“Get down!” Corsi ordered as she jumped behind a large boulder. She drew a bead on the lead Gorn and fired Angelopoulos’s weapon.

Kazar stumbled back and toppled over like a great pine tree, crashing with a heavy thud. The two remaining Gorn strafed the area with their weapons fire.

Gomez ducked behind the boulder, settling beside Corsi.

“Isn’t anything ever easy?” she asked.

Corsi’s only reply was a shrug as she took another shot.

The chamber reverberated with the loud echo of crashing thunder and sizzling lightning from just outside the cave.

“That storm’s getting worse,” Gomez said, trying to look over the shoulders of the Gorn to the cave entrance beyond. The sky had darkened considerably and the wind was whipping up the sand into little tornadoes.

Gomez spotted Pattie standing close to the opening featuring the energy reading. She signaled Pattie to go in. The Nasat nodded her head in acknowledgment.

“I need some cover for Pattie,” Gomez said.

“Got it,” Corsi replied. She began to fire wildly above the heads of the Gorn, sending a shower of debris upon the two. The Gorn ceased their fire for a moment as they tried to protect themselves.

“Go!” Gomez shouted.

Tonais tried to wend his way through the crowds of panicked guests who had gathered in the lobby of the Sheltered Arms resort, one of the largest in the region. He allowed himself only a moment to appreciate the effort it had taken on his part to organize the evacuation.

That was the easy part.

Now, he had to make sure that the people made it off-planet safely. That was the difficult part.

Many of the guests had arrived on transports that would not return for days. What ships were currently in orbit were not enough to transport the entire planet. According to his people, the weather instability would not affect the entire planet right away. Thankfully, he would be able to get himself and the guests on Monagas Lagoon off-planet in less than twenty-four hours.

Bander, never far away from Tonais’s side, had spent the better part of the afternoon coordinating the evacuation effort. He entered the spacious courtyard area, clutching his padd. Rivers of sweat poured down his balding head.

“Bander!” Tonais snapped, belying the gratitude he was feeling at seeing his assistant. “What news do you have?”

“All is ready, Director,” Bander reported. He raised his data padd and began ticking off items with his fingers, rapidly playing across the screen like an accomplished pianist. “The Daniella is the first vessel, which will take approximately sixty-five people.”

Tonais looked out at the people gathered and made a quick count. “They could take everyone here. Contact them with the coordinates.”

Bander nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The room erupted in a panicked scream as a lightning bolt struck a streetlamp just outside, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks. Tonais stepped forward, placing his arms out in a placating gesture.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please settle down. We’re ready to begin transport. If you’ll all gather your belongings and place yourselves in groups of six, we’ll start the process.” He turned to Bander. “Calm these people down and get them organized.”

Bander looked at the growing panic and gulped. “Yes, sir.” The little man moved slowly out into the crowd. “Excuse me.” He turned his gaze upward as most of the guests towered over him and spoke a little louder. “Uh, excuse me.”

He stopped short at the sight of a Nausicaan. The alien looked down at Bander with a scowl.

“I am going first.”

Bander nodded. “Of course you are, sir.” Bander struggled to keep from fainting.

Tonais walked off in the opposite direction, leaving the chaos to Bander for a moment. He tried to recall when such a disaster had occurred on Risa and could only think of the time the food synthesizers were distributing only prune danish. It was fine for breakfast, but by lunchtime the guests were getting ugly.

There was also that time when a group of subversives took control of the weather control station. If not for the intervention of two Starfleet officers, they might have succeeded in doing great harm to Risa.

But this was different. This was appearing to become something they could not rectify, not even with the aid of the S.C.E. Tonais looked out the window at the gathering storm. In the distance, he could make out a number of complexes buckling under the intense winds that were whipping up wildly. Several of the roofs of these structures had already been torn off and the destruction of the rest appeared imminent.

“Excuse me.”

Tonais was drawn from his thoughts by a human, an Earther from the looks of him. His clothes looked as though they had been slept in for some time and his face was in need of a shave. But what most stood out for Tonais were the man’s eyes. They were bloodshot as if the man had been crying for hours.

Tonais smiled with the warmth he usually saved for either visiting dignitaries or wealthy socialites. “Friend, you have nothing to fear. If you’ll just stay with the group, you will be beamed off-planet shortly.”

The man shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. My name is Ray Johnson. I’m missing my son.”

Tonais looked around the concourse. “I’m sure he must be here somewhere.”

“You don’t understand,” Johnson said, his voice becoming panicked, his eyes welling up with tears again. “He’s not here. He was exploring some caves by the lagoon and never came home. And now the storm’s getting worse! You’ve got to help me!”

Tonais saw this was not something that simple public relations was going to resolve. He looked over toward Bander, who was stuck between a Nausicaan and an Andorian who appeared to be jostling the little man back and forth.

“Very well, Mr. Johnson,” Tonais said reassuringly. “Now why don’t you tell me again what happened to your son, from the beginning?”