[Act 2] Ensign Ollie Bergmen - For dust you are and to dust you shall return
CPT Arianus
(( Untamed Jungle, near the Tritorian wreckage – Ura Neteos III ))
The jungle's humidity was unbearable. Yet breathing was even easier, as the planet's air was clearer and breezier than the recycled air they had been breathing on board the Artemis.
And that was the only good thing about their trip in general, because within seconds of their arrival on the planet, Ollie's uniform was drenched in sweat, and wearing a hooded travel cloak didn't help at all; in fact, it made things worse, as phaser was rubbing Ollie's hip, and the backpack strap was tearing his shoulders with every step forward through his sweaty clothes. Despite all this, he felt more or less okay. He realized that there was no point in complaining because they couldn't do anything about their equipment at this time. The sooner they finished their task, the sooner he could return to the ship, and Ollie would have a chance to attend to all the scratches, bites, and bruises he was bound to suffer.
The first officer took out his tricorder to scan their surroundings. After a brief moment, he gestured in the direction where they could expect to find the shipwreck, allowing everyone just a brief moment to orient themselves on this strange, humid Minshara planet.
Dakora: Alright men, you know the plan; Get to the ship, see what they were carrying in their cargo bay, and get out before we get spotted by any locals.
oO Better said than done. Oo
Ollie's thoughts betraying from the start was not what Ensign wanted to feel, yet heavy air and sweat did not make their task any easier.
Silveira: Understood Commander
Savel: Response
At least the lieutenants were lifting spirits higher. Ensign double-checked his gear one last time and gave a confirming nod.
Bergmen: Ready where you are, sir.
Four Starfleet officers moved into the thick jungle. Despite the sweltering heat and the slippery, muddy ground, they pressed forward at a serious pace, step by step, looking ahead. The surrounding foliage teemed with the sounds of wildlife scurrying and rustling as the group pushed forward. Ollie couldn't help but imagine all the creatures waiting to sting, bite, or pounce on him if he dared to step off the path that the officers had cleared. He longed for an industrial excavator to easily clear the jungle ahead, reminiscent of his days as a simple enlisted man serving on the second contact engineering support vessel.
Bergmen let out a sigh, pondering his true purpose. He had become an officer of the Fleet, and he wanted to be stationed on a scientific and exploratory vessel. What could be more focused on research and exploration than a new planet, potential first contact, and the myriad of diseases? There were certainly enough unknown diseases that could potentially lead to some epidemic capable of wiping out the entire ship. Or, on the other hand, considering that they were essentially carriers of billions of potentially harmful bacteria, their mere sneeze could accidentally introduce something and inadvertently eradicate local life.
Dakora: Let's keep our eyes open. If anyone's been here before us, we need to know about it.
The commander's voice immediately snapped Ollie out of his doomsday thoughts, prompting the ensign to swiftly retrieve his tricorder from beneath his cloak and conduct a rapid scan of the area. His readout did not find anything special; no humanoid life signs except those he expected. Some local fauna, common minerals, and something that looked like…
The commander took a step forward, with the rest of the team following closely behind. Ollie quickly closed his tricorder and followed. The crash site was now closer, and the landscape became increasingly rough. The shattered tops of trees in the distance indicated that the crash site was nearby. They ascended a hill and eventually reached the edge of a clearing, where the wreckage of the freighter Tritorian lay, its hull split into two sizable sections. Steam and smoke rising from the wreck to the sky were bad omens.
Dakora: There it is.
Silveira: Damn, that's not a soft landing.
Lieutenant Silveira’s comment confirmed Ollie's suspicion, which arose when he reviewed their scans from the sensor pod.
Bergmen: Commander, this is what we feared when scanning the surface and finding the wreck. ::points to the wreck to emphasize his words:: We need to inspect the hull for any identifiable integrity defects before entering, like warp nacelles, bridge, et cetra. If parts of the ship disintegrated during descent, there may be additional debris sites.
Savel: Response
The Commander motioned for the ship to proceed ahead. The main part of the wreck was buried in the muddy ground on their left, but the commander guided them to the rear section, where the cargo hold was supposed to be, which was a few hundred meters away. It had slid even farther, cutting a lengthy path through the jungle as it detached during the crash. Using his tricorder, the commander examined the wreckage ahead.
Dakora: The cargo looks to be intact… for the most part. Let’s hope we can still access it.
Ollie, as the lieutenant on his left, guessed by his raised eyebrow, shortly observed the vessel debris, thinking about how they would manage to remove it quickly enough without disrupting the local population with technologies that were beyond the grasp of pre-warp civilization.
But that was a problem of tomorrow’s Artemis.
The commander pushed forward once more, and his team followed. The terrain did not suggest an easy task ahead. Their boots sank into the soaked ground, and mud stuck to their pants, making every step more miserable. Ollie must have exerted himself in the end just to move, as his muscles painfully reminded him that PT was not one of his favorite activities.
