Matters of Decomposition

Posted on 03 Aug 2021 @ 8:15am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Jennin Rhula & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Ensign Aidan Crehan
Edited on on 07 Aug 2021 @ 1:09pm

2,483 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Extinction
Timeline: Mission Day 21 at 1730

In the time it took for Doctor Jennin to join the Away Team on the surface, Captain Geisler and Ensigns Crehan and Mitchell had finished exploring the rest of the building. There wasn't much of interest, at least nothing that wasn't unlike most of decay in the building. The only notable discovery was the rotting corpse found in the basement which had somehow decayed at a far slower rate than the rest of the corpses they'd seen.

For now, however, the team remained assembled in the decrepit building.

Aidan had yet to meet the new Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Jennin. He'd heard that the Bajoran was a pathologist...is a pathologist. He wondered if his study in archaeology and the Doctor's in pathology would lend itself to some interesting conversations. He looked around the rotting-corpse-room and shook his head. "This has most certainly been one of the more interesting away missions I've been on."

"Interesting, yes," Harvey remarked, standing next to the scientist. "Calmer than usual? Also, yes. There's something eerie about standing among a dead civilization and wondering how it happened. Makes me wonder if the Dominion knew anything about this world before it died."

Shay listened to the two men speak while she looked at the bodies around them. Eerie was right. She'd never been around this much death before, and a very large part of her hoped she'd never have to be around it again. "Do you think we'll ever get any answers about what happened here?"

"I certainly hope so," Harvey stated. "I think we owe it to an entire civilization to find out why they perished, especially one so far in its development." At that moment, he looked down at a piece of jewelry that he had found in the building. It was a necklace of sorts with a mostly clear gemstone in the middle. Even though it was filthy, it still seemed to glow in the evening sun. On the surface it seemed like a normal stone, and tricorder readings didn't indicate anything unusual. There was something strange about it, and Harvey didn't want to put it down.

"Captain," Aidan said for the third time. Perhaps the man was deep in thought regarding the end of an entire people. Or perhaps not...he was staring at his hand. "If you're injured, you should get it looked at."

"Hmm?" Harvey asked, looking over at Aiden. "No, no. I'm just... examining this artifact. Quite an interesting design, this piece of jewelry."

"Ah," he said, moving to take a closer look. He kept his own hands to himself as he leaned in to visually examine it. "Indeed it is. In all my years I have not seen such an intricate or shapely design before. Quite intriguing."

* * *

"LAND! Damn you!" Rhula shouted at the Frakes' controls. It was, as expected, successful in accomplishing nothing. He had never helmed a Type-8 before, but it wasn't fundamentally different from the Type-6 shuttles he was more familiar with. At least that's what he'd thought before he couldn't get the damn thing to land.

After spending close to five minutes several meters off the ground, the Frakes dropped.

To the ground.

With a sizeable thud.

The sudden movement knocked Rhula out of his seat. The impact with the ground caused his face into the deck floor. Sitting up, he used his hand to check for bleeding. He was grateful to find none. His glasses had been thrown from his face and had managed to not get damaged. Putting them back on, he got to his feet and returned to his chair. He ran a quick diagnostic of the shuttle's systems and a scan for damage from the fall. His luck holding out, the Frakes had managed to avoid damage beyond some scratches which he was confident the shuttle maintenance crew could handle. He set the shuttle into standby mode before getting his field kit and exiting. It was time to meet up with the Captain's team.

* * *

The Captain heard a muffled boom in the distance, followed by a rattling of the cages in the building along with the clattering of already broken glass. "What was that?" he asked aloud, impulsively shoving the piece of jewelry in a small pouch around his waist. The Captain instantly drew his phaser and exited the building. He had no idea what to expect, given that the planet was devoid of life, but it would be best to be prepared for anything.

Shay shouted a curse and took off after the Captain once she'd drawn her own phaser. Yep. His wife was going to kill her. Very slowly. "Captain Geisler!"

Harvey stopped five paces outside the building as his eyes scanned the horizon. It did not take him long to discover the cause. Just a few yards away, there was a new shuttle parked next to the Visitor. The rear hatch was opening, but he couldn't quite see who was getting out due to the positioning of the shuttle. Harvey had a pretty good idea, however. "Did you have a good landing, Doctor?" he called out.

The young woman slid to a halt when the Captain stopped and looked toward the shuttle that had his attention. "That's one way to make an entrance..."

Aidan walked up to Shay's side. "That was unexpected. Let us hope that the landing hasn't caused any structural damage. Perhaps it is a good thing that we exited when we did. Centuries old dust, dander and tissue residue falling around us may not have been good for our health."

"You can relax, Ensign," the Captain cautioned. "We were breathing in whatever was floating in the air the moment we entered the structure, not to mention the moment we went downstairs. The shuttle's landing wouldn't have made a difference aside from what we already ingested unknowingly."

"Hm, you make a valid point, Captain," said Aidan. "We have already been breathing someone's Fido. A little more wouldn't hurt." He laughed a little at his attempt at humor, as poorly as it was.

"Not much different than that time we were breathing people on the ship. There was a rumor that someone decapitated Commander Geisler on the bridge," Shay said, putting her phaser back into its holster. "Of course, this time is a little different because of the respirators."

Rhula frowned. "I think the shuttle malfunctioned," he responded. He didn't want to admit that there might have been an error on his part. "You have something for me to look at?"

The Captain found the doctor's statement to be curious. Given the atmospheric interference, a mechanical failure was possible, but a thorough checkup would have to be done by a professional, and that was not any one of the four people there. "Right this way," Harvey stated, gesturing to the building. "We found a corpse in the basement. The area had been sealed extremely well, which significantly slowed the decay rate."

"Mummification?" the Bajoran asked, curiosity heavy in his voice. "It's uncommon to find mummified remains these days. Even out on the fringes, most planets have been picked over by someone at some point. Sacrilege, if you ask me. Disturbing remains like that." He looked at Geisler. "Show me."

Harvey led the way back in the house, putting the respirator on as he did. The smell was bad enough to handle the first time, and it was not something he was ready to experience. "Right down here," the Captain said as soon as he hit the bottom of the staircase. He flipped his wrist light on and shone it in the direction of the corpse.

Shay followed behind them. "It doesn't look like anything here has been picked over," she said. "However, I haven't seen any other locations. Makes me wonder why it doesn't seem like anyone but us has explored this place in all these years."

"Perhaps it was simply forgotten about," said Aidan. "So many people dying where they fell...giving up, it seems. If they were in the beginnings of an industrial age, maybe no one else even knew they existed."

Trying to ignore the chatter going on around him, Rhula approached the corpse. While not perfectly preserved, what lay before him was certainly in more useful condition than its peers. He bent over and grabbed one of the corpse's wrists. Pulling it up, he examined the hand. The fingers were long, thin, and stiff, though the later was likely not a trait of the species. Instead, it was likely related to the body in question no longer being alive.

He withdrew his tricorder from the pocket of his jacket. As he scanned, he made some mental notes. Scaled skin, unknown tissue folds inside the neck and torso, lungs smaller than body size would suggest, internal anatomy otherwise falls within typical humanoid range.

"Captain," he finally said, breaking his several minute long self-imposed silence, "I'll need to study these remains more before I'll have anything substantial to share. Between the shuttle's onboard systems and the equipment I brought, I can remain on the surface. I will need assistance getting the remains to my shuttle though."

"I can assist with that," Shay offered.

"I think we all can assist," Harvey stated. "Doctor, given the fragility of the corpse, we will follow your lead and instructions to avoid as much damage as possible."

Rhula looked up and pointed at the man in a blue uniform. "There's a portable stasis unit in my shuttle. You know the kind, with the built-in micro anti-grav generator. Get it. It's the best chance we have to preserve the condition of the specimen."

"Indeed I do, Doctor," said Aidan as he turned to head back to shuttle. "I will be back in a moment." The old Ensign jogged back to shuttle to retrieve Doctor Jennin's portable stasis unit.

