Wood Exploration

Posted on Wed Jan 26th, 2022 @ 7:12am by Commander William Gerhard & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Callistus 'CJ' Jackson

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Unknown Planet
Timeline: DAY 274 11:00
1857 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

CJ did not like the strange twilight the planet was giving them; he had been on the world all day and it was unnerving. No other planet he had ever been on had a sunset quite as long as this one had. He really wished they had named the world before they had ventured into the forest to check it out or he had better clothes on. He was not one to complain but he hated wet clothes.

“Anyone else wishing they had brought waterproofs?” The forest was endless, wet, and verdant and CJ was surprised by the wetness when the rest of the world was nice and dry. Maybe the area had had rain recently and the canopy was just keeping it all in. Curling branches clung to every tree, and a mishmash of flowers, which were scattered sporadically, looked almost out of place in the otherwise dark terrain.

William held a hand scanner that he used to navigate their trek. He was thoroughly enjoying the hike through the woods because it reminded him of the long walks he would take in the woods of his home on Earth. He looked back at CJ, "Sure beats sweating your ass off in the humidity." He gave the young man a grin as he turned his attention back to his scanner.

"But I am soaked, Sir." The Petty Officer said in a voice that spoke volumes for a man who did not overly speak much. He was solid and unmoving most of the time but right then and there he was grumpy ever so slightly.

"Well hopefully you brought your waterproof boots so your feet should be dry--that's what's important," Maddison added from the rear. She had enjoyed the hike despite being soaked. She recalled how she used to play in the rain when she was a child --a rarity for the central outback where she grew up.

"God I miss water... proper water!" A marine said as he let the condensation fall on to his face. "Say what you want about recycled water on board but nothing beats the real thing." The man had been a Navy SEAL back on Earth and loved the open water. Sadly on board the Atlantis, which ironically was lost in water, he was far from the real kind.

“Well, I am sure that on here we will be able to find a body of water on this planet sir.” CJ commented as he stopped and just took it all in.

"I believe the science teams already found a fairly large body of water in the southern hemisphere," William added as he stopped with the group. He looked over at Maddison. "What about you Walker. Enjoying the weather here," he asked.

"Loving it, Sir. Growing up in the Central Outback of Australia, we hardly ever got rain, so I enjoy it whenever I can," she smiled.

"I would have been more than happy to give you of England's water..." The Marine joked.

“Lexi and Duncan have said the same. You think the Captain would allow us to go swimming there?” CJ asked as he stopped and looked around again. The extended twilight periods and the stillness of the planet was so unnerving for the man that he had to keep stopping to look behind him.

"It would be nice," Maddison admitted. "As long as the water comes back free of any harmful bacteria, I personally don't see why not."

CJ nodded. That would be nice. Fresh water would be nice even if it was cold. He was fed up of the recycling and it would be nice to just have something fresh. Maybe they could even refresh the water supply they had if it had no bacteria.

"I did find a secluded body of water on one of my lone scouting trips earlier. If some of you are nice I may take you. Truly is a sight to behold." The Marine said as he cut a large branch from their path. "Almost makes you forget you're in a dense jungle that seems intent on stopping you from passing through it."

"Me? I'm always nice," Maddison quipped with a smirk.

William followed behind the Major as he moved the branch he cut out of the way. "I'll pass on the swimming aspect, but find me a nice glacier to hike up and I'm there," he said. "Nothing more natural than melting snow over a fire so you can have water to drink."

"Not me," Maddison replied as they continued to make their way through the woods. "Not a fan of the cold."

“I have not seen anything around snow or colder climate but I would love to see snow.” CJ admitted with a longing smile. He would like to see it all just once more before they got back on the ship for who knows how long. He really just wanted to savour everything he could now who knew when they were going to get the opportunity to see anything other than the never ending corridors and the same crew.

"I believe Elegy mentioned something about the polar regions having a cooler climate, but something about the axial tilt of the planet meant it was not as cold as Earth's poles," William replied. He continued to follow, and noticed that the flora around them had begun to transition into something more jungle-like than a deciduous forest.

