The desert sun beat down intensely, so intensely the heat felt like a physical pressure. His sweat dripping down his face, Jean Luc patiently brushed away layers of dirt from a small spot on the cavern entrance. Stopping from time to time to sip from his canteen, he slowly revealed a dull gray metal plate about the size of his hand. As the symbols engraved in it became clear he allowed himself a satisfied smile. He carefully, lovingly, cleaned the plate clear and then captured its features with a holorecorder. Gathering his tools and equipment, he triggered the com badge on his chest.
“Picard to Artemis,” he said, “One to beam up.”
The scintillation of the transporter was washed out by the desert glare.
Vash was waiting for him as he re-appeared aboard the small scout vessel. She stood with her arms crossed, fighting to suppress any hint of eagerness.
“Did you find it?” she demanded.
“I have the images right here,” Picard replied, holding up the holorecorder. “But first, I think a shower would be in order.”
Vash wrinkled her nose, causing the freckles there to stand out. “You’ve got that right,” she said, and then smiled. “Well, hurry up. I’m just dying to see what we’ve found.” Picard was grinning as he made his way to the sonic shower.
“Commander Riker, I know you think this is a ‘milk run’ better suited to a cargo vessel. However, with nearly a quarter of Enterprise’s crew on leave, including her captain, I’m not about to send her out to the edge of explored space or into the middle of a major crisis. Enterprise will proceed to Betazed with the relief supplies as ordered! Do we understand each other?” Admiral Nycheyev scowled out at him from the communications station viewscreen. At least, Riker assumed it was a scowl. With the Admiral it was hard to tell, since her normal expressions could freeze water, but considering how much he had protested the Enterprise’s current assignment he had to believe it was an actual scowl.
“Yes, sir, Admiral!” he barked, resisting the urge to salute. She would probably flay him alive if he did. “Nycheyev out,” she responded. The viewscreen showed the Starfleet logo as Riker turned away. “Mr. Tel, set course for Betazed, warp four. We’ve just joined the Intergalactic Red Cross,” he said through gritted teeth. The Andorian helmsman entered the commands into his console and the stars on the main viewscreen began to Doppler shift. Everyone on the bridge was careful to stay busy and look anywhere else but at Riker as he flopped himself into the Captain’s chair. Only Deanna risked his wrath with one of her gentle smiles. When he caught it out of the corner of his eye, Riker sighed , then began to grin himself.
“I know it’s important work, Deanna, but it still makes me feel like we are wasting our time and talents.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, at least you get to visit your mother, the famous Resistance leader!”
She smiled again at him but it was a smile that never reached her eyes. “I lost a lot of friends and family when the Dominion occupied Betazed.” she said softly, “It won’t be that much of a happy homecoming.”
Riker gave her a stricken look. “Deanna, I’m sorry...”
With a wistful look on her face she turned back to the viewscreen to watch the elongated stars. “At least we are going there to help.”
Riker nodded in agreement.
Jean Luc and Vash peered intently at the tabletop holo display of the re-created image of the metal plaque. Referencing a padd in his left hand, Picard said, “Those are very similar to the symbols recorded by Spock nearly a century ago on that asteroid defense system. I should hazard a guess that they are very likely the same language.”
Vash rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Jean Luc, just admit it! We’ve just found a Preserver relic!”
Jean Luc turned to her calmly. “I would hate to jump to conclusions, Vash, however,” and here he permitted a small grin to creep in, “I think you are right. We will have to return to the surface and explore that cave more thoroughly after a good night’s sleep.”
Vash’s answering smile was full of anticipation. “Well, Jean Luc, what do you say we eat something and get to bed. The sooner we rest, the sooner we can return to the planet.”
Picard nodded in agreement. “ I will prepare dinner if you would like,” he said. “
Without a replicator we’re stuck eating standard rations, so what’s to prepare?” Vash replied.
“That is true, I suppose. I can, however, open the ration packs for you if you would like.”
The hint of amusement in Jean Luc’s voice brought a broad smile to Vash’s face. “ Always the gentleman, Jean Luc. By all means, garcon, go right ahead!” They shared a brief chuckle together as the stars twinkled through the Artemis’s viewport.
