round 4 Cmdr. Tal Tel-ar starts his vacation

[Tal Tel-ar]

((Shuttle orbiting Igguden III))

:: The shuttle approached the planet and started to slow down. ::

Pilot: We are here Cmdr. Where do you want me to land?

Tel-ar: Move into orbit above the largest land mass, above the large inland sea.

Pilot: OK. :: He replied slightly confused, then again it kind of made sense. The massive Andorian had made the entire 4 hour flight without saying a single word, which for him was normal. Still it made you wonder why he was here. Not that he was going to be stupid enough to ask the man. He had something of a reputation, one that made you think twice before you asked him a question. As he brought the shuttle to a halt at the indicated location he spoke again. :: Stable orbit achieved Cmdr.

:: Tal did not reply, he merely stood up, grabbed his pack and opened it, pulling out an unusual object. It was made of some kind of fabric, a case or bag of some kind with 5 heavily reinforced straps that appeared to buckle together in an unusual manner. Then he closed his bag and walked over to drop it on the transporter pad. ::

:: He spent a few moments adjusting the controls and then beamed the bag onto the planet’s surface below him. ::

Pilot: Uhhh…. Sir. The colony is on the other side of the planet.

Tel-ar: I know Ensign. :: Was all he said as he merely readjusted the controls before he tossed the unusual bag onto the transporter pad and then beamed it into the upper reaches of the planet’s atmosphere. ::

:: Then he set the timer before he also stepped onto the pad. As he turned he spoke one final time. ::

Tel-ar: That will be all Ensign. :: Just as he finished speaking he was beamed off the shuttle to the same location as his unusual bag. ::

:: The Pilot turned to glance back, saw the Andorian vanish in a shimmer and turned back to his controls. ::

Pilot: What the @#$%^&*(). :: He exclaimed as he saw the read out on his sensors. The Andorian had beamed himself off of the shuttle into the upper levels of the planet’s atmosphere and was now plummeting towards the planet’s surface at an alarming rate. ::

:: He automatically started to reach for the transporter controls off to one side of his flight control panel. Reached them and adjusted the controls to allow him to beam aboard an object falling at high velocity but at the last second he stopped himself. ::

:: This was Cmdr. Tel-ar. The same lunatic who had attacked a Borg cube by himself. Yeah sure he had landed in medical, more dead than alive but he had survived. Still beaming yourself into the upper reaches of a planet’s atmosphere was a whole new level of crazy. ::

:: Just then the sensors indicated that his decent was slowing. It made no sense but then at least he did not have to return and report that the man had impacted into the planet’s surface. ::

:: Shaking his head he turned the shuttle and increased speed, heading back to DS285 as fast as he could. ::

((Above Igguden III))

:: Tal materialized high above the planet’s surface. The air was thin here, thin and very cold. The second the transporter affect had completed the job of transferring his atoms one by one from the shuttle, gravity took over and he started to plummet towards the ground below. ::

:: He angled his body so that he was at an angle with his head down and his arms tucked in tight against his body. It allowed him to drop more rapidly. The frigid air battered his face and body, making his eyes water. Normally this would not be a reason to worry but it also made it almost impossible to spot the parachute falling below him. ::

:: Tal blinked rapidly then reached up with one hand and wiped his eyes then partially shielded them from the bitter cold air. It took a few moments, even for his excellent vision but he soon spotted the object he needed. He altered his trajectory, shooting through the air. It was an exhilarating feeling, one that lifted his spirits and made him feel more alive than he had in months. ::

:: Unfortunately as he dropped rapidly towards the hard unyielding surface of the planet, his parachute vanished with in the fluffy white expanse of a cloud. In seconds he followed it, one second buffeted by the wind yet still able to see and the next blind as a bat as the density of the water vapor instantly soaked him. That added to the temperature made it feel like he had just dove into some foggy winter wonderland. ::

:: His inner clock warned that he was quickly reaching that danger point, the one where even with a parachute he would still be traveling to rapidly, that any impact with the ground would result in broken bones. ::

:: Just then he emerged from the cloud, his eyes quickly scanning his surrounding followed by his spreading his arms and legs, leveling off to decrease his speed. He had passed the parachute, it was now above him. Added to that was a cross wind, a brutally strong one that snatched the parachute and started to move it away from him. ::

:: He had to alter his flight path, angling to follow it while letting it drop closer and closer to him. ::

:: He reached out to grab it…. Missed…. ::

