We're Not in Kansas Anymore -- Part 6

Posted on Mon Sep 2, 2019 @ 2:06am by Lieutenant Jason Haines & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Lieutenant Commander River Morgan & Ensign Jessica Mayhew & Ensign Tizo Criteser & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca

3,809 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Not Kansas
Timeline: MD8, 2130 Hours

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"They all came from different places," the Elder said. "Something called the Federation of Free Planets. All the devices that held the information you are asking about stopped working about one-hundred years ago."

[NEW]

"Okay. Thank you," she said. She'd hoped for more, but it had been a long time.

As the group thought on even where to begin, what sounded like muffled voices could be heard from outdoors. It started out as one or two, then it seemed to grow louder.

"Marisel, Asin," the elder called out. "Did either of you speak to anyone about our guests?"

Marisel looked somewhat sheepish. "Well, Tavalya asked where I was going, and I just said you had guests, and then she pressed me for more information, and, well, you know how she can be, especially when the tree is speaking to her."

The elder nodded, chuckling, moving to the door. He opened it and the room lit up a bit as there were several individuals outside the door with various sources of light. A fair amount were children. People of all ages called out as if they were in a press corps, "Elder, elder, are there really ancient ones here? Why are they here? Have they come to defeat the Prophet? Can we see? Pleaaseeee? Cool. I wanna see!"

"Wait," the elder said, and closed the door partially. He looked at the strangers if he had permission to say anything more.

Alanna got a wave of emotions and half-conscious thoughts. There were people in the group with latent telepathy, but not enough for her to communicate. And the thoughts were odd enough that she couldn't quite figure them out without prying, which she didn't want to do. "A tree speaks to her?" she asked, curious about what sort of tree it was, and how it spoke.

Marsiel looked at Alanna and nodded. "I will show you tomorrow."

She gave him a warm smile. "Thank you." As someone who valued culture and history, she was keenly interested in this tree.

River was also hit by a wave of various emotions. Her empathy didn't get her the whole thoughts, just the feelings, but they were so mixed she was almost overwhelmed. Some seemed excited, all were curious, a few were scared, it seemed, but it was natural to be a little nervous or overawed with so much strange happening. Perhaps it was just as strange to the people there as it was to her own group. She tried to find some pattern to the emotions she was sensing, but she needed a lot of concentration, and that made her head hurt again, so she stopped.

Jessica moved to a window to look out. “That’s quite a crowd,” she said. “They don’t seem hostile at all though.”

Even if they wanted to, Annora wasn't sure how they'd go about defeating some Borg. Even if they were only a handful and not as strong as they once were. "They seem friendly enough, but at the same time I don't want to give them false hope."

River agreed with Annora's assessment, but she didn't actually voice it, she just nodded. Her senses were quite affected by all the emotional cacophony. She winced against it and the pain in her head, which seemed to be aggravated by the barrage of other peoples' input. Putting her fingers to her temples, she subconsciously rubbed circles around as if trying to soothe some of it back into proportion.

Jessica glanced at River and realized this must be tough for the Betazed. She put a hand on the woman’s shoulder reassuringly, keeping herself calm to not add to her burden. “We don’t have weapons,” Jessica pointed out to the elder. “We can’t take out the Prophet.”

The elder smiled and turned back to the crowd and said, "My guests are tired and hungry. There will be time for discussions tomorrow. I wish you well this evening."

There were 'awws' of disappointment from many, and after a few moments, the elder closed the door.

"In a small village, things usually don't go unnoticed," the elder said with a chuckle.

Brianthe grinned. "I come from a small village. I understand."

"I am sorry," the Elder said. "The story of the Falling and the Ancients I could tell to the village a thousand times and most would listen eagerly. I am sure tomorrow you will be bombarded with questions. I will make sure you are allowed appropriate time to attend to your friend before letting them, though."

Yolanthe wiped her hands on her pants. "I'm happy to dig the ash pit and build the pyre. I just need to be shown where, and where to find good wood."

Jessica glanced at Alanna and then back to the Elder. “What kind of weapons do you have here?” she asked. “If your people are interested in us, I imagine the Prophet is, too. I’d prefer to have something to defend ourselves with.”

Annora nodded in agreement with Jessica. "Agreed. If word gets back we took out some of his henchmen, that's going to paint a target on our backs. We got lucky then, I'd rather not tempt fortune a second time."

Alanna was focused more on the imminent cremation of Jason. "What works best against the Prophet?"

