A Closer Look

Posted on Sun Mar 15, 2020 @ 3:46am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross

1,625 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Shuttlebay/Pangaea
Timeline: Backpost

ON

Alanna didn't feel her shuttle was quite ready for sharing with others, so she reserved a small personal shuttle to take Natalie to the more remote areas of Pangaea for their first trip. There was a lot to see and one trip was not enough.

She arrived first in the shuttle bay and began the pre-launch prep.

Doors opened and Natalie stepped into the shuttle bay. She planned to arrive early but number of her team members decided that they had last minute questions. Plus, this was the first time she was going to be off the station since her arrival. She wanted to make sure everything was in ordered and that everything could function without any issues while she was sight seeing.

Natalie stepped inside the shuttle. Alanna was already there. "Hello." She greeted her. "My apologies for running late." She added as she took the seat next to Alanna.

"Hi! No worries. I'm a decent-enough pilot, but I still like to double-check everything. I'm just finishing up, so your timing is good."

It was the first time Alanna had taken anyone but Jason on a tour of the planet. It was ironic Natalie was also intel. "Today I'll show you the wilderness. It's mostly off-limits, although there is a decent-sized section of the planet that can be explored. Some of the ruins are only accessible to science while we excabate and try to understand them."

"Sounds good." Natalie replied to the idea of them visiting the wilderness. She was interested in seeing more than just the portals she had heard so much about. "Anything I can do to help?" She asked looking over at Alanna.

"Sure. You can either pilot us down, or run scans as we fly over the planet. I like to see what's chanced since I was here last."

"I'll fly, you can run scans as you are more familiar with the planet." Natalie answered. Plus, Natalie was a much better pilot then a scientist. She took a moment to re-familiarize herself with the controls. It had been year or so since she last flew a shuttle, but it was very much like riding a bike, and she was a decent pilot.

Alanna grinned. "Fine by me. Coordinates will be in the computer. We'll bypass the colony and head north. I'll let you know where to put down."

"Understood." Natalie turned her attention to receiving clearance and flight path from the stations operations. After a couple of minutes of waiting they were granted permission to take off. Natalie moved her fingers swiftly across console in front of her and shuttle gently rose up from the ground and headed out into open space.

Shuttle maneuvered around various other ships and shuttles coming and going from the station. Once they were in the clear they increased speed and headed towards the planet. After entering low orbit they broke down through the clouds and headed north of the colony.

Alyssa was carefully monitoring the planet for changes. Every now and then, there would be something different and she'd mark it for a closer look. "There's a forest not far from here. The trees are a thousand years old." She marked the location on the map. "We can set down there and have a look around."

Natalie continued to look around as they flew. The planet was beautiful. She could see why this place would be a scientists haven. She nodded at Alyssa as instructions were given of where to land. She brought the shuttle in the direction of the marked spot. A few minutes later they had landed on the ground, and the door opened.

"There's an ancient village over here," Alanna said, heading off into the trees. "We'll only look at the outer ring today. The dwellings are more complete when you get further in."

They reached a part of the forest that looked different from the rest. The trees were taller, older. Dwellings were built into and around the base of the trees. "There is little left beyond this, but I find it fascinating."

Natalie kept close to Alanna as they traversed through the forest. It had been some time since she had been to a environment such as this. She looked around the various trees and vegetation that the forest offered while maintaining a watchful eye on the path in front of them. "This is fascinating." Natalie agreed with Alanna as they approached the dwellings. She took a moment or two to examine then asked. "Who built these?"

"A race called The Fey. This was their planet. They brought the planet here and gave it to the commander of the station. We don't know much about them, except that they had some control over time and space."

Natalie nodded. "That's right. I remember briefly reading something about that." She walked closer to the trees examining them.

"They had time to clean everything out," she said. "I once saw a ghostly flotilla of ancient Fey ships near here."

Natalie took another moment or two examining the surroundings before wondering back to Alanna. "I am assuming that there are number of sites such as this across the planet?"

"More or less. There are some sites like this, and there are a couple of ruins that are off-limits. The portal site is one. Come on. I'll show you some others."

"Ok." Natalie followed Alanna wondering what other things had the Fey left. She began to wonder what kind of people they were. She wasn't a scientist but her curious yet cautious nature sometimes got the best of her. She made a note to herself to look up all she can about Fey, maybe Alanna would be able to help in that regard. A conversation for another time for sure.

"At some point we should spend the night here and see if we can see any apparitions," Alanna said as she headed back to the shuttle. "If they appear, it's generally when the moon rises."

"We'll go next to the bone pit, That appeared a few months ago. We think it's about a thousand years old." Alanna smiled at Natalie. "Because of the nature of the planet, things do occasionally appear or disappear."

"I can see why you'd want to stay here." Natalie stated walking next to Alanna as they headed back to the shuttle. "And it's becoming clearer why there is so much chatter about this places on official channels, but especially on unofficial ones."

"Oh?" she asked, turning to Natalie. "What sort of chatter have you heard?" She'd seen the official reports, but was curious about the unofficial comments.

"I've said too much already." Natalie quickly replied. "Shall we?" She asked but didn't expect an answer as her pace picked up heading to the shuttle.

"You haven't said too much yet. I can always check with my unofficial sources." She smiled. "Scientists have their secrets, too."

She said nothing more as they went back to the shuttle and down to land near the bone pit. It was, quite literally, a large pit with an entrance that led to the bottom. The sides of the pit were filled with alien bones and body parts in various stages of decay.

Now that they have moved from the other site to this bone pit Natalie looked upon it. "Have you been able to identify who those bones belong too...?"

"No. They're alien. We figure it covers a period of a thousand years. About ten months ago, a creature attacked the colony. We believe it was one of these."

"So, what you are saying is that this planet is full of mystery and danger." Natalie looked back to Alanna. "Hope you are keeping vigilant when you are working down here."

"Mostly. Except for some of the portals, I'm more concerned about the races that came down here from DS5," Alanna admitted.

"Understandably so, but be assured that there is a watchful eye keeping watch over those that might have ill intent." Natalie stated hoping that her words were reassuring enough and allowed Alanna to work knowing that Federation and Starfleet as well as her own interests were watched over and protected.

"Trust me, on Pangaea, the colony can use all the watching it can get." Alanna grinned. "I tend to avoid them if I can. You should meet the diplomats, then decide for yourself." She went through he tunnel to the research area where teams were scanning, cleaning and cataloging the bones, then back up to the surface. "Anything else you'd like to see--except for the portal complex, which will take several hours--or would you like to go back to the station and get something to eat?"

The idea sitting down with a diplomat and breaking bread didn't sound appealing to her but if she was to climb the latter, and raise in rank it would only be matter of time before she would have to do such things. Before she would have to politic. It was often said it's all about who you know, and diplomat's can come in handy. However for the time being she turned her attention back to Alanna. "Station is fine. I am slightly hungry."

"All right. I know a great French restaurant on the promenade," Alanna said, heading for the shuttle. "There are more details to learn here, but now you have an overview."

"Thank you very much for taking the time to show me around." Natalie glad that Alanna didn't decide to avoid her based on the circumstances and that she was willing to show her around.

"Any time," Alanna said. "I"ve enjoyed showing you around."

[END]

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five

Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5

 

RSS Feed