First Contact, Pinophyta-style, part 1
Posted on Wed May 11th, 2011 @ 8:12am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson & Lieutenant JG Tramira Kyt & Ensign Stran
589 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
The Forests of Mythraeli
Location: Mythraeli
Timeline: Current
ON
The team materialized in a small meadow surrounded by trees. The sun was almost at its peak and the air was warm.
The first thing Sam noticed was an absence of sound. No insects. No small animals. Just the rustle of a faint breeze through the leaves of the nearby trees.
And an ever present feeling of watchfulness. She set up the transporter buffers and listened to see what she could pick up from the trees.
Kyt set her axe down next to a rock, and leaned back against it. "Your show, Captain." Kyt said, nodding.
"First, I want to see if I can make sense of what I'm hearing," Sam said quietly. There was definitely something in the air, somthing alien. If she could sort through the impressions, she might find a way to make contact.
Lizzie brought a ample kit and began to dig in the dirt. Just in case it was the soil itself that caused the problem with the communications.
Kyt nodded, and stretched backwards, relaxing.
Sam had to smile at that. It wasn't a bad idea, sitting back and relaxing. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the emotions around her. Sunlight. Wind in the leaves. Soft earth. The thoughts were slow to the point of lugubriousness. There was a drifting, singsong pattern to the emotions. They were more impressions than thoughts. She felt her thoughts begin to drift as well, floating along the breeze; basking in the sunshine. She took off her shoes and curled her toes in the earth and stretched out her arms.
Stran quirked an eyebrow at Kyt and Sam. "Curious."
"Yes, they are," Sam replied. "Their thoughts are totally different from ours. Do youw ant to listen?" she asked Stran.
"I have heard it before. It was alien enough then. If you do not take offence to my phrasing, it is difficult enough to meld with one alien mindset, let alone two." Stran said.
Sam chuckled softly and dug her toes in deeper, opening herself to the trees and the environment around her. It gave her a whole new perspective on time and its passage. "You should try it," she told the others, her eyes still closed. "It's amazing."
She blocked out the rest of the party and began to focus on the trees alone. They communicated in images and feelings. Images of sunlight, a squirrel, water. Feelings of warmth, contentedness, irritation. She sent an image of Stran along the wind. Several trees stiffened -- if a tree could stiffen. Irritation. Pain. She could feel the high-pitched whine, the pain associated with it. The trees linking minds to send out a counter sound that would muffle the noise, stop the irritation.
Now she understood. Their communication devices caused the trees pain and so they blocked the cause. And by so doing, cut off the away team.
Sam pulled back from the link she'd joined and stretched. "Our communications cause the trees pain. We're transitory irritants, for lack of a better word. So, we need to find a way to send a signal without using that particular frequency."
Kyt looked up at Sam. "Uh, ma'am, I believe you've got your security officers muddled. I'm a security officer, with base first aid training." Kyt said. "We've covered my lack of technical knowledge before."
(To be continued...)
Captain Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso
Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson (PNPC)
Botanist
USS Calypso
Ensign Tramira Kyt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso
Ensign Stran (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Calypso
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