The Offer

Posted on Sun Oct 24th, 2021 @ 7:41pm by Captain Björn Kodak & Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: The Place of Skulls
Timeline: Mission Day 30 at 0945

[Underground Caverns]
[The Place of Skulls]
[MD30: 0945 Hours]

They'd been walking for several long minutes, having taken the secret passage in the wall of the tomb and following it down into the catacombs beneath. Electrical lights were affixed to the walls at regular intervals, offering enough light to see without leaving the eyes dazzled, but it seemed like the tunnel ahead stretched on for miles. The tunnels themselves were slightly wet -- signs that the cave system was living, breathing -- and Kodak took care in how he stepped so as not to slip, despite the grippy treads of his boots. Step, step, step went his feet, though not for the first time, he debated taking a form that would be more even-keeled on slippery surfaces. Sadly, taking his Gorn form would mean having to crouch as he maneuvered through those tunnels...not at all optimal, either.

As Kodak followed the other Chameloid -- who'd introduced herself only as "Muriel" -- the Captain momentarily looked back at Blackstone and Sovaan. The pair of security officers followed at a distance they could close if needed but stayed far enough back to please their guide's desire for a private conversation. It'd taken a direct order from the Captain to gain that privacy but Kodak appreciated his officers' ferocity at wanting to protect him. He could only imagine the look he was going to get from t'Nai when he eventually returned to the ship. This arrangement wasn't exactly what the First Officer had in mind when she agreed to let the Captain beam down without further protest...

Privacy had been given as requested but Kodak found himself wondering why Muriel had yet to avail herself of it. As the pair walked lock-in-step, he wondered if he should -- again -- try to spark conversation. He'd tried once before only to be rebuffed with a staying hand, Muriel asking him to be patient. But the Captain's anxieties and a burning need for answers were threatening to override his better angels and spur him to talk again. It took all he had to remain silent and hope that, once they reached wherever Muriel was taking them, the Chameloid would finally open her mouth. There must be a purpose to her silence so far, Kodak mused to himself.

The Chameloid woman, Muriel, paused as a set of branches bisected the lengthy tunnel. She turned to Kodak, one hand indicating the left hand branch which, while still well lit, clearly sloped downward. "Please mind your step," she said, her voice calm and quiet, but pitched loud enough to be heard not only by Kodak, but also by the officers trailing behind them.

She did not wait to see if he would follow, but instead moved ahead, stepping with the practiced precision of someone who had trod this path many times. They walked for another few minutes before she slowed, adjusting so that she was not walking ahead of, but beside, Kodak. As the walked, now, a brightening could be seen at the end of the tunnel, a light cool breeze making it clear that a much larger space lay at the end.

"Prepare yourself," Muriel said quietly before they stepped out of the tunnel and into a vaulted cavern. The top of the space soared above their heads, impossibly high, with stalactites that tapered down from above, giving the impression of teeth, poised to close on the floor of the cavern below. The space, however, was not the most noticeable feature of the cavern. Instead it was the cavern's occupants. The space was alive with people. Varied shapes and sizes of individuals moved about the space. Their differences were varied giving the impression that, perhaps, they were not even all of the same race. And yet, they all interacted quite normally, going about their daily activities. Some were clustered around a small cooking space, sharing bowls of some sort of soup or stew. Others were working--artisans and craftspeople plying their trades.

The woman may have bade Kodak to prepare but such was impossible. How could one prepare to see a hundred others like himself when, his whole life, he'd known only himself? And beyond that, these people weren't living technological lives down in those caverns as Kodak expected: they were using real cook fires instead of thermal regulators, weaving real cloth instead of dialing up replicators, and -- from what he could see -- applying natural medicines to the sick: poultices instead of hyposprays, healing teas instead of vials of life-saving medication. The people seemed to lead very simple lives indeed.

Muriel had stopped just beyond the entrance to the cavern, giving Kodak a long moment to take in what he has seeing. Just as they were being noticed, however, she waved him on. "This way," she said in the same quiet, yet perfectly pitched tone. "There will be time to speak with them soon."

"Alright," Kodak nodded, still trailed by the security officers who followed in his wake. Keeping his many questions unspoken for the moment, the man followed Muriel, his eyes drinking in every detail they could. At first, he'd thought these Chameloids preferred to live simply; as if they wanted to eschew technology for some reason. But the more he saw, the more Kodak became convinced that these people lived in abject poverty by circumstance rather than choice. He'd seen his share of refugee camps and these people seemed more like displaced Romulans than Chameloids affluently-hiding in a bunker.

The quiet Chameloid woman moved off to the right, nodding to a knot of people as she approached them before turning aside into a small side cavern. This one could barely be called a cavern compared to the former space. It was roughly the size of a large briefing room though the ceiling rose upwards in a high peak. In the center was a wood table, clearly hand crafted, and along it sat several chairs.

