Savage Beach Pt. 2

Posted on Wed May 6th, 2026 @ 9:53am by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant JG Kate Kono & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Ensign Janelle Barett

1,975 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Shuttle Incident
Location: Planet

Shran stood on the beach with Viviana, Kate's nervous speech echoing from the treeline while Phoenix and Janelle made their way to the beach as well. Viviana had a look of fear washing over her; Shran had his phaser rifle at the ready. Kate had killed the one beast in the jungle, but two more were lying in wait on the beach, between the officers and the runabout. Shran hadn't taken these creatures for pack hunters, but it seemed that was the case, and that meant they had to deal with these two panther beasts, displacer beasts seemed appropriate, and they had to be dealt with now.

******

And now the continuation...

This was quite the conundrum. Shran considered options. Based on the distance, he had time to fire at one, but not both. The best option was to get Phoenix, Janelle, or Kate into the fray and change the situation. "Contact, front!" he yelled out.

Kate's muscles responded to the virtual-years of Q’s mock- Starfleet Academy drilling in Lead-Right-Left protocol before her conscious mind registered the threat. The doctrine was burned into her synapses: team leader takes the closest hostile; if multiple tangos appear at equal distance, leader engages rightmost while subordinates sweep left in rank order. As Lieutenant J.G., she'd be third shooter in a three-person element, with Phoenix taking the middle target had there been one. In this instance, Phoenix had a choice of targets while she did not. Her target had to be the leftmost creature. Her thumb found the emitter without thought, barrel already tracking the leftward hostile who lagged slightly behind the primary threat. Adrenaline crystallized her vision as she established sight picture on her designated target, peripheral awareness confirming Shran had the right-close covered. No radio chatter needed—just the economy of movement that kept fireteams alive in hot zones. When Shran barked "Contact!" Kate's weapon was already signing the creature's lethal death warrant.

"I'm really starting to dislike this place" Viviana mentioned.

"Stay calm doctor. Everything is well in hand" Shran said as he stared down the two creatures. "Weapons on stun. I don't want stray shots hitting the runabout" he called out. He didn't look back, that would encourage these creatures to charge. He waited to hear from Kate, Janelle, or Phoenix to know who was in position to assist with the current dilemma.

Kate's thumb hovered over the power setting. Max cutting mode had dropped the last one clean; she could still smell the scorched fur. Stun was an unknown variable, and unknowns got people killed. The protest was already forming in her throat. what for, we don't know what stun will do when her hand moved without her permission. The same relentless Q-forged wiring that had already saved her life twice today routed around her objections like water around a stone. The setting clicked down to medium-stun. "Three," she called out, crisp and immediate, emitter steady on her target, jaw tight with everything she hadn't been allowed to say.

James scanned the group's flank with his eyes after Kate downed the one panther. The flank was clear for now. He carefully turned around, phaser ready on the same setting as his colleagues. "Two" he called out having caught on to what Kate was saying.

Suddenly a scream echoed out from the jungle. The animals may have gotten someone. Shran looked to the doctor and then rushed back. He saw another of the beasts atop of Janelle. He fired his phaser at the creature, hitting it in the chest. The creature collapsed atop Janelle. He approached, with Viviana close behind. No bite marks were present that he could see, though her uniform had been torn where the creature's front paws had made contact, and one of the barbed pseudopods was embedded to her left shoulder.

As Shran scanned the area to ensure they were clear of further danger, Viviana began working. She touched nothing, scanning to make sure it was safe. "She has gone into some sort of damn coma. It is a result of these barbs. They are filled with a neurotoxin. I need to get her back to the runabout."

Kate sprinted to Janelle and Shran and dropped to one knee beside Viviana, phaser leveled at the treeline. She kept quiet, eyes fixed on the shadows between the trunks, letting Shran and Viviana take stock of things and figure out their next move. On her left, the treeline sat still and dark; on her right, Phoenix had it covered. At least Janelle was breathing. A coma was not nothing, but it wasn't what those things out there had been trying to do to them.

"I can't wait to get off this Jurassic Park nightmare and get back to Ben and Kodie," Kate said, her eyes never leaving the trees.

"Kate, take point. Make sure things are clear to the runabout" Shran ordered. "Phoenix, assist me with the ensign." Viviana gave Janelle an injection from a hypo and then used a laser scalpel to sever the pseudopod from the tentacle. Once done, Shran and Phoenix were able to gently pick up Janelle and carry her. Viviana stayed directly in front as they made their way quickly to the runabout.

As they approached the runabout, Shran gave orders. "Kate, secure the runabout. Phoenix, let's get Janelle into the rear so the doctor can treat her."

"Aye sir" Phoenix said as he helped Shran lift Janelle into the runabout as carefully as possible. James kept is eyes on a swivel in case there was any danger lurking still; without taking his focus off of the task at hand.

