of Europe, they used to build a hotel of ice around the millennium change."

Sharei shakes his head. "I'm from a warm world," he says ruefully. "I'd never really seen snow before my first winter at the Academy."

Bright works some on the crawlway; it's rounded, too, and relatively short and squat. "Ha! Ice hotel. We'd wind up like our big blue friend there."

The team works together, and, as the skies begin to darken due to the impending storm, a shelter which will hold all of them -- or, at least, two shelters melded together which will hold all of them -- is constructed.

As the first flakes begin to fall, and the skies overhead begin to dramatically darken, a crackling voice pops up over Savarna's combadge. "Chakev Ghorev to Lieutenant Savarna."

Savarna taps her combadge, replying, "Savarna here, Commander."

. o O Javits thinks "Chakev Ghorev? Must be a relative."

"Lieutenant, we've received your distress signal," the voice crackles. "We've notified the ADF Kul'sun, but we've been informed that the storm is interfering with their ability to get a transporter lock on you, or even to accurately pin your present location on sensors. You'll have to weather out the storm. Is everyone all right?"

Bright watches Savarna with interest, listening in.

. o O Shamash thinks "They heard the signal? Great job, Nick."

With the shelter finished, but immediate danger seemingly still a bit away, Shamash looks at the ice wall, murmuring sotto voce "Now is the time to continue collecting the data, if anyone is still up to it and be fast about it." once the combadge goes off, he studies Savarna curiously.

"Our native guide, Chakev Endilev, was killed in the initial glacial collapse," Savarna replies. "There are no other injuries, and we have been able to construct a shelter. Providing the storm is not unusual in length, there should be no issues with weathering it unharmed."

Javits starts at the transmission, then turns to Savarna, watching her as the conversation unfolds.

Prochazka listens quietly as well, glancing around at the others present, but keeps quiet for the moment.

Townsend straightens up, nodding at Shamash, he keeps his mouth shut, but the desire to return to the ice wall burns in his eyes.

A long silence from the other end of the transmission. Finally, with classic Andorian stoicism, the answer comes, "I see. I am glad to hear that no one else is injured. We will be losing signal shortly due to the storm, Lieutenant. We expect the storm to be over you for at least three days, and will be unable to attempt rescue during that time. It may be as long as five. Plan for six, though I do not expect it to be that long."

Sharei winces at the sound of that. "I hope it won't be that long. I don't have that many ration bars with me," he says quietly.

Bright's eyes widen slightly. Three days.

. o O Bright thinks "Three days. Small igloo. Little food. Please no."

Savarna blinks ponderously at that, absorbing that statement of time, and notes, "We may have ration difficulties if the storm extends to that degree. Would glacially preserved Fimdari sealife be likely to cause difficulties if it becomes necessary to seek other sources of protein?" When all else fails, eat the research specimens.

Prochazka grimaces as he hears that estimated length of the storm. "Seems like we've got our own ice hotel here, now..." he mutters, after a few moments.

"To be honest with you, Lieutenant, I do not know. You would be more qualified to make that sort of determination," Chakev Ghorev replies. "We have been unable to locate your shuttle's signal. We were going to attempt to remotely transport you aboard."

"We'll have plenty of time to find out, then," Savarna replies. "We are as well-equipped as we are capable of being, Lieutenant; I believe we will be fine. Lieutenant Bright has led us in construction of an igloo, and we have options for food. See you after the storm lets up?"

Javits frowns distinctly at the mention of the loss of Chakev Endilev, less so at the mention of the shuttle. At the report of the storm's duration, he quietly withdraws the distress signal tricorder and deactivates it, then slips it back into his pocket. It'll prove useful soon enough.

. o O Javits thinks "Fossil fish for dinner? Sounds positively delicious!"

"Yes," Chakev Ghorev replies, and adds, "Keep warm," before the combadge clicks into nothing.

The wind is picking up, and the snow is falling fast enough now that it's starting to accumulate on the shoulders of the officers. Time to go inside.