The Lost Civilization - Part II

Posted on Fri Jul 31st, 2026 @ 2:14am by Commodore Samantha York & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Lieutenant Commander Michael Ki & Major Cameron Bourne & Lieutenant Aenar Torek & 1st Lieutenant Maria Zamorano & 1st Lieutenant Mazal Falk
Edited on on Fri Jul 31st, 2026 @ 2:18am

1,309 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Lost Horizons

[PREVIOUSLY]

'It's very quiet - not much in the way of native flora,' Aenar opined, 'which is slightly unusual. You'd expect some to be taking advantage of the shade and shelter provided by the ruins.' He craned his neck, looked around. 'From the scans, general condition of the buildings and monuments it's been abandoned for a long time. No middens though - looks like they invented plumbing before heading down the drain themselves.'

[CONTINUED]

"Yes," Sam said, looking around. "There's a...feeling, too. I'm not sure what it is. If I didn't know better, I'd say it felt like we were being watched."

She looked around, focusing on the trees. "What sort of creatures would keep the birds away?"

Aenar shrugged, 'could be us. Could be another type of predator - an avian higher up the food chain, some specialised predators that hunt birdlife.' He looked around, intent on his tricorder, 'that would be the natural explanations. There could be an unnatural one - some field that keeps them away.'

'Or,' he concluded with some discomfort, 'it could be like certain other sites ... Birdlife seemingly avoids areas touched by mass deaths ...' The Bajoran shook himself, smiled. 'Superstition of course.'

"Yes... It could be any of those. And it would explain why there's still a lingering feeling of disquiet." She scanned the area again, but detected nothing amiss. "Now that we've done a full circuit, I propose we head in and take a closer look at these ruins. They look to be about 5-700 years old. If there was something that killed off the inhabitants it would explain the lack of birds, as you said. But we still need to find out if there's anything here worth a longer look."

Sam looked at the others. "Okay?" She could simply make a decision and they'd follow, but she wanted their input as she tended to be a bit too eager to explore anything ancient.

'Sounds like an excellent idea,' Aenar replied with a smile, glad to put the question of the lack of birdlife behind him. 'If you notice, most of the buildings are arranged in a half-crescent around that central building there,' he said, pointing to a squat, rotund building built like an upside down cone with a flat roof. 'Perhaps an administrative or religious center?'

A glance from Mazal towards Maria and Kara, she raised an eyebrow then gave a slow nod, "I am not against it, just we'll be on the lookout for what there might be, hidden."

Maria nodded, "I'll go with the Commodore." moving to where Sam was. It did bother her that there weren’t any signs of life, except for those there.

"I'll stay with the main group," Kara said. She'd followed Sam often enough and was happy to let Maria have a turn.

Michael looked around and found a porch area of a building. It was covered from the elements and allowed a view of just about the whole area. "Situations like this dictate the creation of a staging area of sorts. I will set up on that porch. A central location should someone be injured or need assistance."

Ignoring the growing tension-ache between his shoulder blades, Aenar forced a grin in Michael's direction. 'What's the worst that could happen?' he said cheerfully, grabbing a water bottle from his pack and taking a swig to clear the clinging pollen in his throat.

He strode purposefully to the building that stood at the center of the straight edge of the capital-D shape the settlement formed. The buildings were made of a fairly plain, nondescript brown stone, blending in well with the landscape around it. Aenar found himself wondering whether that was by design to camouflage the settlement, or whether it was happenstance. As he passed by the wall of one building, he noted there seemed to be little paintwork on the surface. A quick pass with the tricorder noted minimal chemical deposits indicating paint.

What there seemed to be were the soft remains of designs chiseled into the rock. They were simple, flowing shapes. The Bajoran made a note to ensure that there was further study of the buildings conducted to see if the designs were common-place or not.

As he approached the squat building he surmised to have been some sort of center to the settlement, the tricorder showed him that the designs on this building were far more elaborate, comprising of both organic and geometric shapes alternating. A large doorway stood in front of him, the detritus of ages blown up against the entrance. Closer inspection showed the door to be ajar.

Sam had been heading to the building with the others, but a flash of...something...distracted her. Was that a light? Or just the sunlight reflecting off something? "I'll be right there," she called. "I'm going to check something out."

She nodded to Maria, who had apparently become her personal bodyguard so she could follow her.

Maria followed after Sam well make that maybe side by side.. well, she didn't want to crowd the commodore. After all Sam was competent. Many things just tossed and turned in her mind.

Sam had no intention of doing more than checking out the light, then catching up with the others, but she was curious. And she was afraid if she didn't check now the light would change and she wouldn't find whatever it was on the way out. Besides, it was clearly visible, so she wouldn't be out of sight.

Maria became her shadow.

Oblivious to the fact that he was alone, Aenar found himself at the door, the light fading only a few feet inside the door. He pressed his hand to the door, the tricorder still in his other.

Mazal took notice that the Doctor had made a camp on a porch, And he had a good point as to what he had stated.

Cam had gone to scout out the perimeters from what she figured so all was covered.

Maria was following the Commodore, then there was Aenar he was wandering away from the group.

Walking quietly as she normally did, Mazal gently cleared her throat.

"Sir, if you would please, I would like to check on the room before you go through that door."

Sam slowed as she got closer to the reflected light. It was odd that it didn't seem to change position or light. It seemed less a reflection now and more a source of its own. But her tricorder detected nothing out of the ordinary. Not technology, no sign of an ancient artifact. Just...a tiny light that seemed to be drawing her to it.

She paused. No. That wasn't right. It wasn't drawing her. It was an anomaly, and her scientific brain needed to find out what it was. Besides, she could sense Maria close behind, so she wasn't in any real danger.

But she was curious. Still holding her tricorder, she inched forward, careful not to get close enough to touch the plants that draped from what she could now see was a large rock formation. A natural formation. Nothing to indicate any sort of humanoid manipulation, carving, or even placement. But there was still the tiny light.

And then everything went quiet. Not just audibly quiet, but telepathically quiet. Sam immediately stopped and took a step backward, but it was too late. The shimmering light grew, surrounded her. Engulfed her. And then, everything went dark.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

Commodore Samantha York
Commander
USS Calypso

1st Lieutenant Mazal Falk
Marine XO
USS Calypso

1st Lieutenant Maria Zamorano
Marine
USS Calypso

1st Lieutenant Kara Melo
Platoon Leader
USS Calypso

Lieutenant Commander Michael Ki
Chief Medical Officer
USS Calypso
 
Major Cameron Bourne
Marine CO
USS Calypso

 

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