Points of Authority

Posted on Fri Aug 14th, 2020 @ 7:59am by Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Riaan Rrareth & Lieutenant John Sandoval & Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri-Smith & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick
Edited on on Fri Aug 14th, 2020 @ 7:59am

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Hesiod Green - Mountains

ON:

Once the Away Team had been herded away from the main cavern of the Hesian's mountain-colony, they were guided deep within the labyrinth of tunnels that made up the alien's hidden city. As the Pandora crew passed through, they saw the series of man-made caves that the Hesians lived in. Many were very small spaces, a single room with multiples of people in them - entire families gathered together, living off blankets on the floor, a tiny kitchenette, a lantern. Some of the caves were bigger than others, however, with furniture and belongings. These were the possessions that were passed on to friends and family when a Hesian died - nothing was thrown away, only transferred on to a new owner. It made for a cramped, solemn, shanty-town within the cold rocks of the mountain.

The group were hurried into a particular cavern which held nothing but chairs and some crates in it. The Hesians were eager to get the group inside, making sure to close the entrance shut with a large rock as they did, as if to conceal the presence of the room entirely. Only once the door was sealed did the Hesians start to light some small lanterns, illuminating the room just enough to see everyone's faces. The aliens were deathly silent, waiting by the doorway to hear if they had been followed. Once the coast was clear, they allowed themselves to relax.

"These must be the travelers," a woman proclaimed, as she looked to the Pandora crew. She was around thirty or forty Earth years in appearance, long, black hair falling across her shoulders. She wore a patch-work sweater and unwashed skirt; a pair of enlarged thick boots on her feet. "My name is Ho-Mar, daughter of Ho-Kan. I'm glad you were able to make it here before the Village Master sent his people to interview you."

“We thank you for your hospitality.” Krysia smiled. “It has been a long journey here and we’re all grateful for the rest.”

"I can only imagine," Ho-Mar replied, a flat smile on her lips. It was somewhere between pleasant and questioning.

Mindo coughed. "We're actually very pressed for time here. We really need to be getting back... er, getting under way. I'm afraid there's not much for us to tell the Village Master."

Fick kept his mouth shut, but his eyes roamed their surroundings curiously and with much scrutiny, trying to pick up on anything and absorb as much information about these people as he could.

Ho-Mar squinted across the shadowy room at the visitors. "Getting back? To where exactly?" she asked pointedly.

“Our destination is far,” John offered. “More than a day’s walk at least, but there will be people looking for us, I’m sure.”

"Interesting." Ho-Mar immediately rejoined - the disbelief evident in her tone. She nodded to her supporters and they silently moved to the crates that were stacked around the room. One by one they produced square reams of fabric, handmade scraps that were frayed and worn. They hung the fabric on hooks embedded in the walls and it soon became clear they were maps of the planet's surface. Some had notations of landmarks, distances, historical events. There was the 'Colony', depicting the large mountain where the Away Team currently stood. The 'Fields' once had houses and what appeared to be crops but there was now a crude black cross through it, indicating it had been abandoned. The 'Village' had larger buildings once, but now just a similar black cross. The 'Forest' was scrubbed completely of any life. The 'Wasteland' had "One with the Planet" written on it, indicating this was the plateau where the Hesians left their deceased. The 'Crystals' with a series of question marks and the word "voices" across it. Finally, in what appeared to be a cave system, something called the 'Prophet' was noted, and "The Message" here. The only place with clear life was the Colony, everywhere else had been crossed off and fallen to ash as Hesiod Green continued to decay and rot.

"Show us where you come from," Ho-Mar insisted, pointing to the maps. "Where!?"

Mindo quickly studied the map, aware that any response would be questioned by these people. The cave system called "Prophet" caught his eye, and he considered it a vague enough label that perhaps it was the best choice. But the word "Prophet" didn't sit so well with him. The other designation that caught his eye was "Crystals," which was most likely the location near the Pithos installation. Claiming that destination might be detrimental to their overall mission.

"This is a very interesting map," Mindo said. He pointed. "Why have you labeled these caves 'Prophet?' And what does the word 'Voices' mean in the place labeled 'Crystals?'"

