An ancient mystery, part 4

Posted on Sun Jul 30, 2017 @ 8:36pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Samantha Raylen & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers

3,825 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Silence
Location: Moon surface, somewhere inside the ancient city ruins

Team Torres, now joined by the Captain and the Marines

Abbot stood next to the Captain, "Captain, my Marines could try to breech this door." The Major pointed to specific areas. "Here, here, here, and here. No matter what we do, we better do it fast, and we better hope to hell they are clear on the other side"

"Before any attempt of that nature can be made, we have to scan the surrounding structure and try to determine whether or not these walls are load bearing or not., I don't want to bring the mountain down on top of us.."

A sound interrupted them, a muffled but unmistakable click followed by a deep grating sound as the door slowly swung open...

----

A spark of static burst from Torres' comm badge, followed by a distorted sound that might have been the Captain's voice..

Miguel heard the distorted voice. He wasn't sure if that was just him imagining the Captain's voice or if actually was. Either way his scans weren't revealing anything noticeable traps connected to the stone. "I want everyone to brace themselves, I don't know what's going to happen when I do this." he said and after giving them a moment he pushed the stone.

A loud click came from somewhere inside the wall, followed by a deep grinding sound as the door swung open once more.

Penny leaned over to Torres. "I'm pretty sure I knew that was what was going to happen when you did that," she said, under her breath.

On the other side stood the Captain, a torch in hand with Dr. Anderson and.. Starfleet Marines?

Pursing her lips for a moment, Kennit said "I wasn't gone more than 8 hours..and you couldn't stay out of trouble that long?"

"Hey I have an excuse.... spiders... Big Spiders." Torres replied.

"That's what phasers are for.." the Captain retorted.

"Maybe a rifle. These things seemed to shrug off fire from a type 2." he informed the Captain.

"Do you have anyone injured with your party...other than the Doctor.." Kennit asked.

Penny perked up and looked Nicole over, her nurse's training kicking in as she assessed the injuries. "She's going to go into shock soon," Penny said, then looked over her shoulder. "Cass!"

Cassandra had been examining the doorway of the new tunnel they'd found but when she heard her name shouted, it yanked her back to the conversation. She saw the Captain and looked relieved, then saw the Doctor and looked horrified.

As she moved past the others, Nicole took two shaky steps towards her, and immediately pitched forward. Cass caught her and lowered her to the ground carefully. "Easy," she said, gently. "You're going to be okay."

"Liar," Nicole said, her voice weak. Cass frowned, seeing the dark circles under the doctor's eyes and the sallow skin and quickly knelt down before the doctor lost consciousness and they risked losing her.

She put her shoulder bag on the ground and quickly took off her uniform jacket, putting it over Nicole's flayed arms. She then rummaged through her bag for a moment, before pulling out a relatively small rectangular prism. She pressed her thumb to the top and it opened with a hiss, the microseal releasing and the top opening. From it, she pulled a small decanter with a thick, red, and distinctly familiar-looking liquid inside. She pulled out the stopper and raised Nicole's head, tipping the liquid into her mouth.

Nicole could barely think straight. It had taken all her strength not to bite one of the marines behind her and when she saw Cassandra, her only thought left was to get to her and get help. She knew she'd made it a step or so, and she vaguely remembered falling. When she came to, she was lying back with a bottle to her lips. She felt the liquid hit her lips and it was, without a doubt, the best she'd ever tasted.

She drank a couple of mouthfuls and immediately felt strength flowing through her. She finally reached up and grabbed the bottle, emptying it down to the last drop and taking a huge breath to clear her mind. She blinked and sat up, handing Cassandra her uniform jacket back and stood up, flexing her arms experimentally, then stretching a bit, making sure she was fit to continue.

"All right," she said, her voice stronger and calmer, and her eyes once again their usual icy blue, "where do we go from here?"

"We find the rest of the original away team." the Captain answered. "Where was Commander Hunter planning to go when you split up?"

"He hadn't given us any specifics. We were just following your last orders and trying to locate the source of the signal and had split up into two teams to cover more ground as you had ordered."

"Well, it's fairly obvious that your group wasn't able to locate the source of the transmission," Kennit answered as she studied the group, assessing each officer in turn with a calculating gaze, her eyes lingering on the Doctor for a moment.

Touching her comm badge, she said "Kennit to Commander Hunter."

Nothing.

"Commander Hunter, this is the Captain. Do you read?" she asked a second time.

Again, nothing.

