Ortega fumed for a while, regarding the travellers suspiciously and asking various questions, like why they'd come here and why, their fields of expertise, their credentials, to which Axander and Tarys tried their best to give honest or evasive answers to. At last, he'd decided Axander was on the level, at least with regard to not trying to jump his claim. Axander and Tarys had, it seemed, suddenly been thrust into the cut-throat world of interstellar archaeology, full of lost technology and alien hazards, where archaeologists were as much treasure hunters as academics, if not more so, not that they would say as much.
Then he seemed almost glad to have them, with an avaricious gleam in his spectacles. After all, they might be willing to lend a hand and some more academic credentials to his dig.
'...Ah, well, this planet doesn't actually have a name. This is a rogue planet, you see, a wanderer across the Milky Way...' Then he launched into his practised presentation.
Ortega explained that a Draconian automated probe mapping this sector of space – a rather sparse area between the Outer and Perseus Arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, on the far side from Earth and close to the outer edge – had discovered a rogue planet. A rogue planet was a world flung by gravitational forces out of its parent solar system, left to wander cold interstellar space. This one was calculated to have been wandering for two to seven million years. But, within the last few centuries, it had encountered a white dwarf star and been caught in an erratic orbit, from which it was likely to be flung out again in another century. All this had been calculated by a Draconian astronomical team.
They'd also detected a signal: faint but regular, and continuing. No one could identify the source, but Ortega theorised this planet had been home to a civilisation once, millions of years ago, highly developed and potentially connected to the ancient history of the galaxy and the powerful elder races that had dominated the stars in those forgotten days, like Osirans and Time Lords. This civilisation would have been lost when the planet was ejected into interstellar space but kept perfectly preserved beneath the ice.
Without a sun to warm it, the planet had frozen over, according to the Draconians. First its atmosphere had cooled to liquid, and then to ice: frozen water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Ordinarily, this would be too thick and dense to melt or cut through, but the small degree of radiant heating from the white dwarf had begun to thaw the planet out, and at its closest, the world was experiencing the nearest thing to spring after millennia of winter. A breathable atmosphere had returned, and the ice decreased enough to permit excavations.
Ortega's plan was to rotate the
Yermak's powerful engines and fire them downward while remaining grounded, using their heat as a thermal drill to cut a large borehole into the ice. Then they would use the engines as generators to power plasma torches, with which they could carve tunnels and trenches and make more precise archaeological excavations – the equivalent of using trowels in soil.
Borys explained the crew's task was to reorient the engines; manage the thermal drilling, power generation, and plasma torches; help in the manual labour of melting tunnels and cutting trenches and shifting blocks of ice. Ortega added they would assist in basic unskilled archaeological work, like sifting through spoil-heaps, moving equipment, and cleaning finds as necessary.
Borys and Ortega introduced the crew and archaeologists, especially those hanging around the tent:
- Prof. Niles Ortega – expedition leader and chief archaeologist
- Scholastor Stirix – xenobiologist, cryologist, arctic safety expert
- Farren – xenoanthropologist, xenotechnologist
- Hali'r'a Plim, B.Sc. (Hons) - archaeologist
- Vax Kent, B.Sc., M.Sc. - archaeologist
- Borys, Bluetooth, Sky Light, Trace - technicians, mechanics, general labourers, security
'You're welcome to hang around here until we can get a look at your ship.'
'...And I'm sure a keen student such yourself would enjoy experiencing real archaeology in action, the process of excavation, discovery, and analysis. Seeing as you're unfortunately marooned here for the foreseeable, you might find it rewarding to help out, get your hands dirty – or chilly, rather.'
OOC: Sorry for the wait, I was busy and ill. I jumped us forward to get on with things.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:44, Tue 13 Oct 2015.