Origins

Posted on 26 Nov 2019 @ 1:51pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Peregrine Steele

3,482 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: Latari B III - NW Island Colony Site: HQ
Timeline: MD 01, 1830 Hrs

Previously, on The Colony (Part 4)...

"Can I get a copy of your data first?" Marisa asked. "I'd really like to learn who created that creature." She wanted to get off the planet, and get the colonists somewhere safe, but she couldn't lose the opportunity to get a copy of the data they'd acquired.

A lot had been said, and for Lt. Shizn, he knew to stay out of the discussion. But now he thought he could help, looking to Robles, “I don’t think we have the technical manual you need, but I would like to help with the shuttle situation.”

The offer from the Andorian was a welcome gesture which didn't go unnoticed to the colonists nearby. A short pause of silence ensued while Vasquez and Duke exchanged silent facial expressions, shrugs, and hand gestures. Finally, the colony commander turned back to the away team.

"Fine. It's a deal. Access to your shuttle in exchange for our science scans of the alien," Vasquez offered.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Barely a half hour had passed since the debriefing between the away team and the colonists. Shizn, Blake and Rice were all gone, currently walking towards the logistics center to oversee the retrieval of the Waverider atmospheric shuttle. Meanwhile, the three Starfleet scientists - Sandoval, T'Lin and Steele - remained behind in the colony's command center with hope of accessing pertinent data regarding the biosilicate creature they'd all encountered.

Robles, the colony's most prominent scientist, motioned for the three of them to now join him in the science alcove. "So do you want to see it now, or what?" he impatiently said to them.

"Now would be preferable, please," Marisa said, managing not to sound as impatient as she felt. She'd been eager to see the data since they arrived. There were so many unanswered questions that she was almost afraid she would be disappointed. She palmed her tricorder, just in case.

T'Lin only raised an eyebrow to the colonist's emotional statement. "It would seem to be the most logical course of action," she said coolly. "From your statement it would seem you have some detailed knowledge of this organism. We have only ascertained it is biosilicate and not native to this planet. We projected an image of a Tholian and it seemed to react violently to the image. Have you had any Tholian problems?" She was curious what the Tholians might have in the involvement here. They obviously had taken the step of traveling here and then the rather bold step of destroying a Federation ship.

As she had pointed out before the Tholians were advanced but not so much and certainly had less resources compared to the Federation and its allies. They had all but invited retaliation if not out right war by doing what they did and she doubted that what little she knew of Tholians, xenophobic or not, they did not react too much on an emotional level.

"...Detailed knowledge of the organism..." smirked Robles. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it. More like hell on Earth, if you ask me. Alright, take a look at this." The white-garbed colonist tapped away at the console in front of him and retrieved several sets of biological scans from the creature. On the display, thermal imaging was overlayed with a bio-nodal reconstruction of the alien life form. It's familiar polygonal carapace was displayed, along with its upper appendages and multiple new, subterranean root-like tendrils which seemingly supported it from beneath the ground.

"We're looking at something approximately seventy-five to a hundred meters tall - depending on its configuration," Robles began. "It's definitely a silicon-based lifeform. Its appearance and the density of mantle resembles other advanced life-forms. You can see here, here, and here," he pointed with his finger to the projection, "where there is the primary mantle surrounded by two arm-like formations. And it can manipulate them, which technically makes them appendages."

Robles tapped on the science console again to change the image, now showing a subterranean display of the creature. "Our seismic sensors were able to capture and reproduce these images of its underground form... Wait for this..." He entered several new parameters into the console then stepped back as the display now projected what, at first glance, appeared to be a network of root formations extending from bottom of the creature into the planet's surface crust layer.

"This is what it looks like below the ground. At first, these looked like tree roots to me. A similar biological structure but much more primitive...and not designed to absorb water from soil." He paused and looked back to the three Starfleet scientists near him. "And the confusing part?" Robles now brought up several DNA sequences on the secondary monitor. "We tested our biological samples of it against the Federation's Known-Species database...and it's a ninety-five percent match with the Tholians."

