Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Isaac Black (Chief Armory Officer) in Main Sim - Mystery Planet - Columbia Landing Site

Posted by Ensign Elemirre Serinde (Engineering Officer) in Main Sim - Mystery Planet - Columbia Landing Site

Posted by Vice Admiral CockRoach (GM) in Main Sim - Mystery Planet - Columbia Landing Site
[snip]

More scans would slowly come in for the team on their hand units, biological data on the wheel and such showed DNA residue which was a direct match for humans, there was also signs of fingerprints, and the like. Tracks were faded but also picked up, matching at least 5-7 different types of male and female all human. Given their fading the newest print was from a male likely about 5-10 days ago.

If anyone approached the orbital shuttle, they could still clearly more or less see the writing confirming it as the Shuttle Columbia, the shuttle clearly had not landed cleanly as the landing gear had not been deployed so had skidded to this location in a belly flop, but that said based on the scan results the underbelly in the dirt was beaten and battered and rusted but mostly intact. The starboard hatch was rusted shut, but the port hatch door was able to be gotten open with only a little elbow grease.

GM CockRoach

“Let’s do a spin,” El said to Aelef. Walking close to the shuttle she could feel the size of it. And that there were ceramic tiles missing. Others scratched. Her fingers brushed along the hull; Aelef recorded. “Here. Long scratch. This thing skidded to a landing. I don’t think the gear was deployed.”

“Confirmed. They are intact.”

“The ride would have been a rough one but it held together,” she continued, paused at starboard hatch. “We’d need to cut through that.”

“The port side looked better when I did my scan,” Aelef said. When they rounded the impossible shuttle El could see what Aelef meant. “A little work and we could get into that I think,” she commented, then, out of a whim as she was looking up, waved ‘up’ toward the Bonnie. “This isn’t going to fly again with all the age behind it but it’s held together better than a lot of constructions would.”

El & Aelef, Eng

Blackwell walked out of the shuttlepod, stretching slightly before grabbing his medical scanner and doing a general lifeform scan of the area. This was only the second alien world he’d ever visited so the NE was more than a little excited.

NE Dr. Blackwell

El went first up the ladder. At the side of the hatch she halted and looked around. What would it be like to ‘somehow’ get here and then ‘somehow’ find a way to survive and then ‘somehow’ think to jury rig a radio knowing that they were on an alien world and that the chance of the broadcast being received was a million to one - plus add over a dozen decades to that. The breeze made her shiver a little and she was tempted to pull up the hood. Aelef gave a soft ‘ahem’ to get her attention, and she moved aside to let her get up for them to both work at the hatch. “Could use, what did they use then? WD 60 for stuck things?” he asked. “I have some 90 in my kit.” But on the third tug it gave and, with a creak, opened.

Once El and Aelef got into the port side hatch, there was a ladder right to in front of them. Getting up there they were soon into the main cockpit to their left and to the right a half open hatch door leading back into the payload area. The area was mostly empty a few secured metal boxes, all mostly empty or with stored used up equipment appropriate for the era the shuttle came from for space flight. All in all though the area showed signs of some upkeep here and there.

“Check back there,” El said, indicating the payload area. “I’ll look forward.”

Aelef nodded and moved easily, his stature wide but not tall allowing him to move fairly easily even if he felt each step echoed. He took recording scans, each box he tried sounded really loud in his ears and he glanced about often as though feeling like he was seeing ghosts of the past watching him. It was tidy, even with things that were worn out. At least they were tidy ghosts, he thought, even with some tools laying about. He knelt down to pick one up. Something a century and a half old. Something they used. He had seen them but nobody had let them touch anything in the museum. How would that have felt in zero G? On a whim he turned his scanner to a bio reading for any traces of the people, focusing on the tools.

For the cockpit itself again everything seemed in order, though areas had been repurposed mainly to jury rig the water generator and shuttle battery charging methods to them run the computer systems briefly to then run the radio broadcast more or less every hour. Again like the payload area some upkeep had been done, and a few tools lay about here and there.

El touched the cockpit seat. It was worn but not weathered. Along one side there was a small tear in the fabric as though it had borne many a person many a time over the years. Some elements were gone from the console. Others were added. She got down on her back to look at how they had rigged the generator and battery. It was clever given what they had to work with which was very limited technical resources. But to keep that going for 150 years? That was dedication, for whomever was doing it. And the computer still going after all that time? She thought that remarkable. El had heard that computers then only had a short life span at best. Maybe they exaggerated that claim.

Through this search they hit their first stroke of pay dirt so to speak, in that in several places there were indications of various DNS residues, all seemed to be confirming as human, two women and five men. The age range of the samples were all from 2003 up to the present, curiously even those of more recent residue not more then a week or so ago, did not show any genetic deviations or aging signs, more analysis would be needed, probably on the Bonaventure itself in the medical lab, but if the readings were right then all the residue was from the original 7 crew and further none had somehow aged or died, or had children it seemed in all these almost 150 years!

