mission totally possible: meet the natives [ALMOST HOME]
Although the creatures had retreated with the first light, the four women waited until day had fully broken before they risked moving out of the safe perimeter. Sunlight came just in time, the last of the torches burning itself out as Nyota got stiffly to her feet. With slight hesitation, she moved forward, Leah following after her, phaser held tight in her hands just in case some of the creatures had decided to stick around. A quick check in the nearby bushes showed nothing; clearly these things were too sensitive of light to attack them during the day, just as Tina had guessed.
"It's safe," Leah informed the nurses who had been awkwardly resting, trying to conserve whatever strength they could for the mornings trek. Each of them knew they couldn't survive another night against those things, especially not with two injured now. The only thing they could do was get to the settlement and hope that they were friendly. If they weren't... well they were out of options. They were half a days walk off, but that was before Tina had gotten injured. Would she be able to make it before nightfall?
As soon as she got the all clear, Christine retrieved the supplies that had been out of reach the previous night. "Lieutenant, how's that arm?" she asked as she kneeled down beside Tina and began to tend to the wound as best she could with limited medical equipment. Even though they had discussed it and agreed that it was better to risk necrosis than bleed out, she was still worried about what might happen if the settlement didn't have anything to deal with her injury. Who knew how far they were from the Enterprise, or if these natives could even help. But they had to make the best of the situation, so she gave Tina a comforting smile.
"It's fine," Nyota assured her, carefully peeling back the neck of her shirt to check on the wound. Her arm was still throbbing from the exertion, pain easing over it in waves, but the teethmarks were already scabbing over. Leah helped her clean the blood away from her shoulder as Christine finished wrapping Tina's leg. There was only one shot of painkillers left, which Nyota assured the nurse she could do without. Tina would need it more, especially with how tight the bandages were. She was well used to the pain in her arm after days anyway.
As soon as everything was collected and packed away, water refilled and the backpacks redistributed between all four of them to make it easier on those injured, they set out, Leah now taking the lead with the PADD while Christine helped Tina along, Nyota hovering behind them.
"The first thing I'm asking these people is if they have a shower," Nyota commented as they trekked, trying to lighten the mood. "Covered in animal really isn't a sexy look."
"I don't think any of us could pull off sexy right now," Tina replied with a laugh, though her voice trembled a little with the constant agitation of her leg. "And no offense Nyota, but animal guts do not smell good."
"Offense taken!" she laughed, readjusting her sling as Leah brought the group to a stop and tilted the PADD, trying to gauge the easiest route.
She motioned to the left, and they all let out a groan at the sight of hills on the horizon. "It should be over that range," she offered apologetically, glancing over her shoulder at Tina and Christine, who both seemed to physically deflate at the prospect of climbing what looked like an extremely steep hill.
Their suspicions were, of course, correct. The path to the range of hills was fairly easily, during which all the women engaged in some idle chatter to distract themselves. Nyota joined them for the first half hour or so, but as she and Leah switched positions, she soon fell silent. Up until now she had tried to plaster on a brave face and act far more confident than she felt. What else could she do? To confess that she wasn't even sure these natives they were heading toward would be friendly, let alone if she could communicate with them, would simply worry the others. They were all worried enough, especially with the added injuries. Every so often she would glance back at Tina and see the strain on her face, the way her hand would itch toward the bandages around her leg to adjust the pressure only to remember she couldn't. Nyota had brought her on this mission thinking it would be safe.
But as soon as the self-doubt appeared, it was chased out by anger at herself. Making the active choice to become a Bridge Officer, to train so that one day she would be promoted to where Kirk was now, meant making difficult decisions that didn't always pay off and often left her in the face of danger. Self pity and indecision helped absolutely nobody. Since when had she ever sat back and allowed the situation to spiral out of her control without putting up a fight? So things hadn't gone exactly as planned, but it was what it was, and she wasn't about to give up. That was not in her vocabulary. Her mother would tell her to snap out of it and that Uhura women were made of far stronger stuff. Her father... he would have said to listen to her mother.
"Wait, wait." They stopped at the foothill, turning to Christine as she stopped Tina and kneeled down to check the bandages and retighten them. Working uphill would loosen them faster, and she still wasn't sure she trusted that wound to not bleed out. Red was already appearing through the gauze. "Are you sure you're ready Tina?"
