Chapter 11 – Planet-side
Raiden chuckled as he stretched while he waited with the two newbies on the ship for the Captain and First officer. The two women were acting like giddy little girls exchanging possible cultures, creatures, food, and people the planet may hold. "You two are like little kids." the tiger male shook his head, reaching out and playfully shoving the elder of the sisters' shoulder, "How are you doing with your combat training? Still taking it like a little kitten?"
"Lt. Arashi, please refrain from making such gestures and metaphors." Spock asked, though his tone was hard making it more of an order, as he, McCoy, and Jim exited the lift. The Vulcan purposefully standing between his Bria and the Toran, although he tried to make it appear as if he had simply stood there as it was convenient.
Bones raised brow at the oddly behaving Commander, glancing at the others. Spock acting…jealous? Was that even possible? "Spock are you sure you want to go down with us?"
"I do not understand, Doctor. I am perfectly suitable as to go." the Vulcan stated, raising a brow as Raiden laughed.
"He's good, Bones, lets just go!" the tiger smirked, suddenly feeling excited to be going down as the Fylakas did. Something big was going to happen, he could feel it. Something life changing. Or maybe it was just because this was the first uncharted planet?
The medical officer rolled his eyes, "Fine. Let's go head first down on to the planet with two green gills, a hyper tiger, and an emotional Vulcan. All the makings of a bad joke."
"At least it will be a laughable one." Sarah grinned at the look Bones gave her, "Could be worst, after all."
"My combat training's going just fine, by the way," Bria stuck her tongue at Raiden after peeking around Spock, before taking the Vulcan's hand to calm him down.
"You forgot the reckless Captain and sarcastic Doctor, Bones," Kirk laughed as he jumped onto the transporter next to Sarah, swinging his arm around her shoulders.
Ayano had accompanied them in order to say goodbye to Leonard, and she smiled, shaking her head at the lot, "Don't bring back any strays," she said jokingly and she looked at Bones, "I'll hold down the fort, McCoy," she promised.
Sulu and Chekov were also there, and Hikaru nodded to Sarah, "Take care of yourself and remember what I taught yu if something happens." To the Captain, "Don't get yourself in too much trouble, sir."
"Aye," Kirk snickered.
"We'll see next time we spar then, Kitten." Raiden teased, grinning at Spock's narrowed eyes.
"Bria….perhaps we may spar sometime? I have yet to evaluate your skill levels of such matters." her Vulcan suggested, choosing not to react any more to the Toran male.
"I'd be more worried if you couldn't handle it. Seeing as you could take my place in a moment's notice, it's one less thing I have on my mind," Bones smiled at his assistant, "I much rather stay here after the last incident I had with Jim on a planet." Reaching out, the doctor lightly patted Ayano's shoulder. His hand lingered a bit too long before he realized his own actions. "Right. Make sure to monitor our vitals at all times."
"It's like this is our funeral," Sarah giggled at the officers there to send them off. There was a bit of...unease at her words, so the brunette quickly changed the subject. "Right! So….um...'Beaming down'. it...won't hurt will it?"
"Sparing sounds fun," Bria agreed to both alien men. She probably should've told Raiden not to call her that around Spock, but whatever, too late now. When she had first seen Raiden she'd been pretty intrigued. He was just like the Bangle Tigers on Earth in her time, but...with legs, and he talked. A humanoid tiger. Though, he didn't have fur, his skin was just colored that way.
"Nah, it won't hurt. It's more like a tickle," Kirk assured Sarah, "We're ready to beam down, Mr. Chekov."
"Aye, aye, sir!" Chekov nodded and pressed several buttons, "Beamin' down in tree, two, won..."
Raiden closed his eyes. He always closed his eyes when beaming somewhere. It gave the feeling of, well, magic like some great trick had been performed. When he opened them, the somewhat green terrain became exposed to his senses. The Toran immediately set into his job as security detail by scanning the area, his previous attitude changed for the moment into his 'soldier mode'. His job was to make sure that each of this group made it back safely; a job he wasn't about to take lightly.
