LT Gila Sadar & PO3 Filistrien - Angry Klingon or Angry Trees? Take Your Pick
LT Gila Sadar
((Guest Accommodations - Wallace Colony, Kahines II))
Bergmen: We should arm ourselves, ma’am. The scorpionmole tunnels and probably nest are nearby. Just… to be sure. Ma’am.
Sadar: Ah, I see... ::frowns:: Y-Yes, uhh... M-Make sure to pack your phasers.
Gila wondered if anyone was going to object if she didn’t pack a phaser. Would that be a weird look for the ranking officer? It probably would, wouldn’t it? And she was certain that any errant scorpionmoles weren’t going to back off with a ‘sorry we intruded’.
Lyara: The way the colonists described the scorpionmoles made them sound very dangerous. Tunnels the size of five year olds.
Imril: Whatever a scorpionmole is, the second half of that name implies that they dig lots of tunnels. Depending on where and how big those tunnels are, and the dens connected to them, the expedition could be digging into unstable ground. I’ll program the Griffin’s scanners to try to identify and map out any subterranean hollows based on airflow and missing sub-strata. But it may take one of us looking over the data to confirm anything.
Bergmen: Good idea.
Lyara: Thankfully we’ll have a team dedicated to that. We can try to map out any burrows we find underground.
Filistrien: Sound idea. There is a non-zero chance that the burrowing done by the scorpionmoles is partially responsible for the unearthing of the facility.
Sadar: Let’s just hope the scorpionmoles lose interest when the area is exposed to direct sunlight.
Imril: ::To Bergman/Lyara/Filistrien:: Is there anybody we need to be concerned about making things more difficult on the colony's end? I can report that Administrator Baum looks to be plenty annoyed with the Klingons, but is holding it together for the sake of putting all of this behind him as soon as possible.
That was a good question, and one Gila was considering diligently when, all of a sudden, one of the Ensigns bolted out of the room with nary a by-your-leave.
Bergmen: Could you please excuse me for a moment?
Gila blinked, confused, but let it rest, as she had more important things to consider. How could the Starfleet team soothe the underlying tensions in the colony? It wasn’t like they had the alien version of a scallops wreath to hand over, but she genuinely didn’t know what they could possibly offer the colony that they couldn’t readily replicate themselves.
Lyara: There was no ill will between the colonists and the Klingons when we interacted with them. If they’ve interacted at all.
Filistrien: I asked Mx. Fiell - the administrator’s aide - regarding the Klingons’ decision to reside in their ship by the digsite. ::considers:: Their opinion was that such an arrangement served both parties best, so I do not think that the Klingons were given as helpful a welcome as we were.
Gila suspected as much, but didn’t mean she had to like the implications.
Sadar: So the colonists’ official response is ‘ignore them until they leave’? ::shakes her head in slight frustration:: It’s not the worst approach, but not encouraging either.
Imril: We've spent all this time working out how we're going to help the Klingons do their job. But might there be something that the colony needs help with that we could do for them? Anything that doesn't involve the dig-site or the Klingons, I mean? A charitable gesture on our part may help cool things down if they do get heated.
Filistrien: Hazel and Barto mentioned the colony needing to move the treeline of the nearby forest back a few acres, so as to make room for new farmland. And there is the scorpionmole issue. And the angry trees.
Gila blinked in confusion at that point.
Sadar: ‘Angry trees’?
This was the point that Ensign Bergmen decided to rejoin their debriefing.
Bergmen: I'm fine, but I'll wait for the ventilation to clean the air. The Klingon cuisine avenged.
Sadar: Take a seat, Ensign.
He did as asked.
Bergmen: Did I miss something important?
Xandeus had to struggle to not sigh.
Filistrien: Yes Sir.
oO That tends to happen when one abruptly leaves a strategizing meeting and then loudly interrupts it when returning to it. Oo
Imril: Response
Bergmen: ::to Sadar:: Will we be on the dig site only as ground and diplomatic support, or are we expected to go underground with the archaeology team?
Gila raised a hand. She felt like she had a point that needed to be made abundantly clear. While she’d never been the type of Ensign to go off on wild adventures, she had heard plenty of stories during her service, and she wanted to ensure that she came home with all three Ensigns intact.
