Lt. Commander Foster - Jamming Signals and Bravery
Jamie LeBlanc
((Planet Peekaboo - Southern Hemisphere - Ruins Clearing))
They had found a route around the gully of the not-so-randomly rolling obsidian, and come to a rise where they could see their destination in the distance. How could something seem to close and yet so interminably far?
Pretty easily when the planet seemed out to get you, actually. Which Cade could step (mentally) back and see that hostility did not actually belong to the planet itself. It was merely a non-sentient growing thing, always in motion with excess energy.
The intentions of the sentient beings that seemed to track them? That was still up for determination.
Foster: Moving forward we will lose the cover of the forest. We’ll have to be very careful, because we will be exposed.
The trees were thinning out, leading into an area of low plant growth that Cade might call ‘grassy’ – if grass was a deep auburn color and slightly fuzzy.
S’Jenes: Exposure will increase, but so will available data. ::eyes lifting toward the valley:: If observation continues, this is where subtlety is likely to end.
Which was just about the most Vulcan way of saying ‘if they’re gonna start a fight, here is where they will start a fight.’
S’Jenes: The ground composition has changed. Compacted, layered…this area has seen sustained traffic. ::a glance toward the ruins:: We are no longer approaching a natural formation.
Foster: Which is curious because that structure doesn’t look recent. Have our Kameryan friends been visiting this planetoid for generations? Or did they erect this recently, but the rapidly shifting planetary surface hastened its destruction?
Cade was notably curious, not in the least because it looked like the structure was formed from native stone. He didn’t know much about the Kameryans beyond the fact that they were elementally connected, which made him wonder if any of the species had a natural affinity for stone.
Suddenly the tricorder beeped, drawing attention away from the ruins, and indicating an energy surge in the opposite direction.
Foster: What do you make of that?
S’Jenes: We are being observed from multiple positions now. Elevated, but not converging. ::calmly:: This feels procedural.
Foster: Hm. I get the keen feeling our friends don’t want us to approach that structure. They’ve tried to frighten us, tried to distract us…
He trailed off not liking to possible escalation patterns there.
And yet if someone was hiding something so fiercely, it was likely the something that had the answers they were seeking.
Foster: What about the stability of the structure?
S’Jenes: Structural integrity remains high despite apparent age. ::dryly:: Whoever built this understood both geology and patience.
Foster: The scant Federation records we have of the Kameryans state they have elemental affinities. That might mean some of them have particular skill with stone.
They moved forward carefully, cautiously.
S’Jenes: I am detecting integrated materials within the rock itself. Not added…grown together. ::a faint note of approval:: Efficient. Difficult to dismantle. And very inconvenient for archaeologists.
Foster: So they are skilled and intelligent.
They came into a clearing, Cade was keeping low, hands down, tense but non-threatening. That didn’t mean he couldn’t rise and shoot in a heartbeat. He simply wasn’t coming out waving a phaser or displaying anything but caution and prudence. S’Jenes followed suit, keeping his gaze low and his posture careful.
S’Jenes: This appears to be a transitional space. Neither defensive nor ceremonial. ::after a beat:: If contact occurs, it is statistically most likely to happen here.
Cade took a cautious look around.
Foster: They don’t want us going in there. That means they will take action.
The question was what action. Thus far they had not been directly hostile.
S’Jenes: Whatever happens next, Commander, it will be intentional.
Once again the tricorder shrilled, energy signals surging. But unlike the last time with one signal in a clearly opposite direction, the signal seemed to multiply… bounce.
One signal became two, because four… eight… increasing exponentially as the tricorder struggled to keep up with data bursts.
Foster: Can you catch what is being signaled?
S’Jenes: ?
Brows knitting together, Cade tried to piece together what was happening.
Foster: Encrypted data signals? It feels like they’re … reverberating? Bouncing? Could they be using the stones to amplify their signals?
Whatever they were doing it was effective. It functionally blocked the tricorder from being able to filter the encrypted signals out, so it worked as a jamming signal, even if it wasn’t structured as a traditional jamming signal.
S’Jenes: ?
Foster: So if we want to go forward we can’t use tricorders. ::he offered a low smirk:: Exploring the old fashioned way.
They still had eyes, ears, and noses. They could still sense data without having their heads in a tricorder. But they would have to be extra careful.
S’Jenes: ?
Foster: I get the sense that out friends didn’t expect us to be this stubborn. Maybe their species do not explore much?
Then again Humans were known for being fabulous headstrong and foolishly brave when it came to exploration. And Vulcans had both counseled Humans – and enabled them – for centuries. If Cade thought about it, he knew plenty of species with greater technology than Humans, who preferred to stay on their planet and do safe and comfortable things.
Cade had never signed up for Starfleet to be safe and comfortable.
S’Jenes: ?
Foster: I’m ready to press forward if you are.
S’Jenes: ?
~*~
tags/tbc
~*~
Lt. Commander Cade Foster
Chief Medical Officer
~Julian Beck
E239010ST0