Washed Away

            “Sato.”

            “Commander, where are you?” It was Admiral Archer. “I picked up Brannigaan.”

            The ladies looked at each other. A gust of wind came through the canyon almost knocking them off their feet.

            “We’re in a valley north of the landing site, sir,” Sato shouted in the communicator. “We should be there in a few minutes. The weather is making it hard to get there.”

            “I think I’ll send Branni in after you. It could be easy to get lost in there. I’ll stay here in case you get here first, but I doubt it.”

            “Yes, Admiral, we’ll look for him. Sato out!” she shouted.

            The three continued on their short journey to meet the shuttle. Above their heads charcoal grey clouds started to churn and spill out more rain and small balls of hail. Sato took over the lead, still carrying the young girl and picking out the clear areas for Riaan to step. Rocks and mud began to fall from the sides of the cliff walls and obscure parts of the road. With the wind pelting the raindrops at them, vision was impaired much beyond their own hands.

            “Keep following the road, stay close to the mountain,” she instructed. Ariannaa buried her face on Hoshi’s shoulder and hung on for dear life. The water had been fun, but now it was cold and wet and no longer any fun at all. Hoshi wore her like a backpack in a survival training exercise. Spending so much time in space and with MACO Chang by her side, she visited the gym daily. Her confidence and strength had grown over the years to warrant her status as a commander.

            They came to a spot that was blocked by a large blown over tree. The roots reached for the sky next to the mountain while the canopy hung into the gully on the other side of the road. Where the base of the tree had been heavy globs of mud oozed out and across the road like enormous slugs on a mission to reach the other side.

            “We’ll have to go over it,” Sato shouted at Riaan. The wind took her words away but Riaan understood the command. She used all four limbs to steady herself as they climbed up and over and down the other side of the tree trunk. The multitudes of branches were helpful to hold for stability but also a hindrance against a smooth crossing. A sharp one snagged on Riaan’s rain coat pocket and ripped a half meter hole in the side as she slid down.

            Riaan wiped the wet hair from her face and eyes, checked her pockets for the hair jewelry and sound it secure in the pocket against her body. Hoshi helped her with the landing. Once they were on the other side of the tree, they spotted Brannigaan in a bright yellow slicker about a kilometer down the trail.

            “Stay here, Riaan. I’m going to run the baby up to Brannigaan and I’ll be back to help you.” Hoshi did her best to navigate the slippery stones and mud going down the road towards the young man. She could tell this storm was not an average cloud burst but a mega storm that was about to cause a flood from down the hill and in the river below that was nearing the top of its banks. Taking the short cut had not been the better choice after all even if it did save time in the beginning. Now they were slower than had they used the longer, but better, road. Hoshi was careful bringing the admiral’s daughter to her brother.

            “Banni!” the girl shouted as soon as she saw him reaching for her.

            “Take her back to the shuttle. I’m going to help your mother,” she said loudly, as close to his head as she could reach. The sound of the rushing water and blowing gusts made communicating difficult at best. As the kids disappeared from her sight, she realized Riaan was quite a ways back, waiting for her. Hoshi did her best to walk quickly through the flooded street ankle deep in muddy water.

            A flash of white light barely backlit the steely clouds before a sonic boom rumbled right above them! The sound was almost deafening and Riaan felt the shockwaves in her body. The baby stirred with a hefty kick and a roll to one side. Her hand went to her belly, realizing that he must have felt the shockwave of the thunder as well. She looked up and saw the yellow blob of color growing larger as Hoshi neared. 

            “Come here!” Hoshi held out her hand for Riaan. A narrow path remained where the road had washed away and traveled down the hill into the gully in the same general direction as the tree had done a little ways up the path. Riaan slid her feet to keep from being swept away by sloppy mud, using the rocky hillside against her back. “I got you!” Hoshi shouted, reaching as far as she dared. Riaan reached out as well, and they clasped hands. Then it happened. As tight as Hoshi held her hand, they couldn’t maintain their grip in the rain. The rest of the road gave way under Riaan’s feet and she with it.  In horror Hoshi watched as Riaan slid 8-9 meters down the ravine with the mud and stones from the road.

            Normally cool and composed Riaan came unglued and screamed up at Hoshi, who was on her stomach leaning halfway over the bottomless sinkhole with her arm still trying to hold onto her.

            “Don’t move!” Hoshi shouted. She scrambled to her feet and pulled out her communicator almost dropping it. It chirped and Archer answered. “Admiral!” she screamed in a panic she’d not felt for years. “You have to come; Riaan’s sliding down a hill! The road gave way! I can’t reach her.”

            “Where’s Brannigaan? Didn’t he get there yet?”

            “He’s on his way back to you with Annaa.”

