"Are you sure you want to do that?" Dr. Schmitz asked. "Don't get me wrong, I want to go down there but Commander made it pretty clear there is nobody to talk to."
"It's simple. We have a lot of questions, the answers are not be found in orbit. We're here now, we can't wait several years for the Speaker to grow." The Captain stated.
"I see. Thank you."
"Pod 1 to Hermes. Flight trajectory looks good, we're on course."
"Hermes to Pod 1, confirmed. You're on course for the landing area."
"Any news from ground control?"
"Negative. They have not denied our request to land. They keep stating that they don't know what to do when we land."
"Should we proceed?"
"Confirmed, proceed as planned."
Joe was having mixed feelings about this. Landing on a new planet was always exciting, even more when there was a civilization to explore. But if said civilization did not want to talk to you? That was something else entirely.
She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as the target area was becoming visible on the horizon. Joe slowed the Pod further down.
"Landing area in sight. I'll circle once to confirm it is safe."
"Understood."
Joe swung the Pod in a slow arc that would take it wide around the designated landing area. Watching from the Pod windows where the passengers that had managed to get on the Pod. Everybody had wanted to go down to the Caren's city but not everybody could. The landing area was a wide, flat area surrounded by low buildings that appeared to be overgrown by plant life. It was situated next to the coast with no larger structure in sight.
"Landing area is clear. We're clear to land. Confirm?"
"Confirmed. You're free to land."
Joe slowed the Pod down and slowly lowered it in the middle of the supposed landing area. Carefully she set the Pod down, her hand ready on the throttle in case she needed to launch the Pod at any sign of danger.
As nothing happened after touchdown , Joe relaxed and went through the shutdown checklist, keeping the Pod on standby in case they needed to leave on short notice.
Rick was the first out of the Pod, followed by the rest of the eager landing party that had won out and where among the first to visit these people. They all had seen the Commander back on the Hermes and therefore prepared to meet these strange people.
What struck Rick at first was the silence. As the Pod's engines had cycled down it was early quite. There where no sounds you'd expect from a occupied complex this size.
"Alright, lets fan out and see what we find." He said as he headed out, randomly picking an opening in one of the overgrown buildings.
As he approached it he realized how small the building actually was. From an aerial view there was no real perspective but as he closed the walls where lower than he had expected. It was also much heavier overgrown than was visible from the distance. As some kind of dark opening became obvious Rick changed directions and headed straight for it.
As he closed with the opening he noticed something intriguing. The walls where covered by a rich layer of vines colored dark green and shades of brown. There was so much overgrowth that the walls where not visible at all.
As Rick stopped in front of the opening Tony stepped up, Scanner in hand.
"The building material reads as something close to concrete, but it seems that the vines are digging into it. Amazing."
"Anything about the inside?" Rick asked.
"Interesting. It appears to be completely filled with vines. The only empty space is just behind the entrance."
They looked at each other and slowly approached the opening.
As they approached the threshold they retrieved some flashlights and slowly walked in. The walls and ceiling where completely covered in vines, only the ground was bare concrete.
"This is really strange, why is this space open?" Tony asked.
"Are we walking downwards?" Rick asked.
"Now that you mention it, I think so." Tony checked his scanner. "According to the scanner this corridor slops downwards and goes on for at least two more kilometers."
Rick took out his communicator. "Rick to Joe. We discovered a downward slope that goes on quite some way. Anything on your side?"
"This is Joe. Nothing so far. The buildings appear to be shells filled and covered with vines. I propose with meet back at the Pod."
"Agreed."
"I'm reading signs of activity straight ahead, another four kilometers." Tony reported.
"Alright. Anything else?" Joe asked. They'd been walking for three hours now for 12 kilometers straight. They where now almost one kilometer deep under the ground. Walking in darkness only interrupted by their flashlights was a bit monotonous, Joe didn't mind. They started to notice their leg muscles after walking slightly downhill for such a long time.
"I think we should do another two to three kilometers and then take a break." Joe suggested.
She drew mumbled consent from the rest of the party. Nobody wanted to state the obvious. They'd have to walk all the way back up afterwards. At least 16 kilometers slightly uphill. They'd feel this one the next day for sure.
