Star Trek: Frontiers of Science(closed for The Jeffinator & Myself)

[slippedhalo]

Idea:

The Starfleet Science Vessel, The 'USS Hawking VI' has been sent out on a deep space scientific exploratory mission beyond the edge of familiar space. Caught in a space eddy, they end up pulled 62,000 light years from Earth. They've spent the past six months trying to make it back as quickly as they got there but a group of aliens known as The Fornern Hunting Society has decided that the small vessel and it's occupants make better trophies than allies and have been chasing them down in a 'hunt' for the past three months. With inferior weapons and no real way to defend themselves, and no friends in this part of space, The Hawking has had to resort to a sort of game of hide-and-seek which has lasted months. Eventually, that leads to a standoff battle where the science vessel cannot hide from their hunters anymore and a fight to the death ensues.

Out of five escape pods only three make it out of the ship and out of range of The Fornern's weapon's range, to crash onto an inhospitable jungle world unknown to Starfleet records. One is shot down by the hunters, it's occupants beamed aboard the Fornern vessel to be kept as 'trophies' spoils of war, slaves for their culture's amusement and killed when no longer entertaining anymore. The last pod, the one the Captain, security chief and Second Officer were supposed to get to was never launched, that's because the Hawking was destroyed before any of that could happen.

Two escape pods crash on the planet below, the sky is alight with the after effects of the battle dust and rubble falling from space, pieces of their ship.

Escape pods have no communications equipment beyond one broken distress beacon and only emergency supplies. (Each pod can hold a maximum of three people, the crew was only a small team of fifteen. IF the peoplein the pods all survived that would still only be six people in total.)


My character:

Ensign Gabriella Temple
Age: 24
Specialty: Xenobotany (she knows a lot about alien plants)

Phys. Desc. (see sig links for photos) Long, wavy, auburn hair, large, expressive brown eyes, petite and feminine in shape but surprisingly strong. Small B sized breasts, firsm round ass, luscious lips, well groomed 'landing strip' of dark red hair just above slit of pussy.

This was her first Starfleet assignment.

 

[slippedhalo]

When they hit the surface of the planet Gabriella heard an audible pop in her ears and was suddenly quite glad for the seat restraint she'd remembered to strap herself in within the last second before the pod was launched because she watched helplessly as Lt. T'Nor went flying from her seat and watched in horror as the half-Vulcan science officer hit her head hard on the roof of the pod, then crashed back down onto the floor in a mangled heap, neck broken and limbs snapped in several places. Gabriella screamed hysterically several times and looked across the pod in horror at the other occupant... good, he was wearing a harness. Still, her heart went out in sadness and her stomach lurched as she looked down at the body of her former Xenobotany Department C.O., tears forming in her eyes as Gabriella wondered what might be happening to the Captain and the others this very moment. Were they also dead? Alive? Captured as trophies? How would they ever get back to earth with no ship? Things on her very first Starfleet mission just kept going from bad to worse.

The motion had stopped now and a green light on the status panel told her the pod had landed...where was anyone's guess. She was hesitant to unstrap herself from the harness and go out to explore just yet. She was shaking from shock and fright.

She looked across to the other, a scientist who she'd seen around the ship before but had never worked closely with. He was a Xenobiology man. Two different labs, botany and biology. She met his eyes with her own and asked the unfamiliar Leiutenant, "Are you alright, sir?"

 

[The Jeffinator]

Lieutenant Kevin Skylark
(just for the hell of it, let's say he's the nephew of my character from the other ST rp. Captain Uncle John, LMAO)
Age: 27
Specialty: Science Officer, Xenobiologist

Appearance:
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o178/TheJeffinator/tc.jpg



Kevin was horrified when they had no other choice but to fight the Fornerns head on. They were aboard a science ship, it wasn't designed for heavy battle! Sure, it had standard weapons and defense systems, but this was just too much. The crew was forced to abandon the ship, leaping into the escape pods. By the time the pods were entering the atmosphere of the jungle planet below them, it became apparent there were only two -- the other pods had been destroyed. And then, one of the officers aboard the pod was killed as it shook around. He had been smart enough to fasten himself to his seat, and it appeared the only other living person on the pod had done the same. He did not know her personally, because they worked in separate departments and different parts of the ship.

