The bulk of the joint archaeological team from the Culver City and the April had just recently finished dinner; with the group numbering some three dozen, there were enough scientists and security officers to maintain at least small groups in the ruin at all times, so while not everyone was present, most were.  As Lieutenant Ophelia Lotharys was sitting with some of the other more-senior members of the expedition, planning out their next day’s activities – they hoped to have the expedition fully complete within two days – Lotharys’s combadge chirped as a faint, pained voice came over the speaker.  “Xoritsa to Lotharys.  H-” is all that came over the speaker, before what sounded like it could’ve been a pair of quick impacts, then the channel went dead.

Lotharys stopped mid-sentence, tapping her combadge.  “Lotharys to Xoritsa, you there?  Can you hear me?”

There was no answer.  Lotharys frowned as her heart began to race, and she swatted her combadge again.  “Xoritsa!  If you can hear me, please respond!” She said again, an undercurrent of urgency now carried in the tone of her voice.

Again, no answer.

“I’ll go find him. That, or my names not Deeeeeeeeroy, ha Jenkins.” The gung ho April science officer motioned to one of the security officers who was standing off to the side, and made his way back up the ramp to go find Xoritsa.

Lotharys shook her head.  “No, we’ll go find him.  Grab a medkit, just in case,” she replied, grabbing a small pack, a phaser, and a tricorder, and heading for the entrance herself, before she stopped and turned.  “And with a full security detail,” she said, looking towards the head of the joint security team.

Jenkins hustled back towards the entrance and retrieved a medkit before returning.

Three more security personnel were quickly detailed to join the two officers, then the sextet entered the ruin.  Lotharys kept her tricorder out, taking repeated scans as she walked.  “His team leader should be…” she trailed off as they made it to an intersection between hallways in the rather sprawling building, “that way,” she finished, pointing down one of the hallways.  “Stay alert, everyone; let’s not lose anyone else while trying to save someone.”

The security officers nodded.  “Yes, ma’am,” one of them said.

The group continued down the hall, coming to a room where a pair of science officers were busy studying some ruined statuary.  “Lieutenant!” one of them, a lieutenant (jg) from the Culver City herself, exclaimed in surprise when she saw Lotharys and her team enter the room.  “What…. What’s going on?” she finished; taking in the four-person armed security escort.

“Xoritsa tried to call me on comms, but got cut off before he could say anything,” Lotharys replied.  “Where was he working?”

“He was in the control room,” the LTJG answered.  “He isn’t due to check in for another ten minutes or so; maybe it’s just garbled communications?”

Lotharys shook her head.  “He sounded like he was in pain,” she rebutted.  “We’ll go look for him; gather your team and get them back to base camp.  Until we know what’s going on, I don’t want any other groups in here, especially if they plan to split up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the LTJG said, stepping away to call her team as Lotharys turned to leave the room and head for the control room.