Lt. Taelon - Hole or Vole?

[armiece]

D’Cyra had sat on the floor with her PADD as they discussed. A minute or two later she piped up, looking up at them with gleaming eyes.  

Varati: If only I had paid more attention in Professor Glaßner's lecture... Let's do two things: First, a Magneton scan to detect subspace fractures. To be on the safe side, we need to send one of the drones there to check whether the Tetryon decay rate decreases near a potential fracture. Only then can we be sure that they are indeed subspace fractures.

Taelon: How fast are the station’s sensor drones?

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

Taelon nodded; they’d likely lose the units, but in the end, they were mindless metal. Better those than people.

Taelon: Then let’s do it. We have ten minutes before the first waves reach us - let’s use the time we have.

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

The drones were quickly fired off in the storm’s direction. In the lab, they appeared on the maps and scans as small little blips - tiny points of light heading towards the storm. And they made it seem so very, very big…

The furthest out buoys were still transmitting, but as the storm began to wash over them, their data scrambled and came back as a series of errors and strange readings.

Taelon: Alright - Computer, disregard the data from buoys 2, 3, and 7. Full magneton scan.

It chimed its understanding, the data flowing across the lab’s various screens.

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

The imaging updated hurriedly, and somehow seeing the storm made it worse, made it clear how small this station really was in the face of it. But the drones and the scans filled in data, and -

Taelon: What is that?

He pointed to the display. Amid the wavefronts, the crackle of the subspace fractures was clear - and no sensor error. And amid the bands of the storm, strange object-like blips…

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

Taelon: …well, the last time I saw anything like that, they were…ships…

Iko: =/\= Bec to ::slight smile:: Chief petty Officer Barberra. =/\=

The commbadge’s chirp cut off that grim recollection.

Barberra: =/\= Response =/\=

Iko: =/\= $%@#, uhm. What levels do you guys need, what levels can I seal off? There’s bloody Voles eating engineering. =/\=

Whatever the hell was going on, the commbadge picked up phaser fire. Taelon looked at the science team with a shocked, confused expression. Then he had to make an executive decision, and fast.  

Taelon: =/\= We’re going to be heading to the Habitat shortly, so I think we can do without those levels. Um, maybe vent the engineering section? We’ve got - um, we have bigger issues, I think… =/\=

He wasn’t sure if they could vent the compartment, but a single floor-wiping event seemed the best solution to him. They didn’t have the time or personnel to do much else, in his opinion.

And he was looking at the drone scans, the massive, twisting cloud coming their way. Amity was a spec in comparison.

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: =/\= Response =/\=

Iko: =/\= Good luck. And make sure there’s no Hirogen or anything hiding in there too. =/\=

Goddesses, he hoped not. He turned to the team, face grim.

Taelon: Well, um, voles aside - Varati, get me as much as you can about those anomalies. Barberra - some phasers might not hurt, from the sound of it? And, um, Galanis - get me the projected course of the wavefronts. Hopefully, um, we can have that help brace the station for the worst of it…

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

He leaned over the imaging console, ARIA’s datastream active and flowing. The subspace fractures were issues on their own, but any sort of solid objects carried by the storm was, in a way, worse.

The station’s relative size to the storm actually helped there, though - the likelihood of any solid object hitting the shieldless station was low, given the vast spaces between them.

Low. But not zero. And a rock just a foot across, travelling at millions of miles an hour, would punch through the hull plating like a bullet through paper.

Taelon: Does this station have armaments? Torpedoes?

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response

Taelon: No, I - just a thought. What do the scans look like, Varati? Galanis?

Barberra/Galanis/Varati: Response



Lieutenant Taelon (Guest)
Science Officer
USS Gorkon
O239303T10