"Sit," she said, indicating the table. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

She looked up then as the two security officers entered. "I would ask that they remain by the door," she remarked quietly. "Inside if they must, but you and they can clearly see that there is no one else in this space."

Kodak eyed the woman thoughtfully, weighing her request for additional privacy. "I appreciate you allowing them to accompany me at all. I think we can safely have them wait at the door," he nodded slowly before looking to Sovaan and Blackstone to make the order clear. Both of the security officers moved back into the cavern beyond, taking up stations on either side of the door as Kodak turned back to Muriel.

"A drink would be welcome...but only if you can spare it," the Captain said, sounding as if he were afraid a simple beverage would bankrupt someone else's thirst. He sat as requested, taking up one of the oaken chairs offered to him. "This is all...not what I expected," Kodak said, looking back out into the cavern beyond. "I knew you were in hiding but I envisioned buildings, technology...not hand carved tools and primitive medicine. Is this an intentional choice?" he asked, the question finally tumbling out of his lips beyond his control. His tone was neither accusatory or judgmental; instead, it was full of curiosity and more than a little concern.

Muriel nodded. "We live simply, but our basic needs are met," she remarked, stepping quickly to the opening of the space and leaning outside. A brief exchange of whispers took place and then she returned to the table, settling into a chair across from Kodak. She looked at him for a long moment, fingers intertwining before her on the table. Finally, seeming to arrive at some sort of decision, she gave a barely perceptible nod. "The choice to eschew most technology was made some time ago," she remarked, "a necessity to help ensure we are not easily tracked. Some of our younger folk chafe against the mandate, but our council will not take up the discussion again for several more years."

As if that settled the question that Kodak had asked she unclasped her hands, spreading them in front of her. "I am sure you have many questions and I will answer them in due time," she commented. "It is important, however, that I first ask you to share with me the journey of how you found us."

“An answer for an answer,” Kodak nodded, appreciative of the explanation given regarding the lack of technology and sophisticated infrastructure. “I can certainly appreciate the desire to go unnoticed out here. I’m happy to explain how it is we came to find you,” he said, putting his fingers together in a focusing steeple as he’d seen Karim do on many occasions.

The Captain launched into an explanation, starting with his abandonment as a baby and the onyx puzzle sphere — an Orion toy — that had been found with him. He told the story of taking the sphere back to Risa some 40 years later, to the same spot he’d been found as a child. And how the sphere had activated, offering controls to be fiddled with and unlocked.

He spoke of the voice that put the Sojourner on The Path, taking them first to Ch’othil and then, later, to the asteroid field at Ankerus. How the drones had attempted to put down his crew and their vessel but were subdued with engineering prowess. How they had tried to fool the obelisk to protect the Captain but, in the end, how only a live blood sample worked. And how the obelisk had made one final invitation, giving up the coordinates that led them to the Betreka Nebula and — ultimately — to the jungle moon upon which they now sat talking.

“We have been on The Path for a month now,” Kodak noted somberly. “Many have been injured and my ship has sustained much damage. But we made it. I’m here,” he said, enthusiasm filling his rasp, “and I can’t help but wonder if my parents might be, too.”

The question he did not directly ask hung heavily in the air. Would he finally find them after so long? Did Muriel even know who his parents were? The levy holding back his very many questions was beginning to buckle and Kodak found himself wishing Emni were here to help keep him grounded and focused.

Muriel had listened quietly throughout Kodak's story, hands still clasped and expression mostly neutral. There had been a few occasions--the mention of Risa and his description of the damage taken by the Sojourner at Ankerus that elicited some reaction, but those were somewhat mild. When he finally voiced the question that was on his mind she offered him a kind, but sad, smile. "I will have our records keeper confirm this," she said gently, "but I do not believe your parents are among us here. Though your name was transmitted to us, your parents were not here when you were born and the circumstances of their choice to leave you are unclear to me. They have not been heard from since registering your name with us."

She pushed away from the table then, pacing along the far length of the table, hands clasped lightly behind her back. "I am sure you can understand," she said finally, "That the future of our species is of significant concern to us. We were a much greater number when we first arrived at The Place of Skulls and our numbers have diminished since. Some, like your parents, have left while others have passed on. Few children are born to Chameloid parents and many of our number of been hesitant to bring new lives into the mix of our current circumstances."

Muriel turned to him then, her features set, "There is much that I am sure you have not yet been taught about yourself, and I am sure our community will be glad to teach you. I will see to preparing a place for you. Will you want to say goodbye to your vessel or..." she trailed off, catching the look on Kodak's face.

Kodak -- deep in his heart -- had anticipated such an answer in regards to his parents. After all, if they'd been with the colony when he'd been born, why secret him away on Risa? "I appreciate you checking to be sure but...that doesn't surprise me." Great disappointment clouded eyes that were as iridescent as Muriel's. "I don't know why they left me -- and left you," he underscored, "but I hope they're out there somewhere. Maybe someday..." he trailed off, a heaviness settling in around his heart.