A sigh. Of course there was no answer. It would have been far too easy for him to have answered..

"All right. We need to locate the remainder of the away team and see if they had any better luck." the Captain stated. "Doctor Anderson, due to your injuries I think it best if you return to the surface with a Marine escort and retreat back to the landing zone. Once on the surface you can call for a shuttle to retrieve you."

Nicole winced as Penny's palm torch washed over her, showing off Nicole's pale, but smooth, unblemished skin. Her lack of uniform didn't seem to affect her attention as her eyes raked over the room. "I'm fine," she said, her voice steady. She opened her back and rummaged in it briefly.

Abbot motioned two of his Marines to his side. "Escort the Doctor back to the surface. Nothing else touches her, if you encounter anything hostile...kill it." The two Marines nodded and responded in unison. "Aye sir."

Nicole pulled another knife out and looked at them. "Come near me and you'll encounter something hostile."

Cassandra came over and put a restraining hand on Nicole's arm, making her lower the knife. "She can look after me," Cass said to the Captain.

"Also Major, with the certainty of alien life forms which are potentially hostile," the Captain said, "I would appreciate it if your officers take up a defensive stance as we progress on the search for the XO and his away team. I would prefer to avoid further injuries if at all possible."

"Aye Captain. Staff Sergeant, I want you and Clemmer on point and the remainder on our rear, don't fuck around with your phaser, you see something like that rotting carcass over there light it up with your grenade." Maly nodded and cocked his EMPW Grenade Launcher the 40mm shell was chambered and ready.

While the Marines adjusted to provide maximum defense against any more oversized insect problems, Kennit turned her attention to Commander Torres. "Mr. Torres.. I need to know where the XO was planning to go.. can you pull up the scans of the structure here which you'd originally taken and point out his planned route.. and most important.. show me where we are in relation to where he was going?"

Miguel opened up his tricorder and called up the memory settings.


br>

"Well we came in this direction and he was heading over here." he told her.

Studying the display, she fixed Miguel with a wide-eyed stare of puzzled aggravation and said, "How the hell did you end up here? The energy source is located in the opposite direction from where we are currently standing.."

"I'm at a loss to explain it. We were following the signal. Maybe there is something in these caverns that interferes with our scans." It was the only thing he could think of.

Muttering under her breathe something which sounded very much like '... damn good thing you aren't the navigation officer...', after another moment Kennit said "We're going to have to back track slightly and take this corridor back toward where Hunter and his team were expected to explore. Hopefully if we get close, we'll be able to establish communications with them once again..."

"We're not going to find them, or that power source standing around here discussing things in committee," she added. "Lets get moving!"

Leading the way, the Captain kept a close eye on the tricorder making certain that they continued to progress in the direction they needed to go, often stopping to take new scans and compare against older scans in order to make sure things weren't shifting around on them due to the nature of the mineral content of the stone structure. After approximately 2 hours of careful progress, they reached a chamber lit by natural light filtering down from large windows cut into one wall. They'd moved to another region of the abandoned city, hopefully closer at least to where the XO's group should be though attempts to raise the other half of the away team once more went unanswered. In the dust-mote filled light streaming in from the windows cut high into the stone wall, the room was well lit providing excellent visuals of the artifacts set on tables and shelves along the walls.

The tables and shelves appeared to be a burnished, age-tarnished metal giving them a dark, rippled look. Most of the artifacts were of wood or stone, though one shelf contained what looked like ancient cylinders of an unknown material.. one end of each cylinder was clear and the contents could be seen.. scrolls of parchment.. ancient and undoubtedly incredibly fragile..

One piece in particular caught Kennit's eye and she stopped in her tracks. Staring at a carved piece of dark grey stone, approximately 2 inches thick, and 18 inches wide by 20 inches long. Its surface had been polished to a fine smooth sheen, though now covered with a thick layer of dust, dirt and detritus of long ages exposed to the elements which filtered in through the open, glassless windows.

Leaning over, not touching the stone she carefully blew several breaths of air to clear what she could and stood a moment just.. staring.

"What is it?" Miguel asked

"Look at it.. don't you see it.." the Captain breathed softly. Still not touching the ancient relic, she pointed with one hand to a circular symbol in the center. "Star." Then, one by one she indicated the circular lines which radiated out from the center point. "Mercury.. Venus.. Earth.. Mars.. Jupiter.. Saturn.. Uranus.. Neptune.. and here.. Pluto.. Ceres..Haumea...Makemake..even Halley's Comet.. here.. the dimensions and proprotions are perfect.. even to this marking.. Jupiter's Red Spot and Saturn's rings.."

