The sun hadn't quite risen when we assembled the next morning. Jim decided to have Sulu run point on the scout/rescue team since he had the most experience in these situations. Joining us would be Spock and R'ulan, chosen for their superior strength to aide my skill if needed, McCoy in case we found anyone in need of medical attention, and three officers I didn't know by the names of Chase, Thompson, and Xander.

While our gear was being packed, Spock watched me put on my EVA suit to make sure everything was properly connected. These suits were top of the line equipment designed for hard and extended use. The exterior reminded me of an insect shell, it was sturdy and would protect us from falling debris provided there wasn't a lot of it. Despite that the suits weren't too heavy and actually allowed a full range of motion.

We each had three oxygen tanks wired to the back of our suits. We would use two at all times, one that supplied us oxygen, and another that pulled it from the environment to replenish what we used; the third was for emergency replacement. Our packs held a single person tent that could be attached to our teammates tents, a blanket, food and water, basic first aid supplies, suit repair kits, and a few other things that may prove useful.

In Earth gravity it would be heavy for a human to carry; but Rothlum had a little less gravity than home did. For the Vulcans and myself that didn't mean much. Spock helped me secure my helmet and then attended to his own suit. We met Jim and Captain Stark just outside the entry area for a final briefing.

"We want check-ins every hour on the hour. If you fail to report in for twenty-four hours we will send a secondary team after you. You're due back in exactly one week or until you can go no farther. Your primary objective is to enter the command center, access files from the day the distress call was sent, and bring that information back to us." I gave a small wave to Jim just as the team descended into the ruins of the cliff side Starfleet base.

🖖

On the fifth day we came to a fork in the road. Our trek had been uneventful so far. We'd found no bodies or living people; and although none of the others voiced concerns, I knew it disturbed them too. Our suits had mounted lights to help us see, otherwise it was mostly darkness, and cameras recording our journey for later analysis. I was trying not to remember that over half the horror movies I'd seen started similar to this.

In addition, there was this strange pressure that'd been building in my head. It wasn't painful, just really annoying, and the longer we were here the worse it got. I'm not even sure if pressure was the right way to describe it. No one mentioned feeling similar so I put it down to paranoia and kept it to myself.

"Are you sure?" McCoy asked me. Our group was scattered around the room waiting for a decision. More personally I gave McCoy permission to run the test that'd search for any relatives I might have. McCoy had offered to do it months ago but I declined. I wasn't sure I could take it; my sisters having children and their children being long died and buried wasn't something I wanted to dwell on. But after spending so much time in this darkness my perception was shifting.

"Yes, I want to know if I'm alone." McCoy dug around in his medical bag.

"I can start the scans from here but I doubt we'll get results before we reach the surface." With a few strokes of the keyboard the search began. McCoy looked over at Sulu and Spock who were debating which way we should take. "What'd ya' think?"

"Don't ask me; I manage to get lost using blueprints." We were behind schedule and our radio signals to and from the surface were getting more and more difficult to transmit; from what the others said I gathered that shouldn't be happening. The amount of debris we'd had to move was large and sometimes took hours even with my help and two Vulcan-power. The last order we'd gotten had been to press on since we'd made it so close. Jim had extended our time by another week; extra supplies where being sent to us on some sort of rover and should be here early tomorrow.

We were in a large common area that had multiple branch-offs. There were two hallways we could take to command, hallway one was actually the shorter distance, but that side of the building had suffered the worst of the damage, and according to R'ulan the ceiling may be subject to collapse. We hoped hallway two wouldn't be as bad, but couldn't tell yet, because we needed to pry open a heavy security door to move further.

In the end it was decided we would split up. Xander, R'ulan, and Thompson would be going through the door in hallway two. McCoy, Spock, and myself would go through hallway one; Sulu and Chase would monitor from camp. My team was having a tough time. Our main problem was that R'ulan had been right; and the further we went the clearer this became as we repeatedly dodged falling rock. Radio chatter from team two was more positive. It had taken them three hours to get that door open but the way ahead seemed pretty much clear. Their ceiling didn't look as bad as ours and so my team decided on retreating, first for our safety, secondly it looked like R'ulan and the others would reach the goal.

"We are about to enter command," R'ulan radioed us.

"Copy that team leader. Keep us apprised of your progress," Sulu replied.

"Movement detected on my right," Xander's voice snapped us to attention. We all put down whatever we were doing and huddled around the monitor display. Sulu attempted to zoom in on the video from Xander's suit but it began cutting in and out before the screen went dark completely. R'ulan and Thomson's feeds also failed.

"Describe," Sulu commanded, "video will not respond." Sulu detached one datapad and handed it to Spock but he couldn't get it to work either. We didn't get anymore information because the ground began to shake violently. Through a static-y transmission I heard Thompson scream what sounded like ghost, followed by a lot of yelling before the radio went silent. We were thrown around with the equipment while basketball sized rocks sprinkled down on us like rain. The pressure that had been building in my head transformed into a burning pain that pulsed behind my eyes. When the earthquake, and in my case pain, stopped we were all scattered around the floor.

"Converge on team two," Sulu and Spock were already on their feet and running down the hall, "hone in on R'ulan's telemetry, blasters set to stun." I stumbled upright and fumbled my blaster trying to make sure it was on stun. My stomach felt like bubbling acid and sweat stuck in my hair. I almost missed a piece of ceiling about to fall on Spock before I swiped my hand and sent it in the other direction.

It took us three minutes to get there. A portion of the ceiling had caved in right on top of R'ulan and knocked him out. I knelt above him with McCoy. We turned him over; something warm leaked on my glove.

"He's bleeding, Doctor," my voice was slightly panicky. I didn't like blood even when it was green.

"His suit breached. We need to get him back to camp; help us lift him," McCoy ordered.

"Where the hell are they?" Chase's voice was several octaves above normal.

"I have no more information than you at this time," Spock replied.

"Let me move him, " I said, "it'll be fast and safer. The others can stay and look for Xander and Thompson." It took a lot of concentration but I stopped the bleeding with my mind so we could transport him. I'd had to do this once before after the assault on Khan's compound. Unfortunately the man died anyway and as much as I didn't like R'ulan, I hoped for a different outcome this time.

"Right." McCoy's eyes widened as he realized what I was doing. "Let's go."

"They're gone, both of them." Sulu told us over the radio.

"What do you mean? Dead?" McCoy and I ran down the hall; R'ulan's body floating between us.

"No, Doctor. Vanished. Ensigns Xander and Thompson are not here," Spock clarified.

"This room's not that big and the only other exit is covered in dust and rock. They couldn't have gotten out that way." Sulu confirmed.

"Where the fuck did they go?" Chase asked again more frightened than before.