He looked to her as she addressed him, “Yes, a little shaken up but otherwise unscathed. Yourself?” he asked, trying very hard to remain calm.

 

[slippedhalo]

Gabriella just nodded dumbly for a moment, looking herself over but finding that besides the rattling of the pod having knocked the clip from her red hair which was now a loose mess, she seemed alright. "I think I'm ok." she said softly.

She started thinking of proactive ways to help the situation instead of just sitting there in shock. She wanted to know how the other pod fared and they'd have to go out to find out. "Should I use the pod's outer environmantal scanner to see what sort of place we've landed in so we don't have more surprises when we open that hatch?" she asked, stepping gingerly over the body on the floor as she approached the panel to see the status of the environment outside.

She read over the equipment list ont he wall, "We have packed in the pod's storage compartments;a rechargable lighter, an insta-tent, three jackets, three pillows, three blankets,a tarp, three basic hygeine kits,a large cooking pot and a set of eating-ware for four, three canteens, water and food rations, some varying emergency tools, an emergency engineering kit and an emergency med kit."

She considered that the length of typical use for these emergency things was between one day and two weeks. The likelihood of rescue was pretty dismal. She hoped these emergency supplies would withstand the test of time long enough for them to learn how to survive in this place. She suddenly remembered that she'd barely passed her basic survival course at the academy and now found herself wishing she'd paid more attention in lecture.

 

[The Jeffinator]

“That’s probably a good idea,” he nodded, unbuckling his harness and standing to his feet. “This planet is full of trees from what we saw from space, however we can’t be sure if they produce oxygen unless we do a scan.” Walking over to Lieutenant T’Nor, Kevin reached down and felt her neck. “She’s dead, definitely.. I’m sorry... I have a feeling you two were close...”

 

[slippedhalo]

Gabriella tried not to look down at T'Nor's mangled form. "We worked together a lot, she was my boss." Gabriella said softly as she callibrated the scanner which luckily could be torn from it's casing in the pod's wall if needed to use as a portable scanner. It wasn't as good as a specualty science or medical one, but it was better than nothing. She intended to take it with their supplied when leaving the pod. "Sir, it's a sort of jungle. This planet is uncharted. Here's what the scanner has found out: It's early twilight right now,there's one large sun much like earth's, two moons in orbit of one another as well as the planet...one daily rotation is...about 30 earth hours, a year's rotation around the sun here is 420 days. Ambient temperature right now is about twenty degrees celcius but it's cooling as the sun goes down, it's now comfortable enough with our normal clothing, might get kind of hot in the mid day though. At night it should drop to the point that we will need the jackets and blankets but nothing too bad this time of year. There is one cold season... that's about 100 days from now." she looked over at him, "That's all for environment. It's detecting life forms all around us but nothing very large for over a mile. It doesn't recognize any of them as familiar, sir. I suggest we keep our phasers at the ready."

 

[The Jeffinator]

Kevin turned to her. “Cut the formalities, please. My name is Kevin Skylark, but you can just call me Kevin,” he said with a slight chuckle, then turned to look at the scanner as well. “Good work, though. Let’s get all the supplies we can carry and find that other pod and--” suddenly, Kevin fell silent. After a moment, he spoke up. “We’re all alone... Had the occupants of the other pod survived, the scanner would have pick up familiar DNA...”

Walking over, he sat back down. “I was hoping maybe their pod was in better shape.. But if they’re dead, it’s got to be worse than this one... This pod is beyond repair without the necessary equipment...” Standing back up, he walked over to the girl and put his arms on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, but we’re stranded here -- for good. We can’t send out a distress call because the Fornerns will see it and get down here long before Star Fleet ever finds us...”

 

[slippedhalo]

Gabriella froze at this new realization. She didn't want to let the words sink in. It was just too horrifying. "No! Maybe their signal is just being blocked for some reason, maybe their pod landed too far away to detect clearly..."

Tears sprang to her eyes and her voice took on a tone of pleading desperation, "We can't be all alone. We don't even know where we are! How are we ever going to be rescued?" she asked, her voice breaking as the tears took over and she lost the strength to stand. She sat back in her seat and cried inconsolably for what felt like over an hour.

