SubAccount: Mondo'li Nari

[Starbase Columbus - Deck 1 - Observation Lounge]

Starbase Columbus - Deck 1 - Observation Lounge

James approached the Hupryrian  and extended his hand.  "Petty Officer Nari, it's a pleasure to meet you.  I read your record and read about your skills we are lucky to have you.  It's good to have another tactical mind around the station in these times of ...uncertaintly" .  Hawke commented.   As he walked to the man he would point to the place where they were gathering.  As he walked he stopped for a second and he realized he did not introduce himself.  "I'm sorry that was rude of me...I'm Commander Hawke, First Officer, please take a second and enjoy yourself for a second.    I know change can be hard for a lot of people, but at least we can build a community here." .  Hawke finished his statement as he observed another person coming in.

Mondo was surprised to be approached by the station's Executive Officer.  He was doubly surprised that the man would have heard anything about him.

"An honor to meet you, Sir.  And thank you for the compliment."  Mondo somewhat awkwardly shook the human's hand, being unaccustomed to such informality with people so far above his station.   Soon enough, Hawke was drawn into another social encounter.  Mondo watched the man go.

It might have been easy enough to dismiss the brief encounter as mere politeness, but the fact that Commander Hawke had remembered the name of an inconsequential Petty Officer suggested to Mondo that the man's words had been genuine.  The Hupyrian couldn't help but feel a bit puffed up with pride that he had been singled out for rememberance.

Mondo collected a drink for himself once the Commander departed.  He took a cup of the bramberry juice on offer, pre-replicated on a tray.  It was sweet and delicious.  He quickly finished the beverage, and then reached down to take another.

His second cup was less sweet, and more sour and tangy.

Artelis Fruit.

Odd.

He could have sworn that this particular tray was filled with cups of bramberry fruit juice to the exclusion of all other flavors.

Well... there was nothing wrong with artelis fruit juice.

He shrugged, finishing his second cup.

Then he brought the pair of empty vessels to the replicator alcove for recycling.

As he did so, he met someone new- a young girl who described herself as Analyn.

"Do not apologize for not knowing me, Miss Analyn.  You can't be expected to memorize every face on the station.  There must be tens of thousands here."

He smiled at her, "In any event, it is a pleasure to meet you.  I am Petty Officer Mondo'li Nari."

Mondo took up one of the cookies and tried it.  "Delicious.  Thank you for sharing."

[Mondo's Quarters, SBC]

Mondo's Quarters, SBC

Mondo finished putting away the last of his things, and it felt like closing the drawer was also closing another chapter of his career.  He had heard that some officers and crew might spend the majority of their careers on one posting, but apparently such stability was rare.  For him, Starfleet service had been an exercise in change and adaptation.

He felt a throbbing in his shoulder.  A psychological ache, no doubt, triggered by his thoughts of change.   Even Mondo's body had not survived the past year without being changed.

But life was change.  Change and growth.  When either of those things stopped happening, it meant you were dead.

He looked around the room.  Bigger than his quarters on the Shran, though he still had a roommate.  Still, most people he'd met in the fleet were easy to live with.  Everyone had quirks, but Starfleet personnel were selected partially for their stability and ability to get along well with others.  In a service this diverse, such an attitude wasn't just nice.  It was essential.

Taking a moment to view himself in a mirror, Mondo smoothed his uniform.   Then he made his way to the Observation Lounge where the gathering was being held.   Along the way, a Yellow Alert sounded, and Mondo checked his holstered PADD for new orders.  But there was no change for him.

Deck 1 – Observation Lounge

Mondo arrived, and offered a wrinkly-faced smile at the people gathered here.  Many cultures had rituals for welcoming new arrivals into the fold.  This gathering was one such ritual, to bring everyone peace and contentment with the change of environment and structure.

For Mondo's part, he had no need of such things.  But that didn't mean he lacked appreciation for the effort.  Not everything had to be necessary for it to be nice.

[USS Shran - Decon]

USS Shran - Decon

After ensuring that the samples were properly offloaded and sent for analysis, Mondo made his own way to the decontamination facilities.  He was beamed out of his suit, which was the safest way to ensure he did not touch any contaminants while taking it off.  The suit itself would never be re-used.  It was safer to destroy it at the quantum level, ensuring that not even one molecule of substance survived to threaten anyone.

