Artemis leaves her brother's office after having dumped  the responsibility on him feeling only a little guilty. She knew it was the best and only decision they had at the moment. He knew, technically speaking, he was third in charge so if there was ever a time her and Alex were unable to lead the role would fall to him. Thankfully that hasn't ever happened yet, but they still needed someone in charge while both her and Alex were in the field. 

If Alex had his way though she wouldn't be going out there, still being injured from the crash. Which of course had started an argument that Will was injured too. They had bickered about this point for a while. Starting with Alex saying he'd rather they both stayed behind and her responding with a very blunt 'not a chance in hell'. So then it turned into he would go with just Will because he was basically okay as long as he wore the brace, meaning he didn't have a head injury and his ribs weren't bandaged up like hers. That's when she really got mad. She didn't scream and shout, and thank goodness for that because wincing from her ribs hurting from that would've just proved his point. Instead she narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice and simply told him if he was going to risk his life, and their nephew's life she was damn well going to go with them, the'd already agreed on the groups after all. This of course meant the argument was over and he needed to simply accept it. 

So here she is on her way to meet her husband and nephew to head out into the basically unexplored world of the pre-historic past and she and her family now found themselves in. Just as planned both men were waiting for her by the exit of the ship. When she steps up to them Alex hold out a knife and sheath to her. She just tilts her head and looks at him quizzically. 

"Take it. This isn't a stroll through the park. You might need it." 

Artemis' eyes widen at his words. She takes the offered weapon, doing her best to hide the fact that she hadn't even considered they would need weapons of protection outside of the ship. All she had thought to bring was a canteen of water, a first aid kit, and a sample kit. Clearly her husband knew she wouldn't think of this, and that made her feel even more inadequate and unprepared. But she wasn't going to show it if she could help it, that would just satisfy Alex too much and she couldn't stand that 'Told you so' she knows he's just waiting to pull out and wave in her face. No, she would hold as long as she absolutely could because the humiliation would be too much. 

Shaking off her inadequacy she looks at Alex while she straps the blade and sheath to herself. "What are we doing today?" 

"We need  to know what's safe to eat. In most time periods you'd just watch the animals, but that might not be the case here. So we're going to take samples of different plants so we know which ones we can use for food." Alex explains. 

Artemis furrows her brow. That's it? They were just collecting samples of plants? That sounded so easy, he made it sound so simple. They probably didn't even have to go too far from the ship to get this done, right? So why did the edge in his voice make her feel what there is no such thing as a simple or easy task and she shouldn't jinx things by voicing that out loud. 

Alex leads the way outside. Upon stepping outside Artemis has her breath stolen from her. Of all the times and places they have visited nothing compares to this pure and untouched world infant of her. Even with the grooves in the ground from the bumpy landing, the towering trees and lush undergrowth under a brilliantly bright blue sky is a sight unseen not only by her but by humans in decades by the time she was born. She takes a deep breath of the fresh air and smells the natural woods and clean air. Her eyes sparkle with excitement. 

"Don't get too distracted. It may be beautiful but it is a dangerous environment. We have to keep out wits about us." Alex cuts off her admiring of the environment with a serious tone and message. 

Artemis nods in response. Together the three strike out at a steady pace with Alex in the lead. They stop on occasion so that Artemis can take samples of plants. Though both Artemis and Will seem to relax the longer they are outside without incident. 

Alex doesn't relax though. He stays focused on their surrounding, looking for any potential threat. Something doesn't sit right with him, and the unsettling feeling only grows the farther from the ship they get. Suddenly it hits him when he notices the slightly skittish yet way behavior of the little wildlife they encounter. And now he can feel the humidity and electricity in the air. He looks up at the sky and strains to see through the trees. The sky is quickly becoming dark with large storm clouds. 

Alex stops his persistent march. The others stop as well, startled by his sudden change in demeanor. 

"What's wrong?" Artemis asks her husband, looking around to try to find the threat he is seeing, completely unaware that the environment is the threat. 

Alex looks around. The electricity in the air cracking and giving him goosebumps. "I think it's time to head back." 

"We've only been gone for maybe twenty minutes. What's the rush?" 

"The weather is taking a turn. We don't want to get caught out here when that storm hits." 

He barely gets the words out when he feels the rain drops starting to fall. The rain doesn't build like most thunderstorms he is used to. No, it starts pouring immediately. Rain pounds down on the thought he thick foliage above them. Thunder booms, rolling through the sky and knocking them off balance by the sudden booming sound. 

