Remains

Posted on Sat Sep 26th, 2026 @ 8:07pm by Captain Maddox Greene & Commander Saul Whitford & Lieutenant T'Vei & Ensign Bruce Marcus & Ensign Sung-jin Um & Ensign Ash Ridley

1,835 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Lines in the Vacuum
Location: Colony

Ensign Underwood took point as the away team made their way through the unfinished colony. It had been fifteen minutes since they exited the transport. Observing some of the structures which had holes as if someone had shot up the place and weapons long the walls. Unlike the ship, this area had not been bombarded from the sky. Those responsible had come down here and waged a small battle in person. Now it was just about determining what actually happened here. That wouldn't be easy with eight years of wear and tear to what was left of this place.

Along the walk, equipment lay scattered. Most of it was for building living and other structures. But there surprisingly had been some minor mining equipment. Nothing that would actually establish a serious operation. But possibly something minor. Looking over his shoulder to the away team behind, Underwood sighed. "I have a not so good feeling about this."

"Small arms," Sung-jin muttered, inspecting the damage.

Andy Brooks had wandered off around the corner to what appeared to be a pavilion. Moving in closer, he stumbled upon a sight that made him uneasy. Skeletal remains of what was once several individuals. "Lieutenant T'Vei," he called out in a panick.

Noting the emotion leaking into Brooks's voice, the Vulcan quickly stepped inside the pavilion. Seeing the scattered skeletal remains, she slowed, and crouched beside a pair of corpses, pressed close together, as if they had been clinging to one another when they were killed. "Based on the decomposition, this incident occurred years ago."

She stood and turned slowly, taking in the colony. "Peculiar. Why bombard the ship from orbit but engage in hand-to-hand at the colony? The only logical reason is there was something or someone they wished to preserve." Her eyes fell back on the bodies. "Something."

T'Vei exited the pavilion. "Ensign Marcus, conduct an inventory of remaining equipment. Look for anything unusual. Ensign Ridley, analyze the surrounding area, determine what they were mining. Coordinate your findings."

She turned to the armory team. "Ensigns Um, Underwood, and Yates, analysis the attack itself and work with Crewman Brooks. I want the identity of the species that attacked the Skagarans."

Kneeling down next to one of the remains, Underwood noted the hole in one of the skulls. He looked over at another skull with a similar hole in the back of the head. "Looks very much like an execution took place here."

Crewman Brooks took out his medical tricorder and began gathering as much information as possible. The remains had been here 8-9 years, confirming the other bit of information that they had discovered back on the ship. "Some of the remains are buried by the sand. Have the feeling we'll find more as we start digging, Lieutenant."

Marcus took a quick visual survey of the site and picked out one recognizable object to approach. The wheeled transport that left the scuff marks on the cargo bay floor now sat as a rusting mass of metal, the synthetic tires had melted to a solid black mass in the extreme heat leaving only the rims that once held them. It was evidently a form of excavator that had been repurposed to tow a makeshift sled that was used to move crates full of supplies to the location as a trail of scratched rock and soil led back to the derelict vessel.

There were several containers still on the sled; prying one open he noted it contained a variety of farming implements and torn packages with pictures of what was evidently vegetables. A second contained linens of multiple colors that showed signs of being rummaged through. The third was partially empty, but what remained seemed to be construction supplies; a variety of old-fashioned nails, screws, bolts, nuts, washers and tools.

When he scanned several of the nearby overturned and damaged containers there were traces of organic material, perhaps they once held food? Whatever it was, there was no trace of it remaining - the acidic rain and extreme heat served to accelerate decay rates for soft organic matter reminding him that they need to closely watch their time before the heat began building again.

Sung-jin had meandered toward the northeastern edge of the colony, keeping one eye on his scanner and the other on the ground ahead. In his mind, the scattered foundations and half-finished roads still seemed to be alive with people, pack animals, and carts. He could imagine villagers with tools in their hands, just living a simple life. With nothing but wind and decay remaining, it left him with a melancholy that punctuated his every step.

Approaching a wooden fence made of small timbers, Um's attention was drawn to a blackened area just beyond it. A small road running east-west had been cut into the ochre-coloured soil here but had since become overgrown in places. Yet, a roughly one-meter squared area had been scorched--and not by nature.

It was strange that a colony that had been attacked and decimated years before would still retain a scorch mark such as this.

He crouched and brought his hand scanner closer, adjusting the array for trace organics. The first readings were mostly noise from the soil and whatever chemicals the planet's atmosphere had deposited over the years. However, a pattern emerged.

Sung-jin frowned and decided to run the scan again.

"Jae-mi-i-sseo-yo," he whispered. ("That's interesting.")

There were traces of nucleic material embedded in the soil. Seemingly degraded beyond recovery, but enough remained for the scanner to construct a very partial genetic profile. He compared it against the known Skagaran profile on record and his device returned a mismatch.

He reached for his communicator and flipped it open with his thumb, causing it to chirp.

"Um to Lieutenant T'Vei and Crewman Brooks." He came to his feet and scanned his surroundings with his eyes. "I've found something at the northeastern perimeter."

As the others searched the ruins, Ravi kept his eye on their backs. The ruined colony gave him both the heebies and the jeebies, an uncomfortable reminder of how fragile life could be on the frontier - hell, on any colonial settlement that were now fanning out across the stars. Uncomfortable in the heat, he maintained a watch, only half listening to the conversation heard over the suit comms.

On his hand and knees, Andy looked up toward the Vulcan. He had spent the last few minutes digging doing his best not to damage the remains. After finding as much of the remains as possible, he would need to take detailed photos and then arrange to have the remains brought back to the Frontier for an autopsy by the doctor. Being that his name was called as well, medic was clearly needed.

T'Vei ceased digging and acknowledged the call to Ensign Um. She and Brooks arrived at his position within a few minutes. Her eyes immediately fell on the one meter bare patch of earth, some sort of damage that extended deep into the soil. "What have you found, Ensign?"

Sung-jin pointed to the ground, indicating the burn marks. "My scans are showing biological material here that are not Skagaran."

Pulling out his tricorder, Brooks scanned over the material. "Nothing that comes up in our system. But it could be difficult due to the environmental conditions over the last few years. I can take the information back to the ship and see if the computer can give us something more detailed."

Ensign Um closed his tricorder and fixed T'Vei with a perplexed look. "Lieutenant, are we still working under the assumption that the Skagarans were attacked?"

"The exterior damage to the Skagaran vessel is consistent with particle weapons," the Vulcan said coolly. "And the Skagaran remains we have found appear to have been part of an execution, but if you have an alternative theory, Ensign, please proceed."

"More like the Skagarans were executed," Brooks responded. "But by who and why?"

Ensign Underwood walked over and looked at his boss. "This place clearly has been abandoned. But it appears that they were beginning some sort of mining operation. Hopefully Ensign Marcus can give us some sort of idea on what was going on, before our oxygen runs out."

Sung-jin was glad his peers had interjected before he could reply. He didn't have an alternative theory and debating their findings with his senior officer wasn't the kind of water he felt like wading into.

"Yes," he agreed, checking his own oxygen gauge.

"There are at least 18 remains that we have discovered," Andy mentioned. "We can take about four back to the ship for an autopsy. Lieutenant Belanger should be able to provide us with a medical answer on what exactly happened to them before they died."

While the rest of the team focused their attention on the Skagaran remains, Marcus had drifted to what appeared to be the site of excavation work. Scattered pieces of digging equipment from basic picks and shovels to heavier machinery were present in the area. "What were they after?" Marcus muttered to himself, Chief Brukh had indicated that the shuttle scans showed Duritanium and Trellium... adjusting his scanner he panned over the area for either one.

Only trace signs of Duritanium ore, but there was a sizeable Trellium deposit about 100 meters down near the excavation work. "Bingo" he said while grinning. "Marcus to Lt. T'Vei, I think they were after Trellium ore. The camp is sitting on a deposit about 100 meters down."

Crewman Brooks had an obviously baffled expression. "If I recall from my studies isn't Trellium highly deadly for Vulcans? Not familiar with Duritanium ore. How valuable is that?"

"Very valuable," Underwood answered. Looking back at the remains, he sighed. "Valuable enough to some to even kill for, apparently."

"Trellium was also used to navigate the spatial distortions of the Delphic Expanse prior to the sphere networks' destruction," T'Vei said. "As the Skagarans were killed eight years ago, it could be they were unaware of changes to this area of space or had discovered another use for it. Coupled with the Duritanium, it is reasonable to hypothesize the mining operation was the cause for the attack." She nodded to Underwood, giving credit to him for the theory.

"Finish your scans and sample collection," the Vulcan ordered. "It is time we returned to the shuttle and reported our findings to Captain Greene."

"Yes Lieutenant," Brooks responded as he went back to preparing a few of the remains for transport. The medic had more questions but decided that his focus should remain on his current task, before their oxygen was depleted.

=================
Lieutenant T'Vei
Chief Armory Officer
Sentinel Station

Ensign Bruce Marcus
Asst. Chief Engineer
Sentinel Station

Ensign Ash Ridley (apb T'Vei)
Science Officer
Sentinel Station

Ensign Raveendran 'Ravi' Yates (apb Whitford)
Armoury Officer
Sentinel Station

Ensign Curtis Underwood (APB Maddox Greene)
Armory Officer
Sentinel Station

Ensign Sung-jin Um (APB Kytolos Sh'reyva)
Armoury Officer
Sentinel Station

Crewman Andy Brooks (APB Maddox Greene)
Medic
Sentinel Station

 

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