By Ariel Klay and the Members of the Starship Asimov Fan Club
Word Count: Story in Progress, to be determined.
Rating: PG-13 for minor blood and sensual content
Summary: The Adventures of the Crew of Starfleet Science vessel USS Asimov.
Chief science officer’s log Stardate, 8891103.2, Commander Troi reporting, per orders from my captain, I, along with my cousin, the chief engineer and several members from our science and engineering teams will be serving in the module attached to the artifact, both to see if the electrical discharges can be settled, as well as to continue the scientific studies that were already well under way. I am looking forward to advancing my discipline on the ship as her chief science officer, as well as hopefully conducting stealth observations of members of our science and engineering crews. In addition, the fact that we are on a scientific find of high esteem certainly intrigues me.
***
N’ka, James, and three members of the science crew beamed to the forward module.
“Welcome, welcome. I am John, your tour guide. If you will follow me I will give you the grand tour,” said a male human who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of shorts and sandals.
“Hey, John,” said N’ka, smiling and shaking his hand. Looking around, he said, “So, Havinov outdid himself I see.”
“Oh yes, he certainly made this rigorous shanty shine like gold. N’ka, I hope if you don’t mind my saying so, but you appear to have a mirror image.”
N’ka laughed, and extending his arm toward James, he said, “This, while appearing to be a mirror image, it isn’t completely. This is James Troi, our chief science officer, and he also happens to be my cousin.”
“Nice to meet you, John,” said James, using the Vulcan greeting.
“My, your hand split in two. I have a few other fellas that can do that. Well, come on,” he said, beckoning them to follow him.
The module appeared to be actually seven or eight long term living modules that had been Jerry-rigged together to form sets of different buildings. Essentially though, there were five sections. First, there was a large galley filled with tables, and a large kitchen that contained both replicators and equipment for making handmade food, which filled the room with its mouthwatering aromas. At least it was mouthwatering to the crew members of the Asimov, who had to make do with replicated food. The second consisted of several rooms that served as crew quarters, with two sets of bunk beds in each one. These quarters were quite small compared to those on the Aurora‘s, only slightly bigger than those on the Asimov. The third and largest section was an array of laboratories and individual offices for all the members of the away-team. The fourth appeared to be mostly storage. The fifth was a staging area with supplies and a hatch into the artifact.
“Well, that’s the tour. N’ka, Havinov should be around here and James, I believe Malcolm, who is Julie’s third, is on the lower section. He should be able to introduce you around,” John said, before walking off.
“He was nice,” said James, smiling.
“Yes, John is one of a kind,” N’ka said, dropping the case he had been carrying and started getting his equipment together for the artifact.
Doing the same, James said, “So, who is he?”
“He’s John. Did you bump your head, James?”
“N’ka,” said James glaringly, “What does he do on the Aurora?”
“Besides being the tour guide?”
“Yes.”
“Um, well. I think it would be more fun if you guessed.”
“N’ka, I’m going to need to know for my report.”
“Oh well, you’re no fun. He’s the captain of the Aurora.”
“The what? But…what? I, please tell me your joking, N’ka.”
“Nope, he’s the ship’s captain. He often jokes that when he’s in uniform it’s only because either Gina or Julie tricked him. Mostly the crazy act is just that, but he loves fooling new people.”
“Great, any other rites of passage you’ve got planned out for me?”
“Not yet, but if I think of one, you’ll know after the fact.”
“Thanks, N’ka.”
oooOOOooo
James marveled. After being pranked, or at least semi-pranked by N’ka, he found himself in a state of suspended disbelief regarding his surroundings. There were lighted symbols on various panels that seemed to shine with the enormous power that so easily disabled the Aurora like a giant swatting a fly. There were holes in the ceilings and next to them there were Federation style ladders that had seemed to be have been placed by the science and engineering crews.
“It’s a sight to see,” Trevor said, walking up to him.
“Commander,” he said, smiling in greeting, “I quite agree. It’s quite a find.”
“So, I understand that John gave you a tour,” said Trevor with a small smirk.
“Yes, why did no one seem fit to inform me?”
“There was a bit of a bet going around to see if you’d work it out by yourself or not. Not to worry, despite how he acts, John is as sane as Amanda.”
“So not at all?” James asked, grinning.
“Well, it’s out with the jury on that one,” Trevor said, smiling at his own joke.
A loud thwap sound behind them startled both of them, and they realized N’ka had apparently jumped down from the floor above.
“N’ka, what in the world,” Trevor said, trying to catch his breath.
“Not to worry, it seems the originators of this place were very adept at jumping, and if you know how to land correctly, there are these springy landing pads under each hole. Though considering Julie broke her leg on one of these, I’d recommend the slower way of getting around, at least for those less physically inclined.”
“So other than insulting us, is there a reason you came down?” Trevor said jokingly.
“Yeah, John wants you on the top level. He’s hoping with your skills in xenodialetics , that you’ll be able to make sense of what’s written up there,” N’ka.
“All right, N’ka, lead on,” Trevor said.
N’ka led them up the ladder to the second floor. Here, there was more mystery as various machines occasionally moved and hummed, but their purpose was wholly unknown. After going up five more levels, they found John, who was studying various consoles, along with other scientists, and then in a corner it appeared some of the consoles had been removed, and Havinov appeared to be studying something behind it.
“Hello, Trout, glad you could make it,” John said, greeting them.
“Hey, John, it’s good to see you. I’m just surprised I would be considered a linguist with the experts in your crew,” said Trevor, smiling.
“Well, frankly they have come and gone, Trout. But there has to be a reason Amanda keeps you around, and I think it’s because you have a lucky big toe.”
Trevor laughed and before going to have a look at the panels, he said, “Well, I’ll try not to trip anyone over with it.”
oooOOOooo
About the time James was becoming acquainted with the Aurora‘s officers and the artifact, Julie entered her quarters on the Aurora. Tapping the security panel, she felt the whoosh of air against her face and she said, “Computer, lights.”
The darkened interior lit up to show the inside of her quarters, and after having to muscle through not just one chief medical officer, but two, she was glad to be sleeping somewhere other than Sickbay tonight and that was only with a promise to Gina that she’d call for help, along with a counseling session tomorrow morning, along with another check-up.
Entering, she was greeted with a familiar sight. For most people, they left their families behind when they joined Starfleet, but she had brought some of her family, especially her Mom and Dad, with her. On one wall, was a variety of weapons ranging from daggers, short and broad swords and two great-swords of different styles. She also had a few replicated weapons, which included a bat’leth. She hadn’t been able to get a real version of it, but she had only recently been introduced to that form of Klingon weaponry.
Well, at least she knew what to ask for Dad for when he asked her what she wanted for her birthday, a bat’leth. As a retired tactical officer, he had the know-how to find authentic weapons. In one her chests, she had a set of ranged weapons. She kept them there because having them on display tended to make people nervous. “I wonder how N’ka handles that,” she thought and then smiled, “not that he has much room on the Asimov!”
On the opposite wall was her mother, well, photos of mother, most of them showed her in differing attire, as it was almost a bit of a comedic joke that her mother had exposed her to every religion under the sun, the moon, and the sky due to her job as both a professor of religious studies and as a mother who wanted her daughter to have her eyes open to all the possibilities in existence. Due to that, she’d sometimes pray to multiple deities, and whenever she went somewhere new, she’d always check out the different temples to pray to the different deities, or learn a new belief system, as she soaked it all up like a sponge.
Some people didn’t understand how someone could combine spirituality with physical combat, like somehow the two were incompatible. However, she found that the discipline required for combat paralleled and supported the discipline required for spirituality. In fact, once she learned about the spiritual practices of a particular planet, she would also pick up what she could about its combat forms.
As she prepared for bed, she sighed and thought, “Two weeks seems like forever before I can spar with N’ka, again, but Gina’s release instructions were clear, no sparring, period.”Although she had only known the Asimov‘s new chief engineer a few months, she found herself intrigued by him because he was unlike any other man she had ever met. Sparring with him reminded her of when she trained with her father, definitely not a bad thing, because up until now, no man had come close to the man who raised her.
oooOOOooo
On the artifact, John, Trevor, James and N’ka stood in front of the control panel that John had accidentally activated, which turned on the electrical generator. Other scientists and engineers from the Aurora and Asimov worked in the background. Trevor scanned the panel with his tricorder, which fed the symbols into the universal translator.
“Hmmm, the translator says we have a logographic language here,” said Trevor, “which will make translation a quite bit more difficult.”
“You mean like the language used by the ancient Egyptians, Trout?” asked John, “That seems pretty primitive for something this advanced.”
“You’re thinking ‘pictographic,’ Captain,” said James, “although you are close. Traditional Chinese is a Terran example of a logographic written language. Both use pictures to represent words, or even concepts, rather than letters, but logographic languages are usually more sophisticated than pictographic ones.”
“Hmmm, so were in for even more of a doozy,” John said, “Well, pull up a seat, and keep that lucky big toe handy, Trout. We’re going to need it.”
oooOOOooo
N’ka sighed, it had been a few hours since they had gotten up here, and frankly no one was sure what any of the writing meant. Trying to keep busy, useful and out of the way, he and Havinof had pulled one, then a second console back, and to their surprise, there was no cabling. In fact, there was no distinguishable way of telling how they were powered and right now they were thinking somehow they were gridded to the floor. Grabbing some water, N’ka sat on one of the many cushions that served as seating for those working there and reclined his head back. He smiled a little as Trevor was pacing, probably deep in thought.
“The commander is a likable man for sure,” N’ka thought, “but wait…” Looking up, he saw there was a green dot that was moving along the ceiling, almost following Trevor. In fact, as Trevor started pacing the other way, it followed him, too. “Commander, can you stand still for a second?” he asked.
Trevor looked at him with a somewhat unsettled expression and said, “I know my pacing may be annoying, N’ka, but it’s how I think.”
The green dot had stopped with him.
“Um, I have a bit of a strange theory, maybe even a bit crazy,” said N’ka, “Would you mind walking over here, Commander?”
The green dot continued to track Trevor. N’ka glanced down. “Whoa!” he thought, as he saw that the floor tiles went down with Trevor’s every step. “Oh my!” N’ka exclaimed.
“What is it, N’ka?” John said, looking up from a padd he was studying.
“All right,” N’ka said, standing up, “Now, I remember James once talking about how one of the fundamental mistakes people make when studying an unknown culture is making assumptions, or worse correlating their reality with the one they are dealing with.”
“That’s true, N’ka,” agreed James, “In fact, when first dealing with the Nauceen, it took a long time to realize that they were naturally deaf, and the sounds the consoles made didn’t mean anything, but the ultraviolet lights did.”
“For moment, could everyone but the commander to look at the ceiling?” asked N’ka, “Then Commander, could you walk from one side of the room to the other and then stop in the middle?”
As everyone complied, John started to ask, “What are we-” then stopped and said, “Wow, check it out! N’ka, Vulkie, does that look like writing to you up on the ceiling, as well?”
“Possibly,” said James, ignoring the annoying nickname, “But how is he interacting with that dot?”
“The tiles press down as he walks,” Havinof pointed out, “So, the ceiling is the screen…and the keyboard is the floor!”
“Wow,” John said, before tapping his comm badge, “Lieutenant Johnson, I need you to bring the entire linguistic team back up here immediately, we’ve found something big.”
“We should probably also get some anti-grav tiling for the floor,” N’ka said to Havinov, “as we probably don’t want to type in any more commands that may do something else.”
“Of course,” said Blake, “In the meantime, how do we get down?”
“Gotta risk it,” N’ka said, “Many people have been walking around here, so I suggest we go with it and see what we can figure out.”
“Alright, let’s clear the floor up here right now,” said Blake, “and we’ll come back in with some anti-gravs until we know what we’re typing.”
oooOOOooo
Having set up the anti-grav panels, which essentially created a floor about three millimeters off the ground, they now had a floor that no longer made the green light go around the screen above them. Lieutenant Johnson and his crew had also setup a two dimensional holographic projector of the display onto ceiling, which acted like an electronic white board that the team could make notes on. Unlike the script on the ‘consoles,’ which they later realized to their chagrin was purely decorative, the script on the ceiling appeared to be a precursor language and had roots of about nineteen languages including various dialectics of Klingon, Romulan, as well as various Terran languages. At the moment they didn’t know what any of it said, and so they had set the anti-grav panels to a clear setting, so the team could study the floor for any sign of a corresponding language.
“Wuka, wuka, wuka, fellas,” said John, coming over to N’ka, James and Trevor. “I think we need to take a break and eat before Julie has our hides.”
“True, though mostly your hide, right?” Trevor said, grinning.
“You know it,” said John, “I’m sure you do the same for Amanda, on occasion.”
“Hey, John,” said N’ka, “can I talk to you off script, for a second?”
“Sure, N’ka,” said John, starting down the ladder.
“Well, right now I’m sorta on your crew, right?” asked N’ka, hedging.
“I’d agree with that, sorta,” John said, continuing to climb.
Forgoing the ladder, N’ka leapt down to the cushioned pad on the floor below and said, “Well, the thing is, I kinda need my annual physical, as I’m a little bit overdue.”
Trevor stopped, stared down the hole and said incredulously, “A little!? Try ten months! Aquina’s been wrangling to get you in for your physical since you came aboard!”
“Well, it’s just that although I like Aquina, she just seems to be too nice and sweet,” admitted N’ka, “It would be awkward.”
“But you feel comfortable with Gina?” asked John, reading between the lines.
“Yeah, she is more down to earth,” said N’ka, “but, I am not assigned to the Aurora, so I don’t think I can just show up on your Sickbay without going through the proper channels, or back channels, if need be.”
John scratched his head, saying, “Well, I don’t have a problem with it. I’m sure Gina wouldn’t and if it means you get your physical, I can’t imagine Amanda or Aquina would object, either. Your good doctor is hardly territorial.”
“Aquina would be thrilled!” interjected Trevor.
“And you think we could get it by Starfleet Medical?” N’ka asked.
“It is a lynch-pin, but I’ll talk to Amanda about it,” said John, “but since you are working with us on the artifact, that may be more than enough.”
“All right, thanks, John,” said N’ka.
“By the way, Captain, said James, “I need to go to the Asimov and brief the captain on what we have found here as her liaison as chief science officer.”
“Oh, go ahead, Vulkie!” said James.
“Oh, that’s right, James, you’re late for your ‘working lunch’ with the captain,” winked N’ka.
“Yeah,” said John, “since Trout isn’t there to hound her into eating, you better go!”
oooOOOooo
Trevor rolled out of his rack in the men’s section of the barracks on the habitat module. After quickly brushing his teeth, shaving, combing his hair, he got dressed and eagerly headed to the galley for some genuine fresh made breakfast. That was one thing he especially looked forward to when the Asimov met up with the Aurora. The scientists assigned to the Aurora were quite particular when it came to their provisions. John was happy to oblige them, even to the point of setting up a fully stocked kitchen on the module, including a supply of fresh eggs that came from a hen house aboard Aurora that was kept for “agricultural studies,” a luxury the Asimov‘s crew quickly availed themselves of. As he stepped into the galley, he waved at Amanda, who was headed to one of the tables with a full tray in her hands and was closely followed by James with an equally loaded tray. Trevor was glad to see her so happy being in a relationship with James and to see she was comfortable with deftly walking the tightrope required to date her subordinate. He stood in the chow line, happily taking in the aromas of bacon, sausage and real maple syrup wafting through the air, which was harvested from maple trees in the Aurora‘s hydroponics bay. This explained why the Aurora was affectionately called “The Farm” throughout Starfleet. Some people added the word “funny” to the phrase. Others, who knew the ship better, like those aboard the Asimov, understood and really appreciated the culinary reference.
“Hey, Trout,” he heard behind him and turned to see John, who grinned broadly and said, “I always liked your appreciation for good food.”
“What is the old saying, ‘An army travels on its stomach’?” asked Trevor.
“Beats me, you’re the language wonk, Trout,” said John, slapping Trevor’s shoulder, “Speaking of which, the linguistics guys are getting nowhere fast upstairs. We brought in the folks from the Yosemite and the Nautilus and even they are stumped. I would appreciate more of your lucky big toe on this one, Trout.”
“Do I have time for breakfast? Those waffles look really good!” said Trevor.
“‘Breakfast waits for no man,’ Trout,” said John, just as a female ensign passed and he added, “or woman.”
Trevor grinned as he arrived at the front of the chow line and asked the server, “How are the Belgian waffles?”
“Awesome, Sir!” he said enthusiastically.
“Great! Give me two!” said Trevor.
“Bacon or sausage, Sir?”
“Yes!”
“How would like your eggs, Sir?”
“Scrambled.”
“Hash browns or country fried potatoes, Sir?”
“Country potatoes.”
The server piled on Trevor’s food and John said, “Cheffie, give me what you just gave him.”
oooOOOooo
On the top floor of the artifact, with coffee cups in hand, Trevor and John scrutinized the readout on the ceiling.
“Hmmm,” said Trevor, “it looks like there are several languages up there, but I am thinking the linguistics team already figured that much out.”
“That they did, Trout, but as I said, they’re stumped as far as figuring out what languages they are, never mind translating them.”
“We need a Rosetta Stone,” said Trevor and as he leaned closer to get a better look, opened his eyes with surprise, whistled slowly and pointing to a particular passage, he said, “If that is what I think it is then we’re going to need more than your garden variety linguist.”
“What do you think it is, Trout?”
“I think it’s Etruscan.”
“Etruscan? Never heard of it!”
“I’m not surprised. The Etruscans haven’t been around since the fourth century BC on Earth!”
“Wow! But you’re not sure it is Etruscan, Trout?”
“Nope, and even if I were, I wouldn’t have a clue about translating something this old. What we need is an archeolinguist!”
“Where would we dig up one of those, Trout?”
Trevor smiled broadly and said, ”I have a friend on temporary assignment aboard the Yosemite who would find this right up his alley!”
“Let’s get him over here!”
Trevor grinned to himself and said, “I should warn you, John, Professor Pearson is a civilian and he is a tad bit, well, odd.”
“You know Trevor, you may want to be careful about who you call odd.”
“Why, because most of your crew is odd?”
“Precisely.”
oooOOOooo
Professor Pearson stood in front of John and Trevor. The small, elderly, portly human sported a massive, white walrus mustache and was dressed like he was going into a Victorian holonovel as an explorer-khakis, wire rimmed spectacles, pith helmet and all.
“Good to see you, Professor!” said Trevor.
“Yes, yes, yes, Commander,” nodded Professor Pearson with grin.
“Professor Pearson, this John, the captain of the Aurora,” said Trevor, “John, this is Professor Dudley Pearson.”
“Yes, yes, yes, Captain!” said Professor Pearson, extending his hand to John, who shook it.
“Please call me John.”
“Yes, yes, yes, Captain,” said the professor.
John smiled, “Yes, yes, yes, Professor.”
John motioned to Trevor and Dudley to move further into the room. As they walked, Dudley leaned forward and sniffed John’s coffee that was sitting on a table, his nose wrinkling like a bunny rabbit.
“Would you like some coffee, Professor?” asked John.
“Yes, yes, yes,” said Dudley, who took John’s coffee off the table, sipped it, smacked his lips rapidly, closed his eyes luxuriously and said, “Venezuelan French roast, excellent!”
“Glad you liked it, Professor,” said John, “second hand coffee is sometimes of my favorite coffee, too.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” nodded Dudley, while holding the cup in hand, turned to Trevor and asked, “So, Commander, where are those Etruscan inscriptions?”
“That was what I was trying to explain to you, Professor,” said Trevor, who used a stylus that interacted with the two dimensional interface to point at the ceiling above them, indicating to the text in question, asked, “Now, is that Etruscan?”
Dudley’s eyes grew wide with astonishment. Snatching the stylus from Trevor, he used it to circle the text in question and yelled, “Yes! Yes! Yes! But there’s more than Etruscan here,” and underlining another other text, he added, “And that, that I think is Sumerian. Hang on a minute!”
Dropping the stylus, Dudley dug into the satchel that was slung around him and pulled out what appeared a worn, well used journal that was hinted with brownish red clay and flipping through it, he picked up the stylus and pointed up at the ceiling and said, “Here is Phoenician,” and then moving the stylus horizontally, he said, “That is Assyrian.” He squinted his eyes, looked at the ceiling once more before flipping through the journal, but he didn’t seem to find what he was looking for. With desperation, he seemed to flip back through the journal before sighing with exasperation. He dropped the journal like it meant nothing to him. He reached back into satchel and pulled out another journal, this one hinted with patches of greenish oxidized copper. He started flipping through the green journal, before pointing to the lower left of the screen, saying, “Yes, yes, yes, over there is Coptic, and underneath it,” he said, underlining another text, “that is Berber and Captain, of all of these languages, I have studied Berber for years and though I don’t read any of the other languages fluently, the Berber passage essentially reads, ‘Getting information for the seat of the defender.'”
Trevor looked excitedly at the Dudley, “Could it mean this computer system is looking for more information?”
Dropping the green journal and picking up the brown, Dudley dusted of the book lightly before opening it, rifling through the pages, then looking up at the ceiling and back down to the book a few times, he said, “Well, the Sumerian seems to say, ‘Light’s word brings knowledge from the heavens to the hearth.’ So it appears that Sumerian agrees with you, Commander. This computer, or rather, this place, seems to be seeking information from elsewhere.”
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