[Vimyridge] SD941213.23 - Away team Pt 8- TBlake, CBlake, Saladin, Lox, Wilkinson, Juard NPC Xoron

[Lathee]

Marcus nodded to Cait and took another look at Balkion and Xoron, "If you're
people can not remain here what will you do?" He thought he'd get a feel for
that question before heading back to lox.

Xoron set his feet, lifted his head and looked at Marcus squarely, a proud
man, though his voice is quiet, but firm when he speaks, "Die here."

"Here?" He queried, "Confined to these caves like prisoners?" The simple
statement had broken past his normally stoic appearance and he looked
astonished. "What if we could relocate you?"


The big man's face went blank for a moment as he thought about that,
sometimes his mouth would open and then it would close and he'd frown,
finally he spoke, "This, is my home. You, who live among stars, go too and
fro, have no roots. My roots, here... deep. My life, is here. To leave,
would be to die. So why not die where I belong?" Xoron let out a breath and
a sigh once he was done. He wasn't much of a talker, and it was hard for him
to put philosophy into words.

Doctor Juard was looking among patients when he heard Marcus walking away.
He ignored this and just kept on going as he loved working with new
patients.


Marcus gave a nod. "Understood. I need to go and talk to my people now. The
ones who are still among the stars." He looked at Reed and Blake, then at
the doctors who were beginning to look among their would be patients. "I'll
be back."

Kat moved among the people assessing and treating them as if on an assembly
line. glancing up periodically in both Nick's and Cait's direction just to
know where
they were at. Suddenly she felt a tug on her EVA suit , she looked down into
the face
of a small boy and gave him a warm smile."d...d..doc" he said with a
stutter. "yes  that's right .... what is it ?" she said as her emerald gaze
fell upon Nick as she remembered the little girl they'd encountered on their
first away mission on the ridge. She chuckled at that as she began to feel
like herself again thoughts of Cugino and the incident finally put behind
her at least til she got back to the ship.


Nick had merely nodded.  He glanced toward Xoron momentarily, offering him a
slight smile.  Sure, he carried a weapon, but it was clear he would defend
them from anything as much as he'd defend the people he came with.
Likewise... he understood his sentiment.  It was a brave people they were
dealing with.  But bravery and stupidity often rested on the same, thin,
line.  He turned his gaze slowly over the others, keeping his vigil.
Helping where he could.  Occasionally having a few others in security
assist.  He was no doctor, but anyone that needed to be checked out he
directed to a doctor, or had one of the doctors come over there if there was
someone who had difficulty moving.  He just hoped that when the day was
over, they'd ALL be safe, back on the Ridge.

Cait stood up and looked around, motioning to her team. "Let's get everyone
triaged. Juard, once we do that, I want you to take Jennings, Marcam, and
Silanor, they're senior medics and can help with the vaccinating proccess.
Start getting everyone vaccinated except those that are showing signs of
radiation sickness. They need to come over here since treatment is different
than the vaccination. We need to make sure we know who's been done and who
hasn't, so use the medical stamps in the vaccine kits. It won't show but our
scanners will read it."


"Commander Lox, I'm heading your way to make a full report of our current
situation to the Captain and Blake" Marcus smiled ruefully.

"I'll be waiting for you, sir." Lox replied.  His head was up under one of
the console working on something.

Marcus's steps could be heard echoing down the caves long before he reached
Lox. It was only then that he realised he had not yet removed his radiation
gear and so he did so before looking at Lox. "How's the shuttle holding
out?"

Justin was still wearing his suit "You will want to put that back on Sir.
Even with the shields up, we are still being bombarded by high doses of
radiation. As for the shuttle, it's holding up quite nicely. "

"Alright commander can you patch me through to the ship?" Marcus queried.

"No problem.  Just use the shuttle's communication system, it's already set
up for you." Justin pointed with a spanner at the pilot's seat and console.

Marcus gave a nod and moved to the console."Vimyridge, this is Commander
Saladin with the away team, I'm prepared to give you a full report on our
current situation and answer any questions." Marcus awaited the response.

[Vimy Ridge]

"Commander, what is the current situation, Commander Lox didn't have much
information for us." Toby tried not to sound to eager, but once again he was
on top of things before K`y could really even blink.

"Well commander, we've discovered some of the original inhabitants of the
planet. They're deep within the caves, quite a few medical issues from the
radiation. They're not sure what's caused the radiation but it's been going
a while, it's totally destroying their way of life." He thoughtfully
scratched the side of his chin. "I'm not even sure if they'll move if we ask
them too." Then he asked his own question, "Are we any closer to solving the
cause?"

"Lt. Nix is off checking on one possible cause. I haven't heard anything on
how that is going. You said some of the original inhabitants, what happened
to the rest?" From his tone, it was pretty obvious that Toby was expecting
the worst.