"We use bows and simple guns that the ancients showed us how to make so we could protect ourselves from the Prophet's minions," the Elder said. "What works against him, I do not know, as there have been none of us in three generations who has tried to fight him. If his minions come, we will defend ourselves, and when the sickness of the land that his work creates gets too close, we leave the area. We stay relatively close in case there are those who wish to leave the Prophet. We get one or two a year that come back to us."

"The only way to stop the prophet is to destroy his technology, and that may be almost impossible at this point," Alanna mused. "They taught you how to make gunpowder?" If they were going to be stuck here for a while... But no, she wasn't going to put these people in more danger than they already were.

"Too bad you can't create one great big EMP pulse to fry their systems," Brianthe added. "Or crash a comet on top of them. So, your plan of avoidance seems to be the best way of dealing with this prophet."

“If he lets us,” Jessica said. “If they have gunpowder, that’s a good start. A big enough explosion…” She was already starting some calculations on how much they would need. Maybe they could make other explosives, like nitroglycerine or TNT. They had a scientist, and Jessica knew enough chemistry to do something makeshift.

"After all this time, some of the systems must be failing, or close to it," Alanna added. "If we could damage it, or short it out, the prophet wouldn't be able to repair it all." She turned to the others. "How many followers does this prophet have?" That would give them a good indication of what they were up against.

The elder said, "Caldon is a better man to speak about weapons, in the morning. He is essentially the captain of our defense. Now, as to how many followers the Prophet has, well, there are about one hundred in the small town near his so-called temple. Technically they are all followers, because if one isn't, well, one is killed. How many are true-believers, I am not sure."

He yawned a little and said,"Pardon me. I am up a bit past my bedtime."

He laughed a little before continuing, "I don't know about you all, but I do need rest. We can answer more questions and show you about more tomorrow, certainly. There are only two small beds here, but we do have plenty of blankets."

"Will Jason's body be safe for tonight?" Alanna asked."I can sleep outside if necessary. A couple of blankets will suffice."

"I'll join you," Brianthe added.

"I promise, your friend will be fine," the older man said with a smile. "If you wish, however, you may stay with him. I am not going to force you to stay inside."

"I know." Alanna looked at the door. "I'd rather stay with him tonight." Even though she knew he was dead, a part of her hoped that by some miracle of this place he'd be fine in the morning.

“I think the doctor should take a bed,” Jessica said, “until she’s feeling better. I’ll stay with her. But I won’t be far. Just yell if you need me,” she told Alanna.

"I will." Alanna glanced at the doctor and back to Jessica. "Thanks." She was used to camping out-of-doors, and she was healthy. The doctor still didn't look well.

Alanna and Brianthe took some blankets and went outside to set up beds for the night within sight of Jason's body. Both were familiar with the woods, but these had a definite feeling of age and presence the ones they'd been in before didn't.

Alana spent a long while listening to the woods before falling asleep.

The morning brought the sounds of birds chirping and the smell of food cooking. There were the sounds of some kids playing, and perhaps chores being done, as the sun slowly started to peek through the woods. Outside, Freila was sitting near Alanna and Brianthe as they start to wake.

It was just growing light when Alanna woke and turned to Freila.

Alanna felt the presence before she opened her eyes. "Hello," she said, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair to smooth it.

"Good morning," Freila said. "Grandfather could not be here early, so he wanted to make sure I was. I know your tall, colorful friend has been working on the cairn. I think some of our younger lads have tried to help her, but I am not sure if their efforts are totally altruistic."

The bokkai, streaked in sweat and dirt, and pale grey from head to foot, wiped her hands off on a cloth. "I wasn't sure if Humans had a particular way of doing it, so I just built it the way we do at home."

Alanna looked at Jason. She knew he wasn't going to come back, as much as she hoped he would. "Thank you. We probably shouldn't put it off any longer."

"No, we shouldn't," Brianthe said, sitting up. "This morning is fine. What do we need to do?'

"It is as simple as bringing his body to the cairn, doing whatever rite or saying whatever words is your custom, and then, well, lighting the cairn," Freila replied.

"Maybe after breakfast," Alanna said. "I know the others will want to be there, too."

"Very well," Freila replied. "Asin is putting food out now."

"I'm going to wash up," Yolanthe said. "I'll join you when it's time."

Alanna nodded and folded up her blankets to take back inside, Brianthe right behind her.


====Tree Talking====

The three returned while people were still waking up. Alanna and Brianthe picked up their blankets and went inside to join the others.

Inside, the Elder's aide Asin was setting the table with a buffet of food. The smell made the small abode smell wonderful, almost pushing aside the aches of sleeping in a confined space.