When that was done, Mondo remained in decon, waiting for his superior and- friend?  Peter Dannenberg to finish his own decontamination procedure.   The human had come into close contact with the mysterious goo and one of the planet's odd sea creatures.  The Hupyrian did not want to see the man succumb to the same fate as T'aco or others who had been 'infected' by whatever danger the planet offered.

Though Mondo had a great love for exploration and the mission of discovery central to Starfleet, times like this made him question that aspect of their mission.  Perhaps, like the Hupyrian legend of Azdo'li Vandi, who climbed too-tall a mountain peak... perhaps there were places to which Starfleet should not ascend.

Mondo pressed an intercom icon that would allow him to communicate with Peter in the decontamination chamber.

"How are you feeling?"

[Planetside - Peninsula]

Planetside - Peninsula

Mondo became alarmed as the creature began to glow.  "I am unfamiliar with this kind of energy," he told Stratton, "Is there anything harmful about it?  Will it hurt people or equipment?"

If the Hupyrian was alarmed when the crablike creature began to glow, he was doubly alarmed when it cracked open and oozed all over Peter's shoe.  "We will put your shoe in a sample container as well, I think," Mondo opined, "And put you through decontamination when we get to the ship."

He moved to help Jenna collect sample containers from the shuttle, continuing to comment, "This situation resembles a Fright-Holo, of the types popular with Humans."  He positioned the container to help scoop up samples of the frightening creature, Peter's shoe, and the goo that had oozed onto the ground.  As he worked, he was careful not to actually touch anything.  Although he was wearing an environmental suit, he was still wary of the bizarre critter.  He used scooping implements and bags.

"It is like some horrific goo has infected all life on the world, filling up their bodies as though they were vessels, and spreading their parasitic paste to one victim after another."

Perhaps Mondo had been overly influenced by watching Fright-Holos with Human friends at the Starfleet Technical Services Academy instructional complex in orbit over Mars.

If he was able to complete the sample-collecting, he would return to the shuttle with the others, and make the anxiety-inducing trip back to the ship with these Fright-Holo worthy creatures.

[Planetside - Peninsula by the Sea]

Planetside - Peninsula by the Sea

Mondo snapped his tricorder shut and placed it into its spot on his belt.

"If you want to move the creatures, I am probably best suited to do so.  Literally, because of the suit."

Mondo found a stick and picked it up, thinking to nudge the crab onto a stone as had been suggested.

"One thing to consider is that we can't beam up any specimens who do not show up on sensors.  The transporter requires high-resolution scans of every particle within a person's body.  The transporter beams break people apart at the sub-atomic level, pulling them across space to reassemble them elsewhere.  Without the ability to scan a creature, there is no possibility of disassembling them here and reassembling them elsewhere.  So, if we can't scan these creatures, then the only way to get them onto the ship is via shuttle."

If Mondo was being completely candid, he'd express his misgivings about bringing one of these things onto the ship.  But he knew that sometimes discovery required risk.

Stepping forward, Mondo prepared to nudge one of the alien crabs onto a rock, but glanced back to be sure this is what they wanted to try.

If they affirmed the action, he would do it.

[Planetside - Peninsula]

Planetside - Peninsula

Mondo closed his tricorder and turned to the others, having completed his impromptu investigation.

"I have succeeded in scanning an object that is within the water," he revealed, adding, "whatever is blocking our scans, it cannot be the water itself.  I think it is a property of these creatures."

He frowned, because figuring out a way to scan the creatures seemed to be beyond his talents.  "Perhaps we should treat them like scan-resistant perpetrators smuggling illegal items."

He opened his tricorder again and tried adjusting for various known scan-impeding substances.  There were 42 in the tricorder's database.  He began to cycle through them all.

"I am sure science-minded individuals will have greater success."  Someone versed in the sciences would be able to go beyond the known database of substances, and create new theories based on the previously unknown.

