There Be Oil There Part 1

Posted on Sun Jan 12th, 2025 @ 10:26am by Lieutenant Darru & Ensign Duncan McManus & Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Ensign David Kipling & Chief Petty Officer Nish Karalo & Petty Officer, 1st Class Christian Tremblay & Staff Sergeant Nathanial "Nate" Cusack

Mission: Remnant
Location: Orbit of oil planet
Timeline: Day 408
2077 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Lexi sighed as she was bounced around the shuttlepod hitting Cusack’s leg for the fifth time as she sat on the floor as they reached the upper orbit of the planet that Science had confirmed had a source of fuel that they needed desperately. She had given up apologising after the third knock and just gave him a roll of her eyes now. She was only there as support to relay anything back to the Atlantis which meant she was extra and extra had to sit on the floor and hope and pray the landing was softer than the rollercoaster of getting them there. Venturing down to the surface of a planet was a cause for celebration in her mind even if it was important for they to visually confirm the quality and quantity.

"How are we all feeling?" Lexi decided to break the silence.

Nish was trying her best to keep the shuttle stable but the air currents in the planet's atmosphere made it difficult to dodge the turbulence. She'd apologise if it were not for the fact that she needed all her capacity to keep focused on getting them to the planet's surface in one piece. She didn't even register the question being asked. Eyes trained on the instruments as they were surrounded by dark clouds.

Freshly disgruntled from having once again been selected for exploring the unknown purely because he now covered both medical and security with adequate proficiency, Cusack sat with his head leaned back and his eyes closed and also opted not to say anything. This had less to do with concentrating and more to do with the tiny sliver of sympathy he held for the others who had drawn the short-straw. The mission was necessary, he'd never shirked his duty in his life, and it would take more than a space cabbage to spook him into reluctance but diligence wasn't the same as gratitude by a long shot.

"I am hopeful," Duncan commented from where he was perched with Lexi but trying to look through his PADD at the newest scans from the surface and ignore the motion sickness he was feeling. It was like being on a boat and he had hated that as a kid.

When they finally pierced the clouds the light of the system's star illuminated a massive green forest in patches, like beacons attracting their attention to specific spots on the planet. It was immediately clear that not everything on the surface was naturally occurring. "Shit." Nish immediately pulled back into the clouds, trying to keep their presence there obscured from whatever creatures populated the surface. "I thought you said there wasn't sentient life" She immediately adjusted settings to make sure they wouldn't be able to be tracked by more rudimentary tracking like radar.

“I did and I stand by that.” Darru commented as he took in the scene around them as the shuttle got lower in the atmosphere. He pulled up the scanner again to repeat the scans but there was nothing that sparked even that close to the surface. “Nothing again but there could have been in the past.” The Vulcan surmised as the structures disappeared as soon as they appeared as they got back above the clouds.

Christian had only gotten a brief glimpse of the structures down below out of the side viewport before he focused his attention on Darru's readout. "I can assure you sir, we went over the planetary scans we too back aboard ship in the science lab. There was nothing on the metallurgical, geologic, or biologic scans that indicated anything non indigenous," he offered as he remembered all the data compilation he and his colleagues had done back on the ship. When Darru turned to face him, Christian nodded emphatically, "We ran each scan protocol three times."

A muttered comment from Cusack, far enough under his breath to not technically be an interruption, was mostly lost but for several vague references to 'undergrowth' and 'carnivorous.' The marine had yet to open his eyes, which by now was pure stubbornness, either that or he just wasn't as surprised as the rest of them that the planet had decided to pervert expectations.

David braced himself against the shuttle’s bulkhead as the bottom dropped out of the air…again. Zero-gravity flight was one thing, and he was used to it. Damage Control had to use the shuttle pods all the time to inspect the ship. Atmospheric flight, though, was something else entirely. David tried to focus on anything but the herky-jerky motion of the floor beneath him.

When the pod dipped clear of the clouds, he got the briefest glimpse of the planet beneath them. And it was stunning. He hadn’t seen a planet since leaving Earth, which seemed like a life ago. But then Nish swung the pod back into the soup, and David’s vision was once again obscured. He sighed gently and looked down at his PADD. He tried to focus on the mission briefing, but his mind’s eye was too busy replaying his vision of the planet he’d just gotten. He gently shook his head as though to clear the intrusive thoughts and then, brow wrinkled in concentration, reread the briefing for the third time.

Darru nodded at his fellow scientist there was nothing to indicate anything down there. "Take us below the clouds for a proper look as nothing has indicated that we have been spotted if there is anything down there. No radio signals, no communication of any type. There is nothing but silence below." Darru confirmed.

There was a moment of hesitance, but Nish was there to fly the shuttle. "That planet looked pretty lived on." She moved out of the clouds once more.

The shuttle dipped below the clouds and Darru glanced out the window at the structures that they finally got to look at fully. Vast, skeletal structures stretch across the horizon, what once looked like huge buildings were reduced to jagged ruins, casting long shadows on the scorched and cracked earth below. "Let's find somewhere to land to look around," Darru commented.