The other nurse nodded firmly, and Nyota felt a small rush of pride. Her friend was made of sterner stuff too. Hell, she dealt with Leo on a regular basis, of course she was. "Lets just get over this damn hill."
"You heard the woman," Nyota nodded, taking a deep breath and holding her arm closer to her to make sure it didn't jar too much as they slowly began up the hill.
It took them four hours, three stops and the last of their water to make it up and over the slope, by which time the sun was starting its descent in the sky. Leah estimated two hours until sunset and none of them wanted to be out in the open by then.
"Look!" she exclaimed as they reached the bottom of the other side, pointing toward the distance. There they could make out buildings. Actual buildings. They weren't tall skyscrapers of a bustling city, and the architecture was foreign. But they still held the same basic shape as residential housing, the kind that the married postgrads often used at the Academy. As they got closer, Nyota guessed it was some sort of village or small town, and as they got closer still she could pick out herds of animals. They were the same size as the creatures they had encountered last night, though they bore a closer resemblance to the lizardbirds. They hardly seemed bothered as the women made their way through their field, for the large expanse of blue grass could only be that, and continued their business. Whatever that was.
"I don't see anyone," Christine whispered, clearly a little uneasy. There was no telling how they would react to them. Their uniforms, as dirty and tattered as they were, still bore the Starfleet insignia but what if this culture didn't think kindly of the Federation? Not everyone did.
Nyota didn't have time to respond, for a loud noise to their right interrupted whatever she was about to say. The person approaching them was tall, that was the first thing she could think of. And blue. Their skin was textured, and as they came closer she could see it was almost as if it was made of the tiniest feathers, rustling ever so slightly in the wind. She counted four arms threaded through their tunic, but two more were folded behind their back. So they were similar to the animals of this world they had seen in their journey. Even as she froze, she couldn't help but think that this thing (she couldn't tell the gender, or if they even had genders) was breathtaking in a way. Their features were not completely dissimilar to a humanoid, though their nose was flatter, so flat it was almost simply two slits. But their eyes - all three of them - were large and a vivid green that contrasted pleasantly with the blue hue of their skin. They had no ears, and their hair was of a thicker texture than any human, bundled into braids not unlike the ones her mother used to give her. All of this combined shouldn't be aesthetically pleasing, but they carried themselves with such a grace that it was striking to look at.
Once her observation of the native was done, she stepped in front of the others. All species were not the same, yet there always seemed to be some universal understanding of body language. This person was not at all threatening, instead seemed to regard them with curiosity. Their eyes darted between each of them, resting on the insignia of their shirts. After a moment it spoke again, in a clear and loud voice with an edge of softness that prevented it being too jarring to listen to. When it spoke the two hands from behind its back came forward to gesture.
Holding up her hand in a placating gesture, Nyota could almost understand it. Her brow creased with concentration as she tried to place it, to translate what it had said and see if she could make sense of it. Yes. It had roots similar to Deltan, yet if she directly translated from that it made little sense. But it was spoken as if it was Arbazan. What culture was similar to the two? She knew this. The thing spoke again, making an upwards gesture with its hands and she clicked her fingers as she finally got it. Mintakan. She couldn't speak it fluently, but now she knew what they were working with. The Mintakans were neutral, a peaceful race at large who simply wished for Starfleet to respect their wishes not to join the Federation. They weren't as advanced as most, but she knew they would be able to fix the damage to their shuttle. Their careful and private nature meant it was a language with which she wasn't totally familiar, but it was one that was Federation friendly, therefore she knew the basics.
"Require help. We crashed. Need to contact home."
It took a few minutes to get across what they needed in her broken half sentences and what she was sure were incorrect hand gestures, but the woman (or their equivalent of as she had determined) seemed to understand enough to get out an accented "you are Federation" in passable Standard.
Nyota got that she wanted them to wait where they were as she turned and hurried back the way she had come, and she took the time to fill in the others on her brief conversation.
"So they can help?" Christine asked helpfully, and for the first time all day Nyota gave her a real smile.
"Yeah, they can help."
"Thank fuck for that," Tina chimed in. "Do they have showers?"
