The first steps into the world of the sphere were breathtaking. The sight was completely earthlike, but the heat and humidity was almost unbearable.
Their tricorders in hand, Jamie and Burton spread out from the Trinity's hatch and started scanning.
"No sign of life forms commander." Jamie reported. "The air and gravity are that of earth normal, radiation level normal."
"Same here," Burton replied. "I am getting an electromagnetic reading at two one three degrees, distance one point two kilometers."
"Confirmed, that places it near the structure we saw on the way in."
"Looks like that is our starting point," Burton said.
"Then let's go." Jamie said brightly, starting off towards the building in the distance. Burton fell in beside her.
Vegetation was no problem, the grass looked recently cut and the trees properly trimmed. They followed a well laid path to the building. Talking was not necessary as both kept scanning for all information possible. Jamie did notice that Burton would glance over at her often when it looked like her attention was elsewhere. She also spent some time watching him, when he bent over to scan a particular unusual plant; she was treated to a nice look at his tight ass. She stared for a minute before she shook herself awake and turned around. She did not want him catching her checking him out.
Burton for his part was doing everything in his power to ignore the beautiful young woman that was with him. He had volunteered for this mission for several reasons, not the least of which was to get his hands on the Trinity. He had been itching for a shot at that ship since it was delivered. But he also wanted time alone with Jamie. For some reason she intrigued him. He could not put his finger on just why, but he had the feeling that she was not someone to just use and forget. It was as if something in the back of his mind was telling him that if he started something with her it would be a long term commitment.
The outfit she had on was killing him. The shorts were very tight and the shirt far too small. He could see the bikini top beneath it and was glad his shorts were holding him in check. He had a feeling that he knew who was responsible. Carol had popped onto the flight deck prior to launch and wished him luck, and then disappeared. It was a good few minutes before he saw her out of the window waving goodbye. He had wondered at the time where she had been in between, and now he had an answer. She must have been doing something to the replicator on the Trinity. Knowing her, she probably repacked Jamie's bag and not told her about it, and then programmed the replicator to not give her anything but sexy outfits. He made a mental note to check when he returned to the ship. His override should be sufficient to correct the problem and give Jamie something more appropriate to wear.
They reached the building and entered the ground floor. Their tricorders traced the power feeds until they led them to the control room. The language on the panels was completely alien, but Burton scanned it in and set the translator to work on it. Jamie set off to explore the rest of the floor while Burton waited for the translation.
Jamie found what looked like offices and meeting rooms all over the floor. A lift was in the centre, but Jamie did not go near it. She poked around the offices, trying to get some more information, but there were no notes or papers anywhere to be found. As she left the last office, her fingers brushed the desk and a voice came out of it.
"Diena ienghe dheoagn."
"Gordon to Commander Burton," Jamie said slapping her com badge.
"Burton here, go ahead."
"Diena ienghe dheoagn." The voice continued.
"I have found an office with a working voice interface. Unfortunately, I don't speak the language. Universal translator is working on it."
"What is your location Lieutenant?"
"Two hundred meters from you, bearing one eight one."
"Stand by Lieutenant; I will join you there, Burton out."
"Lieutenant, diena ienghe dheoagn" the voice said again.
Jamie looked around startled. It had used her rank. There must be an intelligence behind the voice trying to communicate. Her tricorder beeped and she checked the display. It informed her that the translator needed more of a sample to decipher the language. Jamie decided to talk to the machine to give it more of a sample to English to work with.
"This is Lieutenant Jamie Gordon of the Federation ship Korvan. We mean you no harm. Please communicate with us." Jamie said into the office.
Burton arrived just as Jamie finished her introduction.
"Did you find anything that will give us access to the controls of this sphere?"
Before Jamie could respond the voice spoke again.
"Lieutenant Jamie Gordon, this is sphere control. Please ehis access thaq eoih voice interface."
"Well at least we are getting somewhere." Burton said.
"I think it is trying to communicate and learn our language at the same time." Jamie said looking at Burton.
"This is Commander Charles Burton, first officer of the Federation Science vessel Korvan. We are here on a research mission to determine the origins of this sphere. Can you allow us access to your data banks so that we can communicate more clearly?"
