"Humans are a Nuisance"

[BigBadWulff]

"Humans are a Nuisance"

NOTES:​

First, this story is ready for Character Sheets.
PM me after you take a look at the OOC Thread.
There are some important facts in there about the story,
as well as some important Dos and Don'ts
for your first post.

Second, I did a major rewrite of this first IC post,
so if you are interested in joining,
you'll need to read it again. Sorry, and thanks.​

The Planet Vora
Dusk

Seven dead, four critical ... most the rest of'em, just bumps'n'cuts...

Derek Green surveyed the survivors sitting or laying on the ceiling of the now upside down Emergency Escape Craft, then stepped outside to look at the others gathered around a slowly growing fire. He continued his thought, Could have been worse. Much worse.

He had no idea of how his assessment was so dead on, emphasis on dead.

Before the evacuation of the Rebirth had even begun, half of the 5000+ people aboard were dead or about to be. The space debris -- likely from an unexpected comet passing through the system or a disintegrated meteor kicked out of the belt -- had penetrated the hull in a multitude of locations. As if they had been the ones moving thousands of kilometers an hour rather than the ship itself, tiny particles of rock penetrated bodies and hulls alike with bullet like speed and lethality, killing many outright and many more slowly.

Many of those not killed or incapacitated by the debris simply couldn't reach the emergency escape crafts. Of the 48 EECs integrated into the belly of Rebirth, only 26 disengaged with passengers, some crammed full and others barely loaded. Of those 26, only 18 made it through the atmosphere of Vora III -- not the settlement transport's original destination -- without burning up. Of those 18, only 9 achieved a successful landing, otherwise known as a controlled crash and defined as a 75% survival rate.

In the end, fewer than 400 men, women, and children had made it to the surface of Vora alive.

Derek didn't know any of those statistics, of course. From the moment his EEC blasted away from the Rebirth, those inside it had been on their own and blind: there was no communication with the mother ship, nor were the windowless craft's external sensors working, meaning they had no idea of what was happening outside nor of where they were going. All Derek knew now was that these 49 people were alive.

For now...

 

[celestialdragon]

Dr. Alexa Hammond

Dr. Alexa Hammond brushed off the dirt from her blouse and skirt, and kicked off her heels. She looked around at the wreck and was amazed that she was alive. Digging through the rubble, she found her weapons and copy of the DSM-5, and went straight to work, doing basic first aid around the fire, and comforting those who had lost loved ones in the crash of the Rebirth.

One child clung to her hysterically, unsure of where her parents were, having been separated from them in the EEC. She comforted the child the best she could, but she feared the child's parents were dead.

Once she had put the child to sleep, she sighed and relaxed around the fire, tending to her own cuts and bruises. Her blonde hair hung in her face, and her green eyes were soft. She had counted 50 survivors, including herself. Still more people sought comfort, and even one young man asked, "What happens when we die?"

She had no answer.

 

[BigBadWulff]

"What happens when we die?"

Derek Green heard the question from a man amongst those encircling the fire and felt a chill run up his spine. He had his own ideas of what happened to people when they died, but he wasn't going to voice it here: the survivors included Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Atheists, and more, but Derek was willing to bet that he was the only EmEnErs amongst them.

It was a term that over 200 years ago the Press had hung around the necks of the "Mother Nature Followers" -- M.N.-ers, or EmEnErs. And it had stuck. In truth, most of the "Followers", as they were officially known, kind of liked the moniker. It was hip, like the name of the fans of some sports franchise or a new pop music band.

The EmEnErs' beliefs centered around Mother Nature as a deity and the Laws of Nature as the only laws that mattered. And one of their most important beliefs was that when you died, your spirit became one with the environment in which your body was allowed to decay.

Allowed to decay! Meaning no embalming, no casket, no protection from the elements or the creatures of nature. You were buried in the dirt where the worms and bugs would feast upon you, themselves later to be feasted upon by larger creatures, and so on, and so on, until finally every atom that once had been in your body was now part of the world in which you had lived, and died.

It wasn't an idea that many people savored. And now, Derek found himself in the unenviable position of being in charge of the dead as well as of the living. How were they going to react when he suggested they simply did a hole and toss the bodies into it?

