Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

[hi_there_aliens]

The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as the party drew closer. Spider webbing out across the top of the canyon were signs that a civilization had once flourished here. Traces of broken pillars and half submerged buildings, as well as what looked like a downed ship that had embedded itself in a massive building. There was no movement visible amongst the ruins now. As the dry wind blew through the stonework, it would became clear that they were walking into a mass graveyard.

Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.

For some people, this was going to be a field day.

According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.


[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]

Comments

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie smiled at the man's cheerful attitude and nodded happily. "I'd love some help. Two people can get a lot more done then one." She motioned to object sticking out of the ground. "Do you want to work on one side, while I take the other or would you prefer to tackle it another way?"

[makeherblue]

"Okay," the Doctor took up a position more or less where Cassie pointed.

He didn't take to a brush immediately, instead fiddling with his new-new-new sonic screwdriver and giving it a good pass above the area and listening to the rise and fall of its buzzing. It glowed green for a moment as he consulted it and then tried another setting. The layer of dirt shook, as if something was humming underneath the surface and getting ready for a good sneeze -- luckily for the both of them, the Doctor snapped his sonic closed and tucked it away into his pocket.

And yes, he was insisting on wearing it, heat or not heat, and ignoring all those comments from Eneesh about having a "sensible exoskeleton to fix things".

"Ah! I think you've got an active Whatsit down there, Cassie," he said. "But I don't think it'll go nuclear, if that helps."

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie watched the Doctor with wide eyes as he began to play with the odd looking device. A screwdriver? That was what it appeared to be on the surface, but her companion wasn't using it as one. What did that humming mean? The green glow that came over it briefly didn't help ease Cassie's confusion any nor did the whole dirt shaking issue that happened a moment later. It wasn't as though she was unused to odd devices, after all the alien technology she'd been exposed to wasn't exactly common fair, but she hadn't expected to see something so unfamiliar in the form of a familiar object. "May... may I ask what that device of yours is?" she finally managed. "It looks like a screwdriver, but... it can't be, can it?"

"Nuclear?" she asked nervously, moving a step away from the metal object. "Why... should it go nuclear?"

(OOC: I'm so sorry that this response took so long.)

[makeherblue]

The Doctor frowned at her, looking rather like a cat put out for the night.

"Why wouldn't it be a screwdriver? It's not my fault your species has a backward idea of what a proper screwdriver looks like." The Doctor fussed with his sleeves. "Anyway, the important thing is I don't think it will. But you never know," he added unhelpfully. "Battle zones, ships, reactors. Probably some could be live if they're technologically advanced enough."

He glanced up at Cassie. Oh, don't worry, Cassie. If there was a reactor that went off, it'd likely be so fast none of the crew would have any time to realize they'd be dead. Still, he'd rather not go by Death By Reactor and he assumed Cassie had the same feelings about the matter, so safety first and all that boring stuff. The Doctor nosed about what Cassie had unearthed so far, leaning so far he was literally almost able to press his face against it. Listening, apparently. What Cassie found was rather interesting and worth a listen. Good eyes on this girl.

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

"My species?" she repeated in confusion. Weren't they both of the same species? Different universes of course, but he looked human to her. Was she wrong about that? To be fair though, it didn't really matter and it wouldn't have shocked her that much. She'd seen far stranger things then aliens who either looked similar to humans or who could pass themselves off as human. After all, Ax could pass as human while in morph. Well, okay, Ax could pass for human as long as he didn't talk with his mouth that much and was nowhere near food, she thought with a grin. Still, she was curious. "You're not human then?"

She didn't look particularly comforted by the Doctor's reassurances for some odd reason. Funny that. "Well, hopefully it's inactive," she said a bit tensely. Overall, she'd prefer to survive the day. Still, she took a tentative step forward as the Doctor leaned towards the device. "What do you hear?" she asked after a few moments of debate about whether she should risk an interruption.

[makeherblue]

"Your species, yes. And no, I'm not. But that's boring stuff," the Doctor flapped his hand at Cassie as he bent down, pressing his ear almost against the dust. He listened for a moment, face scrunched up. "Something's active. It sounds -- " He pressed his ear against the dirt again. " -- Not 'weapons primed' active. But I'd say it's about bus sized from the sound of it. You still have buses where you're from, Cassie?"

He threw that last bit out casually as he leaned back on his heels. He assumed she did. Cassie must have a good eye for important artifacts. Personally, he hoped she found something like a wave skimmer, but right -- battle site. Could be a small one-man scout ship. They'd found several bits and pieces of various ships already, but not much in the way of intact ones. Maybe Cassie was the first to make that discovery? At least she had the sense not to want to blow up, the Doctor studying her for a moment and deciding he approved.

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Boring stuff to the Doctor perhaps, but not to Cassie. She'd have liked to learn more about the culture that he'd have grown up with, but, after a moment of contemplation as she watched her companion press his ear to the ground, she let it drop. Perhaps she'd try to ask him more about himself another time when there was less to distract. The way he had brushed her comments about it off, she suspected that he wasn't in the mood to discuss such things.

"Yes, we still have buses," she confirmed with a smile, as she knelt beside him, although she didn't press her own ear to the ground just yet. Cassie hoped that the Doctor was right that the uncovered object was not dangerous. "You can hear it beneath the dirt? And how do you tell size from just the sound?"

[makeherblue]

"Excellent hearing. Like a bat, I'd even say, except without the flying, obviously. And the sonic helps," the Doctor grinned back. "So! Big thing under the ground and you probably haven't even come up with a name for it. You need a name for it. It's better than calling it 'Hey You'."

He trusted Cassie to come up with something good, if not decently cool. He wiggled until he was almost lying face down over his little patch of dirt, moving to dust away some of the dirt with one hand. Considering they didn't know the civilization or just how dangerous this was, he could see this taking several long, excruciatingly dull hours bent over one patch of ground and no exploring at all. Still, so far he liked Cassie and there were worse things to be doing than spending a few hours with a human.

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie, who had actually been a bat before, smiled at that, amused. "That's pretty amazing that you can hear so well." A concerned frown flickered across her face though a moment later, "You... want me to name it? But... we don't even really know what it is yet." And coming up with names on the spot was not something that was necessarily up her alley.

She watched the Doctor continue in his efforts and decided to join her new friend in working to uncover the artifact, although not in the same fashion. Cassie settled near the large chunk of metal with her trowel and went to work, trying to dig quickly without damaging the artifact, smiling as she went about her business. She was enjoying working with the Doctor.