Where da f@&% is Eden THIS time?

Posted on Fri Jun 5th, 2020 @ 12:13am by Lieutenant Commander Carter Morrison & Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers & Lieutenant Junior Grade David Jameson & Captain Sebastian Deauvuex (*)

Mission: Ishimura
Location: Unknown Planet
Timeline: 2243
2890 words - 5.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Eden was so impressed by what she saw. She seemed totally enchanted. She turned right and then left and her brain shut off as she just followed what her eyes were showing her, losing complete track of everyone else in the group including Sebastian, totally ignoring his warnings for the group to stick together. It wasn't a minute later that she realized she'd wandered off though. By this time she couldn't identify which directions she'd turned nor make her way back. "Uhoh."

In a different quarter of the colony, David was fiddling with his tricorder. It really shouldn't be so hard to trace Eden's life signs - there were only four humans on the planet and the other two were within eye sight. "I'm sorry, sir," he reported. "Wherever she is, it's outside the range where I can get a clear scan through the interference."

Sebastian was not surprised. It was why the Ishimura could not be contacted and why he had hoped that he had brought the most sensible officers with him but he was slowly starting to doubt that. "Well, it looks like we are going to be searching on foot. She cannot have gotten far." Sebastian figured starting to look one way then the other for where the woman could have wandered to.

"Good job she's wearing gold, is all I can say," Carter grumbled. "The folks wearing red seem to have a bad habit of needing me to patch them up."

Eden meanwhile was looking around her for anything that looked familiar and trying not to panic about now knowing how to get back or at the thought that Sebastian was going to be so angry with her for wandering off on an away mission. "It was this way . . . no." She kept repeating as there were several different directions she could take but she worried that it would only lead her father into this maze.

Sebastian just rolled his eyes and climbed up on the nearest item to give him a little height and put his hand around his mouth before he started yelling the woman's surname hoping she heard and would yell back. He paused to listen and shook his head when nothing was returned. "So it seems we pick a way and hope for the best. The colony is not that large." He hoped he was right in that, and that the woman would be easy to find.

"It really isn't," David remarked, and frowned. "She wouldn't have gone looking through other buildings, would she?"

"Wide-eyed Ensigns could get up to pretty-much anything in my experience," Carter replied. "Pick a direction?"

"North." The Captain declared as he started to walk in that direction with a determined look on his face. Hadn't he given strict orders about not wondering off? Wide-eye Ensigns plus Eden's unique ability to get into trouble could lead anywhere.

Meanwhile Eden was beginning to get scared. There was something about this place that gave her the creeps now that she was alone. She kept trying to take calming breaths. And she knew there was a better chance of them finding her than of her finding her way out so she stayed put.

After plodding north for several blocks, methodically checking for life signs at every turn and every door, an idea came to David, one that he was almost embarrassed not to have come up with earlier. "Sir, linking a comm unit to a tricorder probably won't boost signal enough for two-way, but we might be able to broadcast a loud enough noise to draw her attention."

"Do it, Lieutenant. It is going to get dark in the next few hours with the shorter days and I do not want to be moving around here in the dark." Sebastian ordered thinking that it was creepy enough with the place empty but almost ready for people to return.

David set to making the link and then looked around. "It will work better broadcast from somewhere higher," he said, and headed for one of the taller buildings that seemed to have a flat roof.

Sebastian followed the trail of thought the man was having about the building and nodded. It made sense to be higher. "Need a lift up?" The Captain wondered doing a quick assessment of how safe it seemed.

There was a window ledge, but eying the distance and the possibility of slipping, David decided caution was the best route. However awkward it might be to have the Captain give him a leg up would be nothing compared to a potential twisted ankle and a lecture from the Doctor. "Thank you, sir. I'd appreciate that."

Sebastian suddenly paused in helping the man onto the roof when he saw a light in the distance. "You all see that?" He wondered looking at the other two men.

"Aye, that I do," Carter noted, brow furrowed. He lifted his medical tricorder, but realised immediately that it wasn't particularly helpful. "Ah. What about you, Lieutenant Jameson? Got anything from up there?"

David hauled himself over the edge of the roof and stood up, looking toward the light. If might be Eden signaling, but if so he didn't know how she'd managed it. "Hard to say. It's too steady for a flare, and too bright for a lantern. It also seems to be coming from outside the perimeter of the colony."

