"Captain. All systems down. We are going down," Lataro yelled as the con panel sparked and flickered.
[Jon! Prepare for emergency beam out,] Maruu yelled from the Virgo.
In the background, Lataro heard someone say, [Captain. Their shields are up. We can't beam them out.]
Maruu spoke again. [Commander. Lower your shields we will initiate an emergency beam out!]
"Sir, all controls are not responding. Shield controls are not functioning. We are going down." Lataro frantically yelled as he tried to regain some type of propulsion.
"Commander, The ship is entering the planet's atmosphere!" Garza yelled as the temperature in the cabin began to rise. "Hull temperature at 15,000 degrees Fahrenheit and rising!"
...the escape pod from the Vixen contained a young Jonny Lataro. At 14, he was alone in an escape pod that traveled through space. With a rough surge and drops, for the pods had no inertial dampners, Jonny was scared. He didn't know what was happening. Then the temperature began to rise. "Daddy!!! Mommy!!!" he said bundled in a corner. The rebellious teen, no longer the macho man he thought that he was, but the scared little child he actually was.
"Mommy!" he yelled...
"...Mommy!" Lataro whispered.
"Commander!" Garza yelled violently being thrown around the cabin. "We are burning up! 22,000 degrees and rising."
Finally realizing where and when he was, he shook off the vision and took control of his predicament. "Get the nose at 12 degrees. Let the remaining shields take the brunt of the damage."
"Aye."
The shuttle began to skip as the nose reached 12 degrees. Finally it started to cool down slightly as the glowing that was beginning to show around the nose diminished. "Commander. The shields are gone and we are accelerating to 290 km per second." Garza said, frantically trying to fire the breaking thrusters.
"Time to impact?" Lataro yelled.
"Fifteen seconds."
"Forget the thrusters, Lieutenant. Brace for impact!"
The ground came in sight. Immediately, Lataro tried to get a look of the land. Green, trees, water. Seems inviting enough. However as the clock ticked down and the closer the surface became, Lataro noticed that the green was a pea, even pukeish green, dark and ugly. The trees he saw were in fact similar to cypress trees he saw in the bayous in Louisiana to include the moss and dead limbs draping it.
"Three seconds till impact," Garza yelled as Lataro got a look at the water. At first it was a pleasant blue, but now with the crash imminent, it was black, murky which had a slime over most of the surface. The black of the water contacted the ship, and Lataro was thrown forward seeing now nothing but black.
Little Jonny Lataro came around and got up. He saw that the pod had somehow come to rest on something. He walked over to the door and opened it. The door opened to an arid landscape, hot air rushed into the pod causing Lataro to gasp. Immediately he saw rocks, sand, and hot. So hot that the triple suns immediately welded the door open. Jonny could see the actual hinges melted. He jumped back out of the sun's light to a shaded area that seemed to be cooler. "Too hot." Little Jonny said holding a pillow. He crunched back in the corner and began to sob.
The shuttle had crashed on what looked to be a sand bar surrounded by blackish, murky water. The shuttle hit nose first and was covered in mud and muck from the moist wetlands that surrounded it, however, it was slowly sinking into the soft sand and water. Inside, Lataro finally came around to a series of flickering lights and smoke. A pain in his left shoulder and forehead kept him from moving too much. He looked over at Garza who was not moving. "Garza. Garza. You all right?" Lataro said shaking him slightly. Garza's head flopped around a little bit as Lataro shook him but he didn't respond. Finally Lataro noticed what was wrong. In the back of his neck nearer to the nape of the head was a large indentation resembling that of a medkit. It looked like as the ship crashed, the storage compartment at the rear had come open, and the medkit flew and crashed into the back of Garza's head. The spine was severed from the head and it looked like the back of his head was crushed. His autonomic nervous system was crushed by the miniscule weight of the kit.
"I am sorry, Garza." The irony. That which is made to save lives also can take lives. "I wonder just how long it will take them to find me?"
Lataro noticed that his feet were beginning to cool and become wet. The shuttle was sinking. So he got up and began going through the storage hold. He knew what he needed, the survival kit, weapons, food and water. But no, he couldn't get the food. Lataro found out early that there was something in the food rations that prevented him from eating. He was allergic to something in them that caused his throat to swell and labored breathing. He remembered as a child on that planet...