"We have baths, I believe are same thing?" another native said in Standard, coming back to the group with the woman Nyota had been speaking with. She could tell this was also a Mintakan female from the way her hair was braided. The other had pointed to her braids when she explained her gender. "I am the... word you use... Leader! I am the leader of this gathering. I speak Federation Standard. Come, we help you."
"It's safe," Leah informed the nurses who had been awkwardly resting, trying to conserve whatever strength they could for the mornings trek. Each of them knew they couldn't survive another night against those things, especially not with two injured now. The only thing they could do was get to the settlement and hope that they were friendly. If they weren't... well they were out of options. They were half a days walk off, but that was before Tina had gotten injured. Would she be able to make it before nightfall?
As soon as she got the all clear, Christine retrieved the supplies that had been out of reach the previous night. "Lieutenant, how's that arm?" she asked as she kneeled down beside Tina and began to tend to the wound as best she could with limited medical equipment. Even though they had discussed it and agreed that it was better to risk necrosis than bleed out, she was still worried about what might happen if the settlement didn't have anything to deal with her injury. Who knew how far they were from the Enterprise, or if these natives could even help. But they had to make the best of the situation, so she gave Tina a comforting smile.
"It's fine," Nyota assured her, carefully peeling back the neck of her shirt to check on the wound. Her arm was still throbbing from the exertion, pain easing over it in waves, but the teethmarks were already scabbing over. Leah helped her clean the blood away from her shoulder as Christine finished wrapping Tina's leg. There was only one shot of painkillers left, which Nyota assured the nurse she could do without. Tina would need it more, especially with how tight the bandages were. She was well used to the pain in her arm after days anyway.
As soon as everything was collected and packed away, water refilled and the backpacks redistributed between all four of them to make it easier on those injured, they set out, Leah now taking the lead with the PADD while Christine helped Tina along, Nyota hovering behind them.
"The first thing I'm asking these people is if they have a shower," Nyota commented as they trekked, trying to lighten the mood. "Covered in animal really isn't a sexy look."
"I don't think any of us could pull off sexy right now," Tina replied with a laugh, though her voice trembled a little with the constant agitation of her leg. "And no offense Nyota, but animal guts do not smell good."
"Offense taken!" she laughed, readjusting her sling as Leah brought the group to a stop and tilted the PADD, trying to gauge the easiest route.
She motioned to the left, and they all let out a groan at the sight of hills on the horizon. "It should be over that range," she offered apologetically, glancing over her shoulder at Tina and Christine, who both seemed to physically deflate at the prospect of climbing what looked like an extremely steep hill.
Their suspicions were, of course, correct. The path to the range of hills was fairly easily, during which all the women engaged in some idle chatter to distract themselves. Nyota joined them for the first half hour or so, but as she and Leah switched positions, she soon fell silent. Up until now she had tried to plaster on a brave face and act far more confident than she felt. What else could she do? To confess that she wasn't even sure these natives they were heading toward would be friendly, let alone if she could communicate with them, would simply worry the others. They were all worried enough, especially with the added injuries. Every so often she would glance back at Tina and see the strain on her face, the way her hand would itch toward the bandages around her leg to adjust the pressure only to remember she couldn't. Nyota had brought her on this mission thinking it would be safe.
But as soon as the self-doubt appeared, it was chased out by anger at herself. Making the active choice to become a Bridge Officer, to train so that one day she would be promoted to where Kirk was now, meant making difficult decisions that didn't always pay off and often left her in the face of danger. Self pity and indecision helped absolutely nobody. Since when had she ever sat back and allowed the situation to spiral out of her control without putting up a fight? So things hadn't gone exactly as planned, but it was what it was, and she wasn't about to give up. That was not in her vocabulary. Her mother would tell her to snap out of it and that Uhura women were made of far stronger stuff. Her father... he would have said to listen to her mother.
"Wait, wait." They stopped at the foothill, turning to Christine as she stopped Tina and kneeled down to check the bandages and retighten them. Working uphill would loosen them faster, and she still wasn't sure she trusted that wound to not bleed out. Red was already appearing through the gauze. "Are you sure you're ready Tina?"
The other nurse nodded firmly, and Nyota felt a small rush of pride. Her friend was made of sterner stuff too. Hell, she dealt with Leo on a regular basis, of course she was. "Lets just get over this damn hill."
