Evadne Lab [McConville, Davidson, Zaynah, Rhee]

[xCommander Vladik Fedorov]

==MISSION===

To determine if environmental factors are responsible for the population's ability to resist Borg assimilation. Minimal intrusion only. Also gain information about the society as a whole. Why are they so Xenophobic? Allowed to investigate the town and surrounding area, but need permission to go into structures or buildings.

[xEnsign Zaynah]

"Let's go," Zaynah thought, silently urging Alexis to give them some orders that would take them away from the crowded square. She glanced at Patrick and Rhee, then caught the eye of Peerz, who was looking at her. Turning her head quickly, she moved closer to Rhee. Needing something to distract her thoughts, she turned on her tricorder which, from what it said in the reports, the natives were used to seeing after Kavanaugh's visit. She was glad of that, as she really didn't want them thinking it was a weapon of some sort and shooting her for turning it on.

"This planet is really interesting," she said quietly to those near her, "there are energy levels spiking to the north, possibly geologic, and the water in the fountain contains increased levels of sulfur and other minerals." She made a face, "not something I'd want to drink."

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[Lt. Cmdr. Alexis McConville]

Alexis was sorry to see that they wouldn't be all together, though she knew it was for the best. Yet, she couldn't help that fleeting thought of wishing she could have been with Nick. But, this was not a pleasure journey. She had work to do. Turning to her companions, she listened to Zaynah's analysis. Patrick seemed to be exceptional quiet since they began this mission.

"Okay, we need to get readings and samples of everything we think is important. But we need to be discrete about it. We can run tests on the samples once we are out of the main complex here so as not to draw any undue attention to ourselves. We've been given pretty much free reign to explore, let's use that to our advantage but make sure we don't do anything to cause these people alarm."

Alex paused, "I'd like a sample of that water to taste, as well as the clay on the ground." She nodded to Zaynah, knowing she would handle the task. "It sounds as though we should head to the north and check out those energy levels Zaynah detected. If you seen anything along the way that we should test, just let us know. Ensign Mitra," Alexis nodded to the security officer, "We're glad to have you along. Let us know if you think we should handle any situations differently."

After that, she looked to them all and once they were in agreement, the group started walking through through the little town. Alexis tried to smile at some of the residents who glanced at them curiously but all that resulted in was watching them dart away faster than light itself. Why are they so unfriendly and afraid anyway? She wondered.

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[xEnsign Mitra Rhee]

Rhee moved to join the science team as soon as the Commander gave him his orders.

He waited while the science chief, Alexis gave some directions. "Sir," He stated moving up beside her when finished. "I believe the reports stated that we should refrain from using our ranks so as not to alienate ourselves further." He looked to them all when they were gathered. "You may all call me Mitra."

As soon as the group began moving, Rhee's eyes watched everything. He was looking for any sign of something amiss or danger. Yet, aside from the almost frightened glances of the inhabitants and their quick movements he detected nothing out of the ordinary.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

"I'd like a sample of that water to taste, as well as the clay on the ground."

"To taste?" Zaynah looked at the water coming out of the fountain. "Um... yes, ma'am."

After Mitra reminded them about the non-rank issue, Zaynah moved over to the fountain and Peerz quickly joined her, standing a little too close for comfort for one as self-proclaimed a xenophobic as he was. "I'm just going to take a tiny bit of water," she said to him.

He nodded and watched as she pulled something from her pack. "I'll need to examine that," he said, pointing to the bag.

"Sure," Zaynah said happily, as if there was nothing wrong with his request. She placed it on the ground and opened it up for him. He squatted next to it and looked in. "It's not going to bite you," Zaynah said, laughing.

He looked up at her, "no weapons?"

She gave him a hurt look, "now why would I jeopardize a peace mission by bringing weapons onto your planet? Here... look." With a fluid movement, she dumped the contents of the bag onto the yellow clay and sat down next to the mess. "This..." she held up a PADD, "is how I take notes. I will write nice things about you if you let me."

Peerz smiled at that.

"Then, there's this..." she held up a small leather pack and opened it, "it contains vials that will hold things I want to learn about." She seized the opportunity. "For example, if I wanted to learn more about me, I'd put one of my hairs in one. Since I know all about myself, one of yours would be better." She held out her hand.

"You want to know more about me?"

No, dufus, your entire species.

She smiled and nodded.

Plucking a hair from his head, he put it into her hand and watched as she placed it carefully in the vial as if it were a great treasure. "Thank you," she said, bowing as she had seen Vlad do. She went through the rest of the bag's inventory, explaining everything to his final satisfaction. "Now may I have a little water from the fountain," she asked.

