Lieutenant Christopher Caldwell: The Silver Lining
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Chris M
Dec 7, 2024, 9:58:32 PM12/7/24
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((Runabout Daugava))
Beyett: Arming a torpedo now! I got a good lock on the asteroid. ::Looking towards Tam and then back to Caldwell:: Ready for the fire command!
Given the size of the asteroid, even if they had full phaser power, which they didn't as a result of the earlier advice about the need to divert additional power to shields, torpedoes were clearly the way to go.
Alentonis: I’m picking up some kind of lightning discharge at our six o’clock. Hard to say if it’s caused by the Astraeus or some other force within the cloud given the sensor visibility.
oO Not now! Oo
Caldwell: We're not sightseeing! Fire!
Whilst their torpedoes carried an impressive yield, they wouldn't be enough to vapourise the asteroid, instead it would likely get blown to pieces which would mean he was about to get very busy having to dodge multiple objects on impossible to predict trajectories.
oO Well, can't be having things being too easy now can we? I did say I wanted a challenge. Oo
Beyett: Torpedo released! 5 seconds until impact.
He watched through the forward viewport as the torpedo streaked through the cloud accelerating away from the Daugava, quickly becoming a pinprick of brilliant red light against the backdrop of the cloud. It closed rapidly with the behemoth of rock that was already filling Christopher's forward vision, they were so close now that he could discern details of its surface, a jumble of craters and fissures. A moment later the asteroid erupted in an almost blinding flash of light. The huge chunk of matter turned from one mass into many as great hunks of carbon, clay and silicate rocks flew off in seemingly random directions.
oO Now I have to dodge many things, rather than one thing. Oo
Given the size of the asteroid and how late they'd detected it they wouldn't have been likely to dodge it at the speed they were heading, whilst Christopher now had to deal with multiple dangerous objects, their smaller size meant it was at least possible to dodge them, thanks to the fact that the torpedo had been fired in a straight line the vast majority of the surviving mass of the asteroid was now hurtling away from the runabout in various directions. He slowed the runabout slightly, giving him more thinking time but still very much of the opinion that they would be best served getting through the cloud as quickly as possible.
Alentonis: Radiation levels rising. Still within normal ranges.
Beyett: Arming a torpedo now! I got a good lock on the asteroid. ::Looking towards Tam and then back to Caldwell:: Ready for the fire command!
Given the size of the asteroid, even if they had full phaser power, which they didn't as a result of the earlier advice about the need to divert additional power to shields, torpedoes were clearly the way to go.
Alentonis: I’m picking up some kind of lightning discharge at our six o’clock. Hard to say if it’s caused by the Astraeus or some other force within the cloud given the sensor visibility.
oO Not now! Oo
Caldwell: We're not sightseeing! Fire!
Whilst their torpedoes carried an impressive yield, they wouldn't be enough to vapourise the asteroid, instead it would likely get blown to pieces which would mean he was about to get very busy having to dodge multiple objects on impossible to predict trajectories.
oO Well, can't be having things being too easy now can we? I did say I wanted a challenge. Oo
Beyett: Torpedo released! 5 seconds until impact.
He watched through the forward viewport as the torpedo streaked through the cloud accelerating away from the Daugava, quickly becoming a pinprick of brilliant red light against the backdrop of the cloud. It closed rapidly with the behemoth of rock that was already filling Christopher's forward vision, they were so close now that he could discern details of its surface, a jumble of craters and fissures. A moment later the asteroid erupted in an almost blinding flash of light. The huge chunk of matter turned from one mass into many as great hunks of carbon, clay and silicate rocks flew off in seemingly random directions.
oO Now I have to dodge many things, rather than one thing. Oo
Given the size of the asteroid and how late they'd detected it they wouldn't have been likely to dodge it at the speed they were heading, whilst Christopher now had to deal with multiple dangerous objects, their smaller size meant it was at least possible to dodge them, thanks to the fact that the torpedo had been fired in a straight line the vast majority of the surviving mass of the asteroid was now hurtling away from the runabout in various directions. He slowed the runabout slightly, giving him more thinking time but still very much of the opinion that they would be best served getting through the cloud as quickly as possible.
Alentonis: Radiation levels rising. Still within normal ranges.
He regretted the fact that his attention needed to stay focused on his controls, not allowing him the luxury of being able to call up the data that Tim was accessing.
oO Will the levels continue to rise? If so will the rate at which they rise increase or decrease? At what point will it become dangerous? How much beyond that until it became potentially fatal and untreatable? Oo
Without the context he wasn't sure what he could do with the information, especially as he was trying to dodge asteroid fragments the size of small starships.