Finally, what brought her attention back to the practical matter of getting out of the pod and finding a way of surviving was that her leg had accidentally brushed up against the body of T'Nor and T'Nor was as hard as a rock and smelled like...something...not bad yet, it was still too soon for rotting, but she didn't smell alive and suddenly spending any more time in this small space with that body made no sense to Gabriella.

She stood, wiping her tears, looking already exhausted and opened the compartments where all the gear was stored neatly in three large backpacks. She took one and put it on her back, adjusting it to her body and strapping it around her waist for added support since it was quite heavy. She handed another to Lt...to Kevin. "Let's go, then." she said tonelessly as she tore the scanner from it's casing in the wall and held it to take better readings as they'd go. "Do you want the extra pack or should we carry it between us?" she asked, ready to unlock the escape hatch and see the world which might be their new home for a very long time to come. She felt alone and defeated.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Kevin took the bag, and strapped it to his waist, making sure it was secure. Then, taking the other bag in his hand, he said, “No, I’ll carry it.” He prepared to walk with her out the hatch, then stopped, looking at her. Setting the extra bag down, he reached out and took her hands in his, and looked her square in the eyes. “Gabriella, all we have now is each other. The only way we’re going to survive is by each others’ side. No matter what, we never separate. We never leave the other’s presence. Not until we know we’re safe. Deal?”


OOC: This is assuming she told him her name, lol.

 

[slippedhalo]

Gabriella nodded mutely, still too numb to really feel anything but fear at the incomprehensible idea that they might spend their lives on this strange world so far from home.

They walked out of the hatch into a jungle in twilight. It was just light enough to see but the sun was setting on the horizon. "We don't have much daylight left. We'll need to find a place to set up for the night and then perhaps tomorrow we can explore further and find some place better. But, for now I suggest we listen for a water source and camp not too far away from it." She listened and actually did hear the sound of moving water past their clearing to the left.

She looked at the scanner to see if she was right. "There's a river that way." she pointed. "It comes from a waterfall...see that mountain there? It's in that direction. The base of the river is about half a mile away. We can get there within fifteen minutes or so if we hurry. That would be the best place to camp for now." she said, not even bothering to ask Kevin's opinion on the subject as she set off walking toward the destination she'd set, forgetting totally about chain of command.

She was afraid and when she was afraid she put on her tough mask and started to get bossy. Her older brother and her used to have fights over that behavior all the time when she was a kid because whenever she was facing the unknown Gabriella would start bossing Vincent around and he would get so angry at her and call her on it...she tried not to think about Vincent, not about any family or friends as she reminded herself she'd never see them again. A dark cloud settled over her as she walked in silence. After some minutes, she finally stated, "We should start a fire before we make camp. It's getting too dark." and then continued on her trek.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Kevin was a bit taken aback when Gabriella suddenly took control. Although they were stranded thousand of lightyears from home and could be facing perilous dangers just ahead, he couldn’t help but notice how attractive she had suddenly become to him. The way she was walking and held her head high, giving the impression of total and complete control. He smiled to himself as he imagined what she would be like in bed, but then shook the thought away when he realized that neither of them would ever sleep in a bed again, unless they made it from sticks and plants.

Returning to reality, he walked up along side her, and then nodded in agreement when she stated they should make a fire first thing. They continued on towards the sound of the river, and then, could finally see the water just ahead. making their way through the last sets of trees, they came to the riverbank. Looking up the river, they could see the waterfall (assuming by base of the river you meant waterfall and the mountain), and right near it was an opening into the mountain.

“Hey, look at that,” Kevin said as he walked over to it. It was raised up about seven feet, but he was able to use some of the rocks and lift himself up to look inside. “It’s just a small cave. This is the only entrance. There are no signs of anything living here now or in the recent past, so it’s a pretty safe bet that if we stay in here tonight, we’ll be safe.” He told her they’d be safe, but he knew all too well that any predators in the area would have picked up on their scent by now. He helped Gabriella into the cave, and they set their bags down. “I’m going to go hunt for firewood. We have flashlights in these bags, but we should conserve the batteries. I’ll just use one to get the wood. I’ll be back in a bit.” Jumping out of the cave, Kevin back searching around for loose branches. Not finding many, he pulled out his phaser and shot a few times at the base of a thin tree. It fell over, and then he shot it a few more times, turning it into five small logs. Pocketing his phaser and gathering the logs, he mad his way back to the waterfall. Finding a spot where no water would splash, Kevin set down the logs in a pile. Grabbing some nearby rocks, he made a circle around the pile. Then, pulling out the magnesite-nitron tablet he had taken from the supply bags, he placed it on one of the logs, picked up another, and smashed it against the tablet. A bright flame shot up from it, and Kevin replaced the other log. Then, gathering the driest leaves he could find in the area, he added them to the fire until it consumed all the logs.