"I'll get it for you, the edge is slippery," he said. He took the vial from her hand and dipped it into the fountain as Zaynah put her lab equipment back into her bag, swung it onto her shoulder, and stood.

"Thanks," she said, "we're going to go look around at your beautiful planet now."

Peerz watched her join the others, a genuine smile on his face.

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[Lt. Commander Patrick Davidson]

Patrick, laden with a pack filled with supplies, followed at everyone’s heels taking it all in. The place was pretty amazing, but it didn’t awe him like he would have hoped. It appeared as if the people would be the interesting part of this venture because the landscape didn’t do anything for the eye. Perhaps on closer examination he would change his mind.

As he walked a few of the residents caught his eye. He could tell they thought he looked out of place among the others having a darker skin tone than the others, but he refused to change his appearance to fit in. Either they accepted him or he could go back to the ship. There was no middle ground in that regard.

He listened to the conversation going on around him and looked to the north where Alexis indicated. When she told the security officer to point out samples for them he raised a brow. What would a security officer know about specimen collection? Cutting his eyes at Alexis, he raised a brow, but kept his confusion at bay as he smiled at the residents who seemed to be hiding away--all of them except Zaynah’s friend.

Remembering that they weren’t supposed to used hushed tone, he moved over to Alexis to speak to her, but made sure that his voice carried to those watching them from the shadows.

“Starting in the north sounds good to me. We can work our way south and cover as much of the land as we can. How far should we go do you think?” He wanted to do a few tests, but he’d feel a hell of a lot more comfortable doing that without a hundred eyes on his back.

Tag: Alexis, anyone

[Lt. Cmdr. Alexis McConville]

Alexis looked up quizzically at Zaynah. Taste? Had her words sounded like that when she'd said test. Perhaps her nerves at leading her first away mission were getting to her.

“Starting in the north sounds good to me. We can work our way south and cover as much of the land as we can. How far should we go do you think?”

Following Patrick's lead at keeping her voice welcoming and open, Alexis spoke, "Why don't we walk to northern edge of town." Alexis turned towards Peerz. "How far is that Peerz?"

The Evadnian moved towards her, studying her a bit. "It will take us about 2 clicks to walk there." Alexis recalled from her reading that a click was about a half an hour of time. So about an hour's walk from the town center.

"I'd like to start there, then. Shall we?" She gestured for Peerz to lead the way as she glanced back at her team. Signaling them all to keep their senses on full alert.

After about 20 minutes of walking, Alexis could feel the sweat beginning to form down her back. The mesh of little homes that had filled the town center were falling away to be replaced by more open spaces and homes farther away. Alexis noted the sounds of animals bleating in the distance.

Suddenly a young Evandian bolted out in front of them, looking rather scared and frightened. Then, seeing the group before him, he stopped and froze. His whole young body trembled.

The sounds of shouting in the distance, approaching their position could be heard. The young boy looked over his shoulder and then back at the group that stood in his way. Then, before any of them could think, a group of older, rather unfriendly looking Evandians burst through the brush to the right.

The young boy squeaked and darted directly behind Patrick, clinging to the man and using him as a shield against his assailants.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

Peerz took the lead which made him a bit concerned. He could very easily be shot in the back by the strangers, which prompted him to look back behind him more often than was convenient for walking.

Zaynah heard the sounds of animals and she quickened her stride, wanting to see what was producing the noises. However, all thoughts of discovery were halted as a young boy froze in front of them, then quickly used Patrick as a human shield. "Easy," Zaynah said to everyone. The older Evadnians appeared threatening, but so did most of those on the planet when they encountered outsiders.

She waited, trying to keep her body relaxed. The little boy's hands had white knuckles as he gripped Patrick's trousers. This just wasn't "play scared"... he was terrified.

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[Lt. Commander Patrick Davidson]

This walking thing wasn't what he had in mind when he recommended they look at the surrounding area. After fifteen minutes of backpacking up hilly terrain in 90 degree weather he was ready to call it a day. A cool drink was looking pretty good about now.

Patrick sped up his steps so that he was almost level with Alexis. He was all set to tell her he needed a break when shouts erupted a short distance away. He had brought a weapon just in case things went sideways, but hadn’t thought he’d need to use it less than an hour into the trip.

Patrick watched the frightened child. He wasn’t great with kids so he hoped the kid kept running, but he didn’t. Instead he ran toward him and tucked himself behind his legs, clinging to his pants for dear life. A bit shocked, Patrick glanced back at the boy, but he didn’t say anything. The boy looked terrified of something. That something appeared right on cue.

