The Root of the Problem

Posted on Sat Jun 3rd, 2023 @ 2:17am by Captain Charlotte Rhodes & Lieutenant Subat & Lieutenant Nugo & Lieutenant Commander Kenna Wolff & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Knight & Lieutenant Jackson Rutledge II & Lieutenant Callie Knight & Lieutenant Savar & Lieutenant Steven Edgeware & Lieutenant JG Verelan
Edited on on Fri Jun 9th, 2023 @ 9:57pm

2,017 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: Runner
Location: Sickbay, USS Defiant
Timeline: MD 6
Tags: story

Captain Rhodes looked through the transparent quarantine barrier toward the rest of sickbay. The two shuttle teams had made it safely back aboard, but contamination was a risk they could ignore. Doctor Nugo’s team has ferried them in new, sealed hazmat suits from the shuttle bay to sickbay. Now it was just a matter of time before they found out if, in fact, they were infected with anything.

She turned back toward the waiting table and display on the wall. Seated in her own room, Lt. Rutledge and Verelan waited by the display. The rest of their shuttle were in a side room.

On the display was the crew of the other shuttle, a larger group sitting in their own quarantine chamber. Knight, Wolff, Savar, Vali, and Edgeware. And displayed in a small cutaway, the currently sleeping elderly Andorian man from the sewers.

Based on the reports filed, there was an incredible amount to go over, so Rhodes walked closer to the display and let out a sigh. “So…that was not exactly your standard away mission. I’m honestly at a loss as to where to start. Do you all want to start with the world’s angriest tree that attacked us? Or the not quite dead that you all ran into?”

“It doesn’t matter, they don’t want us here.” Callie sighed. “I felt so much anger, hate, and rage it makes my head hurt.”

Savar was next to Verelan as she received treatment for her arm. "The intelligence we encountered is extremely hostile in the encounter we had with it. There is no room for discussion. It is not interested in anything we have to say. It regards us as a nuisance, a pest. That is evident in how it uses the bodies of the colonists." He stated pointedly.

"The thing we encountered at the derelict didn't exactly give us much time to talk either," the Captain noted.

“The constant storms must have caused a mutation in the plant life. Then the time dilation field pushed its growth at an alarming rate. On our way back here I looked over some of the data we retrieved. Everything was fine at first until the storms came. Our first task must be to find a way to deal with this time dilation field. We must slow this vegetation from evolving further. The more intelligent it gets makes it more dangerous.” Steven said

Rutledge sat at the display, calling up the mission logs to see if there was anything that he should have done differently.

Verelan looked towards Rhodes. “What about those of us exposed to the atmosphere? What happens to us, if anything?”

"Doctor Nugo is looking over our situation as we speak. We should know more once the diagnostic tests run through," Charlotte replied, doing everything she could to ignore the nagging anxieties at the back of her mind. She sat in her chair again, looking over the datapad in her hand. "Before we left the surface, we installed an interface on the derelect below and...well it's interesting to say the least. The drive system on that ship is definitely the source of dilation. That much we'd already gathered. What we hadn't known, was that it was intentionally altered to have that effect."

Rhodes swiped across the screen, bringing a display up beside the images of the two teams. "A few weeks ago in our time, there was a containment issue aboard then not-yet-crashed ship. It had been traveling from the within the Carina Nebula when there was a containment breach and a sample of something got loose. Within a day, the entire crew had been incapacitated and the ship was adrift. Then, the Engineering logs show some new inputs into the way their drive system worked. The ship altered course for a coming Ion Storm, and the first time acceleration happened. And then another, and another." She paused for a moment, looking around at their faces. "Based on what we've seen, the plant-entity engineered the time dilation to intentionally accelerate its progression. Meaning, you are quite right, Mr. Edgeware. We cannot allow it to get another boost."

"Unfortunately, we're also clearly dealing with a sentient life form here. Given what we all encountered down there and the complete lack of any animal life that we've seen, I'm going to say it's hatred is probably on a pretty wide spectrum too. But it is intelligent life, capable of communication. I think before we take any sort of action that is final, we need to try and communicate. It views us as a nuisance or as prey. But we're all back up here on a heavily armed cruiser. Let's see if we can't change that perspective a bit," Rhodes added. "Based upon what we know, do we think there's a way we can try and communicate?"

Verelan gave Charlotte a curious look, before Callie drew her attention away.

Callie looked towards Charlotte. “These...plants are full of anger, and hatred for anything that isn’t the same as them. They don’t want us here, they want us gone!”

"Personally, I want us gone too. I think I've had about enough of here already. But to avoid sounding too childish, we were here first. This being attacked and wiped out a Starfleet Installation. The degree to which it understands that could be important to how we react to this. This could be read as either a biological disaster or an act of war. Nuance matters a great deal here," Rhodes replied.

