Things Are A Little Gassy, Part I

Posted on Mon Oct 16th, 2017 @ 10:23pm by Commander Christopher Samuels MDiv, PhD & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Lieutenant JuniorGrade Fethraie D'Darra

Mission: S01E01 - At the Brink of Night
Location: Zaran II

Commander Christopher Samuels held his breath.

This was his own personal standard operating procedure. It didn't matter what classification the planet fell under, he always held his breath after transport. Dylan had always pointed out how silly it was--all in good fun of course--and Christopher knew he was perfectly safe, it was just an irrational fear. Irrational fears didn't always make sense, they didn't have to because they were, wait for it... irrational. Once the transport was complete, and he took a breath, he looked around the surface of Zaran II. The atmosphere was hazy, the colors of orange, purple, and yellows danced across the sky. The mountains on the horizon seemed to go up, up, and up, it's peak far above the swirling gas clouds. At that moment, he remembered how lucky he was to still have his sight still, even if it wasn't what it used to be. Taking another moment, he took in the landscape and then turned to face the others. "Well, the suits seem to be working," he said as he made eye contact with each member of his team. "Remember, forty minutes, that's all we get... we have to work fast." Christopher reached for his tricorder--another updated thing from R and D--and popped it open. Downloaded to the device were the map and the information he needed. "This way," he said, communicating over the internal comm of the helmet.

Feth was already scanning the area for atmospheric content, any sign of life, flora, jagged terrain.

Feth walked beside the commander and continued to collect readings with her tricorder. “Aside from the atmosphere, commander, there does not appear to be any immediate threat to well-being. If there are any Klingons about,” she did what she could to tune her tricorder to be more sensitive, “then they hide well. She put her tricorder away. “And Klingons are not too keen on hiding.”

K'Niras took up a position that allowed him to keep an eye out behind them as they made their way forward. He had pulled his phaser, but made sure it was set on stun. He didn't think that they would run into much, but it never hurt to be prepared and he wasn't much of a scientist.

Feth brought her arm up and tapped on her wrist PADD ensuring their communications were suit-to-suit only. “Lieutenant K’Niras,” she stepped up beside him, “I must admit to being ill-experienced in my interactions with Caitians. I have met few and have had even fewer interactions or befriendments, much less serving with one. I would value a discussion later on Caitian physiology and your culture.”

K'Niras smiled and nodded, realizing that it was possible that she couldn't see his smile. "I would welcome that opportunity, Ensign. It is always good to broaden our horizons. Maybe I can learn a thing or two about you as well, in the process. I would very much like that."

“There is not much to detail to be true,” she said. “However, the Vulcan commune in which I grew up is somewhat different than anything Vulcan that you may be aware of. You are correct that it is always good to broaden our horizons.”

K'Niras raised his eyebrows with interest. "A Vulcan commune? I would love to hear more of this. I'm afraid my upbringing was relatively normal for my species, but I'm more than willing to share it at some point. Do you have siblings? I know that most species only give birth to one or two offspring at a time. Correct?"

“I am the only offspring of my biological parents that I am aware of,” she said as she continued scanning. “I do sometimes ponder how it would be if I were to have a sibling or someone that I could look to or refer to as a sibling.”

K'Niras kept a close eye on what was coming up behind them while Feth scanned the area. "My mother had five kits in my litter, so I have two brothers and two sisters. I often wonder what it would be like to be an only child though. I bet I wouldn't have gotten in as much trouble as I did..." He chuckled. "The bad ideas were often my brothers' ideas..."

“With at least one sibling,” Feth said as she turned along with her tricorder as she swept the area, “I supposed I would have gotten into less trouble.”

K'Niras chuckled in amusement. "It's interesting that that works both ways." He jumped a little suddenly at a shadow behind them, but quickly realized it was a dust cloud, swirling around a rock. He chuckled again, this time sounding a little nervous. "So I haven't seen anything living here... are there living things up here?"

Everyone continued their scans and they were still finding nothing. “I am not finding anything. Perhaps the Klingons have truly left. I estimate them to…”

"Never underestimate the Klingons and their tactics," Christopher said over the comm unit. He didn't know the ensign's military history, so he would give her the benefit of the doubt, however, he had fought the Klingons for four years. They were unpredictable killing machines, they couldn't be trusted. At that negative thought, he tried to push it down, he couldn't let hatred and bias consume him. "Our tricorders may not be able to detect the Zaranites, at least not right away, so continue to recalibrate for any type of alloys that would be found in the construction of buildings. There has to be something here, a settlement, a camp, something."

