Once More Unto the Wormhole

Posted on Tue Mar 12th, 2019 @ 4:14am by Major Jacob Asher & Staff Sergeant Rhiannon O'Connor & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus & Civillian Shae & Civillian Dr. Jessica Andrews & Civillian Ravi Azad PhD & Civillian Selyna Braeden

Mission: The Lost Boys and Girls
Location: P3X842
Timeline: Current (After Briefing)

Jake emerged from the wormhole and moved down the stairs to clear a path for the next traveler. Ree followed, using a handheld controller to guide the stripped down MALP with the supplies on it through the gate and down the stairs. It was a lot like a large remote control car, albeit a slow one.

"Wow," Ree said as she took in her surroundings. "This place is beautiful. Reminds me a little of SERE training."

Before Jake could respond, the others started to come through the gate.

"You and I definitely remember SERE training extremely differently," Jeremy said as he stepped through. The only reason he continued down the ramp and not stopping at the scene before him was because of 'fatal funnel' training. Standing in the doorway...even if that doorway was an interplanetary wormhole shunting people halfway across the galaxy. But it was amazing. He step out the Tunnel to go to town and it's one of the worst winters in his life. Now, here, it was lush, verdant and slightly humid. The clearing was a sort of emerald green that reminded him of summers at home. Keeping his rifle at the ready, he began looking for the bone pile that was mentioned at the briefing. He saw something on the video that he wanted to check on, just to confirm if he were right. Though, before anything hit the fan, he made sure his cams were activated, creating a video record of their activity here.

"Don't stray too far, Crow," Jake said. "That's a big forest to get lost in."

"Roger that, Major," Jeremy answered with a thumbs up. From the looks of the area, he may not want to find out what lurked around here. Especially considering the amount of bones left to bleach in the sun.

Jessica looked around. "It reminds me of the times I went camping in Yellowstone with Uncle Lee." She noted. "He taught me 'how to cease being a girl, and become a woman,' as he would say in that gruff marine tone." She knelt down at some of the bones that were surrounding the gate. "Hmm." She continued to study the bones and activated a dictation recorder. "Expedition Report; March 10, 2019. Encountered human remains. distribution of the remains, and the presence of gnaw marks on several specimens, suggests the local scavengers had consumed the remains before the insects further decomposed the victims." Jessica looked at a skull. "Fascinating..." She used her pen light. "Bone structure is reminiscent of ethnic groups found in Gaelic France and Hispania, estimated first century AD. Jeremy, can you confirm a cause of death?"

"Being gnawed on by scavengers?" Jeremy said. "Do I look like Temperance Brennan?"

Shae was right behind Jess and Corvus, looking over their shoulders as they examined the remains; her bow was in hand, but her arrows were still stowed in their quivers. "Many creatures have eaten of these bodies," she sated, then knelt in to hold her hand over the bones, using her fingers to gauge the size of some bite marks. "Something very large, we should be cautious in this creature is near," she remarked, her fingers then grazing on some smaller, barely perceptible marks and scrapings of smaller creatures that had scavenged from the body after the larger creature had eaten his fill; the smaller scavengers were rarely a cause for concern, but what ever made those larger marks had her on edge.

Jessica used her light on some of the bone fragments Shae was examining. "Interesting... Major. I think these bones were not native to this world. There is a large amount of calcium inside these bones that suggest these people had a very modest diet. They had access to vegetables, milk, cheese, and other forms of dairy. These people are not tribals, they're Gaelic, possibly Celtic, cattle or sheep herders. And what happened to their clothes?"

"Sounds like an awful lot of guesswork?" Jeremy said, checking that his weapons were hot. He, like Shae, was concerned about the size of some of the scoring on the bones. He wasn't even sure all of the scoring, especially on the scattered ribs, skulls and pelvises were made from teeth. There was something else that bothered him. "Major, I'm not sure this is scavage. Scavagers tend to carry off their prey, or parts of them. I'm seeing too much intact here. This may have been a nest or den." He picked something else up and let it crumble through his gloved hands. "But the scat may be as old as the freshest bones. That may not be a worry."

"Any idea how long these folks have been here?" Jake asked. "Either of you?"

Jeremy looked around, taking in the environment once again. "I don't know, Major, judging from the dry, brittle nature of the bones, they're completely dessicated, which in an environment like this, with the humidity and rainfall that must happen? Not to mention the powdery dust nature of the scat indicating the last time large carrion was here? Decades? Who knows, one of these animal carcasses could very well be the carrion creature itself."

"Okay," Jake said. "Any sign of what killed them? I'm not an expert, but just eyeballing that pile of bones, it doesn't look like anything traumatic happened to the poor bastard until after he passed beyond this mortal coil."

"Neither am I, Major, but I'm not seeing obvious signs of injury indicating foul play. I'd expect to see more bladed scoring on the bone, or damage if caused by an impact weapon or bullet, but nothing like that is apparent right now. It's possible that there was something that didn't affect the bones, and with clothing and other equipment missing then we'll have a very difficult time trying to determine cause of death. We can't even say for sure whether they were attacked by wild animals because the damage caused to the bone could have come from the...eating. Major, I could try to do a more thorough search of the bones," he looked at the piles, "but that could take some time. It'd be better to gather them and return them through the Gate if that's what you wanted."

Though she did not say anything to alert the group of danger, Shae's attention was suddenly diverted to the surrounding trees. Since she was in her human state, she didn't have the advantage of directional hearing, but her ears were still quite keen, enough to alert her of sounds in the forest. She remained still as she tried to follow the sound of something moving through the trees, but after a moment the sound was gone, and shortly after that she relaxed.

Jake looked at Shae. "You see something? Hear something?"

Jeremy gripped his rifle, keeping it in low ready, but his senses were alerted and he began scanning.

"Heard something, something small, probably just a bird or a random forest creature," Shae said dismissively, and though relaxed, she was clearly still alert to her surroundings in case the sound came back.

Jess looked around. "We're being watched; Major, and followed." She whispered.

"Okay," Jake said. "Everyone stay cool. We'll deal with it when everyone comes through."

Inside, Ravi was jumping up and down shouting 'woohoo!' at the top of his lungs, but outside, he was nothing but professional. I'm on another planet! Oh my god! I'm on another planet! This is insane! were the thoughts running around his head. Even Jessica's pronouncement couldn't fully dampen his excitement, though he did opt to open his ears and play closer attention to what was happening around him. He had excellent hearing- some would call it phenomenal- and though he figured Shae's was probably better, he didn't suppose a second set of good ears would be impractical.

"Welcome to P3X842, Doctor Azad," Jake said when he saw the look of wonder in Ravi's eyes. He couldn't resist a little fun at the doctor's expense. "Try to to step on any of the desiccated remains. I'm sure if they were alive, they'd show you the same courtesy."

Selyna was right behind Doctor Azad. As she exited the wormhole this time, she shivered but didn't need to sit. The nausea didn't come either. Maybe the body did adapt to it, she thought as she cast her eyes about her. If one didn't know they were on an alien world, one might have mistaken it for a wild part of Earth. That thought died immediately as she saw the remains. Clearing the wormhole, she moved off to the side and tried not to look at the remains that Doctor Andrews was examining.

She felt odd in all the gear the SGC gave field teams. It felt heavy, and she felt ungainly in it. But she understood the premise; be prepared for anything. She shifted the vest and her pack on her shoulders and sighed. "How far is that altar-thing again?" she asked.

"Not too far, Doctor," Jake said. The gate shut behind Selyna. "Okay, gather up." When everyone was gathered around him, he spoke softly, but didn't whisper. Whispering actually carried farther than just soft, calm speech. "Alright," he said. "Both Shae and Jessica suspect someone is watching us. So we have two choices as I see it. We move out and take the supplies with us in the hopes that they'll follow and give us an opportunity to make contact, or we unload the supplies, move out, then some of us double back and make contact when they make a move on the supplies. Opinions?"

In the woods...

Isbeil and her life partner of many moons, Estin, quietly watched the strangers. Morgaine of the Demetae eyed what she was certain were goods they could make use of. She hoped Isbeil would order an attack to take the goods. Killing the strangers seemed so much more merciful than what was most certainly going to be their fate before long. Na Cailltean had seen many travelers come through An Geata over many moons. The bones of those travelers were scattered far and wide over the surrounding area. If Isbeil didn't want to put the travelers out of their misery early and take their goods, Morgaine supposed she could wait. Hopefully the travelers would die quickly and not consume too much of their valuable goods before they passed.

Morgaine's life partner, Sanicios of Gaul, sensing his companion's tension, placed a calming hand gently on her shoulder. Morgaine smiled. When they first arrived, she had not found the Gaul's company pleasing. But they were children when they arrived, in mind as well as body. After so many moons, though physically still children, they had grown wiser and by necessity more mature. Now Morgaine found the Gaul's company a joy and welcomed his calming touch.

Meanwhile...

"Having once been a scared child just trying to survive, I can say that both options will work, but I would be more inclined to go after abandoned supplies than approach strangers," Shae suggested in the same whisper soft tone. "The only downside to taking that route, they may feel inclined to protect their haul once they claim it, and since they are armed, that does carry with it more risk. Although, I was also by myself, whereas they are in numbers, so they may just try to kill us for the supplies if we take them with us."

Jeremy shook his head. "I don't know, Major," he said, trying not to glance over his shoulder to the woods where it was indicated the others were waiting. "If it is the kids, we brought stuff for them. Why not just leave it out and let them come out and get it. I mean, if we want to gain their trust why start with engaging in a battle?" Try as he might, and especially after the battle on Big Round, he didn't relish the idea of turning weapons on kids. "We get their trust early, maybe we can do some cursory exams and make sure they're healthy enough to come through the Gate if we have to go that route. Be a lot easier if they liked us."

"Or..." Shae said, pondering a thought that occurred to her. "We could make a third option..." She had a small pack at her waist, and from it she drew out a leather pouch and walked towards the trees. She couldn't hear anything now, so she just walked toward the area she'd heard some noise earlier, standing right at the treeline and not entering. She knew from experience, both from coaxing a child and being a scared child herself, that earning the trust of children was a nigh impossible task, but she would give it her best. From her little pouch, she drew out a piece of jerky that she had made herself, biting into it as a show that it wasn't poisoned, then she tucked the remainder of the piece back into the pouch and threw the pouch full of jerky into the trees. She didn't wait for any response, instead walking back towards her team.

Isbeil had to resist snorting in derision. Did this woman think Na Cailltean a tribe of dimàirt? Did she think them so simple as to scramble out unthinking for scraps of...what? Dried meat? They had plenty of that back at their encampment and stored away, and no one under her care suffered from an empty belly. Isbeil hand signed, ordering the others to wait while she considered their options. She had been hesitant to engage enemies with adult bodies and possibly advanced weapons, but if they were this stupid...yes...this presented possibilities. Perhaps they could take these neo-chomasach before they consumed whatever supplies they had brought with them or used up whatever made their weapons work.

Felimid of the Eriu signed to Isbeil, reading her mind as the little scamp always did. The word he signed was trócaire in his tongue, tròcair in hers. Mercy. Isbeil frowned at him. Isbeil had often overheard her father complaining that the Eriu were too friendly. To Isbeil killing the travelers was mercy. What did they have to live for at this point? She sighed softly and nodded, signing that they would continue to watch.

"Okay," Jake was saying. "I think I want to get this show on the road. Crow, Shae, Ree, if we leave you here, can you handle these kids if they come out? Because if you can, Jess and I and our scientist and engineer are going to start down the path to the altar."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy said, a bit quickly because it sounded like he had a good chance not to have to turn his weapons onto a bunch of kids. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of having Shae left behind after that stunt she just pulled. But, she did have a point about knowing how to survive. "I'm speaking mainly for myself, Major, but leave me here and I'll do my level best to get whoever's out there on our side." He glanced at O'Connor, hoping she'd have his back on this. He shifted his weight from leg to leg while he waited for the go ahead from his CO.

Ree nodded. "Yessir," she said. "I've been thinking about the audio feed we listened to. My grandmother was from the old country. She tried to teach me Irish Gaelic. I can carry on a conversation of sorts with her, but I think that's more because she's used to the words I get wrong or mispronounce and can figure out my bad grammar. I bet Shae will be way better at talking to these kids, but I think I picked up a word or two that I recognized. I can try to help if Shae gets stuck. But only if she gets stuck, sir. Mostly I'm going to stick to skinned knees and whatever else they've got."

"Works for me," Jake said. "Shae?"

"Even if I don't recognize the language, I've heard enough that I can usually pick up a new one pretty quickly. I'm sure we can manage," Shae replied with a nod.

Jake helped unload the gear and then showed Ravi how to operate the now empty remote control rover so they could take it with them to the altar.

"Okay then, Doctors Three," Jake said to Jess, Selyna, and Ravi. "We're off to see the wizard. Well, we're off to see an altar, but for some reason since joining New Dawn, I keep feeling the urge to make Wizard of Oz references." Jake shrugged. "Oh, well. Let's go, Doctors. We're burning daylight. Crow, we'll check in when we get to the altar. You check in with us if you make contact with the kids...or whatever lions and tigers and bears are out there...see? I just did it again. Sheesh." Jake took point and led the Archaeologist, the Astrophysicist, and the Engineer down the path. "Jess, bring up the rear, would you?"

Jessica smirked. "Jake, the movie freaked me out as a little girl. I didn't trust the 'good' witch of the north any further than I could throw her. That woman had an agenda, and she was playing Dorothy like a violin." She smirked as she made small talk. "What do you guy's think?"