"I must be the dumbest person ever!" Carter was looking at what Lennier was
showing her, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. On the terminal
screen, one of the only ones left working, was displayed a map with the fastest
course between Minerva 2 and Minbar. For the first time, she realized that the
planets, stars and constellations, looked very much like the symbols on the
dial next to the door.
Lennier was almost totally engrossed in his work, "The dial acts like a
combination lock. All we have to do is," he paused, "find the path home, and
the door should open."
She chuckled and bent down to look over his shoulder, "How long before we get
the combination?"
"Well, I figure that Minbar is the planet at the center of the dial, while
Minerva is on the outer disk. It should only take me a few minutes to work out
the final combination."
Carter was grinning ear to ear, "You Minbari are clever bastards," she said as
she kissed his cheek, though he barely noticed.
Her comm went off beeped and she pressed it and said, "Carter here." She moved
to the other end of the tent, as not to distract Lennier.
"Pris," it was Dr. Foster, "I've finished the tests on the Edenberry."
"Great, what did you find?"
"I was right, it is a mutation, caused by something in the soil, at least
that's my guess."
She furrowed her brow, "What could be in the soil to make it turn carnivorous?"
"Well, that's what I was wondering. So I took a sample of the dirt and ran some
tests on it. I found very faint traces of some kind of alien bacteria."
"What kind of alien bacteria?"
"I wish I could say, but it's like nothing I've seen before. I'm going to run
some more- OOF!" There was a sudden crash and some grunting and then static.
Carter immediatly drew her pistol and bolted from the tent, heading for
Foster's research tent. She jumped over fallen equpitment and other bstacles on
the way and finally burst through his tent flap, ready for anything.
Foster was lying, face down, in a pool of his own blood. On the back of his
head was a sizeable wound, while lying next to him was a hammer, with which
he'd obviously been bludgeoned.
Lennier hadn't heard the end of Carter's conversation with Foster, nor had he
heard her leave. Instead he finished with the mapping and then, satisfied he'd
found the right combination, got up and headed for the cave.
He went down the tunnels to where the door stood, no longer inmpregnable. He
turned the disks, starting from the bottom one, each one giving a slight click
as they were moved into the right position.
Lennier hesitated before moving positioning the last one. Shouldn't Carter be
here? This was, after all, her project, and surely she should be here when the
door was finally opened. He was about to go get her, but something kept him
there.
His hand quivered over the final dial, wanting desperatly to move it, while his
rational mind screamed at him to go get Carter. Still, there was something
compelling him to open the door, and in the end, it won.
He turned the last disk.
Outside the camp, the Edenberry plants began to vibrate until they were
positively shaking. Their vines whipped about in a frenzy and moved towards the
camp. Now it was time to feed.
Carter grabbed the nearest worker by the shirt, "Who was the last person in
there?" she demanded, indicating Foster's tent.
"Ma-Ma'am," the worker was startled to be questioned like this by his usually
amiable and easygoing boss.
"Who?!" she shouted.
"Well, I-I saw Mr. Huntington go in a few minutes, but he was only moving some
equiptment."
"Huntington," she wispered, releasing the confused man.
At that moment, there was a trmendous crash, screaming, and sudden panicked
running about. She looked up and saw that the vines where grabbing the closest
people, most of whom were wounded who hadn't been moved yet, and so had no way
of saving themseleves. Several brave souls clambered to grab them and pull them
to safety, only to be grabbed themselves.
Then the ground began to move, not as violent as before, but in a definate
aftershock. People began running from the cave to escape falling rocks, only to
run straight into the people trying to get into the caves. The result was a
seething mass of chaos, in which Carter was caught in the middle of.
She was jostled, shoved and finally knocked over. Someone grabbed her arm with
a light pinch and hoisted her up to her feet. She was about to thank her
rescuer, when she looked up and saw that it was Huntington, who was still
holding her arm.
Carter tried to break free, but he quickly put a syringe to her neck and
injected her with something. Immediately, the world began to spin, and
everything grew dark as she passed out.
With a satisfied grin, Huntington hoisted her up onto his shoulder and then
moved through the confused mass of people who didn't know where to go. Not that
they had anywhere to go, he thought. They didn't want to be trapped in the
cave, and the foliage spelled death for them.
He moved to a position out of the path of the rampaging mob, and watched them
quietly. Some of them tried to go through the underbrush and disapeared into
the foliage, never to return. Still some stayed in the camp, awaiting death
from the enchroaching plants.
A vine started to wrap itself about his arm, but he looked down on it and
said, "Stop it." The vine jerked back and seemed to study him for a moment.
Then it tried to get a grip on Carter and once again Huntington told it to
stop, "Leave her, she's mine."
