Galileo's Burden, Phase Alpha: Bungle in the Jungle

[cityship]

((PLOT POST! READ IT!))

Stacy's voice rang out through the corridors of the ship, announcing that a message had been received and would be played on the Obs Deck momentarily.

The message was patched through a few minutes later, shown on a holographic screen. It was shot in very poor video, from a very old communicator frequency.



A woman wearing a blue veil over her face appears on the screen. She speaks in a soft and cultured voice, bowing deeply before she begins.

“Greetings to the crew and command of the Transmigration 9. My name is Reda, revered mother of the village of Avania III on the planet Orya."

Reda pauses, bowing once more before removing her veil and revealing the face of a beautiful humanoid woman.



"It… pains me to ask for the help of outsiders, when we have so little to offer in return, but I beg of you. Please aid us. My people are becoming sickened by an ailment we have never seen before. It seems to come differently for all who suffer from it... some have fevers, some strange dreams, some begin to speak madness while awake. But no matter how it develops, they grow weary. Their faith weakens and they die, disgraced and turned from the eyes of the great goddess Avani."

Reda folds her hands together, frowning worriedly. "I have heard of your ship's great deeds even in such a small and isolated planet as Orya. Though I am hardly worthy of asking, I know there is no one better to ask for a favor such as this. What I ask is for… those who have knowledge."

"My people know little of the universe outside their village. They do not know what you know in the ways of medicine. Our shamans are not equipped to deal with a threat of this magnitude. We seek those who can help us ease our suffering. We have little to give in return for your help, but what we have is faith… enlightenment and enrichment of the soul, which we will gladly share with those who come to visit us."

Reda smiled softly, shaking her head. "I will understand if you deny my request. I ask much of you and cannot give much myself, but should you assist us, I will do what I can to help you. I will see to it personally that those who come to our help are taken care of and shown the greatest hospitality. My own Chosen soldiers will protect them, and if they should help us in our time of need, I will do everything in my power to aid your efforts against the Ohm. You have my word as a devout child of Avani."

The revered mother bows once more, kneeling down before the camera. "I will be happy to speak with you if you require more information. Please... I beg of you, help my people."

Comments

Re: Researching the Burden

[makeherblue]

The Doctor wandered. Generally wandering gave him a chance to have a good think, possibly take in some sights, get a general layout of the land in case he needed to make a quick escape (this, he found, was just common sense given how often he seemed to find himself being chased across alien planets or through corridors: after awhile you simply just scoped the area without really thinking about it). Right now he was doing all of those and it wasn't long before he ran up against the quieter end of the village.

This had to be the Oryan version of a quarantine. It looked the complete opposite of Stacy's quarantine: no big bubbles to trap the infected, the air itself didn't have that same humidity and actually, calling it "quarantine" would be rather unfair to the Oryan's village. This was much nicer, he'd even go so far as to say, at least in his opinion. "Quarantine" was such a....such a spiky word.

Straightening his bowtie and checking the clasps on his briefcase, the Doctor rapped against the side of the wall with his knuckles as he poked his head in.

"Hello? I'm the Doctor. Tamil, yeah? You look like a Tamil."

Good name, Tamil. The Doctor liked it.

[cityship]

"I'm Tamil," said Tamil, and he looked over this new sky person with curiosity.

"There are many doctors in the sky people, I have seen..."

[makeherblue]

The Doctor moved to seat himself on a blanket, setting the briefcase down next to him. Sitting down was rather like a giraffe trying to fold itself to get a drink and yet somehow it worked with the Doctor, an awkward sort of movement that sort've was graceful at the same time. Keyword was "sort've". The Doctor laced his fingers together in his lap as he regarded Tamil With the Excellent name, taking the young man in. He was hardly the first alien the Doctor had met, although he was a gorgeous fella, don't get him wrong.

"I don't doubt that. Probably all perfectly qualified to poke and prod you," the Doctor agreed. He smiled at the name. Sky people had a lovely little ring to it and it wasn't grandiose -- it just was. He rather liked Tamil already. "I'm not that sort of Doctor, although I suppose I could poke and prod if you wanted me to."

He motioned toward his briefcase in a may I? gesture. Tamil for the time being seemed well enough to hold a conversation and the Doctor could probably say safely that he had absolutely no idea what the "Burden" really was, in his own universe's relative terms. But the one thing he could do was talk and he was more than happy to listen to Tamil talk, the Doctor leaning forward and cocking his head.

[cityship]

Tamil was starting to learn that there were a lot of different kinds of doctors. Half of the sky people were doctors, and some just spent a lot of time staring at the table in the other tent.

He smiled as the Doctor made himself comfortable, a bit shyly but receptive to his kindness.

"I do not mind," he said."

[makeherblue]

Lovely. Pleasant young man, Tamil. Pleasant young man with a good strong name if he wanted to get more specific. Reaching out, the Doctor snapped open the clasps of the ratty old brief case and pulled out what looked like it had been once an Otter Locater but was now a scanner topped with a rotary dial. A hastily put together scanner but this time he did put in the extra ten minutes to slap on some shielding so he couldn't go breaking it if it went and got itself dropped. He held the trowel side out to Tamil.

"Place your hand here (try blowing on it first, it'll clear the dust right out)," the Doctor said and went right on as if he hadn't shoved a collection of junk at Tamil. "So, sick's no good! We don't want you and the others sick. Nasty business."

The scanner bleeped and blooped in the background, the Doctor's eyes on Tamil. The Doctor seemed happy enough to fill the silence until Tamil felt less shy. It didn't escape him how much more pale compared to the other Oryans this one looked, despite his momentary lucidity. The Doctor's voice was conversational, gentle, even.

"Ever had a whooping sneeze? It's like whooping cough, but not really: can't imagine you would have with a respiratory system like yours. So when did it all start for you? The Burden. Not the whooping sneezes you couldn't have."

[cityship]

Tamil eyed the device curiously before placing his hand where he was told... had to make sure the thing wasn't going to snap his hand off, after all. You never could tell.

"I have been sick for a week," he said. "It's Avani punishing me, they said."

[makeherblue]

The Otter Locater wasn't probably going to snap Tamil's hand off, although that didn't stop it from a teeny tiny itty bitty test nibble.

"Avani?" The Doctor thought back to what Mother Reda said. She called herself a "devout child of Avani" so judging by that, he'd assume the local religion, most likely. Seemed like every planet had one. Not exactly the first society he'd seen with some sort of vengeful or just generally cross deity figure. "Now why would Avani punish you?"

He peered at the young man and unless he was hiding a long lifespan from the scanner, he was little more than a boy to the Doctor. The Doctor's eyes flicked down to scanner, then back up to Tamil.

[cityship]

"Because I turned my eyes away from her," he said in a hushed voice. "We were told not to look away, but I did. That is why I am sick. That is why the others are sick."

[makeherblue]

He turned that over in his head: you could read that in all sorts of ways, after all, and it wasn't quite clear if he meant literally or figuratively or a mix of both with a metaphor sneaking in there.

"How did you look away?" The Doctor watched Tamil, eyes searching his face. "And the others?"