Extraordinarily Mundane
Posted on Sun Jan 12, 2020 @ 9:24am by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Ardal King
6,263 words; about a 31 minute read
Mission:
Nibiru
Location: USS Victory
During the initial two weeks of their first cruise aboard the new ship, The Captain had kept the, on a course heading out into relatively unexplored territory. The only ships which had traveled out this far from Federation vases had been survey ships, making maps of the star systems they passed as they traveled. She’d been Looking at the reports, studying the data available and decided to take a closer look at an unusual system barely noted in the report. That the survey ship which had collected the data had merely recorded the sensor logs and not come in for a closer look was in her view clear indication that either its Captain was an idiot, or overworked and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data being collected.
The system was unusual not because of any anomaly..but because of its familiarity.
Hosted by a G-type main-sequence star (Spectral type: G-V), sometimes called a yellow dwarf, or G dwarf star, it was classified as a main-sequence star (luminosity class V) of spectral type G. It’s suRface temperature was 5,778 K. The stars recorded mass was indicated at 1.989 × 10^30 kg. Mean radiance (Isol) was recorded as 2.009×107 W·m−2·sr−1. It’s equatorial surface gravity measured 274 m/s2; 28 × Earth. The star, which was actually white in color and not yellowtail all possessed a luminosity (Lsol): 3.828×1026 W; ≈ 3.75×1028 lm; ≈ 98 lm/W efficacy.
The gravitationally bound system of this star and the objects that orbited was comprised of, either directly or indirectly, nearly 800,000 orbital bodies. Of theses, the largest were the eight primary planets, with the remainder being smaller objects, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies. 796,354 minor planets. The inner planets were noted as the first 4 rocky, the 3rd word class M, and four massive gas giants, one of which was host to a extraordinary ring system. The total system mass was registered as being 1.0014 solar masses, and the distance to its Kuiper Cliff was 50 AU.
Study of the planets proved, at least in Rhea’s mind... this star system for all of its relative unremarkable nature was in truth absolutely extraordinary. Each of the 8 primary worlds were exact matches in size, distance from the star, radius and orbital period as that of the Sol system, so far away in the Alpha Quadrant. The sole difference was that this star system was quiet. While the 3rd planet was habitable there was no indication of civilization. No energy signature, no transmissions.
Nothing which their sensors could detect at long range at least. Drawing closer, sensors picked up derelict satellites tumbling through the system, power sources long inert, now battered by millennia adrift. The 3rd and 4th worlds showed clear signs of a once thriving advanced civilization. Massive structures lying in ruins, crumbling roads..
Best analysis by the ship’s sensors indicated the end of this civilization had come some 60,000 years ago - though the cause was unknown.
Victory had arrived at the now unpopulated Class M planet to find a world with lush
foliage and raging storms. The strength of the atmospheric disturbances could disrupt transporter locks and communication, so they’d come down in shuttles. The initial landing site had been chosen for its location, northern hemisphere of the planet along a shoreline where a large complex overgrown by plant life had once been a thriving sea port from what they could tell.
With Victory in orbit overhead, the Captain was currently walking alone along the beach. She could see the other members of the away team, doing whatever they were doing. For the moment, she didn’t care. She pulled off her boots and broke into a run, feeling the firm sand cool with the waves beneath her toes. A short distance down the beach she reached her destination, a fallen jumble of stone. Brushing debris and sand from the tide away, the stone surface still showed faint visible markings carved into its surface, almost eroded away to nothing. Sitting on a square-ish segment of broken stone, she just sat there.. feeling the waves brush over her feet as she studied the ancient markings thoughtfully..
Ardal King was using his tricorder and sniffing the surrounding area. He liked technology, but he grew up in mines and learned to trust his nose. Using these two techniques in tandem gave him a different picture of the environment. "No large predators, other than myself, Captain."
“At least in the immediate area..” the Captain said. “Sensors detected a variety of life forms on the surface.” She sneezed. “Just no indications of civilization other than these ruins.”
Zack stayed with the shuttle, in order to coordinate with the ship, in regards to sensor readings, which he was sending back at regular intervals.
Security officers who had come down to the surface with the away team had stayed with the shuttle to make sure that anyone who was at the shuttle would be protected and safe. This was per Arashi's orders and when an emergency arose on the surface they could arrange the security force to help with whatever was needed.
