USS Comet, NCC-271279, orbiting an uncharted planet, 12 ly away from Earth
Captain's log, stardate 50566.15
It's been one week since we left Phoenix Prime, and so far we've had received no further orders from Starfleet, so we've started with our exploratory mission. We just entered orbit of a planet that didn't appear in our star charts so, obviously, everyone is excited about a new discovery.
"What can you tell me about the planet, Mr. Markus?" asked Axel.
"It's class M, Captain. It doesn't have any humanoid population but I detect some wild life on the surface".
"So it is safe haven?" asked Lt. Soto.
"It seems to be" replied Cdr. Markus.
"Excellent, we could all really use a break" said Axel, standing up. "Jenna, Henry, Lt. Soto, Cdr. Markus and I will be beaming down to set up the camp and probe the terrain".
"Shouldn't we send down an actual probe first, Captain?" asked Lt. Soto. "We don't know if there are any hostile species down there".
"That's why I need my Tactical Officer with me, Lieutenant. I'll be expecting you in the transporter room with 4 of your best men, armed".
"As you wish, sir" said Lt. Soto.
Axel went to his quarters to pick up some gear, and a few minutes later he heard a beep on the door.
"Come in".
"Axel, what are you doing?" asked Amy, entering the room.
"Hi, doctor. What can I do for you?" asked Axel.
"You can't seriously be thinking about beaming down to an unknown planet, Captain" replied Amy, with emphasis on the last word.
"The crew needs some rest after the encounter with the Romulans on Phoenix Prime. It won't do us any harm to relax for a day in this planet. Besides, you're coming with me?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but… what?" said Amy in astonishment.
"If things go south, we'll need a doctor; so you suit up and go to the transporter room in 15 minutes".
"There is nothing I can say to convince you not to do this, right?" asked Amy.
"Not a chance. Dismissed doctor" replied Axel.
Amy nodded and left to pick up her gear from the sickbay. 15 minutes later, she was in the transporter room with the rest of the landing party.
Uncharted Class M Planet surface
They were beamed down a couple meters from a rocky cliff. Axel walked to it and saw the paradisiacal view in front of him. A green forest extended up to the horizon, and a small lake could be seen in the middle of it. Turning around, Axel noticed that they had also beamed down next to a small pond with purpule-ish water, and the edge of another forest could be seen not far away.
"Beautiful place, sir" said Jenna, walking up to him.
"You've said it, Ensign" replied Axel. He took a deep breath. "Is it just me or there is a sweet scent in the air?"
"I sense it too, Captain" said Lt. Soto, walking towards them. "Should we begin mounting the camp?"
"Sure, let's get to that" agreed Axel.
The rest of the men began putting up the tents, while Amy and Jenna checked the medical equipment.
"My mother was a nurse on one of Starfleet's hospitals in Florida" said Jenna. "I learned a few tricks from her, so if you ever need assistance let me know, Doctor".
"Thank you" replied Amy with a smile. "I got it from my mother too. She is the Chief Medical Officer on the USS Midgard, which my father commands".
Jenna smiled back and keyed her part of the inventory on her pad. A few seconds later, Cdr. Markus approached them while looking at his tricorder.
"I've detected high concentrations of microscopic laevulose and dextrose[i] crystals in the atmosphere, which would explain the sweetness of the air" he said. "I'd recommend that you administer shots of insulin to all of us, or we'll all end up having grave cases of diabetes by tomorrow morning".
"Good idea" said Amy. "Thank you, Commander. I'll go around with Jenna administering the shots in a few minutes".
Three hours later, by Axel's orders, another party had been beamed down and began installing sensor terminals and a portable phaser turret to serve as a defense system. They hadn't been able to detect any hostile creatures nearby, but Lt. Soto insisted that the safety of the camp could not be trusted solely to the tricorders.
By sunset (a very unusual one, as the sky turned slightly green when the sun was setting down and, as Cdr. Markus pointed out, the sun had set down on the east), they were gathered around a couple of campfires digging into their ration packs. The wind was blowing softly, still with that sweet scent in it.
