[snip]

Also happening at that moment was they would find their open comms to the Merrimack squeal slightly and cut out, a check would find they had lost their signal from something. That probably wasnt a good sign! Maybe they really should move ahead to see what was going on in that center chamber!

Nkosenye tried to call the ship twice before swearing loudly in his native language at his communicator. “Masende kababa wakho!” and then he looked around. “We need to move. Perimeter! Fan out to 10 meters! No one outside the perimeter!” and he looked at the rest of the away team. “We need to find what we are looking for, and if possible a more secure location.”

”..Aye sirs” were echoed by the other four red shirt NE’s as they closed up ranks, NE Hopes’tu Live seemed excited though as the team were ready to move head, “..Man wait till you guys see whats ahead! Its beyond words!!” he stated

Cross was more then glad the landing party was about to move deeper towards the central chamber,she was doing her utmost to subdue that impulse reaction to go ahead alone.The need for some kind of stimulation was rearing its ugly head again...........

The doctor was wondering why on this particular occasion she managed to stay put,she soon got her answer for on hearing the CoS barking orders it did dawn on her that this man was not somebody to fool around with.

But Cross was Cross,she had enough and started running towards the central chamber ‘’We are here for a reason and I doubt if its to focus on the Fungus and darn beetles!’’ she exclaimed, now even further away from the group.

Maybe she blamed herself for not firing back when left in charge on the bridge ,opening her transmitter the doctor spoke =/\= Cmdr,Cmdr anything too report?=/\= the female doctor asked as she kept running =/\= Sir acknowledge!=/\= were her last words..............

Glen found that own communicator was also useless. Either something was blocking the signal or the Merrimack was now out of range. He saw Cross about to run off and shouted to her, “Cross, No!” but it was too late.

Nkosenye swore again and the said “Hold perimeter! If anyone else runs, shoot them!” and he took off after Cross.

As Cross broke ranks and darted ahead, she would be the first then to round the bend where Hopes’tu Live had been and down the long passage emerge to the entrance to the central underground cave chamber. While her flashlight danced about in her blind run ahead, causing many of the fungus or beetles to light up/pause/etc in her wake. She (hopefully) would skid to a halt just short of the sharp end of the tunnel and the 20 foot drop to another cliff edge below (or would that be above her now?) further into the vast cavern around her. What could only be described as a ‘city’ was spanned out ahead and below her. But what made the whole thing beyond odd, was that the obsidian made buildings were no bigger then 4 inches or so in height!! Tiny dots smaller then even the beetles were evident possibly showing either more insects or maybe it was life? Who could tell maybe scans might show something.

What was evident though most of all was in the center of this vast underground miniature tiny city like cavern home was at the center were a cluster of 10, 8 inch high by 6 inch long egg shaped objects she could just make out in the dark gloom of the city and cavern. From what she saw it seemed either the mini city and its assume dwellers were either tapping into the eggs in some way by thin strands of what might be some kind of organic root/wire or the eggs were tapping into the city in the same way. Again more scans were needed.

Getting down to the city would be a bit of a challenge a path along the wall to her right (or was that left?) about 10 inches wide led down (or was it up?) to the cavern floor (or was it the ceiling!!). It probably would be wise though to wait for the rest of the landing party, but then again Cross was Cross!

Nkosenye came up behind the doctor and dropped a hand gently onto her shoulder. Looking out over the scene before them, his ever-present scowl flinched as he took in the site. For a few moments he said nothing, but then the deep growl of his voice come forth. “Doctor Cross. I understand your desire to find out what is going on. But if you run off again, I will strap you to my back and make sure your feet touch no surface other that the deck plating of the Merrimack when we return. This is not a point of discussion. This is how it will be. I have carried you once, and I will do so again if necessary to keep you safe.” and then he removed his hand and said “The eggs. Could those belong to to the Serpents?”

William sighed as he moved quickly after them “We’ll be going this way anyway right Cap’n?” He looked at the captain and shrugged. He looked at an angry looking security officer “If ye point that at me, lad, I will Open a black hole in yer quarters” His ‘Threat’ was given with an amused smile as he walked after the Security Chief and the Lunatic doctor… “Captain” He walked backwards in the same direction with a smile “The Chief’s a big lad and can handle himself but We really shouldn’t wait here fer long”

“Yes, we need to move forward. I think the Merri has gone away somewhere, so there is no going back at the moment,” Glen replied to William. “We will need to find a safe path down this cliff… If those ARE Serpent eggs then what are the luminous beetles? A different stage in their life-cycle? An artificial life form or another different species that services them or farms them? Are they parasitic or symbiotic? Are they even intelligent? …and who built this miniature city?”

She gave William a mischievous look ‘’The lunatic doctor! I shall remember that’’ Cross held her gaze and in the semi darkness those red eyes gave her a sinister look.

Cross must have taken Nkosenye by surprise for she made it to Cavern and her jaw dropped ‘’Wow look at the size of this place!’’ the doctor exclaimed while taking the medical tricoder and started scanning ‘’They’re organic in matter’’ she said with a keenly observant glaze .

Now she turned to face the Lt ‘’Ooo you are so sweet when you’re angry ‘’ she took a deep breath as her eyes fell on those broad shoulders ‘’You can carry me once we go back as for now if we need to get closer we have to take that treacherous path.The female doctor then tried to make some sense of the scan ‘’Either something is using them as food or its the other way round,no surprise there since everything in this cave is the opposite of what it should be’’ .

“Cross! Listen to Nkosenye! I’ve told you before but this must be your last chance. If you put this landing party in danger again, it will be the last time I take you anywhere!” Glen told her.

‘’Sorry Sir, we were wasting too much time and we do not even known what is happened with the ships’‘.

“The eggs. Could those belong to to the Serpents?”

‘’At this point I would rather not speculate since we have little to no information’’ he could see her assessing look in her eyes

Actually both officers would recall from their joint briefing with the Ark Angel crew that eggs like this were shown to be likely the Serpent’s ‘eggs’, so its likely this planet was a hatchery like that found in the future and from what was told of them in the far past from scans. Though the setup here seemed different....almost medical like, like they were on life support or something. Maybe this was a Serpent hatchery form of a ‘critical care unit’ or something?

“I was just speculating with William! It is similar to something that Captain Andone briefed us about,” replied Glen. “This could be an important find. If their young are produced here then it might be a strategic place, but then I would have expected better defences. We literally just walked in.”

Glen looked both ways along the steep cliff edge for a pathway down. “Let’s get off this ledge and have a closer look.”

Jasper kept his distance from the eggs and the possibility of snakes. Apparently, he had a fear of snakes and was not totally aware of it till now. He wished he was back aboard ship. as he continued to collect his scans.

“Don’t look so worried Ensign,” Glen told Jasper. He mistook his fear for a fear of heights and added, “I’m sure Doctor Cross will hold your hand.”

Glen, CO