Tortoise

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Addressing: @Randomness, @Raylah

Just as Nick was explaining to Mason that the planet seemed, fortunately, to be Earth-like enough to require no specialized equipment- Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere, similar gravity, etc- he was interrupted. A small alert sounded off from the Captain's ever-present datapad. An alien transport had arrived, just outside the Prize.

"Well, delegation team, sounds like our ride is here." He stood. "Francesca, Denise, Beatrice and Astrid- you're all with me. If anyone needs any supplies, now is the time to get them. Elm, feel free to contact the other science departments. Then you and your team should prepare to begin scouting the surface. Good luck, everyone."

---

The transport shuttle was a bit like the escort had been: rectangular, outdated by ISA standards, and oversized. The word clunky almost springs to mind, except that the builders took time to color the shuttle's exterior in black and a shade of blue that reminded Nick of the planet's luminescent vines. Along the bottom of the craft, symbols and shapes were drawn in a manner that hinted at language. On the whole, it made the shuttle feel odd to look at. The shape was far from elegant, at least to a human, but the stylizing hinted at artistic expression. Like painting roses on a military tank. Maybe the engineers and the designers got different memos?

The back of it opened up as the delegation approached, either automatically or because someone inside saw them coming. There were no seats, or anything else that might hint at what these aliens looked like. There were windows, but they seemed a little too high. Nick had to stand on his tip-toes to look through them. The ceiling was high too, come to think of it.

"I guess our friends are tall," he mused out loud. Even while the Captain spoke, the shuttle was lifting them off the ground, and flying quickly into an unknown direction.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Raylah
Yeah, let's go with that assumption.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Loved everyone's posts so far. But issues at home have cropped up, so it might be another day or two longer before I can move the plot along as promised. Until then, everyone feel free to continue posting.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

@Raylah
Anthropologist, because ruins.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

So that it's easy to read at a glance, this is what everyone has chosen to do, correct?

Holy Vei:
Denise (Zanavy)
Carabello (Tortoise)
Francesca (IceHeart)
Beatrice (Xandrya)
Astrid (Starlance)

Surveying the area:
M’elme (Raylah)
Geu’rach (ShiningSector)

Staying on Ship:
Korax (Flamelord)

@Randomness

Sounds right, if you add yourself to the Survey group.

I think that just leaves @Korkoa and @MST3K 4ever

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Cool, cool.

By the way, y'all, I'm planning to move things forward in about 2-4 days.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Captain Carabello listened along while his crew spoke. Denise stood up first. That's brave, for a lower officer. Nick was glad. He wanted everyone to feel comfortable to speak here. And this one spoke about learning from eachother's wisdom- basic stuff, but good. The Holy Vei, if she really is a religious type, would probably eat it right up.

But Nick had to suppress a smile when Denise brought up chakras. Apparently spiritualism is the theme of this week. He'd actually heard that kind of talk before, but not from her. Carabello's father had been a spiritualist. He taught Nick the basics of a lot of religions, including the tradition of chakras. Is Denise a Hindu, or a Buddhist? Or is she one of those outside of them who has incorporated chakras into her faith? It was interesting, but it would be inappropriate to put her on the spot by asking right now. He simply nods back at her and says "Thankyou, Denise."

A flurry of more traditional advice followed: Francesca thinks conservative clothing is appropriate, Astrid thinks it's all nonsense, and Korax thinks they might be dragged into conflict.

Carabello agrees with Francesca with a slight nod. "As Astrid mentioned, we can't know what might be offensive to them. They might not like heavy clothing, or the color purple, or something else. But like you say, once we get there, it'll be easier to dress down than dress up." He smirks, remembering that certain neo-pagan rituals involve nudity. "I guess we could always just strip."

Elm was the first one to ask for a search party assignment. Which is great, because she's the one he wanted leading it. "Glad you brought it up, Elm. You should definitely be leading one of those parties. Maybe we could get some nice glowing roots in greenhouse 3. Take all the guys from security or maintenance that you think you need."

Astrid and Beatrice, the techies, wanted to be with the Captain. He'd be flattered, except he knew they probably just couldn't do anything out in the forest. Trees don't have wires or engines, normally. He mentally adds both of them to his delegation, plus Ambassador Francesca.

And hey, it was Beatrice! Bee! Now Nick knew why the name was familiar. She was an old friend from his Academy days. She'd been a few years younger than him, but they clicked well. Nick always said he would make Captain first. He'd have to gloat later.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Retcon it so in the hour between meeting the small ship and the large ship showing up, Cake/some other computer was working to decypher the language. Although now you have to explain how ISA and alien computers and communications are compatible... And telepathy is the same problem, but with biological computers...

@Starlance

Good point.

Forget it. It works through space magic.

EDIT: Actually, you gave me an idea. Thank.

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

Anyone have any technobabble that kind of explains how Universal Translators work?

Aboard the I.S.S. Prize : An Episodic Sci-Fi Adventure

There it is, here we go

Assume everyone is in the meeting.

EDIT: @Korkoa, feel free to make the pilot in those scenes be Jessica, if you want