CLOSED SIGNUPS Iris Landing: Chapter One - Secrets in the Jungle (Team B)

[StarlightStarbright]

Clem marveled at the ruins standing tall and proud in front of herself and Tori. She had never seen such an architectural style as the one this old medical center displayed. Back on her home planet, everything was so round and sleek. Did modern human architecture look similar to what Clem was looking at?

Clem followed Tori close behind...at first. Something in the air, it buzzed around her, alerting her of someone else's presence. Clem turned around to briefly scan her surroundings, only to find Ambassador Nitau'li far in the distance. Clem stared directly at the Bereen for five solid seconds, tilting her head curiously. What was the Ambassador doing here? Was there important news from the camp?

Clem wanted to find out, but she had enough common sense to know that calling out for the Bereen at her current distance from him would disrupt the peace and quiet of the forest, and might alert potential predators of their presence. Clem therefore decided it was a good idea to temporarily break away from Tori, and skip towards the sneaky Bereen. She paused within ten feet of him, and waved shyly. "H-hello Ambassador Nitau'li. What brings you here?" Clem still found Ambassador Nitau'li rather intimidating; she could tell that the Bereen did not particularly care for her existence within the expedition team.

To be honest, Clem perfectly understood his complaints; she knew she wasn't nearly as skilled as say, Zosimos, or Tori, or Ezzat. Still, she hoped to one day impress the Ambassador and make him see her as someone capable of contributing to the team...maybe if she did that, she'd be able to achieve the same effect with her Bereen fathers; maybe she could reasure them that she didn't need to be sheltered anymore.

 

[Diana]

"Your team leader told you to stay close," stated Nitau'li cooly. Cold even by Bereen standards. "To run loose in the jungle like this could be a fast way to die."

With that loaded statement, now that the Bereen Ambassador had been called out in his following of the pair, he brushed past without acknowledging her eager comments any further, nor answering her questions in what he was actually doing.

Finding Tori exploring the ancient medical building, he greeted the older woman with far more respect.

"I do not believe going inside this building is the safest course. The foundations appear to be weak, likewise the structure inside may not be entirely sound. We should return to our base camp to resume the proper setup before beginning these explorations."

Of course, by the way the Ambassador was glancing around at all of the greenery, and then suddenly swatting away mosquitos that were buzzing into his face, he may have been making the suggestion simply out of his own discomfort.

The choice was up to Tori, regardless, as the team's leader.

 

[Karo]

"Ambassador Nitau'li, I believe you were charged with building the shelter," Tori said flatly. She was annoyed but not surprised to see the Bereen had abandoned his responsibilities but wondered why he chose to follow the pair instead of doing, well, anything else.

Glancing around, the scientist finally noticed that Clem had left her side. With a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Why can no one here follow instructions?

Scanning the forest, her eyes eventually landed on Clem, who appeared unharmed. She whistled for her attention, beckoning her over with her hand before returning her attention to the medical center.

Taking a closer look at the foundation of the building, it did appear cracked and worn down. Tori's curiosity was strong, but not strong enough to justify risking her life and leaving her team without a leader. Besides, while interesting, none of the ancient tools and medicines within the building would be of any use to her– there were far more effective treatments back at the camp.

However, they still hadn't accomplished their original goal of locating water. Pulling out her map, the blue dot marking the water source blinked. It seemed they were only a kilometer away from it. Another 15 minutes of walking and they'd find it.

Tori turned to face the direction of the water, folding her map up as she did so. "Ambassador, it's not safe for you to wander alone. We still need to find water and set up a pipe system to deliver it to the camp. You will come with me and Clem."

"And Clem," Tori directed her focus to the girl, her tone stern. "Don't wander off this time. We have plenty of body bags, but I'd like to keep them in the cargo hold for as long as possible." Her words were grim, but she hoped sobering as well. Maybe the kid just needed to be scared into listening.

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Sakhmetneferu replied to Tori's instructions with a chirp-purr, but instead of going into the building, she opened her mouth and exhaled a misty puff of nanites that congealed into another dragonfly cybertulpa. It could fly through the ruins, mapping the buildings and any subsurface structures with its sensor suite with much less risk of disturbing the site. It darted off through the shadowed doorway to begin its mission, leaving Sakhmetneferu able to keep a protective watch over the two women.

She had already detected another heat source nearby, which she visually confirmed to be Ambassador Nitau'li as soon as they got close enough that there were no interposing trees to block her view of him. Clem seemed to sense his presence in a way that suggested to Zosimos that she might have latent psi abilities. He made a mental note to discuss the subject with her at some point.

When Clem peeled off from Tori and headed toward the Ambassador, Sakhmetneferu silently padded along beside her, as she was the one most in need of protection. The cybertulpa's ears rotated back and forth from time to time, performing sensor sweeps to watch out for anything that might be heading Tori's way.

---

Back at camp, Zosimos raised an eyebrow. What was Ambassador Nitau'li doing sneaking off to the site by himself? While his assistance had not been needed for the project of setting up shelter, he was not, so far as Zosimos knew, trained in archaeology or any other relevant field. Wordlessly, he transmitted a command to Sakhmetneferu to perform a high-precision scan of the area the Bereen had been poking around in. She scanned the ground at high magnification to seek out his footprints as well as any plants he might have disturbed, but especially for any disruptions to the site such as unauthorized excavations or evidence of removed or destroyed artifacts. She seemed to sniff around the area with careful, stalking steps placed to avoid stepping on any of the Ambassador's footprints or other traces he might have left.