Tam: Do you think the radiation will be an issue before we hit the other side?
oO Note to self: Remember to recommend a promotion for Lieutenant Tam. I'd quite like to know that answer myself.Oo
Hartford: Response
oO That's good to know. Oo
He wasn't in the best of moods at nearly flying full speed into an asteroid the size of London and whilst he accepted the fact that some of their sensor data would be a little sketchy on account of the cloud, he'd assumed, clearly wrongly that they would have spotted something so large especially as the Astraeus, the Borealis and their probes had managed to get data from within the inner system.
Alentonis: Earlier scans didn’t penetrate this deep into the cloud. I am picking up some probe telemetry from the Borealis sensors. I just need a minute to translate.
He gritted his teeth as he rounded a ballistic chunk of rock only to nearly hit another.
oO I'll try spinning, that's a good trick. Oo
He executed a half barrel roll, reorienting the runabout as he dodged yet more debris.
Caldwell: Ok I think we're through the worst of it, unless there happen to me any more city sized asteroids loitering out here.
Beyett: It's getting quite bright out there with the lightning... my sensors are picking up some odd reading again, only for a mere second.
Caldwell: ::Dryly:: Is it a city sized asteroid?
It made sense to him that some of the probes wouldn't have endured such harsh conditions but he would have expected this would have given them more data to go on.
oO We got given access to the Borealis' probes almost a month ago and we'd been fully aware of the presence of the cloud back then, hell Charles was warning us about it within minutes of us getting the initial sensor data. So why aren't we better prepared and why did no-one notice or mention the probes were getting killed off before now? You'd think someone somewhere might have thought that would have been helpful to know! Oo
He knew he was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, he knew there would be a logical explanation, there had to be, but it made him feel better to be angry about something. He did genuinely worry though that maybe all of the different departments and specialisms aboard Astraeus weren't quite working together as well as they could have done, he recalled that it was him, Esa Kiax and Charles Matthews that had thought of a method for scanning the system at a distance and none of them had backgrounds in science, at least he didn't think.
oO Well one of Kiax's previous hosts was probably Isaac Newton or something. Oo
Was that the case on the runabout? Had he failed to make use of the different resources available to him? Had he missed an opportunity to be better prepared? He wasn't sure how, despite his instincts he'd made sure to give his crew what he felt was ample time to prepare for their mission, he had insisted on the sensor data from the runabout, the Astraeus and all of the probes had been checked and rechecked and that the cloud had been studied at close range before going in. He stayed quiet for a moment, as he played things back in his head his mind went back to the feedback he'd received from the Captain regarding his first time commanding an away team.
Alentonis / Any: Response
Beyett: Well, that's not ideal for us. I'll try to reconfigure our shields slightly to see if that would help us not get fried up here.. Lieutenant Tam, can you help me keep an eye out for any more asteroids in our way? We'll need to be ready to blast another before this lightning gets to us first.
Tam: The lightning strikes have not doubled in frequency yet, but they will get to that percentage soon enough. Let me see if I can do anything about visibility? There will be more asteroids, and we can't route power back to weapons. We need to keep as much power on the shields as possible.
oO Some more visibility would be appreciated although the cloud should start to thin out shortly anyway. Oo
Any: Responses
Beyett: If I've been keeping an eye on the clock correctly, we just need to survive this for another minute or so and we'll be through the cloud. Is there anything else we can do to protect ourselves before we reach the other side?
With the sensors not being entirely reliable he couldn't say exactly how long they were through the worst of it but a minute or so sounded about right based on what they had previously established although he might have added or if lucky subtracted some time following his rather erratic flying in order to avoid some of the hazards they had encountered.
Caldwell: That sounds about right.
Caldwell: Worst case if there's any we can get in touch with, Astraeus might have better luck on its trip through.
Alentonis: Response
For a moment he thought he caught sight of something, a speck of light, maybe a reflection.
Caldwell: Can anyone see that?
He nodded ahead roughly at a 1 o'clock position and slightly downward by a few degrees.
Tam / Harford: Response
Caldwell: I think I can see something, might be a star or a distant planet. ::Keeping his eyes locked in place but turning his head slightly to the right towards Harford:: What are sensors showing?
Harford: Response
He grinned.
oO The cloud must be thinning out. Oo
Caldwell: ::putting on a voice to mimic a low quality comm line:: This is your Captain speaking, apologies for the turbulence as a result of bad weather, but you'll be happy to hear that we're through the worst of it and will be arriving at our final destination more or less on schedule. In a moment we'll lift the seating restrictions and you'll be able to move freely around the cabin and within the next few minutes Doctor Harford will begin serving the in-flight meal.
He suspected the Doctor would not be too happy with his suggestion although unbeknownst to her there was a very good reason for it.
Harford: Response
Caldwell: Sorry Doctor, cost of having the least pips.
Harford: Response
Caldwell: I don't make the rules... well I mean, I do, but I didn't make that one, I am simply enforcing it.
