As they materialised, Kathryn began to take in the views around her. They were inside, not out, and the room was quite dark but she could see that it was full of objects.
They had beamed down in a standard circular formation, backs to one another so that should they be attacked they would not be surprised from behind. Scanning with both tricorders and their own eyes they searched for any signs of life that could have built the building they now stood in, or designed the objects that littered the room.
They found nothing, just as the sensor scans on the ship had revealed nothing. Cautiously they stepped forward in different directions, still on guard just in case there were any surprises. Kathryn glanced quickly at Chakotay who flashed her a reassuring smile.
They spread out further; examining each object they saw with curiosity. Kathryn analysed everything with a scientific mind, wanting to know how it worked, what powered it, how efficient it was. Chakotay looked at it from an anthropologist's point of view, wondering what role it had in the society of this once populated planet. Who had used? What had they used it for?
Tuvok, as chief of security, kept his eyes on his tricorder, scanning for any dangers, only moving his eyes from the display to scan the room quickly. His vigilance made everyone feel a little safer, and gave them a chance to become more diverted as they came across objects of interest.
Tom was having a great time - he always loved to get off the ship and stretch his legs, breathing in fresh, non-recycled air; everyone did. Everyone, even Tuvok, welcomed the opportunity to go planet-side for a few hours. However, Tom had found a small room on his explorations - it looked like a lab of some kind where the objects inside were analysed.; all the objects were tagged. Probably from different planets, or other continents on their own planet, he surmised, found and brought back to be studied. Judging from the variety of the objects and the differences between them, he knew they could not be from the same small area.
He walked over to the table in the middle of the room and looked at the objects. Some of them looked to be from an age similar to Earth's late 20th and early 21st century.
Tom got out a device similar to a camcorder and began to scan the room - the Doctor loved taking holo-images when on away missions. Tom had recently begun to make moving images that he could take back and share with others, so they could see what the planet was like, and maybe help analyse things they had discovered.
As he moved it past the doorway he could see Tuvok walking slowly around, and Chakotay and Kathryn both bent down in a similar fashioned, examining the same object on different sides of a tall shelf. Tom knew that his captain would be fascinated by this room, and that she would not settle for simply seeing holo-images.
He tapped his commbadge. "Paris to Janeway."
*"Janeway here. What have you found, Tom?"*
"A small room, it looks like a lab of some kind."
*"Sounds interesting, I'll be right there. Janeway out."*
Seconds later, true to her word, Kathryn was there and she and Tom began to examine together, hypothesising about the items.
"Commander," Tuvok said, getting Chakotay's attention. "I believe I have found something."
Chakotay turned his head to look up at the dark-skinned Vulcan. "What is it?"
"A structure of some kind, with a symbol displayed in it, and small symbols surrounding it," Tuvok informed him.
Chakotay rose up from his haunches and moved over to where the Vulcan stood. He looked in the direction Tuvok was facing and found himself with a clear view of something akin to a short totem pole. From a distance it appeared to be made from metal, formed of a ring with a face crudely carved out of it's centre, a painful expression on it's rough features, and there were symbols around the ring that Tuvok had mentioned.
Moving closer, Chakotay ran a hand over the structure. It was cold to the touch. The symbols were not like any language he had ever studied, and he did not know where to begin with an interpretation. Turning to Tuvok, he asked, "Can you translate this?"
"I believe so," Tuvok replied, stoic as ever as he set about the task.
Chakotay stared at the object. The face was plain, and so he concentrated on the symbols on the ring. It seemed to display a message, short and to the point, rather than a story or a historic account, maybe a warning, judging by the face's expression.
Tuvok's tricorder beeped and he spoke. "We must leave, Commander. The message warns any traveller to this planet to 'turn back'. The planet has been raided and left contaminated. The surface is radioactive and will be harmful."
Chakotay decided to act now and ask questions later. "Chakotay to Janeway."
*"Janeway here,"* came Kathryn's excited voice, and he knew she had found something interesting that had truly piqued her curiosity, and he hated to tear her away, but he would hate it even more if she were poisoned.
"We must leave, Captain. Tuvok has found a disturbing message, this planet has been raided and left radioactive."
*"Thank you, Chakotay. Janeway out."*
"Tom." The pilot turned to face her, still excited out their discovery. "We're going."
"But..."
"Now!"
"Yes, ma'am," Kathryn heard as she left.
Tom quickly scooped up a couple of objects in his arms to take back to the ship to study further. B'Elanna will love these, he thought.
One of the objects activated as he picked it up. It was round, and just a little larger than the palm of his hand, with a dial and a large pad on the front. He touched the pad and to his right a stone ring, that stood a little taller than him activated also, with an almost mirror-like quality, only although the room was reflected, he could not see himself in the mirror when he deposited his armful of objects on the table and went to stand right in front of it. He touched the substance that gave the mirror-like effect and felt a small electric shock.
He had to show this to the Captain, and maybe get B'Elanna down here, they couldn't go yet, he hadn't even been given a reason as to why they were going - he wasn't about to leave.
He ran out into the main room, device still in hand. "You have to come and see this, it's too heavy for me to move but we have to take it back to the shi..." he trailed off. The room was empty.
"Oh very funny!" he exclaimed. "Who's idea was this? Chakotay, I'm sorry about the dye I put in your toothpaste. I apologised already."
The room was silent.
"Chakotay? Captain? Tuvok?"
Still nothing.
"Oh yeah, that's nice, beam up without me. I really hate when this happens. That probably broke about 10 regulations." He tapped his commbadge. "Voyager, one to beam up."
He felt his molecules de-materialise, then re-materialise in the transporter room. He turned around to face the transporter technician and found himself face to face with a compression phaser rifle.
Continued in Part 3