Several hours had passed by, Jheria had already made it back with everything she needed. While she was at it she also brought back supplies which were just about anything they might need as they spent the night in the cave. Jeesa had already gotten the forcefield up at the entrance hours earlier as now it was starting to get dark. 

The night temperatures were starting to drop drastically from the hot weather they had during the day. Though they had shelter so it kept them warmer than what it would have been outside the cave. 

There wasn’t much they could do at the moment in terms of figuring out the Tkon language to be able to get the beacon operational, at least not until Jheria and her engineering team got the consoles up and running. “Might as well set up camp here,” Adams said as she laid out her sleeping bag while Dazra set up a small little heating rock to keep them warm during the night. 

“How did you get the portal to lower the forcefield?” Jeesa asked out of curiosity as she ate her dinner which was a bit better than the field rations they normally would have on away missions. Makayla looked up at her, “I just explained the situation and that it would be in the best interest of everyone around if it would allow us to help them fix their equipment.” She said though she didn’t lie she just didn’t tell the whole story.

Jeesa felt she was hiding something, though she could say that everything about these past few missions has had some secret to them. She decided to take her at face value and not press further, she just nodded in response to the explanation. 

“Well, I am glad that it didn’t end up as bad as it could have,” Jeesa replied as it was just the five of them, Jheria and the two engineers were busy working on getting the new hardware installed and working properly.

Damir was sitting farther away from the group as he tended to keep to himself whenever possible. He was not exactly a people person and would rather work alone. Though he knew that would be impossible at times, especially when he is needed for missions like this where there would be other people involved. 

Before he left the lower chamber where the beacon was located, he had taken pictures of the symbols on each side of the beacon to try to figure out what they meant. 

“How’s it going over there?” Jeesa asked as she looked at him, looking up from the tablet he had in his hand, he just shrugged and went back to studying the symbols which had caused Jeesa to raise an eyebrow before turning back to the others. Dazra just shrugged as she got up from the floor, “I am going to go see how Jheria is doing and bring her this coffee.” She said as she walked off, she was also curious as to what the beacon looked like as she spent most of the day sitting at the entrance.

Makayla looked off where Dazra had gone and sighed now lost in thought about what has transpired the last few weeks. Laying down in her sleeping bag she was soon asleep, not realizing how exhausted she really was and how little sleep she had gotten. The others would soon join her except Damir who continued what he was doing, he wanted to figure out what these symbols mean even if it meant staying up all night.

Meanwhile, Jheria was under one of the consoles installing the new hardware to intertwine with the existing hardware that seemed to still be in good shape from what she could tell. Things were turning out to be a lot more complicated than she had hoped it would go, it seemed like at each turn she found resistance and she would have to start over. 

“How’s it going, Commander?” Dazra asked as she walked in to notice that she was laying under the console, this had startled Jheria. “Dammnit Dazra, don’t you know it’s not wise to sneak up on an engineer who is working?” She cursed as she rubbed her head after hitting it on the top of the console. “Sorry Commander,” Dazra said as she held a glass of coffee in her hand. “Just thought you might like some coffee,” Dazra said with an apologetic smile on her face.

Getting up from where she was laying and taking the tall stainless steel mug from her, “thanks.” Jheria said she was going to need a boost of energy if she was going to finish things tonight, though with how things were currently going she wasn’t as optimistic about it. Taking a sip of the drink, “things are not going so well, I keep hitting roadblocks at every junction.” Jheria replied to her earlier question.

“I am sorry that you are having problems, I hope things will turn around for you Commander,” Dazra said as she couldn’t help but admire the beacon as well as the other Tkon technology that she had seen as she walked down there. Jheria nodded, “I am sure I will, though I just haven’t found the right frequency yet on the alignment for our hardware to be compatible with their equipment.” She replied back taking another drink before setting it down on the console.

“Thank you again for the drink, I would love to chat more but I really need to get back to work if I am to have this done by tomorrow,” Jheria said as Dazra nodded in response and headed back to where the others were located. Jheria sighed for a brief moment before got back on the cold ground, crawling back under the console.

A few hours had passed by, Jheria finally was able to finish installing the new hardware on one of the consoles. Getting up she looked at the console which had powered on she was able to see Tkon symbols come to life on the screen. Letting out a sigh of relief as it would seem the integration took hold, she scanned the console to make sure and, once she was satisfied that it was holding she moved on to the next one.

Back at the campsite, Damir was still wide awake studying the padd in front of him. Adams began to stir in her sleep until she wake up for a moment to notice that Damir was still up. “Why don’t you get some sleep, we have a busy day ahead of us.” Makayla said as she sat up looking at Damir who shrugged, “I can’t sleep.” He admitted looking at her, she could clearly see that he was tired with his eyes almost bloodshot red. 

Adams got up from her sleeping back and walked over to him sitting down beside him for a moment, “how come, your eyes say otherwise,” she said as she was concerned for his health, she really didn’t even like the fact that Jheria and the two engineers were still awake. Damir shrugged looking at the Captain, “I just got a lot on my mind, and have been trying to cipher these symbols on the beacon has been nothing but a challenge.” He replied setting the tablet down for a moment. 

Though she understood why he was still awake, in the end, he needed the sleep. “All the more reason to try to get some rest, then just maybe in the morning things will become more clear.” Makayla said placing her hand on his shoulder, “you will then have a clear mind that you might see something that you missed.” She added which caused Damir to think there for a moment before he nodded in agreement, he knew she was right and got up from where he was, heading over to join the others where it was a lot warmer than it was where he was currently at. Laying out his sleeping bag, he laid down and soon was sound asleep. Adams smiled a bit before she too fell back to sleep while the engineers continued their work.