Morning Prayers and A Little Information

Posted on Mon Dec 21st, 2015 @ 3:58pm by Commodore Samantha York & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Lieutenant Commander Damion Wolfe & Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD & Captain Cameron Bourne

1,531 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Of Gods and Men
Location: Gekkaro IV

ON

Samantha stood in the crowd gathered around the temple, waiting for Frenatus to speak. She wondered what he would say, or what he would do, when there wasn't an example to be made.

There was again a line of people giving food and valulables to the temple acolytes, but she noticed that not all gave. Was there a rotation of some sort? Were people assigned to specific times for giving to the temple?

She began to listen telepathically to the noise around here in the hope that she would overhear some thought that would give her more information.

Arnon stood in the shadows and took a random sampling of the room. Unlike a true empath, he could sense the internal physical and emotional state of an individual. He was better with individuals than with crowds. Still, Arnon stretched out his abilities like a divining rod. When he felt a tug in a particular direction, he scanned more closely. The emotions had a complex taste to them. There was a lot of anticipation in the room, as well as a feeling of reverence coming from many of the people. But there was also a trace of fear in the room, and some suppressed anger. It appeared that not everyone was as enamored with this 'Frenatus' as one might at first believe.

Sam picked up images and emotions from some. Many were thinking of the ways in which this god had protected them, had helped them. To her, though, it seemed more like he'd taken advantage of opportunities. Or had used his technology. She knew that many colonies had weather-controlling devices to protect them. Perhaps, if they had to, the Federation could replace Frenatus with another sort of protection -- one that didn't change their natural evolution to suit his own needs. There was a definite feeling of manipulation to everything she'd seen, but nothing she could definitely put a finger on -- yet.

[Village Marketplace]

Kara walked with Cam into the heart of the village to see if any of the natives chose not to go to morning prayers. If so, that would be a good place to find out what others thought of this creature and his temple. If there were any revolutionaries, they would be in the village as well.

Looking around as the people moved towards the temple, Cam discreetly scanned for any unusual movements or activity. "I wonder if we'll find any undesirable elements. With the tech this lizard guy seems to have, I don't think he'd have trouble dealing with trouble makers"

"Me, either. But, it would be nice if we could find some leader of a rebellious faction to take over in case we have to extract this god of there," Kara said.

[Temple]

Frenatus spoke for twenty minutes about how he protected the people from alien invaders like the ship he dispatched the night before. He explained that the intruders only wanted to dominate the people and force them to live by other laws while he, Frenatus, wanted to protect them and enlighten them. He moved on to how their crops this season were more abundant because of him and that the tithes went to help the temple acolytes who did Frenatus' will. Finally, he blessed them, their crops and their livestock and went back into the temple.

As the people began to disperse, Sam turned to Damon. "Okay, let's see what is going on."

The temple was built on the side of a hill, seeming to grow out of the hill. As there were openings on the ground level for the villagers to give their donations to the acolytes, Sam was pretty sure the rooms went back into the hill and had at least two levels.

She wandered over to one of the openings and listened for anyone inside. Sensing no one, she slipped in and carefully made her way down the tunnel.

It opened into a large cavern with shelves of goods and produce given as offerings. She quickly took mental stock and then moved on to go deeper into the cave system.

"Oh for the days when doctors were paid in produce, materials, and pies," Arnon said. He had crept quietly into the chamber behind the Commodore and the Colonel. "Actually, there was a woman who paid me in pies when I was in private practice...never mind.

Arnon looked around a whistled softly.

"Maybe I'm in the wrong profession," he said, taking it all in. "Some of these things look quite valuable. Unfortunately there was no box labeled 'False Deity' on those 'what do you want to do when you grow up' worksheets, so I went with medicine instead."

Sam chuckled appreciatively. "I've always loved the past. History, archaeology, anthropology, ancient cultures." She looked around the room and grinned. "And caves. I love caves."

She paused to see if she could mentally locate Teenah. "This way," she said, taking a fork in the tunnel. She left a small mark so she could find her way back.

Arnon looked at the mark on the wall, then snapped his fingers. He found what appeared to be a baguette of bread that had been 'donated' to Frenatus. Sticking it under his left arm, Arnon tore off a piece and began to crumble it into crumbs as he walked, leaving a trail behind him as he followed after his commanding officers.

Sam continued down the tunnel, pausing occasionally when she sensed or heard someone coming. At one point, she ducked behind a rocky bulge in the tunnel to wait for two acolytes who were in deep conversation.

The tunnel opened into a large cavern. At least one half of it was a cavern, the other have had been carefully cut into what must be the lower floor of the temple. Sam stopped here to take stock of where they were and what they should do next.

Arnon stopped and stayed out of sight, armed with his baguette.

She sensed Teenah and Illise, or she assumed it was Illise, down to the left, but there was something odd coming from teh right, so she turned and headed away from the Temple and deeper into the cave.

The corridor ended in another tunnel which continued for a klick into the mountain where it ended in a large cavern. Surprisingly, there was no one around. But there was a very odd looking machine. She turned to the others. "Don't mess with it, but see if you can figure out what it is. I suspect it has something to do with the lizard's power."

Arnon stuck his baguette back into his left armpit and fumbled around in his pouch which was on his right side. He eventually found the tricorder he'd thrown in there, after first pulling out the medical tricorder. He opened the tricorder and scanned the machine. He made several noises, as though he was thinking about the tricorder results.

"Oh my," he said after a moment. Arnon handed the tricorder to Sam. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Sam looked at the tricorder, then at the data on it. "Yes, it does. I would love to find out how it works."

She walked around it, using the tricorder and a close examination to see if any part of the machine fit in with what she'd seen before. As she did so, an odd thing happened. Her telepathic reach grew stronger. She found herself noticing Teenah's thoughts, and Damon's. And there was something more... Recalling what Frenatus did with the Calypso, she reached out telepathically and pushed against the cave wall. She felt it give just enough to cause a small crack in the rock face and a trickle of debris to fall to the ground. "Fascinating. I think I know how he removed the ship." And she really wanted to keep this machine intact to examine later.

"Do you happen to have a locator on you?" she said to Arnon.

Arnon rummaged through his bag. He pulled a small stuffed animal duck out of the bag, looked at it a moment, then threw it over his shoulder. He rummaged more and pulled out a small alarm clock, which he also threw over his shoulder. Finally, he came out with a locator.

"Here you are," he said, handing the locator to Sam.

Sam went to retrieve the duck and alarm clock, figuring they could be of use later. If nothing else, the duck was cute. "Thanks," she said, taking the locator.

She walked around the device again before she found just the right spot and attached the locator to the generator so it could be transported to the ship. "There. Now all we need is the Calypso."

She stepped back and took one more look at the device, still feeling it hum deep inside her thoughts. "Let's go before we're caught."

Arnon placed the items back into his bag of holding and followed quickly and quietly behind the Commodore, baguette in hand.

____
OFF

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Arnon Barak
Chief Counselor

Marine Captain Cameron Bourne
Marine CO

2nd Lieutenant Kara Melo
Alpha Platoon Leader

 

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