News from the Medical Tent ((Matthews/Caine))

[C.T. Caine 0]

Caine's Vulcan hearing, even at this distance, had picked up what she now realized was the faint echoes of an explosion in the distance, but at first she had assumed the low noises were the rumbling aftershocks of another quake. With herself and Kassem back safely to the camp after their run-in with the looters in the nearby city center, she been heading in to check in with her men working in the building which had been established as the Agincourt's planetside command center when the low booming noise had sounded. Almost immediately, however, the airwaves of the communications devices inside had been flooded with reports from the Marine teams doing recon; the information was garbled and confused but what was clear was that there had been an attack. Caine had scrambled; the security teams at the base mobilized for possible action as the reports continued coming in.

 

For now, though, they were still only on high alert; the immediate crisis, from what she could tell on the comms, had passed. Four of the most wounded in whatever firefight had taken place had beamed back to the base camp -- Commander JoNs and one of Caine's officers, Lieutenant Mical, who were both heavily burned and unconscious, and two of the marines, Captain Matthews and Sgt Hefner. Socom, the medical officer on duty, had swooped in and scooped them up while Caine did her best to stay out of the way. It had taken some time for the area of the medical tents to reach anything like its previous tense calm; Caine had been waiting outside until given leeway to go in and speak to any of the injured parties.

 

Poking her head into one of the tents now, she found that Buddha Matthews was sitting up on his cot; he and Hefner had received relatively minor wounds compared to the Commander and she was pleased to see that he looked perfectly alert.

 

Owen was starting to get frustrated as he sat on his cot, waiting for one of the medics to clear him for duty. As far as he was concerned this whole business of keeping him here was pointless. He should be out there trying to track down the people who had attacked the Commander and the Lieutenant. Sitting in this tent was a waste of time.

 

He turned his head as he heard someone enter the tent and was pleased to see Lieutenant Caine. "Ah, Junior. Coming to see whether I'm still alive, huh?" he asked, grinning broadly.

 

Caine chuckled dryly at the expression on his face. "Guess so -- glad you didn't disappoint. I don't suppose you can tell me what the hell happened out there?" She waved a hand, the swift gesture referencing the demolished warehouse from which the injured officers had apparently beamed.

 

Buddha shrugged but regretted it immediately; the burn on his left shoulder hadn't quite healed yet and now it hurt as the raw skin rubbed against his shirt. Taking a deep breath, he tried to figure out where to start. "Well, we had heard reports of looters so we went to take a look. We did find a few guys trying to lead us into a trap and this one guy got away. Slick, Murray and I went after him. Suddenly he disappeared and there was this explosion...right at JoNs' location. Mike and I went in as we realized that noone had come out. We found them and beamed back to the camp. That's all I know."

 

With that he fell silent and scratched his head trying to remember if he had missed something. But there simply was nothing else to say. That was what happened, at least as far as he knew.

 

Caine's expression deepened soberly. She was annoyed at herself (perhaps illogically, but why the hell not on occasion?) for not having been where the action was, especially given the fact that one of her men had gone down, but it was too late to worry about that now. "What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" she asked, focusing on the element of this whole thing that was still unresolved.

 

Owen shifted uneasily on his cot. "Well, disappeared means he ran into a building and I was right behind him. But then the warehouse exploded and I lost him." He paused, frowning. He had done the right thing trying to get to the XO and Mical instead of trying to catch that guy...or had he? "I tried to contact Commander JoNs, but I got no answer so Slick and I went in."

 

Caine nodded quickly, seeing the self-questioning in Matthews's eyes. "You did right; was just curious if there was still a chance to find him maybe." She crossed her arms across her chest, grinning faintly. "If there are terrorists on the prowl taking down my men, I don't like to be the one sitting on my rear."

 

"I wouldn't mind if you headed out with us. Nichols and her squad are still out there and some of my people are on their way here with two...euh...guests. Maybe we can persuade them to give us some information." He grinned, feeling a little better knowing that at least they hadn't come back empty-handed.

 

Caine smiled at the invitation, her pointed eyebrows quirking up in a determined expression. "I'll be prepped with a few of my men to go out by the time you're healed up," she said with a nod, eyeing the burn on his shoulder again. "What kind of guests should we be expecting?"

 

"I'm looking forward to watching your six, Junior," Owen said with a mischievous grin. "We caught two of those guy thinking they were smart enough to lead us into a trap. Only one of them got away."

 

Caine quirked an eyebrow with amusement at Matthews's expression. "Don't watch too hard," she said cheerfully. "Or you may find some difficulty at your twelve."

 

She laced her hands behind her back, returning quickly to business. "I'll get some of my boys to work setting up a brig area unless you want to send 'em shipside."

 

Buddha chuckled. He liked Caine more and more. "We can interrogate them here. The faster we get information the better. You can do the honours. I'll just stand in the background and be the big bad Marine. Sound good?"

 

Caine smiled. "Sounds very good," she said. "I'll make sure Nichols has a nice secure place to put them in the meantime." She twisted her head, working a kink out of her neck, starting to realize just how long the crew, collectively, had been at this little project. "Let me know when you feel up to getting out of here."

 

"Oh, I can't wait to leave. The doc's still gotta clear me for duty though. I think he said something about dermaline gel or so. I think I'll be with you in 10 minutes or so. Can you survive that long without me?"

 

Caine resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. "I think somehow I'll find enough to keep me busy, Captain, thank you..." she said dryly. Matthews was certainly incorrigible, even with half his shoulder burned off. "Try not to go stir-crazy in the meantime."

 

Rather than being put out by being turned down, Owen grinned again. "I guess it's too late for that. I'll just sit here and practice my mean face."

 

Caine's face went Vulcan-still and she raised an eyebrow deliberately. "I don't know, Captain...the one you've got might scare quite well enough..." she deadpanned, then grinned and disappeared out the door of the tent before he could respond.

 

Owen's grin widened and he looked after Caine as she left the tent. Definitely interesting, he thought. Though a bit of a challenge, I guess.