Any questioning of his decision to turn back is drowned by the sudden downpour they now find themselves in. Alex grabs his wife's hand and his nephew's arm and pulls them back the way they came, encouraging them to go back to the ship in a hurry. They start to stumble at the hurried pace back down the path that is only visible in their minds. Tripping over rocks and logs. Clearly Artemis and Will aren't as aware of their surroundings and able to adapt to the terrain as Alex is. Still, he takes it in his stride and steadies them with every stumble while continuing to encourage them back to safety. 

The thunder gets louder, meaning it, and the lightning, is getting closer. A crack of lightning touches down a few feet from them, barely missing Artemis. Her scream of fright and surprise is drowned out by the loud booming clap of thunder directly above them. 

Alex's eyes flash in the realization of the escalating danger. He knows they are far from adequate cover, all he can do is continue to urge them back to the safety of the ship. They continue to weave through the trees at a rapid pace. Alex struggles to stay calm. But with every flash of lightning and boom of thunder overhead getting closer to them is heart pounds a little more. 

Finally the ship is in sight, good news at last. But something makes his heart sink. The clearing that is cut into the trees from the rough landing of the shiitakes away the cover that keeps them safer for the moment. Lightning strikes the ground around the ship. But they have to time the cross just right or one of them will be hit. 

Alex grabs their arms to stop them at the edge of the trees. "Wait. We go together. But we have to time this right." He watches the lightning strikes carefully, calculating their cross. 

Nodding he decides and they carefully surge across distance. 

With a few close calls they make it to the ship safely. Alex ushers his family inside. His mind is still on the danger outside that is takes him a moment to realize that the ship is dark. Very dark. All the lights are off. His first thought is that the ship was struck by lightning and the power went out. But that's not possible. At least it shouldn't be. So if it's not that, then what's going on? 

Artemis and Alex exchange a look, both clearly thinking the same thing. Will is already carefully making his way down the dark halls. 

"Apollo?!" Artemis calls, carefully making her way down the halls, one hand on the wall to use as a guide. Alex follows behind her. "In here!" Apollo's voice calls from the direction of the infirmary. The couple follows the sound of his voice, seeing as they can't actually see anything. 

They enter the infirmary and would've looked around but it's just as dark in there as everywhere else in the ship. The only light source is a small chargeable lamp  on Apollo's desk in front of him. The medic looks up at them when he hears them enter. "Hey, what's up? I thought you were going to be gone all day. It's on ly been a few hours." 

"We came back early because of the storm." Alex explains, looking around the dark room before meeting the gaze of his wife's twin. "What's with the lights? Did the storm knock them out?" 

Apollo shakes his head. "No. We were having power issues. So I told Val to turn off all noncritical systems." Artemis crosses her arms, listening to her brother. The couple takes in the information as he explains everything Val told him the best he can. When he finishes there's a moment of silence while they all think about the situation. Alex is the first to break the silence. "I know you had to do it, and it's good that you made an important call like that. But we can't do repairs in the dark." 

"I know. It's only temporary. Just until we can work out a way to stabilize the power. But I figured how we do that is something we should work through together." Apollo explains. 

Alex nods in thought. "And I'm assuming you have an idea where to start?" 

Apollo nods and takes a deep breath. "From what I understand at least some of the solar panels survived the crash. I think it's at least a place to start." He shrugs. "Of course we don't know how many are alright or if we can get to them. But I think it's our best option right now." 

There's a moment of silence before anyone answers him. "Alright. Sounds good." 

"Sounds good?" 

"Yeah. We left you in charge. You handled the situation. And you have a plan. That's exactly what we hoped for." Alex responds bluntly. "Now we know, and more importantly you know, that you can handle being in charge when we're not here or if something happens." 

Apollo lets out an exasperated laugh. "Okay, next time you want to test my confidence or determination or whatever, give me a heads up." 

Alex smirks at the medic. "That would defeat the purpose." 

Apollo roll this eyes. "Alright enough. Off to bed you two. I'm sure you could use some sleep. We all could. No one's going to get any work done during the storm anyway." 

They don't answer him. Instead Alex grabs his wife's arm gently and guides her towards their room. Apollo sighs and runs a hand down his weary face. He glances where he knows the infirmary beds are and hangs his head in defeat. He turns off the lamp and goes over to the closest one, climbing onto it and laying down. "Good night Mars." He mutters before covering his face with his arm and shutting his eyes, determined to at least try to get some sleep.