The Cukoo Clock is Spinning Counter-Clockwise Part 1 of 2

Posted on 07 Sep 2018 @ 3:36pm by Captain Jasmine Somers FCapt & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & 1st Lieutenant Maria Zamorano
Edited on on 26 Sep 2018 @ 5:15pm

3,936 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 4: The Avian Flew the Cukoo's Nest (Incidental Posts)
Location: Xindaria Surface / Ruins of Ancient City
Timeline: Mission 5 Day 12.1b

[ON]

- Xindaria outside old mine and ruins of the ancient city -

The away team boarded the shuttle and got to work preparing for the next phase of the mission. Dr Cahill treated all the minor ailments from the most of the team for the scrapes and bruises they got from the Gorn. Thompson scanned the ruins of the ancient city and located what appeared to be a governmental type building that seemed to withstand the test of time. It was missing part of the roof and all the windows.

However, Thompson used reference maps from ancient cities that have been documented and pin pointed the best location for the local archives or library type building.
Had the team decided to walk to the city ruins, it would have been almost 20 miles to edge and then another 10 miles to the centre of the ruins. So Thompson even plotted the best landing site to get to the building. The city was so spread out due to the fact that the Avians flew and that makes it easy to get around the city quicker than walking.

The shuttle craft landed near the centre of the ancient city. The ruins were elegant and yet in various stages of decay and destruction. There were some buildings that were still standing tall without roofs or windows and then there were buildings that were in complete rubble. From the sensor scans, the one building that seemed to resemble a library or archive centre seemed to be near the centre of this ancient city.

- Inside a side tunnel -

"Screw it" as the small passageway behind him collapsed with a sudden roar. With more than a million tons of Granit, and other igneous rocks sealing the passage way behind him for aeons, Altuvas Derrigo looked back, smiled and continued his way into the dank passageway. Luckily for him, he had his Marine Survival Packs, which contained a Ferrosan chem-light that was not dependent on batteries but had the properties to stay lit for more than 24 hours. Such was the properties of 'bio-luminesce' as the brains behind the invention at Marine R&D.

With four of the flares still in his jacket and a small IFAC that contained his level 1 first aid trauma kit, along with a sealed packet of dehydrated food, Altuvas could survive in the cave for more than 142 hours, well enough for him to traverse through the caverns looking for a way out. As far as water, he had the perfect solution, prior to his being posted to the Tomcat, through his sources, and over 20 years as a Marine; he had acquired a new water retention device. The device still under investigation had the ability to take water, or any type of contaminated water source, and convert it into drinkable water, and with an attachment, he could refill four 4-quart canteens from any source, even from the cavern’s wet walls, now with everything in hand, Altuvas was now set.

Unfortunately he had struck Webb on the head with a rock, knocking him out for a few minutes; enough time for him to venture on his own through the caverns. What started the incident was when Altuvas and Webb were searching for a way out, Altuvas saw something that struck his eye. It was a vein of pure Dilithium crystals, enough for him to get rich from selling it to a number of interested parties; but not enough to rouse the suspicion of Starfleet and the Marines. Plus, why should he let Webb find it, and try to weasel him out of whatever he could get from the find of a vein of pure Dilithium crystals....

So when Webb turned his back on Altuvas, he picked up a rock, and hit him on the back of the head, stunning him, then quickly disappeared into the deep dank tunnels. Knowing that Webb was one of those good Marines who would not follow him, but would call the skipper, Altuvas made his way merrily into the dark tunnels.

For what seemed like hours, Altuvas began to see movement in the caverns, as he had disturbed a flock of fruit bats, which were now sleeping soundly in their countless nests. However the stench of fresh Guano, was not something that he relished inhaling, but as he slowly made his way out of the caverns, he found himself going upwards, then as he broke out of the cavern he discovered that he was inside a massive water cistern that was only six feet from the surface.