A group of about seven large Evandian men walked toward them holding weapons of their own. They didn’t look surprised to see them there. Patrick took a step back and the boy did as well.

“May we help you?” Patrick called out to the men. All of their eyes flicked to him. They appeared to be sizing him up. From their expressions they didn’t like what they saw. Three men to seven. The odds were against them, but Patrick wasn’t afraid.

The Evandian’s didn’t say anything, but moved closer to their tiny group.

Reaching behind him, Patrick gripped the boy’s hand and backed him toward Zaynah. “Stay with her,” he said, glancing down at the child. Teary eyed and frightened, the boy nodded and instead clung to Zaynah instead.

“We were on our way north to do research,” he tried to explain as he moved back toward the men. He consciously put himself between them and Alexis, though he left Peerz to his own devices.

“We can’t allow that?” One man yelled out, his voice loud and booming. They shifted their weapons in their hands and took one more step forward.

Patrick stepped back and gripped Alexis’ hand. “How about you lower those and we discuss this. Hmm?” He was pushing it. He knew that much, but it was either talk these people down or get shot. That decision was easy enough to make.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” another yelled, advancing yet again.

Rhee better step in now or he would. He was no security officer, but he could point and shoot.

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[xEnsign Mitra Rhee]

Rhee had been watching the scene unfold, yet hadn't moved forward as he'd sensed some other presence off to their left, slightly behind them. Were they being surrounded?

Slipping his hand into the special pocket of his attire, he gripped his phaser, hoping he would not have to be the one to start an interstellar conflict when they had been expressly told to try not to brandish their weapons at all costs. Yet, he had to protect the others. That was his solemn duty.

Glancing behind him, he noted a small collection of the local people emerging from the shadows of their homes. That was what he had sensed earlier. He hoped they were friendly.

Finally at the sound of the harsh tones of the approaching Evadnians, Rhee moved forward to stand beside Patrick, but off enough to guard their backs if the others did indeed turn hostile.

"Look," he called out, releasing his phaser from inside his clothing and raising his hands in a universal gesture of no-harm. "We don't want anyone to get hurt. Just tell us why you're after this young one here. Maybe we can help." Then shrugging slightly, he added, "Maybe we'll even turn him over to you...that is if we like your answers."

The one man, a teenager perhaps from Rhee's guess, stepped forward. "We don't owe you any answers." He spat out. "He's a Lathan. He should never have crossed the lands between our peoples. He will pay for his trespassing. Now give him to us!" The young man growled, stepping forward again.

Rhee glanced around at the others quickly, making sure they were all safe, before squaring his site on the approaching Evadnian.

"I'm sorry," Rhee called out, "I'm afraid we don't understand. I don't think this young boy deserves whatever you have in mind, Lathan or not." Rhee had been watching him beat the bluc into his open palm and he was disgusted. The boy clinging to Zaynah was just that, a boy. He stood no chance against a group of armed men. Rhee watched the Evadnian, trying to find an edge, watching each step the young Evandian took, judging how best he could take him down if necessary.

Suddenly, angry voices rose behind them all.

"Be gone! Leave!" They started to call, then their voices grew louder.

Damn, Rhee had misjudged them, he thought when he glanced at the now growing crowd behind his party. There were less friendly than he thought and it looked like they were approaching them. He glanced back between the group of original assailants and the growing crowd, trying to figure out their best way out of this situation.

Suddenly he heard a rather loud hissing sound from the assailants side. He turned quickly and saw that they had dropped their clubs and were clutching their arms like babies. Tiny pellets of some sort were raining down on them. Glancing back he realized the townspeople were throwing them. Rhee blinked. They were not attacking his crewmates, but rather their own people?

"Fools! You are all fools!" He heard the Evandian teenager call out before his party turned and fled the scene.

Once the area had quieted down a woman from the throng approached them.

"We thank you," she said to the group. "You have protected one of ours. It is true his grandfather was once part of the Lathan tribe, but it is not fair to hold the sins of an ancestor against a child. Come, Haltani. You will be safe now." The woman approached the young boy and when he moved into her embrace, she patted him atop the head gently, before turning back to the away team. "We thank you. We help you now. What do you seek from us?"

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

“Stay with her.”

Zaynah was impressed by the confidence that Patrick was showing. The little boy moved over to her and she reached back, putting a comforting hand on his little arm. She could feel the tension in his muscles and he was trembling.

"He's a Lathan. He should never have crossed the lands between our peoples. He will pay for his trespassing. Now give him to us!"

Blatant racism. These people were not only xenophobic, but they also had an internal power struggle. Kavanaugh and Rell certainly would have their hands full in the negotiations. After all, they--

Zaynah's eyes widened with a sudden thought, but she had to put it on hold as they found themselves surrounded.