[Planetside - Peninsula]

Planetside - Peninsula

Having beamed down with the rest of the away team, Mondo eyed the crab-like water creature with suspicion.  An object that he could see, but which did not register on sensors, was worthy of much suspicion.  Stratton suggested that something in the water might be inhibiting scans, and that seemed as good a premise as any.

"It seems like a theory we can test without touching the water," Mondo remarked.

He bent down to find a stone on the ground, taking out his tricorder as he did so.  Mondo was the farthest thing from a science specialist, but the basic operation of a tricorder was a component of security training.  Security crewmen learned to scan for life-forms, as well as scanning for illicit materials and hidden explosives and weapons.  Fortunately, tricorders had handy functions that made the work easier.  Every tricorder was configured with hundreds of common items that one might wish to scan for, and more items could be scanned and added to the list.

Scanning the stone in detail, Mondo stored the scan data in the tricorder's databank.  Although one stone looked very much like another to Hupyrian eyes, the exact composition of silicates, minerals, organic deposits, density, and even shape and surface weathering patterns were like a fingerprint.  No two stones would be precisely the same.

Once the scan was complete, Mondo tossed the stone into the water a few meters away.   Then he tasked his tricorder to perform a pattern match to the recorded data in its memory banks.  At such a short distance, the stone should be readily detectable, just under the surface of the water.

If the tricorder could not detect the stone, it would prove Stratton's theory about something in the water creating interference.

If the tricorder did detect the stone, then something else would be the culprit.

Watching his tricorder carefully, he waited for the result.

[USS Shran -- Remembering yesterday --> Transporter Room]

USS Shran -- Remembering yesterday --> Transporter Room

Mars.

Mars was a curious irony.  The planet was named after one of the Terran Gods of War, and yet it was a cradle for one of the Federation's most important endeavors: Exploration.

Mars was the home of Utopia Planitia, one of Starfleet's most famous shipyards.  There, countless ships were assembled before they would depart peacefully to the farthest sectors of known space.  Employing their fast engines and inquisitive sensors, they would probe the secrets of the galaxy.  Secrets that would gradually unfold themselves to the United Federation of Planets and its many billions of scholarly citizens.

In addition to this august foundry of space vessels, Mars held the largest branch of Starfleet's Technical Services Academy.  There, enlisted personnel trained within massive orbital facilities, overlooking a planet that was not only named for a God of War, but had seen a fair share of war, itself.  Operations crewmen, Engineering technicians, Medical assistants, and Security personnel were all trained there.  The ships and the crew were crafted side-by-side, being outfitted with everything they'd need to engage in a mission of discovery that would last for the rest of their lives.

It was at the Technical Services Academy that Mondo had met the very first human who would ever become his friend.

Her name was Nyona Richards, and she had given birth to a son just two years before joining Starfleet.  It had been difficult for her to leave her son in the care of her wife.  But she had chosen to follow her ambitions, even when those ambitions tore at her heart.  Still, the separation was made easier thanks to modern technology.  She frequently communicated with her home via the subspace console in their shared quarters at the Academy.  Her son would not be allowed to forget the face of his mother.

It was on one of those calls that Mondo had accidentally spied a book that her son was holding as they chatted.  It had been entitled,  'Everyone Poops.'

A statement of simple wisdom, it had been as true then as it was, now.

And so it was that now, on the USS Shran, Mondo found himself pooping when all hell broke loose.  The communications were difficult to make sense of.  The dead had returned to life?  Then the dead had used transporters to make unauthorized trips to the planet's surface?

Perhaps the famous author Taro Gomi would publish a sequel to their most famous work entitled, 'Everyone Dies... but not everyone stays dead.'

Mondo finished his deed and hastily got back into his Security-branded environmental suit before rushing down to the transporter room, phaser-rifle slung over one shoulder and a full away-team kit clipped to his suit's belt.

"Am I correct in what I heard," he asked as he arrived on the scene, "Miller- the deceased Miller- beamed down to the surface below?"

[USS Shran - Miller's Quarters - Deck 8]

USS Shran - Miller's Quarters - Deck 8

If we'd have known better, we'd have done better...

Mondo was grateful for the kind words.  It was good to know that Peter did not blame him personally for his dereliction of duty.  It was like one Master telling him not to feel guilty about the death of another.  His oath to Starfleet was a strange thing.  Servants in Hupyrian culture did not usually take vows to organizations.  That had been Mondo's unique choice.

