Partly Sunny

Lee Carter strode across the green grass. Each step stirred up a flurry of seed spores which wafted lazily aloft and then just hung suspended in the sparkling air like a snapshot of a light winter snowfall. Her boots left wet prints in the dew-covered lawn, and seemed an almost sacrilegious defilement in this virgin paradise.

The crisp air was laden with the smells of wet grass and green, living things. The breeze caressed her face and gently tousled her short brown hair, causing a few unruly strands to drift back and forth across her eyes. She finished pulling off her flight gloves and brushed the locks aside.

The last rational memory she had was of her Banshee and all the other ships in the little convoy barreling out of control straight for the surface of a planet at warp 3. But now, instead of finding herself at the bottom of a smoking impact crater, she was strolling across a manicured lawn under pristine skies. She considered for a fleeting moment that this place was Eden -- that popular old staple of space legend, the mythical planet where everything was beautiful and perfect and life was eternally peaceful and untroubled. She dismissed the notion almost as soon as it entered her mind though.

A place like Eden would never go unexploited for this long. As soon as word got out that there was a magical planet where life was perfect, people would start swarming in by the millions, all wanting a share in the promise of peace, love, and security. The mega-resort hotels, luxury condos, and souvenir shops would follow hard on their heels, and that would be the end of paradise.

Human nature was a real bitch.

As far as Carter could tell, there was no sign that anyone had ever been here before. There was a distinctive silence about this planet. No bird or animal noises -- not even the buzz of insects. She found it somehow disconcerting.

Ahead another hundred paces was the Cat's Eye ship *Crockett*. Captain Cross was just lowering himself down out of the ship's belly hatch. His facial expression was stony as always, yet Carter detected definite traces of anger and annoyance. Behind him, Dexter Gray dropped to the ground, but his expression was much more positive. The young man seemed entranced by their idyllic surroundings. Alex Dalton and Jo Schmidt came strolling around the bulk of the Cat's Eye, and that completed the ensemble.

"Looks like everyone's alive," said Cross when everyone had gathered, "though I can't understand why."

That was everyone's cue to turn their eyes towards Jo. She typically had all the answers. This time she would disappoint, however.

"Beats me what happened," she said. "The same force that yoinked us so hard in this direction was very gentle when it set us down. Even the cargo drones landed intact, and they were never even designed for atmospheric reentry or planetary landings."

"Where are the drones?" asked Carter.

"The *Lurry* is about five miles that way on the other side of those low hills," replied Dexter, pointing at a line of rounded hummocks in the otherwise flat landscape. "The *Baris* was heading for the opposite side of the planet when the sensors lost contact."

Cross turned to Carter. "I assume you tried restarting your Banshee's engines after you landed."

Carter nodded. "Dead. The quantum capacitor won't hold enough charge to power a flashlight, never mind a warp drive."

"The *Crockett's* warp core is cold," said Cross. "The intermix chamber is frozen."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Jo. "How is that possible? The Banshees are powered by a zero-point energy extractor and the Cat's Eye has a matter/antimatter reactor. Those are completely dissimilar systems. How can they both be affected?"

"Maybe something's draining *all* power," suggested Alex.

Cross drew his phaser and Jo pulled her tricorder out of her suit pouch to check the power cells. The verdict was unanimous.

"Our equipment is still working," announced Jo. She made an adjustment to her tricorder's controls, then waved the device in the air. "I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary," was her authoritative conclusion.

Cross thought a moment, then said, "This is getting us nowhere. We need answers." Turning to Dexter and Alex, he continued. "You two see if you can get the power systems going again on the ships." He turned to Carter and Jo. "The rest of us will reconnoiter the area and check out where the *Lurry* landed."

Alex Dalton sat back on her haunches and scratched her head. She looked up into the open access panel on the underside of her Banshee fighter, frowned, and scratched her head again. Beside her, Dexter Gray looked on with mild interest, though his attention was focused mostly on the girl and not the mechanical problems with the plane.

"I just don't understand it," the young woman complained. "Everything seems to be in perfect working order, yet nothing works!"

She picked up the PADD she'd been using for technical reference, shook it as though trying to make useful information rattle out of it that way, then tossed it in disgust to the grass when nothing was forthcoming.

The small device bleeped and pages began flying by on the small screen until they finally settled on one. Curious and a little worried that she'd damaged it, Alex picked it up and examined it, but when she saw what was on the screen, her eyebrows went up.

"Well color me green and call me an Orion!" she exclaimed. "Look what page it stopped on." She held the PADD out for Dexter to see.

Dex read the page caption out loud. "Subspace Dampening Fields." He thought a moment, then flipped open his tricorder. After a few seconds of scanning, he said. "There *is* a dampening field in operation here! Interesting coincidence."

"Why didn't we detect it before?" asked Alex.

Dexter didn't have a good explanation. "It's almost like we were deliberately kept from detecting it, and now we're deliberately being shown. I know that doesn't make sense..."

The trio of Starfleet officers topped the small rise and looked down into a broad valley. At the bottom lay the robot cargo drone *Lurry* partially submerged in a small lake. Its buoyancy upon the water was the only thing keeping it upright; its shape was not designed to enable it to land on solid ground. It was apparently no worse for the wear after having traversed the atmosphere. Some of the upper loading doors were open, as well as some of the personnel hatches just above the level of the waterline.

"Looks like someone's been snooping around," commented Lee Carter.

