Lt Alex Storm - Tactical Perspective
Karen Morris
((Bridge, USS Artemis))
There was something out there, but whatever was out there wasn’t a ship.
Not exactly.
More like a phantom.
Alex’s jaw muscles tensed as her brain tried to process the information flickering across her console.
Storm: I’m not sure how to explain it better. Commander Jovenan, I’m sending you my sensor data to see if you can figure out what to make of it.
Jetripar: What could cause this?
Munro: The Atlas and the Prometheus are launching now.
Jovenan: The origin of the signal is artificial in nature, composed of typical spaceframe alloys. It has a gravimetric field displacement manifold, but its residual ion trail is not mimicking that of a ship. The estimated volume is within 0.75 to 3.5 cubic metres.
Jetripar: Is it at least in the direction we're going?
Munro: These readings don't make any sense. It's not a cloaked vessel, at that size. It might be a probe?
MacKenzie: Something designed to throw us off? Or something else?
Storm: If it’s meant to throw us off, it’s not succeeding. oO Yet.Oo
Jetripar: Well speed up then! Catch it! If we can't tell what it is from here, we surely can get closer. If it's my ship, there's no time to waste.
Munro: It's definitely not your ship. Unless your ship is the size of the chair you're sitting on.
MacKenzie: Patience is a virtue, Mr. Secretary. Any other observations we can make out from here?
Jovenan: I can verify it is not a ship. A cloaking device that is either malfunctioning or specifically tuned to do so can leak a ship’s mass and volume at a misrepresentative portion, but we keep getting very consistent dimensions, which wouldn’t happen if that was the case.
Storm: It could be that wherever it is out there is malfunctioning and not fulfilling its intended purpose.
Alex’s eyebrows wrinkled as if waiting for the readouts to morph into a form that she could recognize.
Jetripar: At the very least, can we try and see it with our own eyes, whatever it is?
Munro: We should intercept it in several minutes. The Atlas and the Prometheus are in a holding pattern, requesting to go to warp, Captain?
MacKenzie: ::waving a finger and nodding:: Tell them to get on with it. Helm, slow to warp 5.
Straightening, Alex swept the information off her screen. oO Let’s look at this as a whole instead of concentrating on the speck. Oo Her fingers zoomed her display out, looking at a much wider swath of space. As the Atlas and Prometheus jumped to warp, it stirred up some space dust. Alex cocked her head, and her fingers responded on her console. Her back straightened barely a fraction of an inch.
Storm: oO Huh Oo
Jetripar: Response
Munro: Secretary Jetripar, what do you know about Da'al surveillance probes?
Jetripar: Response
Jovenan: It would help to know if the object is Da’al or from someone else. It might not even have anything to do with the Afalqi.
oO Wait. Did I just see…? Oo The space dust seemed to have hit something before dissipating. She concentrated her scans on that area.
Splitting her console, Alex set half to monitoring the area around where the shuttles took off. On the other half, she focused on what she had observed moments earlier.
Storm: It’s also possible that whoever Havun was working with gave them that item as well. Just because it isn’t Da’al doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t have anything to do with the Afalqi.
Munro: It's sending a signal out :: sighs :: To a relay on Outer Seedea. The signal bounces from there.
MacKenzie: What kind of signal? Comms? Data?
Jovenan: Um… Inconclusive. It might not be either, in the strict sense. The level of uniformity of the signal would make it a poor method of transmitting anything meaningful.
Storm: Whatever transmission it’s sending, it appears to be repeating.
Jetripar/Munro: Response
MacKenzie: Do you suppose it's a signal of some kind?
Jovenan: Maybe, if its purpose is just to let the recipient know that the sender is still functional.
A smile tugged at the edges of Alex’s lips.
Storm: What do you think would happen if it weren’t still functional?
Jetripar/Munro: Response
MacKenzie: Is there a way we can disrupt the signal? Cut off... whatever it is and whatever it's sending?
Jovenan: We can intercept the signal and either block or bend it so that it doesn’t reach the relay… or we could just destroy the object. However, there’s a possibility that something happening to the object is the message the Afalqi is looking for.
Storm: But that might be exactly what we need. The likelihood that it would start a reaction might be beneficial. If that’s what the Afalqi is waiting for, we have two shuttles that are pursuing the other trails. One of us is likely to pick up on something.
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie: Response
Storm looked up, sensing surprise from somewhere on the bridge.
Jovenan: Captain, the signal has ceased. Neither the object nor the relay are transmitting any more.
Alex’s fingers flew across her console, double-checking readouts. Her head lifted and turned toward the Captain.
Storm: I can confirm.
The entire bridge’s focus had narrowed down to one infinitesimal spot. Was that their clue or their woman in the red dress?
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie: Response
Jovenan: Caught the object in sensors. Scanning for the internal composition. ::pause:: Um, it seems the probe is dead. I’m not sure if it suddenly broke down or if something initiated the self-destruct.
Storm: The internal mechanisms may not be functioning, but it is intact.
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie: Response
Storm: My biggest concern is that if we bring it aboard, we could be bringing on a Trojan Horse.
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie/Jovenan: Response
Alex’s eyes flicked back to the half of her screen where she had noticed something earlier. oO A figment of my imagination? Oo
Her gut roiled inside her. She spoke on instinct the last time, and if anything, it seemed to have sidetracked them. She swallowed hard.
oO If I were Havun, what would I be doing right now? Oo
Storm: If we look at this situation from a tactical perspective, Havun wants to get away, but he wants to do so stealthily. The easiest way to do that is to stay still.
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie/Jovenan: Response
Storm: If we pass him and our focus is out in front of us, he can sneak back in behind us and get away easily.
Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie/Jovenan: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2