Ensign Tho’Bi - Seeds and Ladders

[Tobi]

((Skipped the kids/parents bit as Tho'Bi would think it best to give them space))

((Computer Core - Sub Levels, Boraxian Vessel 'New Hope'))

The steady vibration of the Boraxian Warp Core pulsed through the decking of the hexagonal Computer Core chamber. It was gravelier than that of a Starfleet Vessel, a quiet grind due to the impurities in the Boraxian Deuterium supply. The chamber felt almost empty without the three children and their parents.  

Only one parent remained, a Boraxian named Salia; he and Lieutenant Commander Silveira were discussing a more direct route to the Seedery.

In the meantime, Ensign Meris had an interesting theory regarding the children's games and puzzles.

Meris: ::to Tho'Bi:: Those games the children had been locked out of - I know some games intended for youth contain a communications component that allows you to talk to other players. Is it possible that Dariell was using one of those games as a means to communicate with someone off the ship and had the children locked out so that his usage would go undetected?

Tho’Bi: I can not speak to the tactical aspect, but it is technically possible. 

Storm: Response 

Meris: Would there be a log of those game communications that we could access?

The Andorian’s fingers moved across the PADD, accessing sub-menu and system folder.

Tho'Bi: ::looking at PADD:: The games share a common communication application.

The Andorian broke off. Paler, but better, fingers inputted a series of commands and then repeated the exact same series.

Tho'Bi: ::looking at PADD:: Strange. Access to the games was denied ::beat:: but not the Communication Application. ::looks up from PADD:: Anyone could access it from any deck, but… ::tilts head one way then other:: only if they knew how to access it directly via sub-systems.

Storm: Response  

With a tap of a paler, but better, finger, a protracted drift of overlapping ultra high frequency melodies emanated from the PADD. Had it not been for his antennae, the Andorian would not even have been aware of them.  

Tho'Bi: Ensign Meris, your instincts were correct ::nods:: the communication application was used and these are the logs ::looks around the apparently empty air:: The sound is similar to the… melodies Dariell created when operating the Control Consoles.

The Andorian Engineer was uncertain as to whether his fellow Starfleet crewmembers believed and/or understood what he was referring to.

Tho'Bi: I can sense the melodies, but I can not understand them. I… ::shrugs:: I am not gifted at languages ::smiles sheepishly:: I took Graalen* as my… alien language at the Academy. ::turns to Storm:: With your permission, Lieutenant, I will transmit the recordings to Artemis for a linguistic expert to decipher.

*Graalen is the language of the Andorians.  

Storm: Response 

Tho'Bi: Aye, Aye, Lieutenant. ::taps inputs into PADD:: Transmission sent ::bows::

Meris: If Dariell was using the games as a cover for covert communication, perhaps we can identify if someone else helped them set it up. Could the system show us who first restricted access to the games?

Paler, but better, fingers flashed across the PADD. A dull flat tone emanated from the PADD. Fingers tried again. The same dull flat tone again.

Tho'Bi: ::looking at PADD:: Whoever restricted access used an anonymous command code ::nods in direction of where the children had been:: like the children. ::looks up:: But i can tell you where the code was inputted ::beat:: the bridge. 

Storm/Meris: Response 

((OOC: Given I'm under strict instructions to limit my use of NPCs, there was no practical way to write the scene with Salia. Instead, I've skipped ahead to arriving in the Seedery and added a short exposition to explain the history and use of ladder tubes; assuming this information was conveyed by Salia to Lieutenant Commander Silveira.))

((Ladder Tube - Direct Route to Seedery, Boraxian Vessel ‘New Hope‘))

The Boraxian named Salia had provided Lieutenant Commander Silveira with a more direct route to the Seedery; a ladder tube that cut straight down through a central support column to the Seedery.  

Evidently, ‘New Hope’ had not been used for solo voyages in deep space for decades; and so, there was no use for the Seedery, or the Transport Capsules that served it. While getting the Seedery back up and running had been a priority, the Transport Capsules had not.  

The use of ladder tubes dated back to the earliest days of life in space. Nowadays, their use was limited to maintenance and emergency access; and even then, only on the oldest of vessels. 

The climb down proved a taxing, but manageable fifteen to twenty minutes. As the young Engineer neared the end of their climb down, the light became brighter and more diffused. The Andorian’s antennae sensed a gradual change in the movement of the air, from the regimented flow of spacecraft to the unsettling, as he found it, ebb and flow of a breeze.

((The Seedery - Boraxian Ship ‘New Hope’))

The ladder tube opened up onto a cramp hexagonal platform of rusted out grating, hanging from the ceiling, high above the open space of the Seedery. Ladder tubes junctioned off each of the small platform's six sides and stretched out across the ceiling of the massive sub-chamber. At the center of the platform, directly below the access ladder tube, the decking housed a separate hexagonal piece. This piece formed the floor of a simple one-person elevator that ran on a set of six mechanical rails straight down to the Seedery below.

From the lofty vantage point of the platform, the Andorian Engineer snapped open his Engineering Tricorder and swept it around, scanning the cathedral-like space.

Tho'Bi: ::excited:: The Seedery extends to the full length and breadth of the hull ::sweeps Tricorder upwards:: and is equal to… twelve decks in height. 

A fine mist hung in the air, creating a haze that obscured the structural limits of the cathedral-like space. Droplets of moisture clung to a thick dark green algae that coated the ceiling and extended as far as the eye could see. 

 

Silveira/Storm/Meris: Response 

The Tricorder chirped and beeped. 

Tho'Bi: ::smiles:: The Boraxians are using excess heat from their Warp Core and the cold of space to generate an artificial breeze.

Silveira/Storm/Meris: Response 

Crisscrossing the upside-down carpet of damp green, irregular, unrefined lines of warm metallic glow spanned the massive chamber; casting an ever-shifting luminance of gold to bronze, then copper, followed by silver, then platinum, and finally brass, whereupon it returned to gold.

Tho'Bi: ::nodding:: I understand now why Dariell refused the filter to purify their Deuterium supply ::looks around:: The Boraxians are using their Warp Core to filter out the impurities ::beat:: after the Deuterium has burned off in the form of plasma, the impurities are all that remains.

Below his feet, through the dirty orange of the rusted platform grating, the Andorian could see rows of plant life in various stages of growth. 

Tho'Bi: ::looking down:: Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, even Sodium ::looks up:: all used here ::beat:: nothing is wasted.

Silveira/Storm/Meris: Response 

Between the rows of plantlife, simple single track rails ran up and down the length of the cathedral-like space. Upon the rails, hexagonal containers travelled on a set of four loops, wrapped around the rail, and located on the container's bottom tip. The containers were locked into place on these loops by way of a foot-switch mechanism; this allowed an operator to tip and then tighten the containers with a simple kick of the foot.

Tho'Bi: ::grinning:: There is such elegance to their engineering.

As well as the system of rails and hexagonal containers, the lush green space was peppered with the occasional small single story construction, tanks of an unidentifiable purple liquid, an assorted collection of seed silo and hexagonal containers of freshly picked plant life stacked at the foot of mechanical six-rail lifts, ready for loading and transport to the various levels of the ship.

A handful of Boraxians could also be seen, scattered about the rows of plantlife. 

Silveira/Storm/Meris: Response 

TAGS/TBC

—————————

Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11