:: For a moment panic threatened to rear its vile head as Tal spun his body, twisting to follow the chute, then bringing his legs and one arm tightly together as he aimed head down towards the ground. The sudden shirt, the increase in speed was drained off as he leveled off, his free hand reaching, grasping, fingers touching but failing to grasp the straps as it spun away from him. He spread his arms and legs, his wet clothes plastered to his body, breaking for that one split second needed to try again. This time his fingers touched a strap again, failed to grasp it as the wind tore it from him. ::

:: He ignored the ground below, strained his body to fight the air, the wind, to maneuver closer, ever closer to the chute. Again he reached, touched, missed…. Then closed his hand over the groin strap that was suddenly whipped past him as the chute flipped end over end. ::

:: Tal pulled it in, sliding both legs into the opening in the straps, having to fight the wind the whole time. Then he shoved in first his left arm, then his right and grabbing the buckles secured the straps against his midsection. ::

:: Then he hit the release, waited a second as the chute deployed, his entire body slamming into the leg straps and his velocity was cut almost instantly by a half. ::

:: Looking down he could see the lake, the dense jungle reaching almost to the edge of its dark blue waters. According to the survey data he had read the massive lake had very steep sides, quickly vanishing into the depths. The survey team had been sure based on the data that a large asteroid had impacted at this site causing the almost round depression that had eventually become a lake. ::

:: Tal grabbed the straps that allowed him to control his angle of decent, the large rectangular chute above him spun slightly as he changed direction to take him closer to and over the water. ::

:: He continued to fall, but now it was a more relaxing, almost sedate feeling when compared with the start of his fall. ::

:: He angled farther from shore, he needed deep water under him as he was still coming down too fast. Not that it would have mattered, there was no clear ground anywhere near by where he could have landed anyway. ::

:: When he reached about 100 feet above the water he pulled the release, detaching the chute and suddenly dropped straight towards the water. He braced his legs to take the impact, then slammed into the surface with bone jolting force. ::

:: The force of the impact drove him down, down, down even as the density of the water bled off his speed until he slowed to a stop. Instantly Tal started to swim, his long legs and arms propelling him up and towards the shore as fast as he could. Time was now against him, the welcome drag of the water was now a danger, one even more dangerous that the possibility of not catching the chute had been. ::

:: He pushed, ignored his bodies warning signs, the indicators that he should surface and surface soon. His lungs screamed for air as he refused to alter his angle, just kept swimming, stroke, kick, stroke, kick, stroke, kick…..::

:: Suddenly the water color started to change, to grow lighter, the warm sunlight filtering down through the water to where he was, He was close, he pushed harder, nothing mattered but the movements, stroke, kick, stroke, kick, stroke, kick…..::

:: Suddenly his arm followed by his head burst through the surface of the lake, he gulped in air, his lungs grateful even as he pushed harder, swimming for the shore, for solid ground, stroke, kick, stroke, kick, stroke, kick…..::

:: Tal took a second to glance up, the shore was close, 50 feet left to go, all he had to do was keep pushing, stroke, kick, stroke, kick, stroke, kick…..::

AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:: The sound erupted behind him, mingling with a massive explosion of water that crashed down around him. The sound slammed into the jungle in front of him and bounced back. Tal ignored it and kept pushing, stroke, kick, stroke, kick, stroke, kick…..::

AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:: The sound rolled over him again, an angry bellow of savage rage and blood thirsty need. It was angry, angry and hungry but Tal’s right hand struck bottom and he clawed his way forward, pushing himself, pulling with all his strength. ::

:: In moments he had struggled the last few feet, staggering as he left the water. Only then did he look behind him. The creature glared at him, half of its head above water. Its two dark, eyes glaring at him, daring him to come closer. Then it opened its jaws to scream in frustration one last time. ::

AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:: The teeth revealed were the size of daggers and looked to be razor sharp. It glared at him for a few moments more then, the head sunk beneath the water leaving only a few ripples to mark its presence. ::

:: For a few minutes Tal merely stood, getting his breath back, enjoying the warm caress of the tropical sun as it slowly dried the clothes that he was wearing. ::

:: Then he turned and started to walk along the shore of the lake, searching for his bag that he had beamed down. As he did he allowed a smile to drift across his face. So far this vacation had turned out to be both enjoyable and stimulating. Hopefully the rest of his week would be as well. ::

************************************

Cmdr. Tal Tel-ar

Chief Tactical Officer

USS Doyle-A, NCC-80221-A

darylpea[...]@hotmail.com

Daryl.Pea[...]@ontario.ca

Tal Tel-ar’s Writer’s ID: T237708TT0