“Damage report!” Riker barked, gripping the arms of the Captain’s chair to brace himself against the secondary explosions that continued to rock the Enterprise. Deanna Troi jumped up from where she had been attending to Tactical Officer Ganesh, injured in the first explosion, to take his station.
“Commander, we have a hull breach on Deck One, secondary explosions reported on decks 2-4, and an EPS conduit has ruptured just outside Engineering. The emergency force field is holding on Deck One, emergency crews are heading for the other affected decks and Geordi says he has the conduit shut down with minimal plasma leakage. Sick Bay is reporting 3 dead and 11 injured, mostly from detonations on Deck 3.”
Riker frowned as yet another explosion shook the ship. “What the hell is causing that? Did we hit something?”
Deanna worked the tactical board for a moment. “Sir, we seem to be under attack from an outside source.”
Riker looked momentarily stunned. “Under attack? We’re in the Betazed system!” Fire suppression crews began working on the various control board overloads around the smoke-filled bridge as he spoke. A medical team came off of the turbolift and knelt by Ensign Ganesh’s still form.
Deanna looked up from her board. “Will, we were hit with a photon torpedo that originated from somewhere on the third moon of Prius” Prius was the fifth planet out from Betazed’s sun, a gas giant much like Jupiter. “Analysis shows a Dominion signature to the weapon.”
“ Activate shields,” he said, gazing out through the hull breach in the command deck at the moon in question. “Any ships detected?”
Deanna looked back at her board. “No ships, but a faint energy signature is coming from a cave on Breelon’s surface.”
“Breelon?” asked Riker.
“That’s the name of the moon,” Deanna replied. Nodding acknowledgement , he began to stroke his beard thoughtfully.“ Let’s get a team down there to find out what’s in that cave. Full security personnel with armor. And ask our passenger if she’d like to join them.” Deanna smiled back at Riker, knowing full well Seven of Nine would jump at the chance to solve the mystery. Emergency repair teams began to flood the bridge, joined by reliefs coming to take the place of injured crewmen. “Mr. Tel, bring us within transporter range of Breelon, please.” The Andorian twitched his antennae in affirmation and began inputting the course correction. A Bolian ensign relieved Deanna at Tactical and she resumed her usual place next to the Captain’s chair. Riker cleared his throat. “Ensign Singo, send a report of our current status to Starfleet Command Betazed and let them know we are investigating the cause of the attack. Warn them to re-route traffic at least 10,000 kilometers away from Prius and its satellites.”
The blue-faced ensign said, “Yes,sir,” and bent to the task.
“Deanna, do you sense any lifeforms coming from Breelon?”
Deanna looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned towards Riker. “I can’t detect anything living coming from the moon’s surface, Will.” Riker frowned, brooding in his seat.
Jean Luc awoke to find Vash standing over him dressed in bush garb and festooned with canteens and archeology tools. “C’mon, sleepyhead, I’m ready to go,” she said, grinning.
Jean Luc rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. He grinned back at her and reached for his khakis and jacket. “I’ll be ready in a moment. I’m as eager as you to see what’s in that cave, you know.”
Not too much later they both stood outside the egress, flashlights in hand. Vash ran her hand over the metal plaque absent-mindedly and turned to Picard. “Jean Luc, would you like to do the honors?” Picard nodded to her and stepped into the gloom, Vash following. Although the entrance had been a mere crevice the cavern opened up into a deep room, easily ten meters in height and a good fourteen or fifteen in width. It continued far enough back to swallow their light beams. Slowly, they walked forward until a bend in the cave brought them to a symbol-covered wall about 40 meters back. Vash looked rueful in the glow of her flash as she said, “This turned out to be a lot briefer exploration than I expected.” Picard only lifted an eyebrow in response and took a Padd from his belt pouch to consult.
“Ambassador Spock determined that the Preserver obelisk found by the Enterprise crew responded to harmonic tones. I took the liberty of downloading his report before I left my ship to join you, Vash. I believe that we can use the same harmonic tones to reproduce the Preserver phrase for ‘Open Sesame’, if you will.”
“Well, don’t let me stop you,” Vash replied. Picard fiddled with the Padd a moment more and then the cavern was filled with the long-dead voice of Captain James T. Kirk.
“Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty, one to beam up.”
