Strange New World

Posted on Tuesday October 18th, 2022 @ 8:48pm by Lieutenant Commander Niali Deval Dr & Lieutenant Steven Edgeware

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: The World of Mion Nova.
Timeline: Current

[ON]

As soon as the rear ramp of the Apollo touched the ground the shuttle was filled with the smell of fresh air and grass. The olfactory hit was strong and compelling. Niali hurriedly checked her weapon was on stun and attached it to her belt. She looked at her fellow explorers. “Well….whose coming with?” She exclaimed and walked down the ramp.

Jason was still switching off flight systems, "I'll be out shortly, I need to change into some boots."

Niall noted the efficacy of the place they had landed. About 100 meters was a large pool with a waterfall entering it. Behind it was the start of what seemed to be a green-purple forest stretching as far as the eye could see. Behind the Apollo rose a cliff formation pockmarked by caves, not too high that it could not be explored with minimum effort. Grassland also stretched for miles broken by small rocky outcrops. Looking up into the sky a watery sun burst occasionally through the grey clouds. It appeared that a moonrise also accompanied the sun giving the whole scene one of total confusion yet peace. The wind blew through the grass producing a ripple effect like peaceful waves on an ocean. High above them she noted some kind of avians diving and whirling on the air currents. Looking towards the ramp of the ship she waited impatiently for the others to appear to discuss and build their campsite before darkness overtook them.

Fresh air. Even though the Oberon was a relatively new vessel and her oxygen system was new. You still could not beat the real thing. Steven stood and took a deep breath. He smelt the water in the pool in the air. A squirrel-like creature with eyes on stalks watched them curiously. The long grass having eyes like that would help it to see off any predators. The creature did not seem afraid as Steven approached. If anything it seemed just as interested in him as he was in it. The creature made a whistling sound turned and bounced away.

“ Congratulations Niali. This place is perfect.” Steven said

Jo grabbed her bag and made for the ramp and off the ship. She looked around. She took a deep breath. The air smelled slightly sweeter than the air on Axanar or the Oberon for that matter. It seemed a serene enough setting.

"Where do you want to set up camp, Commander?" Jo asked.

“Jo remember we are on first name terms here, unless something bad happens we are all equal. Now, where would you think best?”

*Chuckles* "Niali it will just take a little time to get used to." Jo said

Jo looked around.

"I like that clearing over there, the trees are away from the fire pit we will build and the ground is nice and flat, it will make setting up the camp easier and a bit more comfortable," Jo added.

Jason came down the ramp, he paused for a second taking in his surroundings. "We're in luck the storm cell took an odd turn away from us, we should be in for decent weather for a couple of days." he finished walking down the ramp dropping his pack for a moment, "Just as we were landing I got an odd reading from the sensors roughly west of us probably nothing."

Niali was alert at once. “What sort of odd reading Jason?” She inquired.

Jason lifted his pack and adjusted his holster, "Probably nothing, just an unusually strong metallurgical reading, it wasn't even visible until we were landing so it could just be a deposit that is abnormally large, I don't think it's a danger." Jason said I'm going to the top of the hill taking a peek and coming back, it's likely nothing."

“Do not get out of sight,” Niali asked. “At least until you have reconnoitered a bit. Jo I am going to begin unloading our camping gear and field generator. I don’t want our first night to be disturbed. Everyone, if you see any animals or avians try to get some pictures. Trensu will you get a fire going?” Niali thought about it for a minute. “If you do not mind Sir.” She added. “And everyone don’t forget your phasers on stun.”

Jo gave Niali a thumbs-up gesture and then moved her stuff and staked out a good spot to set up the tent. After that, she started collecting rocks and ringed a potential fire pit, and started setting up some folding chairs.

Oddly for Trensu's personality, he did not have a phaser on him as he walked down the ramp and stood in the grass. "make a fire." Trensu reached down and touched the grass and then the ground. it was not too dry and the grass green must be spring or something like it. The sun was warm the breeze cool. It was perfect.

Trensu took a deep breath like others he did not smell anything odd then looked around standing. "nice spot well chosen." he said taking a few steps. "Jason, trust your instinct if that deposit got your attention there is a reason for it. How far is it from here?" Trensu asked walking to a spot and looking at the grass and ground again. "I will put the fire here" Trensu drops his pack there. It was about 25 meters for the shuttle. "I will go look for wood and be back soon. if not well I might be lost," said Trensu jokingly.

Jo was busy setting up the tent, the ground was soft but not too soft. the stakes were easy to get into the ground. and it only took about twenty minutes to set up the tent. she moved her sleeping bag and a self-inflating air mattress to sleep on.

Jason hefted his backpack again "I'm not going far today, I'm going to take a look in case we have neighbors." Jason said with a smile as he started to make the hike.

