I've Come To Talk With You Again
Posted on Fri Oct 25th, 2019 @ 12:12pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Vaebn tr'Hwersuil
Edited on on Tue Nov 12th, 2019 @ 3:17am
2,683 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Episode 8 - The Silence
Location: Transporter Room 1/Surface of Wren IX
Timeline: MD004 1115 hrs
Ameri arrived to the transporter room ahead of the others. She was excited about being on an away team and yet at the same time leery of why they were here. It could be all above board just as explained but something did not feel quite right. She waited for the others to arrive.
"Early bird gets the worm, Lieutenant?" Rhetorically and sarcastically asked Quinn, as he winked at his wife. It was so great, seeing her assigned to an away team.
“I’ve heard rumors the first Officer is a sticker for being punctual,” Ameri’s eyes danced with humor. “I wouldn’t want to get off to a bad start.” She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.
"Well some rumors, are true." He said with a playful wink in his eye. He was beaming from head to toe. It had been years, since they were last on an away mission together.
“Feels good to be back to work,” Ameri admitted. She smiled. “The others must not have heard the rumors. Though they have a few minutes yet.”
"I don't mind having you all to myself." He said, with loving eyes. He loved being around her, even after 11 years of marriage, there was no other place in the world, he would want to be.
Ameri smiled. “I feel the same way.” She admitted. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”
The doors slid open to the transporter room and Vaebn stepped inside. He was again wearing the curious Romulan device on his left wrist, two handheld devices on his right hip next to his tricorder, and his phaser on the left in a cross-draw position, he also carried a large flat duranium case by the handle in one hand, and in his other hand, his ever-present thermal mug of steaming coffee. "Good morning Commander, "he nodded to Quinn and turned to Ameri, "and you Lieutenant."
"How are you doing, Vaebn, its alright call you that?" Quinn asked. He did not want to upset the romulan officer. He barely knew anything about romulans. Most of his studies, had been on Cardassians.
"Of course sir. I don't mind at all," he replied. "And other than still processing what we might find down there, I'm doing quite well this morning. I hope you don't mind that I am bringing some extra equipment that may or may not be standard issue."
Ameri nodded in greeting to the science chief. She didn’t want to interrupt his conversation with Quinn. She wasn’t at all surprised at what he brought. He was a scientist he would want to be prepared.
"You might have a spot there for the sink." Quinn said with a big grin on his face, as he looked at Vaebn. "Do you need any help, with any of that?" Quinn asked. He was not surprised, that Vaebn, brought extra equipment. From a scientific standpoint, this was a golden opportunity.
Vaebn looked at him quizzically, "I'm not sure what you mean sir. Although I figured it would be prudent to bring an array of equipment that could potentially aid us. I doubt a sink would do much more than weigh us down." He lifted a case off the ground and slung the strap over his shoulder and across his chest; "However, I think I can manage with everything," he said as he took a long drink from the mug.
Tallida was running a little late. Sleeping next to Neil was having its benefits but her being on time was not one of them so it would seem. Her brightly colored hair was still hanging around her shoulders as she rounded the bulkhead and came to a stop in front of the other members of her assigned away team. Her hands moved to pull her hair into a practiced bun. "Good morning,"
“Morning,” Ameri replied with a smile. She still wanted to laugh over the sink comment. She was more than ready to explore. Her eyes went to Quinn’s. “We all here sir?”
Quinn made sure, everyone was situated on the transporter pad, before looking over to the transporter chief, and calling out. "Energize." He said, as they de-materialized from the USS Pioneer, and re-materialized on the planet surface.
The air had a foul stench to it, the lighting was poor, and a little misty. Clearly it was not midday on the surface, almost a dusk night, to the planet's surface. There was a light breeze in the air, that carried the stench with it. Quinn had an uneasy feeling about this place. "We got a job to do." He said as he looked over to Vaebn.