GM CockRoach

Aelef came up slowly. El heard him and even saw him in the reflection off the front panes. From there she could see a good distance. They were high over the small plain that they had landed in. She could see the MACO’s and the Captain. Others were out of sight. From here the clearing was not as large and the treeline closer, even if she couldn’t see over them. But was that a mist or smoke in the distance? Aelef broke her concentration.

“Ah, ma’am.” Something must be wrong. Aelef always used El unless it was serious.

“What is it?” She turned and lifted herself from the seat that she had been in. Her foot brushed a multi-tool laying on the decking. It scraped loud in the enclosed space.

“I’ve been doing life scans. You know, trace residue. DNA stuff. I have .. seven people. A lot of samples here. Some old. Some new. But the same seven.”

He let that hang in the air. “You mean ..”

“Yeah, it might be the original crew, but they have been alive all this time according to this.”

“Are you sure?” El asked.

“Pretty sure. I mean the scan is the scan. Point and press and read and refine the results.”

El glanced back outside, another shiver running through her. “Impossible people on an impossible ship,” she murmured then let out a small curse in Cantonese. “Let’s tell the Captain. Come on.” Pushing herself out of the chair she wound her way back to the open hatch, swung easily out onto the ladder and headed down. Aelef followed. They followed the hull of the Shuttle until they rounded the snout. “Captain!” she called. “We have something.”

• El, Eng

Isaac was busy with an air sick bag. He was not feeling 100% to being with with the back to back mission.

Lt. Isaac Black (AC)

Ari had let the others spill out into the surroundings. Glancing at Black, she patted his shoulder and walked by him. “Stay here as long as you need.” There was a gentleness to her voice so he knew she wasn’t upset or anything.

Glancing back at the pilot from the door, she nodded. “Stay here and be ready to go at a quick pace if need be.”

”..Aye ma’am..” the NE pilot said.

Once outside, she stretched and took a tentative deep breath. Air tasted funny, but being in space for so long, everything would.

She heard El holler and headed that way. “What have you got?”

Ari CO

El closed the distance, glancing back to the black and white weathered snub nose of the shuttle. From here she could see the trails left from rain, dirty lines tinted with the copper of rust here and there. The window she looked through towered above her looking dirtier than when she was inside. Glancing toward the open shuttle she could see Isaac and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a frown. She wondered if the big insects would be attracted to the smell of that which he was filling the bag with.

As El would relay her information to Ari the rest of the clearing seemed peaceful and quiet. The natural wildlife originally having been scared from the Pod’s arrival had begun to chirp, hum, squak, etc once more in the distance. A few of the massive insects they had run into earlier on their descent were even spiraling around in the air above as if trying to make sense of the intruders to their domain.

Her eyes caught some wildlife. Were they not so alien in a way - like Earth but not like Earth. Impossible creatures amongst an impossible ship and more impossible crew. “Captain, the inside of the shuttle was stripped of anything useful but for the pilot’s berth where they jury rigged the power from the generator to their automatic transmission. There was signs of recent work inside, perhaps even days. But even more ..” her sentence was cut off from the comms from the ship.

Just as El would begin to relay her information, the comm units chirped for Ari and the MACO Sargent. =/\= NE Cornbuckle to Captain, and Sargent Russ, got some more information on our mystery from up here we discovered. =/\= He said.

Ari’s scanner beeped showing data had been received. On it showed scans and images of the area they were in with highlighted points of interest. (OOC: See here https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf1/bonaventure/posts/174778/ )

=/\= The XO up here is suggesting you may want to follow up on those points soon. =/\= Cornbuckle added.

GM CockRoach

El waited for the Captain to look at what they sent down, curious of what they saw. She looked up as though to see the Bonnie up there. Were they looking down at them now? “The thing is, Captain,” El said. “These people. They’re the original crew. There is strong DNA traces, again some only days old, but only a few and all the same people no matter how old. This impossible ship is still crewed by the same impossible crew.” She heard the buzzing of the large bugs. While alien, large bugs were not that alien to her from where she grew up, though most didn’t fly.

El, Eng

Isaac was not feeling well at all he keeps throwing up he has gone through 4 air sick bags now. He was living up against the frame of the shuttle sweating very bad “captain I think something is wrong I have a pain in my gut” he said before collapsing.

Lt. Isaac Black (AC)

Naomi’s eyes shifted to Issac’s words. The man looked ill as his body wobbled, giving out underneath him. Instinctively, her arms snapped out to catch him. She was not the fittest when it came to physical strength. Her teeth gritted with the strain when she lowered him to the ground.

Her legs curled up underneath as she settled his head on her lap. Widen, frightened eyes looked at the rest of the officers.

“We need medical!” It might’ve been an overreaction, but the suddenness had startled her. She was a scientist, not a doctor so it was understandable how unprepared she was for this.

-ENS Naomi D. Locke, Sci