A Mystery to Solve....?

Posted on Sat Sep 23rd, 2023 @ 8:48am by Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath & Lieutenant JG Zac Smithson

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Ice Planet
Timeline: MD 5 ?
4566 words - 9.1 OF Standard Post Measure

After getting the go ahead to see if J'air and he could find what they both believed they saw, Zac checked he had a phaser along with a phaser rifle for just in case their quarry didn't like getting their picture taken. He also had his binoculars and the first aid kit again for just in case. He glanced over to J'air. You ready to become famous?" He joked but truth was if they did find some unknown species, they would be famous, not that he was looking for fame or glory. But just the chance was exciting.

"Famous?" she laughed as she packed her own little "away" med kid without which she never went anywhere. It was a matter of habit and she didn't feel like she was fully dressed without it.

"Or maybe a yeti's supper?" she grinned, joking. ~Well, hopefully!~

"Do we have any scanning equipment? I mean apart from the Medcorders? I was thinking fully ranging TRI-corders as well? I think the trail may go underneath the snow that we can see from here, as I suspect whatever we saw won't be on the surface a lot of the time so we might have to look deep. What do you think? Sort of like burrows?" she asked.

"I have my scanner and there's a portable scanner in one of the rucksacks. I think what you just said makes a lot of sense and with it's coloring it blends into it's surroundings perfectly. However, I think we're up to the task of finding it." Zac replied earnestly.

"Then let's get started?" J'air agreed and got excitedly aboard the snowmobile ready to go. "Do you want to drive?" she asked, grinning at Zac as she snapped her helmet shut immediately connecting them wirelessly instead of the normal verbal chatter they had been having prior to that cut off.

"Too late, I got shotgun!" she said with a giggle and shuffled forward to the driving seat ready to start off. "Oh ALRIGHT" she then conceded. "I'll drive on the way back, if you've got yourself all psyched up now..." she shuffled back again. "Just messing you around." she admitted with another chuckle.

Zac chuckled at J'air's comments and excitement. He replied wirelessly as he climbed onto the driver's seat. "Deal you drive back and you are right, I'm ready to drive!" He chuckled. "Besides your better with the scanner and you can give me directions on where our mysterious creature is hiding and we can get close without scaring it off." With that, he started the snowmobile, "Alright navigator, sing out as we get closer to where we saw our friend."

Setting off the airflow increased with their speed and it was hard to make herself heard into the mic of her helmet headset so J'air had to yell as best she could, fighting off the wind which seemed determined to drag all the air out of her mouth and throat at the same time.

"I can only hope that he or she IS friendly and sees us as nice new friends visiting." she yelled, although it came out much more faintly mixed with the wind whistling.

Zac could hear J'air talking or more precisely yelling at him, but the wind was snatching her words away, so he was only catching part of what she said. Which was "I ...that...she....friendly....see us.... visiting." He nodded and hoped it didn't make him look like an idiot. He slowed the snowmobile as they neared where they had seen something. It also made it easier to talk to each other. "I think we're close to where we saw... something. You picking up anything?"

J'air scanned with a wide range and then again with a deep one. "Nothing" she sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't be likely to be sitting around waiting for us to drop by for a cuppa and a Rich Tea...." she wondered vaguely why she felt so disappointed - it made perfect sense for the creatu.........."THERE" she hissed as some snow appeared to subside about 100yds from them to the east. It wasn't visible to the naked eye but she hoped Zac had his binoculars raised as it happened and had caught it too".

Very excited and with her disappointment dispelled totally, J'air's heart began to race and her adrenaline surged. "Can you see? Did you see it? It's gone? Has it?" she asked Zac too full of the whole experience to be calm, despite knowing that was the right way to deal with this so as not to scare whatever it was.

Zac had been scanning the bleak and desolate landscape with his binoculars in a slow practiced manner when J'air's excited hiss caused him to swing his binoculars in the direction she was looking. He kept his binoculars trained on the spot for several seconds before he handed them to her. "Take a look at about 2 o'clock and I believe you'll have your answer." He finished with a wide smile.

