Tanna woke to the sound of birds singing and chirping in the trees around base camp. She stretched and rolled over, her hand falling on the empty half of the large cot that had been her bed for the last few weeks. Then, the strong smell of freshly brewed coffee and savory foods, in addition to some beautifully soft singing wafted in from the other side of a curtain wall, telling her immediately where her missing companion was. The tent which had been their temporary home was a large, heavy canvas cabin tent, replicated from historical example. It was a light cream colour, allowing all the light from the sun to stream in and keep the interior well lit. She moved to the edge of the bed, reached down and picked up a t-shirt from the floor. It was many sizes too big for her, black in color with the word TRON printed on it in stylistic neon letter.

“Finally awake then, sleepyhead?” said the voice from the far side of the curtain. “Well hurry up then. You’re breakfast is ready, and your coffee is getting cold.”

Tanna pulled aside the curtain wall and stepped into the other half of the tent. Standing by an old cooking stove was Abigail. A mass of wavy red hair completely hid her head from the back, and finished just below her shoulders. She was also dressed in a oversized t-shirt, but this one was grey, and long white socks with three blue rings at the top, just below the knee. Tanna walked up behind her, and hugged her around the middle while placing her chin on Abigail’s shoulder. “Good morning” she said as she reached one hand out in front of them and grabbed one of the coffee cups. She let go with a small chuckle and stepped back, taking a drink from the cup. “Mmmm” she said slowly, taking another long drink, “Just right.”

“Of course it’s just right.” Abigail said playfully, “I’ve been making you coffee in the morning now for 8 months, I should know it by now. Now eat your breakfast. We’re on duty in an hour.”

Tanna snapped to attention. “Yes Ma’am, Lieutenant Ma’am” she said dutifully.

Abigail tossed a cloth she had been holding into Tanna’s face. “Junior Grade.” she said with an exasperated sigh. “You’re not still on that, are you? Cuz if you are….”

“Ooh,” Tanna interrupted with a laugh, “You’ll put me in the brig?” She sat down at the table and sipped at her coffee, enjoying every mouthful and making eyes at Abigail while she finished preparing breakfast.

“Don’t tempt me” Abigail said, sitting down at the table with a plate in each hand, and set one down in front of Tanna. “Two eggs, a few pieces of bacon, and some buttered toast. That should keep us until lunch. Oh, that reminds me, We’ve got to finish getting our samples by 1300 sharp. Scans say a big storm is headed our way.”

Indeed, the soft pattering of rain could already be heard on the canvas roof as the pair changed into their uniforms and headed out into the Base Camp. There were 30 people in this particular away team, a joint venture between the Federation, and the Romulan Empire to explore brand new lifeforms on this particular M-Class planet, nestled in the Romulan Neutral Zone.

“Away Team, this is the Cromwell. How’s it going down there?” came the voice of Lieutenant Commander Sejar, The Cromwell’s Chief Science Officer.

Tanna tapped her comm badge, “Everything is coming along great, Commander.” she said, “I think we are almost done studying the migration patterns of the creature in the temperate climate. We should be wrapped up in a week or so, if the weather holds.”

“Good Work, Ensign” Sejar replied, “You’ve done good work down there. Our scans show a large storm moving over your position. It looks like it’s going to settle in on your team. There will most likely be some communications interference from the looks of it, so you’ll have a couple days of privacy.” 

“Sounds good Commander,” Tanna said. “We’ll catch you on the flip side.” She tapped her comm badge again and began her final scans. The rain had been growing steadily heavier as the morning wore into the afternoon, and she was glad that she would soon be done, and could spend a few days doing her favorite thing with her favorite person. Watching old movies with Abigail.

By the time Abigail and Tanna met back up just outside the door of their tent, the rain was coming down so hard the other side of camp could not be seen. Lightning streaked across the sky, and thunder boomed in their ears. The pair dove through the front door of the tent, throwing the zipper down behind them.

“Not a moment too soon, hey Abbie?” said Tanna as she started to peel off her soaking wet tunic.

“I can’t believe how quickly that came at us.” Abigail said with a chuckle. She crossed to a small electric fireplace, that resembled an ancient wood stove, and switched it on. Inside, holographic flames sprang to life, and the unit started radiating heat. Abigail held her hand out to it, feeling the warmth chase the cold and damp from them. After a moment of warming herself, she too pulled off her tunic and hung it on a line hanging over the heater.

Tanna joined her after a moment, hanging her teal science tunic next to Abigail’s gold one. They both stood there for a good while, turning every once in a while to warm every part of their bodies. Tanna was the first to break off, walking to the bedroom half of the tent and returning after a moment wearing a thick knit sweater, and soft grey sweatpants. She went to the stove and began to heat up some milk. “Hot chocolate, love?” Tanna called to Abigail, who had herself disappeared behind the curtain to change.

