Ensign Alyndra Syrex - Potatoes and Eggs

[Alyndra Syrex]

OOC: Split into two parts as it's quite long, sorry if I missed anything, quite frazzled at the moment!

((Cockpit, USS Rhine, Outside the J-0922A System))

 

Syrex: Commander, are you seeing debris coming towards us?

 

Alieth: I see it Ensign, let us not worry about it for the time being but keep an eye on it.

 

Syrex: I hope it’s a coincidence, that I’m being too cautious or jumpy. Otherwise, they may be drawn towards something on the Rhine. That could alert someone if we are scanned again or when we cross the cloaking barrier.

 

Alieth: It is only to be expected that you will be apprehensive on your first away mission, Ensign, but remember your training and trust in your team.

 

The Commander’s Vulcan voice, as per usual, was without tone or inflexion. However, Alyndra felt nevertheless it had a comforting, almost reassuring quality. One which was confirmed, at least to Alyndra, through a warm look from her Vulcan Commander.

Alyndra knew that even though this was a new experience for her, the team presumably dealt with these kinds of situations all of the time. As long as she, as the Vulcan said, remembered her training, for which Starfleet was satisfied with Alyndra, also trusting in the team, all would be well.

 

Lorana: Commander, I'm seeing more clusters. Trying to get a reading through the interference from the S-Wave radiation.

 

The Vulcan tapped at her own console, and after a few moments, she raised her eyebrow in an un-mistakenly Vulcan manner.

 

Alieth: It seems that it is not the only thing moving in our direction, there are another ten moving forms moving among the asteroids. :: She thought for a second. :: Take a chance with a more active scan.

 

Syrex: It’s not unlikely that they may be the cause of the disruption in debris, instead of us.

 

Lorana: Hold on. Polarising the shuttles scanners, this should help avoid detection.

 

Raedai: I still do not recommend using any scanner actively. It would be like aiming directly at us. There is no way to know if polarization would work.

As the scan was completed, Alyndra noted that Alieths face seemed to relax, If nostalgia was possible for a Vulcan, she seemed to be experiencing it, or at least that’s what it looked like.

 

Alieth: It is a gormagander pod. This can help us.

 

Lorana: :: awed :: They are magnificent … I've never seen such a thing before..

 

Space whales appeared at that moment behind the asteroids, the huge mouths open as they consumed alpha particles carried by the solar winds of the system. On the screens, the scanner of the structure they were heading for landed on the first three members of the pod, but soon moved away, surely deeming them harmless.

 

Syrex: : ::Under Breath:: It’s beautiful, I’d only heard about them before now.

 

Alieth: Miss Lorana, follow them and squeeze between them, we will be disguised enough to get within a few hundred metres of that structure, even more, if we cloak our harmonics once more. We will have a good view of whatever that is.

 

Lorana: :: excited :: Understood.

 

Alyndra, fearful of saying something that underlines her inexperience, remained silent—continuously checking her console’s passive scanners for anything out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Lorana engaged the thruster with a much more cautious precision, the rhine gliding into formation amongst the creatures, shielding the Rhine and providing its crew with the awing view of the pod.

 

Raedai: We'll depend on how they move, but I think I can create a fake lifesign, that we look like one of them for a casual scan.

 

Lorana: Look at them :: to Syrex :: You see the colouration of the underbelly, where the appendages tense … that's how they communicate with the younglings. It causes slight vibrations in the space between them. It's truly remarkable, we learnt about them in the academy. I've never had the pleasure of seeing them.

 

Syrex: That’s incredible :: In awe:: I cant say I’ve ever seen one in person before now, but I’m glad I have now ::Smiles towards Lorana::

 

Raedai: Shouldn't these beings be affected by all the radiation in the area?

 

Alieth: The presence of the gormangander so close to the structure suggests that they may be attracted to Sencha radiation. We should monitor their movements and activities while we still can, maybe we can learn something useful from their behaviour.

 

Syrex: :: Towards Raedai :: What softens the potato, hardens the egg. Most humanoids are harmed by radiation, we aren’t used to it. But these amazing creatures evolved out here, in space. It’s a pool of radiation, it’s their home and is what they are used to. I expect they’d see oxygenated air like we would see sencha radiation.

Lorana: We can review the scans when we get back to the Ronin.

Alieth: If they feed on particulates derived from radiation activity, we may be able to develop a countermeasure or contention mechanism from their digestive process.

 

The Vulcan pauses slightly.

 

Alieth: Or, if their presence here is merely circumstantial, the analysis of the behaviour of such a large family group will be interesting enough to write a paper on.

Syrex: Agreed

 

The pod approached the structure again. Up close, its ovoid shape was adorned with crystalline-looking structures and bulbous protrusions, resembling blisters in disease-ridden flesh. It was an ominous sight, especially as they went under the structure and its massive form obscured the little light coming from the stars. Only the lights emitted by the whales, a mix of purple and blue, brightened the area, offering a glimmer of hope in that sinister voyage. The space creatures swirled around the bottom, dancing among the sharp black crystal daggers that protruded from the structure's curves in tight loops and ringlets. The Rhine followed suit, gliding under the creatures, barely using the thrusters and instead relying on the animals' slipstream.

 

Lorana: It's now or never. We're at the structure. Commander I can place the Rhine in a pattern with the gormagander pod. They're mid frenzy so they'll circle around for some time before moving on.

Alieth: If you can, arrange her to follow one of the biggest individuals, with a slight deviation up and down. It should fit the movement of one of the juveniles.

Lorana: That will work. I just need to adjust the flight pattern slightly. Are we ready?

Alieth: Ensign Syrex, perform a passive scan of the area in search of LA vessels.

Syrex: Aye, commander.

Scanning the area was like watching a film through a pinhole, with everything going on around them, distinguishing different entities was a challenge.

Syrex: I am not detecting any signs of Lattice Alliance vessels, however, there is a lot of disruption to the scanners here, so that fact may soon change.

 

Alieth: The structure shows no life forms inside, so it is logical to assume that it is automated or remotely controlled. We can beam in.

 

Lt Lorana nodded at the commander's words. Alyndra, who’s attention was split between the commander and the scanners, gave the tiniest hint of a smile. She didn’t want to come face to face with the LA on the ground just yet.

 

Lorana: Transportation locked in. We'll have several minutes to get into our suits :: to Syrex :: We might need some more of those drugs?

 

Syrex: On it

[TBC]

Ensign Alyndra Syrex

Medical Officer

USS Ronin (NCC-34523)

R240107AS3