I'll be a Monkey's Uncle

Posted on Sat Jul 15th, 2023 @ 2:42pm by Commander Jonathan Grayson & Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson

Mission: Damn Dirty Apes
Location: Unknown Planet
Timeline: After Q jrs visit.

Jon and Callie were returning to the Washington from a diplomatic conference, They were in the runabout Ballard. The conference involved a trade contract between the Federation and the Tholians. Who now after agreeing to the terms decided they were getting taken advantage of. Their lack of patience doing them in once again.

It took the combined efforts of both Callie and Jon to convince the prickly Tholians they were getting a fair deal. Now, with agreement in hand the pair were returning to the Washington as they were the lead ship and the one patrolling this area of space. All was going well as the runabout moved to the interception point where they would meet the Washington when suddenly alarms sounded and the runabout shook and tossed the pair about like rag dolls as it was caught in the gravity well of some so far unseen planet. "Callie, going to give it full reverse, hold on," Jon told her as he finally managed to get into the pilot's seat. Hitting full reverse caused the Ballard to slow its descent but they were still going down. "Callie get out a distress signal to the Washington. Let them know what is happening."

Callie was holding on for dear life as she nodded. “Doing it now...Washington this runabout Ballard, mayday! I repeat mayday! We’re caught in some kind of...gravity well. We’re going down!”

Jon was wrestling with the controls but it was a losing battle as the runabout was slowly but surely being dragged down. he pulled power from available systems but it just bought them more time. Consoles blew, the lights flickered, systems failed. "Callie strap in! We're going down! I'll try to control it as much as I can." He shouted as alarms rang out.

Callie was already a step ahead and had strapped herself in ready for a rough ride. She covered her face as the comms panel shorted out looking towards Jon. “That’s it the comms are out! I can’t transmit anymore.”

"Forget it Callie. I'm launching a distress buoy." Jon answered and a little shudder could be felt as the buoy exited the runabout and began transmitting. Meanwhile the Ballard continued it's downward spiral looking like a shooting star against the sky.

Callie clung on for dear life, she had little choice, neither of them did. They were going down and she just hoped the landing would be a soft one.

Jon struggled with the controls and was finally able to get the Ballard under some semblance of control but it was too late, they were going down. It looked like they were headed for a landing in a jungle.

"Callie, looks like we're going down in a jungle. I've got some control so the landing may still be rocky but not as bad as bad as it could be." Jon stated as the trees and the thick brush of the jungle loomed larger.

Then everything went black.

**Washington bridge **

"Captain, we are getting a distress signal from Cmdr Grayson, audio only" Celes announced.

"Let's hear it" Shran ordered. He listened to the garbled message. He looked to L'Rissa at the conn as the message repeated, "Set an intercept course and engage at warp 9." He looked back at Deanna, "Inform the commander we are on the way. Notify Sam we may have need of her services."

The Washington jumped to warp, speeding through space in an attempt to save their endangered friends.

** City**

The runabout's mad decent was observed but discounted as a shooting star. Besides whatever it was had come down in the jungle and hunt was scheduled for that area tomorrow, so the hunters could investigate and report back anything significant.

**Runabout**

Jon awoke with a groan, he had no idea how much time had passed. The emergency lights were on and they bathed the interior of the ship in a waxy, yellow light. "Callie!" He suddenly exclaimed and looked to see her stirring, waving a hand to indicate she was alright.

He unclipped his seat belt, the runabout was more or less lying flat with only a small upward tilt to it's nose. "Any landing you can walk away from." He muttered as he went to help Callie. "You okay?" He asked and she replied with a nod and a thumbs up gesture. "That's my girl." Jon answered. "Let's see what the neighborhood looks like." As went to the runabout door and pressed the door button. Nothing happened. The door remained closed. "Have to open it by hand." He announced. As he got the hand crank out and slowly opened the door as it groaned in protest. Finally, the door opened to reveal a lush jungle with tall trees and thick vegetation. Taking Callie's hand the pair stepped out and ventured away from the runabout. They had gone maybe a hundred yards when the came to a field, a corn field to be exact With humans eating corn and completely oblivious to them. "Well, not the welcome I expected." Jon quipped. "Let's get the emergency packs and see what else we can find. Then they head it a horn in the distance. he shared a look with Callie as it seemed to throw the humans into a panicked frenzy as they dropped the corn and dashed deeper into the field..

What the?" Jon questioned as he and Callie followed at a distance.

TBC