[snip]

Getting nods from the operators the team soon was dematerialized and soon rematerialized in a stand of closely bunched trees and bushes. The whole beam down site was roughly 5ft by 20ft roughly rectangular in shape with nature lines and such formed by nature. After a few seconds a few soft sharp chirps of birds and other smaller wildlife further away resumed normal chatter and such. A quick scan by tricorder showed no one intelligent was around within least a 3 mile or so radius. Going off their map they had also gotten the closest mountain village which would then connect to larger trade roads or the like to larger towns and cities.

A light soft buzz in everyone’s ear came in then =/\= Merrimack to away team, comms check =/\= came an NE’s voice

=/\= Comms working! We’ve arrived in the correct location. =/\= Glen confirmed, without giving away the thick grove of trees or the the village, just in case.

“Do we need to break up into two groups to travel?” Glen queried as he had heard someone raise the question earlier. “I don’t believe so, there are only five of us, we could easily be a family group or a work party. We just need to get our stories straight. Anyway, the village is that way!”

*Five too many * Hunter thought but said nothing ,instead took a deep breath ‘’Ah to finally breath in some fresh air ‘’ he commented.

“NE Science bod, any traces in the air composition that are unusual?” Glen asked as he made the first step to began the trek to the village.

‘’I agree with the Captain ,we would be safer if we stayed together’’ Sharp commented. He felt the need to be important on his first ever mission.

‘’Well Captain shall we start moving before it gets dark?’’ Hunter asked , thinking they won’t achieve anything by standing still.

NE Lécuyer was ready to follow the team. She was curious about what the village would look like. She wanted to badly get her tricorder out and do some scanning but knew it might give away the fact the team was not from the planet. She just keep her eyes and ears open to see if they heard or saw anything as the team was making their way to the village.

Since Glen has already started walking he didn’t wait for the doctor to catch up, or the engineer. It was several miles to the village, which, unless there was some obstruction should easily be walked in under and hour. The daylight ought to hold for that long at least.

• Now he’s off !* Hunter started to wonder if what happened to the CO in the past had impacted him in same way ,he was tempted to take the medical tricoder from underneath his shirt but then decided not to. By now he had reached Glen and was walking next to him ‘’Captain when we are asked who we are ,what shall our response be?’’ the doctor asked out of concern.

“Doctor, I thought that you, at least, would have learnt your script with your false cover ID?” Glen replied. “We disguise our strangeness as itinerant workers looking for employment, from a remote and isolated mountain village within another region. We are simple rural hermit folk who have never been to the city before. Your cover ID is that of a travel nurse who goes from town to towns offering simpler medical treatment in exchange normally for tips, basic supplies and/or rides to your next chosen town.”

“Doctor, I thought that you, at least, would have learnt your script with your false cover ID?” Glen replied.

‘’Of course I know that much ‘’ Hunter replied back .

“We disguise our strangeness as itinerant workers looking for employment, from a remote and isolated mountain village within another region. We are simple rural hermit folk who have never been to the city before’‘.

’’ Thanks Captain that was what I needed to know ..just to make sure we’ ll say the same thing if asked, especially if we end up being separated’‘.

The security who was behind them heard the conversation and became quite agitated, as he either had forgotten or was not told what he was suppose to be .Not wanting to look foolish he decided to stay quiet ....maybe he’ll come up with something along the way .

“Well, we may need to elaborate a little on these stories, so it was a good question,” Glen added. “None of us have any family, either due to not starting one, them passing away, or being estranged and out of contact for some time, but you’ll have to make up your own names there. We should probably decide on the same name for our village. And if you have a partner, then you really need to get that story straight. Sharp, your cover ID is as a hunting partner with me, you also deal as a security consultant in your spare time. We should decide how long we’ve worked together, how we met, the last animal we caught together. You should all work on things like that before we are asked, but the safest thing to do will be to say little and give yes or no answers. The smaller the tangled web we weave, the easier it will be to escape it!”

“NE Science bod, you weren’t given a cover ID for some reason, or any money, so I suggest you are a tinker who travels from place to place mending broken equipment.”

• Glen, CO