Looking around, Altuvas found what appeared to be a handhold, and as he made his way up and out of the Cistern, he stepped out into the middle of what was once a massive city.
Long deserted by its original inhabitants, from where he was standing, he saw the thousand foot storied empty buildings, massive curving architecture, that was built to allow some type of alien life form access. Then there was the massive mounds of dirt and the rusted foundations of thousands of buildings. The only thing that was alive, was the occasional bird-like creatures that continued to scream at him from their perches in one of the massive now deserted apartment buildings.

Walking around the empty square, Altuvas went into a deserted building, and he was rummaging around, looking for more signs of the former inhabitants, he heard the familiar sound of a shuttle now beginning its final approach. Knowing what the sound was, Altuvas ran from the building and went up a massive hill. Cresting the hill he saw it was rounded off by thousands of years of wind exposure, and at the bottom of what appeared to be a 5,300-meter circular depression, he simply ran down to the bottom and hid behind what looked like more ruins, and was now preparing to fight whoever came out. Though he would like to have taken on everyone, he most wanted the Lieutenant, for he had a score to settle with her; whom he hated with a passion.

- Ruined City -

As the Shuttle finally descended, Eleonorrhea quickly left the shuttle, as soon as it landed within the ruins. Seeing the size of the former city, just before the shuttle, she had put on her Tricorder, turned it on, and left starting to make a perimeter sweep. Though Mr. Dodd and Dr. Cahill had powerful scanners, the day’s events proved that Technology could go so far before one had to do the job themselves. With more than 3500 meters away from the Shuttle, her Tricorder picked up a signal, which was human, and in a shot she ran towards the signal...

Running towards and cresting a very large circular hill, with a very large depression at the bottom, she slid down the embankment towards the floor of the depression. With her Tricorder signal getting stronger as she stood there, Eleonorrhea followed the signal and came to the wall where Aluvas was hiding. "Okay Derrigo" you can come out, there is no one to save you" yelled Eleonorrhea as she stood there taking in slight breaths of air.

- Battleground -

When Altuvas did not come out, Eleonrrhea in a commanding voice said "MARINE", YES YOU GUNNY, and "According to Marine Regulations SFMC 005, any Marine accused of a crime is allowed to prove his/her innocence by "Mutual Combat". "If you win, and beat me, all current charges are dropped, and there is nothing that I can do. However, if you do lose, all previous and currents charges remain in force, and then you face an Article 32 hearing, and in your case, you'll be found guilty sent to the Marine Brig at Rodenium XV, which I hear is a far worse fate than Rora Penthe.

Listening to the choices, Altuvas decided that if he can beat the Lieutenant, he stood a far better chance than being sent to Rodenium XV, which according to scuttlebutt was so bad, that even the guards were rotated every two months... Looking around Altuvas scrounged for something then he found it; a large rusted thick metal bar with a wicked head comprised of fused metal. Picking up the rusted metal bar, he swung it a few times, and after a few practice swings, he said...

"Lieutenant Delfin" is it true that if I beat you, I'll have all current charges against me dropped" yelled Altuvas from behind the wall? "Yes, Gunny; and it’s all here on my Tricorder... "Then fine" yelled Altuvas as he suddenly got up and ran towards Eleonorrhea who was standing 100 meters away from the wall..."Damn you, Lieutenant, I'm going to make you wished you never joined the Marines" yelled Altuvas who was now screaming more and more profanities as he ran towards Eleonorrhea.

Momentarily distracted from the scream, Eleonorrhea ripped off her jacket just as Altuvas was closing towards her; and seeing Altuvas; Eleonorrhea already knew his fighting style... "Bar room brawling type, no brains, jus overpower your opponent and brain them" it was one-sided and not thoughtful in any way as to the consequences. As Altuvas got to almost a foot from her, Eleonorrhea simply pivoted, and with a sudden move delivered a savage round house kick to Altuvas right temple as he rushed past her.