His eyes fell upon a pretty blond woman sitting with the others near the fire. She wore the standard jump suit uniform of the Rebirth Mission, and he recognized her face -- and, to be honest, her body -- but he couldn't remember her name to save his life.

The transports operational crew -- those who flew it -- had included more than 1,000 people; and the Administrative staff -- doctors, nurses, scientists, sociologists, psychologists, archaeologists, and more -- numbered another 2,000. The remaining 3,000 had been what were called pure settlers: farmers, machinists, ranchers, seamstresses, even sexual service providers were amongst those who would have given Vora IV a full sense of being a real, human community.

Of course, none of that mattered. All that mattered were these 49 people in the middle of no where with Derek. These 49 strangers, he thought. Most of these people had been in cryogenic sleep when the disaster struck, essentially killing the Rebirth. Derek looked around and realized he only recognized 8 faces; of those, he only knew 5 of their vocational assignments; and of those, he could only remember 3 names.

This blond woman had been helping the others with great determination and skill, and Derek respected that. He started across to the fire, wanting to meet her and discuss her place in the group's future.

In all honesty, he simply wanted to get closer to her, too. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, on an alien planet, surrounded by dead and injured, Derek Green couldn't help but wonder what this woman looked like out of that jump suit; he couldn't help but wonder what she was like between the sheets, not that they had any sheets handy, of course.

As he crouched down near her, he stuck his hand out, saying, "Derek Green, Rebirth Security Officer, First Class. You did good work tonight. Just wanted you to know its appreciated."

Though he'd promised himself he wouldn't do it, his gaze dropped for just a fraction of a second to the cleavage that was offered for view by her slightly unzipped jump suit. He looked back up quickly though, smiling politely, not wanting her to think that he was thinking of anything more than the situation in which they found themselves.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa looked up at the man offering his hand to her, and she recognized him as a security officer. Derek Green. . . she had seen him. . .

She smiled softly and took his hand. "Dr. Alexa Hammond, psychologist," she said, shaking it. "And thank you." She looked at the man. He was nice looking, and she couldn't help but feel of a rush in her loins. She stood up and surveyed the survivors.

"Do you think there's more survivors from other EEC's?" she asked him softly.

 

[BigBadWulff]

Derek watched Alexa rise. His gaze stayed level, picking up the shape of her bosom, her waist, her hips, and her legs as she stood. He shifted his eyes to fire as he hid from her that male facial expression that she would have known meant Wow!

"Do you think there's more survivors from other EEC's?"

"I'm sure there are," he answered without thinking. He had, of course, considered it already, as he was sure others had. But before he spoke, he should have considered how his answer might affect her and the others around the fire that he suddenly realized were paying the pair of them attention. Would they want to strike out across the terrain looking for others? Would they think others might come here instead? "The ship had 48 EECs. I'm sure most of them got away and landed safely."

He wasn't sure, nor was he correct, not that he knew or didn't know that. He couldn't know one way or the other. But there was no benefit to telling the scared, shocked people staring his way that they were all that remained of 5,000+ humans, on a planet of over a million, maybe two million aliens.

He stood, looking down into the much shorter woman's eyes, smiling. "We probably got people running all over this rock by now. Tomorrow, maybe ... maybe we'll be able to get the radio up'n'running, and you'll see."

He reached out and lightly touched his hand to her upper arm before looking to the others, trying to take attention off the fact that his touch had been unsolicited. It felt good to simply feel a woman, even in this desperate situation. Maybe even more so because of this situation.

Derek Green had been known as a lady killer back on Earth and later on Mars North. And despite having just crashed upon an alien planet, he had already been scoping out the attractive women of Vora III, like it was some sort of exotic pickup bar.

"We're going to be just okay, folks," he said, releasing his light grip of Alexa's arm and looking back to her. "As senior Security Officer, I'm ... I guess I'm sort of in charge for now ... until we all have a chance to organize ourselves ... and survey out surroundings and such. So, I'd like to ask you a favor, Alexa."

He turned her away from the fire a step and said with a lower voice, "We're going to have a lot of ... would you call it post traumatic stress...? People are in shock, even those with no physical injuries. You're a psychologist, you said...? So ... you have a handle on how we might help these people get past this ... tragedy, and get to work establishing a safe and secure base."

