STAR TREK: ULYSSES - "False Idol" (OCs, short story)

[Kuri]

Hey there. My first ever trek fanfic! If I get stuff wrong, I need to know, but please be gentle

STAR TREK: ULYSSES - False Idol

Chapter 1

Position: Planet Ismar, Ismares System
Stardate: 1027.4

“WE MUST LEAVE THIS PLACE!” Science Officer Ch’vo’s stubby antennae curled and uncurled. “Before it is too late…”

In the purple ambience that seeped from her cabin’s viewport, Captain Serena Toure sipped a hastily assembled expresso. The statuesque Nigerian glanced a question at McNichol. Leaning by the door recess, the security chief shrugged back an I-have-no-idea answer. The captain returned her stare to the fidgeting Andorian.

“Dr. Ch’vo, in six hours Ms. Shimizu and Dr. Smythe will return from surveys. Can’t this wait until the rendezvous meeting? That is when we assess our next step.”

“The problem is not down here on Ismar, it is out there in the star!” Ch’vo paced before the window and gestured. McNichol sighed, checking his timer.

“OK,” said Toure. She ascended from her sofa and smoothed her already immaculate desert-beige tunic. “What’s the problem?”

The blue skinned scientist produced a padd and fed a signal to the tabletop screen. An astro-geographical representation of the sector flickered up.

“Look at this,” said Ch’vo. “Ismares is a slowly dying star. So is neighbouring Kirkonia. And also the Hrace binary, here. They all rotate about the Cygnus-1 black hole, here…”

McNichol rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “Doc, I do have a round to complete, you know?”

McNichol had been hoping to get some sleep before the briefing, too.

“Please wait, Mr. McNichol. There is a reason I called you in.”

“Dr. Ch’vo,” Captain Toure ran a hand through her cropped grey hair and tried more gently. “We knew this about the locale before we arrived.”

“No, no, no!” said Ch’vo, scratching his white-haired scalp. “We did not know the densities of the stars until we were close enough to study them without interference from Cygnus. But my calculations are most perturbing. If we look at this sector’s position on the spiral arm and calculate age in reverse from the mass… Well…”

Ch’vo looked sidelong at McNichol. The marine realised the scholar was searching for words that he could understand, and a corner of his eye twitched.

“They are too old for their size and position,” said Ch’vo. “Ismares has more mass than we first thought. I think Kirkonia and Hrace are the same. Something has prematurely aged these stars.”

“Something?” Captain Toure raised cultured eyebrows.

“I have detected anomalies within the Ismares star. I think there is something alive in there!”

A silent gong chimed in the ensuing pause. McNichol and Toure shared another glance. At that moment the low lights in the captain’s quarters cut out, leaving them in purple-stained darkness. Ch’vo wailed.

Toure reached for a communicator. “Mr. Gaaval, this is Toure. We appear to have a power malfunction in section two.”

“Oops,” grunted a voice like crunching gravel. “Yeh. Just testing something. Thought everyone were asleep. Sorry.”

After a few moments the lights returned. Ch’vo said, “What is that blasted Tellarite up to now?”

“Dr. Ch’vo, it seems to me the environmental pressures within a star; the temperature, the gravity…” began Toure, unfazed.

“…are not conducive to life,” Ch’vo finished for her. “Correct. This entity is not biological. I hypothesize it is not even corporeal.”

Now McNichol was out of his depth, but the old combat-senses were tingling.

“Incorporeal?” Toure said.

“Perhaps born out of and entirely composed of energy.” Ch’vo folded his arms. He noticed the silence that greeted his pronouncement and added, “Nothing should be considered impossible. And this creates an imminent threat! Is that not right, Mr. McNichol?”

McNichol, annoyed at this ambush and aching for his bunk, could only muster a half-hearted support. “If there is something in there, and if it can move, I dunno, I have no way of assessing offensive capabilities…”

“You have no imagination! Think of the fantastical powers it could wield!”

“I assure you, Doc, I have plenty of imagination.”

“OK, Dr. Ch’vo,” Toure interjected. “How did you detect this thing? What anomalies?”

“Shifts in energy within the star… pulses of sub-space energy – like signals… The time scales are perhaps beyond our understanding, but these pulses seem to be focused towards neighbouring stars,” Ch’vo became more animated. “If it is communication, there could be more than one of them! And if they are communicating that indicates at least some intelligence. Who knows, they may even be sentient!”

