An Olive Branch To Whom It May Concern

Posted on Wed Feb 6th, 2019 @ 8:03am by The Narrator & Lieutenant Commander Meilin Jiang & Lieutenant Francesca Ricci

Mission: S1E2: A Temple To New Gods
Location: Cradle Facility.
Timeline: MD3 13.00PM

Kle and her escorting trooper's led the beleaguered Starfleet landing party deeper into the Cradle. Concrete walls, blast doors in recessed bulkheads, colour coded signs in a foreign tongue, did little to hide the more universal aspects of this new world. The air was heavy with the scent of cooking spices, and the humid heaviness that large groups of people living in too close quarters could generate.

But not once did they run into another soul. Kle noticed their glances.

"We've cleared out a path to the water storage area. There are over four thousand civilians here, and if they begin to riot in fear because there are aliens among them my Formation won't do a thing. Better to run a containment breach drill, they're used to it," she explained, looking over her shoulder. She seemed to be making a quick headcount. "Huum. You say you're explorers, but I'm seeing only a few males in your landing party. Do you guard all your big thinkers like this?"

"I am more dangerous than seven men," Francie joked. "Seriously, though, it was just the luck of the draw. Pick the best people and you end up with a group that may be mostly one gender or the other."

The science officer set her attention to the signage and patterns of the Cradle's architecture. Subtle cues might present themselves had she sufficient time to study them, but at the moment there was little to go off of other than the quiet panic of the Civilian Cadre and the blind jingoism of the military. She would have to remedy that through closer observation.

"Peace is a multi-faceted concept," Meilin mused aloud. "Though we are not warriors, we are under heavy guard as though we were. Despite the superior numbers and firepower of our armed escort, we are nevertheless treated as the greater threat." She threw a casual sidelong glance toward Kle. "I will not harm you, Formation Leader, but neither will I fear you." She smiled wanly and resumed her passing observations of the Cradle's spartan militancy.

"You mean...you let your males soldier?" Kle said, eyeing Samson and Kitcher with a raised eyebrow. "No offence but no matter your tech, that's a kecked up society and no mistake. I mean, what are you going to do when they're pregnant?"

Bahat saw an opportunity for common ground and took it. "Too true, too true. But difficult times sometimes means that we have to make difficult choices, to use all the resources and help available to us. I'm sure you can understand that sometimes you make do with what you have."

"Moreover," Meilin said amicably, "among our species it is our women who bear offspring, not our men. Though there are some member species of the Federation of the reverse -- not unlike yourselves?"

"I suppose we figure why eliminate half of our numbers on the off chance that one of us will decide to get pregnant," added Francie.

"Ah huh," Kle said sounding less than impressed or convinced. "Well however you want to play it, you still came here armed to the teeth. I know the Cadre was experimenting with solid state energy weapons before the Fallback, but nothing trooper portable. What you have is a force multiplier. Could have used a dozen of those during the Fallback, might have changed the tides."

They entered a large freight elevator, the space roomy enough to let them spread out. With a rattle the elevator began to rise.

"The Concordance threw thousands of lives at us in the beginning. It was a slaughter, even with modern weapons which look like spears compared to yours, it was too easy. Then the infection began to take root, and the faithful suddenly began to pop up behind the lines. I was leading a Formation outside of the Hissek Mountain Range, guarding the grain silos there, when my own Formation Aux Leader pulled a pistol on me and demanded I surrender to a higher judgement that the moral authority of my leaders. That was before we had the kits. Now with just a simple skin patch, we can tell if someone's turning," Kle rolled up her arm, to reveal a blue diamond stuck to her skin. "Blue is good, red mean dead. Better that way, less chance of an infected passing it on or convincing someone it's all a mistake."

Dania listened quietly as they walked, making mental notes. "Formation Leader, what was the state of your world before the Concordance? Peace? War? High technological development? Space age?"

"No idea what any of those mean, but last war the Military Cadre fought was forty years ago. A bit before my time against the Red River State started off as a groundwater territorial dispute. Escalated into the Great War, in which the United Free Regimes won. After that, we began to expand our technology base. About a year before the Concordance arrived we'd built the International Peace Station, and had ideas of sending people to one of the moons. Most of the MC's duties were national defence, disaster relief, that sort of thing," Kle chuckled. "Before all of this was Formation Leader for the Combat Engineering Corp, building inflatable concrete bridges in disaster areas and the like. Never even fired my weapon until The Fall Back. I joined because my birth father was one of the Engineer's responsible for building the Cardle Facilities back during the Caldera Crisis. Big shoes to fill."

Meilin leaned over to Dania. "Digital Age precipitated by world peace on the cusp of a Space Era," she whispered in a hushed summary.

The elevator clattered to a halt, and the door's opened. A sudden rush of heavy humid air rolled into the elevator, along with the stagnant smell of water and mildew. Beyond the elevator were walls covered in pipes dripping with condensations, with more warnings in the alien glyphs.

