The Colony (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 20 Nov 2019 @ 1:48pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Peregrine Steele
Edited on on 20 Nov 2019 @ 1:50pm

2,869 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: Latari B III - NW Island Chain
Timeline: MD 01, 1110 Hrs

Previously...

Pulling his cigar from his lips and replacing it with two fingers, Duke exhaled a piercing whistle then waved his hand in the air in a circle. All of his security team looked to attention then started to fall out into formation surrounding the away team. Together, the group of Starfleet colonists and Galileo scientists began a long march into the thick tropical jungle.

Marisa had just enough time to make sure her samples were secure, grab the most important gear, and head out.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

1110 Hrs Local

Duke hadn't been lying about the morning heat. It was now about an hour before noon and already the two suns in the sky were beaming directly above the tall tree canopy, forcing the humid temperature above 110 F like a greenhouse. The dense vegetative landscape they'd been trekking through for the last three hours was more extreme and incredible than that of any other known exoplanet jungle. There appeared to be hundreds of new species ranging from insectoid to avian, and it had become obvious quite early during the hike that the combined team of Humans, Vulcans, and Andorians were not the only apex predators in the vicinity. The reason for the weapons now became clear to the Galileo crew.

The hike through the jungle was now beginning to feel like a forced march to the Andorian, Tris Shizn. The heat was definitely extreme for most humans and for him it would have killed him by now, if not for his cooling suit under his uniform. For the last 30 minutes he had been checking the control display on his wrist every 5 minutes. Power levels were now at 25%. He wasn’t too worried about that with the 4 extra power cells with him. Tris was worried about the stress on the mechanics of the suit itself. It had not been put through this much strain for so long before.

Marisa had worked in similar conditions, but it had been a while. She was tired, hungry, and sorely in need of a bath. She focused on the terrain around her, and the colonists, mentally cataloging and analyzing what she could to keep her mind occupied while she hiked. She noted how the men dressed, how they behaved, and anything that seemed out of the ordinary. She also listened to the sounds from the jungle around them to pick out familiar sounds. It made the journey bearable.

T'Lin was way to focused to pay much attention to the rest of the group. She was carrying more than fair share so that the Andorian would not wilt too much under the heat.

Steele on the other hand was definitely feeling the day. Crap, he had been feeling it ever since the shuttle took off from the colony site and things had not gotten any better. He was dripping sweat, little rivulets going down his face, his back, in his eyes. He had managed to strike up a little bit of conversation with one of the escort who just shook his head. "Yeah, uniform and all in this, well now you know why we ain't so formal here." There was little information he had gotten other than there were some sort of predators, mostly catlike. Some dangerous insects, spiders, poisonous plants and something resembling a large constrictor snake. "Great," he told his somewhat still tight lipped companion, "why did it have to be snakes."

The situation had brought back some interesting memories for Blake. She hadn't felt quite so close to her Marines years for some time. She'd endured her fair share of unforgiving marches through even harsher terrain. But just because she'd been hardened to it, it didn't mean she liked it. She wasn't beneath feeling relieved when the party stopped for a well deserved, and needed, break. When she was handed water by an actually smiling member of Duke's team, she offered it directly to Tris, taking the chance to get a look at how he was coping. "You've put a good distance behind you, Shizn," she said quietly.

Tris accepted the water, “Thank you, Ma’am,” and quickly began to drink. He knew not to drink too much nor too fast. After two big swings he handed it back and took a deep breath of air. He felt that she actually was concerned for him and added, “I’m doing alright. This is really putting a strain and testing my cooling suit.”

She nodded with approval at hearing his assurance that he was okay. She was impressed by his hardiness. It had shown not just in this journey, but also in how he'd worked so hard to save the shuttle. "Think of it as helping out R&D," she gave him a half smile, shaking her head as she met his eyes, humour glinting in her own.

Tris returned the smile. Well, as best he could under these warm conditions. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.” With curiosity he asked, “Do you happen to know how much longer it will be before we arrive?”

Blake glanced around with a slight frown, taking in the oppressive tropical environment that surrounded them. "It depends if we can all keep this pace up, and if the terrain gets tougher," she glanced back to him, offering a small smile instead. "Just take an hour at a time, Shizn. If that's too daunting, take half an hour at a time...it will add up to the finish line," she offered with a slight tilt of her head. When she'd started out in training, the idea of a full day hike, to the young woman who had been virtually brought up in space, had been so daunting to her...she'd learnt to not focus on the entire journey, and instead break it down into smaller, achievable checkpoints. It had helped keep her morale up at least.

