Stardate: 60333.1045
The Oltharian had been hard at work setting up a full containment
enclosure when the Chief Science Officer walked into the room. Maya immediately smiled as she saw the extent of the precautions the Chief Engineering Officer had taken to insure the safety of the crew and ship.
"I had the staff create a Duranium alloy casing which will be
supplemented by a level-10 bio containment field, all of that will be surrounded by a full force field. This would be able to contain a small
matter/antimatter explosion and just in case we pick up some problems, we will have transporters on emergency standby to beam the crystal as far away from
the ship as needed," the Oltharian diligently explained displaying pride in
his work as well as interest in what they were about to investigate.
The Chief Science Officer smiled and reached for her comm badge. "Maya
to Serenna, we are ready."
=/\= Confirmed, we have received the specifications provided by
Lieutenant Fairborn. Stand by for beaming, =/\= The CO stated plunging all of
Main Engineering in absolute silence while they waited to see what would
happen. After a few seconds the sound and lights indicative of a beaming were
heard and seen.
Maya leaned in closer and looked through the reinforced window at what
had been brought onboard. What she saw was a simple clear crystal
measuring no more than 20cm in length. Immediately the Chief Science Officer
reached for her tricorder and analysed the intriguing shard.
"Reading no radiation, no biological residue, only a very complex
crystalline structure. I think it is safe to have a closer look but I
will defer to your call," the HATHOR's Executive Officer said glancing up at
the gentle giant standing next to her.
Seeing the woman's eagerness, the Oltharian deactivated both force
fields and carefully reached inside the containment pod. The moment his flesh
came in contact with the crystal, reality as the Oltharian knew it vanished
as if it had been nothing more than a dreams.
Setting: USS HATHOR, Main Engineering
{Flourishing during the Ice Age, these wurms were the bane of all Kjeldorans. Their great size and ferocity made them the subject of countless nightmares - they embodied the worst of the Ice Age.}
- Kjeldor: Ice Civilization
--==(@)==--
A warrior could walk until his feet became numb from the snow and ice and he still would never travel the entire length which stretch from a wurm's head to the tip of its tail. A single scale from these monstrous beasts was said to weight as much as a rider and its steed, and be as strong at the most tempered of steel. Countless hunters had ventured over the years in the hopes of returning with a trophy that would insure their name would be song for generations to come, but instead of fame all that they found was the welcoming embrace of an unmarked ice grave - if they were so lucky.
Despite all of the legends and stories that had been told and retold to him since he had been old enough to hold onto his mother's finger, Odgan had dreamt of traveling the frozen wasteland to the north of his village in search of one of these famed creatures - a Scaled Wurm.
The day after his ascension into manhood Odgan stood on the edge of the snowbound village, his gaze lost over the white frozen horizon and a single dark-crystal speak firmly in his hand. Today had been his first day as a man, and today he would prove to the rest of the tribe that he had been as worthy of being a hunter as any of the others.
Against the tearful pleas of his elderly mother who had cared for him since before his birth Odgan set forth into the brisk morning air armed with a single thought, to seek out and kill one of these Scaled Wurms. The warrior had left alone on this quest as no other member of his tribe had dared to venture on this foolish quest with him. The elders had mentioned numerous legends and ancient scripts which detailed in some disturbing aspects the fate that awaited any and all hunter who would go on such a doomed quest. The other, more experienced hunters, who had not yet been of age to be elders, had warned Odgan about the foolishness of his plan and had urged him to return to the warmth of the great fire. They claimed that this had not been a display of courage, but a show of childish ignorance.
What did they know of courage?
The elders themselves claimed that no one had dared to challenge a Scaled Wurm on its own land for as long as they could remember. Odgan suggested that maybe all of these legendary creatures had long perished and that only the shadows of their greatness remained, casting fear on a superstitious people who were more interested in following ancient scripts than pursuing a new future for them and their children.
So armed with his courage and drive to prove the rest of his village wrong, Odgan pressed on towards the open forbidden plains leaving the warmth of the great fire far behind him. By the time the hunter had taken a moment to look back, he saw nothing but his tracks vanishing into the blinding horizon, the light of the great fire no longer visible from where he was. How long had he travelled and yet no sign of any Scaled Wurms or other creature. Maybe all of the legends had been just that - stories meant to scare little children into staying near the village. Maybe the monstrous beasts of lore had never even existed and his quest had been for not.
The sun had still to reach its highest point in the skies overhead so Odgan decided to continue on for a little while longer. As long as he kept walking the bitter cold did not affect him and he would still have ample time to return to his village before nightfall. If he returned now, without any proof of his quest, he would be the laughing stock of the village, so there had been no other choice for him but to press on and hope that he would find something, anything.
By the time the sun had reached its zenith Odgan had found the entrance of a cave that extended far beneath the ground that he had been walking on for so long. Some of the legends spoke of such caves being the home of Scaled Wurms but the cold had become more than the hunter could handle, so he entered in search of some shelter from the elements while hoping that the stories had been nothing more than bedtime tales.
Several steps into the cave, the coldness of the air had been replaced by an eerie warmth, one that resembled that of a mother's breath on the skin of her new born child. Maybe a spring of hot water would be found at the end of this cave explaining this rush of heat, or maybe he would find one of those rivers of molten rocks that his grandfather had once spoken of. Whatever Odgan would discover at the end of the cave would certainly be better than the coldness of the frozen plains and would insure his survival for the night to come. After all he had traveled a great distance and required rest if he was to ever be able to make it back to his home village and his family.
When the cave ended Odgan found nothing other than several large stones which radiated an inviting warmth that drew him closer and closer until he reached out and touched one of them to discover that these had not been stones at all. When the flesh of his hand caressed the rough surface of one of the enormous scales the hunter realised that he had found what he had set out to find - a legend.
The creature awoke from its slumber with an earth-shattering rumble making it almost impossible for the brave hunter to remain standing. When Odgan finally managed to regain his footing he found himself looking at an ivory coloured tooth which extended almost as long as the spear he had brought with him. As impressive as the jagged dagger had been , the hunter had been more bewildered by how many of these dagger he could see stretching up and down from a jaw that could have swallowed half of his village in a single gulp.
Slowly Odgan began to walk away, now sorry that he had not heeded the warnings of the elders and of the other hunters. All of the legends and stories had been true, and the creature proved to be even more horrific in person than any he could have ever imagined it to be. The quest no longer mattered, all that the hunter could think of was to return to his village and the embracing warmth of the great fire.
Walking backwards meant that that Odgan could not see where he had been stepping and when his foot tripped over the shattered remains of another hunter long ago dead, the flaming red eye of the Scaled Wurm found the intruder with great ease. The frozen wasteland had made it very difficult for the gigantic beast to find any type of food, but thanks to the arrogance of these hunters, he would once again be able to return to sleep, after having had its fill of flesh and misplaced courage.
--==(/\)==--
Elan blinked as he tried to make sense of what he had seen, heard and
felt. He had experienced the journey through the frozen wasteland as a
disembodied entity, but that had in no way made the experience less real.
"Elan, are you all right?" Maya asked.
The Oltharian just smiled as he searched for words to describe the out
of this world journey he had just been made to experience.
--==(/\)==--
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elan Talak Fairborn 2005 post #586
Stardate: 60333.1050
Setting: USS HATHOR, Main Engineering
Francois Charette {f_charette@hotmail.com}
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA
&
Chief Engineering Officer
USS HATHOR