It carried unique responsibilities.

As the body was evacuated for autopsy, and the option of isolating the entire ship was discussed, Mondo stood in the corner and let his gaze drift across the mundanity of it.  It wasn't that there were no signs, here.  He was sure of it.  It was that he had failed to see something.  Something that seemed mundane was not.  Something had been overlooked.

True, Mondo had no idea what that was.  None of them did.  And surely they'd have done better if they could.

'Speak to me, room,' Mondo thought.

But the room said nothing.

Perhaps the body would speak to the Doctors.

He hoped so.  If the walls would not talk, then ghosts needed to.

[USS Shran - Miller's Quarters - Deck 8]

USS Shran - Miller's Quarters - Deck 8

Mondo eyed the crewman for a moment before snapping his tricorder shut.   The events with Miller had clearly made him paranoid.  Here was an ordinary crewman merely shaken at the sight of death.  He was not infected with some mystery disease, nor was he afflicted with some side-effect of mysterious energies.  Mondo had to remind himself of his own first encounters with death.  How it had affected him.  How it affected him, still.

Returning the tricorder to his suit's utility belt, he looked to Peter.  "I have seen nothing here to suggest a cause for this.  My scans show nothing out of the ordinary.  But I do not believe this man randomly died at the precise moment that we sensed an energy here.  Nor do I believe it is a coincidence that this man died so soon after the strange events on the planet.  The strangest thing about this death is the lack of strangeness at the scene of it.  But there has been plenty of strangeness surrounding it."

He cast his gaze over the doctors here, who were preparing to take the body away for an autopsy.

"I hope they can find the answers we seek.  For my part, I have failed this man."

[[Outside-->Inside Miller's Quarters, Deck 8]]

[Outside-->Inside Miller's Quarters, Deck 8]

Mondo nodded in response to the suggestion that he lead the team in, and took point in a group of three security personnel which included Y'fhery and Retnuh.  The two crewmen quickly cleared the room while Mondo eyed it suspiciously.  He produced a tricorder of his own and began scans for threats of the more usual kind to someone of his profession:  Destructive devices, hidden aggressors, and other things that might provide mayhem.

Soon, the Doctors were being allowed in, and Mondo's eyes scanned the room as though they might somehow find what his tricorder had not:  Some source to the energy.  Some source to the threat.

But at the moment, he couldn't find anything of the kind.

Turning fully around, Mondo laid his eyes finally upon Retnuh.  Perhaps it was the anxiety of a tense moment, but the crewman did not seem fully himself.  Mondo was not a medic, and he was not holding a medical tricorder.  Nontheless, he turned the device upon Retnuh, looking for anything generally out of order on the display.  At the very least, if his thermal signature was off, or there was something amiss with his bio-signature, an ordinary tricorder might detect it in general terms.

"Crewman... are you quite well?"

[USS Shran - Armory]

USS Shran - Armory

Mondo was perusing the armory to determine the best option for a phaser emplacement at the landing site.  He had nearly settled on a Type IV deployable tower when a call came through the com system.

Actually, it was a swift sequence of calls.

Dannenberg to Nari, security needed on Deck 8, section 17, room 31. Join me there please, I'm on my way already.

Then:

Attention all hands - Decks 7 through 9 are to be evacuated and are off-limits until further notice.

And finally, another communication came through Mondo's communicator through Peter's still-open com channel:

Dannenberg, Lieutenant Mehl. We picked up another energy burst, but instead of it originating on the water planet, it came from the ship. Specifically, Deck 8, Section 17. Once it subsided, we were unable to scan the area with any accuracy, so you're going in blind. Qapla'!

Mondo finally tapped his badge before any other communications could flood in.  Acknowledged.  I am in the armory currently.  I will bring equipment for both of us.

Although the order had come through not to go to the deck in question, Mondo presumed that applied to everyone except the responding security personnel.

The Hupyrian moved quickly- but not out of the room.  Instead, he pulled down security gear.  The security teams often drilled in proper procedure for unknown hazards and energy emissions.  Had he not been in the armory, he may have chosen to skip this step.  But already being in the room, there was no excuse not to suit up properly.  After all, Security kept environmental suits here for just such an occasion.