Marisa was fascinated. "So the bio-silicate is a proto-Tholian that is connected to the planet itself? Does it get nutrients from the mantle through the root system, as you call it?" She looked over the images again. "Do you have readings from when the meteorite landed and the development of this creature?"

Surprised by Sandoval's first comment, Robles tilted his head with curiosity. "A proto-Tholian?" He pondered the phrase and its meaning, then slowly started to nod. "Yes...yes, I suppose that could describe it. We don't have the equipment to fully sequence its genome but it does appear to be a relative of the Tholian species."

Robles paused then frowned and held up a hand. "Wait - what makes you think this is a primitive form of the Tholians? It might be a sub-species, but why did you use that word...'proto'?" Something seemed off about the woman's quick identification, and he wondered if he'd missed something obvious. Or possibly, they knew something he didn't...

T'Lin was curious on Sandoval's assessment as well. Perhaps she saw something that she had not seen. "Might I remind you that even if it shares a high complement of genetic profile it could be something related but not Tholian. The differences between humans and Pan paniscus the bonobo ape and Pan troglodytes, the chimpanzee is only one point two percent. Perhaps this is something from Tholian sector space? An off shoot, a subspecies or even as you suggest a proto-Tholian. There is speculation that Tholians themselves are not native to the region of space they occupy but came from elsewhere. As a specialist in alternative biochemistry, nature does not tend to favour the development of silicone species. In general, silicon is one hundred and fifty time more prevalent than carbon but most life forms still tend to be carbon based due to the chemical nature of carbon verses silicon."

"Hmm.." mumbled the colonist. "That might explain the way it arrived," Robles speculated. "I concur, Miss..." he looked at T'Lin, forgetting her name, "Miss Vulcan. Class-M worlds are hostile environments for silicon-based life. And you asked about the meteorite..."

While Robles switched gears, Marisa added, "You call it Chupacabra, I call it Proto-Tholian. It bears some resemblance to the Tholians, and it's a bio-silicate, so it works for me."

Tapping on the console's LCARS interface, Robles switched the other display to now show detailed scans of an exo-orbital object burning through the atmosphere.

"This is what it arrived in." He pointed to the outer shell surrounding an alien silicon formation at the center. "At first, we didn't detect it until it was already in the atmosphere, maybe twenty kilometers above us. Then it impacted, but not at terminal velocity. It took us three days to get to the crash site with an expedition but when they got there...they discovered it. One of the team's survivors was able to collect geological debris before it killed most of them. That's where we scraped the samples from.

"After our first encounter with it, it started approaching our farmlands. Slowly moving through the ground at a few miles per hour. It overtook our entire settlement - the city and all is provinces. We escaped across the channel to this beach land, just like you."

"I'm glad you have as many here as you do," Marisa said. "Can I see the data on the creature?"

"Yes, of course." Robles stepped back and vacated the console to allow the Starfleet scientists access.

Marisa added the data to her tricorder, which gave her some very interesting data. "It looks like it's a primitive life form," she said, showing her tricorder readings to Robles at T'Lin. "One that seems very much at home here."

"Perhaps dormant for awhile," T'Lin commented. "It would explain why carbon life developed. Look at the geological age of some of the samples. The lead-lead dating Pb204 to Pb206,7 and 8 would indicate that the layers the deepest part of the creature exited would put it at several million years. Without better analysis I cannot pinpoint exactly the time."

Robles narrowed his eyes at the scientific speculation now occurring. "My guess was closer to a billion years," he mumbled to T'Lin. "We only have these few samples but...I think it's possible it existed even before that. Look at these these differentials in the structure, from thermo-carbon buildup. I'm not a geologist but I've only seen this sort of scarring from multiple extinction-level events."

The colonist scientist folded his arms across his chest and pondered further. "This planet would have been much different a billion years ago - even a hundred million. Not a Class M as we now know it..."

T'Lin was not going to accept the estimate without a bit more investigation but she certainly could agree that the specimen could be older. It was a moot point in her mind.