Spock noted the male's change which...calmed him. This was peculiar as the Vulcan had no previous need to feel threatened by Raiden's presence as they had many encounters beforehand. Why was it when Bria became involved, he felt a need to...defend her? Logically it was because of his nearing time, but...perhaps some illogical fear of losing her also played a role. "Are you well, Bria?" Spock asked his ashaya as this was her first experience with the teleportation beam.
The doctor made a face at the surroundings, but wasn't unhappy to see the similarities with Earth. Finally, he was on a planet, not some tin-box-disaster-in-making. Not that he would ever tell Scotty this as he would thwart him. "Well, I suppose it could be worst."
Sarah blinked in amazement as she pulled away from Kirk to look around her. One minute, Enterprise, next a new planet. That..that was incredibly cool like going through a portal without the whole different dimension thing. "This...is really cool, and this place looks like Earth too!" She supposed she had expected...well alien surroundings. Still this was super great because this was a /new planet/. She was on a different planet!
Bria looked around, "Whoa...yeah, I'm great. This place is amazing!" She took a deep breath, "Sarah! Fresh, clean, /real/ air!" she squealed, breaking away from Spock to go to her sister, grab both her hands and jump up and down excitedly, "This is so cool!"
Kirk laughed and moved away so the two women could do their thing, and he looked around as well. There were people dressed in what looked like Ancient Spartan armor, pleated skirts and all, walking towards them. "Are you our escorts?" he asked, his tricorder ready just incase they didn't speak English. The person they had contacted had been the King and he had been able to speak with them just fine. As for the rest of his people, he didn't know.
The one on the left nodded, "Correct. I am Achaz, this is Aeton. We'll be showing you the way to the City. Please...don't mind the rubble you see around you. This used to be a temple, but the war destroyed it."
Aeton cut it, "The war is over, but it did much damage. Thankfully the city was spared."
Raiden glanced over the soldiers, noting that the most dangerous weapon they had were swords which made him relax some. Don't get him wrong, he knew exactly how deadly one could be with a sword. Mr. Sulu had proven that fact for him. However, as he and the others had phasers with them, swords weren't a problem.
Sarah's eyes widened as she pieced things together, "This...this is just like Ancient Greece. H-how is it possible that this place looks like something from Earth?"
"There is a high likelihood that in the past Earth was visited by aliens of which influenced humans with their culture. The humans expanded upon it, bring it into their own culture, thus the culture here being similar." Spock stated, observing the humanoids. "May I inquire of what you call yourselves? For example, I am what is known as a Vulcan."
"The other man there is a Toran, and the rest of us are Earthings or Humans," Kirk expanded on.
Recognition dawned in Aeton's eyes, "Oh! We're Manteis! The Oracle Akantha..."
Achaz elbowed him in the side, "Let the King and the Oracle herself explain. We're just here to show them the way."
"Oh, right...well, come on, then," Aeton motioned them to follow before turning around and heading off.
Despite being excited to see the city, Sarah hesitated a little after the exchange between the two men. Honestly she had seen enough movies in her lifetime to be suspicious. The brunette didn't say anything, however, not wanting to dampen the mood for everyone and making things tense. So instead she hooked her arm with Bria cheerfully, refraining from skipping as much as possible.
Unlike Sarah, Bones frowned as he moved next to Kirk, leaning in to whisper, "I think there is something fishy going on here Jim. How well were these people monitored before we decided that it was safe to make contact?"
"I refuse to spend six months monitoring a single planet when there's so much to see and do, and we only have five years. We never found this planet before because I went way off course. There /is/ no course. These people were monitored for maybe four-five days and I've signed a lot of paperwork. Hell, I /have/ a lot of paperwork with me to give to the King to start trade," Kirk told Bones, and they started to follow the two soldiers, "They don't have much technology at all. They really are like Ancient Greece or Rome. We only made contact because they have communicators like we do."
Bria looked around as they walked, sobering up from her original hype. This place /had/ been devastated by war. She saw it in the rubble of the temple as she looked behind them. Her eyes softened and she felt sorrow for the lost souls. Shaking it off, wanting to have a good time, she smiled at Sarah, "This place is beautiful. What do you think?"