"Alright, Let's take ten." Joe decided after checking the scanner. "I want everyone to be sharp when we get where we're going."
"Wherever that is." Rick stated.
Like everybody else, Joe ignored the remark and sat down on the ground to rest a bit. She dug a canteen and a candy bar from her backpack to get something to eat and drink. The cold water felt really good. The others where doing the same, even Rick had managed to sit down and eat something.
After being no longer thirsty and somewhat less hungry Joe checked her Communicator.
"Away team to Hermes, please respond." She waited for an answer but none came.
"Strange, we should be able to get a signal. We're not that far down after all." Joe stated.
"I think the vines are the problem. The contain a lot more minerals and low-level electric activity than I'd expect. It is very likely that this interferes with the signal."
"Makes sense. We should have been able to see this far down with the ship's scanners. Even this," he raised his hand scanner "should be able to scan much further and in more detail. It appears that it's range decreases the closer we get to the end of the tunnel."
"Looks like somebody is trying to hide. Let's go and find out." Joe said as she put her backpack on again.
"Is it just me or is it getting brighter?" Rick asked.
Everybody stopped in their tracks. Until now they had been walking in complete darkness. The light from the entrance long gone as the corridor was only almost straight.
"Lights off." Joe ordered.
One by one they extinguished their flashlights. After a moments hesitation Tony killed the light on the scanner. To everybody's surprise the vines on the walls and ceiling where slightly visible. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness they realized that there was an ambient light that seemed to be coming from the walls and the ceiling, almost as if the vines where emitting a faint glow.
"Interesting." Rick said.
"Curious, I'd say." Tony answered. "The scanner doesn't see anything that would emit light in any way. But there seems to be something like electric activity just around the corner."
"Something like electric activity?" Joe asked.
"The scanner is unable to interpret the data. The closest is electric activity, it is very similar but just not it."
"Is it in anyway dangerous to us?" Joe asked.
"The levels are so low, I don't think so. There is no indication of anything else that could be a danger to us." Tony looked at Joe.
"Shall we see what this is about?" Rick asked.
Carefully they turned the corner. Ahead of them was a dimly lit cavern that appeared to be empty. There was a large vine on the floor, coming from the walls of the tunnel they had just left. The team had turned the flashlights back on, single beams got lost in the vastness of the chamber.
"Is that fog?" Rick asked.
"Yes. The humidity is quite high up ahead. That is also where the source of the activity is located, approximately half a kilometer ahead." Tony answered.
"Great, more walking." Rick grumbled.
"Come on, no way we're turning back now." Joe said and started walking along the lone vine on the ground.
As they got closer the fog was getting thicker until the whole team was soaking wet.
"This feels like a sauna." Rick complained.
"Saunas are much hotter, this is still below 40C. But it is getting warmer still." Tony said just as something dark was beginning to take shape in the distance.
"Is that a tree?" A speechless Rick asked.
"I'm no expert, but it sure looks like one." Joe said. "It has bark, I can see branches and something green up there."
"And it is huge." Tony said. "The diameter is over 50 meters. It is at least 200 meters tall."
"There are other vines. Running to the tree or from it?" Joe asked.
As far as they could see vines connected to the tree at more or less even distances.
"As strange as this sounds, this tree appears to be the source of the electrical activity that we saw earlier." Tony said. "There is a lot happening in it, this is no ordinary tree."
"That much is clear." Rick stated.
He approached the tree and touched the bark with his hands. The very moment his hand touched the tree they where blinded by an intense light that came from the trunk of the tree itself.
Joe woke up utterly confused and disoriented. Slowly she tried to stand up from the ground but fell back on her ass as she was too dizzy to stand. She looked around, trying to make out her surroundings. The tree was nowhere to be see, she appeared to be in a smaller room. Turning her head she could see two others from the team. They where lying on the ground and slowly started to move just like she had a moment ago. She looked around, searching for Rick who was nowhere to by found. The walls of the room where covered in the same vines that emitted a soft glow. The floor was also covered in vines that where surprisingly soft.