“What if it’s not a biological disaster, Captain?” Verelan looked at Charlotte. “What if the time changes here have just sped up a process that was already underway, one that would have taken a lot longer. We now more or less have a sentient species out there, admittedly one that shouldn’t be this evolved yet. Part of our mission mandate is to seek out new life is it not?”

Ryan had remained thoughtfully quiet as he listened to the others. He turned to Charlotte. "Lieutenant Verelan is correct that are mandate is to seek out new life." He took a deep breath before continuing. "However, this lifeform is clearly xenophobic and extremely dangerous. It cannot be allowed off that planet as it poses a threat to all sentient life in the region. We don't have time to debate every nuance of the situation. We either attempt to destroy the organism or ensure it can never leave the planet...ever."

After listening to both Verelan and Commander Knight, Savar spoke. "Both Verelan and Commander Knight have valid arguments. It is my opinion that we make no further attempt to open a discussion with the entity. It is not interested. So, we then do as the Commander suggested. We prevent it from ever leaving the planet. We place the planet under quarantine and ring it with warning buoys. Along with automated weapon platforms to prevent any attempts from it leaving or anyone landing."

Rutledge turned away from his monitor. "Why bother leaving message buoys or automated weapons platforms. We have enough fire power of this ship to reduce the surface of the planet to ash." He paused. "Why not use it?"

“What!?” Verelan looked towards Rutledge. “That’s a sentient life form down there, we can’t just exterminate it like it didn’t exist!” She sighed. “I’m sorry but the scientist in me doesn’t agree with that course of action.”

"Enough! We're not wiping out a planet. Not if we haven't even made contact with this thing," Charlotte said, a bit surprised that she'd raised her voice. She was a little surprised at everyone's reactions around her. And perhaps at her own. The first encounter she'd had with this thing was its attempt to crush her skull, but she seemed to be one of the only voices in favor of communication. What happened to the colony must have truly been traumatic. Callie's reaction certainly indicated as such. Lt. Savar's caught her the most off guard. Even the Diplomatic Officer thought they should leave, not talk.

She brought her face to her hands for a second rubbing her eyes for a second. "We're out her to seek out new life. We've clearly encountered some. I understand the desire to get the hell away from here. But are you all certain that we shouldn't even attempt to communicate?"

"Captain." Savar spoke calmly. "The life form we encountered on the planet's surface, has no interest in having a dialogue with us. It views us as invaders to it's home and wants us gone. I am afraid any future attempted communication is futile."

“ I am sorry to say this Captain but my friend is correct. This life form has deduced that it cannot use us and therefore has no interest in us. It will do what it can to push us away. Even if it means killing us all.” Steven warned.

Ryan sighed. He had seen what had happened to Callie. Her telepathic senses had been overloaded by the powerful raw emotions of the lifeform down on the planet. "I am not saying we need to kill the organism on the planet. Just ensure it can't escape the planet. Ship's phasers could be able to destroy all technological contracts on the planet. That includes the derelict starship and the structures comprising Sentinel 13 outpost. We only have a few hours to make a decision and act upon it before the ion storm once again engulfs the planet and we faced another temporal shift."

Rhodes looked at each them, wishing they were all in the same chamber and not across the screen from one another. The decision was a difficult one. And one which went against her nature. But she also felt the dull throbbing of her chest from the impact of a giant branchlike limb. She'd heard the complete lack of animal life on the surface, made much worse once she'd taken her helmet off. The lifeform had offered no quarter. And the little it had spoken was a simple threat. Leave or die. Her away teams had barely made it back to their ships.

And they had technically completed the objectives of their mission. They had rescued one near crazed colonist. And they had discovered what had happened to the colony. Perhaps that was enough. The timer on the side of the screen indicating the imminent return of the ion storm. She'd considered a second landing attempt to try and alter or disable the drive in the derelict. But they simply didn't have time. With a long sigh, she turned to face her Tactical Officer.

"Commander Wolff, I'd like you to start drawing up a targeting package. I want to take out everything on the surface that could even reach the stratosphere. The derelict, the outpost, the old shuttles, transport craft, transport helos. Anything down there with a battery. This thing wants to take Eta Halix back to the dark ages, we might as well make sure it gets to its destination. Try to aim for minimal ecological damage beyond what it takes," Rhodes said, resigning herself to that outcome. "Number One, I'd like a path out of this damn storm too. If the movements hold, there should be a much smoother path back out. I want to take it as soon as it opens."

Kenna nodded. "You shall have it within the hour Captain. " she had not spoken during the debate as she had nothing to say that would make a difference.

Ryan was hoping for an easier flight out than what they had experienced getting to the outpost. His suspicion was the derelict space ship was the source of the 'anchor'. Perhaps the ion storm would even dissipate completely after Kenna destroyed it. "I will start working on a navigational plot once I get to the bridge."

Rhodes nodded. "Then I'll talk to the doctor and make sure we're all cleared to get out of these quarantine rooms. We'll regroup on the bridge as soon as we're cleared. Dismissed."

 

RSS Feed