Hell, Literal Hell

Posted on 24 Aug 2021 @ 1:42am by Lieutenant Madalene Sabine & Commander Kristiana Petrova

1,616 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Home
Location: Kenya, Africa

This was hell, literal hell for Madalene. Not the heat, the heat she could handle it was camping, she didn't camp, in fact, she couldn't think of a single instant that she actually camped.

Chauncy on the other hand was enthralled with apparently every blow of the wind, his eyes wide. It wasn't like he hadn't seen wildness before, but this was in a different light. As a second-year cadet on the science track, he was seeing things in a very very different light. But, that has also kind of made him oblivious to other things, mostly how other people's emotions, if he wasn't so oblivious he would have picked up on how unhappy his mentor was. "Isn't this just amazing!" He said spinning a little.

"Okay, yes," but she stopped, {yep, can't even fake it,} "...well I guess I should start figuring out how to mentor you," she said, and the funny thing was she did enjoy mentioning people, but her mind was back on the Odin, and well with Odin and everything else that came with them when they finally made it back.

Oh, yeah that's right, so how does this work?" Chauncy asked, truth be told the Academy has been a bit of a culture shock, his parents weren't uber-rich but well off, and the idea of not having the helpto well help, has been a little rough But, after a little bit he figured it out, and he was also able to find his little niche in the universe and found others as well.

"How?"

"Don't know, but we'll handle that once we get our camp set up, let's go find a suitable site," Madalene said as she started walking, the young cadet quickly moving to catch up. As they walked there was some light small talk, well it really was just Chauncy rambling on about stuff.

After about an hour of walking they ran into another duo, "oh, commander," Madalen said a little shocked at running into them.

"Just Kris, we're off duty now," Kris offered with a smile. She'd been quietly chatting with her assigned cadet, Gavin Layne, who also gave a nod and a smile in greet. "Lieutenant, cadet Chancey. How are you two holding up?"

"Oh, um Sir it is Chauncey," the second-year cadet said with a gulp.

Madalene gritted her teeth, just the man's voice was so grating, now it could just be the environment she was hearing it in, but things could not get any worse. "Of course, Kris," Madalene said, "ugh, I hate camping, and to make it worse I hate the heat," she said setting her stuff down, "you mind if we make camp here?"

"Right, Chauncey. Sorry. Long day, lots of new faces," Gavin apologized, sheepishly.

At Madalene's question, Kris simply chuckled and motioned to Gavin. "Ask him, he's in charge. I'm just the girl with the machete," she smiled.

Gavin paused a moment to look around, take stock of things. He checked the sky, the sun starting to set, checked the surroundings, there was cover but open space as well. "Yes, not a bad idea. We could camp here for the evening."

"Chauncey do you agree?" Madalene asked deciding that she liked how the commander was handling this, "not that great with a machete, but I can at least make sure we don't eat anything poisonous," Madalene said chuckled.

Chauncey gulped, up until right now he was just enjoying being out in nature but now, well now he had to make a decision, "um, yes yeah this does look good," as he said that he set his stuff down and started to unpack.

"Alright, everybody, listen up!" Gavin took charge. "We've made good time so far, nice going. We're a bit ahead of schedule. We're making camp here! Lieutenant Sabine, I would like you to assist in the food situation. Commander Petrova, would you assist in setting up some shelter, please. Thank you."

Kris quirked a brow. Why her? But, she wasn't going to undermine Layne's authority. Especially since she was the one who gave it to him to see what he'd do with it. "Aye aye," she smirked, setting about gathering some branches and leaves to set up a simple shelter with.

Madalene chuckled but nodded, "of course, may I take Chauncey I would like to see his skills?" Madalene asked, seeing that this was part of the assignment as well.

"Good idea," Gavin nodded.

A few hours later everyone was seated at a campfire, having eaten a simple but nutritious scavenged meal of edible plants - far from the best meal they'd ever had, but at least they wouldn't go hungry.