Jo Schmidt shook her head. "My tricorder still isn't picking up any signs of life aside from the plants."

"Maybe they're plant people," suggested Carter with a slight grin.

"Yeah, a lost colony of Phylosians," harrumphed Jo, not thinking much of Carter's theory.

"In the water?"

"Okay then -- a lost colony of Aquans!"

"Maybe we should go find out," said Matthew Cross pointedly.

He drew his phaser and Carter did the same, Jo kept a close eye on her tricorder, and in this manner did the trio make their way down the gentle slope of the hillock towards the edge of the lake and the downed cargo ship.

A dark rain cloud drifted in front of the sun plunging the landscape into shadow. Carter had to suppress a sudden shiver, though she wasn't sure if it was caused by the sudden temperature change or the eerie silence of this planet, which had really been getting on her nerves.

Nothing had challenged them so far. No plant people or long-lost Phylosians or Aquans had jumped out of the shadows to ambush them. They cautiously waded out into the shallows near the shore until the water was up to their knees, but the ship was still fifty yards farther out in deeper water.

"Looks like we're getting wet," said Cross, clearly not relishing the thought.

The three holstered their weapons and equipment and waded out until their feet finally left the sandy lake bottom, then swam the rest of the way to the nearest open personnel hatch. Carter was the first to reach it, and she hoisted herself up with her arms over the door's lip. Cross helped by placing his hand firmly on her bottom and giving her a shove.

Carter's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't say anything until she was safely inside the hatch. Then she turned and said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle, "Was it as good for you as it was for me?" She knew Cross had only been trying to be helpful but the opportunity to tease him couldn't go unexploited. She smiled gently at his sudden intense discomfort and decided to go easy on him. Letting the matter drop, she drew her phaser and peered down the dark cavity, then made room for Cross and Jo to haul themselves up out of the lake. A smile played across her lips as she heard Jo saying to Cross, 'Wait, Captain! Aren't you going to help *me* out of the water too...?'

The light panels lining the corridor in which they found themselves lit automatically upon detecting the presence of three people. When still nothing jumped out to attack them, Carter and Cross finally relaxed and lowered their phasers.

Jo consulted her tricorder and confirmed what all three of them could see with their eyes. "Some of the power systems in this ship are still charged, including the stasis systems keeping the bio-material alive. The engines seem inert, however."

Cross decided on a course of action. "Lieutenant, check out the engine room. See if you can find any clues as to what might be causing the power drain. Commander Carter and I will check out the stasis holds and make sure the bio samples are intact. We'll meet back here in half an hour."

Alex Dalton and Dexter Gray had finished reading the article on dampening fields and had come to the conclusion that nothing could be done for their ships' engines until the source of the dampening field was discovered and deactivated. Alex had buttoned up the service hatches on her Banshee starfighter and she, together with Dex, were sitting with their backs against the trunk of a fruit tree waiting for the others to return from their expedition.

Alex cocked an ear. "What was that horrible noise?" she asked.

"My stomach," replied Dexter. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too. Too bad the replicators on the *Crockett* aren't working."

No sooner were those words out of Alex's mouth than a big, bright purple globe dropped from the braches of the tree above their heads onto the springy turf below. The fruit bounced and rolled and came to a rest against Alex's knee.

The young woman picked it up, sniffed it, smiled, and took a bite.

Dexter arched an eyebrow in a very Vulcanlike manner, thought a moment, then said, "Interesting coincidence."

Watching Alex eat was making his stomach rumble louder than ever. "I think I'll get me one of those too," he decided once he couldn't stand it anymore. But no sooner were those words out of his mouth than another shiny, purple fruit dislodged from the leafy canopy above and dropped almost into his lap.

Dexter and Alex looked at each other in surprise. There was no thought of distrust or wariness in their minds, just a growing sense of delight at how their every wish was seemingly being fulfilled simply by asking.

Twenty minutes later, all was once again blissful silence underneath the benevolent fruit tree. Dexter's stomach was no longer rumbling, and the half dozen fruit pits that lay strewn about the lawn testified as to the reason for that.

"I'm kinda thirsty now," said Alex.

Neither she nor Dexter were the least bit surprised when a big, yellow globe dropped to the ground from one of the other nearby trees. Dexter went to retrieve the new fruit.

It was about six inches across and nearly spherical except for the dimple where the stem attached. The skin felt rubbery and pliant, and was semi-transparent. The inside seemed hollow, and was filled with shimmering, clear liquid. Dexter examined it carefully, turning it over and over in his hands, but try as he might, the rubbery skin proved remarkably resilient and impossible to split open with his fingers. He was about to try smashing it with a rock when Alex grabbed it from his hands.

"Men...!" she muttered. She held the fruit up before her nose and examined it critically for a few seconds, then proceeded to grab firm hold of the stem and jab it into the fruit body. It plunged in with a sharp *plopping* sound, and a stream of juice squirted out from inside the fruit through the stem, which turned out to be hollow like a straw, almost hitting Dexter in the face. She held it out to him with a triumphant smile on her face. "Sometimes it just takes a woman's touch."

Alex and Dexter were dozing, their appetite and thirst sated, still awaiting the return of Captain Cross and the others.

Above, light rain clouds were closing off the last few gaps of blue sky, but the temperature remained pleasant.

"Think it's gonna rain?" asked Alex.

Dexter cocked an eye at the sky, and after a moment, said, "Yup."