I'm All Right
OK, I'm alive and well. A little embarrassed maybe (*a lot* embarrassed, to tell the truth), but I'm all right. Not that I was ever in any danger to begin with.
This whole thing started when talceles got worried when my LJ transmission blanked out in mid-sentence, and then I didn't respond to her repeated hails. I appreciate her concern (and everyone else's which followed) but there's a simple explanation: I'd gone to investigate a rustling noise in the woods. It turned out to be a small rodent, similar in appearance to a Terran rabbit. It didn't show any fear of me, just came closer, sniffed around my campsite, and then scampered off again. It was only afterwards that I realized in getting up I'd tripped over accidentally disconnected the cable. So I'd finished my message and signed off, unaware I wasn't transmitting. And then I settled down to get some sleep. The next morning I found the loose cable--with tooth marks. Either the Kelaran bunny I'd met the night before, or one of his relatives, had stopped by for a midnight snack. The cable was gnawed clear through, and the little devil had also gotten to my backup generator--some of the relays had been cut as well. (I won't go into details of how I confirmed this but let's just say the culprit won't be trying that trick again--ever). Again, I didn't think anything of it, didn't realize that by this time a full-scale search had begun for me. *I* wasn't aware I was missing, see. I just finished off my day of shore leave and then packed up and headed out of the woods back to the beam down point.
And that's where it gets embarrassing. I, uh, lost my sense of direction. I thought I was going toward the clearing, but instead it appears I was going in the totally opposite direction, further into the woods. I thought I was heading east, using the sun as my guide, but I forgot the initial reports on the planet's rotation, meaning the sun rises in the west and sets in the east (as oppposed to the Terran norm). I tried contacting the ship, but all my comm badge picked up was static. So I had no choice but to hunker down for the night and hope I had better luck the next day. Which unfortunately wasn't the case...
Anyway. To make a long (and embarrassing) story short, I've been wandering around for the past few days, until chakotay found me (walked right into my campsite this morning with a bunch of Kelaran rangers in tow). I was never in any danger. I had plenty of food (I'd packed enough for two as I thought I was going to have a partner on this little jaunt, but never mind), water etc. I repeat, I was never in any danger. emh has just let me out of sickbay, after confirming that I'm in perfect health, not even suffering from exposure. Nah, the only thing that's injured is my pride.
Chakotay didn't say much on the planet, just that he was glad to see me and kathrynjaneway will be talking to me shortly. He didn't elaborate but I can guess what it's about. Even though I beamed up two hours ago, I still haven't seen her. Fortunately Apparently she's not feeling very well right now and just left word that I should report to her Ready Room at 0800 hours.
So that's the whole sordid story. I'm in my quarters, not particularly eager to see anyone. I don't want to think of the teasing and ragging I'm going to get from _tom_paris_ about how I spent my shore leave. Or anyone else for that matter. Maybe it would be better to get it over with now, though, instead of having to hear about it in the Mess Hall or the Bridge tomorrow morning...but, no. I wonder how everyone else's shore leave went, but that can wait too.
This whole thing started when talceles got worried when my LJ transmission blanked out in mid-sentence, and then I didn't respond to her repeated hails. I appreciate her concern (and everyone else's which followed) but there's a simple explanation: I'd gone to investigate a rustling noise in the woods. It turned out to be a small rodent, similar in appearance to a Terran rabbit. It didn't show any fear of me, just came closer, sniffed around my campsite, and then scampered off again. It was only afterwards that I realized in getting up I'd tripped over accidentally disconnected the cable. So I'd finished my message and signed off, unaware I wasn't transmitting. And then I settled down to get some sleep. The next morning I found the loose cable--with tooth marks. Either the Kelaran bunny I'd met the night before, or one of his relatives, had stopped by for a midnight snack. The cable was gnawed clear through, and the little devil had also gotten to my backup generator--some of the relays had been cut as well. (I won't go into details of how I confirmed this but let's just say the culprit won't be trying that trick again--ever). Again, I didn't think anything of it, didn't realize that by this time a full-scale search had begun for me. *I* wasn't aware I was missing, see. I just finished off my day of shore leave and then packed up and headed out of the woods back to the beam down point.
And that's where it gets embarrassing. I, uh, lost my sense of direction. I thought I was going toward the clearing, but instead it appears I was going in the totally opposite direction, further into the woods. I thought I was heading east, using the sun as my guide, but I forgot the initial reports on the planet's rotation, meaning the sun rises in the west and sets in the east (as oppposed to the Terran norm). I tried contacting the ship, but all my comm badge picked up was static. So I had no choice but to hunker down for the night and hope I had better luck the next day. Which unfortunately wasn't the case...
Anyway. To make a long (and embarrassing) story short, I've been wandering around for the past few days, until chakotay found me (walked right into my campsite this morning with a bunch of Kelaran rangers in tow). I was never in any danger. I had plenty of food (I'd packed enough for two as I thought I was going to have a partner on this little jaunt, but never mind), water etc. I repeat, I was never in any danger. emh has just let me out of sickbay, after confirming that I'm in perfect health, not even suffering from exposure. Nah, the only thing that's injured is my pride.
Chakotay didn't say much on the planet, just that he was glad to see me and kathrynjaneway will be talking to me shortly. He didn't elaborate but I can guess what it's about. Even though I beamed up two hours ago, I still haven't seen her. Fortunately Apparently she's not feeling very well right now and just left word that I should report to her Ready Room at 0800 hours.
So that's the whole sordid story. I'm in my quarters, not particularly eager to see anyone. I don't want to think of the teasing and ragging I'm going to get from _tom_paris_ about how I spent my shore leave. Or anyone else for that matter. Maybe it would be better to get it over with now, though, instead of having to hear about it in the Mess Hall or the Bridge tomorrow morning...but, no. I wonder how everyone else's shore leave went, but that can wait too.