...it was day two and little Jonny was somehow making it. The water packs that he had in the pod were keeping him hydrated, but he was hungry. He looked in the pod for food and saw something in a small carton. Jonny tore into something labeled "patty" and ate it. It tasted like garbage, but it satisfied his brain's desire to eat.
Finally he finished the patty and laid back, he immediately started not feeling well. His entire mouth was on fire and it felt like his entire esophageal canal was beginning constrict from his throat to his stomach, which in itself began having spasms. His insides were cramping, and he didn't understand why. Finally as if a button had been pushed, his body from the inside out rippled up from his stomach to his mouth and all the food that he had just eaten was projected about five feet to include blood and water. This continued for a few minutes and when he was finished laid down and fell asleep. That was at exactly 2448422.66.667 or 1600 hours on June 2, 2348.
Jonny finally awoke weak and starving almost three days later. There was a very pronounced blood taste in his mouth. He finally got up, weak in the knees, and went outside to the sweltering heat. The suns were going down and from the corner of his eye he could see movement. Small movement that beckoned him to pounce. Whether it was the movement or the hunger pangs rising from his stomach or if it was just a wanting, he wasn't sure but as fast as he could he moved and landed on his stomach latching on to whatever it was. Jonny looked up to see a small rodent similar to a desert hare, but the large eyes that almost said "don't eat me" seemed to penetrate his soul. However, the horrid feeling of hunger rumbled his stomach, and all feelings of compassion left him as the did the suns left the sky. Jonny reached out with his other hand and ripped the little animal apart. The creature screamed loudly as its legs were split in two, and, like a ravenous beast, Jonny began eating the meaty flesh. After five minutes, the creature was nothing but bones in a pile and the smeared blood on Jonny's face. He devoured the small creature unconcerned with the consequences of it. A familiar sensation formed around his waist. He needed to use the bathroom but he was already wet. Had he wet himself?
...No he hadn't wet himself. As if being struck by a piece of of ice or even doused in water, Lataro shook the memories and realized where he was. A downed shuttle sinking to a watery grave. He quickly rummaged around again and picked up the extreme temperature gear, water packs, and the medkit which was floating on the black murky water. He went to the weapons storage bin, and took out the survival belt, which contained a hunting knife, phaser, and a tricorder then grabbed the phaser rifle and backpack which he quickly packed. Lataro didn't have time to put the pack or the belt on so he absent-mindedly shouldered both on his injured shoulder. Like a baby, he yelped dropping all of it into the now elbow-high water.
"Got to get out of here!" he said as he started to wade to the door. The door would not open. He tried to enter the command codes but nothing happened, nor did the manual release. "I don't have time for this." He grabbed the rifle and set it to maximum and fired at the door. The titanium alloy melted as the intense phaser fire acted as a welding torch and cut to form an escape hatch. Finally Lataro pulled himself out into the smell of rankness and methane. "A swamp! Great." He looked down to see creatures resembling alligators or even crocodiles. Lataro thought, No way am I getting in that. He dropped back into the shuttle to find the portable emergency transporter and noticed that it had 10 gigawatts of power, enough for one transport. So he made sure that he all that he needed and initiated a site-to-site transport trying to stay out of the serpent-infested waters.
Lataro rematerialized on the shore of the swamp about 20 meters from the shuttle which was now barely above water. The only thing visible was the two warp nacelles which seem to be now sinking faster. Lieutenant Garza. You were a good man. You will be missed, he thought offering a reverent salute.
His shoulder was really aching now and he couldn't tolerate it, so Lataro took out the dermal regenerator and initiated first aid. In about a minute, his shoulder was no longer in pain. "Well I better had set up shelter. It will be dark soon."
Lataro put on the back pack and trucked inland a ways till he found a suitable place. He saw a small formation of perennial rock protruding out from the ground inside a little clearing. So he made his way for that. "That would be better than sleeping on the ground." He walked to the rock and set up camp on or near it. Setting up the backpack as a pillow, he laid back, propped his head against it and looked into the stars.
K'Lara. Don't worry about me. I will survive.
On the Virgo, K'Lara was looking out of the window at the lounge twirling her ring around her finger when she thought she heard something. ~Don't worry about me. I will survive.~
"I know, Jon," she said softly as she framed her forming pooch. "I know."