There was a faint rumbling as some of the symbols on the wall began to phosphoresce and a seam appeared to cleave the wall in half. With a smoothness that belied their massive size, the two doors retracted into the cave walls. Picard turned to Vash and smiled as she clapped her hands and gave a little squeal of delight.
Seven of Nine had mixed feelings about wearing Starfleet protective armor. On the one hand, it helped ensure her safety in hostile environments. On the other hand, it often reminded her of the Borg implants she had borne most of her life. With a practicality most Vulcans would admire, she dismissed the thought as she took her place with the other members of the away team on the transporter. In moments the six-man team was on the surface of Breelon. Seven and Lt. Adams, the two science specialists, immediately began scanning the area. Lt. Halish, the Harkonnen in charge of the security contingent, deployed the other three members in a half-circle around the two of them. Seven found energy emission readings coming from the cavern directly ahead of the team almost at once. Gesturing, she began to walk towards it, the security guards keeping a moving picket around her and the two lieutenants. Lt. Adams abruptly halted.
“Hold on, I think there’s,” he started to say but before he could finish the thought the guard on point was ripped to shreds by a detonation underfoot. The entire away team froze in place, staring at the tattered remains of his EVA suit. “Mines in front of us.” Lt. Adams lamely finished.
“I am detecting Jem H’adar phased disruption mines in a grid pattern between us and the base. Lt. Adams, do you concur?” Seven asked.
“Affirmative,” said Adams, “How do you want to handle it?”
“I propose we retreat to a safe distance and project a variable E-M field with our tricorders to detonate the mines. That is the procedure Starfleet ground forces developed during the war.”
“Sounds good to me,” Adams agreed, and the entire Away team carefully began backing towards their original beam-in point.
After covering about a hundred meters Seven said, “This should suffice. Lt. Adams, match your emission pattern to mine and begin broadcasting the signal.” The two scientists held their tricorders out at arm’s length and after a moment silent geysers of unchecked energy erupted from the moon’s surface.
“Riker to Away team, we are detecting a series of explosions down there. What the hell is going on? Is anyone hurt?”
“ Lt. Adams, here, Commander. We stumbled into a Jem H’adar minefield. Crewman T’Varek is dead. We appear to have detonated the remaining mines successfully.”
“Any sign of Jem H’adar troops?”
“No, sir, so far all we’ve found are the mines,” Adams responded.
“Very well, proceed with caution. We will be transporting Crewman T’Varek’s remains back aboard. If you feel you need further personnel let me know. Riker out.”
The Away team began advancing carefully towards the cavern once again.
When the doors stopped moving Picard turned to Vash and said, “I believe we should explore slowly until we have a better idea of what we are dealing with. There may be automated defenses we know nothing about.”
Vash gave him a bemused look. “Jean-Luc, you are such a fuddy-duddy!” she said, stepping into the vast chamber beyond the entrance.
Picard was nonplussed. “Fuddy-duddy?” he muttered, and then followed her in.
The room was huge, more than equal in height to the great doors and extending dozens of meters into the distance. The floor, the ceiling, and the surrounding walls were all a pristine white, and the only features were the archways set into the walls every twenty or so meters along the perimeter of the room. Vash immediately made a bee-line for the nearest one on the right. “Vash, wait!” Picard called. She skidded to a stop in front of the arch.
“Jean-Luc, you have to see this,” she exclaimed, her eyes wondrous. Picard hurried over to her, only to halt speechless at her side.
Approaching the cavern mouth, Lt. Adams held his arm up to signal a halt. “Judging by the plasma traces, the torpedo exited the mouth of the cave. The launcher should be just ahead.”
Seven of Nine’s voiced came through his speaker, “Lieutenant Halish, the energy signature indicates the launcher should be 5.4 meters beyond the opening. Any traps left by the Jem H’adar are likely to be between here and there.”
“Crewman Ipsita,” Halish said, “You are our nasty tricks expert. See what you can find.” The security guard in question, a dimunitive Human female, handed her rifle to her commander and got down on all fours, a tricorder waving through the space in front of her. She slowly began crawing forward as the rest of the Away team looked on. Seven waited impatiently, knowing that to rush into the cave would be foolish, possibly suicidally so, but wanting to enter and see what could be learned anyway. She discreetly shifted her center of gravity and breathed deeper as Ipsita broke the plane of the cave.
