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"Keeping Your Feet On The Ground"
[previous post was "And For Something Completely Different" by the ferocious Hanali]
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Setting: LOCUS 2 on the Moon of PI ALPHA III
Stardate: 30148.1130

How Shar'El had ended up being the pilot of LOCUS 2 had still been a complete mystery to her. Surely there had been better drivers for the task, people with experience playing dodge-ball with meteor-sized rocks falling from the sky while trying to keep all four wheels on the ground.

Reading about the LOCUS and their systems had not prepared the ILO for this.  Reviewing the schematics of the craft had certain not helped in anyway to understand how it would behave in a situation such as this one. The worst part had been that there had been no memories for her to access to help her handle this crisis.

Like everything else about this mission, this had been meant to be a relatively simple yet challenging exercise.  There had been nothing simple about the crash of the SPHINX and certainly nothing simple about this point A-to-Point B drive.  The challenge it seemed had been for Shar'El to maintain some semblance of sanity through this mess.

The torrential rain of fiery rocks had been difficult enough for the ILO to deal with, not to mention the ever changing landscape in front of her.  It was when, following the lead LOCUS, she was forced to jump over a chasm with a river of lava at the bottom that all of this became too much.  Either she would allow herself to *lose it* or Shar'El would vent her frustrations in an effort to reduce her growing anxiety.  Luckily for those on board LOCUS 2 including herself, the ILO had opted for the latter. 

"Doctor, I think you were right," Shar'El yelled to the CMO sitting in the back of the LOCUS while the craft dangerously flew over the chasm.  "We should have infiltrated the Romulan Star Empire instead of coming here, it would have been a whole lot safer."

Doctor Doyanne recalled briefly the words she had spoken during the mission briefing as the LOCUS roughly landed on the other side of the chasm they had just crossed.  The CMO would have offered some sort of reply if had not been for the screams of pain from the CEO.

"Do you mind, there is someone injured back here!" Sonja snapped at the ILO, the CEO's nails embedded into the fabric of her seat.

"Listen here," Shar'El snarled back as she turned around to look at the two women sitting in the back of the LOCUS.  "If you have a problem with my driving, you can come up here."

The argument came to a rapid end when the Doctor pointed with a trembling finger to somewhere behind the ILO.  In her haste to challenge Sonja's argument, Shar'El had not bothered to stop the LOCUS which was not heading straight for a boulder twice the size of the craft.

As the ILO fell back into her seat she slammed on the breaks as hard as she could to bring the LOCUS to a dead stop only a few hair-width from the bolder.  Of course the sudden stop had caused the CMO and CEO to fly out of their seat, leaving the Doctor to land half way onto the hood of the craft while the Engineer rested squarely on top of the Intelligence Liaison officer.

"Next time you want me to drive, just say so, okay?" Sonja growled through clenched teeth before she closed her eyes and bit her upper lip.  The CEO had been ready to scream bloody murder from the pain she was experiencing, but instead Sonja simply slid back into her seat having passed out.

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Tiffany Reeve

Ensign Shar'El
Intel Liaison Officer
USS ANUBIS