He listened to her response, offering her any assistance she needed. She was bright, and despite the situation, seemed to really have her head on straight. He thought as he listened to her, Most chicks wouldn't be this together.

As soon as he'd thought it, the word chicks, he smiled, even though he didn't explain to Alexa why his lips were spreading. Derek had all the respect in the world for smart, sharp, educated, and/or powerful women: it was part of his EmEmEr upbringing that women were just as capable as men and just as important to the future of life, if not more so because of their ability to actually produce life. And yet, he still couldn't look at a beautiful women and think about her naked, below him, writhing in ecstasy, and asking for more.

It was just who he was.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa listened to his favor and nodded. "Of course, Officer Green," she said, formally. She looked back at the survivors. "If anyone wishes to talk to me about anything, please, do so. I will do my best to help under the circumstances. For now, we all need some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll get to work. Alright?" she said. She saw nods and weary smiles. "Let's get some sleep."

Separating herself from the others, she spread out a bedroll and relaxed, a hand holding onto her knife, just like it had on Earth.

Ever since she began studying in college, at the tender age of 18, she was up until late at night, studying and talking with friends, when she wasn't out partying. When she graduated, nothing changed. Up late at night to work on patients and the like, waking up early in the morning to begin the process.

She wished she had something else other than her knife to hold onto, but she was more reluctant to hold onto her gun, having a happy trigger finger. And holding onto a book was weird. Yet they were nearby, should she need them.

Eventually, she fell into a deep sleep.

 

[BigBadWulff]

(OOC: No time to proof read. Will do so on first break.)

(OOC: Image coming.)

Kyle Parker glanced over to the fire and the survivors gathered about it. He wished he was over there, visiting and listening in on what Green was saying to the others; and simultaneously was perfectly fine being right here, supervising the removal of the bodies from the Emergency Escape Craft with three others, in near total silence.

Kyle was a man of deep, personal conflicts. He had always wanted to be a socialable person, an extrovert, a happy go lucky man. But inner demons -- and a history he kept hidden -- always seemed to drive him away from others, into his own dark world.

This inability to cope with others at times -- despite some excellent pharmaceuticals -- was the reason he'd been denied a position on the crew of Rebirth, despite his excellent qualifications. Instead, he'd been relegated to being a lowly settler.

He should be happy, of course: he could have been -- and likely should have been -- denied inclusion in the mission to Vora IV altogether. Thank God above for rich, powerful parents.

God above, Kyle thought. He glanced toward Officer Green and his eyes narrowed. Despite only thinking -- not speaking -- the word, his brain growled with contempt, EmEnEr... Godless heathen.

Of course, Derek wasn't Godless. It was only that his God was a Goddess. That meant little to Kyle. Even the Muslims who had gone through pre-mission training with him had believed in God, Kyle contemplated.

His issue with Derek Green's religion was two fold:

One, the EmEnErs had been part of the opposition to coming here to this lush planet, to Vora III, in the first place, rather than to Vora IV, which was barely more than a rock floating in space. The Anti-Three movement had objected to intruding upon an indigenous people, even if they were just aliens, despite Vora III being a perfect place for the human race to begin again.

And two, as he and another man laid yet another dead body in the neat little row of corpses hidden in the darkness behind the EEC, Derek's view of what happened to the Buman soul, as well as what was going to happen to these tragically deceased, was simply warped! Let then be eaten upon by the worms and bugs and small creatures of Vora...?

Really, are you kidding? he thought. He gave Derek one last look before quietly speaking a prayer over the dead, then grumbling to himself, Animal..

If he thought he had problems with Derek now, though, Kyle had no idea of what was to come.

"How we doin'?"

Kyle flinched, a bit surprised by the sudden appearance of Derek. He looked past the nominal leader of the group to the fire and found the grohp breaking up and heading into the EEC for the night.

"Listen, everyone's going to bed down," Derek was explaining to the four members of the funeral detail. "I'm going to take the fkrst watch, and I hate to ask one of you--"

"I will," one of the others said quickly, adding "I can't sleep anyway."

