Scientific Mystery
Posted on 09/19/2024 @ 11:01pm by Lieutenant Commander Ellery Rosa & Captain Cara Letsul
1,965 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
A Day In the Life Of..
Location: Science Level
Timeline: Before Shifting Shadows
Now that the keys to the station were turned over to the new CO, this freed up Cara's time. At least that is how she felt for the moment. Right now though, Cara had another mystery to solve but it wasn't about murdered authors. It was more in the matter with archeology. Tapping on her communicator, Cara contacted Ellery. "Ellery, I'm headed to your office in Science, I've got a puzzle that I am hoping to get your help to solve. An Archeological mystery. Letsul out. " tapping to close communications.
An archaeological mystery? That definitely intrigued Ellery. She cleared off her desk and switched the screen of her monitor to a nebula and waited for Cara to arrive.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Cara stepped inside, "Hello Ellery, I hope you are in the mood to do a little bit of a treasure hunt in the science labs, if the item is here still. I hope it is. If you don't mind, I will give you a quick rundown. When I first joined became part of the command staff I came here to do a little bit of exploration, I met a scientist here who had a rather interesting piece of pottery he was examining." she paused for a moment then went on, "He had found a Dodecahedra, out here, in our corner of space. This scientist ended up leaving, but I hope that he had left the Dodecahedra here. I don't know if it is here or placed in the museum on the station."
"What size is it and do you know if it had any markings or symbols on it?" Ellery mentally ran through the various places it might be stored--if it had been left on the station. Did they have a storage area for pottery?
"It was about the size of my fist." Cara's brow knitted together as she tried to remember. Her eyebrows shot up as she exclaimed. "Wait, it was carved out of stone almost a jade green in color. Just the intricacy of said carving, it was amazing."
"Stone makes more sense for that shape." Ellery entered the information into the science database. "No immediate results, but there are a number of places it could be--if it's here. We can do a systematic search in the name of cleaning out the storage areas and updating the database. That way, no one will question what we're doing."
"Shall we get started?" Cara removed her tunic top, revealing the blue tee shirt below. "This might turn into a dirty job." she quipped with a huge grin. "I've not done anything like this in a while." Walking with Ellery to one of the storage rooms, when it was opened her mouth dropped open, everything was in a jumbled mess, "Good heavens, I had no idea things were so chaotic in here!"
Ellery looked around. "Wow. Neither had I." She'd left her uniform jacket and vest back in her office and wore a black tank top, agreeing with Cara that it might be a dirty job, but she'd never expected this. "No wonder there's so little information in the computer. This could take days to clean and organize." She pulled out her tricorder and began to scan. "This may help determine if what you're looking for is here. If not, we can check somewhere else or start moving things into piles for cataloging." She now knew what her department would be doing for the next few weeks. Cataloging and organizing every storage room on the station. She'd ask operations to help as it could turn into a multi-department job.
"Weeks you say to get this put into order? You may need to call in for extra hands, in order to get this sorted out." having caught some of Ellery's musings. "It seems that this station has had its own troubles where the department head of Science is concerned before myself and others had come along. You've got quite the task make that- we've got quite the task here." starting to look into different crates and bins that were there. "Wonder what sort of treasures we will find, sort of like a history of the station."
"Possibly." Ellery grinned. "I do like nothing more than delving into the past. I have no idea how many storage rooms are like this, but I assume it's most, if not all of them." She looked around. "I'm sure I can get some volunteers. I'll have to see how much work the department has and how many people I can reassign. But with the exception of your project, we have time. Should we poke around here a bit, then find another room to look at?"
"Yes lets poke around some more. I do wonder if we'll find something like the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark inside here. or in another storage room." Cara paused, "Uh actually that may not be something to joke about." giving a slight shiver, "Something considered sacred like that shouldn't be spoken of lightly" turning to look at Ellery, with a solemn expression.
"That was probably taken apart and melted down for its metals millennia ago." Like many ancient religious artifacts, it had probably not been appreciated by the conquerors who took it. Although that particular artifact had a fascinating history. "And looting has been around from the beginning of time. But we might find something of interest in all this." At least, she hoped so. What, however, she had no idea.
Cara dusted her hands off after looking through some more boxes, then looked upwards, "Maybe we need to get a step ladder and look in the upper shelves. The man who showed me the Dodecahedra was taller than me he might have put it upon an upper shelf." Just then the tricorder beeped indicating that Ellery's scan had picked up something.