“Any recordings you can actually show us, Doctor?” said Toure.

“Oh, well, nothing you would understand. No offence,” Ch’vo nodded to McNichol, whose eye twitched again. “The ground-based sensors, you see, they are not modulated… the range… It would look like nothing more than usual random solar fluctuations to a layman. But beneath it I am sure there is a pattern, I just have a feeling…”

Toure drained the last of her expresso. Well, that’s that, thought McNichol.

She said, “The survey teams return in six hours for rendezvous meeting. You can bring it up as last point on the agenda. Have you run this by Ms. Shimizu yet?”

“Oh, she will just want to make friends with it…” Ch’vo huffed.

“Nevertheless, if it is a lifeform, it is her area. We wait until morning.”

“But, Captain, we might be in grave danger…”

“You understand I cannot just abort the entire mission on a vague hunch?”

Ch’vo’s shoulders slumped in defeat and he turned to leave. McNichol moved to join him.

“Actually, Mr. McNichol, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

He paused. After the Andorian had exited and the door swooshed shut, Toure said, “Forget about the security patrol. We’ve confirmed nothing is alive down here so it’s not essential protocol. I need you alert to pilot for the potential site-change.”

“Yes, Captain. Thank you.”

“And, Mack? What do you think, really?”

Mack rubbed his chin. “Ch’vo’s right about two things: If it’s anything like he’s implying, it sounds pretty damn dangerous to me. There’s a lot of power in a star.”

“You are assuming it would be hostile.”

“Yes, I am.”

“OK,” Toure nodded. “And the second thing?”

“As soon as Kimi gets wind of this she’ll want to make contact.”

 

[Gibraltar]

A good start! By way of honest, critical feedback, the character descriptions at the beginning felt a bit awkward to me, but the character interplay was excellent and the dialogue snapped!

Oh, and something mysterious hiding in a star... This sort of thing is why people join Starfleet in the first place.

 

[Kuri]

@Gibraltar Huzzah! My first reader. I'll buy you an e-beer over at the e-bar.

Critical feedback is always welcome, particularly when it's precise and actionable, as in this case. So, thanks very much. I'll get on it.

Thank you once again for taking the time to not only read but leave a comment, too. It's appreciated.

 

[DarKush]

I echo Gibraltar in that this is a good start. You have a grasp of your characters, you convey a lot in your dialogue, giving hints to the relationships, particularly between McNichol and Ch'vo and a little between Toure and McNichol.

The character descriptions didn't bother me though. I actually think you could be more descriptive, in terms of letting us know what the ranks of the characters, or if Dr. Ch'vo is in Starfleet even, for example. It would help better establish the dynamics among the characters.

I do think you've set the stage for an intriguing mystery. Good luck with the remainder of your story, and hopefully this will be the first of many.

 

[Kuri]

@DarKush Thanks for looking in! I'm glad that you said the descriptions were OK - but I think I know where Gibraltar's coming from. Taken individually the descriptions are quite short, sweet and unobtrusive (I quite like statuesque Nigerian), but it's how I deployed them. They all come at the reader in one paragraph. I'm still thinking about that.

I see what you mean about Dr. Ch'vo. Again that's a good, easily actionable bit of feedback. Thanks again! I'll work that into an edit.

EDIT: OK, worked both of your suggestions into the opening couple of paragraphs. Hope this is better, and thanks again for the help.

 

[Kuri]

Chapter 2

“OH, WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE CONTACT!” Assistant Science Officer Kimiko Shimizu reached for the tricorder hooked at the waist of her sapphire-blue minidress. “Can you give me the data?”

“You do not understand,” trilled Dr. Ch’vo. “This thing is dangerous!”

“You can’t possibly know that,” said Kimi. “You say it’s communicating?”

Mack took his place at the meeting table. Despite snagging a sufficient nap, he was instantly tired by the bickering scientists. My own fault for taking a post on an explorer ship.

Dr. Reginald Smythe paid little attention to the confrontation, fiddling with his padd ready for the debriefing. Mack wondered if the eccentric A&A officer had worn that ludicrous pith helmet over his gasmask while outside excavating. Smythe’s khaki shorts revealed knobby knees and wispy white hair that matched his unkempt crown.

Captain Toure arrived last as the door slid open. She glided in and alighted at the head of the meeting table just as the ninth hour chimed.

