Lt Jovenan – The Battlefield of Gods

[Jovenan]

((Rakantha Province, Bajor))

 

Savel and Chevalier were in full work over the soil analysis, and their preliminary results looked promising. Gnai’s work was excellent, as was expected of someone donning the science blue livery in its robotic suit. Renirs initially kept sending Jovenan only jumbles of raw data, but eventually she too initiated the analysis, either because she understood her error or thanks to guidance by Gnai.

The training session, by the looks of it, was heading towards a success. Everyone could practice their skills in usage of devices they may not have to see every day, and hopefully they also learnt something about cooperation and organizing missions of different types.

Jovenan didn’t want to step in too strongly, but she wanted to see if anyone needed her help. Help, not necessary in doing their tasks, as they didn’t seem to need it much, but perhaps they might have questions concerning the readings they receive and what the implications are.

Attaching her tricorder back onto her belt, Jovenan looked around into the dead plain. She could see both pairs in the distance from her observation post by the shuttle. Savel and Chevalier were observing the ground, while Gnai and Renirs were heading further away. Jovenan chose to see and inspect the soil research pair first and ran towards them.

Chevalier: We need additional data and scans, but within the first readings, there is evident cause for concern. The toxin levels in the soil, groundwater, and atmospheric conditions do not align with the degree of soil degradation observed. I would further investigate this before we report any conclusions to the lieutenant.

Savel: Response

As much Jovenan enjoyed the opportunity to run wild on real ground, and as much she wanted to carry on and disappear behind the horizon, she could hear the two Ensigns as she approached them, and she slowed down, waving at them.

Jovenan: Hello! How are you two doing?

Chevalier/Savel: Response

Jovenan listened carefully as the Ensigns reported their status and their findings. This was a data gathering and analysis exercise, but she also knew that not everything can be answered on ground, with just a tricorder to assist one.

Jovenan: Fascinating. Hmm… This area suffered from severe flooding in the 70s. That would have happened maybe just a decade after the final poisoning round by the Cardassians. Would you imagine that has a role in what we see today?

Chevalier/Savel: Response

Removing her tricorder from the belt, Jovenan scanned around the plateau. Despite her fancy new title and the extra rank pip, she wasn’t somehow going to find something the two Ensigns hadn’t in their several minutes studying the location, but she wanted to fiddle with the data herself as well.

Jovenan: Yes. It was what the Bajorans refer to as the Reckoning, a series of natural disasters caused by the unusual behaviour by the wormhole. Supposedly, it was because of a fight between the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths. The proportions were off the scale from what geology alone would have predicted. Does that sound like a better explanation?

The history of the planet, even to the modern day, was a curious intertwining of myths and science. Two races of spirits fighting for good and evil, causing natural disasters on the ground, sounded like something she would have dismissed had it happened anywhere else. And somehow, it happened just a few decades ago, and there was hard scientific evidence of it. The Bajoran Government, Deep Space 9 crew and Starfleet in general had had their scanners pointed at everything that happened down here, on the Station and around the wormhole. Much of the two warring non-corporeal beings was still a mystery, but at least their actions obeyed the laws of physics, even if those laws had to be reviewed afterwards.

Sometimes, she had to remind herself that the Bajoran Prophets weren’t just stories, but a real species. She would have thought herself more open to the idea, considering that the Edo God, too, were real despite their fantastical title.

Chevalier/Savel: Response

TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11