Because everyone loves a mystery... and a big boom...

[cbeckett_md]

WHO: Frank Parker
WHERE: Just outside of camp
WHEN: Day 37, Dawn
INVITED: Anyone curious
STATUS: complete

Everyone may have thought the morning would be quiet after several of the explosions of the night before, but nothing is ever truly quiet here. This morning is no different. Just when the birds and bees are contemplating waking there is a bright

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[John]

[magicalelf]

John shot upright on the mat he shared with Aeryn, awake before his brain had a chance to fully recognize it. He wasn't quite sure what it was that had awaken him, Aeryn was still asleep beside him, their teepee was still intact, their didn't seem to be any kind of imminent invasion by some kind of sea-faring barbarian horde. So what ...?

It was then that he heard the cracking of branches and the distant boom of something very large and very heavy crashing very suddenly to the earth. He scrambled up, reaching for his pulse pistol and his discarded t-shirt in the same motion. He'd taken to sleeping in swimming trunks. Why not? It was an island after all.

He cast a glance over his shoulder at Aeryn as he made his way quickly from their teepee, he wouldn't wake her. He wanted her to stay here where it was safe anyway.

He arrived at the scene and saw that a few others had already gathered; Sam, Susan, Rodney and Marcus. He held his pulse pistol down, but ready, blue eyes scanning the surrounding area and flicking to the smoking, smoldering sphere in their midst.

"I'm guessing that all the obvious questions have already been asked," he said as he moved to stand between Rodney and Sam. John's eyes narrowed a little as he looked at the sphere, it didn't appear to be any kind potential weapon. He didn't see any gun ports or any kind of warning lights, he didn't see much of anything aside from what could have been a hatch. He reached out and tapped at it with the butt of his pulse pistol. The sphere made a small, dull sound.

"Well," he said, "it's definitely hollow, which means there isn't going to be a creamy center inside."

[Sam Tyler]

[starborn_scribe]

Sam tensed when John rapped on the metal sphere with the butt of his gun. Thankfully nothing happened. John's quip eased some of the tension in the air.

"Actually," Sam said, "not all of the obvious questions have been asked. I presume you've never seen such a thing?" John shook his head. "How about you, Dr. McKay?"

[McKay]

[lost_mckay]

Rodney stared at the giant... ball, for lack of a better term for the moment. Okay, sphere, but-- The static energy crackling off of it gave him pause. He didn't want to get any closer until it was done. When John walked up to it and gave it a knock with the butt of his pistol, he put his hands above his head in a protective gesture, fully expecting that the 'canned' energy in the pistol and the previously electrically charged sphere would have... explosive results.

Slowly, however, when it didn't happen, the scientist slowly lowered his hands with a surprised sounding, 'Huhn...'. He was still alive; always good.

Blue eyes stared at the sphere again, his head canting to the side, his expression thoughtful before he shook his head. "Nope. Never. Whatever it is, though, got caught in the EMP field." Which, of course, meant that the chances were good that the temporal distortion field was back in place, happily humming away. He'd have to look at the star pattern tonight, with or without Chloe. Tracking the passage of time within the bubble...

[Ivanova]

[lost_mckay]

Susan was just picking on Sam, nothing more. Always a good sign, at least for her. If she felt free to tease, then it must have meant she liked the guy-- and she did.

She smiled at the embarrassment, and nodded at the response. "That," Sam chuckled, "is an excellent question. I've no idea."

"Right..." She looked to John, then, and to the now identified Dr. McKay. There's a bonus... a doctor who obviously wasn't a medical doctor. The knock on the side garnered a wince from the commander, her shoulders rising. She, too, didn't think that the best idea, but hey? Who was she?

"You think you should do that?" It did deserve at least the slightest challenge, if for no other reason than to 'cover' herself, just in case. The suggestion that whatever it was succumbed to the EMP field caused her to nod thoughtfully. "Right. And as none of you have ever seen anything like this," She included herself in that, honestly, "I'm going to assume one of two things-- it's not from 'around here.. here...' and it's not from 'around here... when'. If that makes any sense."

