Sticks and Stones, Part 1

Posted on Thu Apr 14, 2016 @ 10:42am by Commander Caden Aldrex & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant JG Noelle Bennett M.D. & Qinee & Second Lieutenant Emily Ransom

1,196 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Pangaea, Deep Underground
Timeline: MD13/1130/Planetside evening rolling in

[ON]

The sentinel wasn't what it used to be. Like the other stone guardians in these caverns it had once stood ready to turn back any intruders. That had changed a century or two before, when an earthquake had loosened a pair of stalactites above it. The huge, dagger-like objects, each weighing several tons, had rained down on the dormant sentinel, shattering it. The largest piece that remained was a portion of its head, neck, and right arm, all still attached to each other like some grisly artifact. The arm still held its spear. Despite this inconvenience the sentinel still contained the life that Rusalka had given it, and it remained ready to do her bidding.

A group of intruders appeared, the first people who had entered these caverns in a long time. Sensing their presence, the sentinel's eyes glowed red and it tried to pick itself up with limbs that were no longer there. Still it growled out its defiant challenge. "Góshé śatam?" ["Who enters?"]

The voice startled Noelle, something readily apparent by how she jumped back. The counselor was confused and more than a little disoriented. One moment they were all making their way into the caves as a group and the next minute she was here? It didn't make sense. Immediately, she looked around and noticed she wasn't alone. "Do you understand that?"

"Not a word," Amia replied, "but it didn't sound like it meant, ‘Good morning, welcome, how can I help you?’"

Hearing their voices, the sentinel spoke again in their language. "Are you the ones I await?"

The Ferengi were having a little more trouble, as the sudden disorientation messed with their inner ears. Nazl gave a nasally whine of pain and Qinee swayed unsteadily, shaking her head until her lobes cleared.

“What happened?” the Ferengi ambassador demanded. “And what is that and how is it speaking!” she gaped at the disfigured stone statue. She paused, contemplating the answer.

“Yes, you await us,” she finally said. Was it guarding treasure?

"Maybe..." Amia was a little more guarded. "It might be awaiting someone it wants to destroy!" she whispered. "Or if not, then when we don't know the passwords or whatever it wants us to do next, that in itself might make it mad enough to attack because it will think it's being tricked."

"What were you required to do once we got here?" she asked the Guardian, or whatever it was that had detected them.

Noelle wanted to know that answer herself, and despite appreciating how others got to the point she couldn't help but worry everyone's anxiety would lead to events they couldn't take back. "Everyone take a breath," she replied firmly. "We don't know all the answers, but we are going to get through this if we work together to figure things out and stay calm."

Amia conceded that Noelle had the right attitude and was being very wise. She gave a strong and accentuated nod of her head in clear agreement and support, following it with the deep breath prescribed, to show further that she, for one, was following Noelle's advice.

Lt. Jonas Bentzen, a planetary sciences specialist who had been swept here with them, opened his tricorder and took some readings of the strange lifeform, or mechanism, or whatever it was. Behind it was a long, narrow tunnel, just big enough for an average-sized person to walk through. He pointed his flashlight down that way.

The sentinel answered Noelle, "I am the sentinel who protects this doorway, but my master instructed me to allow passage to the ones named Amia, Noelle, Qinee, Nazl, and Jonas. If you are they, then you may enter." The sentinel knew that even if they weren't, it was in no condition to resist anyway. Its fighting days were done.

“But what I tell you next is important, and you must remember," the sentinel added. "No more than five may go through the doorway. Once five have gone no one else may enter. Also, once the doorway is opened it will remain open for only one rotation of this planet. You must return before then or it will close. Proceed when ready."

"So no one can come in and rescue us or help once we're in there. That sounds unsafe," Amia said. "And also, how does it know which of us it separated out? This is very suspicious. I think we should try to find our way back to where we came in. I vote to go in the opposite direction to the one that thing is leading us towards."

Lt. Bentzen studied the readings on his tricorder and muttered a curse. "You're making plenty of sense, Doctor. But according to my scans we are far underneath the surface of Pangaea. It would take at least a couple of days to climb our way back to the surface." He pointed his flashlight this way and that, looking for an exit. There were several possibilities, but that didn't negate the fact that it would mean two days without food, water, or proper safety equipment. An insistent chirp from his tricorder told him something else they didn't want to hear. "Life signs nearby. It's not any of our people. Probably animal life forms."

"The others who protect these caverns," the sentinel said.

“Well, I’m not seeing much choice,” Qinee said, studying the doorway the sentinel indicated. “And if we’re going to have company that might not be friendly, I would rather not be here.”

“Bah! Bankruptcy take you all! I’m not sticking around!” Nazl said, turning and picking a passageway at random.

“Not so fast!” Qinee said, grabbing Nazl by his collar. “Where’s your sense of adventure? And possible profit!” And then she shoved Nazl right through the doorway. He gave a shriek and Qinee looked back at the others.

“Guess he tripped.” She giggled. “Coming?”

Amia looked at Noelle and then at the retreating backs of the Ferengi. She nodded at Bentzen and moved forward to follow him. She didn't like the idea of "others" coming up from other directions, and at least if they went this way no one else could follow, right?

It was a whole can of inadvisable, but then so was staying here.

The sentinel stood aside and watched them enter. It did not follow. Bentzen looked over his shoulder and met the strange creature's gaze for a moment. When he turned to face forward again he and the others were no longer in the cave. They were in the middle of a burning city. All around them were buildings reduced to rubble. Screams and cries came from every direction.

A military-looking vehicle approached them. It bristled with antennas and a small, turreted weapon. In no time it was on top of them and screeched to a halt. The top hatch opened with a hiss that released some of the air from inside. Then a soldier, clad in what looked like chemical warfare gear, emerged pointing a weapon at them. "You people! What are you doing here?"

[TBC]

Qinee
Ferengi Ambassador

Nazl
Ferengi lackey

Lt Cmdr Amia Telamon
CMO - DS5

 

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