"Okay, well ... some of the others--" Derek jerked a thumb toward the open door of the upside down craft, "--are breaking out the mats and thermal blankets. It's going to be tight, what with the EEC being on its roof and the flat surface area limited, but ... we'll make it--"

"What about the bodies?" Kyle cut in, his tone hard. "What're we doing with the dearly departed?"

Derek hesitated. He didn't know of Kyle's problem with his thoughts on the dead, but the man tone made him think. Of course, everyone was tense and emotional, so maybe it was nothing. He answered, "Tomorrow we will deal with them ... individually ... as is proper."

What that meant was scanning the ID chip imbedded in their arm, determining whether or not they had a specific religious or cultural belief, and dealing with things from there. He continued, "For now, lets cover them as best we can and get some sleep."

Kyle was hesitant, wanting to argue that they should all be buried, but he could see the others' heads nodding in agreement and knew he was in the minority. He pushed past Derek mumbling, "Wake me for watch later."

"Get some sleep guys," Derek told the other two, repeating that advice to other survivors still abandoning the fire. "Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day."



Sunrise was a beatiful thing. Derek had stood a couple of hours watch, woke Kyle and another survivor for a second shift, then awoken before dawn on his own to go stand at the edge of a small cliff overlooking a vast valley that thay hadn't seen in the dark of the night before.

He'd been on Mars for the year leading up to Rebirth. This was something he hadn't see in a long, long time. It was just like the pictures of Earth, before the last of tbe natural areas gave way to homes or cultivated fields or strip mines.

For miles, open fields of wild grasses and groves of trees surrounded a lazily flowing river, and surrounding it all were low lying foot hills. A gentle rain at tbe far end dropped all important moisture, and at the other end, clear skies let in the beautiful yellow of Vora's sun. It was beautiful. It was everything the humans would have wanted in a new home and wouldn't have gotten on Vora IV.

It would have been a perfect place for the Human survivors here on Vora III, too, if not for one slight little problem: on the far side of the river, maybe ten miles distant, a plume of smoke rising straight up in an almost windless day indicated the presence of one of the planet's indigenous species ... the dominant one ... the intelligent one ... the Voran.

The Humans weren't alone here...

 

[celestialdragon]

Dr. Hammond awoke around the end of sunrise. Getting up, she found some water and washed her face with it, and she stretched. Slinging her boot knife on her hip and picking up her DSM, she began walking around.

When she finally reached the dead, she began to see what faith they were, so they would know how to properly bury them. Having done a background in religion and theology, she was qualified to do burials.

Except EmEnEr.

Alexa really had no religion. She wasn't an atheist, nor was she agnostic. She just did not simply have a religion.

She could tell who followed EmEnEr, though. She studied it extensively. They were qualified for burial.

Finally, her work was done, and she made her way toward the fire, ready to help those in need.

 

[BigBadWulff]

Through the night, some dedicated souls had watched over the injured. Others stood watch, others did inventory and discussed options, and still more rested and awoke relatively bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to get to work.

When Derek returned from the overlook, he found Alexa and others tending to the physically and emotionally injured. It was a relief to him to see that there were so many good people here. This wasn't his first disaster, though it was his most unusual; but so far the response from those capable of helping seemed above and beyond.

"Can I talk to everyone who can spare a moment?" he asked near the fire, heading into the EEC to repeat his question.

A couple of minutes later, more than half of the survivors were gathered in a semi circle around the fire, three deep, as Derek stood tall on the other side. Derek had been in positions of authority at various times in his life, but he'd never been the guy at the top. He didn't know how to go about being boss, so he decided to see if someone else was interested in the job.

"First, for those of you who don't know," he began, "my name is Derek Green. I'm a Third Level Security Officer ... basically a mid level cop of sorts. Theoretically, I'm in charge, but..."

He saw a variety of reactions amongst the faces, from relief that someone was willing to be in charge to doubt that he should be, due to a rank that no longer meant anything. He continued without reacting to the looks. "We can talk later about whether we should retain the command structure set forth by protocol, or elect representation. But right now, I think we should get to know one another first."

Without Derek having to explain what he meant, one of the older, grandfatherly looking men hopped in, introducing himself and explaining that he was -- or would have been -- a farmer and rancher. After he told some details and gave thanks to some polite Nice to meet you's, the woman beside him chimed in.

