#entr-starter

Ksad'jha'jhwi had reached the time of gathering again. Perhaps ksad was getting old, ksad did not remember needing to eat as much as ksad did now. Of course there were many more creatures reliant on ksad now than there had been several cycles ago. ksads neighbor had also died recently leaving many to flee the harsh temperatures of the surface to her,so perhaps it was understandable after all. ksad gathered the moving roots to her long stalks  and focused her heat temporarily on the tips. When the hard exoskeleton of the tips were sizzling with warmth the other creatures gathered at ksads center to avoid them uprooting their families, for safety. Ksad always tried to impart to them how dangerous it was to live near ksads sight, but they seemed to find comfort near the thick petals. Ksad had also not moved the stalks for most of these short lived creatures lives it was understood.

 Ksad'jha'jhwi waited for the all of the creatures to move before sending the stalks through to the cold surface. A few of the old pathways were only blocked by a few meters of ice but many had collapsed and needed to be re-navigated. Ksad tunneled through to the surface only to be surprised. Things moved and ran quickly about away from her stalks. They were making vibrations from what ksad recognized as eating receptacles like some of the creatures did but there was no meaning behind it. For a brief moment ksad thought them to be roots but there were no connections between the odd things. Ksad unfurled the leaves allowing the roots to fall to the ground. ksad could feel now that the vibrations were much more varied than thought but were still incomprehensible though perhaps more so now.

The trip down to the planet was silent. He didn't want to think so much, but he had no choice. He couldn't stop. Lee zoned out and retreated into his own head, his body finally feeling the full weight of gravity pull on him. He was used to the throbbing pain in his leg now and despite the shuttle-craft life support systems being nice and warm; he still felt cold.

The last time he had felt even close to this was from the destruction of his workplace the year before. The small list of survivors had no where near resembled the list of the dead and those left, were separated by politics and bloodthirsty media.  Here he was sure, almost sure at least, that everyone had had a fair chance to get out but he also knew that circuits had fried. Some doors just hadn't opened. He knew the minute the last of the life support was truly done on the ship and The Enterprise had become a completely lifeless shell. He had been counting silently to himself and sighed.

Lee wanted to sleep. Forever if it was possible. He wouldn't find any rest though,he knew. This shouldn't have happened. Just kept playing over and over in his head.

He was only aware they had even been close to the planet when the shuttle hit the surface. His own comm had actually burned out from all of the extra strain he had put on it , so he borrowed Sulus  to COMM for a medic while they put on winter gear. The black undershirt had long since lost any warmth it had retained from him and he was already shivering underneath the thick coat. He nodded and smiled slightly at Chekov and Sulu as they checked on him before they went to set up a shelter.

He couldn't even do that much. Someone came by fast enough and led him to a nearly empty shelter. He could tell at least one of the other beds would be occupied but honestly didn't care who it was. The nurse that had helped him was talking and was expecting an answer. he blinked. " Ah I'm sorry, what did you say?"

She looked at him with a critical eye before she talked again." I will be with you soon. I don't dare try to give you anything without a thorough looking over. Someone will come back shortly to look you over, alright? No moving!"