SPECIAL EPISODE 6.51.1 - “The Ruins”

written by Travis Cannon

“Amazing!” shouted the professor.

“What? Ma'am?” the Starfleet officer almost tripped over a fallen pillar.

Dr. Lilly Adar turned around from the engraved relief she was examining. She smiled at the betazoid as he dusted the dirt from his Starfleet uniform.

“Captain Day,” Lilly grinned. “I thought you were staying aboard the Atlantis?”

“These ruins intrigued my imagination, doctor,” Day said, squinting at the relief Lilly was standing in front of. “So ancient, with legends older than human kind. And from what I've read from Captain Kelsoe's initial report about his exploration of these ruins, the myths and legends described on these reliefs are similar to those found of Earth and other planets.”

“Including Betazed?” Lilly inquired.

“Yes, doctor, including Betazed,” Day replied.

“Call me Lilly, captain,” Lilly interjected.

“So, what was it that you found so amazing?” Day inquired.

“This,” Lilly indicated a glyph at the bottom of the relief.

Day stepped closer to examine the glyph. “What's so amazing about it?”

“A circle, with an overlaid V,” Lilly spoke in awe. “It's just so unusual and strange.”

“How's that?” Day inquired. “It's just a symbol, is it not?”

“Before we begun our excavation here,” Lilly explained, brushing away loose hair. “I studied all the ancient scrolls held at the library at the University of Raechia. The scholars there showed me all the glyphs that their ancestors used. And this symbols, this circle with a V, was not among them.”

“And that's amazing?” Day asked.

“Yes!” glowed Lilly. “It's fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!”

“Is that Lilly I hear?” came a husky voice.

Day and Lilly turned around to see Dr. Julian Brooke.

“Julian!” Lilly jumped down from the perch she was standing on. “I've found the most extraordinary glyph.” She gripped his hand and pulled him towards the wall.

“Captain Day,” Julian nodded towards the Starfleet officer.

“Dr. Brooke,” Day inclined his head. “How's the Obelisk reconstruction going?”

“Fine, sir, fine,” Julian said.

“Julian look!” Lilly sparkled with glee.

Dr. Julian Brooke raised a flashlight and shone it on the section of wall Lilly was pointing at. He narrowed his eyes.

“Amazing, yes,” Julian said. “But I don't see what all the fuss is about?”

“Think about it, Julian,” Lilly said. “This pyramid was constructed by the ancient Raecians. Yet this glyph, this symbol, is not Raecian.”

Julian looked at it again. “A circle with an overlaid V... it is a strange symbol. What could it mean, Lilly?”

“I think it means that the ancient Raecians were not alone when they built this step-pyramid,” Lilly said. “They had help... from someone else.”

“Are you saying aliens visited the ancient Raecians?” Day inquired.

“Quite possible,” Lilly said. “The First Ones, maybe. Maybe even the Oralians.”

“The ancient race whom this sector is named?” Julian inquired.

“According to the scholars in the university,” Lilly explained. “They could be one and the same.”

“Really?” Julian said, his expression filled with astonishment.

“Yes,” Lilly said. “It could be possible.”

“What about the Oppressors?” Day inquired.

“Captain?” Lilly asked.

“The Grace from Tulop,” the betazoid captain explained. “He told us about this race that conquered this region of space after the First Ones left. This race was a scavenger race, they took the technology left behind and used it. Maybe, just maybe, this symbol was that of the Oppressors. I mean, look at the rest of the relief.”

They all stepped back from the wall and shone their lights up to reveal the entire relief. The engraving depicted a massive egg-shaped vessel hovering in the sky above the pyramid, temples, and obelisk. Surrounding the structures were the people of the ancient city, bowing in submission.

“They look like worshipers,” Julian said.

“No,” Lilly shook her head. “They're enslaved, bowing to their masters.”

“Then perhaps your right, Captain Day,” Julian said. “Perhaps that glyph is the symbol of the Oppressors... the enslavers of the sector.”

“Perhaps, and perhaps not,” Lilly said. “But it's still fascinating!”

“Yes, it is at that,” Day grinned. He opened his mouth to speak, but then suddenly stopped. The betazoid stumbled, and Julian caught him.

“Captain?”

“I'm dizzy,” Day asserted. “Nothing major. I... I just felt... ah, never mind.”

Day's commbadge chirped. He tapped it. “Day here.”

“Captain,” came Commander Emma Ballard's voice, half-Human, half-Iskon. “We've just received word from Deep Space Five...”

“Yes?”

“The expedition force is returning... and with heavy losses.”