The sphere was smoking, wisps of it washing off the large ball. She pointed, and offered, her suggestion sounded a little ... offhand. "Might want to get whatever is in there out? Just in case," Susan continued with a shrug, "it's actually on fire on the inside? If it's passenger, or passengers don't breathe the atmosphere, they're doomed either way... Where's Stephen?" She turned around, looking for the familiar figure. He should be awake-- how many times he'd wanted to go running in the damnable mornings?

[John]

[magicalelf]

"You think you should do that?"

John turned his head to look over at Susan and gave her a small grin and a shrug of one shoulder. "I was knocking, to see if anyone was home." His face grew serious and he gave a small nod, "I wouldn't have done it if I'd thought it posed even a small bit of risk to any of us, or to the rest of the Castaways. It gathered kinetic energy on it's way down through the atmosphere, yeah, but after crashing through the trees and landing in the shrubbery, a lot of that kinetic energy was burned off."

He looked back at the smoking ball, head tilted to the side in curiosity. He couldn't hear any sounds coming from the inside, no calls for help, no banging. There were also no high-pitched whines to announce any kind of impending explosion.

"Might want to get whatever is in there out? Just in case," Susan continued with a shrug, "it's actually on fire on the inside? If it's passenger, or passengers don't breathe the atmosphere, they're doomed either way... Where's Stephen?"

John nodded, "Yeah, was just thinking the same thing. After the landing this thing took, whoever's inside could be seriously hurt or rattled or both." He shoved the pulse pistol into the holster on his side and made his way toward the sphere, he held a hand out toward it, feeling for heat that should have been coming off the thing. Barreling through the atmosphere, it should have been glowing red.

"Huh," he said, resting his palm against the outer surface. "It's cool. And I don't mean in a hip and rad sort of way, either"

[Ten, Daniel]

[fikgirl]

Ten was not asleep when the pod appeared. After Martha drifted off to sleep and he confirmed that the sonic screwdriver would need more work before he could use it to monitor her temperature, and the rudimentary bioscanner he was working on needing more power and multiple refinements, he set off to find himself. He and Nine talked most of the night*, before the other returned to Rose, leaving The Doctor to make his way around the camp, getting to know the night owls, early risers, and those on various guard shifts**.

He talked to Daniel, asking questions about the Stargate Program - not because he didn't know about it, but because he wanted to hear about it from the archaeologist's perspective - and throwing out cryptic comments about the future of the program and its heroes, "provided that your timeline has some of the same pivotal moments as mine."

Morning was barely there when he felt it. That peculiar ripple across time and space that was bred into him. The Doctor barely turned to find the source when the sound of cracking branches and splintered trees reached the beach. He flowed to his feet and fell into step with several others running toward the source of the noise, Daniel among them.

"'Morning, Daniel," he greeted the man brightly, "Always this exciting around here?"

"Unfortunately. Yes." The man's reply was dry and deadpan.

They reached the pod-created clearing, several bodies gathered around the pod. The Doctor pushed forward into the throng. He actually remembered to give Rodney, Marcus and Susan a polite nod of recognition before producing the sonic screwdriver.

"No, it certainly is neither hip, rad nor phat," Ten agreed in response to the comment that the man made regarding the pod's lack of heat. "It didn't come through the atmosphere. It came through time." He didn't need the sonic screwdriver to tell him that, his Time Lord senses alerted him to that fact very easily. "Pushed through a void or wormhole most likely."

Ten checked the readings on the screwdriver, "No harmful radiation. Good thing, that. It's safe for you all to be about."

"It's a … time. Machine?" Daniel looked and sounded tired.

"Don't know for certain, but it's highly probable."

"Why am I not surprised?" Daniel muttered.

((OOC: *I have no idea what they talked about, purplerhino, but I figure that they would. We can RP it, or go over it in email.

**Also, if anyone on guard shift, or any of the night owls/early risers wants to have had a conversation with the Doctor, it can be arranged.))