Ho-Mar stared at the small man with squinted eyes. "You don't know of the Prophet?" she wondered. It was possible, of course. Most of her people had given up on the message and its meaning long ago. "I know we have forgotten our ways, but to not recognize it at all? You must come from far away."

John considered. This was always a risk with undercover anthropological missions. If one didn't know enough, then one risked outing oneself as an outsider, or worse, an interloper. Improvised lies were sometimes necessary, but the risk high.

"We lost many of our elders and teachers," he explained. "Those who survived didn't know enough to instruct others. I shudder to think how much knowledge has been lost." Not a bad lie, considering the amount of truth in it. He wondered how much of humanity's knowledge had been lost permanently when the Library at Alexandria was destroyed, or when the bombs fell in May 2053.

The Hesian woman sighed greatly, wrapping her arms around herself. "We have been mapping the region, in secret, for months. Our Village Master tells us stories about other colonies prospering and growing. He tells us that the world is healing and getting better. He says the rumblings in the ground are just their machines working to rebuild our cities, but we know better. We have been looking for other people, some signs of life out there. There is none."

The room noticeably shifted into a somber tone, the Hesians around the Away Team all bowed their head, admitting out loud something they had feared for a long time. That they might be the last people left on this planet.

Ho-Mar explained, "Years have gone by and countless villages, settlements, industries have fallen away. More and more of us were sent to be One with the Planet with no renewal. Our future only getting increasingly grim as time passed and our homes disappeared. We huddled together in this mountain, which shakes and collapses around us, under the faint belief told by our leaders that everything was going to be okay. Instead, we are finding out for ourselves that our world had turned to dust."

"But then you people arrived," she said, a little bit of hope in her voice. "Strangers, from afar. You say you come from a far away province? Does that mean there really is hope out there? More people, a stable village we can live in? Can we move there?!"

"Where there is life, there is hope," John offered. "But I'm afraid where we came from is as desolate as this. We too were hoping to find a stable village." To take away all hope was to interfere. To tell them of a Promised Land was an even worse offense. Saying something that simply helped maintain their level of hope, at whatever its current value, would have to suffice.

The room noticeably shifted into even further somber reflection. They had hoped these strangers would deliver some news into their bleak lives, but now that had been taken away from them.

Fick was going slowly from map to map, trying to be subtle, as he scanned each with a hidden tricorder in his clothing. He leaned in to study each one carefully. He'd always enjoyed maps and after hearing the story of these people he understood why they made them. Maps, in some ways, provided people with a sense of stability, even if that stability wasn't really founded in anything tangible. It sounded like they needed it. Finally, after looking carefully at each, he turned to face Ho-Mar. "You have a very talented map maker. I would very much like to speak to the person that made these... I would like to know about your methods to measure distance." He thought the topic change would be good. Anything, to keep Ho-Mar's mind off of where the away team came from.

"I was a teacher, in my old village." Ho-Mar smiled faintly. "But when we were forced to move here, the Village Master stopped all forms of education... except for those who could give supplies, or worked directly for him. I had some goods stored, clothing, furniture, keepsakes from my old life. Eventually they dwindled away and the Village Master just kept asking for more and more. Now no one except a few can attend school." She took in a deep breath as murmurs went around the room, none of them entirely pleasant. "So we have taught our selves how to make the maps. We do it in secret, so he does not find out. If the Village Master were to see these, we would all be thrown into the pits."

Mindo gave a small nod to Fick. While Fick had been reluctant to join the party in introducing themselves to the indigenous people, his pilot's sense of quick response and improvisation in a tight spot did not end with the helm of a ship.

"To be honest," Mindo said, "we were unaware of your existence until we got here. I'm afraid we know as much about you as you know about us. We have a lot to learn from each other, it seems. We don't have much time, especially with an expectant mother, but maybe you could answer some of our questions."
Krysia offered Mindo a smile, it was a good idea to use her pregnancy as an excuse to get the group moving again.

"But you must help us!" Ho-Mar insisted, moving closer to Mindo, seeing him as the leader of these strangers. "We will protect your expectant mother from the Village Master if you were to help us. Believe me, you don't want him to find out there is a baby on the way. He will claim it as his own." The tone in her voice had gotten deliberately dark, deliberately warning. "He takes everything for himself. Women and children included. We can smuggle her out of the Colony safely, if you agree to help us."