“OK, we begin,” she said.

“Captain, did you know about this being?” Kimi’s cheeks were flushed with excitement.

“First things first,” said Toure. “Stick to agenda, please. Dr. Ch’vo, you have completed geo-surveys, here on Ismar?”

Ch’vo opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, made a decision.

“Yes. The ground-based surveys confirm what we learned from orbital scans. The strata maps are as expected. There is virtually nil tectonic activity. Signs of water in a previous age…” The Andorian sighed. “All in all, Ismar is geologically speaking rather uninteresting, which is why I turned my attention to the star…”

“Thank you, Dr. Ch’vo,” cut in Toure. “Bio-surveys, Ms. Shimizu?”

“Nil,” Kimi tried and failed to hide her disappointment. “We know there was life here, but I can’t find any remains inside the city. It seems they’ve been gone a pretty long time. It’s weird. You’d think there would be some skeletons around the main habitation on the planet. They must have been very careful about how they disposed of their dead.”

“Hygiene, or perhaps religiosity,” muttered Smythe. He winked knowingly at Kimi.

“So we have no idea what this extinct species was like?” said Toure.

“Well,” said Kimi. “Dr. Smythe has gathered tangential information on them. There are images in the city. They seem to have been roughly humanoid, but with six limbs – two for locomotion, then two pairs of manipulative limbs, the second pair around the waist. Perhaps mammalian but with insectoid form…”

“I’ll jump in here then, My Dear,” said Smythe. He grinned at the table. “Bad luck, eh chaps? It seems I, by contrast, have rather struck gold. Yes, look at this…”

A grainy image flashed up on the main wall screen. Mack peered. It looked like a primitive cave painting.

“Just as Kimi described. Note the double-jointed limbs. And they were certainly busy bees. I’ve located what seems to be a library several strata down.”

Another image, this time of alien writing.

“Quasi-pictogram in nature, perhaps tending towards more abstract renderings over time – just like ancient Chinese kanji. I haven’t translated it all yet, but we can get a rough history. They seem to be pretty short-lived as a species, averaging thirty or forty Earth years if I’ve got the moon and star cycles right, so they were usually in a bit of a hurry.”

Images of half-submerged ruins alongside ultrasound depictions of structures buried deeper underground. Mack was fascinated, but bemused. The archeologist continued.

“They got to industrialization alright, you can see how the city expanded at that point from the aerial views…” images confirmed his words. “Some evidence of advanced plastics here, and I think they got to the verge of space travel – I’m estimating about three thousand years ago, but Dr. Ch’vo will need to confirm. I’ve taken geological samples for you, Doctor.”

Ch’vo nodded but drummed his fingers on the table.

“And then oopsy-daisy, sudden extinction event. Damn shame. We just missed the buggers, too.”

Toure looked round the table then said, “Theories on the extinction event?”

“Could be changes in radiation from the degenerating star,” Kimi suggested, looking at Dr. Ch’vo for approval. “But they seem to have reproduced at such a rate that they would be able to adapt to the changing environment.”

“Besides which, they were pretty sharp with their tech,” put in Smythe. “I wondered for a jiffy why they didn’t just develop the means to control their environment better. Then it hit me…”

He paused dramatically, enjoying capturing everyone’s attention.

“Look at these shallowest remains – that means they are the most recent.”

Everyone looked, and waited.

“Much more basic in nature, and back to old fashioned stone blocks – that caveman painting was only a foot down. It seems to me they suddenly went into a technological decline. Chaos and rapid population desiccation followed, and they never really recovered.”

Smythe sat back and folded his arms, satisfied with the thoughtful silence he had wrought.

“And I rather believe I have discovered the reason for this sudden decline – quite by accident! The dust storms cleared while I was having a rummage around for goodies down this end of the valley. You can just see it over the horizon.”

Toure sighed. “See what, Dr. Smythe?”

“Oho, I’m not going to spoil the surprise. You’ll have to come out and see it yourselves.”

Toure blinked. “OK. So we want a site change for further study?”

“I rather believe so!”

“Now can I speak?” Dr. Ch’vo said. Toure nodded to him. He continued, “What are we going to do about this Star Vampire?”

Despite himself, Mack could not help grinning at the invented name. Captain Toure turned to Kimi.

Kimi said, “Oh, we just have to study that. It’s a primary mission parameter.”