Not everyone was ready to be chatty but everyone at least gave their name and told what their vocation had been ... before the crash. The circle of introductions came around to Alexa, and Derek smiled to her, asking with a smile, "Alexa, what would you like us to know about you?"

As he listened, Derek couldn't help but want to hear her say And I'm single and looking for a strong man to keep me warm and satisfied..

If he'd glanced to his right as she talked, though, Derek would have seen the hard stare Kyle was given Alexa, an expression that he, too was having similar thoughts about the beautiful blond.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa smiled shyly. "My name is Dr. Alexa Hammond. I am 28 years old, and the local resident psychologist. If you need to talk to me about anything at all, please, do not hesitate to ask," she said. She heard the muffled whispers and she felt compelled to add, "I also have a background in religion and theology, so I can talk to you about that as well, should you feel the need to."

Everyone smiled politely at her. She noticed Derek staring at her, as well as another young man. She smoothed out her jumpsuit and sat down, crossing her legs at the ankle.

 

[BigBadWulff]

After Alexa finished, Derek gave her a broad smile. He wanted to make sure that she understood he appreciated her and was there for her. He wanted her to know he had the hots for her, too, but this didn't seem the place nor time to being picking up on women.

There was still another topic to be covered. He looked about the survivors as some of them chatted quietly or discussed the current situation or traded You do that? I always wanted to do that... comments.

"There's something that I know you all have on your mind," Derek cut in. When he had everyone's attention he said simply, "The Voran."

The reaction was expected: it wasn't like the topic of the millions of twenty foot tall aliens living here wasn't of concern to the now-48 humans still alive here after the early morning losses.

"I don't want anyone to panic, but..." Derek let his voice trail off for a moment, then said, "The Voran are less than twenty klicks from here ... twenty kilometers."

That caused a bit of panic in some of the faces. Derek threw his hands up in a whoa gesture. "Hold on, folks. There's no need to panic. It's not like they're gonna hop in their cars and drive over her to--"

"They have cars?" someone asked.

"They don't have cars," someone corrected.

Suddenly a conversation about what the Voran did or didn't have, as well as how they would get her if they knew the humans were here, what they'd do to them, etc., broke out. Derek tried to silence it, but then decided to just wait until they quieted down a bit.

He looked to Alexa again, shrugged his shoulders, and waited...

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa stood up and raised her hand quietly, and gradually, the crowd quieted.

"The Voran, while incredibly intelligent beings, do not have as much technology as we did on Earth, Mars North, and any other Earth settlements," she said softly. "Let us not worry about possibilities that may not happen. Please, let us live from one day to the next, for that is all we can do. For now, I say we do our services for the dead."

She took a deep breath. "I can perform all but EmEnEr services, if you have a specific way a loved one should be laid to rest, please let me know. For those who follow EmEnEr, I will locate someone who will be able to help you," she said.

 

[BigBadWulff]

Derek's head dropped at Alexa speaking of his people, not in the traditional Let's bow our heads motion but in the Oh, Mother, here we go way. He waited just a moment before speaking up, barely audible, "I'm EmEnEr, Alexa."

He wasn't sure whether she'd known that and was simply being polite, or whether she hadn't and was truly looking for someone. Derek glanced around quickly and caught both approving nods and grimacing glares. Not since the Christian-Muslim conflicts of the 21st and 22nd Centuries had there been so much animosity between two major religions.

Of course, the only people who saw the Mother Nature Following as a major religion were the Followers themselves. Most of the rest of humanity saw it as a cult.

Derek looked back to Alexa with a slight smile, suddenly realizing that she'd pronounce the word correctly -- EM'en-ers, just as it was abbreviated -- and that she'd said it without that tone. He didn't know what that meant, of course: she was a psychologist, a person who worked with all sorts of people with problems, so she was probably a true professional when it came to hiding her true feelings about other peoples' flaws.

But, that too was a topic for another day. He started around the fire, his path taking him past Alexa, as he said softly, "There was one dead EmEnEr. I'll see to her myself."

He stopped suddenly, just barely beyond the Doctor, then half looked back and said in almost a whisper, "She would want a female present."

Derek wasn't sure whether Alexa understood that the dead EmEnEr would have to be stripped of her clothes, jewelry, and other non-biologicals before being buried, and that such a task was typically performed by another female simply to avoid talk of improprieties by non-believers.