"What should we name this planet?" asked Henry, putting down his canteen.
"I was thinking something like 'Dulcedo'" said Jenna.
"Dulcedo?" asked one of the crewmen, named Daryl Schmidt. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Easy" said Jenna, with an air of superiority, "it means 'sweetness' in Latin".
"You know Latin?" asked Terry Young, who had come with the second group as a representative for Cdr. Peterson. "Why would you know Latin? Nobody has used it since, what, the 18th century?"
"Actually" intervened Axel, sitting down next to Terry, "Starfleet Academy's motto is 'Ex astris, scientia', which means 'From the stars, knowledge'. Did you know that?"
"Is that Latin too?" asked Terry Young.
"No, it's Swahili" said Jenna with scorn.
"What does it have to do, then?" asked Terry Young, now clearly confused.
Everyone laughed at Terry's expression and, eventually, he realized they were teasing him, so he joined the laughter.
A couple few hours later, one by one started to retreat to their tents. Two armed crewmen agreed to take turns to stay awake and mount guard. During the first shift, however, a sort of mist covered the camp, and suddenly the guard began feeling drowsy. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
When the sun came out, Axel got out of his tent, stretched his arms and legs and walked up to the sensor terminal. It was then when he noticed the sleeping guard. He walked up to him and shook him a bit.
"Crewman?" he said.
"Woa! I'm awake!" said the guard, waking up startled.
"Easy, crewman" said Axel, calming him down. "How long was each of your shifts?"
"Each of… oh no…" said the guard, realizing he had never woken up his relieve. "Sorry, sir, I don't know what happened".
"Don't worry… Max, right?" probed Axel.
"Yes, sir… Max Warren, sir." acknowledged crewman Max.
"Don't worry" repeated Axel. "If something had gone wrong, our good phaser turret would have defended us".
He patted Max on the shoulder and then went back to the terminal. He was bringing up the readings when the rest of the campers started to come out from their tents. He scrolled through some of the readings with interest and dismissing others: slight seismic activity had occurred below them, but they hadn't noticed it; change of wind direction and speed right before dawn; a dense mist, formed by a sort of chemical that he couldn't determine (he made a note to ask Cdr. Markus about it and make Amy take blood samples before returning to the Comet).
They were having breakfast, sitting on the grass and enjoying the sweet breeze, when Henry came by looking anxious.
"Have you seen Jenna?" he asked.
"I guess she's still asleep" replied Amy, "I haven't seen her come out of her tent".
Henry went over to Jenna's tent and opened it.
"Captain! Captain! Come here!" he yelled, backing away from the tent.
They all ran up to the tent and saw the hole on the floor inside it. It seemed like something had dug up the ground underneath the tent, by all looks it had taken Jenna with it.
"I don't understand how we missed those caves" said Axel pointing them out.
He was with Cdr. Markus, standing on the edge of the ravine next to their camp. After a close inspection with their binoculars, they were able to spot several holes dug up on the floor by the edge of the forest, and some more on the rocky wall of the ravine itself.
"I weren't able to find anything worth raising an alarm for when I scanned the area" said Cdr. Markus.
"Sir" said another crewman, walking up to them and addressing Cdr. Markus, "I found out why none of us heard Jenna, or felt the seismic activity".
"Ok? What is it?"
"Well, I spoke during breakfast with crewman Warren and he mentioned a mist overnight. He said that's when he fell asleep. After we discovered that Ens. Fox had gone missing, I ran up some tests on the readings from the mist: elevated concentrations of Melatonin".
"I'm sorry" said Axel, "Melatonin?"
"It's a hormone" explained Cdr. Markus, apparently realizing something. "It has a sleep-regulator effect on humans and most species of animals. It causes drowsiness and, eventually, you fall asleep".
"So you say it wasn't a common mist?" asked Axel, now addressing the crewman.