Once everyone was inside, Kate swept the medical supplies—replicated and onboard both—off the shelf nearest the door and shoved them toward Viviana in one motion, close enough to grab without having to move from Janelle's side. She dropped into the pilot's seat and jacked the portable power supply into the backup systems, pulling up minimal shielding. The supply gauge ticked down in chunks: four percent, six percent, four percent. Not sustainable. She killed the shields and rested her index finger on the button instead, eyes already moving to the external camera feeds.

Four screens. She divided them into quadrants and swept left to right, left to right; the treeline, the beach, the far rocks, the treeline again while Viviana worked over Janelle without looking up. The portable supply read 79%. Then 74%. Outside, nothing moved but the surf.

She didn't know how long she sat like that. The sun had shifted by the time the gauge hit 60% and she powered the remaining systems back down, the hum of the backup unit fading to silence. She let herself sink back into the seat for the first time since the jungle.

"I think if they were going to attack again, they would have done it already," she said, glancing back at Shran, Phoenix, and Viviana huddled over Janelle near the rear compartment. "How is she doing?"

Viviana worked carefully. The medical supplies were sufficient, but they needed to get Janelle back to the Washington for proper care. "I need the medical transporter to safely remove this barbed monstrosity. Once removed I can properly treat the wound and study the venom, determine how serious this really is."

Shran looked over the medical equipment they had on hand and found the item in question. Locking on to the item, scanning Janelle, ready to transport the item" he noted as he worked the equipment as best he could.

"James, I need a hypospray of vasokin. I'm loathed to use it, but it will be the best option right now" Viviana said as she worked on Janelle. "Initiate transport captain."

Shran activated the device and a few moments later, the object materialized in all its alienness. It had a cruelty to it in its appearance, and Shran wasn't about to touch it. He looked and saw Viviana working on Janelle and looked up towards the front of the shuttle, unable to see Kate. "Still to be determined" he replied to her solemnly.

James quickly found the hypospray and moved over to the doc so fast that it looked like he teleported. "One hypospray of vasokin" he said, handing it to Viviana.

Viviana injected Janelle with the hypospray and then continued to monitor her with her tricorder while working to dress her wounds. The medicine was working, Viviana only hoped that the potential side effects didn't materialize, knowing they almost certainly would eventually. She grabbed another hypospray and injected Janelle and then looked back to the captain, "I need to study that barbed bit, especially the venom it injected into her. I doubt I can pull her out of the coma here, but I may at least be able to neutralize the venom if I work quickly."

"Do what you have to doctor" Shran replied firmly. He looked to Phoenix, "Remain here to assist the doctor for now. I'm going to get a sitrep from Kate."

"Aye Captain" James replied before grabbing a few more things that the doc may need.

Kate was still at the runabout’s controls when Shran stepped in for a spot report. She handed him a PADD and tapped the CRT screen to cycle the sensor overlays every few seconds.

“Since last contact, nothing significant,” she reported. “I’ve monitored every vector they could use, but the remaining hostiles slipped back into the treeline once they realized we’re not undefended. Viviana has all medical supplies—no additional med‐supply checks needed beyond routine use. We’ve got plenty of food and water. Power reserves: eight backup banks. Seven are fully charged; I drained this one to sixty percent while running minimal systems. At one percent drain per nine minutes, that should hold us for days—assuming we’re picked up soon. Our biggest concern now is weapons.”

Kate rose and popped open the phaser locker. Two fully charged units remained. “I can hook the phasers into the recharge unit, but drawing this bank from sixty down to twenty percent will completely exhaust another cell. In other words, we have to count on rescue within several days.” She plugged her nearly spent phaser into the isolinear socket; the bank beeped at the sudden load.

She nodded toward Phoenix in the next compartment. “And then there’s the volcano. Current scans show it stable—but that’s only good for twenty-four hours. We’ll need to send someone out for a fresh survey or skip it and prepare a makeshift raft to get us to sea if it goes critical.”

Arms crossed, leaning against the cockpit wall, Kate met Shran’s gaze and waited for his orders. Kate offered Shran a tired smile.

"Now that the facts are on the table… my opinion is that we start building a raft for our people and supplies regardless. If the volcano blows, we're ready. If it doesn't, we've lost nothing but a little time. Either way, it beats sending anyone back in there with those things just to get volcano forecast data." She trailed off and leaned forward over her knees, elbows finding her thighs. The ache had been there the whole time, she realized—it had just been waiting for her to stop moving long enough to notice it.

"Considering the environmental conditions on this planet, the volcano could erupt with little warning, and it would be quite the violent eruption with all the plasma and antimatter around. If anyone has to go out there again for any reason, it'll be me. As for the raft idea, we have everything we need should that contingency become necessary. At this point, I am more concerned with why the power cells are draining so quickly. They shouldn't drain at that pace. We'll need to look into that immediately" Shran replied.


TBC

 

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