"Lieutenant Sabine," Gavin sat down near Madalene and Chauncey. "Might I ask, why did you join Starfleet?"

Madeline stared into the fire, lost in thought and past memories, memories she thought she had buried, "sorry cadet that is personal, but the decision would not have been made if a particular event in my life did not happen," she finally added.

Chauncey looked at the other cadet, "adventure, I think, or maybe, Nah let's stick with adventure," he said nodding, still having that stupid smile on his face.

Gavin gave Madalene a sympathetic look. "Understood, Lieutenant," before turning to Chauncey. "Adventure, huh. Well, that's as good a reason as any other, I think," he said with a smile. "What do you think of this journey so far? There've been some amazing sights."

Chauncey looked around, "Honestly, eye-opening," he said not really wanting to get into his background, he wasn't necessarily ashamed of it, but it was that weird thing of not wanting to let others know that his family was rich, or well-off. "I mean, I have never really been camping, and me going out into nature was going to a park," he added.

"It's certainly an adventure," Gavin smiled. "May I ask, what's your specialization? You're with Lieutenant Sabine, right? If I recall correctly, she's science?"

"Science, er I hope, but from my understanding, your chief was the chief of operations before moving," Chauncey said, "...I mean I am not saying that I want to specialize in something else, but I do like the idea of versatility," he finally said.

Madalene couldn't help but snicker, "it is not as easy you might think, I mean I was lucky and had the right professors and instructors, and not to mention timing," she finally said as she stood to stretch her legs.

Gaving listened and gave a nod. "I see. Flexibility is good. But we're always going to need specialists," he mused. "Why did you choose science, if I may ask?"

Chauncey wasn't sure how to answer that, in truth, he was not very good at physical things which pretty much eliminated engineering and security, and frankly, everything just didn't make sense, "honestly it just fell into my lap," Chauncey chuckled.

Madalene looked around, "I grew up on Ba'Ku, and well my early years were very sheltered except for when the freighters came, and the captains shared their star charts with me, and one day on gave me a telescope, and that was when I fell in love with the celestial heavens," Madalene said, her voice very distant.

"People have always looked to the heavens," Gavin mused. "Even in old caves where cavemen dwelled have there been paintings of the stars," he added, though not ignoring Chauncey either. "Well, that's as good a reason as any other," he mused.

As the group fell silent, Madalene got loss in the flames, the flames dancing in her eyes as her mind wandered, oddly her mind wandered to the former chief operations, hell she didn't really know her all that well, but to this day she was in her thoughts.

"It's beautiful, this place," Gavin mused after a few moments of silence. "Kenya I mean. Never been here before. Or in Africa in general. Always wanted to go."

Chauncey was now distracted with the ability to see stars and see them so clearly that it felt like you could just reach out and touch them, "yes, it is beautiful, I mean have you ever been able to see the stars this clearly before?" He asked as he didn't realize who he was talking to.

"I have, yes, in space," Gavin smiled softly. "But that's something completely different from this, being on a planet, in nature, with nothing between the dirt under my feet and the stars up above. The universe unending."

"Oh, right..., yes...," Chauncey said turning a shade of red as he realized that well at some point all of them did some space training, "....so back on Ba'Ku were the nights like these?"

"Yes, the skies on Ba'Ku are extremely clear, Ba'Ku still haven't really gone industrial which is a good thing, minus the one spaceport that is about it," Madalene said simply.

Gavin remained silent. He had thoughts and opinions on the whole Ba'Ku thing but wanted to keep the quiet beauty of the moment intact.

Chauncey also sat there in silence not sure what to say next, honestly, he wasn't great at the whole small talk, or really even getting to know people. "Welp, it is getting late, we probably should get some rest," he suggested.

"Yeah," Gaving replied, giving a tired smile. "Go get some rest. More walking tomorrow, going to be another hot day."

Chauncey was the first to head into his tent, Madaelene was next but it was a few more minutes before she got up. Her mind was lost once again in the flames, watching them slowly die down and turn into embers, before finally, they put the fire completely out.

 

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