LtCmdr Jovenan – I don’t know much about this Havun guy, but he really likes leaving weird technology in our way
Jovenan
((Bridge, USS Artemis))
“Incompetent”, that seemed to be the Secretary’s evaluation of Mr Havun. Jovenan didn’t know how much of that stance saw its origin arise from the Chief Engineer’s suspected crime and how much from the honest opinion from the years of cooperation. However, seeing how the hijackers had once again managed to hinder their investigation before even they had even seen the other ship, she was leaning towards believing the assessment false. The Afalqi was escaping them or finding a place to hide, while they were stuck there, discussing options that would serve them better than flipping a coin between the trails to follow.
Jovenan: The Afalqi and its decoys have considerable headstart, but with our and the Argos’ sensors, we can negate a large portion of it. With their speed, the Argos would be able to reach a negative recognition in… two hours or less. The Artemis takes significantly less. Assuming the decoys don’t have other means to manipulate their signature.
Jetripar: I have immense confidence in your abilities.
Jovenan: There’s also the possibility that if either of the Argos find the Afalqi, the Artemis needs to turn around to come face the Afalqi and help our transport. The further we’re apart, the longer it takes for the assistance to arrive.
Not much had was known about the weapons the Afalqi might have acquired since leaving the docks, but Jovenan doubted that either of their smaller crafts could force the thieves and their possible benefactors into surrender.
MacKenzie: Is there any way to calculate how far off course we'd be if we chose the wrong path, and how much longer it might take for us to regroup with either of the shuttles if they find the Afalqi first?
Storm: According to my numbers, if the Artemis slows down to warp 5 and we send out the Atlas and Prometheus at warp 7.5, and if the false trail or trails are lost within the first hour that the shuttles are out, we stand to put ourselves in the best position to catch the culprits, no matter which way they go.
There was also the possibility that one of the transports reached the end of the fake trail before the other, in which case the mathematical solution of the Monty Hall problem suggested they should switch to the trail the other Argo was following instead of attempting to reach the end of the one they had picked first. However, considering that even some actual mathematicians had been confused by the unintuitive solution at first, Jovenan could only hope that they didn’t happen to face that scenario or that the Captain remembered her maths classes.
Munro: :: nods :: A good approach, it could actually save us time if we go on the wrong trail.
MacKenzie: Commander, mobilize the shuttle pilots and have them prepare the Atlas and the Prometheus for immediate launch.
Munro: Understood, captain. What destinations shall I instruct the pilots?
MacKenzie: The Atlas should proceed to the Barol system, and the Prometheus to ngeb Station. We'll head for Nasciak territory. I can't afford anyone but the Artemis to get caught near their territory - at least I'm confident in our ability to diffuse any situations that might come up.
Jovenan found herself nodding; the Nascaik were one of the bigger variables in the game now, and the Captain, as a known person to them, was the only one who could reasonably reach out to them if need be. Sure, sending just a few people on a smallcraft to the Klingon outpost or towards the formerly Romulan-controlled system – or to face the Afalqi – wasn’t exactly the optimal scenario either, they needed more diplomatic leverage with the Nascaik.
Storm: I’ll concentrate my scans on the area ahead of us, then, but if they are under cloak…
Jetripar: I thank you for considering all of this as carefully. I am certain you will be successful.
Munro: With your permission Captain, I've instructed a security officer to accompany the pilots? As a precaution.
Jovenan didn’t turn to look if the Captain gave a non-verbal answer to the request. She was worried about however got assigned to the Argos, however, since even a whole squad of security officers had less than stellar chances should they be captured by the Afalqi in the Artemis’ absence. Then again, she remembered the time when then-Commander MacKenzie and Talos had just the two of them managed to flee their imprisonment and fight their way through a Klingon ship, so never say never. Her worry extended to the far more current events as well, her gaze returning to the HazMat lab status screen every so often.