            “Let me talk to her!”

            “I can’t reach her, sir, and I don’t know how the cliff is going to hold – it’s really slippery and there’s rocks and mud – “

            “I’m on my way.”

            “Hoshi!” called Riaan from the gully wash. Over the rush of water and sudden barrage of thunder her words were lost in the gulch. She shivered despite her rain gear. This had been a bad idea, but it was too late to blame herself now. She looked beyond her feet and shuddered at the sight. Below her feet she stood on a rock jutting out of the wall of the riverbank. Mud and water surrounded her but she managed to hang onto a thick tree root that also stuck out of the wall.

            “Riaan!” Hoshi’s voice was a welcome sound. “Are you okay? Jonathan’s coming!”

            “Good!” she shouted. Then she received a second angry kick from inside her body. “There’s a bit of a problem, though!” she shouted upwards. Clean rain water washed the mud from her face as she looked up towards the road that was no longer there. “I’m getting some complaints from my personal passenger down here. This would really not be a good time or place for that!”

            “Hang on, don’t let go of that root!” Hoshi shouted. She pretended she didn’t hear about baby pains in hope that they would ease up once she was back on the ship, clean, and dry. Hoshi thought for a second, flipped open her communicator. “Admiral, you need to hurry!” She slammed it shut then reopened it to call the ship.

            “Discovery!”

            “What is it Hoshi?” Captain Mitchell.

            “We need rescue supplies! Transport down some climbing gear and a litter, now, to my coordinates! Hurry, Captain! And patch me to Phlox! Riaan?” she called over the ledge. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m still here,” drifted a faint voice from below. “But things aren’t getting any better. I don’t think I can climb up there. Ouch!”

            “Phlox here.”

            “Phlox, send something down with the rescue supplies! Riaan’s trapped and she might be going into labor!”

            “That’s not a good thing,” he replied. “I’ll send you down a tocolytic. Give it to her as soon as possible.” She snapped her communicator shut. 

             “Hang on, Sweetie!” Hoshi called again. A moment or two passed and she heard the twinkle buzz of a transporter materializing something. She looked behind her and saw a littler with climbing gear appear in a thin, clear plastic container. She sighed deeply with relief.

            “Hoshi?” She heard Archer’s voice in the distance and looked down the road.

            “Over here!” she screamed. Daylight was fading but not gone yet. She jumped up and down a few times and waved her arms. She could see the admiral and Ensign French coming up the road waving back. The rain poured down, the thunder felt like oil drums bashing together, and the wind never ceased its relentless aggression. Couldn’t they move any faster?

            “What in hell happened?”

            “Stop, Admiral, the road is gone!” Hoshi threw her arms up to make sure the men didn’t go too far and end up on top of Riaan.

            “Where’s Riaan?” Hoshi looked down over the edge; Archer did the same. He stopped breathing for a moment, trying to think but wanting to panic. Then the old captain, the Jonathan Archer he had been years ago, before Enterprise was decommissioned, before he’d been grounded from the transporter damage to his brain, before he was Admiral Archer, came to life. “Baby! Are you okay? I’m coming down there!” he shouted. Then he turned to Hoshi “Glad you thought of that,” he said, indicating the box of climbing gear. “French, bring it here. Riaan?”

            “Jon, I’m stuck down here, hurry.”

            Archer was an experienced climber, but it had been years since he’d last scaled a mountain. Undeterred, with the rain falling and wind blowing, he quickly secured ropes, wrapped up descenders, fastened carabiners, put on the harness, and in four minutes, soaking wet with the litter on his back and hypo in his pocket, he rappelled down the muddy slope, doing what he could to avoid dislodging more rocks, dirt, mud or other debris on the woman below him.

            But an onslaught of mud came over the road and continued down onto the two people under where the road had once been. The water was relentless and the daylight was nearly gone. Never could Jonathan remember being so covered in mud and water in his life. He couldn’t hear and he was losing his sight to the darkness and mud. His hands slipped on the ropes without gloves. Each meter down the slope was harder than the last. He looked down and saw Riaan looking up, her face wet but cleaned by the rain.

            “Riaan watch out, I’m coming. Are you hanging on?” he shouted. She nodded, thinking that was a ridiculous question. She was tired of shouting and relieved to see Jon coming down the cliff into the ravine despite the mud, rain, rocks, thunder and lightning, wind and darkness. And then another kick from the baby reminded her that she’d put their son in peril all for a piece of jewelry. What was she thinking? Ouch! Why was he kicking so hard?

            And her rock ledge started to concede to the gravity of Akal. Riaan felt her footing starting to skate on the flooded muddy boulder. She looked up, but Jonathan was still several meters up.