Exploring the Station, part 2

Posted on Wed Sep 21st, 2011 @ 3:46am by Captain T'mpest Michaels & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd & Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper

951 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Taylforth
Location: Space Station

[ON]

[OLD]

"Zhukov to Commander T'mpest. How are you over there?" he asked from the confines of the shuttle.

"So far so good," she replied. "We've separated to see what we can find. I'm on my way to the ... oh, dear." T'mpest pulled herself through another doorway and into the command center to find what was left of two former crew members.

[NEW]

"I'm here if you need anything. Zhukov out." he said as he tapped his comm badge and looked at Chief Watson. "Keep scanning, Chief. I don't like the situation here. Something just not sitting right with me if you know what I mean." he said.

Watson nodded. "Aye, sir. I feel it too." he replied as he continued to scan the local area with low level passive detection.

T'mpest drifted slowly into the room, carefully looking over the bodies. They looked like they'd been dessicated. Apparently the conditions were perfect for mummification. She again tapped her combadge. "Michaels to Shepherd. Can you come to the command center, please?"

While she waited for him, she went over to the computer and began to examine it.

---

Far before the Arboretum, Jimmy already encountered plant life. Fully adapted to zero-G, vines had twisted themselves on the bars, and close to the light. Jimmy pulled himself towards the beam and the plants to study. Notably, while the walls were coated with dust (or floors, or ceilings, Jimmy always got a headache thinking of those kinds of distinctions in zero-G) the plants were dust free. In fact, as Jimmy tried to gently nudge one of the leaves, the vine started spinning - no - motioning heavily, like a dog drying his fur. Eventually he grabbed a leaf, pulled it (which, to his astonishment, made the whole plant shudder) and put it in one of his containers for analysis.

----

It took T'mpest a while to get the computer to work properly. Several wires had broken loose over time and she had carefully retraced them to find the break and repair it. But now the computer hummed cheerfully and she was happily going through the various files, surprised at how much they were able to accomplish on so little.

"Well, so much for the crew leaving in a hurry," Shepherd commented as he eased into the command center, comfortably weightless. "Allowed to die up here with no relief?" He answered his own question with a sad grunt and a disappointed shake of his head.

"I know. What a terrible, lonely way to go. I wonder how long they tried to get help before they died?" She glanced from the bodies to Cedric. "But it's fitting, in a way, that they're here, looking out over their home."

"It feels wrong," Shepherd murmured, half to himself and half to T'mpest.

"They deserve a proper burial." She shook her head. "There's also the belief that they should stay here guarding the planet below. I do not know the local beliefs." Something she would love to explore if time and opportunity permitted.

Shepherd frowned. "No, not belief wrong. Procedure wrong," he said slowly. Working things out in his head as he thoughtfully inspected the bodies. "Typically, early spacefarers are adventurers who go to space because it's a frontier. Anthropologically, these people shouldn't have been sent here to die. This is more like they were abandoned. I wonder--"

=/= "Commander," Jimmy came over the comms.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" T'mpest replied. Had he, too, found bodies of the former crew?

"Do you have a moment to.. eh... well, these plants decided to hug me."

"They reached out and hugged you?" The idea of sentient plants fascinated her. "I'll be right there."

Using her tricorder to locate Cooper she used the ceiling rods to propel herself through the station, stopping in the doorway of the botanical garden with Shepherd right behind her.

If it wasn't serious it would have been funny. Jimmy was wrapped tightly in the vines of what may once have been a nice little botanical area but now looked like a jungle. "Need a hand, Lieutenant?"

"If you may, commander.." Jimmy had a free arm, which he had used to call the commander, but other then that he was held in a tight hug. "I'm not entirely sure what these vines are, but they seem to be a little more special then the usual varieties."

T'mpest ran her tricorder over the plants. "Did you say anything or make any noise? Basically, was it a sound that triggered the plants or movement alone?"

"Well, I took a sample, then explored further into the arboretum - It's like these things are alive, sentient." Meanwhile, the leaves not intertwining Jimmy were rotating towards the 2 officers, as if looking at them. "I've got a hunch brute force isn't gonna help here, commander." he added.

T'mpest wasn't sure what would work. "Have you tried singing to it? It works in fairy tales."

Shepherd gave T'mpest an odd look.

Awkwardly, Jimmy hit a note with his voice, which at least drew the plant's attention as it's leaves turned back to him. "I surely hope these things don't like Klingon Opera, " he sighed.

"Not unless they're Klingon plants -- which I doubt," she said, speaking softly. "The question is, do you sing something they like or something they dislike?"

"At least something that drew their attention.." Then Jimmy had an idea. "Can't you have the tricorder create a tone?"

(To be continued)

Commander T'mpest Michaels
Commanding Officer
USS Ranger

Lieutenant Commander Vladimir Zhukov
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ranger

Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Ranger

Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper
Chief Science Officer
USS Ranger

 

RSS Feed