Faulty Little Birds, Part III

Posted on Fri Sep 15th, 2023 @ 7:55pm by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Lieutenant Commander Jason Elliot & Lieutenant Sava
Edited on on Fri Sep 15th, 2023 @ 7:56pm

1,866 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Campor III - Romulan Settlement, Duveek
Timeline: Following Part II

=/\= On =/\=

When Irith got to Shan he bowed slightly a show of respect and introduced himself. "I'm Ensign Shan, I work in operations. Hopefully we'll be able to help you out today." He held the basket up, and Shan took a few of the berries and tasted them. He nodded in approval. "Very delicious. Thank you for sharing."

"Welcome to Duveek... And Campor III, I guess", Irith said happily to Shan. "We're not sure what's going on with our shuttles. Maybe it's an issue with their power source. But problems seem to keep cycling through each ship."

Paisley made a mental note of this. Between herself and Kas, they were sure to figure it out. Fixing shuttles wasn't exactly her forte, that was much more Turner's work, as she was trained in Damage Control, but she did have a passing knowledge and could at least get them airborne. Kas would have to do the rest. She had no doubt he could.

They took one last look amongst each other before Ryhl, Kekana and anyone else who spread along them lead the group down the fairly wide path of worn green-silver grass. This was early spring on Campor III. Even so, the trees carried rich colors of reds and golds.

Sava felt eyes settle on her as the party passed, walking through fields of lush verdant green. She, of course, was the least humanoid-looking of the entire party, what with her slender limbs, bald head and hooflike feet. She must've been standing out like a sore thumb, not that it bothered her much. Kelpiens were very much a part of the Federation, as were her more recogizeably humanlike colleagues, and the Romulans would simply have to get used to her presence. She met the gaze of a young Romulan boy, aged maybe fifteen and wiry-framed, from helping his parents in the farm, she guessed. She smiled at him and moved on with the party, unphased.

Paisley, for her part, was less weary of her surroundings and more weary of their hosts. Particularly the statement that history hadn't been fully put to bed. That caused red flags to raise in the Engineer's pretty little head-were they in danger?! She was perfectly capable of self-defense, but honestly, a bit of warning was always nice. From all reports, there weren't any hostiles here, but could you really be sure?! No. She followed the rest, though, bringing up the rear, hauling her kit with her. She may look like nothing much more than a pretty little thing, but she was incredibly strong and had the tenacity to make it work even if she wasn't.

Jason started to get a buzz from the potential to examine a few Romulan ships, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, he found the light bothering his eyes, he looked over to Paisley, "It's nice to not be aboard the ship right now."

She nodded. "Yes, it is. I left Sar in charge and I just hope that those boys can keep themselves alive long enough to survive the day. I feel like I do more mothering than I do actual work," she said. She was mostly kidding, but a little bit not. The two other women on her team were self-starters and very independent, but unfortunately were enlisted, so she couldn't very well leave them in charge. Sar was the most "by the book" of the remaining team, and she knew that at least nothing would fall apart on his watch.

The group continued its journey along a trail, seemingly worn down through the constant footfalls of Romulans traveling to and from their camp. A closer look at the many wildflowers showed how different they were from Earth plants.

They seemed to have stalks and leaves closer to a dark blue-green. Most flowers looked extremely resinous, one neon green variety seeming to leak a gel from its central flower.

"I'm sharing that thought, Mister Elliot. It's great to get some star shine on the skin", Ryhl said, speaking of the planet's early afternoon "sun". Andorian eyes were slightly better adapted to the intense light, bred through generations of ancestors who traversed glacial plains.

A rather gruff looking Romulan, one of the six who accompanied them, spoke next in an almost hostile tone. "Leave it to the Federation to show up when the weather is nice", said the man, a slight hint of green to his complexion. "So you're going to help the settlements with replicators now.. What about when the frost came early and took our crops?"

Paisley chuckled lightly, "We could, perhaps, set up a climate control system, but we'd need permission to do so from whomever the central powers are here. Get that for me, and I'll do it." She said. "If you'd rather, we could also build hot-houses and irrigation systems. There's many choices," she said. Her mother must've felt just like this, being a Bajoran during the Occupation herself.

The grasslands and groves around the officers were awash with the noise of diverse alien wildlife. Various songbird-like call carried over the living buzz of the grasslands.

"Starfleet assigned the Columbia to arrive here towards the end of 2395", Ryhl said apologetically. "It took some time to prepare the ship and get crew on board." Most officers didn't show up until right before launch in mid 2396, although the ship had spent many months longer in preparation. "It was a long trip, but our ship crossed the stretch in record time."

