S12 - M11: Awakening

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Turbolift]

Dad always said, "Your mouth is going to get you killed." And that was ironic because the last biting insult she threw at him before leaving was straight up murder - until he was actually murdered by greedy trading partners. Since then, her mouth had taken her places both wondrous and troubling, with barely a filter there on par to a Tellurite.

So she waited for something. And waited. It was a very small turbolift, but a big guy like the Admiral could probably make one hell of a use with it. He could smack her around or kill her like a Klingon whose honor was threatened. Or at least scream at her until she succumbed to either deafness or fear.

The corner of her mouth twitched, almost giving away her gamble. But the Admiral folded his cards and resumed with hardly a response. And when he exited the lift, Kali almost doubled over behind his back, scared from hell to back like a recoiled cobra.

She was going to put coffee on the stand for her impending court martial. She didn't know why she mouthed off like that. The way he spoke just kind of pushed her into it. Like a spray bottle hovering over a cornered cat.

"Oh my god," she whispered to herself in horror. "I think I broke the Admiral."

Tekin was going to kill her. She almost comically stumbled chasing after him. "That was just lift-talk, Admiral! Please don't court martial me!"

[Shuttlebay]

Adeyemi glanced over his shoulder at the nearly hysterical woman, fixed her with his best impression of his biological grandmother's evil eye. A nasty one, that grandmother. Full blown Yoruba, hadn't lived a day in anything not considered traditional culture. If you needed your future read or a lover cursed she was your gal. Mostly, the admiral remembered her for her groundnut stew and how she abhorred Christianity, but she'd also been the family witch. And he'd also gotten along with her better than he cared to admit.

"I'll deal with you later, chief," Adeyemi told her roughly. "Right now, we've got--"

"Hello all!" A cheery English voice said. Smythe was a tall man, no longer young, with plain brown hair that was mightily receding from his pimpled brow. His stork like body was mostly elbows and knees and protuberant Adam's apple.

"Smythe. Are we ready to go?" Adeyemi said in his own English accented voice. Despite their shared national origin of sorts neither man had any love for one another.

"Almost, admiral, almost." Smythe had long teeth, and he used them to his full advantage when he beamed a smile at Reyes. "Kali. Dearest Kali. Brooklyn's own, the sweetheart of the USS Discovery. I believe you know why I'm here."

"You're here to pilot us to the surface, and you're cocking up the job." Adeyemi snapped.

"I'd be most happy to get underway, sir, once I am paid what I am owed." Smythe said, smile starting to strain. "Our chief here owes me exactly four strips of latinum thanks to Z'Mov covering the spread in last night's Parisees Squares tournament. What were you thinking, chief, backing a Bolian against a Caitain? We all know those blue men don't have that feline strength and agility!"

[Tekin Nevir]

[Shuttlebay]

Ian smiled when he heard he captain's order. "Think ahead and you are never behind." He thought as he tapped his commbadge to reply.

"All embarked craft are already prepped and on hot standby Captain. Ready to launch on your order."

Ian felt like shouting 'scramble, scramble, scramble', but this wasn't Kunming. This was here and now and real. Instead he shouted to the pilots milling about the shuttlebay.

"Mount up and prepare for departure. Accordin' ta sensors, you gentlebeings are about ta have ta do some serious flyin'. Given the chop in the atmo down there, I suggest cuttin' your inertia dampeners ta no less than 75%, it will give you a bumpy ride, but you'll be able ta feel how your ship is flyin' as opposed ta havin' ta wait for the computer ta tell you."

Ian boarded the Allegheny and strapped in, knowing that conditions were bad and were unlikely to improve any time soon. As he listened to the bridge chatter, he thought.

"Seems like my opportunity ta see who is a pilot and who is a driver is comin' up sooner than I thought."

[Bridge]

  "This is the Bridge, you are clear to depart.  Let's get these people to safety." 

[Don Damien Addams]

[Bridge]

  "This is the Bridge, you are clear to depart.  Let's get these people to safety." 

[Roundabout 4 Shuttle = Flame-1-Go!]
Now you say it? he thought.

[Kali Reyes]

[Shuttlebay]

Adeyemi glanced over his shoulder at the nearly hysterical woman, fixed her with his best impression of his biological grandmother's evil eye. A nasty one, that grandmother. Full blown Yoruba, hadn't lived a day in anything not considered traditional culture. If you needed your future read or a lover cursed she was your gal. Mostly, the admiral remembered her for her groundnut stew and how she abhorred Christianity, but she'd also been the family witch. And he'd also gotten along with her better than he cared to admit.

