Lieutenant JG John Kendrick - Wanderers (Part 4: The Volcano City)

[Jon Van Pelt]

((Balerian City, Orsung))

Orzuc strolled through the streets. It was still early in the morning and the city hadn’t awoken yet. He enjoyed the silence. His days were hectic, his job very demanding. As the leader of his people, there were very few moments during the day when he had the time to reflect on the bigger challenges that faced his people.

His people, they called themselves Balerians, had travelled the galaxy in vessels called Arks for generations before finally finding a new home here on the fifth moon of Orstand III. No one even remembered why they had set out to the stars in the first place. Every Ark had its own legend, but the records of the true events that had led them out here, had been lost to the sands of time.

As he looked up at the sky, he saw its color slowly started to change in a red orange hue which meant their side of the planet was slowly starting to face the sun. It wouldn’t be long before the city would start to bustle again with activity.

Of course it wasn’t really a city. It’s just what he had decided to call it. In reality it was more of a camp built out of materials from their dismantled space ships. His forefathers had tried many times to convince their people to settle down on a planet, to found a new civilization, but he was the first one to succeed. But it came at a great price. Not everyone was convinced that settling down was the best option for their future. There were those who wanted to continue their nomadic life. But Orzuc believed in his cause. He knew that destiny had chosen him to lead his people out of the darkness and into a new era. Some of the Ark leaders tried to stop him. Many lives and ships were lost in battle, but in the end he had been victorious. Although he would never admit it to anyone else, at dawn when he was alone with no other voices than his own, he could truly explore the bitterness of his own victory.

As soon as they had settled down here in the southern continent, he realized they couldn’t survive out here without some form of trade. But trade meant you had to be able to offer something in return, and their resources were poor. Luckily for them, a massive space station orbiting the planet Orstand III offered them the chance to earn credits to buy medicines, technology and other materials needed to keep their city up and running.

Unfortunately there was a dark side to his plan. Knowing they’d never be able to earn enough to cover their needs by doing an honest day’s work, he had turned to the men and women operating in the shadows of the station’s economic activities and offered them their services.

The station was huge, visited by dozens of ships a day, loading and unloading their goods. His men made sure that non declared goods stayed that way. Sometimes, when independent freighters with interesting or valuable cargo docked at the station, his men were asked to steal one or two crates. Some clerk working with the port authority, who was either bribed or had to pay off some gambling debt, would make sure the stolen cargo would be registered as ‘misplaced’, promising the freighter captains that the port authorities would do everything in their power to find the missing cargo. Of course with the station being so big and the freighters being on a tight schedule, their complaint form was buried in port administration, never to be heard of again.

His deal had worked. His people’s bellies were full. Children could go to school. Diseases could be treated. As days passed by, his dream became more and more real. Yet his mood was darkened as he feared his dream would turn into a nightmare. The people he worked for became more and more demanding, asking his men to take more and more risks. Just two nights ago, his men had been ordered to steal an entire shipment of something called honey - a rare and luxurious commodity in this region of space. Apparently the freighter they stole it from had no ties to anyone of importance aboard the station, which meant no one would bother to get to the bottom of things.

But he feared one day they’d ask something of them that could become the beginning of the end of his dream for his people. The world he'd built rested on the bones of those who wanted to continue their lives amongst the stars. He hoped their sacrifice, and the shame he carried, would not have been for nothing.

((Orsung)

The Wanderer had found a perfect spot to land only a couple of kilometers away from the city. They had landed during the night in an attempt to stay undetected by the moon’s inhabitants, called Balerians - a species none of them had ever heard of before. So far it appeared they had succeeded.   

John and the crew of The Wanderer - except Captain Hennessey who had stayed behind on the ship - had traversed the mountainous region that surrounded the plains of a dormant volcano. Sweat dripped off their foreheads, their clothes felt sticky and wet.

Moa: ::looking around:: Why would anyone want to build their home inside a volcano located on a dead moon?

Tolena: I guess sometimes people just don’t have any other choice.

John knelt down and took an old TR-560 tricorder out of his backpack. It was less advanced than the ones they used aboard the Juneau, but it was better than going in blind. As he started to take scans of the area, the other three spread out.

The terrain was rocky and dry. It appeared that the people who lived here were working hard to make the land fertile and suitable for agriculture. Irrigation canals had been dug to divert water to a variety of plants and trees.