"Some sort of map of Sector 001?" Miguel guessed.

With a shake of her head, the Captain answered "No...no not the sector. It's just the Sol system. What the hell is this doing here?"

"Why do humans keep pictures of their hometowns?" Penny said, slowly.

Shooting a look at Lt. Naroot, with a brief shake of her head the Captain answered "I am not human, and this is not a picture..it is an artifact depicting an apparent representation of the Sol system found in ruins of an abandoned city on a planet 70.4 light years from the Sol system which scans indicate are some 8,000 years old.."

"Which means that some how whoever built this place had to have either went the Sol system or at least charted it. Either way the civilization that was here was probably a great deal more advanced than our own." Miguel theorized.

The Captain didn't answer right away, she was instead now focused on a swift look about the chamber they were in. Searching for .. hell she didn't have a clue what she was looking for .. she was just looking! "There's nothing else here.." she said after a moment. "Not that appears to be from Earth at any rate. There are several empty slots and tables, lots of rotted, indecipherable crumbles where something might have once been but.." she shrugged. "Can we move that without damaging it? I want to bring it back for a more in-depth analysis.."

After a few more minutes of discussion, the artifact was placed inside a sample box which was emptied of the vegetation samples originally inside it so that the artifact could be safely carried. Getting moving again, the away team continued on hoping to intersect with the XO's group sooner rather than later. The Captain kept an eye on the Doctor, still of the opinion that the stubborn woman should return to the landing site and return to the ship where she could avail herself of the medical treatments available in sickbay.

Another 45 minutes of walking proved nothing of interest. A few smallish, tarantula sized insects which fled at their lights and scrambled away..that was it. Pausing for a drink of water from a canteen, Kennit activated her comm badge and tried once again to raise the XO. "Kennit to Hunter. Come in. Alec.. can you hear me?"

Once again, there was no answer. Frustrated, concerned, the Captain shook her head slightly and indicated with a motion of her hand that they should continue on and keep pushing forward, they were nearing the entrance chamber, from there they'd have to decide what to do. Send the injured back to this ship while the rest attempted to follow the XO's teams footsteps.. or send to the ship for additional personnel.

Finally reaching the entrance chamber, the first thing the Captain did was again try to reach Hunter on the comm. Failing, she then hailed the Victory in orbit and asked if Commander Hunter had checked in. He had not.

Looking at the position of the sun, Kennit said "We have maybe four more hours of daylight left." Looking at the Doctor, she said. "Are you all right to continue Doctor?"

Nicole's ears were straining, blocking the others out. Something was nagging just at the edge of her auditory range. She'd been doing her best to make a mental map of the place, and she was beginning to wish she could get above this city rather than wander through it.

When no response appeared to be forthcoming, the Captain approached where the Doctor was standing and reached out to turn the doctor toward her, then subjected the honorable physician with a long, assessing stare.

Nicole's eyes flared red, but when she saw who it was, she took a breath and pulled her response back. "Yes, Captain?"

"I am unconvinced that allowing you to remain with the away team following your injury was the correct decision." the Captain said at last. "I don't want you collapsing on us here, when transporters are unavailable due to the geologic makeup of this mountain range and getting a shuttle into this confined an area is dangerous."

"I'm fully healed, and I've got a few hours of health left in me," Nicole said. "Thankfully the snack I had was rather...fresh." She looked down, slightly embarrassed then raised her eyes again, her attention returning to the nothing around them. "Do you hear what I hear? It's similar to a metallic sound we'd heard earlier before we were attacked. If we hadn't had to run blind, I think we might have been close to whatever machinery there is here. I just can't get a pinpoint on where it's coming from." She turned around, frustrated. "It's like, every time I get a handle on it, it moves."

"Generally speaking," Kennit answered. "Machinery doesn't move. However, I do hear it. There's a subtle pulse which accompanies the metallic sound.. an energy pulse perhaps..". while speaking the Captain had been running a scan using her tricorder. "If this is correct, the origin appears to be down this passageway.." she added, pointing with one hand toward the far left corridor.

Nicole pursed her lips and looked down the corridor. "Dark, naturally. But web free, that's a good sign."