The vine withdrew.
showing her, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. On the terminal
screen, one of the only ones left working, was displayed a map with the fastest
course between Minerva 2 and Minbar. For the first time, she realized that the
planets, stars and constellations, looked very much like the symbols on the
dial next to the door.
Lennier was almost totally engrossed in his work, "The dial acts like a
combination lock. All we have to do is," he paused, "find the path home, and
the door should open."
She chuckled and bent down to look over his shoulder, "How long before we get
the combination?"
"Well, I figure that Minbar is the planet at the center of the dial, while
Minerva is on the outer disk. It should only take me a few minutes to work out
the final combination."
Carter was grinning ear to ear, "You Minbari are clever bastards," she said as
she kissed his cheek, though he barely noticed.
Her comm went off beeped and she pressed it and said, "Carter here." She moved
to the other end of the tent, as not to distract Lennier.
"Pris," it was Dr. Foster, "I've finished the tests on the Edenberry."
"Great, what did you find?"
"I was right, it is a mutation, caused by something in the soil, at least
that's my guess."
She furrowed her brow, "What could be in the soil to make it turn carnivorous?"
"Well, that's what I was wondering. So I took a sample of the dirt and ran some
tests on it. I found very faint traces of some kind of alien bacteria."
"What kind of alien bacteria?"
"I wish I could say, but it's like nothing I've seen before. I'm going to run
some more- OOF!" There was a sudden crash and some grunting and then static.
Carter immediatly drew her pistol and bolted from the tent, heading for
Foster's research tent. She jumped over fallen equpitment and other bstacles on
the way and finally burst through his tent flap, ready for anything.
Foster was lying, face down, in a pool of his own blood. On the back of his
head was a sizeable wound, while lying next to him was a hammer, with which
he'd obviously been bludgeoned.
Lennier hadn't heard the end of Carter's conversation with Foster, nor had he
heard her leave. Instead he finished with the mapping and then, satisfied he'd
found the right combination, got up and headed for the cave.
He went down the tunnels to where the door stood, no longer inmpregnable. He
turned the disks, starting from the bottom one, each one giving a slight click
as they were moved into the right position.
Lennier hesitated before moving positioning the last one. Shouldn't Carter be
here? This was, after all, her project, and surely she should be here when the
door was finally opened. He was about to go get her, but something kept him
there.
His hand quivered over the final dial, wanting desperatly to move it, while his
rational mind screamed at him to go get Carter. Still, there was something
compelling him to open the door, and in the end, it won.
He turned the last disk.
Outside the camp, the Edenberry plants began to vibrate until they were
positively shaking. Their vines whipped about in a frenzy and moved towards the
camp. Now it was time to feed.
Carter grabbed the nearest worker by the shirt, "Who was the last person in
there?" she demanded, indicating Foster's tent.
"Ma-Ma'am," the worker was startled to be questioned like this by his usually
amiable and easygoing boss.
"Who?!" she shouted.
"Well, I-I saw Mr. Huntington go in a few minutes, but he was only moving some
equiptment."
"Huntington," she wispered, releasing the confused man.
At that moment, there was a trmendous crash, screaming, and sudden panicked
running about. She looked up and saw that the vines where grabbing the closest
people, most of whom were wounded who hadn't been moved yet, and so had no way
of saving themseleves. Several brave souls clambered to grab them and pull them
to safety, only to be grabbed themselves.
Then the ground began to move, not as violent as before, but in a definate
aftershock. People began running from the cave to escape falling rocks, only to
run straight into the people trying to get into the caves. The result was a
seething mass of chaos, in which Carter was caught in the middle of.
She was jostled, shoved and finally knocked over. Someone grabbed her arm with
a light pinch and hoisted her up to her feet. She was about to thank her
rescuer, when she looked up and saw that it was Huntington, who was still
holding her arm.
Carter tried to break free, but he quickly put a syringe to her neck and
injected her with something. Immediately, the world began to spin, and
everything grew dark as she passed out.
With a satisfied grin, Huntington hoisted her up onto his shoulder and then
moved through the confused mass of people who didn't know where to go. Not that
they had anywhere to go, he thought. They didn't want to be trapped in the
cave, and the foliage spelled death for them.
He moved to a position out of the path of the rampaging mob, and watched them
quietly. Some of them tried to go through the underbrush and disapeared into
the foliage, never to return. Still some stayed in the camp, awaiting death
from the enchroaching plants.
A vine started to wrap itself about his arm, but he looked down on it and
said, "Stop it." The vine jerked back and seemed to study him for a moment.
Then it tried to get a grip on Carter and once again Huntington told it to
stop, "Leave her, she's mine."
The vine withdrew.