Alanna and the Beanstalk

Posted on Wed Dec 9, 2020 @ 5:24pm by Lieutenant Alanna Wells

877 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Pangaea
Timeline: MD -03

ON

Alanna was grateful to Commander Ryan for building his cabin on Pangaea. Finding him and getting permission from Captain Soran gave the archaeologist the opportunity she wanted to build a small research station of her own. Ever since she visited the ancient village—actually three villages—with Calaban, Brianthe and the two Romulan scientists, she’d been itching to come back and do extensive research. She’d even received permission to close the area off as a Federation Sciences Research Site.

The three villages, one built on the remnants of the other were nestled in a forest of trees that were hundreds of years old. That alone would have made the spot ideal, but having time to examine the site and sift through the layers to learn of the people that once lived here was an archaeologist’s dream come true. Even better, it might have a temporal rift as she’d caught sight of a group of ancients poling flatboats down a river at dusk nearby. The river was long gone, as were the ghostly figures, but she wanted to see if they did indeed belong to one of the three villages. To her this was a magical place, full of possibilities—even if she found little of merit.

Because of the expanded colony of various races now calling Pangaea home, she didn’t want anyone disturbing the site, or bothering her, unless she chose to be bothered, so she’d been extra careful to make the three-story structure her own private hobbit hole, complete inside its own man-made hill. The first level was underground and held her work area and equipment, with a deeper cellar for storage. The main floor was for guests and visitors. The top floor was her private sanctuary. She could climb on to the top of the “hill” and enjoy a picnic, or look out a hidden balcony on the enormous, broad-leafed trees. Thanks to science, the entire edifice looked and scanned like an ordinary hill. She even had an underground bay for her shuttle with a tunnel to the cellar. It was the most privacy she’d had in years. All communications went through the portal complex. Only they, Brianthe, and Jason knew where to find her.

She awoke early on her second day of a three-week sabbatical eager to have a walk through the village to map out where the best spots were for her research when she noticed that something was growing outside her window. It was on the side away from the forest, where there’d been brush and smaller trees the day before. She pulled out her tricorder and scanned from her room. A beanstalk? Had there once been beanstalks on Pangaea? It was enormous. This wouldn’t be the first time something appeared on the planet during a temporal ripple. She would have to check with Brianthe to see if there was any temporal activity in the area the night before. Or if Calaban recorded any solar flares.

She thought of contacting Jason, who was living as a beach bum somewhere on the planet, to go with her, but a beanstalk wasn’t important enough to disturb him. She dressed in a pair of worn denim jeans, boots, a blue t-shirt with a gecko on the front and a blue and white plaid flannel shirt and headed downstairs to grab a quick breakfast and have a look at her new neighbor.

The day was perfect. A bank of cumulonimbus clouds kept the sun from being too bright while showing no signs of rain. The beanstalk was as big around as a shuttle and was so tall it disappeared into the clouds. Even her tricorder couldn’t detect the top.

Curious to see how high it went, she went back inside and grabbed a pair of earrings that had a combadge in one ear and a tricorder in the other so she could use both hands if she needed to, then she replicated a pair of anti-gray boots and went back outside.

The leaves were sturdy enough to give her good hand- and foot-holds as she climbed. She wouldn’t go too far up, she promised herself, just enough to scan the top. Besides, she hadn’t gone climbing in…so long she couldn’t remember.

She made good progress. After only two hours she found herself surrounded by cloud. Alanna still couldn’t scan anything above her. She couldn’t scan anything around her, either. She made a mental note to check out the property of these particular clouds when she got back to her cabin. A few more feet and she decided it was time to go back down. She was careful to hold on as she climbed, although the boots would significantly slow her descent. Even with the boots, she didn’t want to risk injury if she could help it.

After an hour, she was still in the clouds. “Okay. Nothing for it but to trust gravity,” she said and let go.

The boots didn’t help. Twenty feet down she landed hard on a solid surface, even though she was still surrounded by clouds. To make matters worse, the beanstalk was nowhere in sight.

____
OFF

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Beanstalk Climber

 

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