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Description
The Commander could still hear the Captain's voice in his mind. "Commander." he looked at the Captain. "Take the Yacht."

"Are you sure, Sir?" he asked.

"Indeed, I am!" came the answer. "She has not seen much service since she was assigned to the Excalibur. I think she will do perfectly for this mission." He smiled at his First Officer. "Besides, she is better equipped in her laboratory than any of our shuttles." He stood up and walked to the navigator's side, and without turning to look at the Commander, he said "Break her in, Commander!"

"Aye aye, Sir!" he acknowledged.

What all that was part of was the fact that a planet had been found that very well may be the most perfect for human habitation ever found; even more perfect than Earth. A trip to the surface was in order, and not via transporter. So a flight to the surface was planned. On board with the Commander were several crew from the Science division, each with specific disciplines in the sciences. A geologist, a meteorologist, an exobiologist, and a physicist.

There were three members of the security division on board, although the Commander thought they were just excess baggage, but reasonably it was prudent to have them along. Besides it was required according to Starfleet regulations. The Commander had decided to give the top ranking one among the security personnel aboard the honor of setting first feet on the planet.

The yacht flew several hundred kilometers at low altitude, as the people aboard took in the view of a planet that had no visible plant life on any of its land masses. Yet the O2 content of the atmosphere was an ideal 18%, with Nitrogen being the predominant atmospheric gas.

The reason for the oxygen content was obviously due to sea vegetation, which was later found to be quite similar to that of Earth. Animal life was thought to be present in the sea with some sizable creatures at the top of the food chain, but there was no confirming evidence of that as yet. That would be one thing that the exobiologist would try to determine.

Soon they came to a place where a cluster of impact craters were found. Obviously they were fairly old craters as there had been extensive erosion of the crater walls. The Commander decided this would be a good place to land, and he set the yacht down on a relatively flattened area at the top of a ridge. "OK lets go explore!" he said to no one in particular.

Security Chief Petty Officer Powell was perhaps over excited to be the first to set foot on a new world. You could see the excitement in the way she was acting. Soon the hatch opened and she stepped out onto soil that had never known human footprints. Her phaser was at the ready but she doubted it would need to be used. Still she did her duty, brandishing the weapon as she swept her gaze as far around her as she could. She even examined the ground and the sky.

As fortune would have it, the orange star that the planet orbited was just rising above the distant horizon. It had painted the sky itself in vivid shades of orange, pink, and purple, and had turned the clouds into orange smudges. The great expanse of water intensified the effects broken only by the ridges of the old impact craters jutting out of it. Even that added to the scene so that what Powell was seeing was overwhelmingly gorgeous. She thought to herself "Girl if you never see anything more beautiful than this, you can be happy that you did see such beauty. This is something you shall never forget!"

At that moment, a wailing noise rose. Its direction was unable to be determined; sounding like it came from all directions at once. Powell had no idea what was making that sound, but it filled her with an overwhelming sense of dread. It had a haunting quality that penetrated to her very soul. Suddenly she did not want to be here; not standing on this ridge, not even on this planet. Even so, she found that she could not move her feet, and she want so much to do so, in order to return to the safety of the yacht's interior.

The Commander noticed the change in her demeanor. "What is it, Powell?" he asked.

"Are you hearing this?" she said to him, quietly.

"What do you hear?" he wanted to know.

"That wailing noise! Don't you hear it?" She turned her head to look at him.

He could see the fear in her eyes. "Return to the ship!" he ordered.

It was that command that gave her the ability to move her feet again, and she took full advantage of it. She hurried back inside as fast as she was able.

Throughout the rest of the mission, no one else heard that noise, and for several years after that it was thought that she had developed a case of nerves that caused her to imagine the noise.

Then after the planet had been colonized, a cousin of her's who was one of the colonists visited the impact crater cluster. She had her two daughters with her, and her husband. If he had not been there it is likely that his wife and children would not have returned home. They heard that same wailing noise, and became rooted to the spot they were standing on, unable to move their feet. The husband was able to get them to move when he told them to get back in the sky car in a firm voice.

When Security Chief Powell (she had been promoted by then) heard about the incident, she knew it was real and not imagined. It turned out that latent psychic abilities were in the female members of her family, and it was this that allowed them to hear the sound and feel the bad energy of that location.

No one ever discovered why that place had that effect, but the prevailing theory is that it had something to do with the impact crater cluster.

Credits:
Excalibur Yacht - Model and textures by PTKS; Poser Conversion by Mattymanx; Exported for Bryce by Agent 0013.
Impact Crater Cluster created in Bryce 7.1 pro by Agent 0013.
Placid Water 3 Texture created in Bryce 7.1 Pro by Agent 0013.
Tangerine Sunrise 2 Sky created in Bryce 7.1 pro by Agent 0013.
Rendered in Bryce 7.1 Pro.

