"High Price"
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Stardate: 60298.1532
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Responding to the statement made by their CO, the entire senior staff scrambled to work. It seemed that fate had handed them exactly what they had wanted and now it was their task to act on it, the only problem at that time was that no one knew the price that had been paid by the Marines. Identifying each target for transport back to the ANUBIS, the Romulan/Terran hybrid was the first to notice that something was very wrong with the number of people their sensors had discovered. "All personnel on the planet surface have been identified and we are ready to beam them up, but there is a problem."
Fighting the urge to leap out of his chair and choke the first soul that wandered near him, the CO remained seated clamping down on his armrests instead. "Of course, why wouldn't there be one."
Taking the sighed comment as a signal that the captain wanted to know more despite his overflowing frustration, the COO wasted no time to report what she had discovered. "Sensors have locked onto four less people than according to the crew manifest the CAPITAL VENTURE left with."
Offering the most logical reason for this, one that the Sec/Tac was surprised had not come from the Romulan/Terran hybrid herself, Lt. Seth mentioned what he believed had been the cause of this shortage of sensor signal. "The four remaining may still be inside the ruins protecting the retreat of the others. This means that we need to act quickly."
Nodding his complete agreement the CO quickly turned back to face the front of the bridge and proceeded with the only course of action that remained for them to take, "Lt. Serenna, beam them all up. Number One, take Lt. Seth and check on our Marines while we keep an eye open for the remaining four."
Leaving the bridge as per the CO's ordered, the XO and Sec/Tac made their way to the turbolift like a gush of wind while the Romulan/Terran hybrid pushed everything around her out of her mind and sight, concentrating entirely on the transport of the Marines and the scanning of the four that would be left behind once the first task was accomplished. Normally such a transport would have waited for the XO to reach the transporter room and confirm readiness before engaging, but given the sensitive nature of the situation, the COO thought it best to not wait since security details had already been present in the transporter room for should have been the ILO's return.
Insuring diligently that each transport was completed without any problems, the COO watched as each sensor signal vanished from the surface of TOLAR IV and reappeared inside the ANUBIS, the reports of safe transports confirmed by the internal sensors as well as the Transporter Chief. The condition in which the Marines had been brought back though became partially evident when the XO entered the room and contacted Sickbay, a call that was overheard by those on the bridge. =/\=Transporter Room 2 to Sickbay, medical emergency! Stand by to receive wounded.=/\=
Troubled by the urgency in the XO's voice, the CO immediately opened a comm channel down to the transporter room to get more information, selecting to make his request without allowing his own concerns to show for the time being. "Number One, report."
Not having expected to hear the voice of the Marine CO, the sound of Pravat's voice came as welcome news. =/\=We were unable to locate Lt. Cmdr. Enaii or her bodyguard, but we did manage to run into a handful of Jem'Hadars. We would have likely suffered more loses had it not been for the Hirogens who diverted the Jem'Hadars away from us long enough to allow us to retreat to the outside of the ruins.=/\=
Focussing on the term 'loses' the CO tried his best to make Marine 2nd Lt. Pravat not feel any worse than he imagined him feeling at the moment. "Both women are already on the ship safe and sound, they were transported off the planet a few minutes ago likely thanks to you having given them the time they needed to get out. Do you need help to mount a rescue for your missing men?"
Looking back at her CO, the Romulan/Terran hybrid had been ready to point out that it had not been them who had beamed the ILO and her bodyguard back but that the act had actually been performed by the Cardassians. Fortunately the COO remained silent understanding only at the last moment that this had not been the time or place to mention this little discrepancy in the sequence of events that had led them all here. Waiting with baited breath, the members of the bridge staff sat at their respective stations listening for Pravat's reply to the question the captain had asked.
As short as the delay in the Marine's reply had been it had more than enough for the Romulan/Terran hybrid to know that the answer would be one that she and the others had not wanted to hear. The price for the safe return of the ILO and the rest of the Marines as well as the artefact that Enaii had gone searching for had been paid with this universe's most misunderstood and coveted of currency: blood.
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Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Lieutenant Serenna
Chief of Operations / Second Officer
USS ANUBIS
