Strangers in the Grass, Part 2

Posted on Wed Dec 7, 2016 @ 4:53am by Lieutenant Daniel Rivera & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant JG Rhe'la Daughter of the Forty-ninth House & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant JG Noelle Bennett M.D. & Lieutenant JG Leonora Dell & Lieutenant JG Jason Fisher & Civilian Opal Oliver (Deceased) Dr

2,144 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Cardassia
Timeline: Circa 2373

[CONTINUED]

The other side of the Portal

They emerged out into dry, hot air in a small glade surrounded by yellowed green vegetation, like giant bamboo grasses and the shade they cast didn't take away the heat. Overhead the sun was high and bright and only the tiniest shreds of cloud hung into the blue sky.

Emerged from the portal, Korudos looked around the away team’s new surroundings and then his hand wiped away the forming beads of sweat from his blue forehead. Looking around the glades, the science officer pulled out his tricorder and began scanning their surroundings. "Well, it's definitely a Class M planet, and judging by the stars that I can pick up in the skyline we're in the Alpha Quadrant. Where exactly or when is another question. The atmosphere does appear to be Earth normal however."

Amia and Opal scanned around themselves, not realizing they were standing back to back, almost like a pair of gunslingers trying to get the full 180 degree scope and flush out their attackers. Actually, there were no attackers. There were lots of life signs, but none hostile. Well, not so far anyway. The two began cataloging the species they could identify and listing them onto a data rod each. Later they could combine what they'd observed and make one overview. For now they worked on, conscientiously and fully absorbed in their tasks.

A moment later everyone's tricorders started beeping. A group of life signs were heading their way, and the tricorders were scrambling to pick up enough detail to determine species.

Caleb slipped his sidearm from his holster. The first scan had shown nothing much. Now they had life signs approaching. “Everyone get down in the grass and keep quiet,” Caleb said soto voce, motioning everyone down. The tall, yellowed grass would allow them some semblance of cover to assess.

Liam went up to Caleb's side as they crouched down and said in a very low voice. "They are sentient. I think they know we are here. They are curious and tense."

Amia and her medical teams all did as instructed by the Chief of Security. No one had any clear idea of what exactly was going on here, and no one wanted to draw attention to themselves either until they had more clues as to who or what was here with them.

Despite his scientific desire to learn more about what was drawing near, Korudos heeded the Commander's order and took to the grass. He wasn't prepared to give up completely, however, and he quickly silenced the audio system on his tricorder and placed it into a passive scan so that it would not alert anyone or thing nearby.

Taking a knee, Annora took her phaser from the holster and held it at the ready. She reached back and ensured her rifle was still easily accessible should the need arise. Whoever was coming towards them was still too far for a visual ID, but the tricorders were showing something out there. While some were keeping an eye on their tricorders, she was scanning the horizon, hoping to gather some clues as to whoever was approaching them.

Mikaela Locke sank down into the grass with the others. She hadn't particularly been bothering to scan the area -- she could always access that data later anyway -- but the emergence of a sentient lifeform had piqued her curiosity. From her crouched position, she could just about make out Fisher a few feet in front of her, and Korudos off to her right, but the team had begun to spread out, and in the cover of the long grass it was going to be difficult to keep track of everyone.

Like the others, Dan Rivera took a knee and lowered his head slightly to keep a low profile. His tricorder was also on passive scan. Hopefully whoever was out there would prove to be friendly. A flat, stone marker was embedded in the ground nearby. It had Fae inscriptions on it. Rivera used his tricorder to note its precise location. He knew from reading the previous mission reports that it would be important later for getting them back.

Unlike Pangaea or DS5, the climate on this particular planet was positively divine. Hot and dry, the Zarnac engineer was comfortable outside of her quarters for the first time in awhile. But, as humanoids didn't care for this sort of weather, she wondered who would be living here. Muffling her tricorder, she held it out and boosted the gain as high as possible. "What the..." she hissed.

-----

Thirteen-year-old Bretav Dejak was leading his friends. All had sticks in their hands. These were their "rifles," although some of the kids weren't treating them as such. Some were using them as walking sticks or as tools to sweep away the thick foliage in their way. Bretav turned around with an annoyed look. In a loud whisper he said, "Everybody get down! Be quiet! They'll see us!" Somewhere out here another group of kids was hiking about the countryside. They were the "enemy." The two groups, who were really just one big group of friends, were out here playing soldier. Mostly it was a lot of walking. Not much "combat."

"They're hiding in the grass up ahead," Relon Cetan said in a normal, conversational tone. To him that meant the game was already over. "Let's just call out to them and go home." A minute earlier they had heard the sound of muted conversation and movement rustling the vegetation. They were heading that way.

"No, we sneak up and capture them," Bretav insisted. He wished the others would take this as seriously as he did. He continued forward in a low crouch, his "rifle" at the ready.

"We're far away from the main road," another child named Siana Elor said. She was feeling tense, but not because of the game. She had heard stories of children getting lost in this area before. They were never heard from again. She looked around and hoped they would be able to find the road again. It was the only way they knew to get home.

From somewhere in the rear of the column someone else groused, "We shouldn't even be out here. This place is off limits. My father will be angry when he finds out. He says it's dangerous."

