LtCmdr Jovenan – Some gardens have snakes, others weird rodents that whistle and croak
Jovenan
((Upper caverns, inside the cliffs, Callis I))
As the chemlight drifted in the air, it revealed the array of lines, each drawing shadows short or long. Indentions carved to the rock, etchings made by hands gone perhaps for centuries. Images and writings caught Jovenan’s eyes as the sickly hue of the chemlight’s glow scanned the surfaces of the tunnels. Some, as she could see, repeated the theme of the one K’Wara had found, that of a deluge and a tsunami. There had been people in these caves, but only the figures she had now seen revealed the nature of this shelter: not just for the lost and lone wanderers, it was the refuge for the society of homeless.
Jovenan: How many were there… A post-apocalyptic society doesn’t leave just art work. Let’s try to find out something more of them. Bones, tools, corpolites, anything. We might learn how they survived here.
A planetary scientist, she could name the hundreds of causes for the flood depicted in the walls, but it served them little purpose. Exhausted, not so much by the lack of sleep or the physical exertion but by the ever worsening lack of nutrition, it didn’t make much sense to study the images before seeing to their own needs first. If they didn’t find something edible here, and nowhere else either, they would join the people who lived in these caverns to keep their secrets to themselves.
Bergmen: Commander is right, let’s look around.
Bancroft: Aye, Commander.
Setting out to explore the nearby tunnels, Jovenan couldn’t avoid delving into the mystery that she had tried to push for the secondary priority. A village, maybe an entire city or a province, all running to these hills, hoping that the height would protect them from the waves rushing in on them. Most probably didn’t make it. Had there been a warning, or did they one day see a wall of water emerge over the horizon? Where there an ocean in the place of the plateaus, how far did the seas travel to smite these people… and where did they go? The thoughts of earthquakes and changes of the orbit caught her imagination, causing her to wander like she had not dared to in the days spent there. Had the people back then witnessed the Maelstrom too, or was its appearance above the world been a cruel coincidence to bane the crew of the Artemis alone?
It was only when she peeked around the corner to one of the tunnels that she realised how careless she had been. It was the caution – in addition to their own inventiveness – that had kept them safe. Had the tunnel been a nest of one of the predators, she would have been killed by now. However, she didn’t see the lethal silhouette that had hunted them days ago. It was something else entirely that made her freeze to her spot.
Jovenan: Everyone! Come look!
The footsteps behind her closed in on her, but she didn’t look. Her eyes wandered across the cavern, from the oculus of the dome that let in the rays of sunshine to the pond of rainwater in the middle of an overgrown garden. Blades and stalks rising towards the ceiling, flowers opening to gather the light, all growing together and forming a web of green. It was wild and unmaintained, but not entirely without order: she could see layers, signs of irrigation, agriculture, design. More importantly, the signs of food.
Bergmen: Huh, WOW…
K’Wara: ‘Wow’ is right.
Bancroft: ::quiet whisper:: Well I’ll be…
After the days of just darkness and rock, the view felt almost overwhelming. The pond, the plants, even the small specks of dust reflected the sun’s light, overexposing them to almost white in her eyes. The smells wafted in the air and made it to her nostrils: moisture, dirt, plants in the everlasting circle of growing, releasing pollen, rotting. Even the silence was different, echoing less the empty corridors of stone and more the stillness of the greenery. Except, it wasn’t still at all, as a head poked through the tall grass.
Bergmen: ::whispers:: Do you see it?
Jovenan nodded slowly. It wasn’t like the predator from the earlier, but it could still be dangerous. It didn’t have the toned body or rows of sharp teeth of the predator designed to tear their prey to pieces, but it still had long claws to its grey-furred forelegs. They might have been for digging, but she had little interest in testing that hypothesis. Many tools worked well as weapons.
Bancroft: ::quitely:: Yeah. Let’s not move.
The creature tilted its head. The simple motion was nearly universal for when encountering something unfamiliar. It studied them, not as in a way a predator evaluates its prey but also not like the hunted look at the hunter. It hadn’t seen anything like the stranded officers, and it tried to figure out what to do with them. There was no aggression, but also no fear, just thinking.
K’Wara: I’m not su-
The creature interrupted them by letting out a croak. It was nothing like the growl of the predator, vibrating in the tunnels and in the bones, but more like an alarm. And the creature wasn’t alone making noises. The grass responded with the whistles and rustles. Jovenan turned her head from side to side to see a glimpse of one of those creatures, to determine whether they were attacking or fleeing. They weren’t doing either, really, they merely disappeared, and with them, the whistles and rustles and croaks. They just weren’t there any more.
Bergmen: And there goes the dinner…
Bancroft: ::letting out a low breath:: At least we weren’t the dinner.
K’Wara laughed, for some reason.
K’Wara: This place... This is fantastic.
Jovenan hadn’t even thought of eating one of those animals, but now that the others had said it, it made sense that they might have wanted to catch themselves a meal. Although she didn’t usually eat meat, her obliviousness to eating them wasn’t because of her cultural vegetarianism. After all, she had considered the possibility of having to hunt or trap animals on the very first day there – no matter how unpleasant a thought it was. Instead, it was because she had started to view herself as the hunted in the days there. The change was… uncomfortable but not unwelcome.