“You are all insane,” said Ch’vo. “We must leave.”

Toure ignored him. “What do you propose, Ms. Shimizu?”

“Well, according to Dr. Ch’vo we can’t really get any substantive readings from here on the surface. I can ask Mr. Gaaval to send up a probe – modulated for the task and with a heat shield. Get close enough to the star to take some proper readings.”

Kimi noticed Toure’s frown and added, “I’ll check the feedback here at intervals. It won’t interfere with my work on Ismar, Captain.”

Ch’vo said, “Fine. Study it. But do it from several light years away!”

“Oh no, we can’t leave now,” said Smythe. “Not with my find-of-the-century!”

Toure closed her regal eyes and thought for several moments. Then she opened them again.

“Dr. Ch’vo, has there been any change in the behavior of this… alleged entity… based on your readings?”

“Well, no. But that is because I have only scratched the surface…”

“So it hasn’t reacted to our presence. Ms. Shimizu, what do you make of that?”

Kimi thought about it. “It either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that we are here.”

“That is how I see it, too,” nodded Toure.

“If we had better readings…” began Ch’vo.

“…then we would know a lot more,” Toure finished for him. “Dr. Ch’vo, as I explained, we cannot abort the mission without proper cause. Ms. Shimizu’s probe will provide you with that data, and actually confirm your hypothesis. At the same time it can act as an early warning system and watch for any changes that may herald a danger. Then we will be in a position to act. Don’t you agree?"

“Well, I suppose, when you put it that way…"

Toure pressed the advantage. “You should also realise that you may be credited with its discovery, if this is indeed a new lifeform. Have you thought of a name? Perhaps something less… melodramatic… than Star Vampire?”

That seemed to mollify the Andorian. “You just monitor it regularly then, Ms. Shimizu, and keep me updated.”

Toure turned to Mack. “Does this course of action meet with your approval, Mr. McNichol?”

Having had time to sleep on it, Mack had developed some dark thoughts on the matter, but the captain’s logical approach seemed sound for now.

He opened his mouth to answer but Smythe butted in, “Oh, if there’s some beastie up there, taking a few snapshots from a distance won’t do any harm. We’ve got far more intriguing things to get on with down here. How long before we can go out on the ranger? Have I got a sight for you!”

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

You're setting up a nice mystery here.

The characters are interesting and their interaction and dialogue is entertaining, with little snippets about their personalities and mannerisms that help them come alive.

 

[Jonny]

Bry_Sinclair beat me to it by a day but I'll second what Bry said. The interaction and dialogue is entertaining and the mystery is coming along nicely.

 

[Kuri]

@Bry_Sinclair Hey! Glad you could make it, Bry. Thank you so much for looking in and taking the time to comment. I expect you're interested in the ship, right?

@Jonny Yay, another reader. Very pleased to meet you, and thanks for saying such nice things. Me mam's from Liverpool.

 

[Kuri]

Chapter 3


“NOT MUCH FURTHER,” muttered Smythe as the shuttle arrowed through the valley. The pale star bathed planet Ismar in its wan light, throwing purple shadows from sharp-edged rocks.

“If I gain altitude it’ll be much quicker,” said Mack, gripping the ranger’s controls.

“That will rather spoil the effect,” tutted Smythe. Mack exchanged a glance with Captain Toure, seated beside him at the copilot’s station.

Toure said, “These theatrics are not necessary, Dr. Smythe. We don’t need to be impressed.”

“Indulge me, will you Captain?” Smythe fidgeted behind them. “You see, I can’t really explain this to you. You need to see the scale of it for yourselves.”

Mack sighed. The whole trip was an indulgence of the archeologist, as far as he was concerned. On the shuttle’s control panel, a communicator chimed.

Toure leaned forward and tapped. “This is Ranger One: Go ahead.”

“Probe’s launched,” came Gaaval’s crunchy voice.

“Thank you, Mr. Gaaval,” said Toure.

“Yeh, and ask that blue-face how long I need to babysit this warp-junk.”

Ch’vo leaned forward in his rear seat. “Is it degenerating?”

“Nah, suspension field’s working – but it’s unstable and dangerous. I don’t like it!”

Toure glanced a question at the Andorian scientist.

“I am trying to synthesise a substance from the warp drive waste, but it is proving very difficult to sustain for any length of time.”