"BOOM", and suddenly Altuvas felt massive waves of pain racking his brain, a pain that was so great that he was barely able to grip the heavy metal bar with any force. The pain was unbearable as the kick stunned him, seeing stars, and with double vision, Altuvas tried to shake off the blow, as he stopped a 100 yards away. Seeing Eleonrrhea who had fire in her eyes, he once again tried to run a her, and brain her with the pipe; but as he charged, Eleonorrhea with ease, grabbed his arm, and now in an arm bar, she easily forced him to drop the bar, and with an evil smile, she simply dropped down on one knee, then suddenly stood upwards, forcing the right arm she was holding up and out in one savage move.

Dislocating the right arm, Altuvas now had no strength as he dropped the pipe to the ground. Now in silence, with the right arm in massive pain, Eleonorrhea continued to move up and down the injured arm, which sent more and more massive waves of pain up to Altuvas's brain. Suddenly Altuvas managed to kick at Eleonrrhea forcing her away from him as she shoved her left hand in her jacket, producing a nasty serrated six-inch combat knife.

Now waving the knife at Eleonorrhea, he now began to cut at the air between them..."Now bitch, let's see how brave you are facing a knife" screamed Altuvas who was now gloating at Eleonorrhea. Though the right arm was useless, he still managed to be a very dangerous person, and now as he tried to close in on Eleonorrhea, he lashed out several times, missed; and the tenth time he lashed out, Eleonorrhea who by now was tired of playing games, suddenly produced her smaller Karambit. Holding it with the handle in her palm with the curved side hidden underneath her jacket, Eleonorrhea easily blocked the twelfth attempt by Altuvas, and suddenly she lashed out; slicing through his arm, then as he cried out in pain, she locked his arm, and now she began to work his arm, slicing, stabbing, cutting, and gouging out large chunks of Altuvas’ flesh from his left arm.

With the arm now totally useless, Eleonorrhea put her Karambit in her jacket, and now holding the blood army, she simply broke his wrist, letting go as she heard the snap of the bones in the wrist, and watching Altuvas fall to the ground backwards, then she went up to Altuvas who was now prone on his back, placing her left knee over his throat and said...

"Master Gunny Altuvas Derrigo, under the regulations, I now place you under apprehension and am charging you with your current crimes" to a choking disgraced Master Gunnery Sergeant. In an almost soft voice said... Eleonorrhea said, "Gunny, you had the world at your feet, you could have made Sergeant Major of the Marines' and now here you lay a disgraced Marine" replied Eleonorrhea with her voice changing from a concerned commander to one who was about to pass sentence.

Seeing that he was now coughing, Eleonorrhea pulled away from her knee, leaving Altuvas speechless, as she reached into her IFAC, and pulled out a small personal hypo-spray containing a small amount (.05cc's) of Morphine sulfate. Pushing the hypo-spray up against her skin, Eleonorrhea could see the effects taking effect almost immediately. Though the use of MS had long since been discontinued for almost 400 years with the advent of more advanced forms of analgesics now carried by every Physician and Medic assigned to a landing party. The Starfleet Surgeon General along with the Marine Corp Medical Board had long since advocated for the Marines to carry a small dose of MS in each IFAC, and to be used until a Battle Surgeon or Medic could arrive on the scene with far more advanced drugs to relieve pain and suffering.

With the hypo-spray now finished dispensing the Morphine and seeing that Altuvas was now resting comfortably, Eleonorrhea heard the footsteps of Dr Cahill along with Mr Dodd, and the others now coming up the slope and stopping at the crest of the depression.

Seeing Dr Cahill, Eleonorrhea said "Here you go Doc", one more Marine to treat, replied Eleonorrhea as she turned her back to Dr Cahill who was now beginning to treat Derrigo.

- At the Shuttle -

With Webb lying down in a makeshift cot at the back of the shuttle, Eleonorrhea checked up on Webb as he laid there comfortably; Eleonorrhea said "Well Webb how are you doing? Are you comfortable enough, or do you want me to get you something?" replied Eleonorrhea in a concerned voice.