“The finish line,” Shizn parroted taking a sip of water. “One step at a time,” he panted, “Got it.” And then took another drink of water.

Blake glanced to Duke, looking him over for a long moment, just taking him in, the once counsellor trying to work more of him out. She took the chance to drink before moving in closer to Duke, catching her breath. "At least this place must keep you and your people fit," she quipped lightly, the casual nature of the comment covering that she was actually trying to dig a little into how often they came out this far and how they used the terrain in relation to their HQ.

Slowing his pace to observe the nearby rest area in the brush, Duke waved with several hand gestures to his people and they also came to a halt. Canteens, smokes and jerky were passed around between them and silently offered to the members of the away team.

"'Ten K a day', ain't that what they say in the Corps?" Duke replied to Scarlet. Her looked her over for perhaps the eighth or ninth time. "You look like you know something about that," he said after a short pause. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Then you're a good judge of people," Blake admitted freely with a small smile, shaking her head as she ran the back of her hand over her forehead, urging some hair back off her face in the heat. "And it probably means you've had a brush or two with the Corps yourself," she added lightly, with genuine curiosity. It still felt strange to talk about it now it had been taken apart.

The large man scratched his chin. "Three tours during the war. Finally got out in '78 during the Reconstruction." The years immediately following the Dominion War were a tumultuous time for the Federation and its allies, full of political wariness and economic instability.

Blake couldn't help but smile at the words, shaking her head with a slight chuckle of disbelief as she met his eyes. "The same year that I joined up," she offered with a touch of wryness to her tone at the idea of them being so far away from home, yet the two of them had met in this jungle, of all places, and represented the hand over of the baton from one phase of the SFMC to the next.

T'Lin imbibed water but refused jerky and the smell of the smoke was enough to repeal her. She realized though that if it repealed her, it probably repealed the myriad of insects as well and thus logically served a useful function. She would not smoke but she turned to Steele to see if he wanted something.

"Heck yes! " He was sprawled on the ground with a half canteen of water sitting by his side. "Haven't smoked since Academy but anything to drive these bugs away."

"Might I sit with you?" T'Lin inquired. "I do not like the smoke but you have a good point. There is dried meat if you want some."

Steele waved a hand and made a face. "Got enough fat for awhile and who knows what that is made out of. Until I get a better idea think I am with you girl and take a pass." He knew Vulcans would not eat flesh even dried out stuff unless it was an extreme emergency. The two of them chatted since the rest of their escort seemed to still be standoffish.

Marisa accepted water. She wasn't sure what sort of jerky it was and wouldn't try it. She could make it to the camp before needing fuel. She thanked the person offering them to her, wondering if this break would mean any of them would strike up a conversation--or if she should.

She noted that T'Lin was taking care of Shizn and the others seemed well enough off. So she closed her eyes and listened to see what she could pick out from the sounds around her. She got snatches of conversation, the buzzing of flies, the hum of insects. In the distance she thought she heard a predator call, but it was too far away to be sure what type. Possibly feline.

Amidst the calmness of the jungle, one of Duke's men - the one known as Martinez - paced slowly towards the two Vulcans. "Hey...so what happened to your ship?" he not-so-casually asked. "And is it true what they say? Starfleet's being invaded by the Tholians?" In the near distance behind Martinez, several of his cadre paid close attention to the questions with much interest.

Tris was curious too how this question would be answered. He didn’t turn his head, but his left antenna angled toward T’Lin in anticipation.

T'Lin observed the man like one would a somewhat interesting insect before speaking. "Currently the ship," she specifically did not add that there were two Federation ships. "Has proceeded on to the settlement on planet located around the other star. If you are referring to the shuttle we were struck unfortunately by volcanic bomb from the eruption." She again did not provide a lot of detail. "I am not aware of any invasion by the Tholians of the Federation, in any case given the size and componentry and resources of known Tholian ships and weapons, they would be out matched. While an incursion would be sixty five point five percent initially successful their demise and ultimate defeat would be ninety eight point nine percent certain. Logically then it would not seem to be the best move to attempt."