"Thus it's possible it could have been native to this planet but I am still wondering about the impact crater and how it fits it. Something perhaps that awoke the creature perhaps?" She left that question out there and continued on to the data they had. "These tendrils go into the magma layer and if similar to known Tholian physiology, are using the magma heat to feed on. At the continued rate of growth then it will have consumed most of the geological heat which means that the core will loose its magnetic field. As on other worlds such as Earth's Mars, the loss of the magnetic shield leaves the planet vulnerable to the solar winds which then strip away the atmosphere leaving a barren world. The rate of output from this world's star would strip the atmosphere much faster. Thus logically one could presume this creature must either die or somehow evolve into a new form in order to survive."

A long and somber silence ensued, after which Robles looked the Vulcan straight in her logical eyes. "You're implying...this thing feeds off of the planet itself?" he asked, shocked at the thought. The colonist's eyes suddenly lit up with a thought and he momentarily left to retrieve a data pad from the other side of the room.

"The age of the samples predate the life form's arrival," he clarified, now walking back to the science alcove. "There's no doubt it arrived here from Latari A like we saw earlier. But when its shell impacted our planet, it spewed ejecta into the air, and that's what we tested. You ask if it's native, and I don't know..." he admitted. "But one thing's for sure - something like it existed here a long time ago."

"The data supports that the creature once lived here, probably in the foundational stages of the planet's evolution," Marisa said, agreeing with the other two scientists. "However, the rapidity of the development from impact to maturity--assuming it is mature--is concerning. I've never seen anything evolve so quickly." But she had read of something about experiments conducted nearly a hundred years ago. Mostly because a number of current terraforming techniques used today came out of those failed experiments. From what little she knew, only some of the information was utilized today. The rest was either classified or abandoned because it was too dangerous. "We need more information. Was the creature in that pod and grew, or did the impact wake it? Either way, T'Lin is right. It will essentially kill this planet in short order. We need data from the other colony."

"I agree but I cannot help but wonder what the link is between the creature and the Tholians," T'Lin said tilting her head and her lips pursed as she tried to think through the logic of the data provided. "The creature arrived here, but indications are that something like it may have been here before. The creature shares major linkage to the Tholians and the Tholian's destruction of the Franconia. I would speculate that the Tholians are definitely aware of the creature but were they protecting it by destroying the Franconia and presuming it would destroy the rest of the Federation presence here in the form of the colony, or is there another underlying reason for their presence here and then absence? We do not have enough data to determine their motives as yet so hence a cautious approach if they are still around but in any case it is my conclusion we need to get what we have gleaned to the Galileo as soon as we can."

Robles had taken to pacing in the near distance with his arms crossed against his chest and a hand on his chin. He kept thinking of what Sandoval had just said - how the life form could destroy not just their colony, but the entire world. He finally addressed the two Starfleet officer with a quick hypothesis. "Imagine if you were one of these...'proto-Tholians', and you fed off a planet's geothermal energy," he began. "Then eventually, you run out of energy and deplete the planet. So...what would you do? Unless it has a suicide instinct, it would probably try to find more food. Which means another planet."

The colony's chief scientist moved closer to one of the computer screens and pointed at the projection of the capsule the creature arrived in. "My calculations show it came here from the other colony on Latari A - the one you say you haven't contacted. Which means," he grit his teeth, "maybe it can move or reproduce across solar systems. What if it can colonize them?" Robles looked down to the floor while trying to imagine the sort of natural intelligence necessary for such a feat. "...And what if we are being colonized...?"

"I believe you are correct in your assessment. Once an organism has consumed its resources it must either die, migrate or reproduce with the intent that is spoor is able to move a different area. It might well be that it is colonizing this area and has already done so and something similar has happened to Latari A." T'Lin looked at the monitors though she was actually thinking more than watching what they were showing. "A speculation but perhaps this creature while related to the Tholians represents some sort of threat. As noted we rescued one survivor from the Franconia, but the survivor seemed to be partially silicone converted through a process I could not begin to fathom. If that was due to this creature or one like it, and if it could do that with a carbon based form what it might do to a related silicone one..." She trailed off for a moment. "Tholians might have reacted quickly and tried to eliminate a threat."

