Cavern Jaunt (Part II of III)

Posted on Fri Jan 11, 2019 @ 1:17pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & First Lieutenant Gordon Blue & Civilian T'gan

1,261 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Pangaea: The Portal Caverns
Timeline: Back Post: Victory Conditions MD 30

Previously on Cavern Jaunt

Everyone's comm badge beeped and MacKearn's voice came across. "We have you all linked and are tracking your position and quantum signatures. Charlie Team, you are clear to proceed."

Blue motioned his Team Leader to the Cave entrance and the Second Marine as well, Blue would take the first leap frog into the cavern and once he saw it clear motion the team to follow and then the Science team before the caboose kept their back covered.

"Charlie Team entering." Blue said as he entered.

And now the continuation...

He walked forward, and all he felt was the motion of his own body, but in the next instant he was out of the cave entrance and into a natural chamber maybe seven meters long and five wide at its broadest, though one end narrowed down to a fissure maybe seventy five centimetres wide. In the rough centre of the cavern the floor dipped and milky water pooled in it, mirror still, reflecting the stalactites above.

Either side of the puddle stood two obilisques, rough hewn from a smoky brown quartz, and a little way off, was a marble statue of a warrior. It was not at attention in front of the pillars as he had seen before, but facing them in a low crouch, spear pointed so a sharp thrust would put its metal tip at roughly heart height on most humanoids.

"Watch out, lieutenant," Alanna said.

"That has kept me alive." Blue said as he moved forward into the area he was moving his eyes constantly to keep his mind apprised of the surroundings. "The being careful that is." He said in an attempt to make things seem more under control.

Truth is that Blue did not like the setting, the stale smell was expected, the near but not total silence like some reverence and those statues, the detail in them; he needed to get closer to spot his nagging eye to detail; this was a trap and he could feel that in his bones yet he could not back down. The Phaser Rifle was intended for being an all around weapon to a Marine, it could be a hand to hand weapon or dissolve a target into nothingness.

Blue had that edge for reading a situation; like someone is hiding ready to pounce, a guard that would use the haze and limited light to an advantage. Blue had to be ready for someone to jump out at him, he could feel it and it was not paranoia.

Zhao was next through, taking up a flanking position. When he saw the statue, he started. "They don't normally look like that."

The comms beeped, and despite the boosters there was crackle on the signal =^="Sir,"=^= came ch'Zera's voice. =^="we have you at the Eastern end of the complex, approximately 900 meters down. Its a new trace, we've not had a team in there before."=^=

"That is a Small step for Galaxy Travel and a small step for present team. " Blue commented. "This feels wrong, keep eyes open and finger on the trigger but no fire until I give the word." Blue instructed. "Let the Science people in and stagger team entrance to give full protection."

Blue still could not shake his feeling; the 'transport' that happened is not unexpected but a little unsettling, he moved around the statues, this new breed of being while checking for any fishers in the walls to hide a door or even somewhere to hide for a sneak attack?

Alanna followed next, followed by T'gan.

"I'll look on this side," Alanna said to T'gan. You take the other."

The two women split up, each examining one side of the cavern. There was stalactite drip, some tiny fungi in one long fissure, that gave off a faint bio-luminescence, but that was it. The sides of the cavern were devoid of hiding places or anything more complex than a mushroom.

Alanna took samples and put them in a container to examine back on the station and continued around until she got back to the others.

T'gan shook her head when she came back. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"I wonder if we'll trigger something by walking up to one of the statues?" Alanna asked. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be the one to test that theory, though. "Or if we came up to it from behind?" She turned to the others. "Any way to test the theory without endangering anyone?"

"If there is a danger we are all in it." Blue said as he took the initiative to get closer; approaching from a left side oblique angle with his weapon at the ready.

As he got closer, the statue did move, swinging an arm out in a protective gesture, blocking Blue from getting closer to the pillars. "Furich Arais!" it barked in deep voice. There was no sound of stone moving. And the voice seemed to just appear in the room.

"I tried to respond once," Alana said. "But it requires more than a correct response, and I don't know the language."

"I read up on the previous excursions into the caverns," T'gan said. "There was one response that worked." She repeated the phrase.

The statue didn't move, but barked again. "Stay back! Beorgath se Wihta!"

"That's what I thought," Alanna said. "It's not enough to have the words, you have to look the part, or be one of the Fey."

Sgt Zhao stepped forward. The statue swapped its spear from one arm to the other, so he could block the marine from approaching the portals. "We serve Captain t'Vaurek."

The stone voice arrived in the chaber again. "Still you must stay back. Beorgath se Wihta! It is not safe."

"Why is it not safe?" Alanna asked.

The statue ground out a stream of words, but the universal translator only managed one or two. "Se Ahyfend fsreweard has strong aclæccræft yfelian. Beslitan Skin. Beslitan Eyes. acweorran ure flesh. Es draughirin. It will beccarias. Then monegum will come, and monegum becwelan."

Alanna had been recording the encounter on her tricorder. While she wasn't sure she'd be able to figure out the rest of the words, she would try. And keep them on file in case they ever learned more. "Is there anything we should know?" she asked.

"Se sloag befylgan ond they will not stop."

"Thank you." She didn't understand most of it. Not at the moment, anyway, but she hoped they would be able to decipher the language before much longer.

Sergeant Zhao looked around. "I don't think we're going to get much more out of him. Maybe we should check some of the other caverns?"

"I agree. Let's see what the next cavern holds," Alanna said, nodding to the Marines. "Lead on."

T'gan inclined her head in agreement.

The group moved through to the next threshold, a crack in the wrong barely wide enough for a man to squeeze, at roughly ninety degrees to the one they'd entered by. When they came out the other end they were in another cavern, but this one was smooth, its side coated in rippled stalactite and mite that had flowed together.

But just like the previous cavern, there were two pillars that marked the portal space, and a stone statue turned towards, its spear lowered, exactly the same pose as before.

To Be Continued


Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

First Lieutenant Gordon Blue
Marine Commanding Officer
DS5

Marine NPCs
by Soran

 

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