"I'll deal with you later, chief," Adeyemi told her roughly. "Right now, we've got--"

"Hello all!" A cheery English voice said. Smythe was a tall man, no longer young, with plain brown hair that was mightily receding from his pimpled brow. His stork like body was mostly elbows and knees and protuberant Adam's apple.

"Smythe. Are we ready to go?" Adeyemi said in his own English accented voice. Despite their shared national origin of sorts neither man had any love for one another.

"Almost, admiral, almost." Smythe had long teeth, and he used them to his full advantage when he beamed a smile at Reyes. "Kali. Dearest Kali. Brooklyn's own, the sweetheart of the USS Discovery. I believe you know why I'm here."

"You're here to pilot us to the surface, and you're cocking up the job." Adeyemi snapped.

"I'd be most happy to get underway, sir, once I am paid what I am owed." Smythe said, smile starting to strain. "Our chief here owes me exactly four strips of latinum thanks to Z'Mov covering the spread in last night's Parisees Squares tournament. What were you thinking, chief, backing a Bolian against a Caitain? We all know those blue men don't have that feline strength and agility!"

[Shuttlebay]

Kali's hair would stood on end from that evil eye if it was even possible. Instead she cringed through her goosebumps until distraction came in the form of the Admiral's pilot who was only on edge the second the guy proclaimed payment for a wager she had no recollection-

-actually no, she did remember. She just chose not to. "That Bolian had two interplanetary welterweight belts!" she whined. "There was no way in hell he should've went under like that!" But he did and it was utterly humiliating. She used to be good at tracking sports wins. Maybe she should start drinking to offset the karma again.

At any rate, she had to pay up lest she got into greater problems with the Admiral. Kali sheepishly fished for her PADD and stalked past the Englishman. "I'll pay you on the way! Let's go!"

He said four strips when she actually bet on five, but she wasn't keen on correcting him.

[Inzjana]

[Bridge]

Nevir frowned, his eyes glued to the planet.  Coordination efforts would be much more difficult if they couldn't get the comm systems established on the planet.  He tried to go back to his younger days as a planetary scientist.  But it just wasn't coming back to him.

"I agree, Lieutenant." he said, nodding towards Inzjana.  "Sub-lithospheric destabilization is going to be more difficult to deal with..." he said, tapping his fingers on his chair before standing up.

"Alright, this is now officially a full evacuation.. and a mystery.  Adeyemi, Reyes, I want you down there to try to re-establish communications and increase the shielding... I want to give those people as much time as possible.  Inzjana, get together a team and try to find out what happened down there.  I feel like I've heard of this situation before... I just can't remember what.  Get temperature, magnetic, and mineral data.  If it's from the planet's core, then there has to be something going on in there.  Just to rule it out, also get the solar reading." he said, sighing as he hit his badge.

  "Bridge to Shuttlebay.  Galloway the transporters are not an option; we are doing a full evacuation.  I'm sending teams down with you to assist.  Get all the shuttles prepped." 

BRIDGE

"Aye Captain," Inzjana stated getting up from science station one and making her way to the Turbolift.

SCIENCE LAB 2

As all the shuttlecraft were being used in the rescue of the colonists, Inzjana went to Science Lab 2, the best location on this state-of-the-art Prometheus Class vessel to be able to find whatever was going on with this planet and the answer shocked all of the science team more than what was happening to the planet at the moment.

As Inzjana and her team worked tirelessly to find an answer they eliminated all the usual suspects from the get go. Zacrim V actually orbited a rather unremarkable G type star approximately two million years older than Sol, Earth's star. Well to be exact, as Vulcans are renowned for, it was actually two million, five hundred thousand and forty two years older than Sol. Zacrim V, itself was until recently a class M planet just on the cusp of this systems habitable zone and therefore when it was originally surveyed for colonization and mining of Dilithium, it had an average temperature of 22 Celsius.

"I don't get it ma'am," Montana piped in, as the rest were discussing their individual tasks, "This just should not be happening to this world."

"All things being equal, I would agree with you Mr. Montana," Inzjana stated calmly, "But at present all things are not equal, seeing as we are faced with such a dilemma."

