"Hope Descending"
By: Commander Lyrr Tayla
Lieutenant Derran Casey
Lieutenant j.g. Tchalla Mel'chir
Lieutenant Xayella Tagliesh
Ensign Kit Markham

Location: Crash Site of Shuttle Gagarin
Stardate 57911.08, 18h56

***

Darkness was falling once again, repeating the interminable cycle of night and day upon the deserted planet that was their home. Lyrr Tayla hoped it wouldn't be for much longer. She had ordered Mel'Chir and the others off to bed after their day-long vigil of the shuttle's computer set-up. Although their probe had launched, they had received no response to indicate the Sulu had been successfully contacted.

It was difficult, but Lyrr determined not to lose hope. Instead, she remained on the shuttle, monitoring her computer for an answering call from Sulu, and fighting sleep in the process. She nearly submitted when her forehead dropped onto her arm atop the console. Eyelids drooped heavily and her mind grew numb. The computer would alert her, at any rate, if someone made contact. Just a short nap...

The sound of a person entering the shuttle was muffled in the growing darkness. As Lyrr turned to look, the indistinguishable profile of Derran Casey appeared there. "Need some company?" he asked as he moved toward one of the vacant chairs.

She cleared her throat to allow time for clearing her head fully. Once the fog of near-slumber dissipated, Lyrr raised an eyebrow at the security officer. "Who's on watch? Or have you simply abandoned your post?" she added caustically.

"Mel'Chir's watching," Casey answered. He gestured to the top of his head where antennae would be if he had any. "She's got that sensory thing. But, she couldn't sleep, and wanted to do something. I didn't say anything to her, until she approached me."

"Behaving and adhering to your duties." Lyrr made a sound of approval. "What's motivated this turn-around?"

"My family's name is very important to us, Commander. My actions earlier, they were uncalled for and were shameful to myself and my family. It is with great pride that I wear this uniform, and to sully it would bring disrespect on the Casey name and on Starfleet. I figured it was time to change that."

She snorted. "After all this time? Oh, don't play that game with me, Lieutenant. I'm sure you've been warned about your behaviour many times before. I doubt hearing it again from me had the greatest impact."

"I haven't, Commander," Derran said honestly. "Most Starfleet officers, before you, have avoided the issue because of my family. No one had the courage to confront the Casey Legacy until you. I guess it sort of woke me up."

Lyrr smirked at his arrogance, although there was slightly less of it to disdain than previously. "Your family, Mr. Casey, has no bearing on whether or not you should be disciplined for your missteps," Lyrr continued, "and any officer who believes differently should be ejected from Starfleet." Her sharp gaze caught him sidelong. "And you're no better if you believe the same and have used your family name to gain exemption from performing your duty as you should be. The rest of us have gotten where we are through sheer effort and hard work. You belittle our achievements by exploiting your privileged upbringing."

"Most likely a fault of my upbringing, Commander," Casey said. "Privilege is difficult to get away from when you're in a family like mine, but I think I'm working without a net here."

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked sardonically.

"My mistakes out here," he said, "are my own. My actions are mine. Whatever I do, I must stand on my own two feet and accept whatever comes of it. My father cannot bail me out here, he can't intervene on the family's behalf. It's not a situation I've been in before...being out from under the eye of the Caseys."

Lyrr folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the co-pilot's chair, though with one arm in a sling, it was an awkward looking gesture. "If that's all you have to worry about, Lieutenant, then you're quite lucky," she mused. "Ensigns Marp and Johnstone had to worry about dying, you see, so I'm sure they would have trouble comprehending your dilemma." Her relaxed pose vanished as Lyrr abruptly swivelled her chair around and leaned in towards Casey. Her eyes were hard and her mouth set in a taut line. "You're a spoiled coward, Lieutenant," she hissed. "If the intervention of your family was such a nuisance to begin with, why did you allow it to go on for so long? You will not use this tragedy to achieve something as selfish and trivial as escaping from under your parents' thumbs. Have you no spine, Lieutenant?"

Casey's eyes narrowed. "Permission to speak freely, Commander?"

"You decide, Lieutenant," Lyrr replied as a veiled warning. If he was to jeopardize his career in anything that left his lips, Lyrr wanted such responsibility solely on his shoulders.

