—- Unexplored World, Tentatively Called Voinora 5 —-

The shuttle the Pearl Jam set down near the structure that had served as the Survey Team’s home, lab and ‘duck blind’ for the week that they had reported back to the Betazoid Science Institute before going offline. Out came First Officer and Chief Operations officer Tashai, Chief Counselor Yuhiro Kolem, Assistant Chief Medical Officer T’Rala and Chief Security Officer Claudia Jara. They each flipped open tricorders as they approached the structure. 

Lieutenant Kolem winced, “I got a pounding headache as soon as we landed.”

”There seems to be some increased activity in the telepathic ranges here,” Tashai agreed. As an El-Aurian she was not as sensitive as Kolem, but also had empathic abilities, and the general level of mental activity that was going on was odd from a supposedly uninhabited planet. The other two officers who did not have empathic abilities just exchanged a look and continued on. Kolem might as well have stepped off the shuttle and declared that she had a bad feeling about this.

Lieutenant Jara tried the door but a numerical keypad had locked it shut. She drew her phaser, aimed and fired.

”Overriding the lock,” she said kicking the door open and heading inside. 

Nothing seemed to have disturbed the stucure. There was still power from a small generator, and the computers were still on, hoping files on the planet plus an unfinished biography that Doctor Devana one of the researchers must have been working on. Other files were open elsewhere and the four crew members filtered into the lab and living space. Everything seemed to have been left in a state of disarray as if the inhabitants had planned to come back, but had departed suddenly. There was nothing however to point them to the survey team’s location.

”Blood,” Jara said pointing at a table and a small stain.

Doctor T’Rala scanned it, “Betazoid, not enough to tell us anything. No disease that I can see. Not enough to have been a reason for anyone to have died. If I had to guess, someone fell hit their head on the table, and it was bleeding.”

”Broke their neck?” Jara asked.

”Again I can’t tell from that little blood, but possibly. Been there about two weeks,“ T’Rala said. She shrugged to let the others know that really she had no Idea. All she knew was the blood was from a Betazoid how it got there was beyond her tools. 

Lieutenant Commander Tashai tried the comms system, but nobody answered. She used the equipment to contact the USS Seattle in orbit, but other than confirming the equipment still worked that accomplished little to nothing. If the survey team was still alive they were not picking up or returning their hails.

“Well apart from walking around and scanning outside there’s not a lot we can do,” Lieutenant Kolem said, “The ship’s scanners did not detect any life signs, so we’re likely looking for bodies at this point.”

”But how did all four of them die at once?” Tashai wondered.

—- In Obit, USS Seattle, Bridge —-

The USS Seattle drifted easily around the planet. The scanners were going, but finding nothing as the only signs of life at this point seemed to be the away team that had taken the Pearl Jam and headed to the surface. Captain Adriana Cruz had retired to her Ready Room to take a break and eat some spaghetti carbonara that she had called for from the Replicator when suddenly the ship was thrown into red alert status, and she had to come rushing out onto the bridge leaving her meal on her desk.

”What do we have?” she asked. The USS Seattle had been sitting with its sensors on high, so it was surprising that anyone could have surprised them. On screen however within shooting distance, was a massive ship that clearly posed a threat.

At the tactical station the Chief Strategic Operations Officer Eleanor Dorian answered in her Irish accept, “It’s a ship, it came out of nowhere. One second no ship, and then boom that’s there. We’re also being hailed.”

Cruz nodded, “Onscreen.”

The figure that appeared on screen was yelling in what Adriana Cruz identified as Italian. It was however not translated by their computers and the Universal Translator. It was also being spoken by a thick, balding man in an old style military uniform.

”Is that who I think it is?” Cruz asked.

”It does appear to be Benito Mussolini,“ Dorian said.

”Is our translator working?” the Captain asked.

”I believe so,” Dorian said.

Chief Flight Control Officer Pr’Nor turned around, “I would surmise that this is an illusion, and thus there is nothing to be fed into the computer.”

”Okay, so what do we do about it? Shields are up right?” Cruz asked.

”Yes ma’am,” Dorian said.

”Let me know if El Duce tries to shoot at us,” Cruz said signaled to cut the screen off. Whatever was going on down on the surface it was getting weird up there.