Inzjana was working on the subspace sensors determining if there were any spatial or subspatial anomolies that could account for the planet's instabilities as her fellow science officers were doing the same. Montana opted for the star, Mart'Ang opted to look for any cloaked vessels - to Inzjana's lack of surprise. Rajagopalan was the one to pipe up first, as he was working on the hyper-spectral sensors in the infra-red range through to gamma ray frequencies to determine the planet's core temperature and chemical make up.

"MA'AM!" Rajagopalan yelled excitedly, causing Inzjana to wince in pain at the sudden onslaught to her very sensitive Vulcan hearing, "It's Dilithium ma'am - I just finished doing the spectral scans you asked for," he said more quietly than before thanks to Inzjana's obvious discomfort and her mute hand saying 'turn down the bloody volume' "And the planet shows signs of more Dilithium that the initial scans had determined...a lot more."

"Then we must inform the captain immediately ensign, well done," Inzjana praised to a beaming Ensign Vinod Rajagopalan of India.

  "Inzjana to bridge - captain, could you come to Science Lab 2, there is something you ought to see sir." 

Inzjana made calculations, factoring in the new information and current status of the planet...

[Ian Galloway]

USS Allegheny

Ian snarled a Gaelic oath when he saw the odd little craft launch and sighed when it turned out to be Ensign Addams. He didn't want to squash his enthusiasm, so he moderated his tone as he replied.

"Lad, when we're done, I'm goin' ta half ta tell you the story of the young bull and old bull. Stand by for now."

[Bridge]

  "This is the Bridge, you are clear to depart.  Let's get these people to safety." 

"Galloway ta all shuttles, launch in sequence,  form on me and keep at least 200 meters between you. The chop will require manual flyin' follow my lead and stay loose. Galloway out."

Ian then fed power to the runabout and smoothly exited the shuttlebay.

[Jebediah Schrock]

[Bridge]

Kali opened her mouth to protest about her new tag team partner, but the Admiral was already rattling off and skirting for the lift. With pinched lips, she could only nod at Tekin and clap a hand on Crewman Schrock's shoulder, bless his little mathematician heart.

"You sure did," she said proudly. "And you have a few seconds before the next seismic activity scrambles the connection. We'll raise the odds when I get the tower up."

She pulled the specialized repair belt kit underneath the console and strapped it on. "Keep a clear channel on my communicator in the meantime. I'll be on channel Bravo-Echo-Echo-Romeo. Good luck, crewman!" She winked and spirited quickly after the Admiral before he got any ideas about closing the doors on her face.

"Bet it has Klingon leather seats," she snarked at the Admiral as the doors closed.

[Bridge]
'Darn it, she's right!' Jebby thought. Just then, the calculations were thrown out of whack.
"It would appear so, chief," Jeb answered before Kali left.
He then repeated his calculations, working furiously to model the new trajectories of the towers that had just been shaken. They were, as it happened, intact.
After three minutes of nonstop calculus (admittedly with computer assistance, but this was complex stuff), it was done. Jebby had a model that would hold up for about 25 minutes.
He then tried to remember what frequency Chief Reyes had given him. It was alcohol-related.
Whiskey India November Echo? No, that's emergencies
Sierra Hotel Oscar Tango? No, that one doesn't exist
Bravo Echo Echo Romeo! Aha.
He switched to using a secondary node to track Kali's transmissions, and then reported to the superiors all around him.
"Sirs, we've got 24 and a half minutes at best before I need to recalculate, but until then, we can communicate with them."
He was proud of himself. He had done his job, again, and was willing to keep doing it until they got that tower up and running.

[Tekin Nevir]

BRIDGE

"Aye Captain," Inzjana stated getting up from science station one and making her way to the Turbolift.

SCIENCE LAB 2

As all the shuttlecraft were being used in the rescue of the colonists, Inzjana went to Science Lab 2, the best location on this state-of-the-art Prometheus Class vessel to be able to find whatever was going on with this planet and the answer shocked all of the science team more than what was happening to the planet at the moment.

As Inzjana and her team worked tirelessly to find an answer they eliminated all the usual suspects from the get go. Zacrim V actually orbited a rather unremarkable G type star approximately two million years older than Sol, Earth's star. Well to be exact, as Vulcans are renowned for, it was actually two million, five hundred thousand and forty two years older than Sol. Zacrim V, itself was until recently a class M planet just on the cusp of this systems habitable zone and therefore when it was originally surveyed for colonization and mining of Dilithium, it had an average temperature of 22 Celsius.