“Purpose?” said Toure.

“There are some very interesting properties – if my theory is correct it might inhibit fusion. I have not examined all the potential applications yet, but this trilithium, as it is called, could be even more powerful than a photon torpedo!”

Toure exchanged a look with Mack, who shrugged. He was convinced these mad scientists were going to be the death of him one day. Mack checked the rear view, relayed to a smaller monitor beside his controls. The sleek silhouette of the Archer-class scout ship, Ulysses, crouched upon its landing site. He spotted the faint outline of a rocket trail leaving the ship, heading on its errand towards the star.

“There goes the probe,” he reported.

“How long before we start getting data?” Ch’vo said to Kimi, beside him.

“At least twelve hours. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know as soon as I discover anything.”

Mack tilted the shuttle to follow the contours of the valley. Toure addressed the A&A officer again.

“Can you at least tell us where we are headed, Dr. Smythe?”

“Oh alright. You remember Point Olympus?”

Mack recognised that reference. “The highest mountain on Ismar? That’s the temporary name we always give after the orbital mapping.”

“Indeed, old chap. But it’s not, in fact, a mountain…”

“It is not?” said Dr. Ch’vo.

“Behold!” Smythe leapt from his seat and pointed dramatically out of the cockpit. The sight looming from the end of the valley drew gasps from the shuttle’s passengers, quickly followed by a confused silence. Mack took several moments to process the information gathered by his eyes. When the truth began to set in, he forgot the shuttle controls and it listed to port. Captain Toure laid a hand on his arm and he quickly corrected.

“It’s a damn pyramid!” he said.

“That must be three kilometers high!” said Ch’vo, his voice quavering.

“Two-point-nine by my reckoning,” said Smythe triumphantly.

“OK,” whispered Toure. “We’re impressed.”

“They… They made this thing?” stammered Mack. “How?”

“That is what I intend to determine,” said Smythe, folding his arms. “You see now why I needed you to see this from the right level?”

“What… What is it for?” breathed Kimi.

“A mass tomb, a monument, a new city… Who knows what secrets lie inside?” said Smythe. “Most intriguing!”

“Inside?” said Mack. Only then did he notice the black maw that marked an entrance to the interior of the ziggurat – climbing almost a quarter up its nearest facing.

“I believe that portal marks our new survey site,” said Smythe. “Take us down just outside, will you old chap?”

.

 

[Jonny]

[

@Bry_Sinclair Hey! Glad you could make it, Bry. Thank you so much for looking in and taking the time to comment. I expect you're interested in the ship, right?

@Jonny Yay, another reader. Very pleased to meet you, and thanks for saying such nice things. Me mam's from Liverpool.

You're welcome Kuri As for your Mam being a fellow Scouser all I have to say is AWESOME SAUCE

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

A very intriguing story! I like the crew dynamics and how you're developing the characters. Dr. Ch'vo seems more than a bit eccentric (mad, perhaps?). I suppose we will learn in due course if there's any substance to his "star vampire" theory.

 

[psCargile]

A few things that aren't clear from Chapter 1: What's the captain's motivation for dismissing Ch'vo? And was the power out associated with collecting trilithium? At first glance the power out didn't seem to fit, as if it were an event that happens on board but has nothing to do with the story.

 

[Kuri]

@TheLoneRedshirt Aha! Thank you so much for looking in and your kind and encouraging words. I love your name. Another cool one. Maybe I was too hasty with mine...

@psCargile Hi. Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment. You make some interesting points. I'm guessing you don't want spoilers. Thank you once again for your interest!

 

[Kuri]

Chapter 4

“MAGNIFICENT, ISN’T IT?” Smythe rocked on his heels at the foot of the monolithic structure. Mack gazed upwards, unable to see its summit through the violet haze of Ismar’s dusty atmosphere. He returned his stare to the archeologist, who had indeed managed to wear his anachronistic pith helmet over the full-face gasmask.

“Even with phase cutters, this would take an age to complete… it just doesn’t make sense…” said the soldier, his words transmitted through his gasmask’s relay. Beside him, Captain Toure silently studied the pyramid.

Nearby, Dr. Ch’vo and Kimi conducted scans with their tricorders. The blue-skinned geologist returned first.

“Most perturbing,” said Ch’vo. “Judging from the surfaces, these steps were carved with non-advanced tools.”