Vaebn caught the glance from Quinn, "On it sir," he replied as he pulled out his tricorder and began scanning the surrounding area. He stepped forward from the transport site and began to take in what little of the natural environment he could see at the moment. Vaebn glanced periodically at his left wrist device and the tricorder in his right hand as readings began to come in. "Sir, the power signature seems to be coming from that direction." he said and raised his hand to indicate a Northwesterly direction.
Ameri felt something the moment she materialized. Sort of like when you had a bad feeling. She was uneasy. She listened as Quinn spoke then turned to get to work. She started scanning things around her. “Odd.” She replied. “My readings have it in that direction.”
Tallida was out of her element. She had only been on one away mission the USS Yorktown and it was simply setting up a medical station on the planet they had been sent too. She found herself both excited and terrified. She could do this, she kept telling herself as she followed the other officers, not offering anything to help them all.
Begin scans of the system. Find their ship we must. There must be a ship if there are two teams. They must not be allowed to continue their exploration. We must learn why they are here before termination. Observe and report... As it is above it shall be below. We are The Silence and silence is golden, but our eyes see. Under the scorched earth, and the fetid air a myriad of tunnels were laid out. For this was the home, the true civilization of the Silence. Commander O Flannagain and his team have stirred them from their twenty five years of loneliness. This visit was unwarranted and unwelcome. The Silence enjoyed their isolation and the Starfleet team will be made to leave or cease to be, just like those that came before them. For this was the way of The Silence.
“I do not like this,” Ameri muttered. Her eyes widened as she realized she spoke out loud and then just continued on. “Am I the only one who feels uneasy?”
"You aren't alone in that regard Lieutenant," Vaebn said. He absently rubbed his temple with his free hand, feeling the beginnings of a minor headache coming on. Something in the air perhaps, he wondered, as it was difficult to make out anything in the unnatural mist.
"That makes three of us, but we need to triangulate the signal. Both of you can not be right?" He said, as he pulled out his scanner. He could tell it was a single power source, that showed it was coming from two different directions. Which was very odd. "Start to re-calibrate the scanners." He said, hoping this would be able to break, what ever jamming situation had been going on.
Ameri went to work. She had to stop and think for a moment. Her head felt a little cloudy. Was she getting sick? That would look terrible for a first mission. She ignored it and continued to help re calibrate the scanners. "Let's hope it works this time."
Tallida agreed with Ameri. There was something, odd, about this place. Pulling out her own tricorder she began to scan the area that neither of the other officers had indicated. Her tricorder was pinging as if something was there, but it was almost as if it couldn't decide what or if it were real. Then there was something out of the corner of her eye. She took in a quick breath as she turned. The shadowed figure was gone almost as quickly as it had arrived making the Angosian question whether she had even seen it. She looked over at the others wondering if they had seen it too, but no one seemed to have seen anything. "Settle your nerves Talli." she said under her breath.
"There is something out there. Right now it appears to be keeping its distance. Any luck on the triangulation, Ameri?" Quinn asked, as he waited for his wife to respond. His neck hairs, were standing up, his flight or fight responses, were starting to kick in.
“It remains the same,” Ameri replied, frustration in her voice. “I am inclined to believe someone or something doesn’t want us to pinpoint the exact location.”
"It does appear to be the case, if anyone can break through this, its you. Work with Vaebn, the two of you can do this." Quinn ordered his wife. He needed to find the source of the power. "While you two are working on that, Tallida and myself, will scan the immediate area, see if we find anything. "
Ameri turned to the science chief. “Our equipment is not faulty so we need to find what is interfering with our equipment.”
Vaebn absently rubbed at his temple again, the pain was getting worse; "I agree Lieutenant, there is some kind of localized distortion field that is interfering with our sensor data, but it's not complete as we keep getting accurate readings bleeding through here and there."
Ameri and Vaebn worked on eliminating which one was faulty. It took some time and then Ameri’s eyes lit up. “See that right there!” She pointed. “That is the true power source, the other one is not putting off that emission.”
He followed her arm to see what she was pointing at, and blinked away the discomfort that was slowly spreading; "Interesting," he said as he locked the direction of the signal into his wrist display. "We should probably get a closer look."