Smiling, Kevin climbed back into the cave, then used one of the spare blankets to pin up over the entrance, and used their two combadges to form a sort of security method. He set one just outside the cave, and switched it to active transmission. Then he linked it to the other, and placed it inside the cave with them. That way, they’d hear if anything came near the cave. Sliding back out of the cave, Kevin went and sat in front of the fire. “You should come sit by the fire, Gabriella. Even though this jungle is a bit warm, it’s still nice.”

 

[slippedhalo]

"What should we do with the tent and tarp? Do you think we'll need them with the cave for shelter?" she asked, glad to no longer be alone in the dark coolness of the cave. Alone was bad, it led to vulnerability and too much thinking. She jumped at the chance to rejoin Kevin and sit on a log by the fire.

As they sat there, on the outcrop of land stretched out a few feet before the cave entrance that made up the rising base of the mountain, she looked over at the waterfall and down at the river and dark, mysterious jungle just below them. Who knew what sorts of surprises awaited them in that jungle? She then looked up at the sky, an unfamiliar set of constellations, two moons and...she imagined the burning rubble of the Hawking and then had to shake her head to stop thinking about that.

She sighed wearily as she suddenly appreciated the warmth of the fire as the night air had finally begun to lose it's warmth from the now absent sun. "When I joined Starfleet there was no mission that could be far enough to be adventurous enough for me." she mused at her own nievete'. "Now, I think about how far we are from our own solar system and...it chills me to the bone." she admitted. She shook her head ruefully, "What a stupid ensign I was to get so excited to be on a deep space mission. But, then again, who would have thought a scientific investigation would turn out like this?"

 

[The Jeffinator]

Kevin listened intently as Gabriella talked, nodding in agreement. "Yes, none of us could have expected this. Now that it is done, we'll just have to adapt. Who knows, as long and we never give up hope, perhaps we'll eventually come across something to get us home. Then again, we could be a lot happier if we just let it go and started to get used to the idea of us living here for the rest of our lives. I mean, at least we've got each other. It's not like it would be totally horrible. We could set up a home somewhere, or spend our lives exploring the planet. But, whatever we do, it has to be positive. We can't let ourselves get down and depressed, or we won't survive."

 

[slippedhalo]

It chilled her to the bone, hearing these things said aloud. Still, she knew he was right. She sighed and nodded. "I guess that's true." she agreed reluctantly. A small part of her did hope still, she didn't know why. There was no reason to believe they'd ever get off the planet but she hoped for anything to give them more options.

The night went by peacefully. They used the cave for shelter, replacing the blanket over the door with the tarp so that they could use that as an undersheet shared by the both of them to protect them from the hard ground below. The green blanket beneath them and then each had their own blanket (Gabriella's was blue, Kevin's was grey, not that it mattered who had which)for comfort in the night. There was no reason to pool those yet and get any closer than necessary. It wasn't that cold yet and Gabriella still felt awkward whenever Kevin suggested 'they had each other'. She knew that the longer they were stuck there the more this simple statement could mean. That sort of commitment scared her almost as much as never seeing earth again. She was never very good at relationships and all of her friends were women. She had a hard time understanding how guys think and behave and even more, what they ever want from her besides the obvious which she wasn't too keen on giving up just to make them happy. Not after her terrible first time with her second boyfriend, back in her first year at the Academy. Ever since then, any relationship that started to get serious enough to get much beyond a little kissing and feeling up, she usually ended rather abruptly for some random reason, feeling incredibly guilty about it...but Gabriella was just not comfortable with intimacy.

Now, here she was, waking up after a night without much sleep had, an attractive man sleeping not even a foot away and there was nothing she could do about it because she needed him and he needed her for survival.