Mack gaped at the steps, each roughly ten metres high, losing count as the ziggurat rose to the heavens. “They cut these blocks with hand-held tools then brought them here?”

Ch’vo shook his head. “It is carved from existing rock, all one piece. I beg to differ with you, Dr. Smythe, but this was once a natural mountain.”

“Conceded, Dr. Ch’vo.” Smythe nodded. “I still wonder at how such a marvel of engineering could be achieved.”

“I would think they started at the top and worked their way down. Given the methods, it must have taken a vast amount of workers, and time,” said Ch’vo.

“Sounds incredibly dangerous. What could have driven them to do this?” Mack wondered out loud. They all looked at the massive portal that led to a shrouded interior.

“I expect the answer is waiting for us in there, eh old chap?” said Smythe.

At that moment, Kimi returned, frowning at her tricorder. Toure picked up her mood even through the atmosphere masks.

“You have biological remains?” said the Captain.

Kimi nodded and pointed. “Thousands of skeletons, there and over there. Tens of thousands, possibly, if it goes on like this right round the outside of the pyramid. Look at this!” She showed them her readings. “We’re standing on a mass grave – they are just all bundled in, mashed up. I think I can get generic dimensions – they were on average a bit taller than humans, maybe two metres, but there are so many destroyed parts…”

Toure looked at Smythe. “You ever see anything like this before, Doctor?"

“I’m rather afraid I have,” Smythe folded his arms. “Ancient Egypt. The slave workers who lost their lives building the monoliths were just discarded outside like that. Poor souls. I wonder what the devil it was all for…”

They regarded the gaping gash in the mountainside again. Mack felt a chill spill down his spine, despite the dry heat of Ismar’s purple desert.

“I think it is time we looked inside,” said Toure.

The captain led the way. Smythe strolled along beside her, rubbing his hands. Ch’vo and Kimi followed, scanning with their tricorders in all directions. Mack glanced over his shoulder one last time at the parked shuttle, checking by sight that it was locked up. Then he slung his type-3 phaser rifle over his shoulder and took the rearguard. He peered up at the ceiling that arched hundreds of metres above their heads, as they all passed under its shadow.

A hush descended on the exploration party as they penetrated deeper along a two-hundred metre wide avenue of hewn rock. It turned a straight right angle, then continued deeper. Then again, and again.

“Spiraling square pattern,” commented Smythe, “I’ve seen ancient temples use the design to inspire awe in pilgrims – and forts to delay invasion armies...”

“Similar construction techniques as the outside,” said Ch’vo, adjusting his scanner. “They must have started with a natural cave network and expanded it considerably.”

Kimi reported no further biological remains inside the ziggurat. Somehow that did not alleviate Mack’s feeling that they were disturbing ancient ghosts long at rest.

When they turned the next corner they were almost in pitch darkness, the Ismares star a distant memory down the winding cavernous tunnel. Toure and Smythe fetched powerful palm beacons and shot the illumination beams into the gloom. They found themselves in a titanic stadium, its height beyond the range of their lights. The beams danced along the walls, revealing more paintings, much to Smythe’s delight.

Then Toure noticed something at the centre of the expanse. She widened the beam and ran it from the ground upwards. For the second time that day, Mack found his mind taking several moments to process what his eyes were showing him. Everyone fell speechless. Smythe noticed the silence and tore his attention away from the wall paintings.

“What is it? Oh my… I’ve never seen anything…”

Mack’s mind unfroze, and he instinctively reached for his weapon, before realising the idiocy in such a reaction. He was staring at a colossal alien statue that towered higher than a skyscraper. They were mere insects at its feet.

.

 

[CeJay]

Had a chance to catch-up with this and really quite enjoying it. I like these characters you put together, a bit more eccentric perhaps than your usual Starfleet crew, but nothing wrong with that at all, if anything it adds flavor. Toure appears to be quite a straight-shooter, perhaps just what this crew needs.

Also like the scientific bend here, really harking back to the exploratory nature of what Starfleet is supposed to be. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Kuri]

@CeJay Hey hey! Thanks for stopping by and droping such a nice compliment. I like the look of your website, too. I need to catch up on what other fanficcers are doing with this franchise...

 

[Kuri]

Chapter 5

“QUITE INTRIGUING, DON’T YOU THINK?” grinned Dr. Smythe.