Camille had consulted with Ardal on the shuttle trip down and they agreed to work apart, to better spread scientific expertise across a large landing party. She was scanning the plant and animal life that grew over, between, and through the various buildings. "It's amazing how completely nature can take over once sentient kind has left. And enough time has passed that many creatures have truly found niches in this urban space." She ducked down and lifted up a piece of road that had chipped away, revealing dozens of small worms underneath. "The soil under all of this is incredibly healthy, and I don't think it was 60,000 years ago."
Arashi had followed Camille and whoever else was with her. "So whatever this is, if it isn't from 60,000 years ago, then when is it from? " He asked "I mean if it is new then who or what put it here? What is happening?"
"No, I think the ruins date to about 60,000 years ago," Camille clarified. "But the soil was likely poisoned badly by the city. See these?" Using a gloved hand, she gently scooped up some of the worms. "They're filling the same niche as Earthworms. The ruins are -- very slowly -- bleeding minerals into the soil, and the inhabitants would have put dozens of deadly compounds into the ground. The worms and other small creatures, and likely many bacteria and fungi living in symbiosis, are breaking down the dangerous chemicals and replacing them with the building blocks of life. I could probably lift a piece of road and plant a tree under it, and it would grow."
"So if that is the case where are the ruins from? Who built them? Why did these people die out? Did they die out or move on to greener pastures? I am not much of an historian or anything but those ruins had to have come from someone or something and it is an exace replica of an earth building if I am to assume anything."Arashi said and looked around. He wasn't sure what to make of this but if one looked at his face, they could see a look of awe. "This almost makes me wish that I had studied archaeology in the Academy instead of Tactical and Security. This place, whatever it is, is beautiful."
"That it is, Monsieur Tanaka," Camille agreed. "Vient-en, let's see if we can find some more clues in the ruins."
"Allez-y, madame." Arashi said with a smile. He pulled out his tricorder to take some readings in case they were needed.
"This place gives me the creeps," Nicole said, walking up behind the Captain.
“Everything gives you the creeps..” Kennit retorted.
"Well this not being akin to my home planet, I'm not having as much of a sense of wonder as some of the humans here," Nicole said, "but doesn't this strike you as a bit weird? Practically a duplicate Sol system way out here, makes me think of those rumors."
“It isn’t weird. I’d say it was impossible if I wasn’t sitting on it.” the Captain said. “Which rumors are you talking about..there’s quite a list which could be applied.”
"You know...the Preservers. Supposedly there are duplicate Earths, Andors, Tellars, Vulcans, Q'onoS-es...supposedly Kirk found one still with Humans on it. Picard found one and even met a Preserver, although he didn't realize it at the time. It's unsettling, though, to think we're just their property to duplicate as they please."
“In those cases it was just an apparent duplication of Earth. This is the entire Sol system, all the way dow to the asteroids and Jupiter’s red spot. That’s a marbled murrelet,” she said with a nod toward a bird flying overhead. “I saw a cormorant earlier and if you kick over some rocks you’ll find black or grey hairy shore crabs scuttling away over the sand.”
"That's not all." Nicole said, putting her bag down and flipping open her tricorder. "No toxins, contaminants or dangerous bacteria detected. Air and water content are consistent with Earth's pre-Industrial Age. Incredibly consistent. Even the microbial life is the same to what we'd find on Earth. I'm half ready to ask for a shuttle and see if we can find Camille's family home."
“This makes no sense...” Kennit said softly.
"It does if this is simply another one of their 'experiments'," Nicole said.
Penny suddenly appeared, doing a cartwheel on the sand. "Best! Away mission! Ever!" she said, grinning ear to ear. "This planet is amazing! The odds of this are incalculable, but here it is? The wind smells right, the sky is a perfect blue, and did you see the Pacific?" she said, gesturing to the ocean that was literally inches away from them.
"We noticed," Nicole said dryly. "Perhaps a report on what you've found?"
"Right, sorry," Penny said, clearing her throat. "Survey of the ruins shows they are as old as sensors indicated, however that's not the weird part."
"I'm pretty sure that's the weird part," Nicole deadpanned. "What is weirder than this?"
"Look around! The planet hasn't gone to seed yet. Someone's mowing the lawn out there. The ruins are a little overgrown but after 60 millennia, they should be virtually gone to time, even synthetic alloys would be fading. Yet there's actually stuff for us to find! It's like it all aged but the planet's slowed down."