[Aeryn & Marcus]

[tweets]

Aeryn had awaked just as John ran from the tent. She knew that John would be angry, but Aeryn was still a soldier, despite any condition that now existed. Moving swiftly, she pulled on a tee and her leather pants, grabbing the holster and her pulse pistol before moving from the tent.

She jogged along paths she'd travelled the previous night in her patrol, donning the belt and holster as she moved. Practiced and smooth, she made it look easy, but she'd had plenty of experience of getting ready for action at the drop of a hat.

She emerged into the clearing just as John tapped on the capsule and glared at him as he reapproached their group. Rash and impulsive as ever... but she couldn't remain mad as curiosity burned.

It was Marcus' voice, though, that cut through first. Thoughtful and pensive, he was cataloging the various one-manned shuttles and pods he knew. "Not Minbari, Centauri, Narn.. looks almost like the Pak'ma'ra shuttles" he shuddered at the thought there might be one of THOSE on the island. "Or maybe" he stopped, eyes widening. "No, it looks like one of those pods that we found." He stopped, stepping to fall back beside Susan, his denn'bok snapping open. "We found a few, deserted relics, but their tech was very different to the rest of the league. However, the creatures razed the settlements they attacked, before they self-destructed." A grim faced ranger was ready to defend his new friends, if needed.

(OOC: Marcus is talking about Drakh life pods. Their main ships are all rounded/tear drop shaped, so it stands to reason that their life pods are likely spherical.)

[McKay/Ivanova]

[lost_mckay]

Rodney looked up. Once again, the amount of energy that would be required to open a wormhole here... Well...

No, it wouldn't be hot, then, in any sense of the word. If the thing was a time-travelling device, then the amount of power it'd require would far surpass man-made fissionable material. It'd require, well.. a ZedPM, or the power supply that the TARDIS had, which was the morale equivalent of the Ancient device, only better.

He took what the Doctor said as a matter of course; though he wasn't all that sure about this one. He much preferred Nine, who was more than happy to sit down with him, discuss, debate, and help him work out the small issues that cropped up due to the gap in knowledge. But, as a whole, there was a reason why Rose had made so many little comments.. Rodney really liked the guy; beamed under his praise, and worked easily side by side, in a give and take.

"That would take an enormous amount of power..."

***

Susan looked at the Doctor and nodded, looking to the sphere again. "Could it have made it's own jump point-- wormhole?" It seemed awfully small to be able to do it, and, like the scientists, knew that it took a whole lot of power. Something small vessels tended not to have. At least, not in her experience. "It's too small."

Now, a lifepod, she could understand, even if it, too, was a little large. As Marcus counted off the different races, she shook her head, discounting one after the other. As he slowed, however, and took a stance, her brows rose in askance. This one, she hadn't heard of... even if it remained unnamed.

[Sam Tyler]

[starborn_scribe]

With the various aliens and people from the future tossing around unfamiliar names Sam suddenly sympathized with Chris, the Detective Seargent he'd known in 1973. Chris tried hard, but often seemed a little lost.

Sam felt a lot lost now.

Determined to do something useful, Sam slowly circled around the metal sphere. He looked for movement, markings, or anything unusual. (For a giant globe the fell from the sky.)

OOC: Would Sam find anything to report?

[The Usual Suspects]

[sinanju]

Blaise walked up to join the growing crowd, Oceanic 815 mug in hand. He had a P90 slung over his shoulder but it was habit more than anything else. He sipped at his coffee as he walked. He felt no need to hurry.

The pod or sphere or whatever didn't seem immediately dangerous. If it were he didn't doubt that the Doctor would be yelling at everyone to get back. From what he'd heard of Rose's stories, the Doctor wasn't shy about telling people to run for their lives in the situation called for it--and he assumed that that held for Ten as well.

"Jesus Christ!" George said, walking up beside him. She looked up at the sky. "You can stop now!" she called out, turning in a slow circle. "Really! There are enough people here, thanks!" That got a few chuckles.

George looked at Blaise. "I'm telling you, we should start charging admission. By the time we get off this damn island we'll all be rich."

