It took days to break camp after the decision was made to move on. A large part of that was due to the decision to stock up on supplies. Which meant that hunter- and gathering parties had been busy for three days straight getting whatever supplies could be transported up and stored in the large freezers of the Hermes.
Rick and his colleagues had used the additional time to try and communicate the concept of trade with the natives. The sour look on his face made it very clear that he had failed. Nobody blamed him though. The consensus was that this culture had no concept of trade in the traditional way. Goods where distributed based on need which was centrally decided by an still unknown entity. That was the bigger problem for Rick. This culture was completely different from anything seen before and they where not given even nearly enough time to study it.
As soon as Rick was back on the ship he spent his time writing down all his findings, including his suggestions on further research, naturally spearheaded by him.
The existence of a compatible biosphere, eatable food included, made the planet a prime location for a research colony.
As the rest of the crew prepared for departure, Rick and his colleagues where busy with their papers.
"Captain. Cargo is secured, we're ready for departure." Joe reported to the Captain.
"Understood, take us out." The Captain ordered.
Joe turned back to her console and expertly accelerated the ship out of orbit.
"We're underway. Time to orbit of the next planet is 20 minutes."
"Very good. What do we know about the next target?" The Captain asked.
"It is quite close to the sun, barely still inside the habitable zone."
"Doesn't sound too hospitable, let's check it out." The Captain ordered.
"Understood." Joe answered.
Hermes decelerated, gracefully settling into orbit of the planet. All scanners running, poking and prodding it, trying to learn all there was to learn about the planet.
"First data is coming in." Smyke reported.
"I'm ready a mainly nitrogen atmosphere, traces of oxygen, carbohydrates, water and other elements." Dr. Schmitz states from his console.
"Breathable?" The Captain asked.
"Not without gear, oxygen is around 12%, pressure is about 2 bar." Dr. Schmitz stated.
"That doesn't sound too pleasant." Joe stated.
"Agreed. Any signs of life?" The Captain asked.
"Not so far. We need to scan the rest of the surface to make sure, but I'm not reading any signs of life at all. There appear to be no bodies of water, the planet appears to be very dry." Dr. Schmitz answered
"Alright. Keep scanning." The Captain ordered and leaned back in her seat.
The Bridge crew kept busy scanning and analyzing the planet below the ship while Joe kept shifting orbits to cover the surface thoroughly and quickly.
As usual the Captain was the last to enter the meeting room. As soon as she was seated she started the meeting.
"Alright, what have we got?" She asked.
"It is fascinating." Dr. Schmitz answered.
"Would you please elaborate?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"Certainly." he stood up and walked to the view screen. After using the controls an image of the planet below them appeared on the screen. It's colors where more yellow and brown than the familiar blue and green they where all hoping to see. The picture of the surface was very clear with almost no clouds in sight.
"We have confirmed that the surface of the planet is very dry. We have failed to find any significant bodies of water on the surface. We also have found only very small formations of clouds. Surface temperature is 45°C and above."
"So it is a big desert down there?" The Captain asked.
"More or less, yes." Dr. Schmitz answered. The image shifted to zoom in on the poles of the planet.
"The polar region is much more comfortable. Temperature in these regions is in the mid-twenties. Still very dry and no vegetation to speak of."
"We have also measured significant winds all over the surface, we found up to 400 kph of wind speed."
"That does not sound cozy at all."
"Indeed. But we did find some very interesting things." That got the room's attention.
"There are no bodies of water on the surface, but we did find water. There appear to be oceans deep underground." a schematic appeared on the screen, highlighting large bodies of water deep underground.
"Fascinating."
"We also found signs of movement deep in the sand. We can't get detailed readings on it, but whatever is moving there, it is big. The smallest we could detect was 100 meters, the biggest just short of a kilometer." the screen changed again, displaying points of interest.
"Hold on. Are you sure that this is not some natural phenomenon you've detected?" The Captain asked.
"The movements appear organic, they're fluctuating, not static at all. Some of them move in groups, especially the smaller ones. This has all the trademarks of animals roaming around."
"How is this possible?" The Captain asked.
"A lot of animals live underground. Contrary to common believe deserts on earth are not lifeless, they're filled with creatures that live above and below ground. We normally just don't see them, that is all."
"Fair enough. Any signs of plant life?"
"We're unsure of that. We have identified what appears to be similar to cacti back on earth but there is no way to be sure from orbit."
"I see. The question is now: Do we want to spent time exploring this dust bowl, what little there is to explore about it." The Captain stated.
"Captain, this ecosystem is fascinating. These lifeforms could be vastly different from what we have seen so far, we really should take the time to investigate them further." Dr. Schmitz advocated.
"I disagree. This is a hostile environment if I've ever seen one. From all we know there is nothing of value down there we don't find anywhere else with much easier access. I'd say we move on." Rick stated.
"I agree. Our mission here is very clear, doctor. We're supposed to find habitable worlds to colonize and this one makes a very poor candidate." The Captain held up her hand before Dr. Schmitz could protest. "I understand your point very well. My recommendation will be to send a follow-up expedition to investigate this planet further."
"That can easily take years to get here." Dr. Schmitz protested.
"Possibly. But these creatures have been here for a while, they'll be here for another couple of years. Sorry, but I have to set priorities here. As fascinating as this is, it does not have priority right now."
