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

[makeherblue]

The bug rubbed her feelers together, not quite able to hide her pleasure at Danieljackson stating -- and rightly, too! -- sheer fact. Observant fleshling. No wonder he was given the responsibility of the hat and expedition leader.

She liked him. Why, he'd make a much more competent mate than the Doctor.

"I don't think you would have. It's one of those things you need a proper hive for. No offense, Danieljackson," she added. "We'll be done setting up before nightfall, I think. Now, I know the brief said we shouldn't expect any wild beast attacks, but I can give you Ninety-Eight and Ninety-Nine as a personal guard if you need the extra protection. Perhaps another for Jamiemccrimmon and Doctorriversong. "

She motioned for him to follow him back to the mostly finished camp so she could show him how to use the doors and other bits. They'd tried their very best to come up with beds for the fleshlings but unfortunately it was difficult to put yourself in a fleshling's claw coverings and so it probably wasn't as good as whatever they had back on Stacy. Eneesh ducked her head into the nearest hive structure, her hind legs sinking into the floor as it gave and it was becoming apparently was shortness was so valued -- the ceiling was low, tunnel low, and Eneesh was one of the few bugs who could fit relatively comfortably in it. In other words, if there was a crisis, she could be the most useful in terms of getting from point A to point B in a real hive.

"What do you think?"

[hi_there_aliens]

"None taken," Daniel said. The news that they'd be done with the camp before nightfall was better than he'd hoped. Eneesh wasn't kidding. Her people almost looked like they were swarming the site. Whenever a section moved off, more of the camp was miraculously completed and in place. Amazing.

Oof, he didn't like her suggestion. She meant well, but no, he didn't want bodyguards. Waste of hands that could be on the dig too. It was bad enough when he had Jack hovering over him half the time. Not all planets had Goa'uld or something out to kill them, but Jack seemed to think so, because the man spent the rest of the planets watching him work and looking antsy, hand on his gun like he was expecting trouble. Daniel preferred to avoid it this time if possible.

"No, I'm good, thanks. I'd rather Ninety Eight and Ninety-Nine help on the dig or packing and shipping. It's more efficient that way," Daniel added. "Maybe you can see what Jamie or Doctor Song think."

Daniel followed after Eneesh when she made a strange motion at him, and was gratified to find he'd guessed right. Their version of "come with me". He didn't think he had quite the limbs to replicate it. It was a good thing that "short" for Eneesh's people was still taller than he was. Daniel didn't have to duck to get into the structure, but it felt a little claustrophobic. He'd gotten over it for the most part already, years of going through digs and tombs squashing the urge. The squishy floor was new. Daniel's feet sank in just a little. The tunnel smelled faintly of almonds.

"It's great. What did you use to make it?" Daniel looked down, tried to pull his boot out to see if his foot would leave a hole or if the floor would fill in. "You mentioned a proper hive earlier. If you don't mind me asking, how do you communicate with each other? Are you telepathic?"

[makeherblue]

Ah. She liked you even more, because the fleshling was right. It would be more efficient if her crew could do what they were here to do and not spare extra claws for guard duty. She shook her head in agreement, her mantis head twitching from side to side in that rapid jerking motion that Danieljackson would find was common to every single bug on her ship.

"We used a common byproduct called ---tttt---t " Eneesh said. Good luck translating that. Maybe it was best he didn't know. "'Telepathic'? What is that? Is that another word for markers and relays? Network? Do you have 'network' in your native language?"

Think all your Earth bugs, Danieljackson, only bigger, smarter, and the only plus is they were not quite as warlike if you could get past the huge exoskeletons. Eneesh stalked about the room, inspecting its construction and pulling at random protrusions. A slab of the same material slid out at the far end. Now, she hoped they had research it right about fleshling accommodations and their other needs. Her species didn't need these "bed" things and they had worked with what they could on such short notice. Eneesh chittered.

"Bed," she said simply. "This."

[hi_there_aliens]

Daniel tried the word out anyway. He failed miserably. It was better than thinking about what Eneesh meant by "byproduct". He hoped it was byproduct as in bee vomit/honey, and less the other alternatives he could think of. Actually, it was better just not to over think this one. It was a nice, well-constructed hive, a testament to her people's engineering, and definitely not constructed out of possible vomit-or-worse.

This wasn't helping. The smell that he thought was pleasant before now took a subtly unsettling turn.

"Telepathic. It means to communicate with another using just your minds," Daniel said, trailing after her as she checked the room. He watched as she poked and prodding everything. "Yes, we have the that word in our language. What do you mean by marker and relays? Do you mean you communicate with scent and pheromones?"

He touched the bed with a finger. Poked it. It squished under his finger, and when he pressed down a little harder, gave off a puff of the suspicious almond smell. "Yes, I see. It's a nice one."