Description
The Commander could still hear the Captain's voice in his mind. "Commander." he looked at the Captain. "Take the Yacht."

"Are you sure, Sir?" he asked.

"Indeed, I am!" came the answer. "She has not seen much service since she was assigned to the Excalibur. I think she will do perfectly for this mission." He smiled at his First Officer. "Besides, she is better equipped in her laboratory than any of our shuttles." He stood up and walked to the navigator's side, and without turning to look at the Commander, he said "Break her in, Commander!"

"Aye aye, Sir!" he acknowledged.

What all that was part of was the fact that a planet had been found that very well may be the most perfect for human habitation ever found; even more perfect than Earth. A trip to the surface was in order, and not via transporter. So a flight to the surface was planned. On board with the Commander were several crew from the Science division, each with specific disciplines in the sciences. A geologist, a meteorologist, an exobiologist, and a physicist.

There were three members of the security division on board, although the Commander thought they were just excess baggage, but reasonably it was prudent to have them along. Besides it was required according to Starfleet regulations. The Commander had decided to give the top ranking one among the security personnel aboard the honor of setting first feet on the planet.

The yacht flew several hundred kilometers at low altitude, as the people aboard took in the view of a planet that had no visible plant life on any of its land masses. Yet the O2 content of the atmosphere was an ideal 18%, with Nitrogen being the predominant atmospheric gas.

The reason for the oxygen content was obviously due to sea vegetation, which was later found to be quite similar to that of Earth. Animal life was thought to be present in the sea with some sizable creatures at the top of the food chain, but there was no confirming evidence of that as yet. That would be one thing that the exobiologist would try to determine.

Soon they came to a place where a cluster of impact craters were found. Obviously they were fairly old craters as there had been extensive erosion of the crater walls. The Commander decided this would be a good place to land, and he set the yacht down on a relatively flattened area at the top of a ridge. "OK lets go explore!" he said to no one in particular.

Security Chief Petty Officer Powell was perhaps over excited to be the first to set foot on a new world. You could see the excitement in the way she was acting. Soon the hatch opened and she stepped out onto soil that had never known human footprints. Her phaser was at the ready but she doubted it would need to be used. Still she did her duty, brandishing the weapon as she swept her gaze as far around her as she could. She even examined the ground and the sky.

As fortune would have it, the orange star that the planet orbited was just rising above the distant horizon. It had painted the sky itself in vivid shades of orange, pink, and purple, and had turned the clouds into orange smudges. The great expanse of water intensified the effects broken only by the ridges of the old impact craters jutting out of it. Even that added to the scene so that what Powell was seeing was overwhelmingly gorgeous. She thought to herself "Girl if you never see anything more beautiful than this, you can be happy that you did see such beauty. This is something you shall never forget!"

At that moment, a wailing noise rose. Its direction was unable to be determined; sounding like it came from all directions at once. Powell had no idea what was making that sound, but it filled her with an overwhelming sense of dread. It had a haunting quality that penetrated to her very soul. Suddenly she did not want to be here; not standing on this ridge, not even on this planet. Even so, she found that she could not move her feet, and she want so much to do so, in order to return to the safety of the yacht's interior.

The Commander noticed the change in her demeanor. "What is it, Powell?" he asked.

"Are you hearing this?" she said to him, quietly.

"What do you hear?" he wanted to know.

"That wailing noise! Don't you hear it?" She turned her head to look at him.

He could see the fear in her eyes. "Return to the ship!" he ordered.

It was that command that gave her the ability to move her feet again, and she took full advantage of it. She hurried back inside as fast as she was able.

Throughout the rest of the mission, no one else heard that noise, and for several years after that it was thought that she had developed a case of nerves that caused her to imagine the noise.

Then after the planet had been colonized, a cousin of her's who was one of the colonists visited the impact crater cluster. She had her two daughters with her, and her husband. If he had not been there it is likely that his wife and children would not have returned home. They heard that same wailing noise, and became rooted to the spot they were standing on, unable to move their feet. The husband was able to get them to move when he told them to get back in the sky car in a firm voice.

When Security Chief Powell (she had been promoted by then) heard about the incident, she knew it was real and not imagined. It turned out that latent psychic abilities were in the female members of her family, and it was this that allowed them to hear the sound and feel the bad energy of that location.

No one ever discovered why that place had that effect, but the prevailing theory is that it had something to do with the impact crater cluster.

Credits:
Excalibur Yacht - Model and textures by PTKS; Poser Conversion by Mattymanx; Exported for Bryce by Agent 0013.
Impact Crater Cluster created in Bryce 7.1 pro by Agent 0013.
Placid Water 3 Texture created in Bryce 7.1 Pro by Agent 0013.
Tangerine Sunrise 2 Sky created in Bryce 7.1 pro by Agent 0013.
Rendered in Bryce 7.1 Pro.