"You heard the woman," Nyota nodded, taking a deep breath and holding her arm closer to her to make sure it didn't jar too much as they slowly began up the hill.
It took them four hours, three stops and the last of their water to make it up and over the slope, by which time the sun was starting its descent in the sky. Leah estimated two hours until sunset and none of them wanted to be out in the open by then.
"Look!" she exclaimed as they reached the bottom of the other side, pointing toward the distance. There they could make out buildings. Actual buildings. They weren't tall skyscrapers of a bustling city, and the architecture was foreign. But they still held the same basic shape as residential housing, the kind that the married postgrads often used at the Academy. As they got closer, Nyota guessed it was some sort of village or small town, and as they got closer still she could pick out herds of animals. They were the same size as the creatures they had encountered last night, though they bore a closer resemblance to the lizardbirds. They hardly seemed bothered as the women made their way through their field, for the large expanse of blue grass could only be that, and continued their business. Whatever that was.
"I don't see anyone," Christine whispered, clearly a little uneasy. There was no telling how they would react to them. Their uniforms, as dirty and tattered as they were, still bore the Starfleet insignia but what if this culture didn't think kindly of the Federation? Not everyone did.
Nyota didn't have time to respond, for a loud noise to their right interrupted whatever she was about to say. The person approaching them was tall, that was the first thing she could think of. And blue. Their skin was textured, and as they came closer she could see it was almost as if it was made of the tiniest feathers, rustling ever so slightly in the wind. She counted four arms threaded through their tunic, but two more were folded behind their back. So they were similar to the animals of this world they had seen in their journey. Even as she froze, she couldn't help but think that this thing (she couldn't tell the gender, or if they even had genders) was breathtaking in a way. Their features were not completely dissimilar to a humanoid, though their nose was flatter, so flat it was almost simply two slits. But their eyes - all three of them - were large and a vivid green that contrasted pleasantly with the blue hue of their skin. They had no ears, and their hair was of a thicker texture than any human, bundled into braids not unlike the ones her mother used to give her. All of this combined shouldn't be aesthetically pleasing, but they carried themselves with such a grace that it was striking to look at.
Once her observation of the native was done, she stepped in front of the others. All species were not the same, yet there always seemed to be some universal understanding of body language. This person was not at all threatening, instead seemed to regard them with curiosity. Their eyes darted between each of them, resting on the insignia of their shirts. After a moment it spoke again, in a clear and loud voice with an edge of softness that prevented it being too jarring to listen to. When it spoke the two hands from behind its back came forward to gesture.
Holding up her hand in a placating gesture, Nyota could almost understand it. Her brow creased with concentration as she tried to place it, to translate what it had said and see if she could make sense of it. Yes. It had roots similar to Deltan, yet if she directly translated from that it made little sense. But it was spoken as if it was Arbazan. What culture was similar to the two? She knew this. The thing spoke again, making an upwards gesture with its hands and she clicked her fingers as she finally got it. Mintakan. She couldn't speak it fluently, but now she knew what they were working with. The Mintakans were neutral, a peaceful race at large who simply wished for Starfleet to respect their wishes not to join the Federation. They weren't as advanced as most, but she knew they would be able to fix the damage to their shuttle. Their careful and private nature meant it was a language with which she wasn't totally familiar, but it was one that was Federation friendly, therefore she knew the basics.
"Require help. We crashed. Need to contact home."
It took a few minutes to get across what they needed in her broken half sentences and what she was sure were incorrect hand gestures, but the woman (or their equivalent of as she had determined) seemed to understand enough to get out an accented "you are Federation" in passable Standard.
Nyota got that she wanted them to wait where they were as she turned and hurried back the way she had come, and she took the time to fill in the others on her brief conversation.
"So they can help?" Christine asked helpfully, and for the first time all day Nyota gave her a real smile.
"Yeah, they can help."
"Thank fuck for that," Tina chimed in. "Do they have showers?"
"We have baths, I believe are same thing?" another native said in Standard, coming back to the group with the woman Nyota had been speaking with. She could tell this was also a Mintakan female from the way her hair was braided. The other had pointed to her braids when she explained her gender. "I am the... word you use... Leader! I am the leader of this gathering. I speak Federation Standard. Come, we help you."