"No, nothing skipper, I'm fine, but you do look a bit tired" replied Webb.

Not saying anything Eleonorrhea said "Marine, right now I want you to go get some rest, we'll probably be busy shortly, and I need you to be at your best when I need you" replied Eleonorrhea, who was back to being her hard-assed self...

Lt Dodd had assigned the scanning of the ruins and the city to Dr Cahill and Matt Thompson.

"These ruins are great aren't they, doc?" Matt was fascinated by them, but the peculiar thing was that they didn't appear to be anything like the Avian Xindi would have lived in. Clearly it was some sort of mixed species possibly space faring maybe even older than that. Possibly so old that they could have been the ancestors of the Q. Matt found that there were indeed several layers of ruins on top of one another. Matt found what looked like a temple almost fully intact. It was made of polished molybdenum. He found several cups possibly chalices, various what looked like vestments that were nearly disintegrated with wear no books or anything resembling a data disc or rod. There was some sort of writing etched into the alter which was reminiscent of the symbols found on a lot of preserver artifacts.

Matt suspected that the avian species were cliff dwellers, of course, they could easily have found refuge in the trees.

"Hey, Doc I'm picking up energy readings over here". Matt said.
Dodd had already been monitoring the high chronoton readings in the area and how it has increased by over one hundred per cent from the first reading. He had Ensign Tjaansz working to analyze this highly localized concentration of particles which is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. He was still sensing a presence that he could not associate with any of the away team nor was it a Gorn presence.

Dodd headed out to meet up with Thompson who was working on analyzing the ruins and doing his archaeological duties.
"Ensign, what are you coming up with so far?" Dodd asked of the young Ensign.

Thompson explained to Dodd that he scanned all the rubble of the city and dated the current area to have been vacated by advanced lifeforms about two thousand nine hundred years ago or just shy of three thousand years. Thompson stated that it appeared to be a sudden departure from the planet as there were signs of everyday activities left in progress. The wildlife soon moved in and claimed the city. The jungle vegetation took hold of the outer edges of the city, while other grasses and fruit trees and the like took hold in the center more domain of the city. The primary wildlife on the planet consists of birds and rodents with a few small primates, not much larger than spider monkeys. The birds were the larger forms of life in comparison. Thompson then got into the previous ruins under the surface, he explained from his scans that there are at least twelve layers of ruins and that the oldest was very ancient and could date back to the approximate time the Q species first came into existence. Thompson was sure to state this was all speculation as the archaeological experts all had differing ideas about the Q.

Sitting in her seat inside the shuttle, Eleonorrhea was preparing her own report on the day's events starting with the rough landing, the killing of the Gorn, the search for the landing party, its location, the cavern and the strange picture of Lt. Dodd on the walls; then she noted the disappearance of Derrigo, and leaving her back at the caverns, then she recounted along with the Tricorders readings on her finding Derrigo, then the fight which led to her being injured, and finally a summary of Webb's injuries and treatment.

Sitting there with her Tricorder now finished recording, Eleonorrhea pressed send, which if there were no interference would send a copy to the Commander of the Tomcat, then a Copy to the Commandant of the Marine Corp, and from there, it was now open to any general Officer who wanted a copy. With that finished Eleonorrhea sat back and as she did a voice coming from the back of the shuttle said...

"Hey, Skipper" yelled Webb as he stood up; whatever it was that Dr Cahill gave me sure helped me out... I feel fit as a fiddle"... With Eleonoorrhea watching in amazement along with Mr K'Muss, who was surprised to find the Staff Sergeant now up and about. Taking her Tricorder Eleonorrhea switched on her own Tricorder that had a limited amount of medical information in its memory; but nevertheless, it showed that Webb was now back to active duty, except for a slight headache around the head wound, that he would be able to care for with a few analgesic tablets from his IFAC.

"Okay Marine", what took you so long to recover laughed Eleonorrhea who was trying hard to forget her bout with Derrigo back at the ruins...