—- Unexplored World, Tentatively Called Voinora 5 —-

The away team continued their search. When they had exhausted the opportunities for study inside the shelter they ventured back outside. Kolem noticed her headache growing more accute, but there seemed to be nothing they could do for it. When Doctor T’Rala attempted medicine it failed, and even a strong dose of painkillers left a throbbing pain.

They continued their task of trying to find the Survey Team but to no avail. Nothing was found on the tricorders until Doctor T’Rala pointed, “What’s that?”

It was a city of sorts, old fashioned with unfamiliar architecture it seemed to be lit with lights powered by oil.

”That wasn’t there a minute ago,” Jara said, it also had not been on any of their scans from the shuttle or from the Seattle. The Lieutenant was the first to approach it, but the others followed. Slowly they made their way down a slope, and into the city, where Yuhiro Kolem recognized it.

”This is, the word in English is close to Rose. It’s a city in Betazed, but this is pre-warp the way it is here,” she said.

“Why is there a pre-warp version of a Betazed city here?” T’Rala asked.

They wandered down the street, the main transportation seemed to be a variation on the horse whose back riders used to move from place to place. The away team spotted a few riders but none seemed that interested in them. Finding something akin to a hotel and salon they headed in, hoping that someone there had some idea of what was going on.

The four officers approached the bar, and a woman in a dress approached. The opened her mouth and neither Lieutenants Jara or T’Rala heard a thing, but Kolem and Tashai held their ears.

”Quieter,” Tashai said to the woman, though Jara and the Romulan doctor had no idea what was going on.

”That’s better,” Kolem said, but can you speak so our friends can hear?

The bartender turned her head in a way that was impossible for either humans or Betazoids to do. She studied the four and nodded. Her first few attempts at speech were awkward, more like gurgles. Finally it managed to speak clearly, and seemingly in English.

“You four our the second,” it said.

”Second? Oh with the away team,” Tashai said, “Yes where is the away team?”

The bartender frowned, “They did not hear so well, we did not know speech. Us too loud, broke heads.”

Kolem frowned, “Broke heads, are they dead?”

”In past, broke heads,” the ‘woman’ behind the bar said.

The four Starfleet officers exchanged a glance, that at least answered their question about what happened to the Survey Team.

”We try to ask to not hurt us, we are friendly,” the woman said.

”How did they hurt you?” Kolem asked, “Who are you?”

”We are us, lots of one, all across planet. Use words from your mind we is trees, and birds, and bees,” the woman said.

”You’re the planet life? All of it?” Tashai asked.

”Yes, alive,” confirmed the woman, “We say hello to people in space box above us too.”

Kolem tapped her badge, “Captain you okay up there?”

”We have a visitor in the form of Benito Mussolini in a very powerful ship,” Cruz’s voice came back through the badge.

”We speak to space,” the bartender said.

”You got the man in space from the minds of the people here?” Kolem asked.

”Yes,” the bartender nodded excitedly.

”Yes, he’s not a nice man. It may be seen as aggressive,” Kolem explained.

“We ask you leave. You land your box on us, on grass. We do not wish to be angry, but it is difficult you are quite fragile,” the bartender said.

Tashai nodded, “We will leave, and let others know you are here so we will stay away. No more broken heads.”

As the four walked out of the saloon, they spoke between themselves. The conclusion was the headaches that Kolem was feeling was the background noise of the planet communicating with itself. More significantly the reason its attempts initially did not kill Kolem and Tashai was because Kolem was only half-Betazoid and thus less sensitive to telepathy. Tashai was not Betazoid, and thus was not as sensitive despite having some light empathic abilities.

”Two first contact situations, and two planets we’re not going back to anytime soon,” Jara said as they entered the Pearl Jam.

“Maybe we’ll find someone who likes us next,” Kolem said as the doors shut and the shuttle headed into orbit. 

—- In Obit, USS Seattle, Bridge —-

“Captain,” Dorian asked, “our dictator is gone. The shuttle is enroute, they did not find the Survey Team.”

“Set course for Starbase 72, as soon as the Pearl Jam is back on board I want maximum warp,” Cruz said, “It’s time to go home.”