Derek waited for Alexa's reply, then headed off with the others to tend to the bodies.



An hour later, after finding a place away from the trees so that he wouldn't be cutting the roots of any living beings, the EmEnEr's Offering Place was ready. As was tradition, the hole was only two feet deep and barely long and wide enough to accommodate the woman. It would be covered in large stones, allowing the smallest of animals to accept her offering -- his sould-free physical being -- without the larger animals digging her up.

Of course, Vora III didn't have any larger animals, but Derek didn't know that. He assumed that with a 6 meter tall indigenous being there would be other large beasts, too: creatures resembling coyotes, wolves, grizzlies, cougars. There weren't, not that it mattered: the tradition called for large stones, and that was what Derek would provide.

He stood over the grave, brushing away the dirt on his clothes...

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa came up after she was done with the rest of the burials and she gently touched his shoulder. "You mentioned a female was needed? I'm not qualified, but I will do my best," she said softly.

The good Dr. Hammond didn't really have a religion, and therefore didn't have a specific burial plan to follow. She had decided she'd let those who were close to her when she did decide on what to do.

She respected and trusted those who were EmEnEr. They were going back to the roots of their ancestors, and she liked that. She smiled at him gently.

 

[BigBadWulff]

The EmEnEr's Service of Offering was simple and yet elegant. As Derek dug her final resting place, the woman was stripped of her clothes, leaving nothing on her body except the matching natural fiber bracelet and anklet and the bone stud earrings in her left ear, marking her as a single woman.

Her body was bathed as best as could be with a half pint of valuable water. It was scented with the needles and leaves from each of the species of trees that surrounded her grave, to connect her to the living things surrounding her. Last but not least, ash from the fire was used to paint a circle between her bared breasts, the EmEnEr symbol depicting the the circle of life over her soul.

She was eased into the hole and then, without words of sorrow or remembrance or body coverings except for a thin white cloth over her face, she was buried and covered with the stones Derek and some other sympathetic survivors had gathered.

When it was over, Derek planted a barely two foot tall tree sapling that he'd dug up in the rocks and only then did he speak, saying only, "Grow tall ... and never be forgotten."

He looked to Alexa with a smile, and his eyes finally began to glaze over with tears. "Thank you."



From the far side of the EEC, watching over the composite outer shell that was beginning to heat in the late day sun, Kyle just shook his head at the hoola-baloo. He turned away, mumbling, "Sacrilegious freak."

He headed over to the far side of the clearing, where a real burial was taking place, with the dead properly wrapped in multi layer emergency blankets to protect it from creatures and the mourners speaking praise for the dearly departed.

Ironically, Kyle wasn't religious, and he couldn't have told you whether this was a Christian burial, Jewish Burial, Muslim burial ... fucking cartoontown burial. All he knew was they weren't leaving her for the bugs and sticking a tree between her tits.

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa smiled and she touched his shoulder. "Let's get some food into these people,"she said softly. "Rations, until we can learn what's poisonous here." She head back toward the rest of the burials, watching with a soft expression. She had already said the prayers that needed to be said.

She sat down away from the burials that were happening, just watching. She was never truly comfortable around people, and so she sat and thought about how to distribute the rations, and if there was anything left in the EEC that could help 50 people survive.

 

[Iscaa]

Rosa had had a restless first night on that alien planet. Even though she had been lucky to survive when many hadn't, she did have some bad bruises on her body. She sighed, (I have only bruises, no cuts or broken bones, now how lucky am I?) She shook her head, she may have escaped death but she was not happy about being stranded on a strange world, a world that from what she had overheard people saying amongst each other, "very little was known."

Soon after sunup, the man that seemed to be in charge, a Derek Green popped his head in the EEC asking that people gather for a meeting as soon as they were able. Rosa got up from her makeshift bed, groaned quietly to herself, and stretched slightly before straightening her coveralls. As she stepped out of the EEC, she put her hands in the hip pockets, one hand felt the small scrap of material, it was the ID patch that had been on the coveralls signifying her status on ship. She cheeks burned with mortification every time she thought of those words, "Sexual Servant". In all of the confusion surrounding the crash landing, she had been able to ripe the patch off her sleeve without anyone seeing. At least she had hoped no one had seen her do it.