"Very well," Casey said with a nod. "If you're unwilling to allow me to speak without our ranks and positions interfering and colouring this conversation, then I have nothing further to contribute. Permission to return to relieve Lt. Mel'Chir of the security detail and resume my duties, Commander?"

Lyrr nodded. "Goodnight, Lieutenant."

"Goodnight, Commander," Casey said, and turned to leave.

Before he could, a blue blur raced into the shuttle. "In the sky," squeaked the blur that became Tchalla once she'd come to a stop. "Up in the sky. There's...it's a light...it's...I think..."

Lyrr turned to her console. "Casey, get out there and investigate. Mel'Chir, see if you can pick up anything - any attempted transmissions."

Tchi jumped behind one of the active consoles and began training what sensors the shuttle still had online into the sky. As she did, Casey strode out of the shuttle and disappeared into the darkness. "I'm picking up a faint transmission," she said and glanced over at Lyrr. "It's...it's a Federation standard signal, Commander." Her face seemed to light up. "They found us."

Lyrr frowned warily, unable to believe their greatest hopes had been realized. "Could it be a false signal?" she asked.

"I imagine it could," Tchalla said as she glanced at Lyrr. "But, who out here would send a ship pretending to be from the Sulu?"

"Good point," Lyrr muttered, smiling wanly. "We just have to wait and see. There's no way to hail them...." Waving Tchalla along, Lyrr rose and headed out of the shuttle. "Only one way to find out," she sighed.

"Yes, sir," Tchalla said and fell into step beside Lyrr. "I hope we get to sleep in our own beds tonight. The floor of the cave is just a little too hard."

Unwittingly, Tchalla stirred Lyrr's longing to see Ben again, but also roused an anxiety she had been working to suppress. Too much time alone to think had thrown Lyrr's once decisive mind into turmoil over their relationship, after she thought all had been resolved. Despite that, Lyrr left Tchalla in the shuttle and moved towards Casey standing in the distance, experiencing contained excitement. They might be going home, and even still she yearned for Ben's embrace, all her doubts aside. She smiled and hastened her approach. "Can you make anything out?" she shouted to the security officer.

Casey pointed to a bright light in the sky. "Right now, it's not much but it's growing brighter and bigger. It's too far for the tricorder to pick anything up, but it definitely looks like an approaching shuttle."

"Looks like?" Lyrr queried, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "I suggest we take cover for the time being until we have anything more substantial than that. They can see the wreckage; they don't need us here to find the crash site."

"Good idea," Casey said with a grin. "Though, from this distance, without gear, it's hard to say with certainty, it definitely looks like a shuttle to me."

"Yes," Tchalla said. "But, you can't be certain it looks like a Federation shuttle from here. Come on, we need to let the others know."

The three disappeared behind a rocky projection before they could be sighted by the shuttle's occupants. Lyrr stayed behind with Casey while Tchalla went back to the caves to wake Corel and Chan. They watched, crouched low behind the rock, as the shuttle grew closer. It was difficult to discern its appearance with the blazing sun hanging behind it. Lyrr squinted until her eyes teared up, then looked away. "I don't want to jinx this, but it is most likely a Starfleet shuttle, isn't it?"

"It was hard to spot," Casey said, "but the profile matched. Details are hard to spot on re-entry, but it's something that's drilled into us in the Academy."

Lyrr smiled. "So, you did earn your rank after all, didn't you?"

"Yes, Commander," Casey said with a grin. "I'm not completely worthless."

"Not completely," Lyrr agreed. "Once you've stopped flirting with your fellow officers, that is."

Casey chuckled. "There are some people you just can't not want to flirt with. Though, from now on, I'll make sure to keep my flirting strictly off-duty."

Lyrr bowed her head. "Good thinking, Lieutenant." And with a final, wry smile for Casey, she turned her sights back to the landing shuttle. It was still difficult to discern its identity with the sands blowing up in clouds around it. Lyrr instinctively reached for her phaser. "We may be outnumbered," she murmured to Casey, "but I'd rather go down fighting, wouldn't you?"

"Indeed, Commander," Casey said with a grin as he pulled out his phaser and set it to heavy stun. "There it is, it's more clear. See?"