The gruff male seemed to sense Paisley's distrust, giving her a snarky look and raising his nose. He wore militant looking clothing of an olive green, carrying a heavy backpack full of tools.

The Engineer had to bite her tongue; her first instinct was to turn around to the gruff looking Romulan and ask what the hell his problem was? Of course, she didn't. She simply fell out of formation, rejoining it a bit closer to Jason's side. Might as well do the damsel-in-distress thing if it meant being left alone.

Kekana had settled closer to Kas as they walked, with Ryhl looking around to see which other officers were closest. "You aren't like the other Klingons, are you?" She carried a soft look in her eye, excited to make the most of her opportunity to meet such diverse people.

"No Ma'am," Kas answered, he flashed his pearly white smile. "My Mother is Bajoran, I was born among the Quath'Mar. I believe the Quath'Mar have opened trade with Romulan refugees."

Kekana looked him over. "Ah Bajoran, you say?" She thought of the term Quath'Mar. "The name of your people sounds familiar. I know we've heard of a group of spacefarers who brought goods and knowledge. I think those are the Quath'Mar.. Yes?"

As the group moved, an additional Romulan followed the group from a distance. He tried to keep out of sight after spotting the Starfleet officers.

Now he kept some distance behind, moving off the trail from golden-barked tree to tree through the taller grass.

"It shouldn't be too much longer", Irith said in a tone which carried an awkward embarrassment brought on by the other's outburst.

Captain th'Zeles was currently oblivious to the presence of the distant tracker.

A creature ran from the grass-line, looking up at the officers. It opened its gaping, pincer-like mouth and shook its six-legged body at the group, chattering alongside a whistling sound which seemed to emit from its sides. A thin coat of fuzzy hair coated the nearly half a meter long creature. Three large eyes of simmering gold-green could be seen visibly blinking. Its footpads were adorned with what looked like blue, gem-like nails.

Surprised, Ryhl ducked to the side and put his hand in his jacket, on his holster. The Romulans didn't seem too worried. They did move out of its way, expressions unchanging. Captain th'Zeles reached for his tricorder, but froze after it chattered again.

One of the Romulans chuckled, still making sure to walk on the far side of the trail from it.

"Commander Lyngstad", Ryhl said. The 'Lieutenant' was often left out when referring to individuals of this rank. "What is that?!" Ryhl knew her guess was as good as his, though some records from Campor III likely made it into Starfleet's database.

"Scanning..." Johanna didn't know off the top of her head what the creature was. She pulled out her tricorder and scanned the creature. Linked to the ship's main computer, the creature, if known at all, could be identified.

The computer search did not link it with any known species. Johanna's tricorder was able to identify to creature as having traits which could be found in insects, small mammals and even reptiles. It appeared non-venomous and mostly harmless, except for the apparent potential of a nasty bite.

Shan kept to the back of the group, looking around more interested in the people than the scenery. There was some apprehension on both sides of the aisle, and Shan preferred his place in the back - away from the middle of it. He did his best to keep an open mind that is why he joined Starfleet. He was starting to get the sensation that something -- or someone was behind them.

"What other kind of wildlife do you have around here? Any larger mammals or other warm blooded creatures in the area?" Shan asked, calling up to their hosts.

"There are a few larger creatures", Irith responded. "We spent the last few years hunting one dangerous predator from out of this area. Most larger species were driven away." His answer seemed to point out that Shan was likely not sensing any animal. "But a diverse set of creatures live here, within the underbrush."

Jason just smiled at the creature, he pulled out a leather bound note book and opened it to a page, first looking at something then looking up, "That little guy is called a Carisis, hexapod, omnivore, they generally don't get confrontational unless we're near a denning area, this one is a male, I'm surprised we have seen signs of prong deer."

Ryhl turned back after hearing Jason's words. The creature stood tall on its bottom two legs as the group passed. "Good to know that its not hostile."

"Actually, the humans introduced deer to Campor III. You see, some of the planet had to be seeded with grasses. Those grasses grew out of hand. Deer were called in, quickly spreading across the planet", Kekana said.

"Those deer always get into my crops", said the gruff Romulan in olive fatigues. The sound of a distant waterway became louder as they moved along the trail.

"Fences, then?" Paisley asked, in a tone meant to assuage and indicate she was listening and taking mental notes. Luckily for HER, she'd gotten her fathers' eidetic memory, about the only good thing she'd gotten from the man.

Captain Ryhl th’Zeles
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Commander Paisley F’Rar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Commander Razka Kas
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad
Chief Science Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Sava
Security Officer
USS Columbia

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