Rupert and Tib were assesing the damage to Ruperts badly broken nose in sickbay.
"Hurry and get me something cold Tib."
Tib literally stumbled toward the replicator and replicated some nice cold items for Ruperts nose.
"Here, I didn't really know what to get so I improvised, Is improvised a word? yeah I think so." Tib handed Rupert the first object.
"Tib I can't put one little ice cube on my nose! get me something else."
Tib handed Rupert a bag or frozen carrots.
Rupert sighed.
"Well if you dont like that I've also got peas, mixed, maybe some corn. . . wait is that . .is that a bag of squash under there?" Tib shifted the bags around until every last one of them fell from his grasp and broke open on the floor.
Tib hadn't yet noticed.
Meanwhile on the bridge
Manuel leaned forward in his chair and studied the strange objects floating in space. " Can anyone tell me what they are? I mean there is a perfect line of them. This cannot be natural."
" A bacciferous substance known as Ribes rubrum ." Lien answered proudly
"A what what?"
"It's a trail of berrys, sir."
"But who would leave a trail of, of , what kind of berrys?"
"Redcurrents. Unpredictably poisonous. Some are some aren't. I don't suggest taking the risk in trying one."
"What do you think about this Ince?"
" Lets stalk their trail and sneak up on the culprit." Ince answered creepily.
"I Agree. For the most part. Decan follow the berry trail, but don't stalk it. Lets go and meet this person and ask them how and why, alright?"
"But I enjoy the sneaking." Ince grumbled.
" We can sneak later Ince. You know how these things go, this persons probably a crazy escaped convict or something, who wants to blow us all to Tartarus we'll probably end up sneaking around to avoid certain death."
Ince could see some hope in his future.
Jaime flipped violently through the bible he had been reading for the last half hour. " You know Tartarus is not a real place right? you should really read this and get your facts straight."
"Don't tell people what to believe in. I've my own belief system." Stefondro butted in.
"Why? you believe in rainbow ponys or something?" Jaime asked him.
" No! NO EW no ofcourse not, You're missing the point!" Stefondro now shouted a bit loudly.
"Your gettin all defensive cuz you do! and Leprechauns too I bet." Jaime taunted.
"Why dont you just go back to engineering?"
"No."
Manuel was getting tired of listening to this. " Jaime, get down to engineering."
"Anything for you Manny." Jaime left in a hurry to get to his favorite part of the carrying the bible.
"Captain Manuel, The berrys seem to have led us to a deserted asteroid." Decan stated calmly.
"Stefondro,Lien we're going down. Meet me in the shuttl- you know what let's just teleport. Yeah were gonna do that. it's easier. Ince, your in charge mate."
Meanwhile in sickbay
"Does it look bad?" Rupert asked.
"Yup"
"Tib,your supposed to say No."
"No"
"You can't change your answer now!" He starts hyperventalating "Lord give me peace!"
Tib just finished picking up the last of the frozen peas. Now onto the corn!
The door whooshed open. Jaime walked confidently in. He stopped. He looks suprised. " This isn't engineering." He starts to whistle on his way out.
"Jaime wait, does my nose look crooked to you?" Rupert asked before he made it through the door.
"Yeah."
Rupert looks at what Jaime's holding." Is that my bible? give it This is my time of need!"
"Oh sure, I might of ripped a page or two out for reference. Or 5. Or 13. Or was it 40 pages?"
Rupert gasps. " What?"
Jaime is already out the door.
Tib pokes his head up. " Theres the last of the corn! but I may have put some mixed in this bag . . . should I take some out or . .?" Tib stops to watch Rupert open his bible. "How'd you get that?"
Rupert ignores Tib and slowly flips back and forth between the 3 pages that are left intact.
On the asteroids surface, where they can amazingly breathe normally.
Manuel, Stefondro and Lien are following the ever continuing berry trail on the asteroids surface.
" Just whatever you do don't step on the berrys." Manuel says to them.
*Squish*
All their heads shoot up. Then accusing glares are cast Liens way as he uses a stick to scrape the berry off his shoe.
" Alright save for that one, I want these berrys intac-" * Squisheeeeeeemushhhhh* Manuel shoots a glare behind him.
Stefondro quickly points in Liens direction. Lien, embaressed, shruggs. "Sorry, they must be rolling or something!"
Stefondro crosses his arms. " They are not rolling you're drifting!" Stefondro situates Lien in front of him. " Now walk and walk straight."
After that Lien constantly drifts to the right, but Stefondro keeps pokeing him back on track.
*MUSHSQUISHSQUEM*
Manuel ferally growls in his throat " This had better be the last ti-" He cuts himself off when he realizes it was him and apologizes profusely, then starts muttering about how these berrys are freaky loud.
The berrys lead them to a clearing with a waterfall. Stefondro pulls himself into a tree and flips up to the top branches until he can see everything and make sure the clearing is safe. He handsprings gracefully down. " All clear in the clearing."
Lien muffles a laugh.
Stefondro doesnt get whats funny.
Manuel leads them to the waterfall. Lien can't hold in his exitement " This must be one of those awesome magic hidden waterfall caves people always live in and stuff!" Lien runs at it, trys to run through and slams backward off the rock wall he hits.
"Not all waterfalls hide a magical cave ya know." Stefondro exclaims as Manuel grabs his crewman and lifts him to his feet.
"Definatly not a secret waterfall cave." Manuel states. He notices the berrys had ended at the edge of the clearing.
*SQUISH*
"Alright! which one of you was that?" Manuel demands. Stefondro and Lien look around and shrug. "Who was it then?"
Then a creepy voice fills the area. " It was me."
Stefondro takes Rev off his back and readys an arrow. " Show yourself, and when you do do it right, or so help me I wont even try to hold Rev back. Things like this get him exited."
" Oh don't worry you have no reason to shoot me. . . yet." The creepy voice echoes around the clearing.
"Where are you?" Manuel demands.
" Why i'm in the secret waterfall cave of course."
"I knew it!" Lien mumbles to himself.
The stone behind the waterfall rolls aside leaving a dark dark dark cave entrance.
The creepy voice continues. "Oh and I hope you brought some pickles. My wife gets cravings."
The voice then ceased all contact as if waiting for them to enter.
Manuel finally decides that they are going in and thats final. Once they are all inside the stone rolls back and it's still pitch black.
" Ah blinky lights Blinky blue lights!" Lien yelps.
Stefondro nudges him " Those are my eyes you whacko"
"Why did you nudge me?" Manuel asks.
"Oh sorry I thought I nudged Lien." Stefondro tries to nudge Lien again but manages to nudge a rock instead.
"OooooooooOOooooO" Lien gasps
" Lien, stop watching the blinky lights they could hypnotize you into a stupor!" Stefondro trys to nudge Lien once again but nudges . . .someone else.
"Um Manny. I think there's someone in here with us. . ." Stefondro says dramatically.
" How you know it wasnt me you nudged?" Manuel asks
" Buffer then you."
"Hey!"
Suddenly light fills the room. They are all standing around a step ladder with a half-Romulan standing on it fiddeling with a light bulb. " Sorry." the half-Romulan says " It's been going out all morning."
He then climbs down folds the step ladder and shoves it in a corner next to a very pregnant women. And Decan.
Manuel shoots up his hands. " What in the blazes are you doing here Decan!?"
" Sorry captain. They needed my assistance so they beemed me here."
" I'm going to ask you again, and this time I need a better answer. What in the blazes are you doing here Decan!?"
Before Decan could reply, the half-Romulan interuppted. " My name is Tarvek Tarsus, this is my pregnant wife Mayra and we needed Decan to meld with the baby."
Lien steps up." Is there something wrong with the baby?"
" Nope just wanted to know if it was a boy or girl :)" Mayra replies happily.
"It is a boy." Decan states matter of factly.
Tarvek fist pumps.
Manuel was going to have a serious talk with Ince when he got back.
Tarvek went on to explain that the berrys would strengthen and test the baby. If the baby chose the non posinous berry it was worthy of being born. If not then it could die. His father did it to him. And they also needed to lead a ship here to rescue them. They let the berrys loose while they crashed toward the asteroid in a shuttle.
"Wait how does the baby choose the berry?" Lien asked
Tarvek gave him a dont you dare question my fatherhood methods glare.
Lien held up his hands in surrender.
"Lets get up to my ship then, before I start to wonder too hard about this magical waterfall bizzo"
" You better have root beer." Tarvek replied.
"Why is that?"
" Mayra goes through root beer like you wouldn't believe. . . and pineapple, and french fires . . .escpecially pickles."
Looks like Manuel now had two, no three more shipmates to look out for.