Lieutenant JG Lystra - Lots of Unknowns
Rameses
((Runabout Little Crow - Peekaboo Descent)
As if to accompany the explanation alerts sounds all across her console a moment before a towering column of superheated water burst from one of those holes in the ground around them. They geyser eruption made her have to roll the runabout to starboard, briefly causing her hair to stick straight up from the momentary inversion.
No sooner had she righted their shuttle when the valley around them became equal parts beautiful and hazardous as one after another or sometimes two or three geysers in this valley of steam shot towards the sky. She then realized that the valley was filled with hundreds of geysers and they were all going off in a chain.
Lystra’s digits danced across the helm controls, the Little Crow bobbed, turned, banked and weaved back and forth between the geysers as if they were on some sort of Academy pilot training course. Sometimes nearly grazing the ground with their shields, or rolling through the topmost spray of water before she flew the runabout back down level before the next one went off. An uncontrolled peel of laughter escaped her as she flew their runabout through the geysers. Some sprayed several hundred feet into the air if she had to guess.
Lystra: Woohoo! Now this is fun! ::she called out:: Hang on, I’m going to get us through this valley then swing around again. I think I saw a large flat spot between some hotsprings back there, can you confirm Yirah?
Yirah: Yes! Can confirm! It’ll be great if we land around here. All this water and heat makes a good place to look for life.
Maramox: You’re doing great, Lystra.
Perax: Hey, Lystra, I know you’re having fun, but we should probably land pretty soon. ::he paused, then said in an unrelated fashion:: I think I’m going to be sick.
Maramox: The medicine really can only help to a certain degree.
Yirah: Do you need us to land now or will it be okay to wait until we can get back to the spot Lystra saw?
Lystra: Just say the word and I can land here. Otherwise I’ll smooth out the rest of the flight.
Perax: I’m not going to be too picky right now. Anything to get back the sensation of solid ground is good with me.
She chuckled at the comment, not everyone was comfortable flying in an atmosphere especially with the maneuvers she was doing. After all, it had taken her until her third year of the Academy to finally adjust to planetary flight.
Lystra: Fair. I’ll get us to those hot springs then.
Yirah: Alright Lystra, if it's not too difficult to get to I think our best bet is the initial spot you suggested. :: jokingly:: Who knows what other geological activity this planet intends to throw at us.
She nodded at Indrid and levelled out the Little Crow’s flight. Now that the chain of geysers had already burst and she knew what to expect, she could make the return a bit easier on her colleagues.
Maramox: I agree, once we’re on solid ground we probably can get some better readings.
Perax: Did we get an atmosphere reading that tells us if we really need the suits?
She listened while they went over things, piloting the shuttle between the towering streams of heated water in a slower, more leisurely slalom.
Yirah: It looks like nitrogen/oxygen which would place it as a class M but... hmm...
Outside the purple fog backlit things as if they were in a nebula. Which they technically were since the planet was in a nebula.
Yirah: I'm not sure I'm ready to trust it just yet.
Lystra: Same. For now everyone should keep their suits on. Even if the air is breathable we don’t know if there’s any microbes, or flora and fauna that might pose issues. Our luck there’s fungus here that makes us loopy.
She recalled dealing with that previously when her and Jalana and others had been exploring an abandoned portion of a colony.
Yirah: I also picked up on high amounts of water vapour. Not just next to the geysers, but during our descent as well. And... some sort of dust. :: he waved a hand around vaguely as he thought :: Volcanic ash maybe? Some sort of dust storm?
Lystra: Further reason to keep the suits on until you all are able to determine if they pose a hazard or not.
Maramox: You should lay on your back and hold your head facing up for a moment.
Perax: I think I’ll be fine. I’ll just need to stay still for a bit when we stop rocking around.
Lystra: We’re almost there, Leran.
She announced as the shuttle slowly made a circuit above the spot she’d spotted earlier and Indrid confirmed was safe to land. The Little Crow descended slowly and rotated so the cockpit had a view of a chunk of the northern half of the valley they would be in. It touched down gently and Lystra immediately began to power down the engines.
Maramox: Of course. We should attempt the EVA suits and get better readings outside. The runabout was struggling during the landing.
They’d barely landed before their team leader leaped up and donned his helmet. Lystra made sure to secure the runabout then rose from the pilot’s seat and slipped her own helmet on.
Yirah: Alrighty team! Let's make Starfleet history, and collect some great data on this planet!
She paused by Leran for a moment.
Lystra: How are you holding up?
Perax: I’ll be right behind you. ::he breathed deeply with his eyes closed for a few minutes before he rose from his chair.:: Right behind you.
She noticed Maramox staying behind and gave him a nod.
Lystra: Take your time. Just make sure you have your helmets on. I’m going to open the aft ramp.
