Star Trek: Bendross
Episode 31
Untranquility Base
By
Jay P. Hailey
And
The Bendross Players
(Summer 2094)
As Expedition One settled over the landing zone, Hamilton was experiencing
a very strange form of split personality. His pilot's persona was in charge,
calm, methodical, and unflappable. "A thousand meters." He called
off.
Inside Hamilton could feel his brain making laps around the inside of his
skull "A WHOLE NEW PLANET!!!" It Screeched "I'M LANDING ON
A WHOLE NEW PLANET!!!"
As if to reinforce the notion that it was in control. Hamilton's blas
pilot persona killed the lateral drift. It was showing off, being "Super-Pilot."
Hamilton went with the urge.
"Nine hundred meters." Hamilton noted his rate of descent. It was
the merest touch quick. He'd slow it down under one hundred meters.
Hamilton looked out his window to get a sense of the horizon. "I LIVE
HERE, NOW!!!" his mind shrieked inside.
"Five hundred meters." Hamilton called out. He looked over at Rudy.
Rudy looked back and said deapan calm "Engine temperatures are good."
Hamilton thought he saw something in Rudy's face. So for a brief moment he
let what he was feeling out. Hamilton's eyes bugged out, he grimaced widely,
whispered "A new planet, Dude!" and quickly flapped his hands in
front of his face, almost hard enough to hurt his wrists.
As he recovered his deadpan face and placed his hands back on the controls,
Hamilton saw Rudy's eyes go wide and loll around his head "holy shit."
Rudy whispered back.
Then Rudy regained his pilot's face. Hamilton stole a quick look over his
shoulder. Martin had the weapons blister rolled out. He looked at Hamilton
and nodded gravely. "Yes, I am quite apeshit, too." His face seemed
to say, calmly.
Michelle was boggling out the window in unrestrained tourist mode, grinning
and pointing.
Jon Dou was grinning and looking too. Catching Hamilton's eye she pointed
out the front. "Land the goddamned plane, flyboy!"
Hamilton stuck his tongue out at her and turned back into the control panel
and his pilot's persona. "Four hundred meters." His dead pan voice
was rock solid.
"Looking good." Rudy said, his voice calm and dead-pan.
The field of grass waved away from the bottom of Expedition One. Hamilton
was balancing fusion rocket thrust against the Antigravity effect of the CDP
drive, carefully. On full Fusion thrust, Expedition One could slag a large
circle of the valley to glass like ruin. None of the Expedition One crew considered
this. They came from a world of persistent and horrible ecological damage.
"Not his time" was their common consensus.
"Twenty meters." Hamilton called out. Now was the time of maximum
alertness. Expedition One was very fault tolerant and tough. It could probably
survive a drop from this altitude. The crew was a different matter. And that
didn't account for whatever surprises this new world held for them.
"I have Gradieaux." Martin called. "he's approaching."
"Ten meters." Hamilton's voice sounded supernaturally calm to his
ears. "If we have to do a full power abort, he's dead meat."
"Noted. Continue with the landing." Martin said, with equal smoothness.
"Landing gear deploying... locked. We have four green lights." Rudy
reported.
"Five meters, Cutting Fusion drive." Hamilton said.
"And, three, two one, zero." Expedition One settled quietly on the
grassy plain. Hamilton stopped and savored the moment. "Houston, Tranquility
Base here. The Eagle has Landed."
Martin was up and moving. "We know that the environment is safe, else
Gradieaux wouldn't be here." He grabbed a Gauss rifle off the rack. He
also took a set of Binoculars. Vasquez was right behind him. "Hamilton,
Rudy, keep this thing running and ready to go."
Rudy turned, "Martin, Commander Keans asked us to stay hear and do the
preliminary survey."
Martin nodded "We will. I just want to be able to run if there's an ugly
surprise in the next few minutes."
Hamilton Shrugged. "We're the wheel men."
Rudy grinned.
Kerenski took a deep breath as he cycled the air lock inner door and then
the outer one. The air of the new world swirled into the cabin of Expedition
One.
Martin stepped quickly down the steps that folded down to the surface. He
felt the sun on his face, a breeze carried the wonderful smell of life to
him. The Horizon was miles away and rising to the east mountains hovered soundlessly
ponderous in the sky.
Out the door to the south the tree line marked a forest. Birds flew in the
sky away from this new invader to their turf.
Martin took a deep breath and then saw Gradieaux pelting across the shin -
high grass towards them.
-*-
Jacques Gradieaux threw his spear and animal skin bag aside
as he ran. A ship, a civilized ship!
As he approached, the hatch opened and out stepped a very large man. He was
holding a gauss rifle of the type used by the Colonists. His manner was alert
but very self contained. Behind him there was Linda Vasquez, the American
marine.
Gradieaux burbled happily as he approached. "[It's been so long, thank
God for you!]"
Kerenski saw a gaunt, stick figure of a man, with wild hair and beard, wild
eyes, wearing the shreds of a brown Bendross-I jumpsuit, patched with weird
strings and thongs evidently made from the dead bodies of various animals,
with a vest of animal skin. He was dirty, and showed scars in various places.
Gradieaux moved well though, he was still in reasonably good condition.
Looking behind Gradieaux at the tree line Kerenski said "[A Pleasure
to meet you. Please step aboard the craft.]"
The formality of the tone and excruciatingly correct accent almost made Gradieaux
boggle. It was a very different story than living in the woods with the animals
and monsters. Gradieaux saw the blue, crisp jump suit with all the patches,
zippers and pockets intact, on a man who appeared freshly bathed, with a fresh
haircut and freshly shaved.