J'air peered through the binoculars at the 2 o'clock direction as he had suggested and she let out a little squeak of delight. "OH..... loooooook..... they're very young... I think.... that must be why they're not keeping so safely out of sight as an adult would..... I can see two.... but no sign of their parents.....do you think they might be trigremlers?

Zac chuckled softly at J'air's squeak of delight. "I think that is exactly what they are." He whispered to her as he had no idea how good the trigremlers hearing was or if they could even hear. What he was sure of was they needed to be careful, very careful. "I don't see an adult, but they have to be close. They wouldn't leave their young unprotected."

J'air looked around them to see if there were any approaching angry parents descending but couldn't even see ripples in the snow. She did have to agree with the warning though.

"Yes, lets get photos and do some observations quickly in case we have to make a run for it" She took out her scopes, took some measurements from a few metres away and then began a bevy of fast lens photos and several holovids of the babies playing blissfully unaware.

Zac gave a nod of agreement. "You take the photos and measurements and whatever else you need to get a comprehensive report on the babies and I'll stand guard." Saying the last as he looked at the snow for any ripples indicating an adult was coming as well as scanning the surrounding area. "All clear." He announced.

J'Air nodded in agreement and began with the photos before getting closer to the babies, making a soft shh-ing noise to make her approach seem less threating to them. She levelled a meter towards them each in turn and recorded the measurements it projected. One of them was considerably smaller. She wondered if it was female which might give a reason for this, or perhaps it might just be that the parents were feeding the loudest baby much like a bird might.

A little concerned at the difference in sizes, J'Air rummaged slowly, making sure she didn't startle the little ones and pulled out some ration bars, offering one to each sweet little face. The larger one reached out and took the bar strongly and without any hesitation, nor obvious fear, perhaps not even any sensible caution either.

The smaller baby looked with wide eyes, taking in J'Air and looking more intently at her before reaching out like its sibling. The smaller baby whimpered a little squeaky noise and then hid it's face, refusing to take the bar so the larger one, finishing its own bar with gulps and no caution at all, reached across, struck its sibling across the side of its head and grabbed for the bar.

On instinct J'Air withdrew it in horror.

"I hope this isn't a sign that you make a habit of this sort of behaviour" she scolded and forgot to speak softly as she had before. The larger, bolder baby rocked back on its rear and eyed her suspiciously during which time she was able to return the bar to the cowering sibling instead.

"I know it's just the laws of nature, but that makes me really sad" she said to Zac as the scared smaller baby took one bite and then eyeing it's rival, dropped the rest of the bar and retreated.

Naturally as presumably as usual, the larger chick snatched up the second half of the second bar and gobbled that down as well.

Zac had been watching the area intently for any sign of the parents and so far, their luck had held as J'air took her measurements and readings. He watched as she offered two ration bars to the babies. One which was eagerly accepted by the largest baby. The smaller of the two was more hesitant, showing greater caution. Refusing the bar and was rewarded with a cuff to the side of it's head by the larger sibling.

Zac reacted instantly pulling J'air back even as she had recoiled in horror at the scene even as she loudly admonished the larger baby. As she did the smaller baby took one bite, dropped the bar which was instantly gulped down by the larger sibling. "It is the law of nature." He agreed. "I just hope the little fella doesn't suffer because of its older sibling. "That would be both unfortunate and a tragedy."

Even as he spoke, his eyes were in the snow around them. They spotted a ripple coming their way. "Jair, we need to back away now." He said trying desperately to keep his voice normal and not cause J'air or the babies any alarm.

Hearing Zac's urgent tone and snapping out of her immersion into the babies' situation, J'Air complied and backed away, gently at first so as not to make too much noise on the surface of the snow, but then quickly as they got a bit further back towards their snow-mobile.

In the end, stumbling and almost at a run, J'Air threw her instruments and med kit and back pack into the open trailer at the back of the snow-bike, waited just seconds to give Zac a chance to drop his in as well before closing it quickly and jumping on board the bike. Looking back from the safe distance of the snow-mobile, J'Air tried to see what was happening back where they had just left the nest.

Zac had started the snowmobile but hadn't moved it yet as he and J'air looked back to the spot they had just vacated. They didn't have long to wait, as the snow suddenly exploded in a shower of flakes and frozen tundra. Where two babies had been there was now an adult trigremler. It dwarfed its children. Easily weighing hundreds of pounds, with big eyes to take in everything around it and right now it was looking at J'air and Zac. It had long, serrated teeth, on both its upper and lower jaws, that could easily bite through bone and muscle but it made no move toward the pair. it just stood watching them carefully.

"erm....I think we outstayed our welcome!" J'Air called to Zac over the noise of the snow-mobile's power rumble.

Zac didn't reply right away as he continued to watch the adult trigremler which continued to stare in J'air's and his location. After a few more seconds he answered J'air. "I think that is a very sound and wise decision. Let's back out of here nice and slow." As he put the snowmobile into gear and started to back away.

J'Air sensed the tension in Zac's reply and looked along his line of sight, away from the pups she had been staring at, back to the adult. She could suddenly see what he was talking about and held her breath as they retreated slowly, the snowmobile purring quietly and seeming only to be moving slightly although the snow did move away to the sides of them.

Not able to look away, now she was staring at the apparently unimpressed adult trigremler, J'Air became suddenly aware that with hindsight, perhaps she'd overstepped by getting so close to the babies. "Sorry" she whispered through the comm to Zac as he put more easy, smooth metres between them and the site of their 'intrusion'.

Zac kept his eyes on the adult trigremler through the side mirrors of the snowmobile, watching for any sign it was about to come after them. He gave steady power to the snowmobile, unwilling to make any sudden moves which might provoke the adult into an attack. As they slowly eased away, he was aware that they had only seen one adult. Did that mean the other was tracking them? The thought filled him with dread.

He found his voice and whispered back through the comm. "It's okay. Keep watching our sides. I only see one adult." He left the rest unspoken as they continued slowly on their way.

"I wonder if they're a species that look after their offspring with only one parent.... you know, not two working as a pair. Like Terran Seahorses, the mothers abandon the fathers and leave them to birth, bring up and protect all the whole groups of babies alo...OH... to our right... wow, he's big.... and he's fast.............. we need to get out of here FAST" she cried out as the missing parent lunged out of some ice-undulations to their right side.

"He's lumbering a bit but he's still making good time..... Zac, we have to get out of.............. "

The beast was gaining on them.

Through the helmet com, Zac heard J'air's raised voice. Sparing a glance in the side mirrors, he saw the adult male, coming after them. he was bigger and faster than Zac imagined his to be and J'air was right, he was closing on them. "Hang on tight J'air." He replied as he saw a long straight path before them. He began to apply more power as the snowmobile began to pick up speed, and increasing they're its speed with every passing second. "Can you see where he is now J'air?"

J'air was initially having to bury her face and visor into the back of Zac's jacket to stop the rush of the freezing air around them from snatching her breath away or jerking her neck backwards with the inertia but when he asked her if she could see the pursuing animal she grabbed tightly to him with one arm and reached the other back behind her to grapple for the rear of the seat to steady herself and get a good grip.

The last scenario that she could afford to find herself in would be one where she managed to fall off, right into the path of the oncoming enraged parent trigremler.

One doubly secured front and back, J'air turned her head and looked back, fighting the rushing air pressure not to lose her balance. She only needed a quick look to see that the creature was slowing and they were making an escape at last.

"Keep going, but he does seem to be fading back now." she told Zac through the helmet mic.

Zac didn't try any evasive maneuvers. One was because the shortest distance between two points was a straight line and second and far more important reason was the fact that he didn't want to have J'air loose her grip and tumble off the snowmobile and into the path of the adult trimgremler currently pursuing them. So straight ahead was the plan of the day.