He was still asleep when she rose. She listened to him snoring softly as she thought about the situation, and then got up to watch the sun rise on this foriegn world that was now to be her home. She looked out over the horizon and intot he beauty of the dawn on the jungle below and had to admit that if this were a vacation spot she'd be in love with it. Trying to use that logic to muster up some energy to begin her day, Gabriella stirred up the fire from it's embers and searched through her pack for the cooking pot, for the tools, ect. She began spreading things out and organizing.

She then went down to the river just a few meters from the 'home-base' of the cave, and tested the water's purity...it was purer than most of earth's natural spring water and perfectly safe. She filled the pot with it and brought it to the fire to set up a tripod to sit it upon so it could boil. She then began to test the nuts, berries and various plants in the nearby area. There was plenty they could use for food and luckily even a plant remarkably like aloe, growing in the shade of some trees which might aide them when they had scrapes or cuts to heal, and a leaf which had some qualities like mint and eucalyptus, which teas and other medicines could possibly be made from as well.

Luckily, they were not far from fruit trees with a sort of purple looking apple, and a bush that bore berries which resembled strawberries and tasted like a combination of strawberry and blackberry and another berry plant like nothing she had ever seen. It's berries were a yellow/white color and were a little sour, but safe to eat and full of vitamins. She gathered those up as she found them. There was a nut tree just outside of the cave's mouth and the nuts tasted like walnut and coconut combined, each nut giving yield to a syrupy sap which tasted like a smokey, pungeant, coconut milk. These were good places to begin as far as the botanist's version of forraging for food. She placed all of these things in a pile near the fireside. She'd have to remember to find something or make something for bowls later.

Gabriella gathered what she found in her arms for now and then decided to test the sap and nuts by putting them into the boling pot to see how it would change the consistency or taste when heated. The nuts got softer and milder in taste, the sap melted like sugar and flavored th water nicely. She reckoned if she gathered this sap and let it dry in the sun she could make a sort of sugary sweetener from it which might help in cooking. All of the noise of her organizing and the smells of the nutty stuff cooking must have awakened Kevin. She heard him moving around inside the cave and looked up, a friendly smile on her face as he approached.

 

[The Jeffinator]

“Good morning,” he said, returning her smile as he walked off behind a tree to relieve himself, then to the river to rinse off his hands. Drying them on the legs of his pants, he joined her by the fire. “That smells good,” he said with a sniff. “Once we’re done with breakfast, I’m going to climb to the top of this mountain and see what I can see. Maybe that will give us an idea of which way to go.”

After they had eaten enough to at least save themselves from starvation, Kevin allowed himself a moment to let his food settle, and then began climbing the side of the mountain. Luckily, it was rocky enough for his feet to get a good hold. Thirty minutes later, he made it to the top, and pulled himself up into the peak. Standing and stretching, he looked out over the landscape. He could see where their pod had crashed, and in the other direction, he noticed a mountain range in the distance. Perhaps there was something to be seen beyond them? Climbing back down, he caught his breath, and then turned to Gabriella. “Well, the only thing I could see other than our crashed pod and endless jungle was a range of mountains about three days north of here. I think we should go there, however, we should spend one more night here, and use the day’s sunlight to create hammocks to keep ourselves off the ground. If these jungles are anything like the ones on Earth, the ground will come alive with bugs and small mammals after dark. It’s different here, though, because we’re by the river.” he looked around, and the back at her. “So, are you okay with that gameplan?”

 

[slippedhalo]

"What do you think we'll find beyond the mountains? The other pod?" she asked. In her mind that would be the only reason worth leaving the comfort of the little spot they had set up since she'd discovered all of the bountiful food sources in the area.

"If there's nothing of interest out there we could always return here. I kind of like this area. I found plants that could be used for both food and medicine. And, obviously, no matter where we go we should stay pretty close to the river for the fresh water and maybe some fishing. I think I saw some animals swimming in there that could pass for fish. It might be possible to not have to use our rations at all at this rate." she said hopefully. Her mood was vastly improved after a night's sleep, a decent meal and a little perspective. She was still fighting melancholy but it was passing here and there and she realized it might always return being in the lonely situation they were now in the important thing was that it could also pass for a time as well.

