Welcome to Alannris, part 2

Posted on Wed Mar 14th, 2012 @ 3:12pm by Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & Lieutenant Commander Damion Wolfe & Private 1st Class Trent Kushner & Ensign Leee-ee/Maddison Tyler

1,181 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Race for the Lost Treasure
Location: 600 meters under the ocean
Timeline: During "Down to the Planet"

[CONTINUED]


Damion stood there for a moment and resisted the urge to prove him wrong. Typical Marine, under the impression that he was the only one qualified for combat. A simple answer would have been fine, but he had to go and insult the man. This being the same man who had his back during the incident on their last mission. He just gave him a looked and then looked over to Ronnie.

Trent almost winced at the Captain's words, they sounded harsh but in fact they were absolutely accurate. The fact was, Marines aren't even allowed to let a fleeties hold TR series weapons for safety reasons. Ballistic weapons, like the 114, have heavy recoil when discharged which is decidedly unlike the phase weapons Fleet officers are trained to use. Handing someone a fully automatic weapon without the proper training on how to deal with the associated recoil would be downright dangerous for everyone, especially since these weapons didn't have a 'stun' setting.

"Hey, wait up, I'm coming with you." Trent added as he quickly closed the distance to the pair.

The inner chamber was now completely flooded so she swam inside and waited for Damion to join her. She smiled sweetly at Leo as she pushed the button to close the door. A light came on, indicating that the door sealed properly. TO be sure, Ronnie scanned it carefully. The last thing she wanted was to flood whatever was inside and risk destroying anything that may or may not exist.

She pushed the button to void the water and waited, scanning the other door and the chamber itself. When the light indicated it was clear to open the inner door she pushed the button. But nothing happened.

"Drat. The tricorder says it's working." She pushed the button again. A blue light flashed. Blue? She looked at Damion. "What does blue mean?"

She remembered the tricorder Sam gave her and pulled it out. "It says we need a password."

He took the tricorder from her and then looked at it. "It's probably to keep the wrong people out of here." Damion looked over to Ronnie and then back to the tricorder. "Let's assure it that we are the right people." He began to work with the tricorder. "The door might need some kind of word or a group of words to be sent to the door. Look around and see if you see some kind of writing or puzzle. It might be the way to unlock it."

"Word or words?" She began to use a variety of words from open, let me in, and greetings to knock, knock and friend. And, just for fun, she tried landshark.

Finally she gave up and began looking around the chamber for some sort of clue. She finally found it on a side wall.
What is a gift more precious than gold?
A priceless treasure which hands cannot hold?
A gift to mortals from Isicar's throne.
Use it unwisely, you perish unknown.

That led to another series of words. At last she entered Knowledge and the light turned from blue to green and the door slowly opened.

"Hey, do you think it's an omen of what we'll find inside?" she asked Damion.

"I don't know" Damion closed the tricorder and then looked at her. "It certainly here to test whoever comes knocking, but this might not be the only thing keeping people out. Let's take it easy. Places like this have a habit of having a few extra surprises inside."

Ronnie took back her tricorder and checked the air quality inside the building. It was stale and a little low on the nitrogen side, but it was breathable.

She took off her helmet and flippers and set them down by the door. "Hopefully we won't need this until we leave."

Trent removed his fins first before reaching behind his helmet and pulling on the quick release valve for his air supply. The hose hissed briefly before the shut off valve capped. He unclipped his BCD from his chest and slipped out of the water logged equipment, lessening his dead weight by almost 200 pounds. The visor on his helmet slid open and he took in his first few breaths of non condensed air. "I would feel a lot more comfortable if you kept that with you." The marine said with a glance down to the helmet. "Your call though."

Ronnie looked at the helmet, then at Trent. "You're probably right." With a sigh she picked it up and hung it over one shoulder. She didn't like hauling it round, but if they ran into trouble, she would need it.

Figuring she would take the lead because she was the most curious, she stepped into the small room and looked around. It was dark, except for the faint glow from the lights in the airlock.

As she walked farther into the room, the lights came on. "Automatic or does something know we're here?" she asked the others.

"Likely automated." Maddison noted. "Probably an IR beam, or life sign trip."

"It would be interesting if it detected life signs. Might mean some form of intelligent design," Ronnie said. "Let's see what we can find."

On the far side of the room was a door that opened as they approached. A corridor beyond led into the darkness.

"Stay close, Ronnie." Damion said softly to her. He was concerned that they hadn't discovered anything yet that would try and stop them or further test them. Either the builders had a lot of trust or saved it for the very last. Regardless of their train of thought, he was concerned for her.

"Always," she replied. She mentally flipped a coin and turned left.

The corridor continued for a ways and then turned right. Ronnie mentally created a map in her head so she wouldn't get too lost. Just in case her tricorder failed for some reason.

Ten meters down, they came across a door on the right. Ronnie walked up to it. "Open Sesame." The door opened. "Cool." She grinned at Damion before walking through the door.

"Your enjoying this, way to much." Damion laughed as he followed her in.

The room was empty. Ronnie looked around to be sure, then walked back out ad continued down the corridor. The next four rooms were also empty.

The farther they went into the facility, the cleaner the air became. And the brighter the lighting. "I wonder if whatever's here is preparing the way for us?"

"You have to start asking yourself, Is that a good or bad thing?" Damion replied and then slowly lowered his hand to his hand phaser. Keeping it in its holder, but making sure it was within reach if something were to happen.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster
Assistant Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant JG Damion Wolfe
Chief Intelligence Officer

Private 1st Class Trent Kushner [Damon]
Marine

Ensign Leee-ee/Maddison Tyler
Security Officer

 

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