Kle lead them out onto a pier of sorts that stretched out into a massive underground lake. Above their heads on the ceiling of the cavern, crews were working on a 10-meter wide plug of grey material that didn't match the stonework.

"That's where your impactor came through," Kle said, her tone shifting down the scale into cool indifference. She looked to the end of the pier where a trio of workers was helping someone out of the water, suited in a similar set of armour to the troopers who'd gone outside. "Did you attach the lift bags?"

"Yes Formation Leader," the diver said, waving one of the bulky armoured limbs back at the water as bubbles began to foam on the surface. "Should be following me up shortly."

With a gurgle of displaced water, a large metallic object arose from the dark water, a second diver clinging to the side of it. Ten meters long, it had a wedge-like profile deformed from where its narrow nose had punched through the ceiling of the water storage cavern. At it's wider end was clearly an engine of some sort, and to the Starfleet personnel and pilot present, it was clearly identifiable as a Type 10 shuttle pod.

Starfleet Diplomatic Service was still visible on its side, though badly burnt from uncontrolled reentry.

Dania frowned, here eyes gliding over the shuttlepod. Formally known as the Chaffee Type, first designed to be used by the Defiant Class starships, back in 2375, the shuttlepod was still in mass use over a decade and a half later.

An eerie sight as it was...the burned text before the SDS lettering was even more frightening. Canopus Station. Storm nudged Meilin with her elbow, pointing towards the burned text.

Though Meilin said nothing, she acknowledged Dania to confirm she had seen it.

Bahat, her eyes wide as she took in the shuttle, addressed Kle. "How long has that been submerged?" She kept her voice as steady as she could.

"A few days, by the Formation Leader's word," Meilin said, her eyes still locked on her tricorder. "The water is slowly becoming irradiated by the shuttle, which is inconsistent with a hard atmospheric entry.Main power is offline. Auxiliary power is active, though primary systems remain offline. I am not registering life signs... or even any life support systems whatsoever." She looked up her crewmates in subdued wonder. "It was as if this shuttle was unmanned."

"So it's a drone, some sort of missile?" Kle asked with a critical eye towards the water soaked craft.

Utterly fascinated, Meilin tapped her combadge. "This is Lieutenant Commander Jiang. Unidentified Starfleet shuttle, please respond."

The channel hung silent. Tension bore down with it. Why would an unmanned shuttle be sent into Messier 4? Surely a class-9 probe would have been more appropriate. What sorts of automated protocols might there be--

=/\="This is the USS Brennan. A power surge to primary systems after the launch mandated the termination of main power to prevent a catastrophic system failure. I detect life-forms. Are they well?"=/\=

"At present, yes," Meilin said, "but the shuttle's crash has contaminated their water supply with radiation."

=/\="The shuttle is not the source of radiation. It is me. My containment has been compromised. I am attempting to limit myself, but it is insufficient."=/\=

"I thought you said it was unmanned, that's a person in there!" Kle said, looking at them all. "And if they're irradiated I can have doctors brought down. We've had a lot of experiance dealing with radation posioning."

Meilin held up her tricorder. "I still detect no life signs, only significantly high bands of electromagnetic radia--" Her lips slammed closed as she slowly turned her head back toward the half-submerged shuttle. Tapping her combadge to restore the channel, she asked, "Crew member of the USS Brennan, please identify yourself."

=/\="Commander Calida.=/\=

"Full name, please," Meilin pressed.

=/\="My true name is ineffable,"=/\= the voice said. =/\="I am on record as Commander Calida of the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps."=/\=

EM radiation, no life support, Diplomatic Corps. That cinched it for Meilin. She turned to Dania, Riya, and the others. "There is a Medusan on that shuttle, and their containment pod has been compromised." She turned to Kle. "Get your divers out of the water. Immediately! And we will need a heavy metal container. It must be lined with an element or alloy, lead at the minimum. The electromagnetic radiation is coming from a non-corporeal life-form, and your potable water is the only thing standing between them and radiation sickness for your people."

Dania gave Meilin questioning glance before snapping into action, "you heard her, move, we need to contain this fast! Metal containers, got any?"

"Nothing that isn't back in the staging hanger..." Kle began to say, and then pointed to one of the diver's in their armour suit. "Get out of that thing on the double and get everyone clear of this area. All the way back to the living accommodations."

The diver and their helpers moved at speed, the armoured suit unhinging and unfolding to release the Xilosian within. They got out, and the team of diver's and workers walked with the sort of pace only the fearful could carry off.

"Suit's rated for exterior use on the surface. We've even had them walk through a Fall Out Storm, so they should be good to contain whatever that thing is. Which I will need an explanation of. How can a noncorporeal being communicate or exist alongside corporeal beings?" Kle asked. "Why would such a being need a starship?"