"Sixty-thousand isn't that long on a planetary scale, Pen," Nicole said. "There are ruins older than that on Earth, Vulcan, Bajor, any number of worlds with indigenous people."
“The ruins are stone, weathered, but stone is stone...it doesn’t degenerate like metal or wood.” The Captain pointed out. “These carvings.. this one..”. she said as she ran a hand over a figure in the stone. “It’s worn by the ages but this looks like carvings found on Earth, in a place called Gobekli Tepe. Archeologists thought this...represented a comet strike which caused an ice age..” ( OOC Note: See the following article: https://newatlas.com/ancient-temple-turkey-comet-ice-age/49209/)
"Captain, that's my point, it's just rock!" Penny said. "60,000 years of weathering from storms and so forth, and it's still legible? Göbekli Tepe is 11,000 years old and the only reason we've found it is because it was buried. I can count the places on Earth this old on one hand, and they're all in caves, protected from the elements."
“That would be part of why we are here, would it not Lieutenant?” the Captain responded. “There are a great many oddities about this entire star system, not just what we have found here on the surface.”
"I'm a Doctor, not a geologist," Nicole said, "but even I know different stones have different lifespans. Maybe the stone is ancient, but the carvings aren't. For all we know, this civilization packed up and left a mere decade ago. The storms here are more intense than on Earth, due to a lack of weather-net technology. Maybe things are weathering faster because of that."
Walker was up a tall tree. He was watching all of the away teams.
One of the crewman screamed from down by the river. A large fish had his leg. Ardal was down on all fours and running at the sound of the scream. He was faster on all fours. He had to get into the water in order to get the crewman out. The fish, something akin to a pirarucu came with it. He tapped his comm, "Medical Emergency down by the river." He separated the crewman from the fish. He had accidentally scratched the crewman while pulling him out of the water. "Leg appears to be broken. Some deep cuts." His voice changed because he felt guilty about the claw marks. He held pressure on the wound.
Walker heard the scream and he grabbed branches as he repelled down. When he got down to the ground and took off running towards the river. He tapped his comm, "Nicole, get there."
Nicole had already heard the scream when her combadge went off and was already running full speed along the shore, her footsteps echoed by Penny and the Captain coming up alongside her. They saw the crewman on the ground, shaking, his leg bloody but free.
Zack had heard the scream. When he arrived by the water's edge, he had his weapon out. He ran over to Ardel and the crewman. He looked out at the water in case the creature attacked again. Then he knelt down. "How can I help?"
"Keep him still, Mister Logan, and keep his head elevated. I don't need him going into shock," Nicole said, dropping to her knees, Penny next to her. Nicole opened her bag and put it on the driest patch of sand, reached in and tossed a hypospray to Penny for the pain, running her tricorder over his leg. "Just stay still, you're going to be fine," she said.
Penny immediately programmed the hypo and pressed it to the crewman's neck, then reached in and handed a ration pouch to Nicole.
Nicole poured some water from the ration pouch, removing the sand and saltwater, then ran another instrument over it to sterilize the wounds. She swapped the sterilizer for a bone-knitter and carefully repaired the fracture, then traded for a derma-sealer and began to close the wounds.
"Heart rate stabilizing," Penny said, scanning him. "No foreign toxins, tissue damage is deep but confined."
"You are going to have some tenderness," she said, "but the bruising won't be that bad once we're done. There was some tissue damage that will leave your leg tired for a few days, but thankfully whatever it was wasn't poisonous."
Penny helped lift him up but he winced and she turned his back to show Nicole.
Nicole saw the tear in his uniform and the bleeding claw marks and sighed, repeating the cleaning, sterilization and healing steps to the rest of him.
Nicole looked up at the Captain. "So, we know a few things here aren't friendly." She took the instruments and returned them to her bag, tapping her combadge. "Anderson to Sickbay."
"That and we know some of the crew on this ship can't manage to be on the surface of a planet for a day without getting into trouble and causing headaches.." the Captain retorted.
Ardal backed up, "I hurt him trying to get him out of the water." He didn't like hurting people. He did it in war, but that was war.
"I'm sure you didn't mean it," Penny said.
Walker looked at him, "He is alive. Focus on the job. Scan the fish. Make sure it isn't poisonous or venomous. Then put it back in the water. Focus on the job."