“Nothing electronic coming up on scans. Let me check for mechanicals,” the crewman said, “I’d hate to get blown up by an old fashioned tripwire or pressure mine.” She began poking into the dirt floor at the entrance way with a combat knife drawn from a sheath on her thigh, methodically working her way forward.
“Picard to Artemis,” he said, “One to beam up.”
The scintillation of the transporter was washed out by the desert glare.
Vash was waiting for him as he re-appeared aboard the small scout vessel. She stood with her arms crossed, fighting to suppress any hint of eagerness.
“Did you find it?” she demanded.
“I have the images right here,” Picard replied, holding up the holorecorder. “But first, I think a shower would be in order.”
Vash wrinkled her nose, causing the freckles there to stand out. “You’ve got that right,” she said, and then smiled. “Well, hurry up. I’m just dying to see what we’ve found.” Picard was grinning as he made his way to the sonic shower.
“Commander Riker, I know you think this is a ‘milk run’ better suited to a cargo vessel. However, with nearly a quarter of Enterprise’s crew on leave, including her captain, I’m not about to send her out to the edge of explored space or into the middle of a major crisis. Enterprise will proceed to Betazed with the relief supplies as ordered! Do we understand each other?” Admiral Nycheyev scowled out at him from the communications station viewscreen. At least, Riker assumed it was a scowl. With the Admiral it was hard to tell, since her normal expressions could freeze water, but considering how much he had protested the Enterprise’s current assignment he had to believe it was an actual scowl.
“Yes, sir, Admiral!” he barked, resisting the urge to salute. She would probably flay him alive if he did. “Nycheyev out,” she responded. The viewscreen showed the Starfleet logo as Riker turned away. “Mr. Tel, set course for Betazed, warp four. We’ve just joined the Intergalactic Red Cross,” he said through gritted teeth. The Andorian helmsman entered the commands into his console and the stars on the main viewscreen began to Doppler shift. Everyone on the bridge was careful to stay busy and look anywhere else but at Riker as he flopped himself into the Captain’s chair. Only Deanna risked his wrath with one of her gentle smiles. When he caught it out of the corner of his eye, Riker sighed , then began to grin himself.
“I know it’s important work, Deanna, but it still makes me feel like we are wasting our time and talents.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, at least you get to visit your mother, the famous Resistance leader!”
She smiled again at him but it was a smile that never reached her eyes. “I lost a lot of friends and family when the Dominion occupied Betazed.” she said softly, “It won’t be that much of a happy homecoming.”
Riker gave her a stricken look. “Deanna, I’m sorry...”
With a wistful look on her face she turned back to the viewscreen to watch the elongated stars. “At least we are going there to help.”
Riker nodded in agreement.
Jean Luc and Vash peered intently at the tabletop holo display of the re-created image of the metal plaque. Referencing a padd in his left hand, Picard said, “Those are very similar to the symbols recorded by Spock nearly a century ago on that asteroid defense system. I should hazard a guess that they are very likely the same language.”
Vash rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Jean Luc, just admit it! We’ve just found a Preserver relic!”
Jean Luc turned to her calmly. “I would hate to jump to conclusions, Vash, however,” and here he permitted a small grin to creep in, “I think you are right. We will have to return to the surface and explore that cave more thoroughly after a good night’s sleep.”
Vash’s answering smile was full of anticipation. “Well, Jean Luc, what do you say we eat something and get to bed. The sooner we rest, the sooner we can return to the planet.”
Picard nodded in agreement. “ I will prepare dinner if you would like,” he said. “
Without a replicator we’re stuck eating standard rations, so what’s to prepare?” Vash replied.
“That is true, I suppose. I can, however, open the ration packs for you if you would like.”
The hint of amusement in Jean Luc’s voice brought a broad smile to Vash’s face. “ Always the gentleman, Jean Luc. By all means, garcon, go right ahead!” They shared a brief chuckle together as the stars twinkled through the Artemis’s viewport.
“Damage report!” Riker barked, gripping the arms of the Captain’s chair to brace himself against the secondary explosions that continued to rock the Enterprise. Deanna Troi jumped up from where she had been attending to Tactical Officer Ganesh, injured in the first explosion, to take his station.