"Ensign? You alright?" Tony asked.
"Yes, just a bit dizzy." Joe answered.
"Any idea what happened?"
"There was a bright light. Next thing I know I woke up here. I think Rick was touching the tree?" Joe was still a bit disoriented.
"That sounds about right." Tony said. Looking to his companion who only nodded.
It took several minutes for their dizziness to sort itself out. After that they managed to get up and check their surroundings a bit closer.
"There is no entrance anywhere." Tony said.
"And all our equipment is gone." Joe said.
"What do we do now?"
"What can we do? We wait." Joe said.
As they had no way to tell the time all they could do was chat to pass the time. After a while they got thirsty and hungry. With no access to food and water waiting turned into an ordeal.
"Are these our supplies?" Joe asked incredulous.
The wall next to her was holding three backpacks. She had not noticed them appearing, she was too exhausted to notice them. She was very sure that they where not there before.
"I really hope so." Tony said.
Joe grabbed her backpack and extracted her canteen. Fighting back with all her willpower she managed to carefully sip a bit of water. She handed it to Tony.
"Careful, not too much at once."
They carefully drunk and ate something to soothe their urgent needs.
"So much better." Joe said. "It appears someone is monitoring us."
"You think so?" Tony asked.
"Otherwise they would not have known to provide us with supplies. The question is are we guests or prisoners? And where is Rick?" She was really worried about him at this point.
Refreshed they examined their cell in detail. The backpacks only held food and water, not a single piece of their equipment was available to them.
They had found nothing. The walls, floor and ceiling was covered in the same vines they had seen before. No entrance or exit was visible. The place where the backpacks had appeared looked no different to the naked eye than any other portion of the wall as far as they could tell.
They had gone the extra mile to touch all the vines they could, they had nothing but time on their hands. The result was still the same though. They had no idea where they where, where Rick was, how to get out or anything else.
The mood was accordingly depressed. They spent most of the time asleep or close to.
Joe's mental state slowly changed from concerned to anxious to bored.
She barely noticed that she was making advances towards her fellow captives and crewmen which they barely where able to resist. Until they no longer managed to put up any resistance.
Time lost all meaning to the three captives. Modesty, at the beginning carefully maintained was no longer any concern. With the temperature being a bit too warm to be comfortable clothes became an afterthought just like rational thought. Time and their distinct bodies became a vague notion as their thoughts where consumed by more primal concepts.
It was the cold that woke Joe up. She was naked and covered in sweat. She woke up shivering with a head much clearer then in a long time.
The others had also woken up, all three where staring at each other with the same uncomfortable expression and the same understanding.
They got dressed awkwardly and sat down to eat something.
Their carefully kept light conversation was interrupted by a sound they could not identify or locate.
Joe at first did not believe her eyes. Rick was standing in a doorway that had not been there before. No one had seen how the doorway had opened or how Rick had arrived.
"Hi Guys. Time to meet our host."
Joe was walking slowly due to the fog in her head. The other two where slowly following her, undoubtedly in a similar mental state.
Joe was barely aware of Rick talking like a waterfall. Obviously he had learned a lot about this creature and was more than eager to share. Joe just couldn't focus on him in any way as she was busy putting one foot in front of the other.
After a short corridor they arrived at the huge open hall again and followed a vein for quite some time.
Rick stopped in front of the tree again and urged the others forward.
He touched the bark and held out his other hand.
Joe grabbed it.
Her mind was blown in an instant. Images flashing through it she was completely overwhelmed. It only lasted a short moment until she was back in her own mind.
She was sitting in front of Rick. Her mind confused by the flood of images but clearing fast.
It took her a moment to realize that she was sitting on the floor. Her mind was racing with images, confused and overwhelming.
She barely noticed that she was being helped to her feet. The trek back to the pod was a blur of gray wall overgrown with vines. Hands strapped her down in one of the passenger seats of a pod. Joe knew she should be the one on the controls, yet she couldn't even bring herself to check who was flying the pod.