She did, and indicated so with a nod. They waited an anxious few moments for the dust obscuring the vessel to settle. Lyrr's phaser rested in her hand now, trained on the shuttle. Her grip was tense. Then, they saw it and there was no mistaking: a Starfleet shuttle, and more specifically one of the Sulu's. Lyrr sighed and put away her weapon. "I guess they got the message," she quipped.

Casey followed suit and returned his phaser to the holster at his waist. "I guess we're going home now," he said. "So, Commander, what's the first thing you're going to do when you get back?"

Lyrr got to her feet as the shuttle's ramp descended and waved at its occupants. "I haven't decided that far ahead yet, Lieutenant," she answered, still focused on their rescue party. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Casey said with a grin. "No particular reason."

She narrowed her eyes at him briefly, then shook her head and refocused on the shuttle's crew. A frown tugged at her lips as a tall, very distinguishable female emerged. "Tagliesh," she grumbled, and the woman waved at her as they were spotted.

Casey's mouth quirked into a smile. "It's not so bad," he said. "We are still going home."

He was right, Lyrr realized with a chuckle. And witnessing Xayella's relief as she found them safe and alive was almost amusing enough to dispel her initial annoyance. Home, finally, and as Casey had mentioned, Lyrr did wonder herself what she would do when they returned to the Sulu. Visiting Ben would be one of the first, then.... Lyrr had no idea, though taking a long, warm shower was definitely an option.

Leading Chan and Corel, Tchalla Mel'Chir burst into the clearing. "Lieutenant," she called, waving to Tagliesh. "You found us!"

"Gainsborough did, actually," she replied, "but I'm the one who pushed these dolts" --she jerked a thumb back towards the rest of her team-- "to fly faster. They wanted to practice caution." And Xay rolled her eyes to express what she thought of that.

"Lieutenant," Lyrr greeted stiffly.

Tagliesh nodded, still smiling. "So...should we get everyone packed up and get out of here?"

"We've got some gear remaining in the cave," Tchalla said. "And...and Ensign Marp and Ensign Johnstone."

For the first time, Tchalla saw Xayella truly sobered. "Alright," she said softly. "We'll load them first, then your things can follow." Moving closer to the Andorian before she could move off to obey, Xayella whispered, "I'm sorry, Tchalla. It should have been myself on that shuttle, not you."

The only answer Tchalla could give was to nod. A moment later, she managed to find her voice enough to say, "I'm glad you came for us, Lieutenant."

Her arrogant smile reformed as Xay told the Andorian, "I figured the sight of me would bring the greatest joy and relief." She winked at Tchi. "Is it working?"

Tchi grinned. "It is," she said. "How...how is everything back on...on Castari?"

"Progressing," Xay answered enigmatically, which set Lyrr to growling in frustration at her haughty attitude. Before the commander could lash out at Tagliesh, the science officer swung to face Lyrr. Her smile held no sign of jest whatsoever. "It's good to see you well, Commander," she told her sincerely.

Taken aback, Lyrr could do nothing but nod dumbly. Xayella chuckled to herself and moved past the stricken commander to help with the loading of supplies.

As Xayella started toward where the supplies were being packed up by Corel, Chan and Casey emerged carrying what could only be a body covered by a blanket. Casey nodded to Tagliesh, but said nothing as he and Chan made their way to the shuttle.

Her guilt was magnified at the sight, and Xayella was motivated further to help. She ran, catching up to Tchalla to aid her in clearing the campsight. In the cave's relative darkness, Xayella could at least hide her grief for a while longer.

Tchalla walked in silence beside her senior officer until they reached the cave entrance. She looked up at the human and chewed her lip for a moment before speaking. "No one blames you, sir," she said softly. "We chose to come out here, to explore. Every morning, when we wake up, we know that during the day we'll be required to take risks. It is the life each and every one of us chose when we became Starfleet officers. We know that each day could be our last, but we continue to do it because this is the life we want. No one blames you for what happened, Lieutenant."

"It's enough that I blame myself," she whispered, stuffing a bedroll away in its sack. "I could have -- should have! -- come along on this mission. Perhaps this would have happened, perhaps not, but I'll never know." Chuckling bitterly, she added, "Instead, I remained on Castari Alpha, content to enjoy a week away with Matt on yet another pleasure planet. Is that not selfish, Lieutenant?"