It took Annora a while to fall asleep, but when she did, it was a decent sleep. She awoke when Asin started preparing breakfast. A quick scan thankfully revealed no further casualties. While she didn't expect any, with all the craziness it wouldn't have surprised her. Glancing out at Jason's body, a thought came to her.

"Asin, do you have a trumpet or similar instrument?"

"What is a trumpet?" Asin asked. "I've not heard that term before."

How to verbally describe a trumpet was not something she'd given much consideration before. Still, she did the best she could.

"It's a musical instrument, made out of metal. Usually brass. Simple ones look much like an animal horn with the person blowing into the small end. They're used often by bands, and in military ceremonies."

"We do have horns," Asin answered. "Nothing as complex as what you describe."

"That should suit the purpose," Alanna said, coming into the room.

Annora managed a weak smile as the science officer joined the conversation. "Morning, Alanna. I was thinking a couple of bugle calls historically used on Earth for military funerals and remembrance ceremonies. I don't know the Lieutenant's funeral preferences, if any, but it seems appropriate."

"I don't know what he'd want, either, but I think it's a great idea. Can you play?" Alanna asked.

"I can. I'm better at the violin or guitar, but thankfully bugle calls can be played on most brass instruments with no fingering." It wouldn't be concert level of quality, but should be sufficient for the purpose.

"Thank you," Alanna said, feeling the tears prick at her eyes again. "I think Jason would appreciate it."

River nodded thoughtfully. It would be a nice way to pay respects and music - even basic monotones or simple combinations would serve well.

Asin waited for a break in the conversation and said,"Oh, I understand now. A song of passing. Curious that you play them so early after death."

Jessica emerged out of the back room, still in the tattered remains of her dress from the poker game. She wished she could shower and have a clean uniform. It would make all of this more...manageable.

“The doctor is still sleeping,” she said, closing the door behind her. “No trouble last night?” She tried to do something with her blonde hair, which was falling out of the elaborate updo that went with the dress, and finally gave up and yanked out the last of the pins, letting the blonde tresses cascade down her shoulders. “No trouble last night?”

"All quiet," Alanna said. "Freila said the funeral pyre is ready."

Tizo listened to the conversation about funeral arrangements. If they returned to the station, he would light a duranja and say a prayer for Jason. If for some reason they were stuck on the planet, he would do his best to create a prayer lamp of his own. He took in Jessica's tattered dress. "You want my coat? I took it off before the fight, so it's still in pretty good shape. "

Alanna felt a little awkward still dressed like Annie Oakley. She turned to Asin. "I hate to impose further, but we were dressed for a party when we ended up here. Do you have any extra clothes we could change into? It might also help us blend in when we go to learn more about the prophet's ship."

River felt that would be a good move and agreed. "Yes, please, if you wouldn't mind. You've been so kind and generous, and we do appreciate all you have done,” she added, hoping that they wouldn't be making themselves too much trouble, but yet wanting to fit in respectfully at the same time as not being too needy.

Freila nodded and said, "Asin and I will see what we can find. I can't guarantee any of them will fit though. We have a more delicate frame."

With that, Asin and Freila left, leaving you all to eat and discuss any course of action you might take.

Alanna thanked them before they left, then turned to her food, eating silently while she contemplated what they needed to do that day.

“Looks like I won’t need your coat,” Jessica told Tizo with a smile. “But thank you. I’ll reconsider if they don’t find anything to fit. If you have extra boots, though...” The ones she was wearing had impractically high heels.

"Extra boots, no. Just the boots that came with my outfit. I'm not sure they'd fit anyway. Sorry."

Jessica smiled. “No worries. I’ll deal. Just promise to carry me if I turn my ankle,” she teased, putting a hand on his chest.

River smiled. This hadn't been much of a trip for smiling but it was still something they all needed any tiny amount that was going. Sadly it didn't last and it still left her feeling full of mental fog and darkness. How had this happened, what was going to happen next, where was it all going to end?

This seemed like a cross between a bad dream and bad literature - something along the lines of that so called classic of centuries ago, Alice in Wonderland. River had always hated that book and now it felt like she was inside it, desperate to find a way home. She shuddered and tried to find something cozy to wear that would warm her better. She suspected her sudden feeling the cold that she couldn't shake, might be something to do with the cracked skull she was nursing, and maybe the plant based food they had been eating of late might have contained something that could induce a temperature raise which would offer these types of symptoms.