Mack gaped again at the monstrosity, its pale metallic form now revealed by spears of powerful light from trolley beacons they had retrieved from the shuttle.

“It’s a goggle-eyed bug-monster!” said the security officer. The six-limbed titan was built roughly in the same form as the natives. But instead of a head a single gigantic sphere crested its neck, as wide as its shoulders. A slit pupil betrayed that this orb was a single, glaring eye.

“But look at those muscle contours! Wonderful definition! Reminds me of the old Grecian icons…”

Dr. Ch’vo returned to them from his survey at the monster’s foot. The Andorian scratched his white-haired scalp between his antennae, staring at his tricorder.

“What do you think, Doctor?” said Smythe.

“Most perturbing,” said Ch’vo, “I have never seen a material like it: Almost definitely artificial, exhibiting some properties of metals, but also plastics…”

“Like parsteel?” said Mack.

“Infinitely more dense and durable. It is tougher than dilithium! And… the way these molecules are aligned… I do not know, but… it could display certain elastic properties if put under enough electromagnetic pressure. I would like to have a go at it with a phase cutter. I believe we have here an unknown substance.”

“Oh, bravo old chap! You have made a new discovery after all.”

Mack noticed Captain Toure exit the dome-tent they had set up as base camp near the great hall’s entrance. She called over Kimi, who was mooching around the circumference of the expanse. Toure took another long perusal of the wall paintings before gliding over to join the group. Smythe noticed her interest in the paintings.

“They tell an intriguing story, eh Captain?”

Toure nodded. “According to this data, they envisioned this god, eschewed their technology and dived back into primitivism. Then they exerted all their strength to build this ziggurat…”

“Notice they created this god in their own image?” said Smythe. “Almost every culture I have ever studied does that with their claptrap false idols…”

She glanced around the empty arena, “Then what happened? We still don’t have a cause for the extinction event.”

“Perhaps this religious cult forbade procreation?” said Smythe. “They can be rather prudish about that sort of thing – make up all sorts of silly rules.”

“And cause mass racial extinction?” Toure raised her eyebrows. “That still leaves the question of where they all went. Someone buried those slaves outside. Ms. Shimizu says there are no signs of remains inside the mountain. This is not a tomb.”

“Yes. This was almost certainly a place of worship,” said Smythe. “I admit I’m rather stumped on the matter…”

Kimi dashed over to them, her cheeks flushed beneath her environment mask.

“The probe,” she gasped. “We have data…”

* * *

“IT IS ALIVE! I TOLD YOU SO!” Dr. Ch’vo finished his study of the monitor screen. “Look, here: These shifts in energy are moving counter to the natural flows in Ismares. See how those pulses move along strata of energy – very much like brainwaves.”

The blue-skinned academic straightened and folded his arms. Toure turned to Kimi. “What do you think, Ms. Shimizu?”

“I have to defer to Dr. Ch’vo on the anomalies. But… if this is life – a form of life existing as pure energy – it’s on a massive scale, bigger than a hundred Earths! Its consciousness might be incomprehensible to us. And these sub-space pulses – it could well be some form of communication, just as Dr. Ch’vo proposes. I don’t… I’ve never heard of anything like it, not even in the Vulcan records…”

“Jolly good!” Smythe clapped his hands together. “That’s the hat-trick then! We’ve all discovered something new. I knew it was worth coming here!”

Ch’vo stamped his foot. “And now it is time we left. This proves my hypothesis, just as you said, Captain. This thing could be incredibly dangerous.”

“Oh, wait just a jiffy old chap,” said Smythe. “We’ve still got lots of study to get on with here, you know? It was just getting interesting…”

Toure measured each of the scientists with a look, exchanged a glance with Mack, then closed her eyes for a long moment.

“Ms. Shimizu, Dr. Ch’vo, has there been any change in this entity’s behavior?”

They both shook their heads in reply to the same key question.

“Nothing yet,” said Kimi. “Perhaps if I supplied some stimulus…”

“No!” snapped Ch’vo. He appealed to the captain. “It does not mean…”

“It means we have no cause yet to abort and flee. We may be on the verge of something historical here. But, let us proceed with caution. Ms. Shimizu, continue standard analysis protocol and report any changes. And, Kimi? Do not provoke it.”

.