"We need more information," Marisa said, seeing the gaps in their data. The theories were sound, but they needed to put all the pieces together to prove the theory and right now, they were short most of them.

"I would agree but let us put together in a logical fashion what we do know. This creature arrived from the sister colony, it is silicon chemistry based, it utilizes the planet's heat to enlarge and get bigger and yet there are indications that something like it has been here before long ago. The Tholians are aware of the creature and it is related. Let me put a speculation out and see what either of you think. What if the creature, the proto-Tholian as we are referring to it, existed in some form long ago and the Tholians themselves represent an evolutionary path?"

Robles' brain worked a mile a minute to process the theory. It seemed as extraordinary as it did probable. "...You think this thing evolved into Tholians?"

"Speculation at best but it is thought the Tholians did not evolve in the region of space they currently occupy. The data would seem to indicate that there is some sort of linkage and this creature seems to be...well more primitive, certainly less intelligent. What are your thoughts Lieutenant?" T'Lin looked to Sandoval.

Sandoval nodded. "I agree. If this is the home world of the Proto-Tholian, and if someone is experimenting with resurrecting the species, it would make sense. Tholians have been detected in the area. The question is, did they cause this, or are they trying to stop it?"

Holding up his hands, Robles interjected with several strong shakes of his head. "Wait, wait. Genetic experimentation...with Tholians?!" he repeated with wide eyes. "Let's not go off the deep end, now." What they were suggesting seemed impossible. If there was a native lifeform on the planet of this complex nature - or a research base - the survey scans should have detected it beforehand. "How could a pre-evolutionary strain of any species suddenly re-emerge?"

"With scientific intervention," Marisa said. "If we are speculating, then something, be it the other colonists, Tholians, or someone who found some data and wants to experiment, sent something here to either reintroduce or reawaken this creature. Reintroduction seems more likely given what we saw from the survivor." She paused, another idea coming to her. "Or, perhaps someone wanted to bind Tholian DNA to human and create a new species. That would explain what happened to the colonist we found with the Franconia. This genetic material and whatever binder or accelerator came with it was supposed to turn the colonists here into bio-silicates. Instead, it awakens the proto-Tholian, or interacts with something in the mantle and creates the creature we encountered. It would also explain why the surface went from habitable to volcanic so quickly."

"I believe the Lieutenant is absolutely correct, this is not a spontaneous event but something that has been done deliberately. Who the party is that has done the experimentation remains unknown without further data that we do not have. Even so, I do not think the Tholians would want to 'awaken' an earlier ancestor, it would be like humans wanting to revive say Australopithecus afarensis. They could have easily just eliminated the rest of the colony here as well if they wished to 'protect' the creature. The other colony I question their motivations as well, that would leave the Franconia which we found the odd survivor on and which the Tholians eventually destroyed. The final possibility is that there is a yet unidentified third party. We need to know more about what the Galileo and Trial have discovered in order to unravel this mystery a bit more."

Robles listened to the exchange between Sandoval and T'Lin, trying to keep up with what they were talking about but to no avail. "Huh? What survivor? What happened" he asked. Like most of the colonists, he knew Starfleet was technologically advanced and kept their secrets, but now he felt left out.

T'Lin turned to Robles and nodded. "Thank you, your data was most useful and it has made most imperative we get the shuttle repaired. We can then get to the Galileo and start the rescue of the rest of your people here."

And do a flyover of the former colony site to do better scans, Marisa thought. They could scan down to the core and find out what the proto-Tholian was doing, and verify that it was feeding off the core. And see if there were others down there waiting to emerge.

Robles scratched his head while the Starfleet scientists now headed toward the exit. "Wait," he yelled, "...what survivor?!" The door opened then shut, now leaving him alone at the console.

[OFF]

--

Robles
Colony Chief Scientist
Latari B III
[NPC Saalm]

PO2 T'Lin
Alternative Biochemistry Specialist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

PO3 Peregrine Steele
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo-A
[NPC Warraquim]

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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