Storm: I’m unfamiliar with the Nasciak or their territory, and the information on the LCARS is spotty at best. Could you fill us in, Captain?
MacKenzie: The Nasciak are a militaristic, industrialist species. They are... not inclined toward compromise. While I'm not sure they'd be willing to help us, I don't think they're any more likely to help the Afalqi either.
Jovenan: I wonder if the Afalqi might be trying to sneak through their territory undetected, if they indeed have a cloak. In that case, we’ll have to hope the Nascaik take our word about an incursion.
Storm: Captain? I have….
Lt Storm started their report but paused unexpectedly. Jovenan turned towards her, sensing trouble.
Storm: I’m sorry. I had something, but either I lost it or I never really had anything to begin with.
Jetripar: Is it the Afalqi?
Munro: That would be an unlikely stroke of luck. Lieutenant, can you try a multiphasic scan? See if we can find it again?
Leaving the multiphasic scan to the Lieutenant as instructed, Jovenan instead tried to see if something had caught the passive sensors. It was possible that her eyes had missed it since she didn’t know what she was looking for, but considering the reaction it had raised in the tactical officer, it didn’t seem likely.
Jovenan: I’m not receiving it on the passive sensors.
MacKenzie: ...any further insi-
Storm: It’s almost like a … reflection. It’s the same signal, but displaced somehow.
Jovenan turned again to look at the Lieutenant, finding her shaking her head.
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.
Nodding before turning to face the screens again, Jovenan received the data and frowned trying to interpret it. She initiated an analysis in the nature of the “flash”, while her fingers ran on the controls as she tried to calculate the origin by comparing the snapshots the Lieutenant had taken to the background.
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: Response
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.
Reading through the data, Jovenan’s eyes briefly wandered to the window with the HazMat lab status. Someone there had activated a level ten subspace dampening field in the time she had concentrated on her own work. Pursing her lips, she allowed her gaze to stay on the screen a few seconds more, hoping that Vitor knew what he was doing, before she had to turn back towards the stream of data rushing by.
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: Response
The Secretary sat back down on his seat. Jovenan could tell that his enthusiasm to get the ship was the cause of the overreaction. Feeling sorry for him, she feared that he might soon be exhausted beyond a healthy limit by the stress of them constantly being so close to the Afalqi but not so to actually see them.
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.
Storm/Jetripar: Response
Munro: Secretary Jetripar, what do you know about Da'al surveillance probes?
Jetripar: Response
Jovenan readjusted her seating. Despite what it might have sounded like, a pursuit in space was slow business and involved mostly waiting; space was huge, even when they travelled at speeds much surpassing that of light.
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.
Storm: Response
Munro: It's sending a signal out :: sighs :: To a relay on Outer Seedea. The signal bounces from there.
Oh? Jovenan turned her attention from the object itself and to the bounced signal the Commander had captured.
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/Jetripar/Munro: Response
MacKenzie: Do you suppose it's a signal of some kind?
Inhaling deep, Jovenan thought for a moment before responding. “Is it a signal” sounded like a question where the answer should have been obvious, since they were undoubtedly receiving, from an artificial object, radiation that was being reflected from a relay. Every part of the equation implied signal, except that there were few means by which it would have carried information. That was the definition of a signal, so there were some grounds to respond negatively.
Jovenan: Maybe, if its purpose is just to let the recipient know that the sender is still functional.
Storm/Jetripar/Munro: Response
MacKenzie: Is there a way we can disrupt the signal? Cut off... whatever it is and whatever it's sending?
Jovenan glanced at the other members of the bridge crew. There was an obvious solution to the problem, but judging by the curious nature of the object, it was better to lead the response with something else.
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/Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie: Response
Before much could be done, something changed. Jovenan’s eyebrows shot up.
Jovenan: Captain, the signal has ceased. Neither the object nor the relay are transmitting any more.
Storm/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/Jetripar/Munro/MacKenzie: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11