Tal’kaela stirred, wincing with pain as her ears rang loudly. Her fingers twitched as she started slowly regaining feeling in her body, and she realized she was laying in something sticky and warm. With effort, she pulled her eyes open. Blood. Though, it was difficult to tell what color in the low light. Could be normal, or it could be red. ...red... why would it be...?
Slowly, her memories began returning to her. She had been going somewhere with Reg... some planetary museum. Yes, that’s right. He hadn’t seen her since her training, and they wanted to spend time together. Since she could reestablish contact with him without rousing suspicions, she had decided to dedicate some time to reconnecting with him. After some digging, they had found a museum that was located on a planet with a hostile environment. The museum was only moderately popular, and was really more of a research station than a proper museum, but visitors were allowed in certain sections, and even given a chance to do some volunteer work. It was a good way to try something new without being around too many people, which Tal knew made Reg anxious, so they had decided to go once Reg had some leave.
The planet, from what Tal’kaela had researched, had a toxic environment, very little flora or fauna, but an abundance of fungi. As she very slowly regained more of her senses, she could hear the very distant sound of rain on soggy ground, and she remembered that the surface of this planet was almost constantly experiencing some sort of toxic storms. Because of this, it was difficult to beam visitors directly into the research station, so they’d instead suit them up ahead of time and beam them just outside, where they would be greeted by one of the scientists, shown inside, and given a tour. As they were getting suited up, Tal seemed to remember Reg mentioning that he was, at one time, deathly afraid of transporters. With such a complicated transport, she was glad that he wasn’t anymore, or this would no doubt be impossible. Landing a ship in these conditions would be a nightmare.
As she slowly regained awareness, Tal’kaela took in her surroundings. Damp rock walls glistened with the soft light of glowing blue plants. Grass-like plants seemed to reach towards the dank ceiling overhead, where more glowing things seemed to be growing. As Tal’kaela tried to feel the grass underneath her, she was aware that she was still wearing thick gloves. She must still be in the suit. Slowly and painfully, she raised her arm to check the sensor on her wrist:
Raxxon III
Temperature: 5°C
Toxicity: 2%
Humidity: 58%
Tal’kaela frowned. That didn’t seem right; the surface of Raxxon III was far more toxic than that, though she hadn’t retained the average temperature or humidity. She wondered if Reg would--
The thought suddenly hit her, as she remembered the sticky blood she had been laying in earlier. If something had happened to her, then something might have happened to him, too. Against her better judgement, she sat up suddenly, her head spinning and her vision going black as she tried to look around. “REG!” Her voice cracked with desperation as she tried to blink away the fog that blocked her vision.