"I don't get it ma'am," Montana piped in, as the rest were discussing their individual tasks, "This just should not be happening to this world."

"All things being equal, I would agree with you Mr. Montana," Inzjana stated calmly, "But at present all things are not equal, seeing as we are faced with such a dilemma."

Inzjana was working on the subspace sensors determining if there were any spatial or subspatial anomolies that could account for the planet's instabilities as her fellow science officers were doing the same. Montana opted for the star, Mart'Ang opted to look for any cloaked vessels - to Inzjana's lack of surprise. Rajagopalan was the one to pipe up first, as he was working on the hyper-spectral sensors in the infra-red range through to gamma ray frequencies to determine the planet's core temperature and chemical make up.

"MA'AM!" Rajagopalan yelled excitedly, causing Inzjana to wince in pain at the sudden onslaught to her very sensitive Vulcan hearing, "It's Dilithium ma'am - I just finished doing the spectral scans you asked for," he said more quietly than before thanks to Inzjana's obvious discomfort and her mute hand saying 'turn down the bloody volume' And the planet shows signs of more Dilithium that the initial scans had determined...a lot more."

"Then we must inform the captain immediately ensign, well done, Inzjana praised to a beaming Ensign Vinod Rajagopalan of India.

  "Inzjana to bridge - captain, could you come to Science Lab 2, there is something you ought to see sir." 

Inzjana made calculations, factoring in the new information and current status of the planet...

[Bridge]

There was a slight power drain coming out of one of the auxiliary rooms, and while there wasn't too much of an issue, it did perk his interest.

  "Bridge to Engineering, I'm seeing a power drain on deck 14, section 24.  We may have an issue with the EPS in that junction." 

[Bridge]
'Darn it, she's right!' Jebby thought. Just then, the calculations were thrown out of whack.
"It would appear so, chief," Jeb answered before Kali left.
He then repeated his calculations, working furiously to model the new trajectories of the towers that had just been shaken. They were, as it happened, intact.
After three minutes of nonstop calculus (admittedly with computer assistance, but this was complex stuff), it was done. Jebby had a model that would hold up for about 25 minutes.
He then tried to remember what frequency Chief Reyes had given him. It was alcohol-related.
Whiskey India November Echo? No, that's emergencies
Sierra Hotel Oscar Tango? No, that one doesn't exist
Bravo Echo Echo Romeo! Aha.
He switched to using a secondary node to track Kali's transmissions, and then reported to the superiors all around him.
"Sirs, we've got 24 and a half minutes at best before I need to recalculate, but until then, we can communicate with them."
He was proud of himself. He had done his job, again, and was willing to keep doing it until they got that tower up and running.

"Excellent work, send them a message that we are on our way down now for evacuation procedures. Let them know that they only have that time to acknowledge."
 
It was about that time that the call came in from Inzjana, and the Bajoran gave a small smile to the viewscreen.    "Understood, I'm on my way." 

[Science Lab 2]

The doors parted and for the first time since he was promoted to First Officer, Nevir felt like he was home.  The feeling had to be quick, but deep down, he was reminded that he was a science officer... and that even if he had a ship of war, he planned to stick to the Starfleet ideals of discovery.

"Lieutenant." he said, addressing his CSO while walking around to see what they had discovered.  "Is that...?"

[Don Damien Addams]

USS Allegheny

Ian snarled a Gaelic oath when he saw the odd little craft launch and sighed when it turned out to be Ensign Addams. He didn't want to squash his enthusiasm, so he moderated his tone as he replied.

"Lad, when we're done, I'm goin' ta half ta tell you the story of the young bull and old bull. Stand by for now."

Was that bull crap chatter?

Well, Don had to admit he was anxious and knew he was going to be talked about it. So, he was playing with his controls as he sensing the space about them as he was standing by.

"Galloway ta all shuttles, launch in sequence,  form on me and keep at least 200 meters between you. The chop will require manual flyin' follow my lead and stay loose. Galloway out."

Chop? Don was confused on the term, but this was Ian. His language was little different then he was used too.

Ian then fed power to the runabout and smoothly exited the shuttlebay.