Ardal complied. He felt bad for hurting the crewman. He scanned the fish, "No evidence of being poisonous or venomous." He put the fish back and scanned the area. "There is a ledge under the water."
"Meldor here, Doctor," her Benzite associate's voice was excited. "Did you take my suggestion and do that survey of the land mammals for root DNA comparison with--"
"Doctor," Nicole said, her voice crisp. "We've got a wounded man here. He's been treated but I need you to ensure the leg sets properly and scan for the foreign DNA at the wound site. Then let him rest up till he's feeling ready to walk. He'll be directly in front of me to beam up."
"Yes, Doctor, right away," Meldor said, closing the channel.
"Providence save me from a Benzite with an opinion," she said, standing up and brushing the sand off of her pants. "You'll be fine, crewman," she repeated. "Just don't let him talk too much."
The crewman nodded, winced at his sore leg and a moment later, disappeared in a transporter beam.
Walker went over and examined the ledge under the water. Then he dropped down into it. A moment later, he head bobbed up and he climbed out. "I don't think the fish was particularly hunting. I think it was an attempted meal of opportunity." He climbed out and then pulled a leach off his body and threw it back.
=/\= Torres to Captain. =/\=
Still debating internally what thought processes Walker had used to decide to jump into the water where one of the crew had just been bitten was a good idea, Kennit answered =/\= Kennit here. =/\=
=/\= I'm over in section 7, by the one of the pyramids. The excavator has uncovered what we believe is an entrance inside.=/\=
With a shake of her head, the Captain answered =/\= Hold your current positions. I'll be there momentarily. =/\=
Penny perked up. "May I tag along? I could use a walk to dry off."
"Stay here and continue what we've been working here." the Captain ordered. "We still need to get off the surface before the storm front which is coming in arrives so that only leaves another 4 hours before we need to get back into orbit."
"Aye, Captain," Penny said. "We'll be ready."
"I'd be curious in joining you," Nicole said. "Love a tomb. I'd love to get some bacterial samples from the burial areas."
“You think the pyramids here are tombs?” Kennit asked.
"Many on Earth were," Nicole said.
“You may be disappointed. The Pyramids at Giza had no mummies found inside them, and of the Mayan pyramids were built as temples, the only Mayan to be found where in Guatemala in the ruins of Holmul.”
"Which means some were, and others we didn't find them yet," Nicole said, smirking. "Besides, there are still samples I'd want to collect."
The Captain shrugged, “There’s bound to be bacteria true.. have it your way Doc. Come on.”
Nicole brushed herself off as she stood up, repacked her black bag and stood behind the Captain.
Tapping her comm badge, the Captain ordered a site-to-site transport from the landing site near the beach to section 7. It was only a 30 minute walk, but as she'd just said they were running out of time for now. As soon as the beam released her, she walked toward where she could see the excavator and Torres' team waiting for her. As she walked closer, she said "What have you found?"
"Well as you can see once we got the excavator working we were able to uncover what looks like an entrance." he said pointing at the now opened area. "But then we found this." he said as he opened his tricorder which immediately began beeping. "It's a faint power reading."
“A power reading? How is that even possible? Where is the source?”
"Some where deep inside the structure." he replied. "It's difficult to tell exactly, the reading is faint. Either it's being diffused by something inside, or it's about to run out of charge."
“Have you been able to scan the interior?” She asked.
"Partially." he told her and then called up an image on his tricorder. "As you can see there are a series of tunnels and chambers in there. Reminds me of ancient Earth history of the tunnels under the great pyramids." he added. "But I'll have to admit that something is limiting the scans. Once we get teams in there looking around we'll be able to take more high definition scans."
“What about the structural integrity of the tunnels? Is it safe?” the Captain asked.
Torres nodded "They should be, however considering their age, I've had potable force field generators beamed down. We'll place them every 50 meters. That should keep our people safe." he told her.
With a glance at Doctor Anderson, Kennit said, “what about possible burial chambers somewhere beneath the structure, have you seen any indications of a tomb?"
"Or any sealed chambers in general," Nicole said. "Bear in mind, for centuries archaeologists have fallen pray to 'curses' that amounted to bad air and bad bacteria inside sealed rooms. The last thing we want is crewmen dropping from that."
"We haven't noticed anything as yet, except the faint power reading. And contrary to popular opinion I am not a miracle worker, just an engineer." he told the ladies. "The ship's archaeologists, and the medical and science teams will have to work in concert with my people to determine each areas viability as we go forward.