“Commander, we have a hull breach on Deck One, secondary explosions reported on decks 2-4, and an EPS conduit has ruptured just outside Engineering. The emergency force field is holding on Deck One, emergency crews are heading for the other affected decks and Geordi says he has the conduit shut down with minimal plasma leakage. Sick Bay is reporting 3 dead and 11 injured, mostly from detonations on Deck 3.”
Riker frowned as yet another explosion shook the ship. “What the hell is causing that? Did we hit something?”
Deanna worked the tactical board for a moment. “Sir, we seem to be under attack from an outside source.”
Riker looked momentarily stunned. “Under attack? We’re in the Betazed system!” Fire suppression crews began working on the various control board overloads around the smoke-filled bridge as he spoke. A medical team came off of the turbolift and knelt by Ensign Ganesh’s still form.
Deanna looked up from her board. “Will, we were hit with a photon torpedo that originated from somewhere on the third moon of Prius” Prius was the fifth planet out from Betazed’s sun, a gas giant much like Jupiter. “Analysis shows a Dominion signature to the weapon.”
“ Activate shields,” he said, gazing out through the hull breach in the command deck at the moon in question. “Any ships detected?”
Deanna looked back at her board. “No ships, but a faint energy signature is coming from a cave on Breelon’s surface.”
“Breelon?” asked Riker.
“That’s the name of the moon,” Deanna replied. Nodding acknowledgement , he began to stroke his beard thoughtfully.“ Let’s get a team down there to find out what’s in that cave. Full security personnel with armor. And ask our passenger if she’d like to join them.” Deanna smiled back at Riker, knowing full well Seven of Nine would jump at the chance to solve the mystery. Emergency repair teams began to flood the bridge, joined by reliefs coming to take the place of injured crewmen. “Mr. Tel, bring us within transporter range of Breelon, please.” The Andorian twitched his antennae in affirmation and began inputting the course correction. A Bolian ensign relieved Deanna at Tactical and she resumed her usual place next to the Captain’s chair. Riker cleared his throat. “Ensign Singo, send a report of our current status to Starfleet Command Betazed and let them know we are investigating the cause of the attack. Warn them to re-route traffic at least 10,000 kilometers away from Prius and its satellites.”
The blue-faced ensign said, “Yes,sir,” and bent to the task.
“Deanna, do you sense any lifeforms coming from Breelon?”
Deanna looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned towards Riker. “I can’t detect anything living coming from the moon’s surface, Will.” Riker frowned, brooding in his seat.
Jean Luc awoke to find Vash standing over him dressed in bush garb and festooned with canteens and archeology tools. “C’mon, sleepyhead, I’m ready to go,” she said, grinning.
Jean Luc rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. He grinned back at her and reached for his khakis and jacket. “I’ll be ready in a moment. I’m as eager as you to see what’s in that cave, you know.”
Not too much later they both stood outside the egress, flashlights in hand. Vash ran her hand over the metal plaque absent-mindedly and turned to Picard. “Jean Luc, would you like to do the honors?” Picard nodded to her and stepped into the gloom, Vash following. Although the entrance had been a mere crevice the cavern opened up into a deep room, easily ten meters in height and a good fourteen or fifteen in width. It continued far enough back to swallow their light beams. Slowly, they walked forward until a bend in the cave brought them to a symbol-covered wall about 40 meters back. Vash looked rueful in the glow of her flash as she said, “This turned out to be a lot briefer exploration than I expected.” Picard only lifted an eyebrow in response and took a Padd from his belt pouch to consult.
“Ambassador Spock determined that the Preserver obelisk found by the Enterprise crew responded to harmonic tones. I took the liberty of downloading his report before I left my ship to join you, Vash. I believe that we can use the same harmonic tones to reproduce the Preserver phrase for ‘Open Sesame’, if you will.”
“Well, don’t let me stop you,” Vash replied. Picard fiddled with the Padd a moment more and then the cavern was filled with the long-dead voice of Captain James T. Kirk.
“Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty, one to beam up.”
There was a faint rumbling as some of the symbols on the wall began to phosphoresce and a seam appeared to cleave the wall in half. With a smoothness that belied their massive size, the two doors retracted into the cave walls. Picard turned to Vash and smiled as she clapped her hands and gave a little squeal of delight.
