Lt Alex Storm - What If There's Another Way?
Karen Morris
(( Bridge - Deck 01 - USS Artemis-A ))
Alex’s finger tapped along the side of her console as she scrutinized the readouts. An odd sensation poked at the back of her mind… a familiarity. Whether it was the types of cannons, or a presence, or a situation, she wasn’t sure. Setting it aside, she focused on what she did know.
Storm: I’m not sure we can safely get into transporter range, and unless we come up with a really good distraction, we aren’t likely going to get a shuttle past them either.
Jovenan: Could we cooperate with the Nascaik to get our team there?
The Artemis slipped through the space. The planet on the viewscreen continued - not so much to grow - but to consume the viewscreen’s space. As the computer zoomed in, the Nascaik ship was seen in a high orbit around the planet.
MacKenzie: We may well have to - what does the infrastructure on the surface look like? Are we looking at something elaborate here?
Jovenan: The structure is rather expansive underground, and it has portions that are more heavily shielded than the others. The energy output is large considering the relatively small people currently there. Based on the accumulation of radon and its decay products, I’d say it’s decades old and has been abandoned for a large portion of it.
Storm: But the superstructure itself looks relatively unguarded if we could get to it.
MacKenzie: So the infrastructure likely isn't theirs, but simply acquired for their purposes...
Jetripar: I still can't help but wonder who the "they" is.
Munro: :: almost to herself :: There's still so much we don't know.
Storm: There are other reasons that they might have a large power output compared to the number of people. Saying that they took this place over is an assumption that I don’t think we can safely make.
Jovenan: Captain, I’m receiving theta-band radiation decay particles in ranges that… I don’t have definitive proof, but they could be a by-product of experiments into thalaron technology.
The words blanketed the area more than settled. A cold, damp feeling slipped around Alex’s shoulders, and she visibly shuddered.
When life gets slippery, thoughts easily collide into something else.
A pause.
Alex’s fingers keyed in a code to the console, accessing - not files - but lists of messages.
The ones you write with the most care and pray that they never get sent.
The easy ones … and the terrifying ones alike.
That particular one was still in the queue if she were ever lost. She flicked the list closed.
MacKenzie: Theta band? Based on the rate of decay, are you able to tell me how recently?
Raising her eyes to Jovenan, she asked with a careless ease - which to Alex herself - betrayed the gravity of the situation.
Storm: How far can Thaleron radiation travel? How much of the starsystem could we lose?
Jovenan: Response
MacKenzie: Well, that certainly escalates things. If they have access to any kind of thalaron technology, we're in more trouble than just the Afalqi.
Jetripar: Thalaron? This is something entirely outside of my knowledge. I fear that I am of little help here.
Munro: It's a form of radiation :: pauses :: It's very destructive, it destroys organic matter at a :: swallows :: At a scale you don't want to think about. You might have read about the attack on Romulus over twenty years ago. The Romulan Senate attack before the fall of the empire. How is it they have it? It's -
Munro: I thought they had rooted out all sources of it? Is this a potential source that was missed?
Storm: If it's used once, and people know it’s possible…
Jovenan: Response
MacKenzie: Jovenan, I need your best guess from this range about what kind of tech we might be looking at and where in the complex it's concentrated. Any kind of thalaron generator is going to put out an enormous amount of energy.
Jovenan: Response
MacKenzie: Commander, Lieutenant, what's the best, safest way down? Bonus points for discretion.
Munro: Captain. I've been reviewing the planetary defence system and cross referencing with Jovenan’s updated information on the complex. I would say that it's all a show. All bark, no bite as they say on Earth. The reason that Lt. Storm couldn't identify them was they're something the Orion Syndicate would have sold in the 2360s.
Alex’s mouth opened and closed. She looked at Munro and then at Mackenzie, her brows furrowing, and several beads of perspiration formed on her brow.
Storm: Commander, are we comfortable risking the Artemis and her crew or a conflict with the Nascaik on an assumption?
The question was to the Commander, but Alex turned to the Captain. It wasn’t her call or Munro’s, it was MacKenzie’s.
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar: Response
Munro: These require a significant power source to function. A power source that this planet does not have. Not now anyway.
Alex’s voice softened. She didn’t want her words to come across as a challenge. She respected Munro too much for that, but she felt it was something that needed to be considered. She was there to serve the Captain and point out all possibilities - just like Munro was doing.
Storm: Commander, ::Looking back at MacKenzie:: Captain, they could have individual shielded power sources.
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar: Response
Munro: That means we're looking at four cannons around the perimeter that would have any chance of an energy source and their capabilities would be limited. Meaning, factoring in terrain and distance, the only possible transport points are here, and here. Otherwise we'll be detected.
Storm: I fully admit, I may be wrong in the matter, but, Captain, what if there’s another way?
Alex continued watching Mackenzie.
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar: Response
Storm: You asked for options - the best, safest way down - I believe is how you put it. What if we used a little sleight of hand?
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar/Munro: Response
Storm: We just need to get close enough to beam a team down, right?
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar/Munro: Response
Storm: What if we launched a microprobe programmed to relay the transporter signals from the Artemis to the ground. It’s small enough that if we get into a ::air quotes:: shouting match with the Naiscaik, it might go unnoticed. They wouldn’t likely even know what we did.
Jovenan/MacKenzie/Jetripar/Munro: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2