Hearing what Ho-Mar had said Krysia looked worriedly at John and Mindo. She had no intention of being anybody’s woman but James, that went double for her children.

Mindo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ho-Mar's words were akin to a threat. These were the words of a horribly desperate people. The Prime Directive, the main law ingrained in every Starfleet officer, strictly preached against interference in other cultures. Mindo had never seen first-hand what happened when the directive was broken, but he was getting the feeling that was exactly what was happening now, not just by the away team's presence, but by the presence of the Pithos facility.

What did the Prime Directive say about faith? The facility's interference with the planet had led to a significant change in these people's religion. Words like "Prophet" and "Voices" had been applied to the knowledge of something they knew was happening to their world. This wasn't faith. They had proof!

Mindo concluded. The Prime Directive, as it stood, was broken by the facility's presence by the time the Pandora had arrived.

Mindo reached up and took Ho-Mar's hand. "Alright. We will help you. There are ways our people can find you a new home, but that can't happen until my friends and I return to them, safely. The only way that will happen is if you let us go right now."

Fick blinked at Mindo, staring, his mouth slightly open. "Do... do you think that's a good idea?" He was so rarely at a loss for words, his raised eyebrows clearly showing his alarm at this new route they were headed towards.

"We have to help them, Fick," said Mindo, turning to meet his friend's skeptical stare. "They don't know everything about us, but they know enough. I'll explain later. For now, trust me. We owe these people."

"Ho-Mar, wait!" came a voice from the background. It was an elderly woman, wearing patchwork rags around her shoulders and head. The others turned to look at her and fell into silence, clearly a sign of respect for her. "We cannot achieve our goals by acting like the Village Master."

"He has taken everything from us, elder," Ho-Mar protested. "With the visitors here, we have enough people to force our way into the Master's citadel and expose his lies."

"Not like this," the elder woman said softly, shaking her head. "Not through threats and coercion. If they wish to help, then so be it. But we will let the pregnant one and children leave first. They must be safe."

Ho-Mar looked around indignantly, but clearly the crowd agreed with the elder woman. She dropped her head and nodded. "Agreed." She sighed.

Fick moved closer to Mindo and lowered his voice to a numbly whisper in the Eloi-Fesarian's ear. "Starting an uprising is not good..." he murmured.

"That's their issue," Mindo whispered. "I didn't say anything about uprising."

Fick continued in the same hushed tone. "Yeah, but they're gonna drag us into theirs."

Ho-Mar nodded to the others and they started towards the doorway, moving the large covering away so everyone could exit. Ho-Mar indicated for the Away Team to follow them outside again. "You'll have to move quickly. The Village Master and his men will be out of session and - "

The conversation was cut short but the distinct rumbling that could be felt in the ground. It was faint at first, like a group of people running together, but it became stronger and louder as the moments passed. Soon, the whole mountain seemed to shaking, with rocks and dust falling upon them. In the distance, others could be heard screaming and it felt as if the rock walls were cracking open.

"RUN!" Ho-Mar screamed.

Krysia looked at Sandoval and the others. "Let's get out of here!" Both she and John were 'in the same boat' when it came to running, but she did her best to move quickly. Right now she couldn't wait to get back to the ship and James.

Mindo made sure his team was clear of the area before escaping. He managed to dodge a couple of falling rocks that were almost as big as he was. One of the smaller rocks hit him in the left side of the head, and for a moment, Mindo saw stars. Blood trickled down his forehead, but Mindo was too panicked to notice. He caught his bearings and made for the cave entrance.

Fick bolted with the rest of the crew, making sure others made it out before he did and only a little bit in front of Mindo on their wild run for not collapsing surroundings. He was pelted with several things, not sure what they were, on his way to escape. When he hit the fresh air, he turned immedately around, looking for Mindo, worried that his friend was behind. When the Fesarian finally emerged, Fick breathed a sigh of relief.

As they exited the cave Krysia turned her attention to Mindo, his head wound needed tending. "Let me see that." She offered a warm mire relaxed smile even though they weren't yet out of trouble.

OFF