The aft section drew closer, revealing details that told a story they didn't want to see. The cargo door was forcibly opened, barely hanging on its hinges aside, providing the team with a full yet worrying view inside the hold behind.
Dakora: I don’t think we’re the first ones here.
Ollie focused on the cargo hold ramp and floor and noticed it as well. Mud smudges, too much, there would be freighter's crews for that, too strange in size and angle of steps, for them to come from the shoes of the members of Artemis from other away teams.
Silveira: And those aren’t from any of our comrades either.
Bergman nodded and gestured toward the fresh discoloration on the ramp, which was too recent to have been there before the crash - potentially grooves from the crates being pushed out.
Bergmen: And there goes the Prime Directive directly out of the airlock.
Savel: Response
Whatever was there before could still be around. Ollie effortlessly flicked open his tricorder and gently nudged the display out from the cape to review the results while Lieutenant Silveira used the time to look around.
Silveira: I suggest we go inside, secure the cargo bay and look for what they were carrying, Commander.
Dakora: Response
Savel: Response
Bergmen: Lead the way, Mr. Savel, I will continue scanning our surroundings. If anything, lieutenant, are you ready to lead us to safety? I guess we do not want to start shooting around the magical beams of heresy.
Savel: Response?
Ollie felt exposed outside. The readings he was getting definitely did not contribute to the sense of security he was hoping for. This close to the wreck, he was getting more information about the wreck itself than the surrounding jungle. Maybe the radiation was to blame, or maybe it was just the subsoil playing with the resolution capabilities of their devices. Or perhaps he didn't notice it while in the jungle because he had nothing to compare the results with.
Silveira: I think we are too exposed here. And we should stick together.
Dakora: Response
Savel: Response
Ollie was glad for the lieuteant’s proposal as he felt the same. Separated, they were easy prey, together…they were a bigger target. Pro and cons, like with everything.
Bergmen: Agree, let’s hide inside and go through our part of the wreck. Sonner we complete the mission better.
The team surged ahead, but suddenly Silveira tapped the commander on the shoulder.
Silveira: Commander, are those ropes tied to the wreckage?
Dakora: Response
Ollie turned away from the tricorder and looked in the direction that the lieutenant had pointed. He needed to focus his vision to see what Siveira meant.
Bergmen: Yeah, I see that too. ::grimace:: On a more positive note, now that we are closer, I was able to detect that the deck above the cargo holds some weapon-grade energy readings. Based on their layout and size, I would guess that there is an armory there, which has its own independent circuit. It is active and the weapons readings are distributed regularly, so it seems that the visitors did not get there. At least there's some good news in all of this.
Savel: Response
Bergmen once more checked the tricorder display. He didn't pick up anything new, but a nagging feeling kept bothering him as he attempted to extract more information from the data. The ensign struggled to recall all the details from the briefing he had reviewed before they were transported down, but it felt like his thoughts were shrouded in a haze. Ollie gestured to Lieutenant Savel and moved closer to him to ensure that the lieutenant could also view the data on the display.
Bergmen: You do not see anything too, right, lieutenant? No strange life signs?
Savel: Response
Ollie nodded and turned away back to the Silveira and commander.
Bergmen: Commander, have you heard from other away teams? Do we have any updates on their expected arrival or encounters with anything unusual?
Dakora/Silveira: Response
Bergmen nodded hesitantly, showing that he understood, and then proceeded towards the wreck, lost in his thoughts. As they arrived at the torn aft section of the ship, he gazed at the wreckage, examining its contours up close. They seemed unusual, yet a certain part felt oddly familiar. He suddenly recalled the words of his teammate from boot camp he heard during their LCARS programming classes for some unknown reason.
oO It’s not that hard. Even with most extraterrestrial civilizations, you can decode their computer programs as your own. Zeros and ones are universal language, and they will never change. Oo
Yeah, there are certain things that are universal. Whether you're from Earth, Bajor, Romulus, or the Delta Quadrant, there's only one reality and one set of physical laws that apply to everyone, without exception.
Bergmen: Do you think someone could survive that crash? This looks… bad.
Dakora/Silveira/Savel: Response
Ollie's expression twisted into a pained grimace. It's difficult to imagine that not too long ago, that wreck was bustling with life. It was filled with individuals who had their own lives, families, and futures. And now? It took only one possible thing being wrong to shatter all the hopes and dreams of those inside. How different could they possibly be from him and others on Artemis?
Bergman: I will check the cargo hold computer to see if they have some shipping manifest we can use.
The ensign rushed up the ramp, but then a sudden thought struck him. He remembered that the local population was reptilian. Could they be cold-blooded like the reptilians Ollie knew? Would this affect their tricorders, making it difficult to detect them? Bergmen suddenly felt as if a thousand eyes were watching him. He bit his lip and turned to face the ship. As he trotted up the ramp, he felt the phaser press against his hip and wondered if he was capable of using it against another living humanoid being.
oO Better not dwell on it. We have a mission that must be completed. Oo
Dakora/Silveira/Savel: Response
TAGS/TBC
–
Ensign Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1