The familiar surroundings of the launch bay helped to clear her head a bit. The others where with her, only Rick appeared to be lively. Joe followed Rick into decontamination, followed by the other two. Quietly they sat through the procedure before they where hurdled to the infirmary. Rick was checked out and released quickly, the others had to stay longer. Something about chemical imbalances in their brain Joe heard and immediately dismissed.
It took Joe several days to sort through the information in her head. Millennia of experience from a totally different species had been dumped into her brain all at once. A lot of it made little sense to her. It helped to talk it though with the others.
They met everyday and talked for hours on end. Rick had to remind them to eat and drink something as they would simply forget.
Over the days they managed to form a clear picture.
"Please keep in mind that this is a short abstract of what happened down on Garden." Joe started her presentation.
"At least twohundred thousand years ago a sentient tree crashed on Garden. The crash was so violent that it was heavily damaged and unable to fulfill it's original function. This function was to seed the planet. It was flung from it's world into the void with the aim to carry it's species to a new world. How? We don't know. Part of the damage included it's memories. It forgot almost all the knowledge that was ingrained in it's very genetic code. As far as we understand it, the knowledge is still there, it just can't be accessed anymore.
After anchoring roots on the planet it did all that it could and started to grow. The single tree grew into a enormously large tree that covered nearly all of the continent it had crashed on.
The cause of the catastrophe is not known, most likely it was a small asteroid that crashed into the planet burning and almost killing the three. It survived, if barely. It regrew. This time it did take precautions. It is now located in a cave deep under the surface where it survives through the vines that grow all the way and all over the surface. The structures we see on the surface serve as part of a support structure to the tree, their secondary purpose is as armor against future asteroid strikes."
She turned to the view screen that showed the low structures spaced throughout the continent.
"From orbit this looks like a city, at least to us."
"This brings us to the last and most interesting bit, the plant people."
The view screen switched to show a picture of the commander.
"Our understanding is that this species was created by the tree as a further defense mechanism. Their purpose is to reach orbit and maybe even outer space. They're to act as an early warning and even a space-based defense system."
"How do they manage to conduct research and development for space flight? We haven't seem any of the facilities that are needed for that?" the Captain asked.
"They don't."
The statement earned her blank stares from the audience.
"Taking advantage of it's unique physiology the tree grows them and infuses the necessary knowledge directly into their DNA-equivalent. They then perform the task that they where designed and created to. We think that they are more organic robots than living creatures, but that is a very tough disucssion."
"But how was the spaceship and the station built?"
"That is something where it gets very fuzzy. Our current understanding is that this where created in something that we'd describe a biological factory.
It is a very crude analog but the best we managed to come up with. Basically the tree's root go several kilometers deep. They're not only able to extract nutrients for the tree but any minerals and other materials that are found in the ground. How this works exactly is something we don't know, because the tree doesn't know how it works."
The looks where again puzzled all over the room.
"It's just like moving your arms or legs. You don't need to understand in detail how all the muscles and strings need to work together to move them, you just do it. This is apparently the same here. The tree just extracts and processes the resources it needs and is then able to use them. That is how the structures where created and that is how the spaceship and the rocket where made.
We think that the tree is slowly rediscovering it's knowledge about how these things work while it makes them."
"Please keep in mind that this is in large parts conjecture. We had a lot of information shoved into our heads and are lacking context. It is a bit like trying to explain color to a blind person although not really that bad."
Joe continued to report more details that the group was able to agree on. There was little concrete information but a lot of guesswork involved.
"What about the other continents? Can we still settle them?" the Captain asked.
Joe looked at the others.
"We don't know. Apparently the tree is aware there are other landmasses but it is not interested in them. Problem is, this was not an information exchange. We got information dumped into our minds, we can't verify whether the tree took something from us in return.
However, from what we understood of it's motivation it is not interested in the other continents and should not care if we settle there. As long as we leave it alone it should leave us alone."
Joe was back at the helm of the Hermes, preparing to leave orbit and head out to warp again. It had taken almost a week to get her head back in order and be declared fit for duty.
There had been discussions of an additional expedition to try and negotiate settlement rights for the rest of the planet. The notion was ultimately tabled as no one was able to come up with a method to issue a two-way communication with the tree. Without that a new expedition was doomed to end the same as the last one.