For a moment Rene thought Rosaria had been injured, his mind leaping to the only conclusion for which it had evidence, he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but before the words could escape logic caught up with him. 

"Bel'sian, thank you, I'm going to start...."

"Is she ok?!" Bouradine demanded, probably only hearing his beloveds name. The merchant rushed towards Rene as though he could extract information by physical proximity. Rene thrust him back with an outstretched palm, probably harder than he would have if Ohna Park's words about being careful how much stress to put Solae under weren't echoing in his head.

"She seems to be alright," Rene reported in a concilatory tone and the merchant sagged with relief, as though the fact they werent buried under metric tons of rock wasn't a problem. Rene was familiar with, had been taught as a child, the principle that so long as the person in charge appears to have a plan, people will be surprisingly willing to accept that it will work. It was human psychology, to believe something because you wanted it to be true, Rene had been taught that maxim also.

"I'm going to try to get some things down to you that will help us get you out, but I need you all to get into a corner and huddle together, I know its not easy but try to stay as calm as you can to conserve air," Rene directed. Yarue and Dasin were hauling the heavy fuel hoses up the hill. The rain continued to slash down in sheets which Rene's helmet kept from actually hitting his faceshield by means of an electrostatic charge. With the visors visual correction and the sensors built into it the view was nearly as good as it would have been in clear weather. 

"What do you want us to do," Yarue demanded dropping the hose to the ground at Rene's feet. Syshin didn't sweat quite like humans did, but the slight flaring of scales showed Rene that the effort had been considerable. Rene bent down and lifted the hose, muscles bunching heft the considerable weight.

"Go back to the ship, there are sections of conduit piping in the hose, they are about a meter long and..." Yarue cut him off with a dismissive guesture.

"We know what conduit piping is Rene, we have worked on spacecraft remember?" Yarue admonished him. The Syshin seemed more irritated than the assumption justified but Rene didn't have time to worry about that now.

"Right," he said in a neutral tone, juggling the dozen different tasks that needed doing in the next few minutes in his mind.

"Bring me twelve lengths of it. Dasin, Bouradine, get the secondary fuel hose into the stream and get the pumps going at max, keep tank number 2 empty and pull out the filters," he ordered.

"MOVE!" he snapped, as they hesitated for a moment and they all scattered to their tasks. Shouting was an odd relief, a rare conjunction of what he needed to do and what he wanted to do in a crisis. Bel'sian was still speaking in his communicator but he hadn't been able to give her his attention. Mia helpfully placed the conversation as a text crawl at the bottom of his visor display. Rene had a sudden image of her doing exactly the same thing for Lord Armon, helping him avoid a faux paux by concealing the fact he hadn't been listening.

"Alright that will have to do," Rene responded, checking the wireframe position indicator which now showed the trio huddled in a corner of the building.

"Able Spacer Savachev has been stabilized in the medical computer," Mia reported. Rene, who had completely forgotten the wounded woman in his concern over Solae nodded.

"Keep her sedated until directed otherwise," he decided hastily. Given the extent of the burns and the sepsis in her blood, it was unlikely that the spacer would be in any condition to be a problem any time soon, but the Marines believed that life was dangerous enough without taking unnecessary chances. Yarue was returning with Dasin, each carrying a pair meter long metal tubes in their arms. Rene guestured them over but they stopped a few meters away, with set expressions.

"Hurry up," he commanded but the Syshin did not move. Rene had the odd sensation he was in a dream where he couldn't quite make things happen the way they ought to.

"Explain to us your plan," Yarue stated in a hard voice. The words were a shock, more unexpected than if Yarue had started to dance.

"I don't have time too..." Rene began anger born out of his worry for Solae putting a cold edge to his voice. The part of him that would always be Renard Du Quentain reached for a horsewhip to drive servants who would not comply.

"We are you equals," Yarue went on calmly, "we cannot help you if you treat us as good for nothing more than fetch and carry." 

Rene opened his mouth and then closed it again. They might be right and it was what Solae would want so he forced down his irritation and told them as quickly as he could. While he had expected them to object to the plan, to tell him he was insane and that it would never work, they instead nodded calmly. 

"I will fetch plastic sheeting from the ship," Yarue announced, placing his own tubing on the ground. Dasin came forward and passed the first tube to Rene who, after consulting his visor, thrust it halfway into the ground at a point that Mia estimated was two meters to the right and ten meters above the trapped women. It sank easily into the mud and Rene took the second tube and attached it to the first, sealing the two with a quick weld from a multitool in his webbing, then he and Dasin heaved down, driving the tube further into the ground until their combined weight could move it no further. Rene picked up the heavy hose and shoved the end into the tubing.

"Mia, full draw on the fuel pump," he directed. The heavy duty hose began to suck and gurgle as the ship began to pump the mud and water inside the tube back down the line into the number two tank. The muck passed into the pressureize tank and was thrust out the far side by his instruction to Mia to keep the tank empty in an impressive geyser of brownish filth. Rene deactivated the pump and they attached the next pair of tubes, sinking it further into the hole now that the mud filling it had been sucked away. The advanced the tube another meter before they felt it clang on a rock. They both shoved but there was now give in the soil. Rene was soaked in sweat by now, grateful for the helmet that kept it out of his eyes. 

"Bel'sian," he called over the communicator, "you might hear a bang, its nothing to worry about," he told them and then unslung his plasma rifle. He pointed the weapon down the tube, waited for his sight to predict his aiming point and then pulled the trigger. A bolt of eye burning red light slashed from the end of the rifle, down the tube and impacted with the rock. There was an audible crack and then a jet of steam that leaped from the tube, scalding Rene's hands. He cursed and pulled the weapon back, but it was a cheap price to pay when they were able to shove the pipe another meter into the earth. Dasin had by now arrived with plastic sheeting, and even better, a section of pipe that had been cut out to create hand holds so they could shove more efficiently. He lay the sheeting down to give them better purchase than the mud they were now completely coated in. By adding pipes and alternating flows of water and suction, they sank their improvised derrick downwards. Rene prayed each second that the air would hold out and that the mudslide wouldn't shift again. Fortunately the rain appeared to be slacking which he hoped was a sign there wouldn't be a second slide. He checked in with Rosaria and Bel'sian frequently, though he never talked for long, not wanting to use up any precious air. As feverishly as they worked nearly a half hour had passed when  the felt the clang of the metal pipe hitting the ceiling of the structure.

"I hear it!" Rosaria called excitedly over the communicator, "What do we do now?"

"I need you to huddle in that corner, I'm going to breach the roof but there is no way of doing it without at least some debris," he cautioned.