Steven smiled. He was just about to follow Jo when he noticed a rock jutting out of the ground. At first, he thought the markings on it were natural. But as he looked further Steven noticed they looked anything but natural. As he bent down to look Edgeware was sure he thought he heard rustling. But dismissed it as the wind.

“ My goodness, these are early Mia Nova markings….” He said amazed

Niali buzzed over holding her little archeological bag. “Steven that’s marvelous. Is it pure rock or is it pottery?” She took out her soft brush and took the top layer of dust off. She knew they should be setting up camp but Steven had found something truly exciting.

Jason walked back taking a look, "It's a marker stone of some kind," Jason pulled out a leather-bound book and opened it to a page "Definitely Mia Nova runic, common dialect."

A small pair of bright eyes watched the large strangers from her hiding place.

Steven pointed at the runes.

“ Common dialect. Interesting. You know if you look at them a certain way there is an almost Nordic feel to some of the runes…… did you guys hear that? A kind of snuffling noise or is it just me?” Steven asked.

Niali listened for a second or two and shook her head, “no, all I can hear is the wind in the grass. Come on we need to set up camp.” She stood and walked towards Trensu.

Jason made a few more notes and put the notebook away, "I'll get the tents out from the hold then I'm going to check out that metallic reading from earlier." Jason walked back to the ramp and put his pack just inside the door, opening the hold he pulled the first two bags to the top of the ramp, pausing to think about the stone, He'd seen those markings before but couldn't place it.

Steven gave a shrug and moved to put his tent up.

A small pair of tiny curious eyes watched these strange things. Where was mama? It moved its small body back into its hiding place. Would she be back soon? Where these strange things her lunch? Where was mama?

Niali shook out and put up her tent a few meters from the fire and placed her things inside, then she began to place the field disruptor stakes twenty meters around their camp. “There, now we can be sure we have a warning against anything that goes ‘bump in the night. It’s strange but the back of my neck is prickling, that’s a good sign that we are being watched.” She said standing and stretching.

"I was going to set a tricorder to a security radius around the camp and flyer, I've linked it into the Flyer's sensors as well so we can have some warning," Jason said as his tent snapped into place.
“Thanks, Jason” Niali Said.

While the crew was setting up camp Trensu walked towards a wooded area looking for wood. It was not that dense, the trees were about 20 meters apart bright green leaves and reddish bark. The trunks were large and the trees were maybe 50 feet tall. Trensu walked in now the light was shaded by the trees. After about 50 meters of walking into the wooded area, Trensu froze in place instinctively.

Jo found some firewood and started building a fire in the pit she built at camp, as it was starting to get dark.

He looked around the area he walked into was neatly maintained. The shrubs had been cleared almost like you would see if the woods were preserved. Trensu walked a little farther, kneeling down and touching the ground. It felt, cool and a good place to build a cabin or house. There were no signs of tools being used but whatever did this had probably done it a few months ago.

Trensu walked carefully checking the wood before he picked it up. The wood seemed heavier than wood on earth. Trensu picked up a few more pieces of wood. He stopped again in place and crouched down. Trensu knew he was being watched by something but did not get the feeling he was in danger.

Trensu spotted the small animal with enormous eyes, having long hind limbs, mostly to the elongated tarsus bones of the feet. The combination of their elongated tarsi and fused tibiofibular made them morphologically specialized for vertical clinging and leaping. The hind limbs were about twice this long including the feet, and they also have a slender tail 25 cm long. Their fingers were also elongated, with the third finger being about the same length as the upper arm. Most of the digits had nails, but the second and third toes of the hind feet bear claws instead, It looked to have soft, velvety fur, which was puffy, and reddish in color. The small animal seems to be watching Trensu intently.

Trensu got to his feet slowly and started to walk back the way he came. He stepped on a branch that broke with a loud snap and crunch sound. The small animal let out a high-pitched screaming sound, as everything came a live bird and other rodent-like creatures run away. Trensu shook his head "great job,Trensu" he mumbled to himself. As he looked back there was something else there watching he could feel it.

Arriving back at camp he put down the firewood at the place he would build the fire. "We do have a lot of wildlife in the area so be careful out there" warned Trensu starting to build the fire.

Niali stood, her hands pressing into the small of her back as she stretched. She put her hand up to her forehead over her eyes. “There seems to be a deep pool” she pointed, “where the rock overhang drops off. I’m for a swim before dinner, anybody else would like to come with me?” She laughed. “Don’t worry we’ll check for monsters first.” She tossed her red hair in the breeze which had blown up allowing a fine sift of blonde sand to cover everything.

"I'm going to investigate those metallurgical readings, I'll try to keep in comms range," Jason said hefting up his pack and walking back up the hill.

Steven was feeling hungry. No one seemed interested in food though. He remembered his grandmother teaching him how to make a stew. Against his mother's wishes of course. He was a doctor, not a chef! It was an easy recipe to make. So why not?

