"Arriving In A Stranger Than Strange New World"
(Previous Post: "Patience")
---
Stardate: 61014.0600
The journey from the Federation Intel ship USS ANUBIS
to the planet IRRAJ had been a long and tedious one
for both the Shillian scientist and the half Vulcan
pilot. Both had readily busied themselves with
various aspects of their undercover mission leaving
little room for conversation, something that had
apparently pleased the Flight Control Officer while
leaving the Chief Science Officer feeling as if their
silence had in some way placed their mission in
jeopardy.
IRRAJ had appeared; from the very first time the
scientist had read the social and technological
reports on that world, to be a never ending list of
contradictions and opposites. Although the people of
IRRAJ had reached a level of technology that had
enabled them to reach space and breach the warp
threshold the social conditions of the general
population seemed to better fit a world in the full
grasp of the medieval ages.
As far as the Shillian woman had been concerned the
common medical practices, as well as the city's
sanitation equipment, had been nothing more than
prehistoric when compared to the rest of the
technology present on the same world. To have a
single person be unable to reach running water and
wash their hands while others could simply walk up a
set of stairs to board a ship capable of reaching
orbit had been beyond comprehension. How a
civilization capable of such poor social standards had
managed to develop space travel technology had truly
been a mystery onto itself, but that had not been the
reason for their visit to IRRAJ.
As the DRAGONSEYE approached the planet the Shillian
woman came face to face with another aspect of the
opposites which ruled this strange world. Thanks to
the large trading industry which the world and its
inhabitants had fostered the atmosphere of the planet
had been bustling with an unimaginable amount of
activity, but without a planetary control system
regulating the ships and their movements the trip to
and through orbit had been a literal nightmare.
"You might want to fasten your seatbelt," Ensign
Stormwind warned as he moved the DRAGONSEYE out of the
path of a rapidly approaching freighter which appeared
to have no qualms about running small ships out of its
way.
"I can't believe he did that," the Shillian said as
she looked out of the side window to see the form of
the other ship zoom pass them. "I mean he could have
killed us all. Why would anyone take such a risk for
the simple idea of trading goods and services? It
just makes no sense at all."
"Aside from the fact that the hull of that ship was
reinforced," the Flight Control Officer replied as he
continued to dodge numerous other ships as they
travelled to and from the surface of the planet, "I am
sure that the Captain of that freighter saw us and
every other ship in orbit as a threat to his business.
There would have been no harm in thinning out the
competition, in fact you could almost call it a
*logical* course of action."
The Shillian woman could hardly believe that Ensign
Stromwind had dismissed the incident with the word
'Logical', but she could even less understand how all
of these ships could fly as they were without any one
of them crashing into each other. It seemed that
being a freelance trader and an expert pilot went
hand-in-hand if one had any aspirations of making a
living from this career.
As the ship continued its descent through the
atmosphere and the other ships, the Shillian woman
tried to focus her attention onto the rapidly
approaching ground instead of on the increasing number
of ships which they seemed to be avoiding in a blur of
colours and shapes. Soon the pace of their descent
slowed to a more relaxed speed which allowed the Chief
Science Officer to released her iron grip on the arms
her the chair where she had strapped herself in only a
short while ago.
"Well that was fun," the half Vulcan Flight Control
Officer said as he confirmed that the opening on the
landing area had been sufficiently large enough to
accommodate the DRAGONSEYE. "We can only hope that
the rest of our stay will be has successful as our
arrival."
"I guess that given the lack of security we
encountered all of my preparations have been rendered
useless," the Shillian scientist said with a distinct
hint of disbelief. "It might have been nice if the
information we reviewed had included this but I guess
this mission will be like all other Intel missions I
have had the privilege of being part of, which means
that there will be a lot more of us dealing with the
unexpected than our being able to follow a preset plan."
"That is the beauty of Intel," the Flight Control
Officer replied as he secured the ship and opened the
door which allowed the hustle and bustle of the nearby
market to fill the ship. "While you register our
arrival with the local authorities I will begin
unloading our cargo. We might as well make our
undercover story as believable as possible even if
there are only a handful of people who will actually care."
"Looks may be deceiving," the Shillian said recalling
many of the lessons she had learned the hard way
during other missions and while having spent time with
the Intelligence Liaison Operative of the USS ANUBIS.
"A lack of interest by the local authorities might
only invite that much more scrutiny by those who have
the most to gain through knowledge of who is trading
what and where."
Ensign Stormwind looked back at the Shillian with a
clearly stunned expression on his face, the half
Vulcan man even having added the raised eyebrow which
indicated that he had not expected the scientist
display such an understanding of their situation.
---
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2006 post #184
Setting: USS DRAGONSEYE, Flight Deck
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