Bones sighed as he looked at the rumble around them, "I hope you're right about this, Jim." It wasn't that he didn't trust Jim. After all that they been through and what Jim lead them out off, Bones trusted Jim. On the other hand, Jim got them /in/ the messes half the time.
"It's really nice to see something at least like Earth." Sarah returned the smile, staring up at the approaching wall. "You know, I've always wanted to walk through Ancient Greece, or Rome, I never really was picky. Mainly from God of War games, but nevertheless, this is pretty cool." Curiously tilting her head to the side as they neared the gate where a blond woman stood at the ready waiting for them. "That however, is different from the Greek culture on Earth, so that's really cool."
"Warrior women! Imagine that!" Bria grinned hugely. She watched as Achas approached the woman, the gate the only thing separating them.
"All is well, Elene. Pleas open the gate," Achaz told her, his voice taking on a gentle tone.
"Of course, Captain," Elene nodded her pale blond head and raised her arm, signaling the gate men, and the huge metal barrier lifted, and as it got higher, the spikes removed themselves from the ground.
Bria's eyebrows shot up at this, her eyes slightly widened by the gesture. "Holy damn, that's nasty looking." Indeed, there was dried blood on the spikes as well. Now she thought about it, it was fairly warm and /dry/, and she was sweating just a little from the heat. They must not have gotten rain for a while.
"Captain?" Kirk blinked at Achaz, "Are you the Captain of the guard?"
"Correct. Elene is my second in command. Aeton was just curious about the newcomers so he came along instead of her," Achaz replied stiffly.
Huu? That was a protective tone. Bria's mouth twitched from side to side twice and her nose twitched, something that she did when she was thinking deeply. Max had always called it the bunny rabbit twitch.
Spock raised a brow at as he observed his Bria's facial expression. Such...an odd 'tick', as he head many humans call such subconscious actions. He would have to ask her about that later when they were back on the ship. "It is strange to ask one's Second in Command to stay behind and take another in their place."
"You have some teaching to do with your pointy-ears." Sarah giggled, nudging her sister playfully.
"Pointy-ears…is that a derogatory reference?" Spock narrowed his eyes. Jim had chosen someone alike himself.
"She's just joking, Spock, lighten up." Raiden chuckled, shaking his head when the Vulcan turned to make a comment, "And that was a metaphor, so don't take it so seriously."
Bones shook his head at antics of the others in amusement. They broke up the tension that had secretly been building being escorted to a bloodied gate. He patted Jim's shoulder, "You might have to rescue our red shirt friend, Jim, before a certain First Officer takes him out."
Bria broke away from Sarah to slip her hand into Spock's, "The heat doesn't seem to bother you. How are you not sweating like the rest of us?
"I think a certain red shirt recon officer's got it covered," Jim chuckled in response to Leonard.
Elene spoke up once the party moved into the city, and the gates closed behind them, "I will accompany you back to the palace, Captain."
"Not like I can stop you either way," Achaz snickered at her firm tone, before shaking his head, "Alright, you lot. This way."
The city was enormous, the size on the outside an optical illusion because of the high wall, and the entire area was on top of a large, tall hill. There were even rises and dips and places where they had carved around areas like rocks, instead of making it completely flat. The palace looked more like a temple at the top of the hill at the back wall...or /was/ it a temple? The buildings just got bigger and more elaborate as they moved further into the city, and the amount of people was uncertain.
"My original home planet of Vulcan's climate was much warmer than this," Spock explained, his eyes softening ever so slightly at how his Fykalas lady observed the city in awe. He couldn't help but to peak into her head to see what she saw: the beauty, the fascination, the amazement...She was...endearing. "This climate, at the most, is mild."
Sarah rolled her eyes with a smirk as she slipped to Kirk's side, hooking her arm with his. "Mind if I join? A certain /someone/ ditched me." The brunette stuck her tongue out at Bria after having raised her voice loud enough for her to hear that last part, "Love ya sis! Mean it!"
"I'm sure ya do," Bria laughed, and then to Spock, "After all the bombing and stuff the weather was always pretty cold, even in summer. Then on the ship, the temperature is average. Before all of this I enjoyed summer. I'm just not used to it anymore. Heck, when I'd visit family in California - Sacramento area - it'd be like 90 degrees almost at all times, or higher, and I loved it."