 

[Kuri]

Chapter 6

“THIS DAMN THING GIVES ME THE CREEPS,” muttered Mack, completing another redundant patrol around the circumference of the expansive hall. Seated on a foldable chair at the workbench by the basecamp, Kimi slammed her hand down in frustration.

“What’s up?” Mack said through the gasmask relay.

“I lost the probe. Just stopped transmitting. Weird. I wonder if Gaaval’s heat shield failed…”

Mack winced. “Better not let the Tellarite hear you say that.”

“Oh well,” Kimi shrugged. “I’d better get the Ulysses to continue monitoring using its own sensors.”

Mack waited while she signaled the request to Gaaval. When she finished he said, “Kimi, you notice anything different about the statue?”

She glanced at the colossus, then back to him, frowning.

“I mean… maybe you think I’m going space crazy, but when we first saw it, it was kind of passive looking. Know what I mean? Now… I don’t know… it sort of looks like it’s tensing those muscles.”

Kimi stared for some moments, then said, “You’re right.”

“I am?”

“I do think you’re going space crazy.”

Mack huffed. “I’m serious!”

“Oh, Mack, you keep staring at it all day long. Your eyes are bound to start noticing different things about it – it’s a natural effect.”

Mack shrugged, unable to reject the young scientist’s diagnosis.

Ch’vo and Smythe rejoined them from another survey at the foot of the titan.

“Most perturbing,” said Ch’vo. “It is impervious even to phase cutters.”

“Intriguing,” said Smythe. “I am starting to think that this marvelous material was the last great technological achievement of these people. Everything after that was reduced to primitive methods.”

Ch’vo perused the latest data streams transmitted to the computer on the bench.

“What is this?” said the Andorian.

“Oh, I lost the probe,” said Kimi. “Gaaval’s collecting and sending over data direct from the Ulysses.”

“No, what is this?”

They all peered at the monitor. Whatever Ch’vo had noticed was only comprehensible to the astro-geologist.

“There is an energy stream gushing right out of the Ismares star!” Ch’vo’s voice trembled. “Look: It is not a beam or a pulse. It is more like a meandering, diaphanous streamer.”

“You sure it’s not just radiation?” said Kimi.

“No. Some kind of diffuse skein of energy is crossing within the starlight.”

“Crossing to where?” said Mack, his pulse increasing just a fraction.

“Let me see,” said Ch’vo, sitting at the monitor and switching the communicator to talk to the Ulysses. Mack crossed to the dome-tent and knocked.

“Captain, we have a development. Can you come out here?”

Toure soon exited the airlock, gasmask in place. “What is it?”

“The entity is reacting!” said Ch’vo. “Something must have made it notice us.”

“Oh!” Kimi’s quiet gasp was audible to everyone through the gasmask relays.

“What do you mean, oh?” demanded Mack. “What did you do, Kimi?”

The assistant science officer took a step back from them all.

“It was just standard procedure…”

“Ms. Shimizu, please report.” Toure’s voice was unemotional.

“I bounced back some of the sub-space signals – identically modulated, through the probe.”

“You tried to talk to it?” said Ch’vo.

“Just three pulses… it’s normal procedure… I wanted to observe if it…”

“OK,” Toure took a deep breath. “Dr. Ch’vo, maintain watch on the data, please. Find out where this energy is going. Everyone else, I think it is time we broke camp.”

“But, Captain…” started Smythe. She raised a hand to forestall objections. Smythe obeyed, closing his mouth.

“Holy Sha Ka Ree!” exclaimed Ch’vo, standing so abruptly he toppled the chair beside the bench. “I know where the energy stream is going… There!”

He whirled and pointed a finger at the titanic statue. Mack turned and stared. This time there was no doubt. An ephemeral, wispy gas trickled down its glowing form. The great eye was slowly turning azure blue. Smythe loped towards it with his holo-imager raised.

“Smythe, stop!” Mack shouted, chasing after the archeologist. They halted, side by side, as a thunderous metallic groan echoed across the hall. Mack froze as the colossus moved, the massive orb turning on the thick neck to gaze down at them. Smythe dropped his imager and turned to Mack, grinning through his gasmask.

“Most intriguing!” Smythe said, just before he was vaporised.

.

 

[psCargile]

@psCargile Hi. Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment. You make some interesting points. I'm guessing you don't want spoilers. Thank you once again for your interest![/QUOTE]

Spoilers...the problem with sharing a first draft piecemeal is that it's hard to properly evaluate the story.