A New Frontier!

[Sergio Giovanni 0]

"A New Frontier!"

Log entry 08: 27 September, 2154

 

"What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?"

-- Henry David Thoreau

 

The shuttlepod made a smooth touchdown and soon the entry hatch was opened so all of the crew could get out. It was nighttime on the planet, and Sergio could hear the sounds of the night. Crickets chriped on incessantly, welcoming the away team's arrival, but there wasn't really much else to greet them. Which was what the Away Team wanted.

 

On the Challenger, Sergio had ascertained that this planet, called Acamar III had an array of life. Lush forests, lakes, animals as well as intellegent humanoid natives. However, they weren't really too advanced. The race was a fary cry from entering the space race, and probably the technological equivilent of 15th century Earth.

 

Thus, the Commodore and Commander both thought it best to avoid these individuals. Sergio of course couldn't agree more. Sergio instructed his assistant Ensign Grey to collect samples as well as food they could use. "Look for any type of fruit, vegetable, or even small animals that could be used as meat. Also, try to collect some samples of the land so we can analyse it later" he told him.

 

Taking his portable scanner out of his Science kit, Sergio started to explore the area, and entered a small batch of trees, close to the group. Under the white glow of the full moon, Sergio started to record information about the land. The climate of this area was quite pleasant at about 27 degrees Celcius, or 80 degrees Ferenheit. Walking through the small forest, Sergio saw many trees overhead, that held a countless amount of fruit.

 

The fruit was pink, with red polka dots on it and was about the size of one of those huge Asian Apple Pears, they sell in the Chinese markets. Sergio reached up and plucked one off a branch. It felt firm in his hand, like an apple and smelled like strawberries. He collected some more of the fruit into a basket. Sergio felt hungry, but he wasn't stupid, so he refrained from putting one of these fruit into his choppers until Dr. Mc Daniels can ascertain if it is actually edible or not.

 

The last thing Sergio or the crew of the Challenger wants is for him to die by eating a poisonous fruit on an alien planet. Unfortunately, the Challenger had already encountered her first casualty. Ensign Lucky from Engineering bit the bullet when the Suliban Operative broke his neck in his attempt to escape.. or so the post-mortem report claimed.

 

Sergio and the crew bade the poor fellow a heart felt goodbye when they sent his remains off into space in a torpedo. They were all assembled in the torpedo bay, and did their salutes and moments of silence. Though Ensign Lucky was just some faceless member of the crew, the loss was still nonetheless hard to swallow from the crew. Particulary the Engineers.

 

Not wanting to risk the casualty count climbong to two, Sergio picks up the heavy basket now laden with the pink, red polka dotted fruit to where Commander Moore and Dr. Mc Daniels are. He also colected some scientific samples of the area, and took some holo-pics of the area with his Samsung holo-cam. Sergio took a breath of the fresh air.. the Challenger is nice and all, but it was great to be on solid land again.

 

He took a look and surveyed the area.. aside from the chatter of the away team, and the mechanical warbling of the scanners, the area pretty quiet. The crickets still chirped on, and he did hear the occaisonal cry of some bird in the distance. It reminded of being back home on Earth. The area kinda looked like Hawaii to him, with the palm trees and high climate. For the first alien planet the Challenger crew ever set foot on, this was a nice choice. Sergio thought... he could definately get used to this.

Edited September 27, 2004 by Sergio Giovanni