Nathan met Karissa in the lobby of the Paladin Medical Center, "Any word?" He asked pausing before catching site of a local news feed of the storm that was lashing the area of the Marine base and the area the two women were suppose to be camping in... He had faith in their skills but not in his wife's state of mind...she knew camping in the fall/winter months was bad judgment.
"None," Karissa replied. "That doesn't mean anything though. They're probably held up somewhere . . ." But there was definite concern in her dark eyes. She could sense Jayme and she didn't like the feelings she was picking up. But at the moment, she didn't dare share them with Nathan. She needed him focused. "I've also contacted Marcus. In fact, I did that yesterday. He'd determined to join us in the search . . . I just wish were weren't getting such a late start, though I know if we'd started when I'd wanted to we'd be stuck out there too . . ."
"When I saw the news of the storm, I went ahead and called Starfleet to ask them to put the SAR unit on alert, but they had already noticed and started Ops. The storm doesn't look to be abating and the sun sets in about fifteen minutes. Karissa you don't think I'm over reacting do you?"
Karissa placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're not over-reacting. You're acting just like a concerned husband should."
"I didn't even know she was pregnant until that letter from her mother..." He said grabbing a soft-sided red bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Before you ask--yes, the baby is mine and not what her mind is conjuring up. Oh, by the way her mother sent me her sealed medical records from the McCoy, and they are bad. I have a copy on disc for you to read on our way to FARP. I think that will be more informative to you then that letter from her mother."
"Thank you," she replied. "It will help a lot since I hadn't seen her at that point . . . and nothing was mentioned in the file I received. I guess I should have asked for everything."
Suddenly Shara entered with Skaren and Marcus.
"How soon are we heading out?" Marcus asked. His face was etched with the concern he had. He knew his daughter as well as anyone and knew what a bitch his wife was. After Karissa had filled him in, it took great effort not to want to contact the witch and threaten to choke the life out of her.
"Is there a way to get in through the storm?" Karissa asked Skaren. "Because if we get there I can find her."
"Yes, but you will have to make sure you are well dressed, and not to take unnecessary risks with this mission. The place where they went to, is deep in the wilderness, and... I just am not a fan of the cold." He said gruff, but he would not back out of this mission even if he would turn into a popsicle! His honor was at stake!
"Well, at least everything's ready to go," Shara said on the upside. "Besides, sister-o-mine, the weather wouldn't really stop us, would it?"
"Cold enough and it might," she replied. "We still have biological bodies, Shara. Don't go thinking that we're invincible."
Shara smirked for a moment. "But it's much more fun!"
Karissa shook her head.
Nathan took a seat and waited, as they lifted and headed toward the FARP base.
He heard Shara and Skaren talking up front, "The SAR teams have taken off and are heading into the area. They want us to land at the base and help prepare for
Casualties...in other words they think we'll be in the way."
He looked at Karissa and said, "They have a point." Nathan looked over as Marcus spoke, "They're Marines...and also SAR qualified...as long as they stay put and don't try to walk themselves out they should be fine...cold...but fine."
Jayme paced back and forth, back and forth.. The winds had stopped blowing at hurricane force and the snow was fine and iffy at times. Kama had tried to get her to eat a rations pack but she just shook her head and kept pacing. She did drink some of the water that was hooked to her pack, when she paused to throw another couple of branches on the fire. She was so restless... "Kama, stop staring holes into my back, I'm fine."
"Fine while you pace holes in the floor? Sure you are fine, and I have to believe that? Pah!" She said sarcastic and kept staring. "Take something for those nerves before you try to wear yourself out, I saw you had some of that stuff with you." She pointed out. "And you have to eat, I insist!"
With a sigh Jayme sat down by the fire and tried to slip into a meditation mode to help dampen down the anxiety she was feeling. All of a sudden there was a un-nerving scream, a heavy weight thumped into her shoulder and left her laying looking at the cave ceiling dazed. She turned her head in time to see Kama--combat knife out taking on a slim wiry mammal with a long snout and upright ears the color of red mud. Jayme pulled her combat knife and wished she'd brought her phaser... There was another high pitched scream and the creature fell onto its side, shuddered once and then was still with Kama's knife sticking out of its well muscled chest. "Damn." Jayme exclaimed sitting up and easing against the cave wall.
"Nice creatures, Skaren told me about them... you can eat them, he says."
She said calm. "But he has a strange taste in food.."
Jayme rubbed her shoulder where the animal had hit her on its way by, the same
spot where she'd been knifed months earlier on the McCoy.
"Take a rest will you!" Kama grumbled. She placed her hand on Jayme's shoulder and looked concerned at her.
"I said I was fine!" Jayme said brushing off the other woman's hand on her arm.
They'd been at the base for a couple of hours. During that time, Karissa had found a place to settle down and try to focus her mind. She could sense Jayme, but hadn't been able to get a mental fix on her . . . It was something she had been trying to perfect over time.
Not far away, Shara was pacing around. Because of Karissa's connection, she too, could sense Jayme and she didn't have a good feeling about it. Marcus and Nathan watched both the women with their different reactions to the same stimuli.
"If you don't stop that, Shara, you might wear the floor out," Marcus replied.
Shara stopped and looked at him as if suddenly realizing he was there. "Sorry . . . It's just that I can feel her . . . its Karissa's connection. I'm picking it up."
Nathan frowned at the two women and gave Marcus a skeptical look, saw the older man shrug in response and then walked over and knelt by Karissa.--He'd have been more comfortable around Kassia but she was gone and had given Jayme's file to her...he just needed to trust her as a counselor since he already trusted her as a friend. They'd known each other since Starbase 901 well over a year before.
"I get a feeling that Jayme and Kama are under cover somewhere . . but something's wrong," Karissa said, her eyes still closed. "Pain . . . There's pain . . . her shoulder"
"Her shoulder?" He pulled the PADD out of his pocket and scanned the files and saw the entry he was looking for, and said, "She was stabbed in her right shoulder just prior to the end of the Mulluran conflict when a party of raiders had boarded the McCoy. The cold could be aggravating the old injury." He said looking into her eyes.
"I think she's still okay," Karissa replied trying to be reassuring. She also focused her mind to sense what was around Jayme. "I'm hearing more than just the storm . . . I hear . . . Running water . . . a river! I smell a fire going . . . but it's not very big. It's still cold . . ."
"Can you tell where she is exactly?" Marcus asked.
"Hand me a map," she said.
Skaren, who had just walked in produced one on a PADD. Karissa looked it over carefully. She saw the river and she sensed where Jayme had been.
"Here," she said pointing her finger. "They're around here somewhere . . . It would make things easier if Shara and I went."
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