Blaise waved his coffee cup at the sphere. "What makes you think there's someone inside that thing?"

George gave him a look that said Are you deranged? She opened her mouth to speak, but Daisy answered him. "Of course there's someone inside it."

Blaise felt an eyebrow rise. "What? You can tell? Is this some kind of Grim Reaper thing?"

Daisy laughed. "Don't be silly. Of course not. But the one constant on this island is that every time something even remotely resembling a vehicle appears on the island, there's someone on it or in it. Flight 815, Faith's plane, the TARDIS. The other TARDIS..." Daisy waved a manicured hand at the sphere. "This thing, whatever it is."

"I'll bet a day's chores," Daisy said, raising her voice, "that there's somebody inside it. A week's chores that this island is not where they intended to go. Any takers?"

[Mayday]

[weirdweb]

"Not taking that bet," May hollered from her perch in the trees high above the growing crowd. She'd gone to investigate the boom as soon as she'd heard it, but had stuck to the trees. Even now that it was clear that the sphere posed no immediate threat, she was still staying high up, wary of the crackle of electricity. She'd learned to steer clear of anything that might deliver an electric shock even before being dumped on the island.

What being shocked might do to her powers here... she didn't even want to contemplate that.

She hopped over to another branch and swung herself down to land on a bough that was only ten feet up - close enough to be heard, but still well clear of the sphere. "I'm gonna head back. Anybody not here that would be interested in this thing, or is the whole camp already out here?"

((OOC: Deliberately not mentioning Nine in case purplerhino wants to get him there.))

[Faith, Daniel]

[fikgirl]

"Past, present or future?" The loud BOOM woke Faith from what passed for a sound sleep for a Slayer. She'd rolled to her feet, knife in hand and lunged out of her shelter, topless, searching for the attacker. Fifteen seconds and a few cat calls later, Faith realized that the threat wasn't on the beach.

The Slayer immediately tugged on her tank top, braless, a pair of cut-off denim shorts, slid into her tennis shoes and took off at a sprint into the jungle. Now, she joined the growing group, full on investigative mode, more interested in the odd sphere than flirting with anyone on hand. Though she couldn't resist answering Daisy's bet.

"Betting that past is out, so we're talking present or future."

"When have you ever seen something like that in the present? Except, you know, on tv?" Hurley asked between pants. "Future."

"As fascinating as this dialogue is, maybe we should find out if anyone is inside?" Daniel asked, his voice tight and firm. Faith noticed that it softened as he looked toward May; the chastisement was clearly for her and Hurley. "Go and get the doctors. The medical doctors. Any of them you can find."

[Mayday] On it! (sort-of-redirect)

[weirdweb]

Glad for the excuse to get away from the sphere - the static electricity was still giving her the willies - May nodded. "On it, Boss," she replied, earning a sigh and an eye-roll from Daniel before swinging off into the trees towards camp.

((OOC: May reaches the camp in search of doctors down here.))

[Nine]

[purplerhino]

Nine had actually beeen... getting water. It was embarassingly domestic and annoying in the extreme, but it was his turn on the water rota, along with others.

Which left several bottles and containers sitting alone by the river by the time the noise hit.

"Let's see shall we?" Ten had scanned for radiation. Now he scanned for life signs.

"Give the ladies a prize. Single heartbeat fourty-five beats for minute. I say we take a look, eh?" He looked to Daniel, then Ten. "Shall we?"

[McKay]

[lost_mckay]

Rodney wanted to be part of the 'opening squad', his curiosity now piqued. He stepped forward with Nine at the invite of Daniel, and Ten, essentially inviting himself.

"Yes." As the three pair of eyes looked towards him, the scientist shrugged. "I want to see what's inside."

[Ivanova]

[lost_mckay]

Susan, for her part, had been suggesting opening up the sphere once she'd been assured by the two scientists that it probably would have been clear and okay to do it. With Marcus, Sam, then other obvious ... 'defenders' present-- the whole damned camp, really, she shrugged and took a step back. Show was over, as far as she was concerned, and she simply watched. And waited.