"How far outside the perimeter of the colony? Is it close to the dig sites?" Sebastian wondered wishes he could haul himself up there and see for himself. "Can you get the comms unit to work? If Bowers sees that she might head towards it?" He surmised. It might be a handy meeting location.

"Chances are she'll have seen it too," Carter noted. "Question is, do we want to make a lot of commotion and noise so we get her attention before who or whatever that is comes by first?"

"It's hard to tell exactly with how dark the whole area is, but it's definitely from the direction of the dig site," David called down. "The broadcast will let Bowers know where we are, but it'll alert whatever is out there as well. Of course, it might be best to draw it toward us rather than a lone officer. I can transmit a message telling Bowers to come or stay put. It's up to you, Captain."

The Captain frowned "Tell her to head towards it but not to cross the colony limits." Sebastian hoped that they would reach her before anyone else did if there was anyone else out there.

David lifted the comm badge to his lips , blowing once and getting loud feedback. He fiddled with the tricorder settings a moment, then tried again, and getting only an amplified 'whoosh' began the message. "Jameson to Bowers, we are heading to investigate the light. Proceed toward it, but do not cross the colony limits. Repeat: Head for the light, but do NOT cross colony limits."

Eden settled herself down on what looked like some kind of chair. it was better than pacing. It was starting to get dark now and she was practicing her breathing to stay calm. Suddenly a light appeared in the distance. Was that them? Sebastian and the others? Or was it something else? Should she call out?

She heard the voice and jumped but couldn't reply back, they must have figured out a way to do a one way communication. She got up and took some deep breaths and did what she was told, heading toward the light but staying on the boundaries of the now ghost-like settlement.

Sebastian led the way through the streets and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the woman a few streets over heading towards them. "Well, at least that worked." He muttered.

Eden seemed to catch movement out of the corner of her eye and was so happy to see Sebastian. She walked toward him though, her head slightly down as if she were a dog that knew it was in trouble. "I'm so sorry . . . I was following a light and then all of a sudden I was lost and couldn't even recall which direction I'd turned or how I'd come to that spot. It was like I was mesmerized for a moment. "

Sebastian nodded at her words. "It is fine Ensign. We are lucky that this appeared and gave us a meetup point." The man said looking at the white light that shot from something unseen by them. It was eerily casting light where there should have been none with the sun now setting.

"What is it?" Eden asked glancing back in that direction. "Do we know?"

"Nope," Carter replied, giving her a visual once-over for scrapes. "Heaven bless the fellow you end up marrying, Ensign. He's going to age twice as fast as the rest of us," he added, giving her a good-natured pat on the head.

Sebastian turned away to chuckle, he did not need to raised suspicion on him and the Ensign at all. He needed to keep both their reputations clear without a shred of doubt on their abilities as officers. "Now that we know that Ensign Bowen is safe shall we look at this light event."

"Yes." David nodded. Truthfully, it had been the first thing on his mind. He was glad the ensign was safe, but really, her wandering off had just been a distraction from the work they had come to do. "I'm not getting any clear readings at this range. We'll need to get closer to identify its source."

Eden nodded. She'd avoided looking at Sebastian. "I don't think I'll ever get married," she answered honestly. "As you nicely put it. Someone would have to put up with me."

"Everyone ready?" Sebastian wondered trying to break the sudden awkward silence that had filled the group. He knew they had training but would they be prepared if something happened?

"Yes sir!" Eden said a bit more cheerfully than she felt. She was nervous and bit frightened.

"Yes, sir," David said in a more measured tone and moved to take point, since neither the Captain nor the Doctor should be at the front and the last thing they needed was Eden in the lead.

"Peachy," Carter shrugged. It wasn't like there was any backing-out now. He let the Lieutenant go in front, wondering why they'd decided not to bring a full security detail down with them.

Sebastian sighed as the others took the lead, this was why he did not want to bring security along. He was capable but it was not worth the argument. They made their way along a path that was barely discernible through the weeds and grasses that had reclaimed it recently. The occasional animal could be heard rustling in the tall grasses of the unkempt gardens or hiding in the wild overgrown bushes that the colony was now becoming since it’s occupants disappeared. It was not long until the small group was reaching open space of the archaeological digs. "Be careful about holes," he warned.

Eden nodded with a small smile at him. She really hoped he wasn't upset with her as she moved forward, letting him take the rear so she wasn't about to wander off again. She looked down at her feet most of the time, keeping an eye on the uneven ground and letting the others look out in front of her.