Clothes were found that fit, more or less, and everything was cleaned up and put away. There was now the one thing that had been put off from the night before. Jason. Or, rather, Jason's body.

Jason's body was placed on the funeral pyre, ready for cremation. All that remained was for Annora to play the horn and the fire to be lit.

Alanna could not watch. She stood with her back turned, crying. Brianthe stood by her side.

Jessica readjusted her clothes. They were a bit big, as were the new boots, but at least she wasn’t going to turn an ankle. Someone had given her a leather thong, so she tied back her blonde hair in a regulation ponytail to keep it out of her face. She gave Alanna a sympathetic look. She was taking this hard. Jessica didn’t know the Chief Science Officer well, and so didn’t know anything about her relationship with Jason, and Haines hadn’t spoken about it. That kind of thing did not tend to come up in training exercises.

Borrowing Tizo's jacket to throw over her dirty and torn blouse, Annora went ahead of the rest of the group to practice the tunes. While neither tune was complicated, they weren't something she regularly played. Once everyone had gathered, Annora raised the horn and began to play The Last Post, followed by Taps. (https://youtu.be/DQfDOlgOaOA?t=22)

Alanna broke down when Annora played Taps. Brianthe put her arm around her friend and held her.

Yolanthe, now a Cardassian grey with hair the colour of smoke, came up. In one hand she carried a torch, a smooth straight branch wrapped in burning oil cloth. She offered it to Alanna. "Would you like to...?"

Alanna looked at the torch, then at Yolanthe. "Thank you, but I..." She shook her head. "You were his friend. You should do it."

Yolanthe frowned, "I wouldn't go that far. I'm his barkeeper. but if you're sure..." She turned back to the pyre, and touched it to several places where she allowed for accelerant, lamp oil, to run straight to the kindling beneath the body.

Jessica stood up straight, at attention. Jason was Starfleet. He deserved a Starfleet sendoff. As the horn played, and Yolanthe applied the flame, she snapped a salute.

For a few minutes the flame was tiny, barely a candle light. And then the centre of the pyre caught properly, and flames began to lick outward between the layers of branches, surrounding the body, obscuring it from view as the shroud started to catch.

The villagers watch at a respectful, but supportive, distance. They didn't know the man who had died, but they knew the burden it was causing on their guests.

Alanna couldn't turn around. She smelled the smoke, the wood, she heard the fire. She knew this had to be done, but it was a final goodbye, and it hurt far too much to watch.

The fire had taken hold now and was burning hard, and a deep orange glow began to blossom at the centre of the pyre itself. Everything was well alight now, and Yolanthe tossed her burning torch onto the end of the pyre. It cracked and popped, and grey smoke rose up against the morning sky. The flames took all of the body into its embrace now, and the heat coming from the funeral fire began to push people back. In a few hours, there would only be a pile of ash and bone in the ground.

Alanna wiped her tears and tried to get herself under control. "I think we should see what we can do to stop this prophet so he doesn't hurt anyone else."

As the flames took hold, Tizo began a prayer to the Prophets. He wasn't sure how much interest they took in those not of Bajor, but it was worth a try. At the same time, he prayed for strength and guidance for the group as they moved forward with their plan.

"Agreed. While tragic, maybe we were sent here to stop this false prophet,"

Alanna nodded. "Maybe we were. We are at least familiar with the Borg. After so long, surely his equipment is failing. It could give us an advantage." This gave her something to focus on, to work towards. Right now, she needed that. She also needed to help these people.

Jessica turned to follow the others, looking back at the pyre. A couple of the natives were settling down to make sure the fire didn’t spread, but other than that, most everyone was starting to file away. “Rest in peace,” she said quietly.

Brianthe spoke a few words in her native tongue. She glanced at Alanna, then followed Jessica so her friend could have a few moments alone.

Alanna let the others go first, then turned to the pyre. "I love you," she whispered. "I will never forget you." She hoped that wherever he was, he would hear her. Then she turned and headed back.

When they'd all assembled back in the house, Alanna turned to the others. "I want to go after the prophet. If we can find the ingredients, we can make gunpowder. If not, we'll take what we can."

"I'm in," Yolanthe offered. "I don't know about gunpowder. But I can follow instructions."

[OFF]

---

Various Aliens
APB Lt.(jg) Jason Haines

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

Ensign Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist

Ensign Jessicay Mayhew
Security Officer

Yolanthe Ibalin
Proprietor, The Box of Delights

Lt. Cmdr. River Morgan
Acting CMO

Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief of Security

Ensign Tizo Criteser
Security Officer

 

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