He waited for what seemed like an eternity for J'air to reply but then he realized she was securing herself to make sure she didn't fall off. Finally, she replied with the information the adult trimgremler seemed to be falling back. "Thank goodness." He replied through the helmet comm but he didn't slack off on their speed. He didn't know if trigremlers ate meet but he had no desire to have J'air or himself become trigremller chow. So, they sped onward putting as much distance as they could between them and their pursuer.

"phew" J'air finally commented as they were way ahead and the Trigremler appeared to have stopped coming forwards. "Perhaps it's just a trick of the distance but i think he may have stopped chasing us. Maybe he's happy he's got rid of us" she added, stating the obvious.

"I guess that was my fault." she went on, the wind still making it hard to speak but not so bad that their helmets' comms couldn't cope with filtering it through. "I should have had more sense than to actually make contact with the nest. Wildlife and Nature 101 fail, that was. It's a miracle they didn't get rejected because it was clear some alien creatures, i.e. us, had been there...." she was feeling very guilty now and worried about the family dynamics they might have left behind.

Zac continued to speed away for several more moments before he began to slack off on the speed and making it easier to communicate with J'air. He nodded and then spoke, "Glad to hear it. I had no idea he was so fast for his size. Maybe he's built more for sprints then a long chase. A fact I am especially grateful for."

He paused for a moment has he continued to slow down. "Don't beat yourself up J'air. You got up close and personal with trigremlers and even got some great images and data. He glanced back at her. "Don't feel guilty. I'm sure the babies will be just fine, now that we're not there to bother them." He stopped the snowmobile and turned to face her as he said his next, "You aren't thinking about us going back to check on the babies, are you?"

J'Air's haunted face looked back at him. "It's almost a no win situation now." she said, very quietly, her doubts and concern showing in the tightness of her eyes.

"If we go back and the adults haven't abandoned their young because they smelled us (well, me!) on them, then our second visit could ensure they would then do exactly that next." she looked sadly at him. "But if they've killed them, there's nothing to risk our own safety going back for. They could kill them - it happens with some wild first time parents who feel their babies are threatened - damned if I know how you protect something by killing it first before anyone else can, but I suppose there's some instinctive logic in it somewhere." she shook her head.

"Then of course, if they have abandoned them without harming them, we should take responsibility and rescue them but the camp has trouble feeding all of us without two new mouths to add to the feeding demands and how would we know what they would need as well as food, or milk, or whatever..... and we can't take them back into space when the ship is repaired and we swan off on our journeys again...... " she looked as helpless as she imagined the baby Triglemlers to perhaps be right now.

Zac listened in silence as J'air voiced her concerns about the baby trigremlers. her face was haunted by the thought she may have inadvertently caused the babies to be either killed or neglected by their parents. he felt her pain. It was palatable and he felt terrible for her. "Everything you have just said it correct J'air. Absolutely correct and yet it feels wrong. We can't take them with us that is for sure however, we can give you some peace of mind. I can swing wide back to where we found the nest and using the telescopic lens on your instruments, we can check on the babies and see how they are faring. But whatever we find, we don't compound the situation. We let nature take its course. I can go slow and muffle the engine noise not to let the adults know we've come back. Are you agreeable to this?"

One solitary tear escaped from J'Air's eye but she didn't remove her visor to wipe it away. "No" she said, so softly that it was hardly possible to hear the decision. Clearing her throat she went on to explain.

"Thank you for your kindness in offering to put yourself out like that but we can NOT do anything, as you rightly say. I've done too much already and I have plenty to regret about that but there couldn't be anything gained by us still hovering around the area and spooking the parents even more. If they have harmed the babies, then it's done and we can't do anything about it. If they haven't then our continued presence can only make things worse.... there's nothing we can do to improve whatever has happened (or not) whichever it is and even just *risking* making it worse to pacify my guilt is not going to happen."

She cleared her throat again, hoping to return her voice to normal tones. "I had no right to interfere and put them at risk in the first place. I certainly have nothing on the planet to justify doing it again just to make me feel better. It would be even more unforgivable! Thank you though, for being so kind and supportive about it."