Once Mondo had his suit on, and a duffel bag of phaser rifles, he hefted up a second suit off of the rack and gallumphed as fast as he could out of the room.

In the halls, he was a lumbering brute, the environmental suit and additional gear making him even more ungainly an obstacle than he usually was.  He apologized to crewmen who dove out of his way as he made it to the turbolift.  A short ride brought him close to the destination.  He noted Peter up ahead.

"I brought a spare suit," he declared as he bounded out of the lift, "Just in case the energy source provides an environmental hazard.  I also brought some spare rifles."

He held out the offerings, though he wasn't sure Peter would stop to get dressed now, in the midst of a crisis.  Procedure did not always fit into the realities of threat scenarios, and expediency was sometimes prioritized over safety.

[[ Planetside ]]

[ Planetside ]

Mondo finished the installation of his field effect tower, linking it to twelve other towers being handled by other away team members.  Then, the entire sequence was connected to a portable fusion generator.   Once activated, the towers would project a kilometers-long force field barrier that would prevent predators from encroaching on the landing zone... at least from inland territory.

The sky and coastline were not included in the protective barrier.  They needed an open sky to accommodate beaming personnel and supplies to the landing zone.  And the scientific personnel needed ready access to the water.  But by the time he returned from his endeavor and heard the startled Ensign's account of events, he wondered if they should have a waterside barrier as well.

In any event, the Captain called for an evacuation.  Mondo gathered with the others and prepared to beam up, speaking softly to Peter as he did so, "Perhaps we should install a waterside barrier when we return... or a phaser emplacement."

He did not want some watery beast to consume any of their officers or crew.

[USS Shran - Bridge - Before]

USS Shran - Bridge - Before

Mondo nodded his confirmation to Peter's suggestion as he put the images on the viewscreen for the Captain.

"I concur with Petty Officer Dannenberg," he said.  "Site eight is, in my opinion, the best candidate.  A relatively large island landmass with an aquatic shelf that deepens very gradually for several kilometers before finally dropping off and allowing for deep-sea exploration.  A combination of all possible terrains we may find interesting."

Planet's Surface - Now
Mondo hefted up one of the force-field generators to help with their deployment according to Peter's suggestion.  He seemed to have a natural feel for terrain and tactics, and Mondo was happy to facilitate his plans for a defensible perimeter.  Chances were that nothing untoward would occur- neither due to predator nor due to weather- but it was best to be prepared.

As he carried the six-foot tall telescoping field effect tower over one shoulder, he paused as Peter and Felicity discussed an insect.  Mondo found Felicity's explanation of the insect's traits to be fascinating.  "I wonder what they taste like," he interjected.

A sound distracted Mondo at that moment, and he swiveled about, nearly braining the Captain with the field tower as he did so.

In the distance, the Engineering Chief seemed to be investigating a troubled Ensign Miller by the water's edge.  Mondo scanned the area with his eyes, but there was no apparent threat.

"I'll set this up," he said.  Unspoken was the promise that as soon as the field effect tower was in place, he'd be joining the Chief Engineer to make sure everything was all right. 

[USS Shran - Conference Room --> Bridge]

USS Shran - Conference Room --> Bridge

Mondo nodded in acknowledgement of his orders.  "Of course, Captain."

As the meeting was dismissed, Mondo stood.  He smiled at Peter, who had become a regular partner of his in the endeavors of the Security department.  "I'll pick out a few candidates for us to consider when you're done."

With that, Mondo took his leave, heading to an auxiliary station on the bridge to look at a copy of the sensor logs taken from previous scans of the planet.  It was nice to be selecting a landing zone for exploration, rather than a soft spot for a boarding action.  As he settled in and pulled up images, he was immediately impressed by the beauty of the world.  Some of these images reminded him of the Risian seas.

A bittersweet memory, soaked in salt air and violence.

How many ghosts would there be, Mondo wondered, by the time he was an old man?

No... this was not the time for melancholy.

He selected twelve sites that looked promising.  Peter could help him sort through them once he was done with the meeting.