The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 1:
Eye of the Beholder
Scene 15:
Signals
“In our opinion, the creature that appeared on Escort’s bridge hitched a ride from our subspace telemetry signal from the probe we sent ahead to obtain sensor readings.”
Sakura Nakamura Holland was wrapped in a white kimono decorated with cherry blossoms. The analysis meeting was being held in the U.S.S. Beagle’s largest conference room, located just fore of the Engineering section, which could be viewed through the transparent rear wall of the conference room.
Engineering was a large, open space from which all three warp cores could be viewed, each projecting down toward a central engineering deck that was, itself, an equilateral triangle in shape and allowed engineers and other scientists to step seamlessly from one center of gravity to the next, changing their center of gravity by a 60 degree angle. This created the dizzying effect of engineers working and interacting with their crewmates who were relatively nearly upside down to them. Worse yet, sections of catwalk surrounding each of the three warp engines had gravity plating on both sides, allowing engineers to literally be upside down in relation to each other.
This mind bending layout created a visual effect that looked like something from one of M.C. Escher’s more lurid nightmares. It was very difficult for the visitors to the Beagle, which now included Pel as well as a few officers from both he U.S.S. Mako and the U.S.S. Escort, to tear their eyes away from it.
There was only one thing in sight that was even stranger than the mind-bending engineering section. The engineer: “We confirmed self-destruct of our probe.” Commander Dutch Holland had a thick, Mexican accent. What little of his skin could be seen under his luchador mask was dark brown. The mask matched his golden uniform with subtle flames described in slightly darker gold around his eyes and the Star Fleet engineering emblem repeated on his forehead and the left breast. “Those trills did not want whatever it is on that planet to get its hands… or whatever it uses for hands… on a warp core, so the moment we realized they were making use of the probe’s carrier wave, we sent the self-destruct order. But before it blew up, the probe picked up some very interesting telemetry.”
The U.S.S. Mako was represented by its science officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gregg Clark, as well as Captain Yui Song. The only officer present from the U.S.S. Escort was its second officer, Lt. Cmdr. Vranran zh’Kathar, an andorian woman who seemed the perfect counterpart for her currently incapacitated captain.
The majority of the U.S.S. Beagle’s crew were civilians associated with various scientific institutions. The department directors were at the table, starting with Sakura Nakamura Holland, the project dean for (and heir apparent to) Nakamura Enterprises. Dr. Tentis Uto, a director for the Betazed Royal School of Medicine sat next to her. Seated in various locations around the table were the director of Astrophysics & Stellar Cartography, Proctor T’Eln of the Vulcan Science Academy, Federation Envoy Serafina Novikova from the UFP Diplomatic Corps - a Czech woman who headed up the Social Sciences Department, and the Major Janet Carter, whose unit of United States Marines provided security and a small ground force if needed.
But the departments most affected for this part of the mission were Planetary System Science, provided by the Denobulan Planetary Society, and Life Sciences, provided by the Tellarite Biological Survey. Several members of both departments were present. The tellarites were clothed in brown denim bib overalls over heavy, dark, flannel shirts - a fashion they hotly claimed to have invented.
“There were 18 trills on that mining ship, along with an unidentified lifeform - we’ll get back to the alien later.” Drisk javWalirsh had so much hair on his face that he looked more like a werewolf than a tellarite, as did his daughter and assistant director of Life Sciences, Chauv bavTlitch. Both wore their heavy flannel shirts unbuttoned beneath their bib overalls with their sleeves rolled up, revealing bushels of chest and arm hair. Both had very pronounced snouts and unusually large tusks. Drisk’s voice included a fair amount of snarling sounds - which was a feature of the tellarite accent.
“Until that eyeball started to rewire that hapless vulcan, those trills were barely moving. They were starving - their bodies were beginning to shut down. Moments after that eyeball entered the vulcan noggin, the trills got up, figured out how to use the replicators and started feeding themselves. They were starting to access other ship’s systems when the probe blew itself up. The flower over there…” javWalirsh gestured toward Nakamura Holland, “can explain what they were doing. But we learned something about the alien as well.”
“It’s fungal,” said Norkaond Vef, a very different looking tellarite. She was nearly hairless except for a fluffy white tuft on the top of her head. Her skin was bright pink and her tusk almost non-existent. Vef was the Fungi Team Leader for javWalirsh’s department. Her voice was significantly higher and she was oddly cute for a tellarite. “Both the telemetry on the alien onboard the Try’phoyx 8 and the alien neural matter we dug out of pointy-ears’ skull - fungus. Just like what half of you have growing under your toenails just now.”
Captain Howard laughed lightly and said, “Clean your hooves before you say that, Norkie.” This remark provoked some snuffling sounds from the tellarites, which might have been annoyance, disgust, or amusement (or some combination thereof.) He made a dismissive motion with his left hand, flashing black polished nails at them, which provoked more snuffling - but this was not so much reaction as communication among the tellarites and in particular, the young Norkaond Vef signaling submission to Director javWalirsh.
It suddenly struck Yui Song that Skip Howard was using the color of his nail polish and eye shadow as a subtle means of communication and influence.
Howard turned toward a pair of denobulan women. “Tetri, Risl, tell us about D. Red South 179, 6.”
Tetri Phynyx gestured toward a young black man sitting on the other side of her sister. “Phillip has headed up the research on the 6th planet. But let’s get an overview of the system first…”
Thanks!! rbs
?
