The Tuatha

Posted on Tue May 13th, 2025 @ 5:13pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Inara Senn & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Lieutenant JG Benjamin "Ben" Dalton

1,935 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Cead Mile Failte
Location: USS Washington/Planet

Shran entered the transporter room and found Deanna already waiting. "Good, I'm not the first to arrive. I trust you have given the coordinates to the chief."

"Ready when you are" the chief said.

Ben entered next and blew a sigh of relief that he wasn't the last one to report. He had his tricorder, clutched in his hand. "Captain, Commander." He greeted both dutifully.

Inara waited with her arms folded. Silently. Examining all involved.

Phoenix entered the transporter room with light haste. He wasn't rushing, but he felt like he needed to be in the room sooner rather than later. He nodded a greeting to the Chief before turning to his superiors. "Sirs" he greeted simply.

"There is only one reason, and one reason alone, that I am this enthusiastic about this away mission. There is something on this planet that is dampening the rather unpleasant tidal forces that should be creating tidal waves one hundred meters tall, and we should be seeing massive tectonic shifts. So far none of those." She mentioned.

"Latest readings indicate that the core fragment isn't affecting anything in the system. Not so much as a stray electron or an increase in rad levels. I've heard of the luck of the Irish, but I think that this takes it to a new level" Deanna replied.

Sam trotted in, characteristically late but never more than a minute or so. She took her place and readied herself for transport.

"Let's get down there and check things out" Shran stated emphatically. Everyone got up onto the transporter.

"Energize" Deanna ordered. The away team dematerialized and a moment later they materialized in the middle of what looked like a village out of the history books of Earth. Stone buildings built into green hills, stone streets with people walking about, some pushing about small carts while others were in wagons. In the distance the sound of the ocean crashing against the rocky shore echoed through the area, mixing with the sounds of people hustling and bustling about and certain animals roaming, notably sheep.

"Jaysus. It is like I am back home" Aidan announced.

Ben was busy with his tricorder getting data on their surroundings. He was eager to get some samples but first things first and was to make their introductions to whomever was in charge.

"Well at least we're not down neck deep in a bunch of space nazis this time. And I don't have to speak German, and they're not hailing Hitler... Yet." Inara flipped out her tricorder with a practice flourish and flipped it open. "And yes, these are most certainly domesticated sheep." Inara mentioned.

"This is like being in a small village back home. All they need in the occasional shuttle flying overhead and an update on the clothing a few centuries and I'd swear I was back home in Ireland" Aidan stated.

"This does look strangely like Ireland" Ayana noted as she looked around, getting a lay of the land.

"Our hosts are approaching" Deanna noted.

Shran walked forward and greeted Maeve, "This looks like quite a peaceful and serene locale. I would hate for anything to happen to it by the incoming core fragment."

Maeve smiled. "You seem so concerned about that. You really ought to enjoy all we have to offer here. All will be well. Please, come with me and we will show you around."

"Do you have any idea what's in your outer system? It's the remnant of a supernova. A fragment of stabilized neutronium approximately 24 kilometers across, created when a star collapses under its own weight, and it does not have enough mass to create a black hole. But it does have enough gamma and neutron radiation to kill every living thing on this planet, even the cockroaches." Inara explained. "But based on your smiles, I believe suicide is in style in Space Ireland." She noted with no diplomatic filter installed in her whatsoever.

James winced internally at Inara's comment. He knew that she was right and she had every right to feel suspicious, especially after that last mission. Everything here felt peaceful despite the core fragment. But for Phoenix it didn't feel eerie like the German colony. He didn't necessarily feel safe, and he kept watching the groups six in case it was too good to be true, but the colony and people down here weren't the cause of it. It weirdly put him at ease.

Maeve continued to walk as she replied to Inara, "You look around here and you assume we are some sort of primitives. We may not have the same technology as you, but we are in no danger whatsoever here. We have not been in danger for a very long time. We have stories about when our people we in danger, long ago, when various groups made attempts against our people to subdue us. People like the Welsh, the Romans, Saxons, Norse. They would come to our old home and make war with us, enslave children and women, rape women, kill the men. But here, here we are safe. Dagda, he will not let anything happen. Nor will Danu, or Arianrhod. Perhaps if you stay here long enough you will understand."

Shran listened intently before speaking. When he heard the names, he desperately hoped they had not stumbled upon what he feared. "Dagda, Danu, Arianrhod, these are your leaders, your kings and queens perhaps?"

"No" Maeve replied simply.

Deanna scanned everything as quickly as she could as they made their way through the streets of the village. She looked out as they came into a clearing, a castle roughly 100 meters from them, and in a field to the west, a large somewhat ornate hill. She nudged Aidan, "Look over there. Is that what I think it is?"