"Be gone! Leave!"

She cringed slightly at the hissing sound as pellets flew over their heads.

"Fools! You are all fools!"

Closing her eyes briefly, Zaynah sighed and shook her head. That could have gone better. As the boy was reunited with his people, Zaynah took the opportunity to pull Alexis over to her. A quick glance showed her that the other Evadnians were occupied.

"Clubs and pellets? Surprise at technology? This is no advanced civilization." She frowned, "I thought we didn't get involved unless the culture showed much more advancement than this." Her frown turned to anger, "is Starfleet bending the rules because of the Borg... or is there something about this planet that we haven't been told?"

"We thank you. We help you now. What do you seek from us?"

She held her tongue. It was not her place to reply. Stepping aside, she said, "you're up," to the Chief. As she waited, she caught the eye of Peerz, and he looked worried. A shiver crawled up Zaynah's spine.

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[Lt. Cmdr. Alexis McConville]

"Clubs and pellets? Surprise at technology? This is no advanced civilization."

Alexis frowned herself. Zaynah was right. What were they doing here? Even the desire to learn whatever was protecting these people from the Borg could not possibly have led Starfleet to break the Prime Directive. What was really going on here.

"I wish I had the answers," she managed to quietly say to Zaynah before the Evandians spoke offering their help.

Alexis took a step closer to the woman. "Thank you for your willingness to help us. We are here simply to explore your land." Alexis knew they were not to share with the Evadnians exactly what their mission was for fear the people would withhold the information.

"We've detected some interesting readings up north a ways and were headed there to investigate." She watched with a raised brow as the people chattered amongst themselves almost a bit anxiously.

The woman who had originally spoken, turned and looked at her again, "We cannot go there with you. The caves are not safe. You would do better to stay away from them as well. They were once mined for the gems that grew within, but the gems are no longer worth the loss of life from the mining caves."

Alexis could tell that the woman was heartfelt in her words and thoughts. Whatever was in the caves must be what they were looking for. Could it be the gems this woman spoke of? They had to continue their exploration.

"Thank you for your advice. We will be extra careful now. We'll just go and take a look at them."

The Evandian woman frowned a bit. Then, turned and gestured to some of the others who quickly darted away, returning moments later with what looked like a heavy-duty vine of some sort.

"This will help you. It will stick to any surface and allow you to climb, but will release easily so you can take with you. Please accept this as a gift for helping us." The woman came forward with a few others to offer them each one of the plant-like vines. She pressed it into Alexis's hands and then added, "Be careful. The caves are not safe."

Then, with those words, she turned and gestured the others to return to their homes.

Holding the vine-like object in her hands, Alexis turned to her group. "It looks like we're off to explore some caves."

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[xEnsign Mitra Rhee]

Rhee could not express how glad he was that the situation resolved it self without him needing to draw his weapon. They had been warned on the ship of the dangers that their weapons might cause among the people.

He accepted the strange vine that was offered to him and slipped it into the pack with his other supplies. Once the group was ready, they set off towards the caves. Rhee kept his eyes and ears open for any other unwanted or angry visitors who might mean any of them harm.

It was a little more than an miles walk from the edge of the village to the small pass where a cave clearly loomed up behind them.

"Looks like we're here," he remarked, waiting to see what the others would want to do.

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[xEnsign Zaynah]

"This will help you. It will stick to any surface and allow you to climb, but will release easily so you can take with you. Please accept this as a gift for helping us."

Zaynah looked at the vine and turned it over and over in her hand. "How does it--"

"Be careful. The caves are not safe."

Great.

"It looks like we're off to explore some caves."

Zaynah looked back at the group, but they had already started to disperse. Peerz had been unusually quiet during the incident and she thought she detected a brief look of guilt.

As they climbed, Zaynah tested out the vine. It was true to the old woman's words. After several tries, she mastered getting it to release. It was simply a matter of squeezing it in a certain way and the suction aspect of the little projections on it released its grip.

"Looks like we're here."

She looked up. "Already?" In her fascination for the vine, she hadn't noticed the distance they had traveled. Pushing Rhee with her hand on his lower back so that he went first, she said, "let's go." Peerz pulled something out of his pocket and struck it once on the cave wall. The sound it made caused Zaynah to cringe. Within seconds, hundreds of scurrying yellow and white striped creatures ran out of the cave, cutting around the group and heading around the bluff.

"Snarbrandts," Peerz said. "Stupid things carry disease. Don't get bit."

Zaynah sidled up to Alexis and pointed to what Peerz was holding, "is that a rock?"

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