She took her hands out of her pockets as she drew near the fire and people, she kept well on the outside ring of people, trying not to bring attention to herself. Derek asked the survivors to introduce themselves and their occupations. At this, Rosa backed away, she wasn't prepared to say what her position in this new colony was to be. She quietly walked away from the small gathering, feeling she needed time to think on how to introduce herself, not as a sexual servant, but as a veterinarian. She would have graduated in just one more month if she would have had a chance. But she didn't ...thanks to Ramone, if only she had kept her mouth shut about his dirty drug deals. She shook her head as she remembered the shouting, the threats and in the end, the giving in to his demands. Demands of her leaving her home forever.

She came near a small cliff and sat down on a rock looking at the beautiful scenery on this world. (Well...what's done is done, I have to make the best out of a bad situation, my abuela would want me to. I will say I am a vet, fully qualified, which I am...just not with my diploma. I will also say I am knowledgeable in plants and herbs...which abuela taught me since I was able to walk. It will be OK... I will be OK.)

 

[BigBadWulff]

(OOC: I'm going to refer to this first full day of theirs on Vora III as "Day 1", until they develop a calendar.)

Nearing Sundown

Kyle had taken to staying as far away from Derek as he could. The Rebirth Security Officer -- who by his own admission was just Mid Level -- was quickly being accepted by the others as the man in charge. It reminded him of that classic television show from the 21st century, "Battlestar..." something or another, he suddenly couldn't remember. In it, all of the governments leaders got killed off by robots or something, and a teacher -- 14th in line for the Presidency -- ended up in control of what remained of human society.

And here they were, 48 -- or maybe fewer by now -- people out of 5,000+, being led by a common cop.

Kyle didn't know why he cared so much. No, no that wasn't true: he knew exactly why he cared so much. He liked being the center of attention, the man people came to for help, particularly if they were women in need. Kyle could already see that Alexa woman fawning over him, and a couple of more had made eyes at him. We're probably gonna die here, and they're getting ready to throw their panties at you...? Really?

One woman had been staying far away from their intrepid leader though, and Kyle was tickled pink about it. Even with the dust and grime and tragedy she was wearing, he could see that she was a natural beauty. He noticed that she'd been trying to hide herself a bit, keeping her face turned away from the others and hiding what looked to be an incredible body within shapeless ship-supplied coveralls.

When she made her way over to the cliff to look out upon the valley and -- in the far distance -- the rising smoke of the Voran village, Kyle took the opportunity to introduce himself and perhaps begin his attempt to someday get her out of that god awful getup.

When she looked up from her sitting spot, he shoved a hand out and smiled. "Hi. Kyle Parker."

He sat down on the rock beside her without bothering to ask her is she wanted company, his eyes steadily on her own, not wanting to look down to her bosom and let her know that he was the dog he actually was.

 

[wombat9966]

Gary had been shaken up pretty badly by the crash and had only really woken up properly just now. He remembered a little about the emergency on the ship, being thawed out, grabbing his kit bag and briefcase out of his locker and then stumbling into the emergency shuttle. From there it was all a blur.
He opened his case and quickly ran his hands over the contents. At least his beauties were safe. Without them he would be lost. Locking it back up again he stumbled outside to find a funeral going on.Well it looked like not everyone had made it. He decided to just stay out of the way for now and wait until everyone gathered again to see what he could do to help. Sitting down beside where the food was stored he started to go through it already thinking up ways to make the emergency rations more palatable.

 

[wombat9966]

Natalie had been out exploring the immediate area since early morning. So far she had found signs of four different small animals that looked promising as a source of food and had gathered several different types of what she was sure were fruits. They would need testing but they looked very similar to the ones that were considered edible on Vora IV so they should be safe here on Vora III.
She had noted the location of the fruit? trees and bushes in her lightpad and was now following what looked like a game trail to see if it led to a source of water. She noted that there were plenty of trees around here from which she would be able to make a fine bow and even some that could be used to make some arrows. Although she could probably scavenge struts off the shuttle for those. Now if she could just find some birds for their feathers she would be set.