Bretav wanted to lash out at all of them. Why did they have to be so weak? Bretav's own father had always taught him to give his best, to never be afraid. That was the Cardassian way. If I have to capture the other group single-handedly, then so be it. He quickened his pace, leaving the others behind.

"Bretav, wait!" Relon said behind him, but Bretav wasn't waiting. The others were up ahead somewhere, hiding. He was going to capture them. He would be on top of them before they realized it. He would be the victor. As he thought about it he smiled. A feeling of invincibility overcame him.

The vegetation was a bit thicker ahead. Bretav put his head down to power through. It wasn't that easy. A tangle of vines caught his feet and he fell forward, dropping his stick. He grunted and kicked at it. He knew he had to move fast if he was going to maintain his element of surprise. Then he looked up, and froze.

Between the yellowed blades of grass he saw a pair of eyes watching him. Just behind that another pair. They were not Cardassian eyes. Bretav froze in fear.

Dell was looking right at the child, her mouth dry. They had to be on a Cardassian colony. They'd gone a dozen paces and about fifty thousands light years. "Er, hi."

As soon as the child appeared in view, all eyes were upon him from within the grass. Amia tried to scan him from as far away as she could, but didn't get readings until he was close and stumbling forward. Cardassian? she thought, her brows furrowing quizzically.

Cardassians. Of all the places in the galaxy, the portal had dumped them on a Cardassian planet. Though the presence of the portal would certainly strengthen the Cardassian position on Pangaea (and thus her family's), Rhe'la still didn't trust them. But this was a child, so she wasn't about to condemn him for the past duplicity of his people. Yet.

“Easy, there, son,” Caleb said, holstering his sidearm and holding his hand down to the boy. He grasped the boy’s arm to help him up and stayed crouched in the grass at the boy’s level. “What’s your name, son? Ah’m Caleb.”

"Bloody hell. Cardassians," the science officer whispered. Of course, Cardassia had become an ally of the Federation in recent years, but the implications of how far they had just possibly traveled was amazing. What was more concerning to him, however, was not just where they could be, but when. Was it the present? The past or the future? Starfleet personnel on a Cardassian planet or colony prior to the treaty would not be a good thing, nor would an alternate dimension either, from what his Academy knowledge reminded him. He began debating with himself if he should start trying to truly figure out where they were, and if he could do so without drawing attention from the children.

"My thoughts exactly, Ensign," the Zarnac engineer muttered, shooting a glance over at Korudos. She wasn't even considering the potential temporal issues; she simply didn't trust the Cardassians as far as she could throw them.

Bretav wanted to get words out of his mouth, but his tongue wouldn't work. He couldn't even find the strength to resist, even though the human's grip on his arm wasn't strong. His heart, however, was beating very fast.

The other children arrived, running through the brush. Relon, who was in the lead, froze exactly as Bretav had. The two children behind him couldn't stop in time and collided with him. All of them fell to the ground in a sprawl. The next one through, little Siana, arrived and immediately cried out, "Bretav!"

Another girl behind her stopped and screamed at the sight of the Starfleet team.

Bretav finally summoned his senses, tearing loose from Caleb's gentle grip. "Run!" he yelled to the others. He took one step and tripped over the same vines that had tripped him before. The other children scattered in various directions.

Siana, however, didn't run away. Instead she ran to Bretav and tried to help him to his feet. She, too, stumbled as her feet became entangled in the vines.

Liam took a step forward slowly. "Let me help you," he said softly to the frightened children. "There's nothing to be afraid of, we just want to talk. If that's okay?" he said as he slowly bent down and tried to work the vines free from round her feet.

“Keep weapons holstered,” Caleb ordered the team. “Lieutenant, let them go,” he said to Liam as he straightened up, watching the other children run through the grass.

Behind the commander the blue-skinned Andorian had thrown caution to the wind and had decided to reactivate his tricorder and begin working on trying to utilize the skyline to get a rough ideas of where the team was. The device was taking its sweet time, and Korudos’ antennae began to curve back as his forehead bunched in frustration. It was then as the children were beginning to get out of visual range that the tricorder finished its scans and gave him his results. Cursing under his breath, Korudos hired to Commander Ryan and tapped him on the shoulder. "Commander, we have a problem."

Caleb watched the kids disappear and turned to the Andorian. “What is it?” he asked Korudos.

Handing his tricorder over to the commander, the Andorian prepared to shared his troubling findings. "I can't be one hundred percent certain without solid astrometric charts to verify the tricorder readings, but if they are accurate we were just teleported to Cardassia. And judging by the alignment of what stars can be detected, we arrived at the worst time possible." Pausing to let the news sink in, the scientist decided to just go ahead and slap on the rest of the bad news. "Sir, my best guess is that we arrived in the 2370's, right in time for the Dominion War."

[TBC]

Lt. Leonora Dell
Acting head of Operations
NPC by Notty

Lt. Liam Reynolds
Chief Diplomat

Ens. Korudos th'Razh
Chief Science Officer

Ltjg. Noelle Bennett, M.D.
Chief Counselor

Lt. Mikaela Locke
Senior Intelligence Officer

Ltjg. Jason Fisher
Security Officer
NPC Iain

Cmdr. Amia Telamon
Chief Medical Officer

Lt. Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Ltjg. Annora Tessaro
Assistant Security Chief

Lt. Dan Rivera
Engineer
NPC Bert

 

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