Gabriella looked to Kevin for a response, regarding him with her dark eyes, pushing a strand of red hair behind one ear as she gathered up fruits and nuts into her backpack to save for later.

 

[The Jeffinator]

"Well, if you're comfortable with staying here, I am too. However, that means accepting the fact that the rest of our lives will be spent here, living by this river. Although It sounds almost like an eternal paradise, are you really ready to accept this life? I know I am. The only real family I have is my Uncle John, but he's a Starfleet Captian, so he and I hardly talk anymore." he walked over, and looked her in the eyes. "Are you prepared to let go of all you have ever held dear and face this new life that we have to live together?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Why did he have to put it that way? she wondered as the feeling of panic boiled over again. "Kevin, why do you... How can I..." she struggled to say what she was feeling without sounding like a crazy person in denial. With a sigh she gave up and explained further, "Look, it's obvious we're stuck here. Of course, I'm aware of that. But...you make this sound like some sort of lifetime commitment. I am always going to hold out a little hope of finding a way back to civilization if not home one day even though I know how crazy that seems...but must you refer to our time here as 'letting go of all I've ever held dear' and referring to 'our new life together'? It scares the hell out of me, Kevin. Don't take it as a personal insult. It would scare me no matter who I was stranded with." she expained having a hard time looking him in the eye as she finished.

As he stood there in silence digesting her statement and request Gabriella, feeling exposed and self-conscious now, picked up her backpack and walked toward the top of the hill to get a better view of this mountain range he was describing. She wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble to find perhaps nothing, perhaps a destroyed pod with colleagues dead inside. She worried how knowing absolutely such a truth as that they were really alone might affect her morale.

But, just over the ridge of the first hill over, not even another full day's walk away, there was a sound that struck Gabriella as odd. At first it seemed random but then it picked up volume and others joined in to make a counterpoint rhythm...drums, and voices like none she'd ever heard before, singing a primitive sort of tune. Gabriella's eyes widened and she looked over at Kevin who'd followed her and their eyes locked in a shared moment of hope/fear/curiosity..."That sounds like people." she whispered, listening to the 'music' and seeing the smoke from a large fire.

"...I don't think it's our people." she reasoned. Quickly, she took her backpack off and found the scanner tucked inside, a few berries scattering on the ground in her movements. Raising the scanner to once again check for humanoid life she was surprised to see a screen indicating over fifty yellow dots in the valley beyond the next mountain. Red would be most certainly humanoid, and the further along the color spectrum the dots were, the less likely they would be to share compatible DNA. Human's could technically mate with any species within the red to green spectrum of the scanning system, however the further one get's from the same species and similar DNA, the more likely problems are to occur with future offspring. Still, it would be possible. These were, at least by the scanner's definition, people. Not very close to human, but close enough that they were still considered humanoid. Gabriella looked at Kevin, a worried expression on her face. What would this mean? "Natives, " she said softly, "...do you think they would be friendly or dangerous?" she wondered out loud.

OOC: Threw in some 'natives' for fun. Aliens who evolved on this world. Not technologically advanced but good at surviving in the jungle. Perhaps it might get Gabriella more willing to couple with Kevin when she's aware that there might be competition for his attention (although, I'm not expecting him to be more than mildly attracted to any of the alien females, preferring the company of someone who understands him better like Gabriella. Still, perhaps he could use the attentions of the alien women to make Gabriella a little jealous?) Plus, I thought, if these two ever had kids, to have any hope of future generation's survival, there had to be someone for the kids to go off and mate with one day. We can have fun with this.

 

[slippedhalo]

They returned to their camp and took out the phasers and packed up their stuff into the backpacks again in case they'd be gone for longer than expected. The carefully set out on a hike to investigate the source of the drums and the smoke, hoping the jungle would give them enough cover to observe undetected.

 

[The Jeffinator]

OOC: Sorry, been busy these last few days. I have to go to work, and I used up all my time on JLA, but I promise to post tonight after work. And I'm off the next two days, so .

 

[The Jeffinator]

"Okay," Kevin agreed, and followed Gabby on their hike. As they came nearer the smoke from the fire, Kevin dropped his bag and jumped up into a tree, climbing it like a monkey. Up to the top he went, and then looked out over what was going on...