 

[BigBadWulff]

No sooner had the last of the funerals been completed than a member from the Rebirth crew approached Derek and whispered, "We just lost another one ... internal bleeding, I think."

Derek looked away toward the forest, fearing that his emotional reaction to another death so soon after the burials and other rites would somehow weaken the strong leadership persona he'd been trying to pull off. People were looking to him for answers, and he just didn't have all of them.

Other survivors had come to him for direction or simply jumped into what they knew best. It made him feel confident in their future to see so many skilled individuals putting their talents to use so soon after the tragedy. Some of them needed his leadership; others were fine without it; and still others, like Kyle Parker, would just as soon take it from him.

"We're down to...?" Derek hesitated, counting.

The crew member beat him to it, though. "Forty six ... counting you and me, sir."

He nodded, and as she walked away, Derek considered the word Sir. He was the leading Security Officer, the highest ranking member of Authority. But, with the people, he didn't feel ... feel like that. Nor did he want to. He wanted to just be one of them.

But that would come, the decisions about authority. For now, they just needed to survive.

 

[Iscaa]

Rosa was contemplating what that column of rising smoke could mean, when suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. Frowning slightly she turned her head to the right and was caught by surprise. There was a man who somehow had not made any noise as he approached, putting his hand toward her he smiled,

""Hi. Kyle Parker."

Sitting down beside her without waiting to be invited, Rosa didn't take his hand. He made her feel uncomfortable with his forwardness. Looking back out into the valley she replied,

"Rosa...my name is Rosa."

Feeling more and more uncomfortable, she put her hands in her pockets, taking a quick glance at him. After a couple of minutes she finally stood up, taking her hands out of her pocket, (not noticing that the ID patch came out as well and fell to the ground.) She looked down at Kyle and told him,

"I'd better get back to camp, I should be helping out instead of sitting here."

Turning she began to quickly walk towards camp, she could feel his eyes boring into her back as walked on. After about 30 feet, she smiled to herself, putting her cold hands back into her pockets. That is when she realized, the pocket with the patch...it was empty, she stopped turned her head glancing the way she had just come. To her horror, Kyle was picking up her ID patch.

Sweat broke out on her forehead, (should I run back and snatch it away before he could get a good look at it? Yes...I have to get it back.)

She quickly ran back, putting her hand out,

"That would be mine...give it back now!"

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa saw someone come over and talk to Derek, then leave. She walked over to him, her movements more deft and sure. She saw the sadness and the upset in his eyes. "Another one?" she asked softly, knowledgeably. Being the seeming only theologian on board, she walked over to where friends and family were grieving, and she helped perform a simple Lutheran service, before walking back over to Derek. She looked up at him. "Let's distribute the day's rations," she said quietly. "Before we have anyone 'revolting'." She gave a wry smile before going off and prepping the rations.

 

[wombat9966]

Gary saw someone coming over to where he was sorting out the food. As she saw him she didn't look too pleased with what he was doing and she started to hurry over to where he was happily sitting amongst a pile of sorted packages.

"Just what do you think you are doing? Those meals are for everyone you know and they have to last until we can find out what is edible on this planet."

Gary looked up and smiled at the irate woman. He had been told he had a charming smile and he tried to use it now. " No worries love, don't fly off the handle. I'm not here to steal anything if that's what your worried about. Names Gary, Gary Beachly, Culinary expect extraordinaire. Now what you have here is barely able to be called food but if we mix a few of them together we can pass them off as such. Do we have any pots and pans around or are we scrounging up things to cook in?"

 

[celestialdragon]

Alexa raised an eyebrow. "Save it. Dr. Alexa Hammond, clincial psychologist and theologian," she said curtly. "And I know what I'm doing. These rations have to last us until we know what is safe to eat and what's not here on Vora III. It's about survival, not necessarily about whether or not it'll pass off as food. These don't look too different than an M.R.E." She gave a sarcastic smile. "When we have food, we might be able to do something," she added, a bit softer. "But right now, these people are scared, hungry, and upset. I don't remember you being at any of the services we had for the dead, I just got back from the eleventh service I performed today." She looked the packages over. "These were prepared in such a way so that way we wouldn't ever have to use them," she mused. "That's why we were in a cyrogenic freeze."