"All I'm saying, Captain, is that something or someone didn't want us to wake up" he replied.
A few minutes later, they were gathered around Axel. They were going to enter the caves and try to find Jenna.
"Listen up! We're organizing search teams" ordered Axel. "It is imperative to find her as soon as possible. We don't know what we're facing and we need to be cautious. Every search team will be formed by 3 people, all armed, and you must take a tricorder per team. Keep an open channel at all times. I'll be expecting reports every 15 minutes".
"What if we encounter mist?" asked crewman Warren.
"Then try to get away from it" replied Axel. "We don't have enough EV suits for all of us, so we must try to avoid contact with it".
After dividing into search parties of 3, reporting the current situation to the Comet and gearing up, the search for Jenna began. They left 2 guards at the camp, along with Lt. Soto (though he protested), to keep it secure and avoid intruders.
Axel was with Terry Young and Henry, Terry slightly ahead checking the tricorder and following the readings on it. They were now several feet inside the cavern and now the only light they saw was that of their own flashlights. Henry seemed lost in his thoughts.
"Don't worry, Henry" said Axel. "We'll find her".
"I really hope so, Captain" replied Henry. "My old man would kill me if something happened to his princess".
"She's strong, Ensign. She will put up a good fight" replied Axel.
"Sir, I'm picking up movement ahead" announced Terry.
"Steady now" motioned Axel. "We'll go slowly. Turn off the flashlights and put on you night vision visors. Set phasers to stun".
Cdr. Markus was teamed up with Amy and another ensign named George Kent. They were in another cave, not far away to the one Axel had entered. Cdr. Markus held the tricorder in front of him while Ens. Kent saw a glint of light ahead of them.
"Commander" he said, "there is something ahead".
"Let me see" acknowledged Cdr. Markus. He pointed the tricorder in that direction. "Seems to be like some form of halogen substance, but I can't read it from here".
"We must be under the camp now" said Amy. "But there is no sign of any tunnels going up".
"Is it me or the air smells even sweeter down here?" asked Ens. Kent.
"No, I can sense it too" agreed Amy. "Come here, I'll give us all another shot of insulin, just in case".
A few minutes later, they reached the end of the tunnel and came into a medium, low-ceilinged circular cave. There was a small lump in the middle of it, which emitted a soft golden glow.
"It's not a known substance" said Cdr. Markus when he tried to scan it. "The tricorder can't find a match".
"Congratulations, Commander" said Amy. "You discovered a new element".
"Er, sir?" asked Kent, a few meters away. "What's this?"
They walked towards him and looked down at the golden gooey substance on the floor. It was a sort of pond filled out with a sweet scented jelly-ish compound.
"I think we found the source of the sweetness in the air" said Cdr. Markus, holding out the tricorder. "According to the scans, it's something close to honey".
"Commander?" said Amy, raising her eyes and now with her view fixed on the farther wall. "Something's moving".
The two men looked in the same direction, and saw a shadow moving inside a soft lump on the wall.
"Sir, please come take a look at this" said crewman Warren to Lt. Soto, back at the camp.
"What is it?" asked Lt. Soto.
"I'm getting some strange readings in this terminal" said crewman Warren. "Suddenly, a bunch of beeps began to sound, and it began picking up movement all over the place".
Lt. Soto looked at the screen, just when he heard the voice of the Captain over the comlink.
"This is search team Alpha. All search teams, report" said Axel through the comlink.
"Search team Bravo, here" replied Cdr. Markus' voice.
"Search team Charlie, reporting" replied another crewman, on his end.
Once every other team had reported connection, Cdr. Markus spoke again.
"Captain, we've found something down here. It looks like some sort of hatchery. There are cocoons attached to the walls and a pond of something that resembles a lot to honey. We believe it's the source of the sweet scent in the air".
"Have you seen whatever made those cocoons?" asked Axel.
"No, sir" answered Cdr. Markus.