"There's quite a storm coming according the sensors," Kennit said. "Has our activity here placed the structure above ground and below into possible danger? I don't want to have whatever is down there damaged or destroyed by the storm because of something we've done...
"No if anything the force field generators we've set up will actually improve the tunnels structural integrity. Hell might even be safer for us in there. Not that I'm recommending that of course." he answered.
“Good enough for me.” Kennit answered. “Let’s secure the site and then retreat back to the landing zone to return to the ship until this storm has passed.”
Miguel began to bark out orders to his people to secure things and get to the landing zone.
Nicole took a step or two into the ruins and pulled out her tricorder, scanning quickly and getting air samples. Her ears pricked up and she shook her head, a noise in the distance bothering her...at least she thought it was. She looked down the dark corridor again but saw nothing, and with the uptick in background noise from the Captain stomping around, she heard nothing from within. She shook her head and walked back towards the engineering team.
[Back on the Beach]
The storm was coming. The knowledge was instinctive, a deep awareness of coming danger which prompted the male to head back along the rocky coastline toward the safety of his forested home. He had strayed far across his territory, instinct and experience sending him further up the coast to search for easy meals, the storms always pushed large carcasses from the salty sea toward shore before them. Well fed on the carcass of a massive sea beast washed up on the rocks, the male was content as he headed toward safe shelter from the next storm which was coming fast.
The rising wind carried a strange scent, making him stop and raise his head to take on deep long breathes. Sand, forest, his mate and young - their faint scent just a trace but enough to tell him they were returning to shelter from the storm as well. And there was something else. An unfamiliar, strange scent which made him bristle and growl in a long, low menacing rumble.
Ardal rolled his shoulders. He felt the sensation of another predator coming.
His entire body now tense and ready, the male moved up the coast closing in on the intruders. Keen eyes spotted the interlopers ahead, milling about the massive stones. Breaking into a charge, the huge male thundered down the beach. Bristling feathers standing out around his massive 6.7 meter tall, 15.19 metric ton powerful frame as he roared a challenge.
Penny felt the vibration before she realized what it was. She saw the grains of sand move and registered the seismological disturbance, grading it against possible tectonic movement and attempting to determine the epicenter.
Then she heard the roar.
Aergad Halvor was running away from this thing and it was chasing him, "I scanned the eggs. It didn't like that."
She saw it coming and based on its distance and size at that distance, she slapped her combadge. "Naroot to away team prepare for beamout! Naroot to Victory! Emergency beamout all crew at this location!"
“Unable to get transport lock..” came the reply. “There’s too much interference from the storm cell moving in..”
Walker climbed up out of the water.
"Everyone, get to the treeline!" she shouted, hoping the cover would help.
Despite being some ways away, the sound of the roar reached Camille and Arashi’s position. The science officer did a quick scan of one of the ruined buildings before sharing a concerned look with Arashi. She tapped her commbadge. “Lévesque to away team. Some of the structures at my position look safe and can serve as shelter. Home in onMonsieur Tanaka et moi.”
Penny flicked her wrist, her silver wand slipping out of her sleeve. She scanned her combadge quickly and looked at the blinking lights on the readout. "This way," she said, pointing directly at Camille's position. As the people on the beach broke into a run, she kept behind them, making sure everyone got away. Based on the size she estimated would be required to generate the roar and the tremors, she anticipated a 0.000034% probability of her surviving a fight with it. Still, that was almost 50 times better than the rest of the away team.
Zack tapped his commbadge. "This is Logan. I'm going to bring the shuttle to your location...stand by for pick up." He started up the shuttle, as the security team boarded. When everyone was strapped in, he lifted off, and set a course to Levesque's location.
"Meet you there!" Penny said.
The team raced into the trees, Penny shouting out direction as they went, everyone keeping together via call signals. They reached the shelters and dove inside, Penny watching last as the trees began to shake before jumping into one as well and hunkering down, watching. Several crewmen screamed in fright as the trees parted, a behemoth appeared.
The massive creature had followed the intruders to where they now hid, frustratingly just out of reach inside one of the odd stone piles which littered the area. Leaning close, the big male roared his rage and frustration at being thwarted from his goal. He could see and smell them just out of reach and he roared again, his breath heavy with the over-powering smell of the carcass he’d fed on, thick slimy spatters of saliva spraying out to spatter the small infuriating things inside.