Jovenan: Just one of them would have fed us for a while. Too bad we likely won’t be able to catch them… or not so bad, however you look at it.
Bancroft: Even if meat’s not on the menu, much of this flora is probably edible. What do y’all think - focus on looking for fruits and roots first?
K’Wara: Might as well take a look around.
And she looked around. There were a lot to select from in the garden. Fruits and roots were just some of the plant parts they might have wanted to eat – there were also leaves, the bark, the flowers, maybe berries too. It was just figuring out what was safe for them to eat and what was not.
Jovenan: Did anyone see if the animals happened to be eating anything? They probably know what’s poisonous and what’s not.
Bergmen: Response
They ventured into the undergrowth. Jovenan was keenly aware that the green leaves and tree trunks could hide behind them so many potential dangers. Snakes and thorns were difficult to see, bugs and poisons almost impossible. Still, she couldn’t help feeling intense relief walking in the living environment. After the tunnels, the garden felt almost like home already. A step towards getting home, at least.
Bancroft had stopped by a tree, lifting himself up towards a fruit dangling from its branches. Seeing him study it in his hands, Jovenan stepped closer, tilting her head to a side, much like the creatures had, while figuring the produce with purple skin.
Bancroft: Right. Any bright ideas on how to tell whether this'll feed me or earn me a very awkward autopsy?
K’Wara: ::shakes head:: Not me.
Jovenan: I would imagine Starfleet accepts “ate fruit, died” as the cause of death without an autopsy. ::pause:: Please don’t use that knowledge for mutinous purposes.
Bergmen: Response
Bancroft: Fair. Well. Let’s give it a shot, then.
K’Wara raised a hand to stop him before he would just take a bite out of the roughly pear-shaped fruit.
K’Wara: Just, careful. You won’t be much use if you’re knocked out by virulent produce, and none of us are likely to be of any help in fixing the issue.
They had all been protecting the Doctor during their time here, and Jovenan saw no reason to stop now either. There was a chance Bancroft wasn’t going to be able to do much to save any of them either if the fruit turned out bad, but at least he had some chance of dealing with their injuries – dependent on their known and established biology rather than the whims of evolution on this planet – down the line.
Jovenan: Right. Doctor, you tested the water a couple of days ago, right? Maybe one of us could use the same methods you used.
Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
K’Wara picked a fruit as well, peeling some of the skin off and shaking it in their hand. The flesh of the fruit behaved a lot like… well, flesh, jiggling with each shake, without any of the fruits’ typical, soft but sturdy consistency. Jovenan started to wonder that when they fell from the tree, if they would bounce or splash.
K’Wara: Even so, it’s not very appealing, is it?
Jovenan: “Beggars can’t be choosers”. When the rations run out, I’d rather eat these than try to catch one of the animals.
Bergmen/Bancroft: Response
Taking the chisel they had made while listening to Jovenan ramble about vampires, K’Wara popped the fruit. It sprayed its juice, but along with its watery contents, the sweet and slightly metallic smell spread into the air. Jovenan knew better not to trust the smell alone, but it was very appetising.
K’Wara: It smells edible at least. ::carefully touches their sleeve:: Doesn’t have an adverse effect on the skin either.
That was a promising sign. Or, a neutral sign at least; their skin boiling or blistering from contact would have been a very bad sign, and a lack of bad signs wasn’t in itself enough to justify trusting the fruit.
Jovenan couldn’t think of much more they could do to test the fruit’s edibility before actually eating it. The juicy consistency gave her an idea, though, and she pulled a water bottle from her improvised backpack. After picking a fruit and opening the bottle, she squeezed some of its juice into the bottle, mixing it with the water they had already declared safe for consumption. Shaking the diluted mix, she shrugged and drank some of it. The sugary drink was in stark contrast to the bland mushes they had been eating for days. She blinked a few times, as if expecting something to happen.
Jovenan: Well, I’m not dead yet. It’s quite sweet, actually. I don’t think it’s any more dangerous than the water is, which is to say I still want a medical checkup after we get back to the ship.
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
No longer holding back, Jovenan took another fruit from the tree and bit it. She didn’t even pull out a piece of it, instead sucking the juice through the indents her teeth made into its skin. Some of it dribbled down her chin. Almost starved from the ration backs and now presented with a garden full of fruits, she saw no reason to stop at one. She picked another.
Jovenan: Maybe the earlier dwellers brought these fruits with them after the disaster. This might have been their garden. If so, there might be even more edible plants.
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
Having eaten without worry for the first time in days, she sat down to the grass and laid back. It must have been close to their bedtime if they went by their water clock, but the excitement of the new cavern didn’t allow her to even think of sleeping yet. Instead, she basked in the sunlight, allowing its warmth to wash her skin. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sun painting the world red through her eyelids, until she opened them again and looked at the ceiling.
Jovenan: We must be pretty high up to the cliff to be this near to the surface. Do you think we could see far from up there?
Bergmen/Bancroft/K’Wara: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11