"Kelzira stayed behind while I'm here," Tchi said. "Lots of people stayed behind. You should not punish yourself because of what happened, Lieutenant."

"I don't," Xay sighed. "Not entirely. But...this was my foolish idea to begin with." She slung the pack over her shoulder and smiled wanly at Tchi. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure you did a great job out here."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Tchalla said. "And, we did get some good information out here. And, it wasn't foolish."

Shrugging expansively, Xay started out of the cave with her load of gear. "I'm glad you think so, Tchalla," she called back. "At least I know there's one person who won't use this as another reason to condemn me."

Tchalla watched after the Sulu's chief science officer, but could think of no way to answer. Instead, she bundled up her own load of gear and followed after to continue loading the shuttle.

"I think we're nearly ready," Lyrr announced from the top of the ramp, looking out at the Gagarin's wreckage. "I don't know if the captain will approve a salvage operation..." She looked aside at Casey who had ascended to join her, then turned back to Xay. "What were the captain's orders?"

Xayella finished shoving a bag into the overhead cubbyhole and faced Lyrr with hands on both hips. "If the shuttle can be repaired, we'll stay behind with a team to repair it. If not...."

Lyrr interpreted her heavy silence and glanced at Casey. "Shall we set the charges, then?" she asked quietly. "I don't know about you, Lieutenant, but that shuttle doesn't hold the happiest of memories for me."

"I'll grab the charges from the runabout, Commander," Casey said, and disappeared to grab them.

"I'll make sure we've got all the data we need from the shuttle," Tchalla said, and quickly rushed over to transfer what remained of the data to a padd before the remains of Starfleet property were obliterated.

Xayella came up beside Lyrr, watching the action below. "You're really going to do it?"

Lyrr shrugged. "Why not? Even if it's salvageable, it's tainted by death." She sighed and watched as Tchalla emerged after a time, hugging stack of padds to her chest. "It's just...better this way."

"All of the scans were intact," she said as she carried them toward the runabout. "They should give us more information about this sort of nebula." As she disappeared into the runabout to store the padds, she could only hope that information would be contained within the scans that would help avert another such accident.

"Casey!" Lyrr called at the security officer. "Are we almost ready?"

Derran Casey stepped away from the shuttle. "Just two more charges to place, and we're set," he said. "Make sure that everything is clear around the shuttle for about one hundred meters."

Lyrr smiled faintly. "There's nothing on this planet, Lieutenant," she reminded him. "And I plan on being way up among the clouds before those charges go."

"Of course, Commander," Casey answered and resumed placing the charges. After a few more moments, he stepped away. "Alright, we're set. Remote charge is set." He handed Lyrr a small device. "That will set off the charges."

She accepted the remote with a nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant," she told him significantly.

"You're welcome, Commander," Casey said with a knowing nod to her. Then he and Chan returned to the cave one last time.

"Let's get in then," she told everyone, and they did. None bothered to watch as Casey and Chan returned with the last body; none wanted to. When the two moved into the aft of the shuttle, Lyrr exchanged a nod with Casey, and murmured for the pilot to close the hatch. She exhaled a silent bracing breath and nodded for him to take them up. In her uninjured hand was the remote, one that would trigger the Gagarin's destruction. She trembled, unable to watch.

"Commander," the pilot announced, "we're clear."

Lyrr nodded unsteadily, her finger hovering over the detonator. She hesitated, but at the remembered pain and sorrow of their ordeal Lyrr's composure returned. Her thumb depressed the trigger, and from the soft gasps emitted by those with a vantage through the viewport, Lyrr knew what they saw, even though she couldn't hear or feel the blast. Though, she did feel immense relief and sank back in her chair with it. "Finally," she whispered. "I think it's over."

"Sensors read complete destruction," Casey said with no hint of joy in his voice.

"It's over," Tchalla whispered.

Lyrr sighed, and nodded brusquely. "Good. Let's go home."

"Course laid in," was Kit Markham's response from the helm. "Engaging."

The runabout turned toward the distant invisible speck that was Castari, and sped forward.

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