I'm going to SF for a week-so I'm going to post a bit more before I leave. I won't have access to what I already have written so it will be late next week before I can post again(well, after Saturday)-anyway, here's Chp 5.
CHAPTER FIVE
Picard stepped into the chamber, his mouth open. “My God, Vash. It looks like Iconian technology!”
Vash nodded her head but it went unnoticed. “Jean-Luc, if it is, then we’ve found the motherlode! There is no Iconian technology, there are no artifacts left intact.” She stepped into the room and stopped behind him. “Can you imagine the looks on those stuffed shirts at the Daystrom Institute when an amateur archeologist and, well, me, we reveal the first working piece of Iconian tech ever found? They will crap their pants.”
Picard pulled his eyes away from the tall crystal pylon in the center of the room long enough to glance at Vash, a smile on his lips. “I am far more interested in what we might learn about their culture from this. I will leave it to you to rub the stodgy noses into the muck.”
Vash grinned back at him, her hands gently rubbing his shoulders. “That’s why I keep coming back to you, Jean-Luc. I love your sense of perspective.”
He patted her hand. “I have to see what this is.” His voice was absent-minded at best. Vash just smiled as he walked forward.
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Riker was fretting and he knew it. The away team had found several booby traps as they entered the cave and each one they reported made him wince. They had already lost one member of their team. Seven was finding the more advanced devices and Ipsita had dug a number of mechanical tricks out. Lt. Adams reported in and let Riker know they could see the launcher. He advised them needlessly to proceed with caution.
As Ipsita crawled the last few meters she caught a glimmer of light, a mere flash or reflection, coming from the back of the cave behind the launcher. She paused, poised and ready, but nothing happened. Inching forward, her knife probing the dirt in front of her the whole time, she crawled to the launcher. Sweat was beading on her face as she checked for traps around the launcher itself. She was completely startled when a voice behind the launcher said,
“Hi. What year is this?”
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Picard examined the console interface around the crystalline tower that lifted upwards towards the ceiling of the chamber. As time passed, Vash began to wander around the room, obviously bored.
“Are you going to be much longer, Jean-Luc?” she asked.
“Please, Vash, this isn’t something you just walk up to and read. You should know that.” Picard answered the question, but he was very obviously distracted.
“Well, I’m going to see what’s in the other chambers!” her tone was a bit petulant, but Picard never noticed.
“Yes, yes, by all means,” he murmured. Vash waited a moment to see if he had anything more to say and when he didn’t she flounced out of the room. He barely paid attention.
She wandered back into the main hall and headed for the next chamber, her eyes darting left and right as she walked. As she entered a dim light gave way to further brightness. “This technology is amazing,” she mumbled to herself. Then her eyes took in the contents of the second chamber and she stopped, stunned. When the shock had passed she spun on her heel and raced back to Picard.
“Jean-Luc, you need to see this!” Picard was bent over the Iconian apparatus, carefully examining the controls or interface or whatever it was. He half glanced up at her as she re-appeared, more than a bit distracted.
“What?” he asked.
Vash looked exasperated. “Jean-Luc, you’d better see this. I found humans!-well, sort of.” Intrigued, Picard followed her over to the next chamber. There were several rows of glass tanks within. Snapping open his tricorder, Picard began walking along the lines of what seemed to be-
“Human embryos. The tricorder confirms it. These are some kind of suspension apparatus. The contents are being held in a form of stasis.”
Vash rolled her eyes. “I got that, Jean-Luc. The question is-Why are they here?”
Picard stared down at his tricorder for a moment longer and then raised his head in surprise. “My God, Vash! These embryos, I’ve scanned the DNA and checked them against the records in my tricorder. These aren’t natural human embryos. These are augments.” He looked at her in amazement. “Vash, if my scans are correct, these are embryos dating from the Eugenics War era! They are perfectly preserved and I believe they are even more advanced than the Children of Shiva.”
Vash looked at him peculiarly. “The Children of Shiva? I know quite a bit about ancient history on many worlds but recent Earth history doesn’t do much for me. What were they?”
“The Children of Shiva was the name of the follow-up to the program that produced Khan and the others that came to power in the years leading up to the Eugenics War. I’ve studied the biological files and these embryos are far beyond what was developed back then. They are at least a generation more advanced.” Picard glanced at Vash curiously. “Why do you suppose the Preservers have these here?” Vash just shrugged and headed out to the main chamber. Picard continued to record information on the augmented embryos. A few moments later Vash reappeared with a very confused look on her face.
“Jean-Luc, if you think this is weird, well, you’d better come see this.” Something in her tone made Picard look at her with what she privately thought of as his “on duty” face. Without asking any questions he followed her out of the side chamber. She led him to the next chamber in line and stopped outside of it, her arm pointing inwards. Picard noticed a slight tremble in her demeanor. He walked in and was greeted by another set of embryo containers. Scanning, he walked inside.
“Klingon-Human augments. I’ve read the files on these. Mid twenty-second century. A medical solution gone wrong. But once again, they are a bit more advanced than the originals.” He looked up from the tricorder at Vash. “What have we found?” She shrugged and walked to the fourth chamber. Picard followed her, curious.
They entered the fourth chamber side by side. Picard held his tricorder at arm’s length. Again, the room was lined with glass stasis chambers. Each one held an embryo.
Vash looked at Picard. “What are they, Jean-Luc?” Picard studied his read-outs.
“Romulan Sophonts. Just like Earth, Romulus had a rather,” Picard struggled for the right words, “dark period in regards to genetic experimentation.” Vash watched his face. He seemed to be straining to explain. Vash wondered what interest in the Romulans held Picard’s fascination. “The Sophonts were designed to be advanced versions of Romulans. They had many of the mental abilities of the Vulcan root stock. Sadly, the majority went insane after a few years. Most failed to survive childhood, and even those that did were operating,” he sighed, “in an unstable manner later in life.”
“None of these genetic types seemed to work well-why would the Preservers, well, preserve them?” Vash was genuinely puzzled.
“I don’t know,” Picard replied. “Let’s see what’s in the last chamber.” He gestured towards the final doorway. Vash walked towards it hesitantly.
“Jean-Luc, this is really strange. Why would the Preservers save failed experiments?”
Picard paused a moment in the outer chamber. “They may have seen these as alternatives if the original seed race was destroyed. Or perhaps they had some other motive. I really couldn’t say for sure.”
They stepped into the fifth side chamber. Picard held his tricorder up. “How odd,” he said, “These are normal Vulcan embryos.” Vash glanced at him in surprise.
“Why would they put unaltered Vulcan embryos with these, these, well, freaks?” Vash didn’t even notice Picard’s faint wince.
“I don’t know,” he declared, “but I intend to figure this out.” Vash sighed.
“Of course you do, Jean-Luc.”
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