"Oh, could it be?" Cara exclaimed.
Ellery looked down at the tricorder, then around the room. "Maybe. It definitely picked up something. Be right back."
Ellery left for two minutes, returning with a short ladder. She set it up and stepped back. "It's indicating there's something up there. I'll let you look."
"Okay and thank you." Cara climbing up the ladder and looking through two of the bins there, after a few minutes she let out a squeal. "Eureka, I found it Um here I'll bring down the bin it was in." carefully balancing the bin in one hand and the other assisting herself to get down safely. "There are other items that are wrapped up in cloth so I don't know what there is inside." walking over to a nearby table. "This though I am glad it wasn't taken."
"So am I." Ellery looked over the outside of the box, then did a visual examination of the interior. She noticed a small device in the corner and pointed it out. "See that? That's why we couldn't scan for anything in the box. It's a type of scrambler that masks the contents. Archaeologists use them when there's a problem with smugglers. Let's see what else is in here."
She took out one of the wrapped items and carefully uncovered it. She had no idea how fragile the item was, or where it came from, but she wanted to be sure she did nothing to harm it. She slowly uncovered a simple green wooden mask that shimmered slightly in the light. It had no strings or any signs as to how it was worn, so she decided it must be for decoration only. She spread the cloth on a table and gently set the mask on top, then began to scan it. "It looks Norse, but I'm not entirely sure. It's definitely old." She turned it over and scanned it again, carefully taking a 3D image of it.
She went back to the box and took out the next two items. They were not wrapped, but tucked into the side of the box. A simple black umbrella, closed, and a vial of dust that glittered in the light. She set them on the table and scanned them, but found nothing remarkable.
Again, she took out a carefully-wrapped item and uncovered it. Inside was an odd-looking screwdriver. Curious, she turned it on. It made an odd humming sound. That would need to be examined later. She set that aside and went back to the box.
Next, she unwrapped a single glass slipper, size five, and what looked like a plain wooden wand. "Costume pieces?" She asked Cara, holding them up for the other woman to see. She spread the cloth on the table and set the items on top.
After scanning and double-checking with the computer, the next item was a Kzinti stasis box containing three large eggs. She'd have to take them out of stasis to find out what they were. That', too, was set aside for later.
The last two items were more mundane. A ring of 42 keys and two halves of a coconut shell. Neither seemed to be more than what they were. Although putting a ring of keys and a pair of coconut shells in a box was as odd as the rest of the items.
She scanned everything and recorded it on the computer, then wrapped and returned all but the screwdriver and stasis box. Those required more research. She was going to put the box back on the shelf, but decided it should be put in a more secure storage area. "I've cataloged everything but your piece of pottery. Do you want that listed, or do you want to claim it for your own research?"
"Go ahead and list it, as it seems to have been from Aquil. I was just wondering if it had been found or listed. Also, those other items are most definitely curiosities. And those eggs what could they be? Looks like you've got some researching to do." Cara took a look at all of the items that were in that bin. "I wonder what the stories are behind all of these?" She grinned. "Thank you for indulging me in the search for that item. Who knows what the history is behind it. And why it resembles what is found on Earth." She took another look around Cara gave a bit of a smile. "Let me know when or if you need my help otherwise, I'm going to get out of your hair."
"You're never in my hair." Ellery added the pottery to her list of items. "I'll see if I can find where they came from and what their stories are." She grinned. "I don't know if we'll find the owners, but I’ll look. As for those eggs...I want to see what they are and if they're viable." She waved her hand. "I'll keep you updated."
A light laugh escaped from Cara, "Thank you and I will see you around, perhaps we can have a little bit of a tea party, or go get some ice-cream at one of the parlors here on the station. I do love a good banana split with all of the fixings."
"A banana split sounds perfect. Just let me know when and where. I'll look around here for a few minutes, then take this box to my office." It had turned into quite an interesting place, and she wanted to have a quick look around.
"Indeed, I will let you know. Have a good evening Ellery" Cara giving a huge smile, "This was enjoyable." With a final wave, she left the science area to head on about her business, humming a tune, from the Fantasticks, 'Try to Remember'.
Captain Cara Letsul
Poseidon Station Operations
Poseidon Station
Lieutenant Commander Ellery Rosa
Chief Science Officer
Poseidon Station
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