The Captain shrugged one shoulder, "Maybe. Or it's an indication there's something else down that way which your web spinning pals want to avoid..and naturally somewhere down there is where the rest of the away party have gotten themselves lost.." a Thoughtful, the Captain said "We need a way to track the other groups progress. Right here there's enough debris on the floor stones we can see where they passed but once we move further into the structure, the debris from weather and passing time disappears. This structure is huge. We've already spent too much time with no results. Any suggestions on how to try and track them?"

When not new ideas where forthcoming, the Captain just gave a nod.

"All right," Kennit said. "I want a continual sweep of the area around us using tricorder scans, with one tricorder set for motion detection at all times. I don't want to get caught with our pants down by whatever else might have moved into this ruin and made it home. The goal is to find the rest of the away team and then get out of here."



Team Hunter

"Commander! I have you on my tricorder.......I can't say for certain how long this will work for as there are a lot of disturbances affecting the signal."

"As per your orders sir we will try and make way to the entrance.......Just......Make sure you get yourself out of there. If we make it out we will make contact with the Victory. Maybe they have managed to find a way out." Willam said nervously.

"Very good Mr.Monsoon. Just make sure you get out. See if you can find the other away team and hook up with them as well. I'll look for a way out as well." Alec said with a confidence he didn't feel. However now wasn't the time to dwell on that, he needed to find a way out!

After finishing talking with Monsoon, Alec shined his wrist light down the dark corridor. It seemed clear and he didn't hear any of those beasties crawling around, above or behind him, Alec began a slow and cautious journey down the corridor, his eyes and ears working overtime to hopefully give him some warning of any of the creatures lurking about.

Alec continued his slow, cautious and steady down the dark corridor, his light bouncing, reflecting off the dark stone. He hadn't heard or seen anything since last talking with Monsoon. Hell, even seeing Anderson would be welcomed! He fervently hoped that both Miguel's and his team were able to find the entrance and get out. As for himself, he would keep looking for an exit for he desperately wanted to get back to the ship and a certain Rhea Kennit.

Arashi had been stuck behind a door of some sort and had forgotten to contact his commander. While he wasn't a science officer, there seem to be something odd about this place to him. "Tanaka to Commander Hunter. I seem to be stuck behind a door of some kind. No sign of the creatures but the place seems to be changing. The doors seem to be herding me somewhere." He kept scanning, he knew there had to be a mechanism of some kind there and he was going to find it.

Alec heard most of Tanaka's call to him the interference was still bad but he was able to pick out a word hear and there. "Understood.Look for a way out." He replied not knowing how much of his message got through. He looked down at his tricorder and it still showed clear...... so far of any creatures but he wasn't sure how long his good fortune would last, so he kept looking for a way out all while moving forward.

As he moved along, Alec could only hope that the rest of the away team(s) had found the entrance and gotten to the safety of the ship. Step by step he moved along, his ears attuned for any sign alerting him of the creatures presence. *So far, so good.* He thought grimly wondering how much longer his luck was going to hold.

Arashi scanned the immediate area surrounding area for any switches to the door that kept him in here. He was worried that the creature was trapped in here with him and waiting to eat him. He found a switch and pulled it. The door opened with a creak but he was nowhere closer to his executive officer but he noticed that the doors opened with the switches. He kept scanning for a another switch as he moved around not aware that he was being hunted.

They'd been walking for some time, hearing soft sounds from somewhere in the darkness around them but no further attacks when a sharp hiss of static burst from the XOs comm badge. Amid the hissing and electronic noise came a burst of sound.."....Alec.....hear me.."

While walking forward, unnoticed by any in the XOs team...one of the large paving stones which comprised the floor depressed with a soft 'click', the sound masked by the tramp of boots on the gritty floor. Somewhere in the heart of the complex, the transmission being sent changed, a new series of data added to the message being beamed out into subspace...

Alec continued to move cautiously along, His senses on overdrive as he listened for any telltale sound that those, those THINGS were close. Suddenly an explosion of static came through his com and he could've sworn he heard his name but it was gone just as quickly as it came and again he heard only static.

The corridor they were following made a sharp turn to the left, then rose up a flight of stairs into a large chamber. In the center of the chamber was a large structure, power cables ran up through the floor into the device and at its top was a thick shielded cable that disappeared into the ceiling.

Alec stopped and stared at the sight before him. It was the transmitter that Rhea had sent them to find. "Well won't the Captain be happy about this." He whispered to himself, forgetting for the moment that those creatures could be at this very moment moving toward his location. He began to scan the device as Rhea would want all the information available on it..... assuming he lived to give it to her that is.


TBC in part 5

 

RSS Feed