Penny covered her head, glad she couldn't retch. Some of them groaned, some threw up, and Penny chuckled a bit as Camille asked her assistant for more sample vials. She kept her ears covered with the other as the creature continued to roar.
One crewman hefted his phaser and fired, but the shot hit bone and the creature shook, but roared in challenge. Penny grabbed the man's arm and forced it down. "Decentralized nervous system," she said. "We'd need a battalion of phasers to bring it down!"
“Bring it down?!” Camille exclaimed. “We’ll do no such thing!”
A high pitched sound distracted him, the noise unfamiliar and painful to his sensitive ears. Turning away, the big male saw a strange creature in the sky approaching. The noise it gave off was terrible and keening, making him step back and scream a challenge at the strange sky thing before retreating into the forest, away from approaching shuttle.
Penny watched the reaction and tapped her combadge. "Lieutenant Logan, adjust the engines to 105% mix and keep them loud. Let's see if we can keep it discouraged."
"Understood." Zack adjusted the engines to the indicated mixture. Then he piloted the shuttle in a circle around the creature.
Penny put her hand to the ground and felt for the tremors as the creature ran, calculating when it was a safe distance. "Clear," she said. "Everyone get to the shuttle!"
Once the creature was a safe distance away, Zack landed the shuttle in a clearing.
They spilled out and raced as fast as they could. Penny jumped inside, somewhat impolitely nudging Logan aside. "Good job, Lieutenant," she said, checking over the engines. As the last of them got aboard, she closed the hatch and lifted off again.
"Naroot to Captain," she said, hitting the communications panel, "there are dinosaurs on this planet. And as cool as that is on its face, your team is in danger. We're en route to your position for pickup."
At the pyramid complex, the Captain visibly perked up at the news of a dinosaur. “A dinosaur?” She echoed. “Could you identify it?”
"Species appears to be similar to a Tyrannosaur," Penny said. "The theory about them having feathers seems to be confirmed here as well. We're now at a height out of its reach. We will be to you in a few minutes."
“A tyrannosaur!” the Captain answered, her voice excited. “Did you get a tag on it so we can track it... what about evidence.. did you take any images of it.. what color was it?"
Walker's hair was still wet, "Apparently, Halvor got too close to it's nest. He scanned the eggs. This confirms that they did not abandon their eggs like some reptiles do." He motioned for the tricorder.
Halvor looked at him, "We don't have anything like that on my planet." Halvor gave it over.
Walker gave the tricorder to King.
“It was beautiful,” Camille said, to herself more than anyone else.
Ardal looked at her and accepted Halvor's tricorder from Walker, "I wanted to roar back at it. Whatever it was, was glorious. A predator seemingly outside of the concept of Alpha and Beta. "Is that creature a primarily solitary creature on Earth?" He looked at the data.
"I apologize, Captain," Penny said. "I left my holorecorder in my quarters right next to the Tyrannosaur tags I packed. As for evidence, we have a few soiled uniforms and several quarts of dinosaur drool to offer. Its skin was grey with patches of white. I'd say it has dry skin. The feathers ranged from white to storm grey with patches of midnight blue. I can render a drawing of it later for you if you wish."
“Oh for fucks sake..” the Captain muttered under her breathe before activating the comm and answering. “What about its size? Can you estimate its size and approximate weight?”
"Approximately 3.6 meters tall at the hip, and 12.4 meters head to tail. Based on the seismic disturbance and it's dimensions, I'd estimate about 13.5 metric tons," Penny said as they soared over the trees. "Shall we prepare to take you aboard, Captain? We'll be in your position momentarily and the storm is beginning to interfere with transporters at the beach."
“The atmospherics on this rock have interfered with the transporters since we got here which is why we are using the shuttle.” Kennit pointed out. “The storm is still a safe distance and we are not ready to retreat just yet, at least not here. I do think it’s time to start packing up along the beach and prepare to return.”
*And that's why we needed pattern enhancers at the start,* Penny thought to herself. "Aye, Captain," she said. "We'll return to the beach and assess if it's safe to pack up, assuming nothing's been crushed. Naroot out."
She banked hard and took them up a bit higher. "Lieutenant Logan, keep a continuous scan of the area. If anything remotely that size gets within a kilometers of us, sound the alarm."