Hey boys and girls glad your join me here, Don joked. Then he had waited for the orders of flight formation as he was scanning for any debris in the space about them.

[Inzjana]

[Bridge]
[Science Lab 2]

The doors parted and for the first time since he was promoted to First Officer, Nevir felt like he was home.  The feeling had to be quick, but deep down, he was reminded that he was a science officer... and that even if he had a ship of war, he planned to stick to the Starfleet ideals of discovery.

"Lieutenant." he said, addressing his CSO while walking around to see what they had discovered.  "Is that...?"

SCIENCE LAB 2

"Indeed captain it is," Inzjana concluded his sentence, as they were all now looking at the hologram of the planet.

"Ensign Rajagopalan has discovered that Zircum V's inner core consists of sixty seven percent dilithium crystals which due to the piezoelectric effect is converting the planet's thermal energy to mechanical energy, leading to the instability. I have calculated, extrapolating from this new information, that the planet will literally tear itself apart in seventeen hours, eleven minutes and twenty four seconds, sir."

[Tekin Nevir]

SCIENCE LAB 2

"Indeed captain it is," Inzjana concluded his sentence, as they were all now looking at the hologram of the planet.

"Ensign Rajagopalan has discovered that Zircum V's inner core consists of sixty seven percent dilithium crystals which due to the piezoelectric effect is converting the planet's thermal energy to mechanical energy, leading to the instability. I have calculated, extrapolating from this new information, that the planet will literally tear itself apart in seventeen hours, eleven minutes and twenty four seconds, sir."

[Science Lab 2]

The look on his face betrayed his true feelings... he was horrified.  Dilithium, the most valuable and necessary material in the galaxy... the substance that made warp speed not only possible, but controllable, was also a planetary killer.  The very properties that make dilithium ideal for warp cores made it a dangerous substance in a planet.

"Sixty seven percent...?"

He had to focus... be a captain first, then a scientist.  "The last information we got from them showed trace amounts in the mantle, far from the core... how did it suddenly take up more than half of the core?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Zacrim V]

The craft touched down on the surface of the planet, throwing up such a huge cloud of dust that the viewscreen was blacked out for a moment. Adeyemi could almost feel a preemptive cough coming out of his chest.

"Can we breathe in this mess?" The admiral asked pointedly.

"If we couldn't they wouldn't be sending us down here, sir." Smythe replied rather flippantly. "The dust is very thick in nature, not fine. You can't breathe much of it in."

"Noted." Adeyemi said, a bit tiredly. Reyes and her insubordination, and now this one. Maybe he was getting old and slow. When did that happen?

"Gear up and fall in," The admiral ordered. That was more like it. It was time to put boots on the ground. "Reyes, are comms working any better now that we've landed?"

[Kali Reyes]

[Zacrim V]

The craft touched down on the surface of the planet, throwing up such a huge cloud of dust that the viewscreen was blacked out for a moment. Adeyemi could almost feel a preemptive cough coming out of his chest.

"Can we breathe in this mess?" The admiral asked pointedly.

"If we couldn't they wouldn't be sending us down here, sir." Smythe replied rather flippantly. "The dust is very thick in nature, not fine. You can't breathe much of it in."

"Noted." Adeyemi said, a bit tiredly. Reyes and her insubordination, and now this one. Maybe he was getting old and slow. When did that happen?

"Gear up and fall in," The admiral ordered. That was more like it. It was time to put boots on the ground. "Reyes, are comms working any better now that we've landed?"

[Zacrim V]

The planet was in worst shape than they expected. Even the atmosphere recorded unstable on the shuttle's instruments on the way down. Kali's brow deepened throughout the ride because even the nav kept glitching in and out. It was by luck alone that they didn't end up halfway across the planet instead of their destination.

Her nose wrinkled at all the dust, all too familiar of New Canton's once dreary landscape. She unhooked herself from the seat's harness and started clicking on her Ops repair belt and checked her communicator's frequency. "Reyes to Schrock, do you read me?"

There was interference, but since they were on the correct channel, they could work on oscillating the feedback instead of blindly guessing which frequency they were on. And if Schrock was good at advanced calculus as he thought, it shouldn't be too hard.

"We'll see," she told the Admiral, putting on her game face. "If Crewman Schrock remembered the channel name, we should be in touch with the Discovery at least." She gave a big inhale for the shuttle door. "This planet gives me the skeeves. Let's book it and then bounce."

