Lieutenant Commander Anton Richards: Twos a Crowd
Anton Richards
(( Gates of Æstin, Valaria III))
Anton had thought that the process would have gone more smoothly considering everything else since encountering their AI buddy had gone smooth, even close to perfect one might say. Then why had they been transported outside of the town that they needed to help, only to arrive outside of the gate that they needed to get through.
Anton wondered even further the reasoning behind not transporting directly into the town.
Richards: Thoughts?
Katsim: Something isn’t right. ( momentary pause ) If they can’t get in, then we likely can’t either.
Riley: Raiders?
Nis: We can just as easily gather information outside the wall.
Riley: And where would you propose we start with that?
Nis gestured towards a family accompanied by some form of animal drawn cart that was standing nearby.
Nis: :: whispering :: They seem like a good place to start.
Katsim: I suppose.
Anton looked towards the family who also appeared to be discontent with the wait that was forced upon them. It looked like they were arguing about something.
Riley: Shall we venture in their direction, then?
Anton nodded.
Richards: I guess it couldn’t hurt.
The team approached the family, and by the time their short walk towards them was over, so was the argument that they had seemingly been having amongst themselves.
Nis: Cute baby. How old are they?
Father: :: barely turning to face her :: Huh? Six years, I guess.
Nis: -Six-?!
Anton exchanged looks of concern with the party, although they didn’t know much about the biology of the planet's inhabitants, it seemed apparent that this wasn’t the natural progression.
Father: Yeah, you know how nutrient limits affect kids. (nudging the seated girl with his foot) This one at my feet is thirteen.
Anton’s face flattened as his fears were confirmed. This meant that the famine had potentially been going on for years making the consequences of such ever more permanent. Anton gave a faint smile, trying not to overreact.
Richards: Do you know how long the wait is, we’ve just arrived and we were hoping to make our way into town.
Father: (chuckling dryly) :: Unless you’ve got a cousin in the civil guard, you might as well set up camp out here.
Katsim: (Softly) They aren’t letting more people in.
Riley: (softly) I suspect there is more to this story than meets the eye.
From his experience with this sort of thing, there was almost always more than meets the eye.
Richards: It would appear so.
Nis: Response
The group spent a brief moment looking around, inspecting the environment for any hints as to what could be going on,
Katsim: (softly) We need to focus on the problem.
Riley: (softly) Agreed.
Katsim: Perhaps Doctor Nis and you can ask about information regarding when the famine started,whether it’s caused by lack of rainfall or other things. Riley and I can examine the fields and see if we can get more information.
Peri’s eyes went from the field, and then back towards him. Despite Anton verbally suggesting against it he knew exactly what she was asking, although asking perhaps wasn’t the correct term as she did outrank him and had been in Starfleet quite a bit longer than himself, she had even been there on Anton’s first missions.
He paused for a moment before letting out a long and audible sigh.
Richards: Alrighty, but if you guys get trapped in some alternate dimension, or kidnapped by the borg, We aren’t gonna be there to save you.
Nis: Response
Katsim: Riley, with me.
Riley: (nodding) Right behind you, commander.
And with that, they were separated, and Anton could already feel the piercing eyes of the Captain looking over his yet to be written mission report.
Richards: Alright. We have some work to do, it should be easier to navigate this line with less people anyways.
Nis: Response
Richards: Well to start off we could…
Anton’s voice was interrupted by shouting guards.
Guards: Make way! Back up you filthy peasants.
Anton turned around to see that whilst he was debating with the team, a large caravan had come up behind them. What looked to be a group of twelve or so guards were approaching the line from the back, they marched in order completely surrounding the caravan.
Richards: Wonder what this is about.
Nis: Response
The lineup that people had formed soon scattered, mostly due to the guards demands, although some people appeared to be too weak to know what was going on, they were promptly moved by the guards forcefully.
The caravan and its accompanying guards moved past Nis and Anton, and a command to open up the gates could be heard from somewhere behind the walls. Anton attempted to peer through the closed caravan to see who was inside, unfortunately the caravan was blocked off completely from the outside, a guard peered towards Anton and Nis as they moved past.
Richards: Now could be our chance.
Nis: Response.
[TAGS/TBC]
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Lieutenant Commander Anton Richards
Chief of Security
USS Octavia E. Butler - NCC-82850
T239802AR1
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