Aidan looked over at the hill and then smiled. "Back home the more superstitious folk would say it is a fairy mound."

"That is what I was afraid you might say" Deanna replied.

Sam showed a healthy level of skepticism without appearing rude. She looked at her tricorder with interest and heading for the mound of Earth. "It just looks like a mound...with some mushrooms and a weirdass looking flower on top." She shrugged.

Ben's eyes lifted from his tricorder and widened as he saw the mound. "A fairy mound." He announced as he looked to Sam. "They are homes to the fairies and other supernatural creatures or...." He paused before he said the rest, "or portals to the Otherworld."

Inara sighed and shook her head. "Captain... with respect, can we leave this place and go meet normal people somewhere? Or places without creepy mounds of dirty with weird flowers and mushrooms?"

"Doctor, I wouldn't recommend getting too close to that fairy mound" Deanna cautioned.

Shran looked back at Inara, "Normal is a matter of perspective. When you joined StarFleet, you were promised the opportunity to explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations. Such is the case here."

"Please, for your safety, back away from the fairy mound. I do not wish to have the fairies view you as hostile" Maeve said to Sam.

"Doctor Howard for your own safety back away from the fairy mound. Do as the young lady asks." Ben gently urged the CMO.

"Better do it sawbones. I'm beginning to realize who's behind all this Lucky Charms BS." Inara mentioned.

Maeve looked at Inara, "You have used that term lucky charms before. Might I inquire the meaning of it?"

Shran gave a look at Inara, hoping she might attempt diplomatic restraint.

"It's a cereal...." Inara deflected and began using her tricorder.

Ayana broke ranks and moved to pull Sam away. She was determined to not allow anything to happen to anyone on this away mission, especially after the experience of the last.

"But fairies are...." Sam started before she remembered that she was indeed on a foreign planet and that these people may very well believe fairies were real when she was damned certain otherwise. She looked at the mound and back to the landing party with a question in her eyes. Tricorder out she was still taking readings.

"Doctor, I think it would be in your best interest not to say anything else." Ben spoke noticing the looks on the surrounding crowd's faces. They were not happy campers, and their anger was directed at the CMO.

Suddenly little lights sprung from the mound and swirled around her before her tricorder suddenly began to fizzle and pop in an apparent overload. The little lights then began to float about with the sound of laughter audible.

As Ayana rushed to Sam to pull her away from the mound, Deanna scanned the lights with her tricorder. "Fascinating" she murmured. "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. They are alive, actual fairies."

"Saints preserve us, the old stories are true" Aidan quipped.

"I suggest we move along before they decide to be more than just a tad bit mischievous" Maeve stated calmly.

"I think that is a good idea, Doctor." Inara handed her a hand phaser. "This sounds like what happens when Away team missions go to hell."

"Put that away. We are still here on a diplomatic and scientific mission" Shran stated sternly.

"Um, Mistress Maeve, you wouldn't happen to have ruins nearby, would you? Likely castle ruins." Aidan asked nervously.

"Yes, to the north. A few miles outside the walls of this town" Maeve replied.

"Something you want to tell us lieutenant? Ayana questioned as she brought Sam back to the group.

"Just thinking about stories I heard as a child. Fairies living in the ruins of old castles, leprechauns, even the old tales of the Otherworld. When people disappeared long ago in Ireland, it was often thought they were taken there. It was believed the Otherworld was another dimension, but what if it was merely a wormhole that linked part of our world to another."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow and looked at Aiden. "If a portal were to exist, could it be linked to this world?"

Sam meanwhile was still dumbfounded. Her tricorder had frizzled, and her hands still tingled from where she was holding it. Her brain struggled with the concept that on this planet, fairy tales might just be real.

Aidan looked to Phoenix, "From what I know, I think so. I'm no expert in quantum entanglement and all that you might need to know regarding such things, but from an evidence perspective, it would track."

Deanna could sense the disbelief and confusion in Sam. She made her way over to Sam and whispered, "With all the things we have seen over the years, is it so hard to believe that fairies might be real? We've encounter entities that apparently took the form of deities, met mirror universe versions of ourselves, and even seen the captain smile, so maybe anything really is possible in this magnificent universe after all."

"Let's avoid these mounds for now. Scan them from a distance, learn what you can, but let's not risk unnecessarily. We have a mystery to solve already; I don't want us to create more mysteries. Assume all legends, myths, and every bit of folklore you may have every heard is real for the time being" Shran offered. "Now, let's go to this castle, greet whomever we need, and then perhaps check out these ruins and see if we can learn anything more about the greater mystery. That core fragment isn't slowing down, and we only have so much time to figure this all out."


TBC

 

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