As conversation shifted to the survival of the Chameloids as a species, Kodak nodded somberly. "I imagine you're aware of this but, to the galaxy at large, you...we," he corrected, "are a myth. I imagine you've all worked hard to keep it that way." He wanted to ask. Why had the Chameloids sequestered themselves away? Why did they refuse to engage with the galaxy at large? But Muriel was shifting the discussion again, this time assuming that he meant to stay.

"Oh," came Kodak's soft, surprised reply. "I...I hadn't considered leaving my ship. My life is there. It's with the Federation and with Starfleet. I'm not opposed to staying for a few days, maybe..." he trailed off, thinking. "I would certainly love the opportunity to get to know all of you. And yes," he nodded to Muriel's idea of learning about himself, "there's so much I feel like I'm clueless about. But...what if, instead, you came with me?"

"Starfleet could find you a home within the Federation: a lush world full of resources where you could thrive," Kodak argued. "Your existence could still be kept a secret if you wish but..." he looked out the door again, face heavy at what he saw, "there's no need to live like this, Muriel. Not when I could help you...us," he stressed, "to find somewhere more suitable."

Muriel, having stopped as he spoke, was quiet for a long moment, eyes studying Kodak intently, though her expression gave little away. Finally she let out a breath, seeming to drop some of her formality, if only for a moment. "I suspected you would feel that," she said. Her voice sounded tired, as if she knew that she had a long night ahead, or perhaps, that she had just had one. "I will bring your offer to our council for discussion," she said, "but Kodak, I cannot promise that we, any of us, will leave with you. You are the first to traverse the Path to us, but there are others and we must decide what is best for all of our people, not just those you see here."

"I understand. And I wouldn't expect you to pack up and leave," Kodak shook his head, "after five minutes of conversation anyway. But the offer stands nonetheless." At the mention of being the first to return, the Captain looked intensely surprised. "I'm the first? I was abandoned 40 years ago. I can't believe that, in all that time, none of the others have found their way to you." It was his turn to stand and pace, a hand reaching up to thoughtfully stroke his beard. "Could you not simply extend The Path? Leave an obelisk here to direct others to wherever you might end up? Not pressuring," he held up a staying hand, "just spitballing ideas. I imagine you and your council will have a lot to discuss indeed," Kodak admitted.

"The Path took years of planning to put into motion and a great deal of risk to enact," Muriel replied, voice tired, but clear. "I appreciate your consideration, Kodak, but these are things that must be left for the Council to discuss--to decide. You are new to us and we to you and so I do not expect you to understand our process or even our reasoning for how we have come to make these choices, but unmaking them will not be a simple task."

"I understand," Kodak said and meant it. He didn't expect these people -- even if they were, at long last, his own -- to drop everything at leave at the words of a strange...even if he was one of them. "As a representative of Starfleet and the Federation," he said formally, "I offer myself as a resource as needed. I'll leave it at that for now."

With a nod, Muriel's voice gentled then, some of the earlier force leaving it. "Tell me, Lost Child, have you learned to shift to your true form?"

"True...form?" Kodak asked, face crinkling with confusion. "I guess I just assumed this," he gestured to himself, "was it. The form I chose and choose to keep day in, day out. Are you telling me there's an actual ancestral form our people can take?" The questions inside his head were brimming to the top again, threatening to spill out with every passing second. "At this very moment, I find myself jealous of telepaths. What I wouldn't give to know everything all at once," he breathed softly. "There's so much I don't know," Kodak lamented.

Muriel nodded sagely. "There is such a form, yes. It is the truest form we can take, although not the only nor does everyone choose it to be their primary form." She came around the table then, standing just a few feet from Kodak. In her humanoid form Muriel was small; just shy of 5 and a half feet and petitely built. Unremarkable brown hair was tied back at her shoulder. "I will teach it to you. The first of many things you will learn from us," she smiled demurely.

"I will convey your offer to the Council. And when I return," she placed a hand on her breastbone, bowing her head, "I will share your true form with you. And," she lilted, "answer what I suspect to be a bevvy of questions you must have. Until then, I ask that you remain here. Will you do that, Kodak?"

The anticipation of it all was heady; it surged in his veins as Kodak nodded vociferously. "I will, Muriel. Regardless of what the Council decides, it is a relief to be amongst you all."

"The relief is ours, Lost Child," Muriel nodded, her expression kind. And with that, the woman took her leave, passing back into the cavernous room beyond, intent on taking Kodak and Starfleet's offer to those who could weigh in on such decisions.


=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Captain Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer
USS Sojourner

and

Muriel (NPC'd by Beth)
Chameloid Representative