Another cold night

Posted on Wed May 3rd, 2023 @ 3:46am by Lieutenant JG Sylvestor Shelton

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: Junior Officer Tent/Common Area
Timeline: MD04 0400
548 words - 1.1 OF Standard Post Measure

For a man who loved his sleep, Shelton had found it incredibly difficult to fall into dreamland given the ugly list of current events. They were stuck on a planet, far from home, with little to survive on but ingenuity and a few ration packs. It sounded like something out of a movie. He'd seen both day and night on the crew's new, temporary, home. Neither had much appeal to him, which was rather surprising, given his history of chosen activities and choice of occupation. Shelton spent many a night out in the wilderness, in both steaming hot and frighteningly cold settings. The latter he'd spent a lot of time mastering how to survive with extremely little. It was fortunate that he had some semblance of gear with him before he was found on the planet. He'd have been able to last most certainly, not long enough to live to his sixties, but certainly long enough to be found by a shuttle. Fortunately, he was found apprximately seven hours after he found himself on the planet, nowhere near enough to make it even worthwhile to think about. All this said though, Shelton still couldn't sleep. He arose and put his uniform on, including some cold weather gear in case he stayed out of the tent until first light.

Careful not to wake the others, Shelton stepped out of his tent and surveyed the scene. His tent was sitting in the second row of the back cavern. The cavern system, what was currently serving as the crew's primary shelter, was rather large. From the front entrance to his tent, which was located in the second grouping, he could see the medical building to his right and the common area tent to his left. He certainly didn't need the medical tent so he opted to go left. At this point, it was unlikely that anything could calm his mind, at least not until the day started and his planetside duty shift began. Then he could throw himself into his work, whatever it may. Hopefully it was venturing out and looking for supplies. The ration packs were going to get old fast and he hoped he'd be able to figure out another solution with the other teams.

As he walked along, the air around Shelton was cold. Fortunately, being inside the cavern, the wind was kept mostly at bay, so the edge was off and it wasn't totally chilling. Not everyone was as comfortable with some of the more harsh weather conditions as he was, but it was certainly still quite cold. He entered the common area structure from his side and took a look around. As expected, it was pretty quiet, though there was a small group of the crewmen and civilians scattered in different areas. He found a quiet corner with stool and sat down. He rested his back and head against the hard surface behind him and let his mind wander. Many thoughts and memories flashed through his mind. Everything started to blur over until movement in front of him jogged his mind to clarity. The room in front of him had filled up considerably. There was a chronometer nearby that read quarter to eight. Apparently, he'd finally found a little sleep.

Now it was time to work....