Zac listened to J'air, heard her reasons for not going back to check on the baby trigremlers and they were reasons not excuses. More than that however he heard her regret at putting the babies in danger by encroaching on their nest and feeding them. He could tell by her body language that she was terribly upset and beating herself up over her decision.

"J'air. You're a doctor and you were presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to gather data on a animal species never seen before, and you took it. No one can fault you for being caught up in the moment. Think about it. You and I are the only ones to have interacted with trigremlers! We're the first. Well, you are, and no one will ever be able to top that. You have images and a wealth of data to study and analyze. That is an amazing accomplishment, and you should be very proud of yourself. I know I am proud of you."

Zac took off his helmet so J'air could see his face, even as the wind and cold attacked it. "You stop beating yourself up. You are being your harshest critic." he smiled at her, "I think what you did was amazing." He studied her as he said his next. "You are sure you don't want to swing wide and just take a peek? To put your mind at ease."

J'Airesh smiled at him softly. "Thank you for your support, I'm very grateful. But no, I can't risk doing more harm and it really was a 101 mistake although you're very kind to try to help me to be less critical. I was in the wrong and i won't do anything to make it worse, my mind isn't the one that needs caring about now, those parents and babies' minds and welfare need priority now. It really matters to me that you don't think as badly of me as I do myself. That truly helps me soften my own reaction some as I have great respect for your opinion. So yes, let's go back now and make something of the photos and data and try to minimise the possible risks and maximise what we did achieve. Looking to see if they're okay won't fix anything and at least I won't have to see for certain if I did any harm.

I can hope on with my mental image of them being fine. Does that make any sense?" she told him, very anxious to try to make him understand that she didn't feel she was being harsh on herself she just had regrets about the risks she might have taken for the little ones. His opinion mattered a lot and she wanted him to know that he was helping her feel less guilty and more positive by his support and opinion.

Zac gave an answering smile to J'air. "You'll always have my support and confidence J'air. You made an error in judgment. Nothing more and certainly nothing to beat yourself up over." He shook his head, "Think badly of you? Are you kidding? You were amazing! So if you really do have respect for my opinion, please stop thinking badly of yourself. Think instead of what you achieved and the data you collected."

Zac listened as J'air continued about her mental state and not wanting to go back and check on the trigremler family. You know, no mistake is a bad one if you learn from it and I have every confidence you will learn from this and will make you an even better scientist. So don't feel guilty." He paused and a smile as brilliant as the sun appeared on his face. "You have your camera handy J'air? Because I think you can put your mind at rest." Zac said pointing as a family of trigrmlers lumbered by in the distance. It wasn't so far that you couldn't see the two babies the big one and little one were nestled in a parent's chest. "Get your camera and shoot J'air." he urged.

"OH!" J'Air gasped as she turned to see what Zac meant. She scrambled her camera and shot a whole volley of photos and a video for good measure. When she had about as many as she could get into the space of time they were passing by, she lowered the lens and returned Zac's brilliant smile with one of her own. "WOW!" she said, breathily. "Thank goodness you spotted them when you did or I would have been too busy feeling sorry for myself to look around. "

J'Air was so happy she jumped up and down and threw her arms around Zac's neck and hugged him. "Well I've heard it said that every day's a school day - you learn something each day" she enthused. "I'm SO glad I got up today!!" she couldn't stop grinning even as she packed away the camera and equipment and got ready to get back onto the Snowmobile to return to their Base.

"...and I'm so glad I got partnered with you!" she added just a little bit shyly. "Thanks" she said the one small word with deep sincerity and not a small amount of gratitude "I'll credit you in the research paper when I write it!" she beamed and lowered her visor on her helmet, ready to leave, very satisfied with their results and very happy in her heart that the furry little creatures were all okay and looking like a healthy, happy family.

Zac beamed at J'air. "I'm glad we're partners. This has been a great and rewarding trip." He blushed when she hugged him said she going to add his name to her paper. "Really? Wow! Thanks J'air. That is very kind of you." he put his helmet back on, "We should getting going." he said as his gaze treated to the family of trigremlers moving in the distance.

TBC

 

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