"Scanning." Logan kept an eye on the scanners, which he had set to maximum range.
She hit the intercom quickly. "All hands, we are returning to the beach to begin packing up to leave. We'll scan for any lifeforms, but so far the beach is showing clear. There's a storm front approaching fast so let's get this done as soon as we can. Be prepared to land in three minutes, Naroot out."
Walker looked at King, "You have the fastest run time of anyone here. Be prepared to carry anyone out if need be. I know it would be degrading to have them ride you like a horse, but you are just faster. I apologize." He looked at Halvor, "No approaching wildlife on your own."
Penny touched down as close to their beach sites as she could, and as soon as they were secure, left the engines running and popped the hatch. The storm was closer than she'd anticipated, a front must have moved in and sped it along. "If everyone can be backed and back on board in twenty minutes, we should be able to safely lift off," she said through the comm system. "Better move out fast."
Zack checked the sensors, watching for any indication of the beast approaching. He also checked the shuttle's systems. "As soon as they get here, we'll be okay to lift off...all systems show green."
Ten minutes later, the Captain accompanied by Torres and the good Doctor, along with the rest of the group who had been working at the temple complex arrived. Approaching the shuttle, Kennit was Looking toward the forest as if somehow dong so might provide a glimpse of the tyrannosaur. Reaching the hatch, she said “Once Torres’ team gets their gear stowed we can..” she stopped mid sentence as she entered the shuttle and got a whiff of its dinosaur drool crusted inhabitants. Covering her nose with one hand, she said “What the HELL is that smell!?”
Not covered by the drool..."I wasn't going to bring that up, captain...but it is rather.....gross, ma'am."
Nicole got near the ship and turned a shade of green that would have made her gorgeous back home, but distinctly off-color among humans.
The Captain just recoiled back, hand over her nose she looked at Torres and said, “How high can we get the internal atmosphere scrubbers going...”
"I"ll dial them up to eleven," Nicole said. She reached into her black bag and pulled out a small mask attached to a small oxygen generator, putting it over her face and securing it behind her head. She stepped into the shuttle and sat down at an auxiliary station, working the controls quickly.
"Perhaps a quick bath is in order," Nicole said to the others and looking pointedly at the ocean.
“I second that motion...” the Captain said, hand still covering her nose.
"Are we talking a communal bath, captain?" Zack asked, tongue in cheek.
Penny gave him a dirty look then at the rest of the group. "All right, anyone who survived a t-rex attack, report to the shoreline. Uniforms soaked, and bodies scrubbed. We have only a few minutes so don't spare time to fold and press."
"Here," Nicole said, handing out bars of soap from her black bag. "And hurry."
Up till that moment the Captain hadn’t answered, being distracted somewhat by a number of concerns. Seeing the Doctor haul out an honest to god bar of soap from her bag, Kennit scowled a little having added yet another item to the list of things to contemplate. Seeing that no one was moving, she said in a decidedly annoyed voice “What are you people waiting for? Embossed invitations handed out on personalized silver card trays? Get out there and clean off best you can!”
Shooting another glare toward Torres and Anderson both, she growled “What? I was distracted for a moment trying to determine what that annoying sound was and realized the source.” She stated with a definite glower aimed toward certain members of the away team now heading to clean off as directed. Then, pointing toward the Doctor’s bag, she asked “You lug around bars of soap in that thing? What else do you have in that thing..the Gauntlet of Crassus? The Staff of XoXaan? Healing Crystals of Fire?”
Nicole opened her bag and made a show of rummaging around in it. "No, just this," she said, bringing her hand out and making a rude gesture.
The Captain burst out laughing, shook her head and said “That’s the best you can do? Oh I win.”
Zack watched the others leave the shuttle so they could clean themselves.
Once the worse of the stench had been cleaned up, though the Captain still found the odor which permeated the shuttle nearly intolerable... and adding insult to injury not one of her crew had the presence of mind to at least take a sample of the tyrannosaurus saliva at the very least for analysis... the flight back was at least mercifully quick. As soon as the the shuttle was on the hanger deck, the Captain escapes the stench and headed to her quarters to bathe and burn her uniform just in case the stink was contagious and the fumes had gotten into her clothing.
Once the storm had passed they’d return to the surface and continue the investigation at the temple complex, as well as send teams out to tag, track, and get samples for study of the unique life forms discovered.
~*~
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