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

[morphitudinous]

Billy laughed then, realizing how silly the question must sound. In his defense, there was very little he knew about Time Lords---they could have three stomachs for all he knew---but the vast majority of living beings needed water. Of course they did. He waved a hand and got right back to work, shaking his head. "No, I'd be concerned if I found myself talking to a cactus. Cacti are resilient, sure, but they can't run or dig holes."

He drank until he was satisfied, wiped his mouth with a little smile, and went about approximating the size as carefully as he could. This was a battle site, so whatever he found had the potential to be dangerous. A sonic scan in its general direction might reveal some electric activity long ago, but whatever it contained had long dissipated. Its shape extended past them, a rim just below the surface.

"This might be a while," he whispered as the first hint of a surface appeared. It was reddish, almost rusted, and definitely one little section of an arc. An empty slot cut lengthwise along the middle, dividing it into two arcs. Had something originally been inside the slot? Able to shoot out of it, or under the earth? The possibilities were beginning to take root in his head. "Anything at all...not technically anything, of course, as there are man objects that can't have this shape, but maybe it's something I had no equivalent of."

[makeherblue]

Oh, he could tell Billy all sorts of deeply personal details about being a cactus.

Luckily the human distracts him from what it's like to have spines out of all kinds of...uncomfortable places. The Doctor nodded and bent down to the task, helping Billy with his excavation and if he was asked, he'd insist he was just doing a bit of "recreational digging" and nothing that was at all related to archaeology. It took a few hours to get to that much surface exposed, the Doctor having actually lost himself in the work and looking faintly surprised at that.

He leaned back on his knees as he tilted his head and looked up at Billy.

"Could be. Probably not man-made -- depends on your definition of a 'man'," the Doctor said. He bent forward and ran a hand along the slot, his long fingers -- almost too long for a human -- trailing against the metal. "Could be an intake port. Or it could be a mist generator. Could be loads of things."

He didn't sound too put-out at the idea he simply didn't know. It was all rather refreshing, the Doctor glancing up and grinning at Billy through a mask of dust.

[morphitudinous]

Billy had had to clean his glasses several times by now, the results clearly seen around his eyes---untouched compared to the dirt covering the rest of him. It was rough work, and sometimes he wondered whether it was any use at all, but eventually they had enough of an image to speculate. This was the part that appealed to his scientific sensibilities.

"No, it's too big to be easily built. It could've been done that way with enslaved people, perhaps...."

He'd have to compare notes with everyone else tonight. "It could also be the remaining base of something that shattered long ago. An entrance of some sort, was there a barrier attached? Wait---feel the surface."

Billy runs his hands along it carefully, taking in the uneven texture. "Thin cyllindrical lines just under the surface. Pipes or wires, something that would've carried power to the whole system. Here on the outskirts...it was likely important to the war or to defense."

Or it could be a super-advanced cattle trough. One never knew.