"Sir, we found something similar" said someone from search team Delta. "It was some sort of shed skin on the floor. We didn't know what it was, but now that Cdr. Markus mentions, it did look like an empty cocoon".
"Captain, this all makes sense now" said Lt. Soto through his comlink. "We're picking up movement all around the perimeter".
"Be on your guard, everyone" commanded Axel. "We'll continue the search until we find Jenna".
"Captain! Movement ahead!" yelled Terry Young.
"Paul, behind you!" yelled another crewman from one of the other teams, just when a violent growl was heard and, after a lot of yelling, silence returned.
"Captain Vargas to search team Foxtrot. Lt. Felix, can you hear me?" asked Axel, but there was no response.
"Captain…" began Henry. "Captain, we're not alone".
Axel turned around just in time to see 2 six-legged shapes running through the tunnel towards them. He removed his NV Goggles and raised his phaser, just when the mist hit them.
Axel woke up feeling dizzy. His body felt sore and he could barely move. He discovered that the reason of this was because he was held in place by some kind of gooey substance, and even though he tried he couldn't break free. He looked around and saw Terry Young, still unconscious, in a similar position stuck to the wall a couple meters away.
They were in a sort of large underground cavern. Small puddles of the honey-like substance that Cdr. Markus had mentioned were scattered around the floor. The high ceiling was supported by tall, rocky, natural pillars, and there were a couple of lumps on the floor, which emitted a soft golden glow. He saw Henry, who was trying hard to free himself from his sticky restraints, which held him to one of the pillars.
"Henry…" called Axel in a low voice. "Henry, are you alright?"
"Captain! Yes, I'm alright. I know where Jenna is!"
"What?" asked Axel, surprised. "Did you see her?"
"Yes, she was unconscious, also cocooned, and was being dragged away by one of those things".
"What are they? Did you see them well?"
"I got knocked down back there, before I could see them clearly, but the one carrying Jenna was like a big hornet, except for the fur covering its head".
It was then, that Axel saw Amy trying to get his attention from one of the tunnel entrances.
"Amy!" Axel called her.
"Finally!" she said, coming next to him and pulling out her phaser gun. "I've been trying to catch your eye for almost 2 minutes".
Amy cut Axel's and Henry's restraints with the beam from her phaser gun and went over to Terry Young to release him as well. She then handed Henry and Axel a pair of phaser guns and jabbed Terry with a hypospray to reanimate him.
"We must be cautious" said Axel. "Amy, where are the others? We need to go get Jenna. Henry saw one of those creatures taking her away".
"Cdr. Markus is with Ens. Kent inside the tunnel. Ens. Kent is hurt; he needs to be taken back to camp".
"Where are we?" asked Terry, finally coming to his senses.
"In some kind of hive" replied Axel. "Are you feeling ok?"
"Sore… but mainly ok".
"Go with Amy" said Axel. "Take her and Ens. Kent back to camp. I'll go with Cdr. Markus and Henry and go get Jenna".
Amy helped Terry on his feet and they went back into the tunnel. A few second later, Cdr. Markus came out of it towards them.
"How bad is Ens. Kent?" asked Axel when he got near them.
"Broken arm apparently, if he hadn't shot that thing, the Doctor would be the injured one. Those creatures are huge, sir".
"They are… let's go now" replied Axel, and he motioned Henry to lead the way.
It had been several minutes since they had gotten separated from Amy and Terry. The air was even sweeter the deeper they got inside the hive.
"When we get out of here… I want to eat the saltiest dish I can find on the ship's menu" mentioned Cdr. Markus.
"I'll better ask Amy to give us all shots of insulin when we get back to the Comet" said Axel in response.
"Sir" said Henry, "movement ahead". The three of them raised their weapons and slowed down.
They hadn't given 10 steps, when the ground beneath them collapsed. They fell through an inclined tunnel and rolled into a huge chamber, lighted by more of those golden-glowing lumps. They stood up and picked up their phaser guns, looked around and froze in shock.