Because as soon as Kali's boots touched the ground, the goosebumps hit her in hard force. Thousands of years worth of evolution was telling her that they shouldn't be here. But beyond the horizon, she could make out a familiar tower. "That's comm station 7. All extraterrestrial signals hit there first." She shook off her nerves with a grin in the admiral's direction. "Think you can keep up with me, old boy?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Zacrim V]

The planet was in worst shape than they expected. Even the atmosphere recorded unstable on the shuttle's instruments on the way down. Kali's brow deepened throughout the ride because even the nav kept glitching in and out. It was by luck alone that they didn't end up halfway across the planet instead of their destination.

Her nose wrinkled at all the dust, all too familiar of New Canton's once dreary landscape. She unhooked herself from the seat's harness and started clicking on her Ops repair belt and checked her communicator's frequency. "Reyes to Schrock, do you read me?"

There was interference, but since they were on the correct channel, they could work on oscillating the feedback instead of blindly guessing which frequency they were on. And if Schrock was good at advanced calculus as he thought, it shouldn't be too hard.

"We'll see," she told the Admiral, putting on her game face. "If Crewman Schrock remembered the channel name, we should be in touch with the Discovery at least." She gave a big inhale for the shuttle door. "This planet gives me the skeeves. Let's book it and then bounce."

Because as soon as Kali's boots touched the ground, the goosebumps hit her in hard force. Thousands of years worth of evolution was telling her that they shouldn't be here. But beyond the horizon, she could make out a familiar tower. "That's comm station 7. All extraterrestrial signals hit there first." She shook off her nerves with a grin in the admiral's direction. "Think you can keep up with me, old boy?"

[Zacrim V]

Adeyemi's boots knocked little frown shaped dents into the dust as he stepped off the shuttle. The air was thick with the stuff, and his foot steps kicked up even more of it. Luckily, like Smythe had said, it wasn't blacking out the sun or his vision. The admiral had seen worse. At least it wasn't insects.

It was hot, too. Already he could feel a few droplets of sweat beginning to form on his brow. It was a great temptation to loosen the collar of his uniform, but he held off. They only had a bit of a walk ahead of them, no reason to get out of uniform.

At his side he had a tricorder, and he was pleased to see that Smythe had thought to bring along medical supplies. Though they bickered often, the pilot was a skilled field medic and had patched up Adeyemi a few more times than either of them cared to remember.

At Reyes's boast, Adeyemi rose a thin eyebrow and took in the chief's form, trying to gauge her current state of fitness. He made a tiny hmph noise, as if he was picking a lobster to eat for dinner and he didn't like the looks of one of them.

"We'll see, young lady." Eat my dust. "Take us in, chief."

[Kali Reyes]

[Zacrim V]

Adeyemi's boots knocked little frown shaped dents into the dust as he stepped off the shuttle. The air was thick with the stuff, and his foot steps kicked up even more of it. Luckily, like Smythe had said, it wasn't blacking out the sun or his vision. The admiral had seen worse. At least it wasn't insects.

It was hot, too. Already he could feel a few droplets of sweat beginning to form on his brow. It was a great temptation to loosen the collar of his uniform, but he held off. They only had a bit of a walk ahead of them, no reason to get out of uniform.

At his side he had a tricorder, and he was pleased to see that Smythe had thought to bring along medical supplies. Though they bickered often, the pilot was a skilled field medic and had patched up Adeyemi a few more times than either of them cared to remember.

At Reyes's boast, Adeyemi rose a thin eyebrow and took in the chief's form, trying to gauge her current state of fitness. He made a tiny hmph noise, as if he was picking a lobster to eat for dinner and he didn't like the looks of one of them.

"We'll see, young lady." Eat my dust. "Take us in, chief."

[Zacrim V]

She would have sprinted for the tower just to prove a point. Her last boyfriend made sure she was plenty active in a bid to keep her from ballooning out and she still kept the regimen up and then some after it ended. Rising up to the occasion, she patted her firm stomach upon catching his disdainful look and started to jog instead. After all, this planet felt like it was trying to come apart. The last thing she needed was to humiliate herself by falling into a cracked ridge.

Establishing communications is going to make or break this mission. Kali picked up the pace and checked over her shoulder. "Hup, two, three, four! Pace yourself, admiral! We don't want any strokes!"