“Shame. No chance for snowball fights and snow Angels.” The brig officer said with a low sigh. That was a shame there were many crew that could use a snowball fight to get rid of all the pent-up frustration and anger.

The mood turned silent again as the group moved further into the woods turned jungle. It did make CJ wonder what the point of it was now. He was never one to not ask a question when it came up just like an investigation, so he prodded. “What is the best case for this excursion then? Do we have an end game?”

William looked up from his scanner at the brig officer. "Well, Mr. Nascimento wanted us to investigate any possible signs of life. Supposedly the science teams picked up supposed wildlife biosigns out here. Though I'm starting to doubt if their scanner was calibrated correctly," he responded.

After several minutes of walking, the sound of a branch breaking caught Maddison's attention. "Quiet, I think I heard something," she stopped, looking about for the source of the sound before hearing it again, this time from above. "Looking up, she saw a two-foot tall, brown-haired animal that most closely resembled a Terran monkey except this one had four arms instead of two. It's two black eyes stared down at the party with curiosity. "Hope we didn't accidentally discover the Planet of the Apes," she joked.

William paused as he heard the call for quiet as his hand instinctively went to his holstered weapon. When he heard the sound, he looked up into the tree and spotted the intriguing creature. He held out his scanner towards it and took some readings, "Well, someone get a photo so we can prove the to the Science teams that the Armory team found the first signs of wildlife on this planet."

“What the hell?” CJ said pulling out his camera slowly from his pack as not to spook the animal who was just staring at them as intrigued as they would me. “Interesting to think in a couple of million years there might be something similar to us but with four arms. I would get so much more done with four arms.” He said as he took a quick snap relieved that the flash had not kicked in to surprise the thing and scare him away. It was just nice to see something different that did not look like it was going to eat them at first sight.

"If memory serves me right the honor of naming a new species goes to the one who first discovered it," William said before glancing over at Madison. "So, Ms. Walker, what shall we call this animal?"

"Something non-threatening," CJ suggested as the being just carried on staring at them for a moment before it made a low noise and disappeared back into the jungle for a moment before coming back. Even the Marine with them cracked a smile at the thing. No one could help but be moved by seeing an animal for the first time in a year.

"Hmmm," Maddison thought as she continued to look at the creature as it picked at a purple-colored fruit from the tree. "Why not Maddison Monkey?" she suggested, looking at her boss.

She turned back just as her head snapped back from the impact of an exploding fruit, causing her to stumble back as the purple juices from the fruit coated her face, hair, and upper chest. Immediately an excited howling noise came from the creature as it jumped up and down on the branch, seeming to laugh at the sight of Maddison being hit by the fruit. "Crikey!" she exclaimed.

William saw the exchange and stepped back from the flying fruit shrapnel. He covered his hand over his mouth to hide the grin he held as he looked over at the marine and exchanged a grin. He looked back over at Madison and walked over to help her clean off the fruit juices. "I'm no expert, but I don't think that it likes that name," he said after clearing his throat.

“Here.” CJ held out some wipes from his pack to help clean her up a bit better. He out the camera away and re shouldered his pack to carry on as the Marine with them just silently cringed at the mess.

"Thanks," Maddison replied as she took a break from picking chunks of the fruit off of her. She knew this incident would spread like wildfire among the crew. "I'd say we move on before it decides to do it again," she suggested as she began to wipe the juices off of her face.

“Or bring its friends to start a new tradition.” The Petty Officer said brightly as the marine finally cracked a smile and started off leading the way again.

William smiled slightly as they began to move out further into the woods. "You should count yourself lucky that we aren't in the science division, otherwise we would have to reenact the fruit throwing in order to better study this creatures behavior," he said. He returned his attention to his scanner as it signaled the approach of several more of the same primates. He then looked up into the trees as he spotted another one of the primates in the tree. He felt the smile he had had fade as the creature looked at him and and sent another piece of fruit sailing in his direction. "Oh shit," he said as he dodged the thrown fruit.

"Run!" Maddison said, already taking off through the woods. "Damn dirty monkeys," she thought as one fruit impacted the trunk of a tree next to her as she ran past with the others in suit.