“Understood sir,” said Feth. “Security detail, keep your tricorders open and active; scanning constantly. Initiate a rotating modulation and look for anything unnatural.” As the other two security personnel sounded off their acknowledgements, Feth stepped up to Commander Samuels despite their comms allowing them to communicate as though they were standing side by side. “Sir, due to the atmosphere and slight magnetic instability of the soil, I seem unable to scan underground beyond a depth of 15 meters.”

"I didn't ask if the Zaranites were above ground or below it. Are they the only species we expect to encounter? Aside from the potential of pop-up Klingons," K'Niras asked, looking back toward Christopher and Feth.

“In an environment this harsh,” Feth added, “it would be possible for someone to build underground communes and structures. Place some rocks and some loose sand and you can cover your entrances rather easily.”

"Like a trap door spider..." K'Niras replied softly.

“Precisely,” was all she said. The scanner attached to her wrist was still showing nothing of the sort.

"If we suspect that they might be underground... and we can't scan for lifesigns we should possibly attempt to find a way underground," K'Niras suggested.

Christopher had stayed silent as he kept his eyes on the tricorder readings, examining them. This was not the first away mission he had led as the science officer, and it certainly wouldn't be his last. He had looked over his shoulder a few times to see lips move between the lieutenant and ensign. What they were chit chatting about, he didn't know, nor did he care all he did know is that there would be a talk back on the ship. However, for now, they had an away mission to concentrate on. "Don't forget species adapt to the environment whether underground or aboveground, just because we deem the environment harsh, doesn't mean the Zaranites do." He pressed a gloved finger against one of the nubs of his tricorder, allowing it to cycle through another set of algorithms, as a science officer, he always had a few tricks up his sleeve. "I'm picking up something," he called out over the comm, he began to move southwest from their position. "It's some type of metallic compound, it's composite is quite tough, nothing our database can cross reference." The closest he could come up with was a mixture of duranimum, and some type of iron ore ten times the strength of what would be found on Earth. "I don't think we are looking at a settlement that is underground."

Feth was reading the same strange signs on her tricorder. “A form of city-scape camouflage perhaps?” she asked. “Fascinating.”

"I think their settlement is buried in the rock," Christopher said, his right hand raised to point toward a string of low mountains. When he had first seen them he didn't think anything of it, just another natural formation. However, his tricorder said differently. "Those mountains are man made, passive scans show they are are not, but I always a few tricorder tricks up my sleeve..." He barely got the words out when out of nowhere a humanoid appeared. The humanoid had on a mask that covered his or her entire face and the humanoid wore a long, dark robe complete with a hood. The thing looked like it crawled out of a nightmare. He of course didn't flinch, but it still caught him off-guard.

"Commander Christopher Samuels," the voice, which sounded electronic, said.

"You are speaking to him," Christopher replied, his voice confident but cautious. "How do you know who I am?"

"You are not Klingon?" the humanoid asked/declared, ignoring the question.

"That's right, I am human," came Christopher's reply. He spied the humanoid with curiosity. "And you are?" He knew the humanoid wasn't a Klingon, he or she wasn't build as such. The body on the humanoid was rather petite, but with the robe he couldn't tell if he or she had breasts. The voice wasn't a give away either. Could the Zaranites be non-binary?

"I am H'thern Sa'la Tomor from clan Kle'sen... but you may call me H'thern," the Zaranite said. "You should come with me..."

Christopher shook his head in his helmet. "Where?" He was skeptical to follow, especially since he didn't exactly know what was going on. His HUD display told him that they only had a little under thirty minutes left.

"To my settlement," the Zaranite said, he or she turned around and began to walk toward the mountains. "The Klingons are here, they are wandering around several kilometers north of here. They are rather stupid creatures, are they not? So barbaric!" The Zaranite shook its head.

Don't I know it, Christopher mused. He had to make a decision. He looked to K'Niras who was at his side and then nodded. "Alright, let's go team," he called out over his comm... however, before he could say anything else he felt that familiar tingling feeling he always got when he was transported. A few seconds later he was in an area that was dimly lit but comfortably furnished. It was only him and the Zaranite, he wasn't sure where the others were and he panicked. "Where are the others?"

"The Vulcan and the two security guards have been beamed back to your vessel, they are not needed. The Caitian is in our dining hall, you will be joining him shortly." The Zaranite raised his hand in placation. "I assure you they are all safe," replied the Zaranite. "But first, you and I need to talk..."

TBC...