“Ooh, yes please” Abigail replied, emerging from behind the curtain carrying a thick blanket and a small handheld DVD player. She sat down on a small but comfortable couch positioned close to the heater and asked over her shoulder “Can we watch Blade again?”

“You and that movie” chuckled Tanna, “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why you enjoy it so much.” She turned off the burner and poured the hot chocolate into two large mugs, making sure to add some mini marshmallows to each. She crossed the tent towards her companion, and handed one of the mugs off to her. Abbie took it with both hands and gave it a long sniff, then took a sip. She definitely preferred actual hot chocolate to the replicator stuff by far, mostly because her mom had taught her to make it with milk instead of water.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon this way, huddled together and watching movies until they both became aware they were quite hungry. Tanna stood up and requested a hearty beef stew with a rich, dark broth and plump white dumplings from the replicator and the pair sat at the table to eat. After the meal was finished, Tanna placed the dishes back in the replicator and they both sat back down on the couch, ready to continue. Just before Abigail hit play, she froze suddenly in place. She brought her finger to her lips as an indication to Tanna to stay silent. Tanna strained her ears to try and hear whatever sound had made Abigail stop, but she could only hear the torrential rains pouring down around them. Abigail stood slowly, and began creeping to the back half of the tent. Tanna stood up as well, ready to act however Abbie told her to.

Abbie came back after a moment, carrying a large silver case. She placed it on the floor in front of Tanna, and whispered under her breath, “I think I saw something walk past the window. Better put this on, just to be safe.” Tanna now noticed Abigail had donned a subdued Starfleet uniform, Which was all black aside from a yellow division stripe across the chest. Tanna opened the cest to find a few more of these uniforms, two phaser rifles, and two handheld phasers. She changed quickly, and strapped the belt and holster around her waist. Abbie handed her one of the rifles, and then shoved the type 2 into Tanna’s holster.

“Why are we arming up, Abbie? ” Tanns asked quietly, looking deeply into her partner’s eyes, “What did you see out there?”

“I’m not sure” Abigail replied, “It looked like a Reman. Could be nothing, but I want to be sure.” She leaned in and gave Tanna a long, passionate kiss. “Stay close to me. Let’s go see if we can figure this out.”

The pair moved towards the tent door, and Abigail opened it as slowly and quietly as possible. She peeked her head outside for a second, then ducked back in. “I don’t see anything.” she said,  “Let’s get to the lab.”  They crossed the camp and hid behind another tent. Tanna had to admit, nothing looked out of the ordinary to her. There weren’t a lot of people outside because of the rain, but every now and again, someone could be seen racing across the compound. Abigail must have noticed this as well, because she slung her rifle across her back, and stood upright, and made a beeline for the main lab in the center of the compound. Tanna, still following closely, also tossed her rifle strap over her shoulder.  They made it to the lab doors, and went into the office, where they found the head Romulan scientist seated behind his desk, holding a PADD in his hands.

“Sorry to intrude, Sir.” Abigail said, “I need to bring something to your attention.”

“What is it, Lieutenant?” He replied, a little impatiently.

“I think I saw a Reman outside my tent a few minutes ago, Sir.” Abigail reported.

As if on cue, a large blast was set off on the far side of the camp that rocked the lab. All at once, the darkening sky out the windows lit up with strobing green light of disruptor fire. Cries and screams started filling the air, as the camps inhabitants started running from wherever they were to the lab. Abigail rushed to the door, firing her phaser rifle at the dark shapes advancing towards them. The Romulan officer ran to a switch on the far wall and flipped it, and large bright lights snapped on in a circle around the roof of the lab, bathing the whole camp in light.

“Tanna!” she shouted, “Give me a hand covering these people!”

Tanna shouldered her rifle and ran  to the door. She put her back to Abigail’s and pulled the trigger into the darkness at the edge of the lights, as beams of green energy flashed past her from both directions. As people made it to the lab, Tanna and Abigail split to allow them through the door. Another security officer showed up, also in combat gear, also returning fire on the intruders, with a romulan scientist in tow. He took up a position at the foot of the stairs, firing in both directions periodically.

Tanna looked on in horror as a group of five were shot down in front of her, just a few feet from where she was standing. The ground around the lab was now littered with bodies, both dead and dying. The trio was joined by two Romulan officers carrying disruptors of their own, informing them the rest of the camp had been emptied. They group on the stairs ducked inside after them, shutting the door and locking it behind them.