"Let’s not bother the good doctor, right now. As far as I can see on my tricorder, you're back to duty.... or very limited duty. "I give you around 60 minutes to relax then you have a small mission to perform" replied Eleonorrhea whose regular hardnosed Marine demeanour quickly returned.

"Once you're back to full duty, you'll find Derrigo down among the ruins I believe that Dr Cahill has now completed treating Derrigo for his injuries. Once you have him, you are to bring him back to the Shuttle, where he is to be kept in isolation, until we return back to the Tomcat, and from there he is to be escorted to the ship’s brig, where he will be brought up on charges..."Got that Webb" replied Eleonorrhea sternly as she looked at Webb, who now had a sudden chill as Eleonorrhea gave her orders..."Yes, Ma'am" replied Webb as he sat back in his cot, and rested.

- Back to the Depression -

Now rested, and carrying a Phaser in a shoulder holster, Webb left the ship, and with his Tricorder now at full power, he walked for more than 20 minutes, through the massive ruins. Finally arriving at a massive inclined hill, Webb saw that his Tricorder was now registering two humanoid figures at the bottom of the depression. Finally cresting the Depression, he saw at the bottom; Dr. Cahill, and...”Derrigo"? Nevertheless Webb took his time getting down to the bottom of the hill. Getting down the embankment, took a few seconds and now at the bottom Webb could see Dr. Cahill finishing up. "Well Doc, I've been ordered to bring Gunny Derrigo back to the ship per Lt. Delfin's orders" replied Webb. Seeing that Webb finally got there, Dr. Cahill got up and pressed a button on her own Tricorder... "My findings are on the transcript now downloaded to both your Lieutenant and your tricorder" replied Dr. Cahill as she left.

With Derrigo now humbled by his beating at the hands of Eleonorrhea, he did not say anything as both he and Webb finally returned back to the shuttle. Now safely inside, Webb sat him down in a chair, and going to a locked cupboard, he pulled out a magnetized body restraint which he applied to Derrigo. Now with the restraint placed on Derrigo, Eleonorrhea depressed several buttons on her own Tricorder, which firmly locked Derrigo to the chair, but gave him enough room to breathe.

oO by the time Derrigo wakes up, he'll be stuffed in the ship’s brig Oo thought Eleonorrhea as she sat down in her chair... It had been a tiring day, and not one she relished, but regulations are regulations...

With Derrigo now safely secured in the chair, and not being able to use his hands and arms, Derrigo was unable to move... Sitting in front of the somnolent Marine was Webb who was continuing to nurse a slow subsiding headache. oO “Now what else can go wrong," Oo thought Webb he watched Mr K'Muss continuing to work the controls of the communication station, while the skipper was trying to relax in her chair.

Dodd and Tjaansz were monitoring the strong chronoton readings which were spiking to levels that were definitely not natural and there was also a strong energy reading that could support the manufacturing of the particles. There was also the odd life sign reading that should not be on a planet of only plants and minor lifeforms. Dodd had to keep working to resolve the chronoton particle situation as it could become a very serious issue.

Dodd left the discipline of Derrigo all in her hands. The young male marine was negligent of his duties and Dodd knew Delfin was the most qualified to deal with the situation. For now, all was safe in the location. Thompson and Cahill were attempting to get data about the city and the race that built it. It appears that the city was not just for Avian Xindi but for a much older race of beings. Thompson even shared that he found multiple layers of debris on this site that go back for over an aeon of time. Thompson speculated that this planet could have been the origin of the Q.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill, MD
Chief Medical Officer / 2XO
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

1st Lieutenant Eleonorrhea (Butch) Delfin
MCO/CoS
USS Tomcat

Ensign Teela Tjaansz [PNPC: Taggert]
Engineer
USS Tomcat

Ensign Matthew Thompson [PNPC: Sterling]
Science Officer (Alien Archaeology/Anthropology)
USS Tomcat

 

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