From October 29 through November 20 (in our future), I survived here, in this place (above), completely alone -- just me, the wind, the storms, and a few small animals. This is the planet I arrived on after I stepped through the "Iconian Gateway". This was my home for three weeks.
In fact, as of today -- November 8, 2364 -- the past version of me is still struggling to survive on that planet. He won't make it back to Iconia for another another twelve days. On that day, he will discover an ancient stone artifact that refers to itself as "The Guardian of Forever". That abandoned artifact has the capability to communicate, but it also has the ability to send people through time. The past me will discover that if he steps through the Guardian, he can travel into the past, and escape that planet. When he does step through the Guardian, he will arrive back on Iconia, ten days ago, where he became the me now writing this.
I survived for three weeks -- into our future, and I escaped back to the past. I would not be here today, if it wasn't for that strange, stone artifact that called itself "The Guardian of Forever."
Now, you're probably wondering, am I going to show photos of this Guardian? Unfortunately, no. I did take a digital camera with me on the away team down to Iconia, and I still had it when I stepped through the "Iconian Gateway", but the power cell had been drained by the time I found the Guardian, three weeks later. The photos, in this post, were taken before my camera lost power. I can tell you, though, that the "Guardian of Forever" was a big flat stone with a circular hole carved through it, and that hole was the portal through which I traveled. The stone glowed from internal colored lights when it was activated, and the entire artifact was surrounded by ancient ruins that were likely thousands of years old.
This photo (above) shows the desolation of the plateau/hills that I called home. The grass, for as far as I could see, was a rich golden color, and in the past few thousand years, it had grown over, and covered, the ruins of a vast city that once existed there. This is an up-close view of some of those ruins. This was just one building, though. There were ruins everywhere. You can see some of the other ruins in the background.
Here is another photo of the ancient hills I called home. Notice the stone wall in the middle of the image, on top of a rectangular platform? There were quite a few of these platforms, and hundreds of walls all over the place -- most of them buried over the years. If I hadn't been trapped on this planet, and preoccupied with surviving, this would have been an archaeological gold mine.
If you look closely in this image (above), you'll also see a distant area of caves in the hillside. That was is the area where I found shelter. I lived in a cave, within that hillside, for three weeks.
In fact, this cave (above) is the cave I lived in. Thousands of years ago, this was probably someone's home. The cave was clearly dug out out the rock, and you can see the back of the cave in the center of this image. This photo was taken before I made the back of that cave my survival residence. I brought in a few rocks for "furniture", made a grass mat to sleep on, and set up a fire pit at the mouth of the cave. It wasn't as comfortable as my quarters here aboard the Enterprise, but it kept me out of the storms that frequently passed over these hills.
The green moss on the cave wall was actually edible. I have my tricorder to thank for that analysis. Of course, my tricorder lost power by the end of those three weeks as well, but it did help me determine what was edible and available to eat before it died. Some of the grass, and a few flowers that I found, were edible, and I even managed to catch a few small animals and fish (from the nearby ocean). In fact, oddly enough, those small animals were almost identical to rabbits and groundhogs on Earth. Even the fish reminded me of Earth species.
The temperatures on this planet were usually brisk, with strong winds whipping up every once in a while. It got cold at night, and my uniform rarely kept me warm, but I did discover that when the grass was woven tightly together, it provided reasonably good insulation. I would have greatly preferred a Starfleet excursion jacket, though. Grass only goes so far when it comes to clothing.
This image (above) shows the edge of the hilly plateau I lived on. You'll notice the cliffs that drop down to sea level. Those cliffs surrounded most of the terrain I was on, and were incredibly steep in most places. I did manage to find my way down to the bottom, although, there wasn't much down there other than a vast and almost endless black sand beach. The ocean itself was, maybe a mile away, at best. Whenever I went fishing, it took the better part of a day just to walk there and back. Thankfully, a little stream near by cave provided most of my fresh water.
When I did make to down to the ocean, I discovered impressive waves, and plenty of snow-white foam. The undertow from the waves constantly crashing onto the shore, were too powerful to swim in, but they did bring in small fish that made fishing relatively easy. Whatever fish I didn't catch were washed back into the sea when the waves retreated.
The sand on that beach was like nothing I have ever seen. In fact, it was less like sand, and more like tiny round, black pebbles. Whenever the white sea foam washed over them, it created a stunning interaction of black and white mixing together. I spent two or three days just walking along that beach, marveling at the beauty of the surf. It almost made me forget that I was trapped there, and I would probably be trapped there for the rest of my life.
Of course, I was lucky. I found the "Guardian of Forever", and I made it back home. I even brought back a handful of those little black pebbles -- as a momento of my time spent there.
My three weeks, on that planet, were frightening, and awe-inspiring at the same time. I don't know who made the Guardian, or the ancient city around it. I don't know where that planet is located. I don't even know if anyone else from the Federation will ever find it again. But I do know that we live in a vast universe of mysteries that we cannot imagine. I found one of those mysteries, through a physics-defying Iconian portal, and I made my way home through the mind-boggling time portal of another civilization. I've had my adventure....
Now, I am deeply relieved to be back home aboard the Enterprise.
-Lieutenant Sam Archer
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November 8, 2364 -- (Original Devron Timeline)