David had pulled out a small hand light, directing it at the ground as he picked his way forward. He'd been hesitant to use it before now, as it might give them away to whatever was making the light they were heading toward, but with the uneven ground there was now a greater risk of breaking an ankle. "Watch out for loose tools and artifacts too," he said, surprised to see such just left lying on ground.

"It feels like they literally just disappeared." Sebastian surmised as he pulled out his own hand light and looked around him noticing lunch boxes open, tools on the floor along with jackets. It just felt like one moment they were there and the next they were gone.

"Maybe something took them? The light?" Eden inquired, she didn't really want to believe that as they were headed toward it right now.

It was a good point. David eyed the light. "Since we can't comm the ship, maybe we should leave a recorded message on a beacon set to activate in a few hours if we don't return."

"Do it, Lieutenant," Sebastian ordered stepping over a few loose tools as he got closer and stopped dead taking in the light properly. It was rising from something that was below them in the floor. "It looks like it is coming from something below the surface?"

"Could these people have suddenly gone underground for some reason?" Eden asked, just coming up with theories on the fly.

"Could be all kinds of things, Ensign. Radiation. Plague. Alien invasion." Carter chuckled to himself. "Probably not zombies, though. We'd have bumped into some by now."

After setting a timed beacon with a data chip into the clay, David rose, shaking his head at the Doctor's comment. "More than one sort of zombie, Doc," he said. "There was the case on Azyris III with the 'troll' virus where victims became stone in sunlight but started to move at night to seek living flesh..." He glanced around, his initially scientific observation trailing off as he felt compelled to watch the rubble from the dig for movement.

"Well that sounds cheerful." Eden commented giving them both a stare that showed them she wasn't quite sure if they were being serious or not.

"I was there for the 'troll' virus. This not feel like it." Sebastian assured not even glancing around. They would know if it was anything like that with the noise they had been making earlier in an attempt to find Eden. "I think this is completely new." The light that was coming from the ground was slowly changing from white to a pale green.

Eden was tempted to pause in her walking, to somehow prevent Sebastian from reaching it. She did not like this at all. "Maybe we should try to study it from a little distance first? We have no idea what it is or what it will do after all. We're walking in blind."

"I've been scanning it and nothing much is showing up. Need to get closer." Sebastian explained patiently. He would have suggested she stay there but all the trouble she had already gotten into was fresh in his mind.

"Nothing on scans at this range suggests it's coming from pretty deep down." David looked around among the scattered equipment. "We should find some rope in case we have to repel down."

Sebastian shook his head. "Not in the dark we won't." He commented on quickly. "I would like to think their would be steps or a ladder seeing it is dugout and seems to have been in the process of excavated." It was standard practice to have ladders but in the dark it was impossible to see much. Sebastian looked up at the light and frowned a little more as it started to always hum. "Anyone else hear that?"

"At my age you don't hear quite so much," Carter grumbled, drawing to an odd halt behind the Captain. "You feeling okay there, Sebastian?"

"No," Eden said frowning. What does it sound like," She whispered resisting the urge to reach for the sleeve on Sebastian's uniform like a frightened child.

"I don't hear anything either," David said, watching the Captain cautiously. "What are you hearing?"

Sebastian glanced at Carter and frowned at him calling him by his first name. It did not make what he was hearing any less real, he was hearing a beat and it was throwing him off. Sebastian opened his mouth to explain that it was almost a beat he was hearing when the light changed against and started to almost shed shards of light. "Run." The man said as one of the shards hit him sending him tumbling to the floor.

Eden was a bit confused about what was happening. The light had changed and she'd heard Sebastian say 'run' but her brain seemed slow about why they should be moving away from it. "Sebastian!" Eden gasped as she saw him fall. She'd been told to leave but she just couldn't.

David had started to take off at the order, but halted when he saw the shard hit him. "Captain!" He started to run back, and barely dodged one shard only to feel the impact of another. Then nothing else.

Eden tried to grab Sebastian and drag him but it was too late. The shards were coming for her too and she found darkness when the light touched her.

"Oh, bloody h-" Carter didn't complete the sentence as he felt something catch him in the upper leg. Then the back of the shoulder, and he was down too.


OFF::

Captain Sebastian Deauvuex
Commanding Officer
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Gregnol)

LT JG David Jameson
A&A Officer
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Burnstein)

Ensign Eden Bowers
Chief Helmsmen
USS Ishimura

Lt Commander Carter Morrison
Chief Medical Officer
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Jake)