They had fallen into a sort of hatchery. The honey-like substance was puddle all around the floor and cocoons hung from the ceiling and were stuck to the wall. Dry carcasses of their prey scattered the floor around them, usually right next to empty cocoons. Dark ten-legged creatures crawled up and down the walls, poking the cocoons with their appendixes. Suddenly, Henry gasped and ran towards one of the cocoons, which was moving as if something was trying to get out.
Axel and Cdr. Markus ran behind them and saw the reason of Henry's reaction: Jenna was stuck to the floor by the same hardened sticky substance from which Amy had released them. She was looking at the cocoon with a look of horror on her face and was trying to free herself from her restraints.
"Jenna!" called Henry.
"Henry!" replied Jenna. "Captain! Commander!"
"Henry, look out!" warned Axel.
Henry stopped running and looked around, just as a bulky creature rammed him and tossed him a few meters away with one of its appendixes. Axel raised his phaser gun and stunned the monster just as it ran towards them.
"Commander, release Jenna, I'll go get Henry".
"Commander! Above you!" yelled Jenna.
Cdr. Markus lunged forward just as a gigantic tail slammed the place where he had been standing. I was similar to a scorpion's tail, but smooth and muscled, instead of sectioned. It was then that Axel saw it: a huge 6 legged creature, similar to the smaller ones but covered in fur and with a tail ended with a sharp sting.
"Commander! Get Jenna out of here!" yelled Axel, and ran again towards Henry, who was trying to stand up.
"Commander!" yelled Jenna in fear, as the cocoon next to her had started to open, and a black wormish larva began erupting.
Cdr. Markus shot the larva and released Jenna by cutting her restraints with his phaser gun. Meanwhile, Axel dragged Henry out of the way, just as the giant creature lashed again with its tail, barely missing them.
Axel saw that another group of creatures were trying to round them up, just as a loud bang was heard and a blinding flash filled the room. They all covered their eyes, just as search team Charlie and Foxtrot entered the room, firing in all directions, taking advantage of the flash grenade's explosion. They covered Axel, Henry, Jenna and Cdr. Markus as they retreated into the tunnel and then followed them.
"We've lost contact with search team Delta and Echo" said one of the crewmen from search team Foxtrot. "Lt. Felix got separated from us right after we lost contact with you".
"We must get back to the surface. And leave before they come after us" said Axel.
"Oh, they don't like brightness" replied the crewman. "We discovered that when we first used a flash grenade. That's how we survived after losing the Lieutenant".
"Then we better get out fast" said Cdr. Markus, helping Henry stay on his feet.
"Sir!" yelled Jenna, warning Axel.
They all turned to look in the direction Jenna was pointing and saw about 5 to 7 creatures running through the tunnel towards them. The sleep-inducer mist was emanating from their bodies.
"Run!" ordered Axel and they all ran in the opposite direction, trying hard not to get touched by the mist and firing towards the creatures.
They managed to get rid of the pursuers, and finally get out of the tunnel. Lt. Soto, Amy and two men from search team Echo greeted them when they got back to camp. Lt. Felix was also there, injured but he had somehow managed to get out alive. Search team Delta was also there Axel didn't waste any time, and hailed the Comet.
"Captain Vargas to the Comet! Cdr. Peterson we need to beamed out of here immediately!"
"Understood, sir" replied Cdr. Peterson.
"Let's get out of this damn planet" said Axel to the rest of the team. Nobody objected.
USS Comet, NCC-271279, warping out from the hive planet
Captain's Log, stardate 50569.2
We've left the Hive, as we have all agreed to name the planet, thankfully without suffering any casualties. Cdr. Markus suggested that we left a beacon to warn anyone who approaches the planet not to land and we have marked it as hostile.
We've picked up a distress call from an Axanar freighter that was hit by a cloud of space particles and needs assistance with the repairs of their outer hull, so we're now on our way to rendezvous with them.
We're hoping that this time, we don't encounter any other surprises.
[i] Laevulose and Dextrose are both types of sugar, and they can both be found in honey
