Marooned - Christie Golden [24]
She took a moment to stretch and rearrange her hair, wiping her face. It was important that she look calm and not shaken while negotiating with Aren. Now that the worst was past, she could take a moment to assess what she could see of Mishkara.
It was not the friendliest of planets. The ion storm had shut out most of the light Mishkara received from the nearby yellow star, and everything was a dim graygreen. The land beneath them, while too far away for Janeway to discerndetails, looked barren. Brown and rocky, it appeared devoid of plants or indeed any signs of life.
"Goodness, what a nasty place," commented Ensign Bokk. The Bolian was peering out the window, his blue face puckered in disgust.
"Poor Kes," said Neelix, softly. "Trapped on this dead rock with that monster-" He couldn't continue.
Janeway turned around in her seat as Tom continued to take them in. "I understand that our emotions are going to be running high," she said to her away team. "But we can't give in to them. Take your cues from me and Tuvok. If Aren thinks he's got us riled and angry, it will only give him an advantage. Is this understood?"
They nodded, regarding her seriously. Janeway returned her attention to the window and got her first good look at their ultimate destination.
When she was a small child, Janeway had been given an antique snow globe as a birthday present. She'd been enchanted with the toy, constantly shaking it and turning it upside down to make the small white flakes float down upon the tiny cabin and trees housed within the glass. But she'd been careless with the precious gift one day, setting it down too close to the edge of a table, A subsequent romp with her dog, Bramble, had resulted in both of them crashing into the table. To this day, Janeway remembered watching with horror as the globe teetered, seemed to recover, then tumbled to the floor. Its glass had broken on impact. Water filled with bits of tiny "snowflakes" splattered everywhere, and the globe landed on its side, a dreadful hole in the glass, the last of the magic bleeding away like life from a dying man.
Before her was an image of that snow dome writ large.
Clear as glass, an environmental bubble arched into the sky. Once, it must have sheltered hundreds, perhaps thousands, from the harsh natural environment of the planet. But as they descended into their approach, Janeway could see that the hemisphere had been shattered and all the protection it offered was gone. Had someone or something tried to break inor out? Had there been a dreadful accident? These were questions that Janeway would perhaps never find the answers to and she banished them from her thoughts, focusing her attention on assisting Paris as he navigated the small vessel in through the gaping hole.
Out of the corner of her eye Janeway caught brief images of what remained of the enclosed civilization: dilapidated buildings, forgotten roadways, fields that boasted no crops. Her attention was on the landing pad that appeared a few meters ahead, seeming strangely new and colorful amid the ruins.
Paris punched a few buttons and the shuttlecraft gently began to descend, landing easily. Janeway took a deep breath, made eye contact with every member of her team, and prepared herselfi She didn't have long to wait. Barely had the shuttlecraft come to a full stop than there came the loud pounding of a fist on the walls. "Our welcoming committee, no doubt," said Tom Paris. He hit the release button and the door opened, the ramp slowly extending.
Seven armed guards, all of varying strange but humanoid species, stood impassively outside. Their weapons were trained on the away team. "Please step outside," said one in a harsh voice that turned the request into an order.
Janeway complied, with a movement of her head silently instructing her team to do the same. They followed her, striding down the ramp onto the landing platform. Janeway expected them to be scanned or perhaps