"I don't like it but I see your point. Thanks for hearing me out."
"If there is nothing else?" The Captain looked around, nobody wanted to bring anything up.
"Thank you all for your time. Ms. 9, please get us underway to the next system on the list."
"Yes, Captain." Joe answered.
Joe accelerated the ship out of orbit on a trajectory for the next system. Using the planetary bodies along the way as slingshots she accelerated out of the system. Before long Hermes reached the threshold where the gravitational pull from the star became weak enough to no longer interfere with the warp drive.
In a practiced notion Joe set the new course and engaged the drive, smoothly accelerating the ship far beyond any speed mankind had deemed possible for the longest time.
"We've reached cruising speed of Warp 4.5, scanners are clear. E.T.A. is 8 days, 14 hours." Joe reported.
"Very good, carry on. I'll be in my quaters." The Captain answered and left the bridge.
Joe and Smyke exchanged a look.
"I guess you're in charge?" Joe asked.
"I guess so. Carry on then." Smyke answered.
"Yes, Sir." Joe answered and turned back to her console with Smyke focusing on his.
With the ship underway routine quickly settled in. The scientists where busy analyzing the gathered data, compiling reports and writing papers to be published. With the ship at warp for a longer period of time they where also able to analyze the gathered artifacts that where still in storage untouched.
The lab was sealed from the rest of the ship. Right in the middle was a large container, brought abort earlier with a vacuum frozen body inside.
Sarah was on the controls outside, looking on through a thick window.
"Why do we have to be outside for this?" Tony, her assistant for this analysis was asking?
"You want to be in a room with a completely alien body that is frozen at absolute zero? Be my guest." Sarah looked to him.
"That's what I thought." She said.
"Opening the container." She operated the controls.
Inside the lab the latches securing the top of the container snapped open, one after the other. Two robotic arms descended from the ceiling, grabbed and lifted the top away and put it down on the floor to the side. Condensing water from the surrounding atmosphere formed a light mist over the opening.
"Activating scanner."
A scanner was lowered from the ceiling, it's scanning beam starting at one end of the container, slowly moving over the length of it. Next to Sarah a graphic of the alien body was slowly starting to build up.
"Ok, this scan will take a while to complete, at least one hour." Sarah stated.
"Really? Sounds boring." Tony answered.
"I don't think so. Science takes time. It's not like we can just cut it open, frozen solid as it is anyway."
"Fair enough. What should I do?"
"Please monitor these readings here." She pointed him to a display with several flat lines. "Inform me the moment anything changes."
"I can that, but what does this show?"
"Vital signs of any kind."
"You think it is still alive?"
"No chance. It has been exposed to vacuum for thousands of years. Nothing can survive that."
They looked into each others eyes for a while before turning back to their tasks.
"Ok, this is the last one." Sarah said as the last of the three containers was moved into the lab.
As before the top was lifted up and the scanner initiated.
"Doc? This looks different." Tony said.
Sarah looked over to his display.
"Strange. It appears there is some kind of activity. I have no idea what that could be."
She turned back to her display and focused on the controls of the scanner. Focusing the beam at the source of the suspected activity she looked at the data.
"Interesting." She said. "We knew this one was different. It appears to be some kind of cyborg. This device here seems to send a low-power signal. The range isn't great, what do you think?"
"Judging from the power level no more than ten meters, very short range." He looked at her. "Should we be worried about it? Maybe we can try to block it?"
"I don't think so. Let's call it in to be sure." Sarah said.
"Agreed. And let's close the lid, it'll block the signal."
"Good call." Sarah said, working the controls.
Inside the lab the scanner blinked out and retraced. The top of the container was placed back on it, the fasteners closed shut again.
"I'm not reading the signal anymore. We should be fine." Tony said.
"I've contacted Dr. Schmitz, let's see what he says."
"Impressive. How is that even possible. To generate a signal after all that time. And in hard vacuum, nonetheless." Dr. Schmitz said, pouring over the data from the signal and the scan of the device.
"The cloaking field still worked when we found it. This was in place potentially much longer." Sarah answered, which caused Dr. Schmitz to pause for a moment.
"That is a fair point. That field was built to last a very long time, I just didn't think that the rest of their technology is that robust as well." He answered after thinking for a moment.
"There is still so much we don't know about them." Sarah said.
"There are only so many ways to find out." Dr. Schmitz said. He slapped his hands. "Here's what we gone do."
"Alright, are we set?" Sarah asked the people in the room. One after the other they all confirmed their readiness.
"Signal blocker is set up and operating normally." Tony answered.
"Let's do this again." Sarah said.
Again the fasteners snapped open and the top of the container was lifted by the robotic arms and set aside. The lab was then again basked in the light of the scanner.
Everybody in the control room was intensely watching their displays and consoles.
"Not detecting any other signals or activities so far." Tony reported after a few tense minutes.
"I can confirm. It's almost as scanning a block of ice." a technician answered from across the room, earning a small round of chuckles. This served to release the tension in the room.
Sarah turned her attention back to the display of the scan, where slowly a cybernetic marvel was deciphered.
Over time the large display in the control room filled with the scan of the cyborg, captivating the attention of almost all people present in the room.
"Fascinating." Someone murmured, perfectly capturing the mood in the room as all took in the schematics on the screen.