“ You know all this fresh air is making me hungry. How about I make us some of my famous Irish stew?” Steven asked

“Sounds good Steven, I’ll feel like a good hot meal when I return.” She went back to her tent and packed her binoculars, swimming costume, and towel, and clipped her phaser first rechecking that it was on stun, onto her belt. She tapped her comm making sure it was working. “Right then, I’m off.” She said waiting to see if anyone was coming with her. Niali had been hoping that this trip would have the effect of bringing a very disparate crew together. *give it time* she thought to herself.

Jason walked for about ten minutes, and there was a small breeze, as he neared the top of the hill he pulled out his tricorder, the metallurgical readings were more defined compared to the initial sensor reading. There were a number of metal deposits, type unknown. Then Jason got the shock of his life, a large concentration of a tritanium alloy. It looked to have been salvaged from the readings, Jason sat down facing the clearing, the small cluster of rises was too organized to be natural, he spent the next thirty minutes getting several scans, he had counted approximately twelve small rises that were approximately 5 meters by 8 meters, with a 3 to 4 rise ratio, he kept getting readings that they were hollow, all of them. "Elliot to camp, I found something."

Steven heard what Jason said. Something in his fellow Oberonites voice concerned him. Jason should not be on his own. He looked at the others and pulled on his backpack.

“I am on my way, Jason. Providing my tricorder is working properly I will be with you soon.” Steven said. Then looking at the others he said.

“Anyone coming with?” Steven asked.

“I’ll come with you, Steven,” Naili said knowing that they should stick together. The pair managed to catch up to Jason and marveled at what they saw.

Jason stood up, he'd seen something like this on earth years ago, but to see something like this anywhere else was astonishing. By his count, he'd found a total of twenty what looked like housing, and the main building like a storehouse or something, he didn't want to venture too far until someone from camp had caught up to him, he started to think this was a survivors camp from a ship crash or maybe a colony that was maybe abandoned, he wasn't going to gamble on exploring on his own, he made a few more scans then decided to wait until someone else caught up with him. Jason took off his coat, and the menagerie of tattoos on his arms was visible for the first time to anyone, he heard grass rustling "I think there's an abandoned colony down there."

Niali noted Jason’s Tattoos and made a promise to ask him about them that evening around the fire. She bent down beckoning with a finger to Steven.” Looking suddenly behind them she saw what looked like a sandstorm rolling and boiling through the air toward them. “We have to find cover, quickly” she exclaimed.

Jason smiled, "There's no one there, it's been abandoned for decades, but it's very well built up." Jason showed the scans to Niali, "It bears some semblance to a Viking camp found in eastern North America, I recognize the runes now." unconsciously pointing to his left forearm.

Niali reacted, “that’s great Jason but we need to find cover before this storm reaches us. How about taking cover in one of the abandoned buildings, LETS MOVE NOW!” she shouted.

Jason looked up "Shit!" grabbing the pack he started to run for one of the outer structures He pulled what looked like a door open "In here!"

Jason stumbled through the door, pulling out a small lantern, and extending it illuminating the room. it was fairly simple looking, a carved table and chairs, four chairs to be precise he set the lantern down on it, "Well it's not Risa, but it looks like it'll keep us dry."

The storm hit hard as it rocked the small dwelling. The fact that it had no windows was a plus as Niali knew that they would have had no chance of keeping the storm out if there had been openings. “I hope this has not hit the camp?” She said, sitting down in one of the chairs that, she found out was pretty solid under her. She looked at Steven, “are you all right?” She asked.

Jo had some stew on the stove cooking dinner she was the last one in. The storm looked and felt like it was going to be a violent one. the wind was already picking up fortunately the tents were pretty sturdy and the storm wouldn't knock them down.

Jason sat down on one of the other chairs, he pulled out the leather-bound notebook and a bottle. "When we were all looking at the marker stone I saw the markings and they looked familiar," Jason paused opening the journal to a page with several sketches "I found the same markings as part of a language on a derelict ship about two years ago."

Steven looked at Jason’s journal.

“ Interesting. These markings are so similar it’s too much of a coincidence. There have been many theories about how the early Mia Novans learned their pottery skills. We may have just discovered how. Hmmm, there is a mark here that looks like the old Nordic rune for danger. But the danger from what?” Steven pondered.

"It's likely a cautionary warning if you're leaving the settlement," pausing to flip to a photo "Cautionary markings on these power conduits here and here."

"Anyone wants to make smores for dessert?" Jo asked.


[OFF]


Lieutenant Commander
Niali Korial. XO
USS Oberon.

&

Lieutenant Steven Edgware
Second officer
USS Oberon

&

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence officer
USS Oberon

&

Lieutenant Commander Ahkhsu Trensu
Commanding Officer
USS Oberon

&

Ensign Jo Grant
Chief of Operations
USS Oberon