"I concur with T'Lin. We've heard no rumors of a Tholian incursion." Marisa opened her eyes and looked at Martinez. "Where did you hear those rumors?"

Tris now turned his full attention to the conversation, as his antenna lifted high. He thought, This is getting interesting.

"Can't argue numbers right Lieutenant?" Steele gently nudged the Andorian pilot.

“Numbers,” he parroted back with a cool tone. “Everything isn’t always in the numbers.” His eyes moved about to see who, of the (others), might be around before adding, “All isn’t as it may seem, . . sometimes.”

"It rarely is," Sandoval said, answering Tris' comment. "Numbers are logical, measurable, quantifiable. Usually." There were a number of current quantum theories that were illogical.

Martinez blinked and looked at T'Lin as if she were crazy then glanced to the lieutenant. "So you don't know anything about the Tholians?" he answered, the tone of his voice now cutting straight to the point. "Then why are they here on our planet?"

"Because we lost contact with the colonies," Marisa said. "We came to find out why."

T'Lin was about to make a retort that numbers were the very foundation of the universe from Fibonacci sequences to golden rations the universe used certain mathematical formulas over and over. She remained silent as Steel just shook his head. He knew better Than this Martinez probably did, not to get into a logical argument with a Vulcan.

Shaking his head with confusion, Martinez narrowed his eyes. "Yeah we know that, you already told us back at the beach. But if the Tholians aren't invading like you say," he paused to put two and two together, "then why did they suddenly come here and start killing us?" The severity of his question was intensely projected by his visibly-tight posture. The others in the colony's security force had stopped chewing jerky and visually dissected each of the uniformed Starfleeters.

Tris’ antennas lifted and moved each to a different side. The Andorian noticed the subtle change in the others. As he slowly began to look around, his eyes danced from one individual to the next. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but everyone seemed tense.

"That is what we want to know as well," Sandoval said. "What they're after and what happened to the colony." She looked from Martinez to the other colonists watching their expressions. "We need more data to do more than hypothesize. Anything you can tell us will help."

There was a gruff reply from one of the other colonists. "You know, you guys don't lie very well."

Then another one spoke up. "Starfleet's best computers in your fancy starship and you don't know anything?"

Marisa did know more, but she wasn't sure how much she should tell them just yet, so she said nothing.

A third colonist spoke up. "Last time I checked, we're the ones who just saved you!"

A sharp whistle pierced the air coming from the direction of Duke and Blake, interrupting the questioning. The colonist in charge had been quietly eating next to Galileo's first officer while listening and observing the surroundings. Duke now stood and spoke to the nearby group. "Knock it off, Martinez. All of you. I won't tell you a third time," he sternly warned his people. "Pack up and move out in five. And show a little f--king hospitality to our guests, will you?"

There was a bit of grumbling among the rest of the colonists, but they quickly shut up and followed instructions by getting to their feet and preparing for the second half of the hike back to base. Wary eyes were still occasionally cast to the Galileo team, but the colonists seemed to refocus on their current task.

Duke dropped his cigar and used the heel of his boot to extinguish it before looking to Blake. "Everyone's a little upset here...all things considered. Don't take it personally," he tried to assure her.

Blake shook her head firmly, her features calm with it as she waved a hand slightly. "We're all on edge," she agreed, but the way she said it included her own team. "It was...quite a journey getting this far. Let's just focus on getting back to HQ and working out our next steps." She stood with that, stretching out to get ready for the rest of the arduous trip. She motioned towards her team to get ready to move. At least if everyone was moving, they'd have to keep their energy on walking rather than talking.

Marisa got up and stretched, then picked up her gear and fell in with the others.

T'Lin did not say a word, but offered a hand to Steele and Shizn as the party seemed to start getting ready to move on. As soon as they were up she shouldered her bags and waited for instructions to start moving.

Shizn appreciated the extra hand up from the Petty Officer, giving her an approving nod. He readjusted the straps on his shoulders and then picked up the small containers, one for each hand.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Tris Shizn
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO2 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

PO3 Peregrine Steele
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[NPC Warraquim]

Duke
Colony Security Chief
Latari B III
[PNPC Saalm]

Other Colonists
Latari B III
[NPC Saalm]

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