Not Alone Out Here Part 1

Posted on Fri Feb 7th, 2020 @ 9:48pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan

Mission: Mission 2 - Fallout
Location: Alien Bunker
Timeline: Day 4, Month 1, Year 0 19:00
1403 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The pain in Michael's leg was starting to get to him a bit. Aurelius had been gone for about fifteen minutes, yet Sloan found himself listening for the sound of a shuttlepod descending. Instead, he was greeted with sounds of something, or someone, moving around near the top of the trap.

"Who's there?" he called out, choosing not to use names. His hand gripped the phase pistol a bit harder as he readied himself for anything.

The being at the top paused surprised looking down not having expected anyone speaking a strange language. They leant over but they were shadowed by the sun that was behind them and clicked a few times as if they were speaking back.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Michael Sloan of the Atlantis," the man called up to the being that was most definitely not Aurelius. "We come in peace," he added as he lifted his hand to show that he was not a threat.

The hooded being looked more closely at the man and pulled out a device as the clicking that came from under the hood got louder until it became an almost shriek that could burst ear drums.

The shrieking was doing something to Michael. He could not exactly describe what he was feeling, but it was something definitely uncomfortable inside his ears and inside his head. It was almost like new memories were surging forward while the rest of his body was falling away. He used his last strength to reach for the phase pistol and say, "What are you doing, you veruul!" It was at that moment that everything went black.

---

With a bit of difficulty, almost like he had drunk an entire tank of moonshine, Michael started to come back. His eyes struggled to open as his head pounded. The images coming into his eyes were blurry and he could not figure out where he was, but his leg still hurt. "Wh.. where am I?" he asked.

The being that had been hooded before lowered the hood and looked at Michael. The aliens looked like a type of reptilian. It had two eyes which sit tightly in their sockets and could if it was not staring at the man with uncertainty make them appear to be serene. It’s thin mouth and almost hidden nose made its face look almost flat. Their ears were small and stubby but their hearing was perfect as they started clicking looking at the universal translator.

"You are injured?" The translator finally decided to start asking.

"My leg, I hurt it in the fall," Michael replied. Still unsure of his surroundings and who these people were, the man asked, "Who are you?"

The clicks sounded again before the being frowned and picked up the device. "This thing translates for me to you." He looked amazed for a moment before putting it back down as he knelt by Michael. "We are called the Vrav but I guess you could call us Clan ud as that is all that is left of us."

"We are Humans, far from home and trying to find our way back," Michael replied, careful not to give away the fact that they were in a weak position. Realizing the implications of what the Vrav said, Michael asked, "Did something happen to the rest of the Vrav?"

The Vrav looked at the man unsure. He did not understand the term, Human. It was foreign and something he could not understand at all. "We are all that is left now." The Vrav said carefully as if he did not want to give away his own weak position. "I am ud'Eur." The being introduced himself figuring the human could not cause much harm could he cause with a busted leg.

"I am sorry to hear that there isn't much left of the Vrav," Michael stated. He was not sure just how much was being lost in translation, so he tried to keep communications simple. Getting to the important question, the Acting First Officer asked, "Where are we?"

It was not far from where he had fallen but it was deep enough that they would not be disturbed. They needed to interrogate him and find out what he was and what he needed. "You stumbled onto our feeding grounds. The material here is all we have to survive on within our habitable zone."

"All you have to survive on?" Michael asked as the realization slowly began to creep into his mind. "We are far from home with nothing to survive on, we thought we got lucky when we found a planet with water and algae," he explained, unsure of how much the being would understand.

"You have been stealing? You have been taking all we have?" ud'Eur demanded his expression neutral as he realized that these people were there for the same thing as his own people were. There was barely enough for them. How could they possibly allow them to take anything?

"Nothing was going on when you picked me up," Michael stated. Looking to the alien, the Acting First Officer could tell things were about to get a bit more intense. "What has been happening?" he asked calmly, trying not to trigger any violence.

"You have been stealing the water and nourishment that we need." Was it not obvious to this 'human' that there was not much there? Had he not seen the signs of war and famine on the planet.

"If you let me out of here, I might be able to stop it," Michael requested. It was a gamble for sure, but he needed to warn his crew. The Human stayed calm, but a storm was brewing inside. If they took too much, they would doom this species. "If I don't leave now, we can't reverse the process. The matter gets disassembled into a protein mass that makes food for us," he tried to explain.

"Why should be trust someone like you? You have been altered?" ud'Eur said scanning the man with a device again as another figure appeared in the shadows revealing another of the Vrav. "You are not like them out there. Unless they are the ones who have tortured you?"

"What are you talking about?!" Michael stated. Shaking his head he added, "I was born on Earth just like the rest of them. They've never tortured me, no one has. There must be something wrong with your scanner." Sloan was truly baffled at what the aliens were implying.

"No!" The Vrav from behind said without the need for the universal translator. Its true voice was almost like water slipping past a rock.

"You are not like them." ud'Eur said knowing what the other Vrav was thinking as he watched the captive away when he should have still been out.

"What do you mean?" Micahel asked. His panic was held back by the thought of an old proverb. Misdirection is the key to survival.

"We scanned one of the females to get a good idea of what you are. We designed something to know you out and keep you out until we know better. You should have been out for more marks of the moon." ud'Eur explained calmly as he scanned the man again before turning the screen around for him to see where the signs of damage was.

Ears, forehead, blood composition, DNA resequencing, none of that could be right. "I don't know what you're trying to get at, but if I had been changed I would have remembered," Michael replied, much more confidently than he felt. "And I remember everything from my youth to today," he emphasized, though there was one gap when he was involved in the shuttlepod crash during training to become a MACO.

"It does not lie." The Vrav hissed simply. "You are a lie and I want to know who you are."

Shaking his head, Michael knew that these aliens were never going to see reason. Shaking his head, he merely stated the only thing he was required to say under United Earth law, "Lieutenant Commander Michael Sloan, Serial Number IR-6721-302132."

OFF::

Lt. Commander Michael Sloan
Acting First Officer/Chief Armory Officer
NX Atlantis

ud'Eur
Vrav Survivor
(PNPC Leroux)