OOC: I know, super short post, but I figured I'd let you describe what the scene looks like to them, since these aliens are your creation .

 

[slippedhalo]

OOC: Don't call her Gabby, ick.

IC:
Gabriella hid behind the thick trunk as Kevin climbed the tree to view from a position above and they watched the scene unfold before them.

The people seemed tribal. Tall, lanky humanoids with skin of varying shades from smokey grey to black as night...all were nearly naked except for stratigically placed brightly colored scarves from rough woven fabric which wrapped around their genitalia and over their hips like a strange combination of a decorative underwear and a diaper. The women dressed in this fashion too, all bare from the waist up.

The men were all bald and the women all sported varying lengths of similar textured straight black hair. Some men and women had decorative looking brands and scarrification along their arms, shoulders, and back. Gabriella wondered if this was a marking of rank within the tribe or symbolic of some sort of coming of age as she noticed the older people had more of these markings than the others and the children had none.

She could see varying degrees of eye color on the faces which to her looked all so similar. Blues, greys, browns, green, even some with pink iruses to their eyes. But, other than those minor differences these were definitely humanoid, definitely people and not animals. The dwellings, just on the rise of the next hill, looked almost like teepees, tents made from animal skins and plant fronds.

The natives were gathered around a bonfire, an elderly man wearing a leather belt with many pockets was chanting and throwing dried branches of a fragrant plant into the fire as the others sang and moved rhythmically in a sort of carefully coreographed dance as three men and one young boy drummed on wooden and gourd drums made from these natural elements and stretched animal skins. The expressions on the faces of all were somber, serious, as the old man chanted all eyes were on him and the fire. After several minutes of this, the old man had tossed the last branch into the flames, the smoke smelled of eucalyptus and lavender combined.

Then, a young girl was carried from a tent by what Gabriella assumed was her father. A very pregnant mother walked alongside, her face tear-stained as she watched the face of the sleeping girl, wiping beads of sweat from the girl's feverish brow. The parents laid the child at the elderly man's feet. He nodded to them and all bowed to the parents and then lowered themselves to their knees, the mother and father of the child included. The elderly man took a pouch from his belt and sprinkled a reddish brown powder over the little girl's dark grey face. He then took a stick and poked the last ashes of the concoction beneath the fire and quickly poked the hot ash end of the stick to the girl's left side, just under her ribs, burning her with it. The child awoke with a start and cried out in pain but the father held her still and the mother shhh-ed her to be quiet.

Gabriella looked up at Keven with concern.
But, before she could do anything rash, she waited to see if they were going to hurt the child further. They seemed to believe they were helping her somehow.

The old man took another thing from his pocket, a flask, and put it to the child's lips, encouraging her to drink all of it. She did. Then, each person close to the fire kissed the girl on the forehead and she was passed around to every tribe member to kiss on the cheek or forehead before wrapped in a woven cloth blanket and handed back to her mother who seemed to be thanking the old man. Everyone was very gentle witht he child and seemed genuinely concerned for her well-being. Gabriella guessed the burning was their method of cleansing the body of...something. Perhaps, they believed the burn would help her heal from whatever was making her sick.

After thanking the elder and nodding to their friends among the tribe the mother and father then carried the girl back to their tent and the ceremony around the fire turned celebratory, the rhythm of the music getting faster and happier and the people beginning wild dances and happy singing. The old man returned to the crowd and sat upon a rock looking satisfied with himself.

Gabriella wondered if it was safe to approach the people. She wondered if they would be friendly to outsiders. She wondered what Kevin thought of all this.

 

[The Jeffinator]

Kevin watched as the ritual took place, then couldn't help but chuckle a little at the bizarre dance movements they were doing. It put him in mind of an ancient film from the late twentieth century, Dances With Wolves. Just as in that movie, they were two people of a different color in a land of Natives. After watching for another moment, Kevin climbed back down the tree. "It's now or never," he said to her quietly. "All we can do is walk over there and present ourselves. We should keep our phasers on stun, but keep them in our belts at first. We don't want them to think we pose a threat. But, if they do attack first, we have every right to fire without mercy."

