The Evacuation (part 3)
Posted on Sun Jul 31st, 2016 @ 8:11am by Captain T'mpest Michaels & Commander Rylie Cattmor & Lieutenant Commander Orin ch’Valri & Ensign Kanali Paxton
1,101 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission: A Civil Act
[Continued from Part 2]
Orin paused for a moment and focused his attention back to T'mpest. "Captain. Any amount of damage done to this site could have drastic effects on any discovery a proper archaeological team, sent by Starfleet, might encounter. Now, I know I am just a Marine and Security Officer, but I think we can get out of here without damaging this place. Our mission, as Starfleet Officers, is to discover and explore and we can't just go for the simplest and quickest solution just to get out of here. Now, I agree with you that more information should be gathered because the more we know about this place the better our options are."
Orin looked around before continuing. "This place is complex and I find it hard to believe that was primarily used to bring people down here and keep them here. In order to bring things from the surface to here, that had to have worked both ways at one point. The people who designed this place wouldn't have built an elevator and not used it to its full potential. Now there has to be some kind of control panel to that that either is hidden behind a wall or we just haven't seen it. If we can learn more about this place, and who built it, we can figure out how the mechanics of this place works. Knowing the technology will give us more to work with."
T'mpest thought about arguing with him, explaining that she HAD looked at the elevator. That everything she had read, that the AIs had given her by way of information, pointed to this being a one-way trip. That the people here were tricked, banished from the surface. They hadn't found a way back up the elevator. She wasn't sure if there was another way out, which is why she wanted more information. "Ensign Paxton said what she was thinking would not destroy the city, or any of the archaeology. I would never accept such a solution. However, since I plan on gathering more information, we will split into two teams. One will stay here and work on a way to make a small tunnel to the surface using the smaller cavern. I will go in search of more information. We'll meet back here in two hours." She glanced at Rylie. "Work with Ensign Paxton. Make sure her plan will work."
"Aye captain, count on it." Cattmor confirmed with a nod.
"Thank you," T'mpest said. Then she looked to the others in the team. "I'll let the rest of you decide. We rendezvous in two hours."
She turned and headed for the nearest building that looked like it was under the control of the AIs and left the others to work out a viable way to get to the surface. With a geologist and an engineer, she had every confidence they would find a solution.
Kali nodded quietly, her eyes darting from the Captain to Commander ch'Valri then to Commander Cattmor. She adjusted her bangs nervously as she then turned her attention to the perimeter of the cavern- so she had two hours to find an appropriate surface-reaching tunnel and then to breach the stone. She really was confident that she could apply a proper strike to the rock to use the natural fractal patterns of this kind of stone, which had a high flint content and would therefore react in a predictable way.
She just had to make everyone else see it too.
[Next building]
T'mpest wasn't sure why Orin was now determined that the way back up was through the elevator. Nothing she'd learned about the under-dwellers supported that. But, since she did not have proof that the elevator could not be used, she determined to find out what she could about why the people stayed underground for a century and then disappeared. But she knew answers would be found in another computer, so she walked into the building, relieved to again hear the voices of the AIs in her head. With their help she navigated to the room with the computers that would give her the answers she sought and quickly activated them, now more familiar with how they worked.
"Data storage crystal?" she asked telepathically. "I wish to copy data on the inhabitants of this city and what happened to them."
"Why?" came back the the telepathic voice of all three AIs.
"To take back to the Ranger for further study." T'mpest replied.
"You are leaving us?" they queried.
"I must. I am responsible for the lives of every man and woman on my ship. But others will come in my place. They will come here to study the people, your technology. They will live in your buildings." She could feel the loneliness behind the AIs words. "Many more will come. Perhaps, after they finish their research, others will come here to live. They will bring families. Children."
"Children?" That piqued their interest. "Children will play here again?"
There was a feeling of hope behind the words. T'mpest wondered, not for the first time, if the AIs were not more self-aware than the original inhabitants intended. She wished she could stay and learn from them, but she was pretty sure Starfleet would not let her, and there were others who would have the time to study the people that once lived here. If she could take back data from the computer, that would allow her to study it at her leisure. "In time, there will be children," T'mpest assured them, making a mental note to talk to the head of science and request a long-term science expedition.
A moment later, T'mpest was given the information she needed on where the storage crystals were stored and how to copy the data. "Thank you," she replied, quickly backing up the data. She made sure to get literature, history, science, technology and anything that would be of use to her in her own research.
When she was finished, she stored the crystals with the others in her pack. "Where did the people go? I know some got sick and died, but what of the rest?"
"Others will come?" one of the voices asked.
"Others will come." T'mpest assured the voice again, keeping her mental tone neutral.
(To be continued...)
Lieutenant Commander Orin ch'Valri
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Captain T'mpest Michaels
Commanding Officer
Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer
Ensign Kanali Paxton
Geologist
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