Running a local scan Nish sought out a place that she could land the shuttle craft. "There seems to be a square of sorts. I'm sure that'll give us enough space to land and it'll be in a central point. One assumes." She plotted the descent, "hold on to your pants."

Darru said nothing but he had no idea why he had to hold on to his pants of all his items of clothing. He glanced back at the other occupants but no one else seemed to notice anything strange so it must be another human thing that he did not understand.

Cracking only one eye open just enough to catch a whiff of what the fuss was about, Cusack squinted at the viewscreen for only a few seconds before a putter of air pushed his cheeks out in an unimpressed huff. Settling back as if to continue napping, he caught the expression on Darru's face just before closing his eye again and spared a moment's pity for the guy. "Better than trying to hold onto someone else's." The marine cocked an eyebrow as if to reconsider and then allowed his eyelid to drift shut. "Reputedly, anyway."

"Of course reputedly," Lexi commented as she knocked against Cusack again as the shuttlepod finally landed giving her a bit of a reprieve from the bouncing around. She listened to the shuttle pod cycling through the decompression process and slowly stood up awkwardly not at all sure if she had any space to do so once everyone else stood up so she wanted to be first.

"Thank you for flying Karalo airlines," Nish leaned back and looked over her shoulder at the people getting ready to depart. The airy comment was quickly complimented by a more serious, "remember to check in every five minutes. I'll keep the engine running." She really didn't like the look of this planet, which was supposed to be uninhabited. She'd seen one too many scary movie.

Christian followed behind the others as the filed out of the hatch. The landing had not been any bumpier than coming through the atmosphere, but he'd still knocked his head against the bulkhead. He scratched the back of his head feeling where the knot was already starting to form before he stepped out of the shuttlepod. The temperature outside was cool, especially given the tropical looking flora that surrounded them. He took a moment to glance around as he noticed their landing site was surrounded by large stone structures in a perfect square. "This almost seems like a...landing pad," he said to no one in particular as he fished his hand scanner out of the cargo pocket on his uniform.

David stepped out of the shuttle and peered around. The utilitarian nature of his surroundings made him think of most spaceports he’d visited.

“Remenants of a spaceport, maybe,” he offered to Christian’s hanging question.

Without waiting for a reply, David turned his professional eye to the shuttle pod, running a hand over the pod in light of the rough landing. The fuselage looked no worse for wear and the flight control surfaces were intact on the starboard side. He continued his inspection around the front of the pod, noting some atmospheric scoring on the pod’s nose. He squatted to look closer and to poke at the markings a bit.

“Nah, you’re tougher than that, sweetie,” he mumbled to the pod. Satisfied that the nose was intact and that the scoring was only surface damage, David stood and continued around the port side of the craft. He habitually ran his hand over the craft’s surface but didn’t detect anything worthy of his ministrations.

Once he was sure of the pod’s flightworthiness, David popped his head in the still-open hatch.

“Pod’s good to go,” he reported to Nish.

"Roger that," Nish put a thumbs up before swivelling her chair back into the forward facing position looking out over the square they had landed in. "Be safe out there. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Lexi jumped down and shivered at the cooler atmosphere than expected and wished she had a hood or something as the wind whipped up her hair. “Which way are we going?” Lexi asked pulling out her scanner to start to narrow down where the fuel could be.

"History would suggest straight to the nearest hellhole." Cusack, already less than impressed by the impatience of his colleagues, stepped down behind Lexi and surveyed the landscape through narrowed eyes. Whilst nothing looked particularly occupied, at least not in a current sense, there was definitely no denying it had been once-lived-in. Which meant there was a reason for abandonment. "Looks like we're late to the party."

David smiled at Nish’s warning and ducked back out of the open hatch. He was about to reply to Cusack and Darru’s back-and-forth when he heard the telltale whine of the other shuttle pod’s engines. He glanced at his position and took a precautionary step toward the aft section of his pod. Once the other pod had settled on the impromptu landing pad, David repeated his walk-around routine. The newcomer was also in fair shape, which he reported to the pilot. David then turned his attention to the landscape before them. A cold shiver ran up David’s back as he surveyed the decaying remains of whatever society had populated this world. On an impulse, David pulled the phaser pistol from its holster on his hip and checked that it was charged. Satisfied that the weapon would serve its purpose when he needed it too, David replaced the pistol in the holster and took a scanner from one of the many pockets on his uniform. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for but fiddling with the scanner gave his nervous hands something to do.

Darru jumped down from the pod and looked around. "Very late Staff Sergeant." The Vulcan commented with his scanner as he took several cautious steps looking around and saw the other shuttle pod in the distance above them looking for a close landing spot to them. "We spread out into our groups and investigate." The Vulcan reminded them already thinking where he wanted to head if his partner was interested.