Taking a deep breath, the two turned and walked into the clearing. One of the tribesman looked up, pointed, and uttered something in their native tongue. Suddenly, all the men stood to their feet, grabbed spears, and pointed them at the two outlanders. The elder stepped forward, and addressed the two in his strange language. Unable to do anything else, Kevin tried to use his hands to say that they came in peace, but apparantly, they took it as a gesture of a threatening nature and stepped closer, spears extended.

"It figures we'd leave our universal translators in the ship," he whispered to Gabriella. As he spoke, all the tribesmen looked at him oddly, as if trying to decipher what he had just spoken. They were starting to grow on Kevin's last nerve, when suddenly a huge red lizard came running from the trees.

"Jor Jyaka!" someone screamed, pointing to the lizard. "Jyaka seno diel ze konosa!" Everyone started to back away in terror. Suddenly, seeing his moment to prove himself to the tribe, Kevin jumped forward, pulled out his phaser, set it to kill, and shot the beast repeatedly in the head. After a final roar, the monster fell over, dead. The elder walked over and felt it's neck to make sure it was dead, and then turned to Kevin. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and bowed before him.

"Godenemos..." the elder said as he bowed. "Jieta som del kanu demonur Godenemos!"

"Godenemos..." everyone chanted as they all bowed before Kevin. "Godenemos..."

"Uhhh..." Kevin said with a pale face, looking back to Gabrielle. "Oops..."

 

[slippedhalo]

"No, no Godenemos." insisted Gabriella pulling people from their knees.

She explained with a stick drawing on the ground. "Sun?" and she pointed at the sun.

All looked up at it and nodded, "Sanrol."

"Ok, sanrol, and moons, and stars..." she dotted a few places on the dirt map. Drawing a circle in the place where this planet's orbit would be on the map she said "You live here." Some looked confused but the elder nodded and pointed to himself "Wiu osan re ditas." he said then pointed to the circle Gabriella had just drawn.

She made an arrow pointing all the way across the clearing and then drew Sol, Earth, and it's solar system, the people looked on making little ooh and ahh noises as they watched, some perhaps guessing what the drawing meant. She pointed to the circle representing earth. "We..." pointing to Kevin and herself, "We come from here. No Godemos, people...just like you. But, from far, far away. " She pointed again to the sky and then to a half finished canoe standing against a tree. "Our pod...it fell from the sky." and she made the motion of falling with her hands and a crashing noise. She looked around to see some nods of understanding beginning to spread around the tribe.

The elder spoke first, "Chuchekra, yiu boven kassh ni om." he said, repeating the falling motion again. "Yiu o weywoggart." he said, drawing a line through the Earth's solar system. He then smiled gently and put out his hand toward Gabriella and Kevin then brought it to his chest in a sign that looked like "Ours" or "We" in American Sign Language. "Yiu mag o felom. Nij Godenemos, felom."

The people around all said another 'ahh' of understanding and a few repeated, "Nij Godenemos, felom." and smiles began to spread as the people made welcoming gestures to Gabriella and Kevin offering them places to sit around their fire.

"Thank you, I hope felom means friend." she said as she looked to Kevin with a shrug. "At least they don't seem to think we're gods anymore."

 

[The Jeffinator]

"That wouldn't have been so bad," Kevin said with a chuckle as he sat next to Gabriella. "I wouldn't mind acting as their guardian -- I mean, no, that was a bad idea. Yeah, not good," he quickly added as he saw her give him a questionable stare. He surveyed their surroundings more, then turned to her. "You know, they seemed to understand your signs extremely well, which I find highly uncommon for a people who still seem so primitive. If they have high enough intelligences to catch on so quickly, they should have invented some sort of higher civilization by now... I mean, centuries ago, when the English settlers first arrived on the shores of what would become the United States of America, it took the Natives a lot longer to understand our language. At first, they called us white men with thunder sticks, meaning our primitive projectiles of the time."

He sighed, then continued. "It suggests that these people must either be eating a fairly new diet that stimulates brain cell growth, or, perhaps, they do have the potential for technology, but hid it away. Maybe it caused too much death and chaos, so they returned to their primitive roots.." suddenly, Kevin shot up to his feet, gasping, then turned back to Gabriella. "If that's the case -- if they've got some sort of advanced technology buried away -- it might help us to get home!"