As soon as Crehan returned, Harvey decided to make himself useful by running a quick diagnostic on the stasis unit. After that rough landing, he just wanted to be sure that it would be ready to move the corpse to the shuttle. "It's your show, Doctor. Tell us what to do."

"Luckily, I learned a few things during the Occupation," Rhula said, opening a panel on the stasis unit. He pulled out one of the data chips before connecting his tricorder to the stasis unit. "This'll take me a second."

There was a pop. Then a fizzle. Then smoke.

"Or maybe a bit longer," Rhula said, annoyed. Why Starfleet insisted on such frustrating equipment. Bajoran and Cardassian technology were capable of accepting his modifications without combusting.

The malfunctioning equipment made Harvey want to run a quick diagnostic on his own tricorder just to make sure there wasn't anything that could cause malfunctions of this nature. But, that didn't seem to be appropriate at this time. Instead he pulled out his tricorder and extended it to the Doctor. "Need an extra tricorder or power cell?"

"Sure. But a Cardassian scanning unit would be better. Or a Bajoran sensor handunit," the physician answered while taking the offered device. He connected the Captain's tricorder to the stasis unit and waited to see if it was going to fail like before.

When several seconds passed without any reaction, he continued. "There we go," Rhula said shortly thereafter. He touched a control on the stasis unit and the normal quiet hum it made intensified. A few simple commands on the tricorder and an anti-grav beam reached out from the unit and engulfed the remains.

"Alright, I'll lift the remains. With the anti-grav beam, of course. One of you will need to slide the stasis unit under the elevated sample."

"I can do that," Shay offered as she moved to the stasis unit. "Let me know when you're ready, Lieutenant."

"I'll assist," Harvey said, moving to stand next to the security officer. "We'll have to be delicate with our movements as to not damage the corpse further."

Rhula watched the others get in place. "Activating the anti-grav beam now," he said. The remains were encapsulated by the beam and slowly rose off the ground. "It's going to be tight; please be careful," he instructed. "Any higher and the risk to the remains is too great."

Harvey didn't have to be told twice. He carefully eyed the remains as they were elevated, even as they shifted slightly under the influence of the beam. As soon as the remains stopped moving, he instructed Mitchell beside him to, "Push gently." Harvey began to slowly propel the unit forward, sliding it carefully under the subject.

At Harvey's instruction, Shay began to push gently, holding her breath the entire time. The last thing she wanted to be was responsible for damage to the remains. Hopefully, they'd know more about these poor souls after the CMO had the opportunity to look the subject over.

Aidan watched as the others gingerly around the remains so as not to disturb them. As little as possible anyway. "It is intriguing that this one has not reached skeletal remains as the others have."

"Intriguing indeed," Rhula said in agreement as he watched the others move the stasis unit under the remains. "That's good," he said before lowering the remains onto the device. He activated the stasis field from his, well the Captain's, tricorder. "I'll take this pack to my shuttle and get to work."

"Good luck, Doctor," Harvey wished the Bajoran pathologist. In a way, Harvey found himself slightly jealous of the Bajoran. Years ago, Harvey would have loved the opportunity to study such a specimen.

"Care to join me, Ensign?" the Bajoran asked Crehan.

"I would relish the opportunity, Doctor," said Aidan. He cast sideways to Harvey. "With the Captain's permission?"

Harvey nodded to the Ensign. There was likely very much more to see down here, but the corpse required quite a bit of attention, especially since it seemed to be all that remained of this species. "Take great care, gentlemen. Ensign Mitchell, I suppose it's time for us to return as well."

Shay didn't envy the men, but they were used to such things. And as a Security officer, she'd seen her share of some pretty questionable things in the past, but nothing quite like that. She turned her attention to Harvey and nodded. "Of course, Captain."

Harvey nodded to the security officer, then turned once more to Jennin and Crehan. "Best of luck, you two. See you back on the Black Hawk." As he said that, he looked into his travel pouch to check his inventory. All of the items that he'd brought with him, minus the tricorder, were still there, along with the artifact he retrieved. It was an interesting specimen, one that he hoped he could study in due time.

What none of them knew, however, was how strange the mystery was about to become.

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