Brikane was the only one who seemed to enjoy the heat. As the only Cardassian on The Wanderer he had been forced to adapt to a climate control system more appropriate for Humans. In recent years he’d started to suffer from rheumatism. The ship’s EMH managed to treat him, but he knew the only real remedy was to settle down on a planet with an agreeable temperature for a reptilian humanoid species.

Brikane: I don’t see any movement.

John checked his tricorder.

Kendrick: I’m not detecting any either. ::looking up:: Let’s move out. We’ve got to bump into something or someone eventually.

Moa: And hope they don’t shoot us on sight.

John looked at Tolena as he tilted his head in Moa’s direction.

Kendrick: Is she always so optimistic?

Tolena: Not always. ::smiling:: But often.

Brikane: ::dry:: Especially when she didn’t get her morning shot of raktajino.

Moa: Three against one now, huh? I’ve beaten worse odds.

John took in the massive plains in front of them, the crater of a dead volcano, surrounded by a ring of sharp mountains – like ancient guardians, watching their every move. Orsung was an uninviting yet mysterious place to visit. He wondered if Starfleet had any information on Orstand III’s fifth moon.

((short time skip))

As they walked crisscross through a grove with trees carrying a purple looking fruit that looked like some sort of citrus, John felt as if a branch suddenly punched a hole through his stomach.

He immediately looked down only to see he wasn’t hit by a tree, but by a little strange looking alien. It looked humanoid but had a reddish brown coat, dark eyes and a set of antlers – the exact ones he’d felt only moments ago. It appeared he was dealing with a child, but whether it was a boy or girl, he couldn’t tell exactly.

John placed his hands on the child’s shoulders, stopping it from running away from them. The child looked up at him with those big frightened eyes that told him it was equally surprised to have stumbled on an alien looking creature like John.

Kendrick: Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.

He hoped his universal translator was going to be able to translate his words in whatever language the little kid spoke.

Nerub: Let me go!

John smiled. Relieved that he was going to be able to communicate with the child - which appeared to be a boy.

Kendrick: I’ll let you go if you promise me you won’t run away from us.

The boy nodded and John carefully let go of him. John noticed that the kid was now looking at his three comrades who had joined him. Realizing the kid might have never seen so many alien faces, he decided to introduce himself and his ragtag team.

Kendrick: ::placing his hand on his chest:: My name is John. ::pointing at the others:: This is Moa, Tolena and Brikane. I realize we might look strange to you, but I promise you there’s nothing to be afraid of. 

As the initial shock of running into aliens appeared to be wearing off, the child seemed to be opening up to them.

Nerub: My name is Nerub. ::curious:: I’ve never seen people like you before.

The Wanderer’s Bolian engineer who so far appeared to have more social skills than Moa and Brikane combined, kneeled down in front of the boy and smiled.

Tolena: Hello there, Nerub. I hope we didn’t frighten you too much. My friends and I are travelers from a place very far from here. We heard about this beautiful moon so we decided to come down here for a visit. I hope you don’t mind.

Nerub smiled as he shook his head, excited to have stumbled upon these strangers. John decided it was time to take the plunge.

Kendrick: We heard that people often bring crates down here from ::pointing upwards:: a place high up in the sky.

The boy nodded enthusiastically.

Nerub: Yes. I think it’s called The Spike. But we’re not supposed to talk about it.

Moa exchanged looks with John. It appeared they were finally getting somewhere.

Kendrick: And do you know where they keep those crates?

Suddenly Nerub took a few steps backward, sensing these strangers were asking something that could get him in trouble.

Tolena: Don’t worry. We can keep a secret. ::changing the subject:: Have you ever been aboard a real spaceship?

The boy stepped forward again, clearly excited by the word ‘spaceship’.

Nerub: Yes. But I was only a baby.

Tolena signaled the boy to come a bit closer as she wanted to whisper something in his ear.

Tolena: If you take us where they keep those crates from The Spike, I promise you I’ll give you a tour of our ship ::looking up at Moa:: and Moa here will teach you how to pilot a real starship, right Moa?

Moa seemed surprised to be suddenly involved in Tolena’s master plan.

Moa: ::awkward smile and stammering:: Of course kiddo.

The boy pointed his little finger at Tolena.

Nerub: ::dead serious:: You promise?

Tolena: Of course I will. ::emphasizing:: And I’ve never broken a promise. You can trust me.

Brikane stepped away and turned around, rolling his eyes.

 

TBC in Part 5: Resolutions

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Lieutenant JG John Kendrick

Security

USS Juneau, NX-99801

J239801JK3