She then moved to the back and grabbed her phaser rifle from the armory locker, slung it over her shoulder securely then grabbed the large duffel pack with the gear she’d need to secure their landing site. She still managed to get out of the runabout before Maramox and Peran.
Yirah: Look! Those bands on the soil there might be a sign of thermophiles.
Maramox: The plants help to show it too. Life all around!
Lystra: That’s great! ::she said dryly:: Make sure you scan everything first before anyone touches anything.
Perax: =/\= Perax to Constitution, I’m testing the signal enhancer, do you receive? =/\=
She clicked her tongue against her teeth when the comm line shot back nothing but static.
Lystra: That tracks, but is what we expected.
Yirah: Oh Right! Uh... Maramox, see if you can get some better atmospheric readings. I'll start collecting soil samples.
While the others began to go about their data collection she moved a few meters out from the Little Crow’s landing site. She had the duffle slung over her opposite shoulder and partially unzipped so she could remove the items inside easily. She removed a small sensor with a metal rod at the end and stuck it into the soil. When it was flush with the ground she tapped the side and it turned on. The small little sensor was designed mostly for fauna. It had all the same sensors that a tricorder had and could even detect vibrations in the ground since many lifeforms could burrow.
Lystra: I’ll set up the perimeter sensors. Be sure to link your tricorders to them so you can move beyond them as needed without setting the things off.
Perax: Guys, the nacelle is still good, but I’ll need to replicate a couple replacement plates for the hull armour.
Yirah: Go ahead and replicate whatever you need for the repairs.
The Boslic spaced the sensors out every five meters but made sure not to place any too close to a geyser. She didn’t want the damned things setting off the alarms if she could help it. She used the time setting the sensors up to also do a cursory security survey.
Lystra: Shouldn’t take me more than a couple of minutes to set these alarms up.
Perax: =/\= Perax to Constitution, can you hear me? =/\= I can’t reach the ship yet. The signal is getting reflected back to the planet.
Yirah: Hmm... could we at least get into contact with the other away team? I know that we were able to onboard the ship but we were still relatively close at that point since they followed us through the storm.
Maramox: It would be nice to see if they are getting similar… Readings.
Lystra: It might be worth a try. Given that storm we passed through we’d probably sooner hug a Borg drone without getting assimilated than reach the Conny. But Cade’s team is on this side of things so it hopefully will be easier.
Perax: Response
Yirah: I don't know. This planet does have a powerful magnetic field though.
Lystra: Could that be what’s causing the storm to be so angry and widespread?
Perax: Response
Maramox: Why don’t we look around our area a little further. Maybe there’ll be a spot that will let us reach their comms.
Lystra had already set up two thirds of the perimeter sensors and was back near the runabout.
Lystra: When in doubt, seek high ground. ::she looked up the valley wall:: We’re in a valley, but that ridgeline behind the runabout might work. Looks to be about, a kilometer maybe two, from here. ::she looked back at them:: No one goes anywhere alone. If we have to split up it’s going to be in pairs only. We don’t know what sort of dangers are around yet.
She gave Indrid an apologetic look at how she said that. It was her job to keep them all safe but she should have worded it as a suggestion since he was in charge of the away team. She fidgeted with her right glove briefly as she thought about keeping them all safe.
Yirah/Perax: Response
Maramox: Right, we should stay together. The plant life doesn’t seem to move; but we haven’t seen any signs of animal life. If there is. Animal life. That is.
Lystra: There might be, aren’t there very few planets that have only flora and no fauna?
Her knowledge on the zoological sciences only extended as far as needed to know what dangers things posed to herself and her shipmates, if any. So hopefully one of them had a better idea if she was right or not.
Yirah/Perax/Maramox: Response
The Boslic quickened her pace and placed the remaining perimeter sensors until they had a nice fifteen meter buffer around the runabout. She stepped back inside the Little Crow to stow the duffle bag again and readjusted the rifle she carried so it was more comfortable as she exited it again.
Lystra: Well, the perimeter is in place so if anything or anyone approaches the runabout we’ll know it. I’ve set them to make subaudible alerts and also send them to both our tricorders and comm badges. Just in case.
Yirah/Perax/Maramox: Response
Lystra: A precaution. The alarms are in ranges most non sapient species can hear by design. It’s not perfect since some species hear better than others, but we don’t know if there’s any animals here or even if there are people. Felt best to at least try and be discreet, you know, for the Prime Directive.
Of course, there was no hiding the giant runabout parked in the middle of the hotsprings so she hoped she didn’t land them in the middle of some local’s spa retreat or something.
Yirah/Perax/Maramox: Response
[tbc/tags]
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Lieutenant JG Lystra
Tactical/Security Officer
USS Constitution-B NCC-9012-B
Writer ID: A239410TR0