Snip

When being told not to force himself was when Rynak glanced at the communications officer. Words had started forming on the back of his throat, but the 21 year old instead made the choice to remain silent instead of providing something that might sound like a snarky statement. A smile had been drawn upon his lips, sending those findings towards the rest of those consoles on the bridge.

Most of his report mentioned how sound waves collided against their ship’s hull, the way in which ch’Sorel understood them. Not a single noise that was constant. But rather a crystalline choir.

George looked up from his engineering console for the first time. I lifted the headphones from his ears and said, “Whell, ay say, these here crystallahn harmonics must contayn some messages. We just need-ta try harduurr!”

• George, Engineer

The Lieutenant blinked his eyes twice before focusing down on the console’s data. Those memories fading onto the back of his mind. One ear flicked halfway through towards the words from the engineer standing behind the communications console. He performed a hand sign in acknowledgment before getting back to work with numbers, which weren’t certainly Rynak’s best abilities. But the canidin was determined to try.

Lieutenant JG. Rynak ch’Sorel
Helm Officer
U.S.S. Merrimack - NCC-2346 (Mariner Class)

The bridge remained noticeably quieter now that the senior officers were planetside. With the away team’s telemetry flowing steadily across the Operations displays, the responsibility for maintaining the Merrimack’s watch over Vey’lan rested with the junior officers at their stations.

At the Operations console, Ensign Daniel Corwin continued correlating the harmonic data streaming from the planet with the ship’s sensor logs. Rynak’s observations regarding the changing harmonic patterns proved invaluable, and Corwin quickly overlaid the Canidin’s analysis with the latest sensor returns. The results were immediate.

The harmonic field surrounding Vey’lan was not random. It behaved less like naturally occurring background radiation and more like a constantly evolving information network.

Entire frequency groups shifted together in complex mathematical relationships, repeating motifs that appeared briefly before transforming into new patterns. Every attempt by the Merrimack’s computer to classify the signals as natural resonance, electromagnetic interference, or conventional communications produced the same response.

Classification impossible. Pattern does not correspond with known Federation signal protocols.

Corwin studied the data for several moments before trying a different approach. “Computer,” he said calmly, “compare harmonic fluctuations with the away team’s recorded movements through the city. Cross-reference against internal sensor logs and display any statistically significant correlations.”

The familiar feminine voice of MAJEL 2.0 responded almost immediately. “Working.”

Moments later, new data appeared across the Operations display. There was indeed a measurable correlation.

Each time the landing party entered a new section of the crystalline city, new harmonic sequences propagated throughout the surrounding structures while earlier patterns gradually diminished. The changes were subtle, but well beyond the margin of statistical error.

Corwin leaned closer to his console. “If these aren’t communications…” he murmured thoughtfully, “…they’re certainly responding to something.” He initiated another comparison.

“Computer, correlate harmonic fluctuations with away team biometric telemetry.”

Again the computer processed the request before presenting its findings. Very slight increases in the landing party’s neural synchronization consistently preceded changes in the planetary harmonic field by several seconds.

Corwin wasn’t prepared to draw conclusions. But the timing was becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss as coincidence.

At the Engineering station, George continued refining his analysis of the interaction between the planet’s resonance and the Merrimack’s hull. His latest diagnostics confirmed that the harmonic field was inducing microscopic vibrations throughout portions of the outer hull plating. The amplitudes remained far below any threshold that might threaten structural integrity.

More curious, however, was the remarkable consistency of the effect. The vibrations seemed almost… regulated.

Engineering could identify no danger to the ship, though George recommended continuing to monitor the phenomenon should the harmonic intensity increase.

At the Helm, Rynak’s expanding mathematical model continued uncovering relationships between frequencies that had previously appeared unrelated. The computer had begun incorporating elements of his calculations into its predictive routines, steadily improving its ability to forecast the next harmonic transition before it occurred.

Elsewhere on the bridge, the remaining science and navigation support personnel quietly continued cataloguing the steady stream of sensor information arriving from orbit. Flight Control maintained the Merrimack in a stable synchronous orbit above the crystalline city while long-range sensors watched the surrounding gravimetric distortions bordering the Vey’lan Aperture. No significant changes had been detected beyond the fluctuations already observed since the ship’s arrival.

A soft attention tone sounded at Corwin’s console. A fresh telemetry packet had just arrived from the away team.

Almost simultaneously, the harmonic field surrounding Vey’lan shifted once more. The computer immediately highlighted the change.

“New harmonic sequence detected. Comparison with existing database complete. No match found.”

The display updated again. Initial occurrence corresponds with away team arrival at previously unmapped subterranean chamber. Whatever the away team had just encountered beneath Vey’lan, the planet itself had responded.

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare