The Etheria - Part 1

Posted on Tuesday 29 September 2020 @ 15:42 by Captain Hans Andersson & Captain Melody Jones & Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Commander Hayley Godding & Major David Scarlet & Commander Luke Springfield
Edited on on Tuesday 29 September 2020 @ 15:43

Mission: A Whale of a problem (We're going to need a bigger boat)
Location: Unknown
Timeline: MD 6
4706 words - 9.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Melody's eyes slowly fluttered open. Instead of seeing the barren terrain she now saw a lush, verdant forest. She got to her feet holding her head. "Oh, where am I? How did I get here?"

A voice replied "This is the Etheria. Welcome."

Melody spun around and saw a man standing in front of her, wearing simple clothes. His skin had a blue tinge to it. "The Etheria is where our minds exist and interact. This is a representation that falls in the range that is understandable by your primitive minds. "

Melody looked around "And you are?"

"I am Owan. Leader of the Megapteraians. Why have you come here?"

"Your probe. It was broadcasting this location.... Hang on where are the rest of my people." She asked suddenly.

"Please, come with me." He gestured and Melody felt compelled to obey.

The groggy feeling from whatever it was that had rendered her unconscious began to drain away as Hayley felt her heavy eyelids respond and she awoke on the floor of a strange grassy field which was completely at odds from the landscape they had just been on. One thing was apparently clear, she was on her own and there was no sign of the rest of the away team. The next thing she noted with considerable concern was the lack of her phaser and comm-badge.

"What the heck... what is this?" She asked aloud, mostly for her own benefit.

"You are in the Etheria, human." Came a cold feminine voice.

Hayley's head turned and spotted a woman standing a short distance away, wearing a tan one-piece outfit that contoured to her simple body. She had no real distinguishing features about her beyond long black hair. Rising to her feet from the floor, Hayley tried to emit an air of confidence about her. "What is the Etheria?"

"It is our world. A plain of existence beyond your comprehension. We have provided a landscape that we felt your simple human minds could cope with." The female responded in her cold dulcet tones.

"Where are my people?" Hayley asked.

"Elsewhere." She said, simply.

"Who are you?" Hayley then asked, clearly not getting much out of this woman.

"I am Margan, I am tasked with the protection of our people." She responded. "From our scans of you, it was determined that you hold a similar function, something we have experienced before. Therefore it was felt important that I should meet with you."

"I see." Hayley responded. "So you know who I am?"

"Indeed I do, Hayley Godding of the human vessel Merlin. Although, you will understand my desire not to really care for lower lifeforms such as yourself." Margan replied. "Much as you humans do not discuss things with insects on your own world, so we view you. However, we know from experience that your primitive species can be dangerous, hence our measures."

Well, that was concerning. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot! "May I see the others?" She asked. "My concern is their safety."

"Come with me." Margan said, turning and walking off, not making sure that Hayley was following, almost as if it didn't matter to her. Hayley did however trudge after the weird woman.

Caroline groaned and found herself rolling over and smelling leaves. A strong smell of plants. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw lots of browns and greens. It took a couple of minutes to focus, she felt like she had been hit by a shuttle, which now she thought of shuttles she couldn't see it in sight.

"Hello," she called out wondering why she seemed to be in a forrest when they had been flying down to an ocean world. "Anyone? Captain, Dr Ch'rehon, Lieutenant Godding ... Bree," she switched to first name as it was becoming apparent she was all alone.

She pressed her comm badge and it made no sound at all. It was just dead.

Standing up slowly, suddenly she tensed at the sound of something snapping. She tentatively looked round her shoulder. A blue skinned humanoid not in very plain wear was looking at her.

"Who are you?" Caroline said. "My names Caroline."

She felt a tension in her body, hoping they understood and they were friendly.

"I am Joran," the humanoid told her.

"Where am I Joran? Do you know what happened to the rest of my people?"

"You are in the Etheria, human." Came a cold male voice.

There was something about the name that creeped her out.

"Can you take me to the rest of my party?" she asked.

"Come," was all that she got back. She made sure to keep a couple of metres away just in case this person was not on the level and taking her anywhere and followed them.

The cold wind brought Kyhl around abruptly. She reached up and rubbed her forehead as her antenna waved around slowly.

"Welcome to Etheria Human."

"Shut it." Kyhl said quickly. "Blue skin, antenna. Not human."

There was a moment of silence before the voice continued. "I am -"

"Don't care." Kyhl responded crisply. "Take me to my crew now." She openned her eyes, but only enough to narrow them at her addresser.

The being looked at her for a long moment. "Very well."

Kyhl stood up fully and slowly began following the being. She was going to refer to it as 'Bob' from here on out. She grumbled under her breath. "Call me human..."

Sav felt a heaviness through her body as her mind woke up. She had felt this sensation before... cripes, she was in suspended animation again. Well, it would take a while to adjust and see if there was anything she could do to free herself, but right now, as her mind was active, time to see what was up. She opened her eyes to find a very nice, almost homey forest about her. Albeit, the trees were 'small', or terran style, but still nice. She shifted her body, brought her feet under her, and stood up, her tail moving to keep her balanced. She stretched and asked out loud, "Okay, if I am in a mindscape, what is the easiest way to find the others..."

That is when Sav heard a female voice saying, "Correct. This is Etheria, human, where our minds exist and interact. It is interesting that you picked up this is a mindscape for such a primitive mind."

Sav gently turned to see a female humanoid with blue tinged skin and simple clothes standing near her. Sav cocked her head slightly and replied, "Human, huh.. first time fer t'at. I don't recognize your race..." Sav breathed in, finally catching the 'smell' of the humanoid. She churred gently, "Nope, not at all. So, Etheria, eh?" She held out her hand for a handshake, "Hi, my name is Save'ena, please call me Sav. What is your name? Are you my guide? Can you take me to the others while I learn my way around this mindscape?"

The Female Humanoid seemed to pause a moment, then answered in two words, "Betrine, yes." She turned to walk in a direction and said, "Follow me."

Sav felt a compulsion to follow. She shook her body to lay out the fur on her tail, then followed along. As she did, she replied, "Betrine, purty name, ayuh. Glad tah meet yah." Betrine said nary a word.

Melody and her guide reached a large clearing, that was some kind of meeting place. "Your companions will be here soon," Owan said as others like him began to congregate.

Melody started to remember what had happened before she woke up here and remembered the warning..... danger...

"Bring the other, he will want to see this." Owan said to another who turned and headed away.

Melody frowned "What other?"

A male Starfleet officer appeared, escorted by one of the aliens. He was wearing a uniform that was about 100 years out of date yet it looked like it was brand new. He looked at Melody without much interest "And what is this supposed to achieve? You've shown me many different things while I've been here, not this cute I might add but I'm married."

Melody recognized the man after a moment, she had studied the crew of the Darwin. "Captain Andersson?"

His face faltered for a moment, but then he laughed. "Oh very good! Almost convincing." But he was looking at her more closely.

"I'm Commander Melody Jones, Co of the USS Merlin. You were sent to investigate the Whale Probe. Your service number is 747-3642V."

His face changed o that of amazement of Joy. "You're real aren't you? I mean really really real. A real human" and he flung his arms around her.

"Last time I checked." She said with a chuckle "What happened?"

He realized he was being less than professional and let her go. " Sorry, we haven't seen a new real face here in a while. Where ever here is... The ship lost power and I remember passing out on the bridge. Have Starleeet uniforms changed so much?" He asked, commenting on her attire.

She was about to respond, when other members of the away team started to appear, all with a guide.

Melody suddenly realized something and turned to Owan. " Where's Sansa?"

Owan frowned "All your companions are here, we brought no one else. Who is this Sansa you speak of?"

Melody blinked and then said. "Sorry, my mistake. My head is still a bit fuzzy."

"Mel," Caroline said suddenly as they rounded the corner and she saw a familiar face. "Boy am I glad to see you. Your okay?" she asked whipping out a tricorder.

The man turned at Carolin's voice and smiled lovingly at her. "Min fru! you came for me." He looked at Melody with tears in his eves. "Thank you for bringing my wife with you." He quickly moved over to Caroline, sweeping her into his arms in an embrace."

"Ermmmmm, Caroline struggled to pull away from the man. "Im sorry Im not your wife but you do seem familiar," she said nervously.

Andersson realised Caroline, looking slightly disappointed. "Yes, you're not her. I apologize. But, the resemblance is remarkable." He added, still keeping close to her. He turned back to Melody trying to put on a brave face.

Hayley arrived not long after the awkwardness and cleared her throat. "I see the drama never ends, even in an alien clusterfuck like this." She sighed. "Good to see you're okay Captain, Counsellor." Noting the presence of a couple other of the weird alien people besides her escort as well as the presence the man at the centre of the awkward moment just before, wearing the dark red tunic and black pants uniform of the 2270's with the white accents and the rank insignia denoting he was a Captain. "Wow... you must be Captain Andersson!"

Andersson nodded. "I am." His mind was racing, putting the dots together. " How long have we been here?"

Sav arrived with her guide, but wasn't sure about the other newcomers, so she remained hanging out in the back while trying to figure out more about their guides, and the mindscape.

Margan rolled her eyes at the display before her. "Perhaps now we might get that other human to shut up." She said, and a moment later, another man appeared from the shadows. He too wore the old uniform with the white accents denoting him being a member of the command division but wore the rank device of a Commander. It was like looking at a holo-picture from her grandmother's house, with his sandy brown hair, piercing green eyes and square-set chin.

"You're kidding me?!" Hayley exclaimed.

Luke walked over towards his Captain. "What new nonsense have this stupid whale-people come up with this time?" He grunted as he looked at the new arrivals.

Anderssons' smile had faded and he was still looking at Melody when he replied to his first officer. "I think they're real, commander. Apparently the crew of another ship."

"Woah... Starfleet uniforms have come a long way eh?" Luke said, giving appraising looks at the female officers. "Can't say I disapprove of how they flatter the female form than our ones do, although I do think ours look smarter..." His face changed when he clapped eyes on Hayley. "You look very familiar to me for some reason... and you are...?"

Hayley was still in shock for a moment or two before she became aware she'd been addressed. "Oh! Lieutenant Hayley Godding, Security Chief, USS Merlin. You're Commander Luke Springfield, First Officer, USS Darwin, service number 987-3695K, married to Keeley Springfield, father to Fran Springfield."

Luke stared at her deadpan. "They sure as hell make security officers do their homework on people, don't they? Back in my day, simply knowing their name was usually sufficient, without the full biographics... but yes, that's me."

Hayley let out a weak laugh that sounded hollow to her ears. "Just very efficient." She replied. There was so much she wanted to say, but had she not been a trained Starfleet officer, she would have blurted out that she was his daughter's daughter and thus he was her grandfather. "Let's just say I have a vested interest in you, Commander."

"That's nice, but I'm married, flattered though I am that someone as cute and attractive as you should be so enamoured..." Luke chuckled, flashing her a toothy smile. "...but someone like you could easily lead a good dog to strain at the lead..."

For several reasons, that comment made Hayley's skin crawl. If she'd ever needed a reminder as to why she'd sworn off of men, that there was a framable one. Then there was the creep factor that she was being flirted with by her grandpa! 'Keep it together, Hayley', she chided herself. "I am spoken for myself, Commander." She said, simply. Although that sent a pang of worry through her about Sansa.

"Commander... How long?" Andersson asked Melody again, in a flat tone. He had realised now that the woman in front of him was not his wife, yet she looked so similar. And this Lieutenant Gooding, the way she was looking at his first officer and what she was saying..."

Melody took a deep breath and answered steadily, looking him in the eye. "The year is 2396. You and your ship have been lost for over 100 years."

Kyhl finally came upon the group. She glared at Bob. "Couldn't take a more direct route?" Just as the being was about to respond Kyhl waved him away dismissively. "Whatever."

She looked around at the assembled group. "Is everyone ok?" Kyhl looked at the people in the older uniforms. "Are these... the people from the pods?"

Sav held up her hand with a furred thumb in the air while her tail shook twice in affirmation. In using her tail in the mindscape, her tail felt the try in real life. As it responded, Sav felt a shift and then whispered in surprise to herself, "Resonant Linkage. The minds patterns are matched and then a resonance field is used to merge the mind into the MindScape, which is a patterned world of immense data and proportion.. neat."

Betrine, Sav's caretaker, heard something but didn't care about a human's musings. She was waiting for the gathering to be over for the next steps to be taken.

Owan now addressed everybody. "Now that we are all here we can dispense justice to the humans for their treatment of our friends on their planet. They will pay for the crimes that were committed."

Melody did not like the sound of this. "Crimes. Do you mean what happened to the whales? Those actions were taken by our ancestors. We had no part in them. In fact, the whales on Earth now are..."

"Silence!" Owan looked at her. "Your fate is sealed. You shall face judgment. However, unlike you, we are an elighteneed species."

"Enlightened my blue ass." Kyhl scoffed. She pointed a finger at Owan. "You're so enlightened you don't even know what a human is!"

She looked toward Melody. "I'm sorry captain, but I think this guy is full of it."

Owan ignored the remark. "All you bipedal corporeal species are alike and just as guilty. You have all been judged and you shall all pay for your crimes.

While this was going on, although he had accepted that Caroline was not his wife, he seemed comforted by her presence and still insisted on standing close to her.

"Please stop staring at me," Caroline told the man who just kept trying to get closer to her. "I told you I'm your not wife. Who is your wife anyway?"

Andersson could hear his wife's inflexions in Caroline's speech and he sighed. "My wife is... Was Elsa Andersson. The most kind, the most beautiful creature I ever laid eyes on. I suppose she is long dead." he added, his face turning decidedly sad.

Caroline took a few steps closer to Melody. "Nanna ... great nanna ....." she said simply.

Melody raised an eyebrow. "He's your great grandfather? Did you not know he was on the darwin?" she asked, gently.

"No ...,," she said quietly.

Sav slowly shifted and moved towards Melody while keeping to the periphery of the group. With the ages of the two groups being about 3 generations by Terran standards, and starfleet tending to continue to join starfleet, it was no wonder some relations could be found. She glanced at their 'Caretakers', wondering how such 'enlightened' beings could consider the diverse, alien group to be all 'Terrans'. Her tail shook gently in humor as anyone considering the Mephetian one.

After getting near Melody, Sav churred loudly and then asked out, "Please tell me what crime I have committed, please? An accused should know what he or she is being punished for. As far as I know, crimes have been committed against me, not the other way around."

Owan looked at her with a mix of pity and contempt. "We were in communication with our distant cousins on Earth. They described what the humans were doing to them until we lost all contact. Our probe reestablished contact with the two and they also told us of what had happened at the hand of the humans. You exist with them, the humans you support them, you have been on Earth, you come in their ship. You shall therefore share their fate."

He turned to address all of them again. "As our friends were killed, skinned and butchered you shall experience what they endured. Your physical bodies will not be harmed in anyway but you shall know what they endured. Maybe then, you shall think twice before inflicting such suffering on others.

Sav blanched, her entire body going still. She was gutted in being killed for her pelt, luckily saved by a raid... and now these enlightened were going to make sure she felt that all over again, including her pelt this time being removed... her mind blanked out for a bit, while her image seemed to shift, wobble, and britz as though there was interference.

Melody stepped forward. "Please, these crimes as you call them were taken by my ancestors. And Sav'ena here is not human, she had absolutely nothing to do with what happened."

Owan seemed unmoved by Melody's pleas. Suddenly, She stepped right in front of him, demanding his attention. "I will suffer any punishment you have to give but spare my crew.

Owan looked at her with an expression that was almost surprised. "You? You would take the punishment on behalf of your people. You lead them. What about the others and him?" He gestured to Andersson.

Andersson stepped forward. " I will take the punishment as well, spare my crew likewise." He turned to Melody "I see Starfleet Captains haven't lost their flair for grand gestures of self-sacrifice." He smiled at her "You remind me of the Captain of the Enterprise, you heard of him? Jim Kirk?"

Melody returned the 'devil-may-care' smile "They say risk is part of the game if you want to sit in the big chair." She looked back at Owan "Well, what's your answer?"

He frowned, clearly thrown by this development. "I will have to discuss this with the elders. Wait here." He moved off and gathered in a circle with 8 others.

At this time, the image of Sav became fully there again as her mind managed to catch up with itself. She was trembling even as she was whispering to herself, "Breathe.. breathe.. gotta be here, fer Melody ana Sansa..." And then, Melody got her attention along with the rest.

Melody turned back to the rest of the away team, know she was about to get some objections to her plan. SHe took a deep breath. "Everbody, just hold it. This is my decision and I am responsible for all the crew under my command. if I have to suffer in your place, so be it. While they're distracted with me and Captain Andersson, maybe you can find us a way out of here. Try and find Sansa while you're at it. Whatever was controlling her spoke of this place, the Etheria. They also said they were our friends. Maybe they can help. The last thing it said though her was 'They say the sea is cold but.' That's a quote from D H Lawerance. The rest is 'The sea contains the hottest blood of all.' Maybe that's a clue to help us identify who these supposed friends of ours are. I know it's not much to go on, but it's a start. Any questions?"

Andersson came over to Caroline and looked at her fondly. "You're my great gran-daughter. You know, you really do look like your great grandmother. She was expecting when I had to leave on this mission. Did she ever speak of me?"

"I would need to run some tests to clarify that. She never mentioned you, I'm sorry. I've spent my life thinking someone else is my great grandfather. But you know what, she's still alive, so I will certainly be asking her about this," she told the man who believed himself to be her family.

Sav didn't want that on anyone, especially her Captain, and friend, and past lover. She raised a hand, trembles still going through her body, but bravely said, "Captain Jones.. Ah'll do it.. Ah'll tahke te puhnishment... Ah've been thru itbehfore.. Ah'll tahke it.. Sansa needs yah, te crew needs yah ta geht us outa herun. Ah'll ... take it... " She giggled a bit, "Behsides.. mindscape.. meun territory.."

"Captain, I'm afraid I must object to your decision. Whilst you are indeed responsible for the crew, I am responsible for the safety of the ship, the crew and her Captain. Therefore it is my responsibility to stand in harms way." Hayley said, putting on a brave front as much as she could. "Commander Save'ena is correct in one aspect of her statement - the crew need their captain to get them out of this. If anyone here is capable of breaking through to them diplomatically, its you. Sansa needs her mother, now more than ever." She then turned to Sav. "Commander, I can feel your fear radiating off you like a typhoon. Please, let me do this. It's my job and both Sansa and the Captain need you."

Sav giggled again. She shuddered, then said, "Notta worry.. Ah have been through this.. Ah know the pain, the angst, the sufferin... so Ah should bear this again... leave Captain free... tah secure ourun freedom.."

Luke walked over. "Blondie here has a good point, to both of you." He said, addressing both Commander Jones and Captain Anderson. "If anyone is going to get us out of this mess, its the two of you putting your heads together. Captains have the gift of the gab, that's why Starfleet puts them in the big chair and gives them hard-headed security chiefs and expendable first officers." He gave Hans his trademark smile. "I'm sorry Captains, but this is one area where you need to take a knee. I'm sure if your Ex-Oh were here, Commander, he or she would be giving you the same damn speech."

Melody held up her hands. "Those are both very good points. However, as you rightly point out, I'm going to have to negotiate and try and form some diplomatic relation with these aliens and if that requires some form of punishment from them so I can form some kind of bond, so be it. Plus I got us into this. It will be your job to get me out of this. Go.... find these friends... see what help they are offering. Look we're not even sure of when why and how this punishment will be given."

Melody looked at Andersson. "Do you know anything about this punishment?"

He nodded uncomfortably. "My crew have been experiencing it ever since they got here. From your perspective, it seems to last forever but it only lasts a few moments. Normally, they would pick one of the crew at random every day. Everyone else is gathered to bear witness. It's a damn show if you ask me."

At that moment, Owan returned "Your proposal has been accepted, the Council would meet with you now." He indicated to Melody and Andersson. "The rest of you will be summoned when the preparations have been made. We assure you that no harm will come to any of you and that these two are safe."

Melody turned back to the away team."You have your orders. I'll be fine."

Andersson brought them all together. " You should know, something changed here a while back. I don't' know exactly what but the mood in the council changed, their attitude towards us became less friendly."

"How long ago?" Melody asked

"I can't tell. I didn't think we'd been here as long as we had, but I had noticed some of the others started asking us more questions about Earth and expressing.... doubts about why we were kept here."

"Maybe something we can exploit. I'm going to see if I can get any more information from this Council." Melody said. "Stay together and see if you can find Sansa. I've got a feeling she'll turn up here somewhere. She might even be with these friends she mentioned. Good luck."

Sav shuddered, then said, "If youren sure, Melody, then Ah will find her.. protect her.. help her... this is mindscape... Ah just need... Ah just need... tah unerstand.."

Kyhl crossed her arms across her chest and glared toward where Owan had been. "This is wrong captain and you know it. You're expecting to negotiate with creatures who see nothing wrong with punishing a child for the sins of its parents. They're nothing but a bunch of self righteous sadistic zealots."

"Thank you for your opinion Doctor. If that is the case," Melody replied "we need to convince them that humanity has changed and we no longer treat Humpback whales in that manner. Also, I get the impression that there is something else going on here, from what Captain Andersson has told us and the fact that not all these aliens seem to feel the same way about us. Ultimately, we need to figure out a way to get out of here and unless these aliens allow it, I get the impression that's going got be impossible. Now, you have your order and regardless of your personal feelings, I expect you to carry them out."

Owan returned, gesturing for Melody and Andersson to follow. "The council will see you now."

Melody nodded. "Let's go then."

Sav had to find Sansa, protect her, and find the resistance after that. She wasn't sure how, but had too. As soon as she sensed all of their 'guides' had left, she closed her eyes and felt out for Sansa. Help/protect/secure... she must, for Melody, her kitling, she must.. the physicality of the mindscape went away as she felt out the mindscape, a background of vistas formed by computers and minds, and... SANSA!!! Sav had to get to her, must get to her, be with her, and Sav disappeared from among the away team.

OFF: