[REPOST] Lieutenant Christopher Caldwell: Breaking The Ice
Chris M
He returned his focus to his station as a cadet approached the Command area. As they began a discussion Esa turned to him.
Kiax: 27 days? I bet you’d be able to do it faster.
If this had been when he had first introduced Esa Kiax to his master plan he might assume she was setting him up so that she could report him for breaking a warp speed limit. Fortunately whilst that interaction had most definitely not gone as expected it had been some time since Esa had made legal threats in his direction. Secondly, following advances in warp drive technology that had begun with the variable geometry pylons, outside of a few very specific areas, areas where warp speeds were largely physically limited as a result of local subspace disruption, warp speed limitations were no longer in use for the last few generations of warp drive systems. He took the comment as he suspected it was intended, a playful jab, he enjoyed it very much.
Caldwell: As much as I know this might shock you, I can't change the laws of physics. She gave a little pout, mocking disappointment, she was definitely playing with him.
Kiax: Wyatt would be all for figuring out how to push the engines to two-hundred percent… ::Beat:: Clearly you’re just not up for the challenge.
She knew how to hit him where it hurt, metaphorically speaking. Esa Kiax was far smarter than he was but he enjoyed the challenge of sparring just as much as he loved her pushing his buttons.
Caldwell: Even I have limits to my powers ::Beat:: it's for the best though, I wouldn't want to overshadow everyone else too much.
Mei’konda: Well, whaatever the cause, it’s a good thing that we’re not in a hurry. In fact, in order to giive our departments a chaance to put together detaailed proposals, I think it’s a good thiing we’re taking our time. Wouldn’t you agree, Mister Caldwell, Commander Kiax?
oO It's not the first time he's done that. Oo
Caldwell: Yes, Sir, completely agree, Sir.
Kiax: Sir, if I may?
Mei’konda: Always, Commander. He greatly appreciated Esa distracting the feline Captain.
Kiax: The ship that submitted the original data packets to Starfleet for investigation is not too far from our current position. Might be worth a rendezvous, to see if there’s anything more they might know?
Mei’konda: What is the ship, Commander?
Kiax: It’s the USS Borealis. Nova-Class, under the command of Captain Victor Salzburg… I’ve sent their last reported coordinates to your armrest.
Mei’konda: Well, let’s see about a long raange communication first, so we can see if a rendezvous is necessary, or if they can simply traansmit what they have. Lieutenant Tasen, if you would, locaate the Borealis for me. Once you haave her location, Mister Caldwell, if you would, open hailing frequencies.
He waited a moment for the data to come through to his station before signalling the other ship.
Caldwell: Hailing the Borealis now, Sir.
Tasen: If I may as well...I'm curious if they have any data of how long the Rogue planet has been captured?
Kiax: Their report to Starfleet was relatively rudimentary, no real details to speak of. Though, I admit, it is a question that fascinates me, too…
Mei’konda / Any: Response
Tasen: As well as the entry trajectory, that way we can reverse engineer it's previous footsteps. ::Grins sheepishly:: Could in theory see what might have affected it too prior to this system catching it.
Mei'konda: Response
Matthews: I’d like to look at that information too, Sir. If the Borealis has it, of course. Our Science labs are more advanced than theirs, it would be good for us to give everything a detailed once over.
Tasen / Any: Response
A moment later he received a response from the hail.
Caldwell: Channel open.
Mei’konda: On screen.
He routed the transmission to the ship's main viewer, the streaks of stars replaced with a view of their counterpart.
Mei’konda: =/\= Captain Salzburg? Captain Mei’konda Delano of Astraeus. We’ve been assigned to chaart the PE-629A system. I understaand that your ship took the long raange scans while you were on your way through the regiion? =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= A pleasure to meet you, Captain; and yes, that we did. In fact, it was my first officer that noticed the irregularity. =/\=
Delgado: =/\= ::nodding, clears throat:: Captain Delano. It’s a pleasure. ::pause:: We were running standard scans on the Oort Cloud of the PE-629A system as we were passing by, trying to ascertain any differences to those surrounding Sector Zero-zero-one, and that was when we discovered the planetoid had finally settled in a stable position. =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= I’m curiious if you have a point of origin for the rogue plaanet. A likely star system of origin? Any other interestiing details? =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Absolutely not. =/\=
After a slightly uncomfortable silence the Borealis' Captain gave a little snort of a laugh.
Salzburg: =/\= We’ve been tracking its movement on and off for a number of years. It was never really a priority. Early hypotheses put its trajectory originating somewhere in the Gamma Quadrant, but there’s no concrete proof. These IPMO’s ((OOC: Isolated Planetary-Mass Objects)) tend to float in interstellar space forever. When they do interact with stars, it's usually right on the periphery of its gravitational influence, exoplanet kind of territory, and they tend to be very weakly bound, with an extremely eccentric orbit… The fact that this one is stable, in the habitable zone? It’s as weird as it gets, for us. As for other interesting details… =/\=
Delgado: =/\= We did detect evidence of land masses, some mountain ranges, but the most interesting detail was the discovery of ice. =/\=
oO You could say it's the coolest detail. I could have said that out loud but I'd have got the cold shoulder, that wouldn't be very ice, I should be writing these down. Oo
Mei’konda: Do any of you haave any questions for the Borealis?
He heard movement behind him but continued to face forward.
Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Good day, Captain. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ::pauses a moment:: If I could, sir, I was curious what kind of lifeforms were identified, if any, as part of the survey. =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= The pleasure is all ours, Ms…? =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= If I’m honest, you’d be better off asking Tereza here. She serves as both my First Officer, and Chief Science Officer. It was her who led the initial investigation. =/\=
Delgado: =/\= None that we detected, Commander, but that doesn’t discount the possibility. =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: ::inclines her head:: =/\= Thank you for clarifying that, sir. =/\=
Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=
Delgado: =/\= No, Mister Matthews. Our Science labs were due for an overhaul a while ago though. The Astraeus might have better luck. =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Indeed. We were simply passing by, were intrigued by the situation, and performed long range scans. Your sensor suites are far more powerful than ours and would be better suited for the high-resolution work. =/\=
Tasen: =/\= Response =/\=
Caldwell: =/\= If it did previously support life, is there any chance any life could have been preserved? =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Space is cold, friends. Without the warmth of a star, a ship, or a structure, it is unlikely that anything would be alive there. We found little evidence of any architecture, but then, we weren’t really looking that hard. Our mission is initial investigation and reporting, ships like yours with far more resources at their disposal are the ones who follow up. =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: ::nods and addresses Salzburg:: =/\= An interesting point, Captain. =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Isn’t it just… =/\=
He was starting to wonder if there was some history that involved this Salzburg person and their new first officer.
oO Feels like there's a chill in the air, you could say they are being a bit frosty. Oo
Kiax: =/\= Response =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Indeed we do. I’ll have my operations officer transfer the command codes for the probes to your ship, along with all the telemetry we’ve gathered so far. You’ll have full control of them when you get in range. =/\=
Kiax: =/\= Response =/\=
Caldwell: ::Muttering:: Probes, cool.
As he hadn't verbalised any of his previous ice based puns he only quietly made this one, assuming it wouldn't be as funny without the background.
Matthews / Tasen / Mei’konda: =/\= Responses =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Captain Mei’konda… May I make a request? =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= Response =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Commander Delgado here… She was most aggrieved that we were not able to stay and study this… Phenomenon… for longer. Would you consider taking her along for the ride? She is quite the accomplished Astrophysicist, very well behaved, and we’re headed for a lengthy upgrade at Starbase 174… I’m sure Borealis will cope without her for a short spell. =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= Response =/\=
Delgado: =/\= Sir?! =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Tereza, this is your chance. You needn’t squander it sitting around a starbase waiting for months. =/\=
Delgado: ::stutters:: =/\= Thank you, Captain. =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= So, what do you say, Captain? Will you permit an old man his last request, before we part company? =/\=
Mei’konda: Response
Kiax: It would be useful, Sir… And I’m sure Lieutenant Tasen and Commander Alentonis would appreciate her expertise…
Tasen: Response
Kiax: ::Humorously:: Plenty of spare quarters, too… If that sways your decision at all…
Mei’konda / Rosek-Skyfire: Responses
Salzburg: =/\= Response =/\=
Delgado: =/\= Response =/\=
Caldwell: ::whispering:: Well I'm never going to manage to beat 27 days if we're going to need to make a detour.
Kiax: Response
He started calculating a logical intercept point for the two ships with a focus on causing as minimal delay as possible to Astraeus, he then started looking at options involving using a shuttlecraft before pinging the best options to the First Officer for their review and to allow her to select one herself or to present them to the Captain.
Rosek-Skyfire: Response
Mei’konda: =/\= Response =/\=
Salzburg: =/\= Response =/\=
Delgado: =/\= Response =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= Response =/\=
With the conversation seemingly done and an agreement reached he closed the channel and got to work on trying to shave some time off the next leg of their journey.
oO If at the end of 27 days, the highlight of this mission is a planet with some ice on it, I'm going to... Oo
He didn't finish the thought, partly because he wasn't sure he could make another ice pun that would make sense.