Gradieaux turned and scanned the tree line with bare, hate filled eyes. "]The
bastards are there. As curious as monkeys they are. They never leave you alone.
]"
Suddenly Gradieaux recalled one of several wishes he'd made fervently over
the last eight years.
He turned and raced up the stairs to Expedition One.
Martin brought his binoculars to his eyes. With the imaging programs activated,
Martin was able to pick out forms in the trees. They looked like monkeys.
Except - That one was holding a spear. And that one over there had a necklace
and a vest. Martin realized that he was looking at the native species. "Hello
there." He murmured to himself.
They were well hidden. Without the sniper scope functions of the binoculars
he'd wouldn't have made them as soon. Martin measured carefully. The natives
showed varied skills at camouflage and concealment. Some he'd have spotted
but others he wouldn't have. Martin's tactical thought process whispered "Guerillas,
local defense militia" in his ear.
They were armed with spears. Martin guessed knives as well. Possibly some
sort of bow.
Gradieaux bombed back down the stairs of Expedition One
Martin, engaged in examination of his new neighbors took a moment to take
his eyes out of his binoculars. When he did, he found Gradieaux standing nearby
raising a gauss rifle to his shoulder to fire into the tree line. Could Gradieaux
see them? Was he attacking a specific target?
"[You animals will know who you've fucked with, now.]" Gradieaux
snarled.
Martin reached out and grabbed Gradieaux's gauss rifle at a carefully observed
point of balance. He whipped the rifle around his body dragging the surprised
survivor around with it. Gradieaux wound up lying on his back, empty handed,
staring up at Kerenski. His surprise was more compounded when he found Vasquez'
rifle pointing down into his face.
Kerenski leaned over and looked into Gradieaux's face. "No one fires
without my say so. Is that clear, Mister Gradieaux?"
Gradieaux rolled to his feet snarling "[You have no idea what you've
done! Those things killed Maria and Allison! They are the most dangerous animals
on this god-forsaken rock! ]"
Martin cocked an eye at the forest. "They're carrying artifacts, and
wearing jewelry. Those are people."
"[ Alien Monster BASTARDS! ]" Gradieaux shrieked.
"You sure you don't want me to shoot him?" Vasquez asked. Her gun
never wavered an iota off Gradieaux's face.
"Puta," Gradieaux snarled, "[You are an uncultured thug from
the home land of Mickey Mouse, the American lack of education, culture and
soul appears clearly in you, but still you are a thousand times better than
those murderous apes! ]"
"Do I even want to know what he said?" Vasquez asked.
Martin's deadpan was very faintly wry. "He said you're from Southern
California, and that he likes you better than the natives."
"Uh huh." Vasquez knew that this wasn't all there was to Gradieaux's
statement. "If you want him fragged, say it."
Kerenski sighed. "Gradieaux, you're under arrest. Get aboard Expedition
one and stay there."
Gradieaux considered rebelling. Then he shrugged an eloquent French shrug
"You will find out. When you understand, come see me. I can show you
how they move, and how to kill them."
He turned and marched up the stairs into Expedition One.
Kerenski handed the third gauss rifle back to Vasquez. "Make sure he
gets treated and put to bed."
"Can I belt him if he gets out of line?" Vasquez asked
"If I told you no, would you belt him anyway?" Kerenski asked.
"Goddamned faggot thinks he's God's gift,"
Martin turned towards the tress and raised his binoculars again "I hope
he didn't poison the well too badly. Be nice to have some friends."
"Optimist." Vasquez sneered. At his sidelong glance, she hastily
added "Sir." She turned back towards Expedition One
-*-
Stares-into-Night watched the Forest Demons carefully as the
short one with the black mane went back into the star hat, Following the original
Forest Dermon.
Sees-Far slid up next to him. "Those black things are definitely weapons.
The way the small one threatened our Forest Demon with his made that plain."
Stares-into-Night shivered and shook his head wonderingly. "Am I dreaming,
or did the big Blue One deny our Forest Demon a weapon?"
"The Big Blue one appears to be the hunt-leader, for all I can make out."
"Maybe the Big Blue one is the female and she's mad at our Forest Demon
for staying out too long?" Stares-into-Night said. "We must beware
of making unwarranted assumptions here."
Sees-Far Hunkered down unhappily. "The way Big Blue threw Our Forest
Demon around it looks immensely strong. It would take two of us to lift the
Forest Demon, at a guess."
Stares-Into-Night nodded "It looked like a leverage issue. With those
long stiff stilts of legs, they'd be vulnerable to that."
Sandy-Coat and Finds-Things slid up to Sees-Far. "Hunt-Leader, we've
seen several of the Rock-Skin hunters fleeing. So did Drop-Rock and Bites-Toe."
Sees-Far looked at the youngsters. They didn't look nearly as scared as he
felt. Sees-Far rubbed his belly where scars marked his own encounter with
a raptor. These kids didn't respect pain and injury or death as much as they
might.
Sees-Far looked at Stares-into-Night and saw him making a similar calculation.
"Sandy-Coat, Finds things, you will carry our first report back to Strong-Voice."
Sandy-Coat bowed, making his body parallel with the branch quickly. He'd been
impressed by the events of the day. Quickly Finds-Things copied him.
Arranging their story, Stares-into-Night, Sees-Far, Sandy-Coat and Finds Things
all agreed on what was seen. Soon, a coherent account of the unbelievable
was set, and the two young people bounced off through the trees with speed
and boundless energy.
-*-
-*-