Jim snickered and patted her arm, "I don't mind. I enjoy having you by my side." Her presence always calmed him. his Captain mode cracked and he managed to enjoy the scenery for a moment before smiling and going back to observing his escorts, going back on alert without showing it. Many doubted he took stuff like this seriously, and at first that bothered him, but then he learned to use it to his advantage.
Bones rolled his eyes as he glanced back and forth between the two couples. Both were so...close already. It made him feel colder, lonely. Here he was stuck with these love birds, and Raiden, when he could be back on the Enterprise where a certain medical assistant waited. Now that he thought of it, Leonard missed Ayano since she saw him off, not even ten minutes ago. After being nearly inseparable since she joined, Ayano understood him on levels even Jim didn't. He should have convinced her to join them..."
"Your room can be programmed for a higher temperature to make it more comfortable. I can show you how to do so when we return." the Vulcan offered, rubbing his thumb over her hand, "Perhaps I may be able to arrange a visit to New Vulcan. The climate is around that temperature. I believe you may enjoy it."
"It's not fair that you can make me blush so easily," Sarah pouted slightly as she tried to hide her reddened cheeks. "So...what's your opinion on this place, Captain?" He seemed...quieter than normal. She understood why and such, I mean, this was an unknown planet of which they hardly knew anything about the people. Still, Sarah leaned her head against his shoulder and slid her hand down to link with his.
This arrangement, however, didn't last long as a strange, but familiar sound reached the Fylakas's ears over the noise of the crowd. Sarah's eyes widened as they rounded a building to reveal a large, shining lake right in the middle of the city, "That...that's real right? Is that an /actual/ lake? Like...one that is, relatively, clean? Bria! I can see the bottom of the lake!"
"The lake is about a mile deep in the middle," Elene was the one to say this as Achaz broke away to talk with someone. She continued to lead them along the boardwalk that ran along-side the lake with many docks. There were many boats; some of simple nature, some that looked like trade boats, and others of more complex nature that looked like houseboats.
"This is /definitely/ amazing!" Bria grinned hugely. To Spock she answered him, "I would enjoy that."
Achaz returned, "Up ahead is the bridge that connects to the other side. There's a wagon going to take us the rest of the way."
They walked another two minutes before they reached the wagon. After climbing into it, and they were moving, Aeton spoke up, "The wealthy live on the other side, but make no mistake – they often interact with that side. There are no poor here. Everyone makes a living with a craft or they join the Guard. We all buy and sell things with trade and equivalent exchange."
"So…what are Caste ranks, if there are no poor?" Bria asked curiously.
Elene motioned to her right, which meant the way they had come, "Common folk, merchants, craftsman and the like. As you can see, everyone does well here." She motioned to her right, across the lake, "The Guard, those who work at the temple and palace, the elderly, council members, the King and finally the Oracle. We used to have a queen, but she died of illness."
Bria was intrigued, "The Oracle is at the top of the food chain then?"
"Interesting choice of words…but essentially yes," Elene's harsh face looked pretty when she smiled over at them.
"So, what does this Oracle person do anyway? I thought that a King or Queen the most important." Sarah asked, tilting her head slightly at an angle. It seemed odd to her at least, but this was a whole different culture so she should tread lightly since she was a guest here. "I mean, that would be true where I come from."
"She has made an interesting point," Spock agreed looking to the temple in the distance, "This Oracle has been mentioned five times now, yet nothing has been said to enlighten us of this Oracle's role in your culture."
Raiden made a slight face at temple, an odd sensation picking at him. He wanted to go there, but at the same time he felt as if he should be far more cautious than he had settled down to. Eh, what the heck, he was just over thinking it, so he pushed the feeling off to the side for now.
"Typically, an Oracle is someone who can see into the future and gives advice to the King and stuff," Bria shrugged, "I don't know if that's the same here or not."
"Forgive us, but we were ordered not to say anything because they wanted to explain things themselves," Achaz told them.
Kirk shrugged, "There's nothing you can do against orders, so we won't fault you for it."