Sadar: No one is going underground, not us nor the Klingons. Since no subterranean echo survey has been completed yet, we have no confirmation that it’s safe to go to the lower levels yet. The Klingons will be handling the areas of the exposed facility that requires heavy excavating gear, while we excavate the already fully exposed western wing.
Seemingly satisfied with the amount of information given to them concerning their assignments for the following day, the Ensigns and the Petty Officer
Bergmen: ::to Imril:: We should add more water to our kit, as midday can be quite hot.
Imril: Response
Ensign Lyara turned to Xandeus, who - in turn - looked back at her. Thus far, he had a good impression of the Bajoran Ensign. She was certainly not the most objectionable officer to work with, and he had no doubt that her inner zeal would prove very useful in dealing with a Klingon. Especially one of such an aggressive nature as LT Sadar suggested this ‘B’Equ’ was.
Lyara: Filistrien, when you do a background check can you send any information you find?
Xandeus nodded readily.
Filistrien: Yes Sir. It shall be on your PADD before the shuttle is cleared to depart tomorrow.
Lyara: Sounds good, I recommend you brush up on your Klingon.
At that, Xandeus had to stifle a wry smirk.
Filistrien: jIyaj. (I understand)
Serving as a communications specialist on a hospital ship meant you quickly got accustomed to languages, especially because the Universal Translator - valuable as it was - sometimes ran into limitations.
Gila, meanwhile, breathed out - uneasily - as she stood a bit straighter in place.
Sadar: You have your assignments. We’ll set out at 0700 tomorrow for the Klingon landing site, where we’ll split into our respective teams. Dismissed.
(((Timeskip: The following morning)))
((Cockpit of the USS Griffin - Skies above Wallace Forest))
Once the Starfleet team had arrived at the Vahr’sto landing site that morning, it had been impossible to miss the tense aura surrounding the woman who was soon identified as Dr. B’Equ. Prickly hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface, and worse was that Xandeus hadn’t been able to truly identify the source of her irritation.
Now that it was just him, Ensign Lyara and the Doctor in the cockpit of the Starfleet shuttle as they coasted over the forest in preparation of the survey, however, he could almost feel the tension seep out of the Klingon like it was a tangible force dispersing into the air around him.
B’Equ of House Grumm had had a normal childhood, as far as Xandeus could tell. Her House had never been involved in any major skirmishes with the Federation - not more so than any other House, at least - and B’Equ herself had never been involved in anything illicit either. As far as Xandeus could tell, this survey also marked the very first time that B’Equ and Doctor Sadar ever met. He knew that the reason that Doctor Sadar felt uncomfortable with the Klingons was, in part, because of her species’ aversion to their aggressive culture, but also because the Klingons had been responsible for one of the numerous occupations that her home planet had been subjected to.
Was that fact also a factor for B’Equ, he wondered.
B’Equ: The sensors are primed. We need five good and slow runs over the fortress at varying altitudes to get a proper scan. Start us up at 78.4 volcs.
Lyara: Response
Filistrien: Aye Sir, aiming the sensors at the upper layer of sediment.
B’Equ: Your sensors are good. These will be adequate scans.
Xandeus almost couldn’t believe that the prickly and very testy Klingon they’d met at the Vahr’sto was now complimenting their vessel. He recalled an old human saying concerning ‘mixed signals’, but this felt like more than that.
Lyara: Response
((Meanwhile - Near the Western Wing, Klingon Prison Ruins, Wallace Forest))
Gila’s team and the Klingons hadn’t walked through the forest together for very long before they split off from each other, aiming for separate sections of the exposed ruins. The actual walk wasn’t too bad - it reminded Gila of a less humid variant of the trek she’d made on Meirash alongside Cmdr. Adea and the others - but what PO Filistrien had said the night before still bothered her.
Sadar: Ensign Bergmen, did the colonists mention anything about how they intend to move the treeline?
Bergman: Response
Sadar: N-No, it’s about what Ensign Imril said yesterday. Perhaps that is something we can accomplish in the interim. Would that be possible with the equipment we have on hand or on the Griffin?
Imril/Bergmen: Response
Sadar: It’s not something to do right now, but it may service us if tempers start flaring to divide and conquer. ::looks around:: Also, we don’t want to, uhhh, ‘anger the trees’?
Imril/Bergmen: Response
Tag/TBC
LT Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1
&
PO3 Xandeus Filistrien
Signals Analyst
USS Artemis-A