Quinn also looked over to Vaebn, and then back at Tallida. They all had their assignments now. Quinn motioned for Tallida to lead the way. With a big grin on his face, and a motion of his hand. "Let's see what we can find over here." Quinn told her, as he looked at some old ruins, not to far away.
"Yes, sir." Tallida replied as she moved to scan the area. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there, watching them, her. She looked over her shoulder at the nothing behind her before turning back to her work.
She sees, but does not hear. One does not know their potential. It is not as it is above, no one here can hear us. Scanning they are, scanning we are. They are similar as those who came before, but different. Concentrate on she who sees. If contact is warranted or needed she is the one we contact. We are The Silence and silence is golden, but our eyes see. Unknown to the Away Team The Silence had placed a Triad on their tale. They were worthy of closer study and they wondered if the team would venture from their origin point. For now all one could do was wait and watch.
Quinn and Tallida started to branch off, in their own direction. "How long do you think this settlement has been abandon?" He asked, noticing no one roaming the streets, why was that? Where did they go, what happened to them? Or where they hiding and spying on them?
"I don't," The counselor started as she continued her scans. She stopped as she got a reading she didn't understand and tapped the screen. "Think we are alone." The last part she barely muttered as she heard something shuffle just at the edge of her hearing. She turned just in time to see a dark hooded figure, or what her brain processed as one before it was gone. Was she losing her mind? A laugh escaped her lips at the idea of the brain doctor losing hers.
"You sound hesitant on that response." Quinn said, wondering what her gut instinct was telling her. His was telling him, that they were being watched, if not in person, then by surveillance.
The pair of them advanced toward an odd tower-like structure that appeared to grow out of the ground. Similar in appearance to a communications tower, a metallic and crystalline fusion of construction, and somewhat organic looking. Vaebn's tricorder and wrist display both chirped with data streams as they closed in on the object. It looked new and yet old at the same time; non-functional and powered, but which was it. "Lieutenant, despite it's appearance, I'm fairly certain our energy readings and distortion field are coming from this. I'm uncertain of the crystalline structure itself, but the metal is tritanium and it seems to extend deep into the ground."
“Commander,” Ameri’s voice came over his comm. “We found it!”
Quinn walked over to Ameri and Vaebn. "What did you find, Ameri?" Quinn asked, with a little excitement in his voice. He was very proud of them, but deep down, he was hoping him and Tallida would have found something first. Ameri was very good, at solving things.
“Right there,” Ameri showed him. “We believe that is where the power source is but we need to take a closer look.” She glances over at Vaebn, then to Quinn. “There are traces of presences of duranium and tritanium structures. It isn’t very far.”
The trio of Silence approached the group from the rear. Silently as their feet left no trace, and no sound. Not on their world on their home. Their eyes bore into the one who could see them, the one who heard them travel. The one who was not like the others. The Starfleet group had found it, the one thing that The Silence had to keep secret, the secret that the others died for. They dared to breach their own protocol as one long, thin, purple digit outstretched from the cloak and tapped Tallida on the shoulder. She had to understand, they had to understand.
She knew it was coming. She couldn't explain why, but when she felt the tap on her shoulder and the finger that made it she wasn't surprised. Her movements were slow as she turned her head and looked, really seeing them for the first time. Her eyes widened slightly but then returned to neutral. "Are you real?" She asked almost in a whisper, making no movement as she simply looked.
Ameri felt something crawling up her back. Like that feeling you get warning you that something was coming. Her back was to Tallida. She wasn’t certain she wanted to turn around but she couldn’t help herself. She felt compelled to.
Quinn felt cold chills coming down his back. He was taken by what he saw. He put his personal feelings aside, and focused on his duties. He was preparing in his mind, what he was going to say.
A Joint Post By
Commander Quinn Ó Flannagáin
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Tallida Ovaa
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Ameri Ó Flannagáin
Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Vaebn tr'Hwersuil
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
The Silence
Silence Will Fall
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