THE “MIDNIGHT” PLANET – CHI CETI SYSTEM – The crew of the Arrow (NCC 69829) sought sanctuary on the jungle world known only to them as The “Midnight” Planet after being forced to leave the ship. Because of its peculiar spinning axis, it spends over three weeks at a period in complete darkness.
Against all odds and with no prospect of rescue, the crew was forced to fight for their lives against the darkness and the bizarre flora and fauna that had developed on the surface. Lieutenant JG Maria Alvarez proposed that an extensive network of bioluminescent fungus blanketed the tiny globe and that the planet communicated through its luminescent spores.
Her team, led by Lieutenant Commander Maz Rodan, tried to solve the mystery of bioluminescence by dubbing a species of fungal/insectoids the “fungaluffagi.”
Meanwhile, Captain Randal Shayne’s team, which included Lieutenant Commander Artinus Serinus, Lieutenant Commander Quentin Collins, and Lieutenant Commander R’Ariel, became significantly off course and at the mercy of flesh-eating vines and other creatures as they made their way to the camp.
“The most arduous task we have is one of morale.” From the community shelter, Chief Petty Officer Warren Osman, Ship’s Chef, said. “We have limited supplies and barely enough replicator power to reproduce ration packets. There are just so many things you can do with rations. I proposed mushroom soup, but it didn’t go down well with the staff.”
Chief Intelligence Officer Commander Ash MacKenna detected a spy in their midst in the shape of a new alien life form at the common shelter where most of the crew landed.
The species, known as the Zelph, disguised themselves for naked eye and tricorder scans. The reports of the Starfleet interlopers’ arrival baffled the semi-sentient mushroom culture, who thought of the visitors as inferior beings because they couldn’t interact with light.
The child-like Zelph, with the capacity to repair technology by zapping it with their own sort of bioluminescent energy, repaired the communication systems, allowing the Captain and the other teams to reassemble.
Rodan’s crew uncovered an unexpected discovery at the accident site. Amanda Crossley, a Starfleet Cadet on a training voyage with the Arrow who perished when her escape pod landed on the planet, returned from the dead, allegedly transformed by the planet’s fungal network.
Written by Maz Rodan