The rest of the trip was fairly silent, the girls in awe yet again over the area and how fancy it look. It took fifteen minutes by the watch Bria had on her right wrist. She had worn fingerless gloves that went to her elbow to hide her scar, that way it would not be seen as a weakness. They stopped in front of the temple and jumped out of the wagon. Elene accompanied them until they reached the steps, but then she stopped.
"Elene? Is everything alright?" Achaz asked, stiffening, looking confused.
"I...have somewhere else I need to be." She bowed, "Farewell." Quickly turning away, she darted around the corner of the temple.
Sarah frowned as she watched the woman disappear so suddenly. What could make a strong appearing woman just...take off like that? Looking to Achaz, she noted his subtle concern a fraction of a second before he noticed her staring. The brunette flushed, realizing that she was faulting back to her bad habit. She always had a difficult time with /not/ staring at something that intrigued or stood out to her. This definitely fell under those categories. However, Sarah kept quiet about the fact that Elene…felt odd in the sense of distress. Instead she turned to where a woman around hers and Bria's ages making her way down the temple steps. She had all the poise of a proper woman, yet the way she moved suggested there was more to her than first impressions of lady-like.
Raiden, who had fallen to the back of the group when couples started to pair up, stood with his mouth slightly agape and his multicolored face tinted with red. This unknown woman was gorgeous. Sure, he had seen many beautiful women before, but she had this...special beauty Raiden hadn't seen before.
"Welcome, friends," the woman with peach-toned skin said in a soft voice. She had ginger orange hair in a ponytail that fell in soft waves to her shoulders, her bangs held off her face with a gold leaf headband. Her eyes were as blue as the sky, and she wore a golden yellow empire dress with a gold band just below her bust holding the silky material over her breasts. She also donned a sheer golden drape that was darker than her dress, and she had brown sandals that covered her calves. "My name is Eri. Please, follow me."
Aeton bowed, "If you don't mind, mi'lady, I will take my leave here."
Eri simply nodded and waved her hand, dismissing him, and then looked back at the group, "There is a Gladiator show this afternoon, and I'm interested in seeing it. If you please, my mother and the King have been waiting."
"Your mother? Do you perhaps mean the Oracle?" Spock inquired, quirking that brow of his. Her attire would indeed match that of a royal class woman. Curious that the Oracle's daughter would greet them, though, he supposed, not unusual in cultures. One would think that if and Oracle is kept so secret from guests, than those related to her would be as well.
Bones raised a brow as well; however it was at the Toran male. Reaching over to the red shirt, the doctor nudged his shoulder with a chuckle. "You look like a tiger-fish with your mouth hanging open like that." Leonard chuckled, earning a growl from the male.
"Jerk..." Raiden mumbled, the red tint growing.
"That would be correct," Eri responded to Spock as she headed up the stairs, her gold arm band glinting in the sunlight. She led them all through the large marble hallways. Decorating the walls were pictures carved into the marble, telling a story, but it appeared they were following it backwards because it didn't make sense. Eri led them all the way to the throne room, where the King perched in his elaborate chair, made or a different colored marble, gold designs everywhere on it. Next to him, a woman with brown hair textured the same as Eri's stood. Instead of yellow, she wore a black dress, with a dark green sheer drape instead of gold. Her gold armband twisted around her bicep and it looked like a snake. She wore the same leaf headband as Eri did.
Bria's eyes narrowed instantly and she tensed as they neared her. The other woman's dark green eyes found hers and they looked intrigued. Eri did not get her beauty from this woman. She wasn't ugly by any means, just a.../dark/ beauty.
Sarah's face fell a bit and she faltered back slightly behind Kirk. She may not be able to pick up emotions like her sister, but she could sense the sharpness to the woman, the superior personality that her Beta type immediately felt. That woman reminded her of the snake she wore on her arm.
Raiden's eyes narrowed as he looked over the 'top dogs'. The King next to the woman...heh, looked powerless. She seemed to hold all the strings, which didn't appear to be a good thing. In fact, the way Eri approached her was calculated and cautious. Wasn't that her /mother/ though? Why would someone act like that unless something happened between them? The thought made Raiden frown, his jaw tightening.