"Federation beings are of many forms and genders. One such as the Medusans require specialized environments in which they can coexist with the rest of us. There are others who require different aids." Dania explained, motioning towards the team, "as you can see we are many races, even here. There are many many more who join our ranks and travel and explore with us, such as the Medusan in there. Why a starship? Because we have not encountered a living being yet who could safely breathe the vacuum of space and live. To our knowledge at least." Storm pointed towards the water as she mentioned Calida.

"At least, none that also breathe oxygen," Bahat interjected with an ingratiating smile. Time to plant some seeds. "There are some species, like gormagander, that spend their entire lives in space, and quite happily. In fact, if I'm remembering my history correctly, the gormagander was once in danger of extinction. The Federation--our people--rendered aid and helped them to thrive. Thank you for helping Commander Calida."

Kle grunted, and with a heave moved the now empty armoured shell close to the shuttle. "So you assimilated these Gormagander's into your Federation? Is that what you people do, spread out and invite anyone to join?"

A dark look crossed Dania's face as she stepped over to assist Kle. "We don't assimilate, but we do spread out and invite. Mind you, not all do join...but it's their choice. We respect that."

"Ah-huh," Kle said sound less than convinced.

"There are requirements as well," Meilin said candidly. "Humanitarian requirements that not every world is willing to meet. Now," she said, changing the subject by clearing her throat, "if we cannot restore Commander Calida's containment integrity by patching her personal carrier pod or putting it inside of a larger container, then perhaps we can have her beamed out and into the Resolute, the larger ship that brought us here. 'If you cannot bring Laozi to Kunlun Mountain, then bring Kunlun to Laozi.'"

"No idea what half of that means. But the suit shell is rated for radiation containment, it's as good as we've got. And I need my people back in here patch that hole, and cleaning the water. The Civilian Mandate is doing what it can to keep people from asking questions, but sooner or later someone is going to start reminding people what happened to the last Cradle whose water turned bad," Kle said, glowering at Meilin. "So what do we leave it, does it open that shuttle and get out? Or does it pass through the metal like a ghost?"

Meilin frowned. "I'm... not certain. Starfleet requires Medusans to travel in a carrier pod that prevents accidental exposure to vulnerable humanoids. Even gazing up their unobstructed form can induce madness, but their sublime and transcendent perspective makes it worth the obstacles."

Turning to Dania and Riya, Meilin said, "I still think beaming Calida's pod directly to the Resolute's cargo bay is the best solution -- it transfers the risk to our ship and away from these people, and Calida needs to come with us anyway. We need to help the Resolute get a transporter lock down here."

"Unless you have a transmitter stronger than the shuttles that can punch through the ionising radiation in the atmosphere, might be an idea to have someone fly it up into low orbit to relay a message back to the ship," Kitcher said from the back of the peir, eyeing the deck and the dark water below it. "What? I don't like water. A guy can travel further than light can in a century, but suddenly he's an oddity for not liking large open bodies of water."

"...No one said anything about the water," Samson said with a frown. "'cept you."

"...shappup."

Dania smirked briefly at Kitcher before turning to face Meilin. "He might be right though, we could maybe access the tower we saw, change the transmitting message to something the Resolute would recognize. Then get them to try and lock onto say the mineral composites of the pod, or something large enough. We know of cases where Transporter Signals locked onto bone tissue minerals and such."

"I've got a riskier idea," Meilin said. "What if everybody vacated this reservoir so Calida could fully let herself go? That amount of radiation may be able to punch through the interference like the tower did, possibly enough for a transporter lock. If I'm right, it would also purify the reservoir from being irradiated since the radiation is Calida herself."

She shot Kle a look of uncertainty. "It would require someone to return to our runabout in order to contact our ship in orbit though."

"Any volunteers?" Kitcher asked from the back end of the pier.

"Goes without saying I'll be joining them," Kle stated. "Kisbeck has unending trust and can play host, but I'd like to oversee this little comm's relay. Maybe talk to your own Formation Commander? Make sure what you've been pumping into Kisbeck's head isn't just steam and sprites."

"I'll go." Said Dania. "Give us a chance to exchange more information and learn about each other." Storm looked over between Kle and Meilin. Whilst her background were sciences, her role here was gathering intel, best way to do that was to talk and observe. Jiang, Bahat and the others were better and doing the other things.

"Then it's agreed," Kle said. "I'm sure Kisbeck will be overjoyed to have someone else to talk to who hasn't spent the last few thousand hours listening to his joke's and anecdotes. You can learn a little more about us, and I can assign my Aux Formation Leader Kuffle to be your escort down here."

"While Calida is 'letting herself go,' we could grab her containment unit and put some of our engineers to repairing it," suggested Francie. "If we can find a way to get it out of here, that is."

"One problem at a time. We got a solid plan: get the Resolute to beam the Medusan up using the shuttle as a relay through the atmosphere, and then we can wonder about putting Humpty Dumpty's shell back together," Kitcher said. "See, told you all it would be a fun field trip."