Lt. JG Natasha Cole - The Edge of Discovery
Natasha Schell
(( Archaeological Survey Site – Serein Basin, Rylor ))
Tal: Jovenan, you can take C-8. Cole, right beside her at the edge of the trench in C-7. ::small, amused glance:: Perimeter awareness may prove useful if any aggressive pottery fragments attempt an escape.
oO Calm, observant, and funny. That seemed unfair. Oo
Nyra stepped down into the trench herself, kneeling easily in the dust. Natasha looked to Jovenan and gestured for her to follow with a warm smile. This was already a fun experience; the mystery of what lay just under the surface was a little intoxicating.
Cole: Understood. I’ll secure the area and neutralize any hostile ceramics.
Jovenan: Set phasers to stun. We want to make sure they make it intact for interrogation.
Tal: Excellent. I’ll expect a full threat assessment if anything attempts to flee your sector. ::beat, sly smile:: Try not to escalate unless the pottery makes the first move.
After a few quiet moments of methodically sweeping with her trowel, careful not to apply too much pressure, Natasha focused on moving only the loose soil. Examining the area, Natasha glanced up toward the other two women.
Cole: You know, I can see the appeal. There’s something nice about work where the goal isn’t to stop a disaster, just… uncover what’s already there.
Jovenan: Now you know how I feel before my perfectly good space dust mapping mission is ruined by transuniversal invaders, or something silly like that!
Tal: It’s one of the few disciplines where nothing happening is considered a success. ::glancing briefly upward:: Statistically underappreciated.
She smiled at that. This was genuinely fun. Having a new experience in a setting that didn’t involve danger or urgency was a nice change. She returned to gently excavating her square when her trowel caught on something beneath the loose soil.
Cole: Lieutenant… I think I found something that is either interesting or very bad.
She grabbed her brush and started to sweep the loose soil away revealing something metallic and old.
Cole: It looks like a fitting… or maybe a latch. Which feels like an important detail, archaeology-wise.
Natasha looked up as the two women joined her in her little area of the dig site.
Jovenan: Have you found a lot of metal objects from this area before?
Tal: ::tilting her head:: Not many. Metal doesn’t tend to survive here unless it’s deliberately preserved or unusually well-made. ::indicating the object:: Which makes this… highly interesting.
Natasha leaned back just enough to give both scientists room, brush still poised in her gloved hand.
Cole: Good. I was hoping I hadn’t just discovered an especially persuasive piece of scrap.
Jovenan: Doesn’t look like the soil was disturbed before we got here. I don’t think someone would have buried it here, at least not long before it got under the flood soil, or very deep. ::looks closer:: It’s a bit crude, but very sturdy. Could they have bought it from a travelling merchant?
Tal: Possibly. Though if it was trade, we’d expect to see more than one example. ::tilt of her head:: So the question becomes…
Natasha’s eyes dropped back to the fitting, tracking its position in the soil and the angle of the metal against the stone.
Cole: If it wasn’t common trade, then it was probably made for something specific. Which means it mattered… or whatever it was attached to did.
Natasha noticed Nyra’s mouth twitched… brief, bright… followed by a wink.
oO Right. Apparently accurate observations were rewarded with eye contact now. Good to know. Oo
Jovenan: If you only one big and sturdy lock, what would you use it for?
Tal: A lock is less about what’s inside than what’s outside. ::a small pause, then to Cole:: What do you think it was designed to resist?
Natasha squinted at the exposed metal, then at the surrounding stone, already trying to picture the forces involved.
Cole: ::examining the piece of metal:: If it were built to hold against force, I’d expect heavier reinforcement around the hinge points. This feels more like it was meant to keep something out in a practical sense, weather, pests, or curious hands.
Tal: Possibly. Though if it were purely defensive, I’d expect reinforcement along the hinge points as well. ::lightly:: What does that suggest to you two?
Natasha shifted onto one knee, studying the surrounding cut of the stone.
Cole: More function than fortification.
Jovenan: Response
She leaned back onto her heels, brushing a thin line of dust from the edge of the square with two careful strokes, widening the visible boundary without disturbing the underlying layer.
Tal: I don’t think this is a standalone piece. Objects like this tend to belong to systems.
Natasha brushed a little more loose soil away from the side of the fitting, careful not to rush it.
Cole: So I found part of something bigger.
Jovenan: Response
Nyra glanced once more at the surrounding grid, then back to the object, as though mentally extending its presence outward into the unseen soil beyond their square.
Tal: All right. New working hypothesis: this square is more interesting than it was five minutes ago. ::small smile:: Let’s see how far that extends.
Cole: So my square just got promoted?
Jovenan/Tal: Response
As she brushed a little more soil away, Natasha noticed a straight line emerging beneath the loose dirt. A seam. That was interesting.
Cole: ::tilting her head:: There appears to be a seam here. ::looking up at Nyra:: I think it belongs to something bigger.
Jovenan/Tal: Response
Cole: This is already a better shore leave story than I was expecting.
Jovenan/Tal: Response
Tags/TBC
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Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4