Seven of Nine had mixed feelings about wearing Starfleet protective armor. On the one hand, it helped ensure her safety in hostile environments. On the other hand, it often reminded her of the Borg implants she had borne most of her life. With a practicality most Vulcans would admire, she dismissed the thought as she took her place with the other members of the away team on the transporter. In moments the six-man team was on the surface of Breelon. Seven and Lt. Adams, the two science specialists, immediately began scanning the area. Lt. Halish, the Harkonnen in charge of the security contingent, deployed the other three members in a half-circle around the two of them. Seven found energy emission readings coming from the cavern directly ahead of the team almost at once. Gesturing, she began to walk towards it, the security guards keeping a moving picket around her and the two lieutenants. Lt. Adams abruptly halted.
“Hold on, I think there’s,” he started to say but before he could finish the thought the guard on point was ripped to shreds by a detonation underfoot. The entire away team froze in place, staring at the tattered remains of his EVA suit. “Mines in front of us.” Lt. Adams lamely finished.
“I am detecting Jem H’adar phased disruption mines in a grid pattern between us and the base. Lt. Adams, do you concur?” Seven asked.
“Affirmative,” said Adams, “How do you want to handle it?”
“I propose we retreat to a safe distance and project a variable E-M field with our tricorders to detonate the mines. That is the procedure Starfleet ground forces developed during the war.”
“Sounds good to me,” Adams agreed, and the entire Away team carefully began backing towards their original beam-in point.
After covering about a hundred meters Seven said, “This should suffice. Lt. Adams, match your emission pattern to mine and begin broadcasting the signal.” The two scientists held their tricorders out at arm’s length and after a moment silent geysers of unchecked energy erupted from the moon’s surface.
“Riker to Away team, we are detecting a series of explosions down there. What the hell is going on? Is anyone hurt?”
“ Lt. Adams, here, Commander. We stumbled into a Jem H’adar minefield. Crewman T’Varek is dead. We appear to have detonated the remaining mines successfully.”
“Any sign of Jem H’adar troops?”
“No, sir, so far all we’ve found are the mines,” Adams responded.
“Very well, proceed with caution. We will be transporting Crewman T’Varek’s remains back aboard. If you feel you need further personnel let me know. Riker out.”
The Away team began advancing carefully towards the cavern once again.
When the doors stopped moving Picard turned to Vash and said, “I believe we should explore slowly until we have a better idea of what we are dealing with. There may be automated defenses we know nothing about.”
Vash gave him a bemused look. “Jean-Luc, you are such a fuddy-duddy!” she said, stepping into the vast chamber beyond the entrance.
Picard was nonplussed. “Fuddy-duddy?” he muttered, and then followed her in.
The room was huge, more than equal in height to the great doors and extending dozens of meters into the distance. The floor, the ceiling, and the surrounding walls were all a pristine white, and the only features were the archways set into the walls every twenty or so meters along the perimeter of the room. Vash immediately made a bee-line for the nearest one on the right. “Vash, wait!” Picard called. She skidded to a stop in front of the arch.
“Jean-Luc, you have to see this,” she exclaimed, her eyes wondrous. Picard hurried over to her, only to halt speechless at her side.
Approaching the cavern mouth, Lt. Adams held his arm up to signal a halt. “Judging by the plasma traces, the torpedo exited the mouth of the cave. The launcher should be just ahead.”
Seven of Nine’s voiced came through his speaker, “Lieutenant Halish, the energy signature indicates the launcher should be 5.4 meters beyond the opening. Any traps left by the Jem H’adar are likely to be between here and there.”
“Crewman Ipsita,” Halish said, “You are our nasty tricks expert. See what you can find.” The security guard in question, a dimunitive Human female, handed her rifle to her commander and got down on all fours, a tricorder waving through the space in front of her. She slowly began crawing forward as the rest of the Away team looked on. Seven waited impatiently, knowing that to rush into the cave would be foolish, possibly suicidally so, but wanting to enter and see what could be learned anyway. She discreetly shifted her center of gravity and breathed deeper as Ipsita broke the plane of the cave.
“Nothing electronic coming up on scans. Let me check for mechanicals,” the crewman said, “I’d hate to get blown up by an old fashioned tripwire or pressure mine.” She began poking into the dirt floor at the entrance way with a combat knife drawn from a sheath on her thigh, methodically working her way forward.