He raised a hand to preempt any objections
Caldwell: ::Again putting on his voice:: We also have in-flight entertainment available from the crew module, including the 2394 remake of the classic Vulcan Love Slave, Part II: The Revenge, viewer discretion is advised. ::Turning to Alix, speaking quietly:: You're not involved in that one.
Any: Responses
After a few more minutes the cloud had thinned out to the point that visibility, both with their eyes and with their equipment, was almost fully restored and things were quickly returning to normal.
Caldwell: Ok we're through the worst of it, good job everyone. Harford, could you please head back to the lounge module and rustle up everyone some food and drink? ::He shot her a look:: Everyone might like a moment to relax back there.
Harford: Response
He watched as she got up and out of her chair and headed aft.
Caldwell: Lieutenant Tam, please signal the Astraeus, make sure they're aware of our current status and have all the data our sensors recorded.
Tam: Response
Caldwell: Lieutenant Beyett, please check for any damage we've sustained and get me repair estimates.
Beyett: Response
Caldwell: Lieutenant Commander Alentonis, at full impulse it will still take us a good hour or so to reach our planet but you should be able to start getting some uninhibited scans and we'll be able to deploy probes, fill your boots.
Alentonis: Response
Caldwell: As for me, if one of you fine folks can take the helm for a moment, I'm going to go and check what the Doctor is rustling up from the replicator.
Any: Response
He got up and out of his chair, waited to make sure the helm controls were under a sentient operator then headed in pursuit of Alix Harford.
((Caldwell exits scene temporarily, discussed with Harford's writer))
oO Will the levels continue to rise? If so will the rate at which they rise increase or decrease? At what point will it become dangerous? How much beyond that until it became potentially fatal and untreatable? Oo
Without the context he wasn't sure what he could do with the information, especially as he was trying to dodge asteroid fragments the size of small starships.
Tam: Do you think the radiation will be an issue before we hit the other side?
oO Note to self: Remember to recommend a promotion for Lieutenant Tam. I'd quite like to know that answer myself.Oo
Hartford: Response
oO That's good to know. Oo
He wasn't in the best of moods at nearly flying full speed into an asteroid the size of London and whilst he accepted the fact that some of their sensor data would be a little sketchy on account of the cloud, he'd assumed, clearly wrongly that they would have spotted something so large especially as the Astraeus, the Borealis and their probes had managed to get data from within the inner system.
Alentonis: Earlier scans didn’t penetrate this deep into the cloud. I am picking up some probe telemetry from the Borealis sensors. I just need a minute to translate.
He gritted his teeth as he rounded a ballistic chunk of rock only to nearly hit another.
oO I'll try spinning, that's a good trick. Oo
He executed a half barrel roll, reorienting the runabout as he dodged yet more debris.
Caldwell: Ok I think we're through the worst of it, unless there happen to me any more city sized asteroids loitering out here.
Beyett: It's getting quite bright out there with the lightning... my sensors are picking up some odd reading again, only for a mere second.
Caldwell: ::Dryly:: Is it a city sized asteroid?
Alentonis: My earlier scans are picking up a few more of the Borealis' probes, and some dead ones. The lightning strikes are growing more frequent the deeper we get.
Beyett: Are you implying the lightning 'killed' the probes?
Tam: Lightning is concentrated enough to take out most things without shields. The Borealis would have launched their probes from outside the anomaly so wouldn't have known they needed to be reinforced.
It made sense to him that some of the probes wouldn't have endured such harsh conditions but he would have expected this would have given them more data to go on.
oO We got given access to the Borealis' probes almost a month ago and we'd been fully aware of the presence of the cloud back then, hell Charles was warning us about it within minutes of us getting the initial sensor data. So why aren't we better prepared and why did no-one notice or mention the probes were getting killed off before now? You'd think someone somewhere might have thought that would have been helpful to know! Oo
He knew he was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, he knew there would be a logical explanation, there had to be, but it made him feel better to be angry about something. He did genuinely worry though that maybe all of the different departments and specialisms aboard Astraeus weren't quite working together as well as they could have done, he recalled that it was him, Esa Kiax and Charles Matthews that had thought of a method for scanning the system at a distance and none of them had backgrounds in science, at least he didn't think.
oO Well one of Kiax's previous hosts was probably Isaac Newton or something. Oo
Was that the case on the runabout? Had he failed to make use of the different resources available to him? Had he missed an opportunity to be better prepared? He wasn't sure how, despite his instincts he'd made sure to give his crew what he felt was ample time to prepare for their mission, he had insisted on the sensor data from the runabout, the Astraeus and all of the probes had been checked and rechecked and that the cloud had been studied at close range before going in. He stayed quiet for a moment, as he played things back in his head his mind went back to the feedback he'd received from the Captain regarding his first time commanding an away team.
Alentonis / Any: Response
Beyett: Well, that's not ideal for us. I'll try to reconfigure our shields slightly to see if that would help us not get fried up here.. Lieutenant Tam, can you help me keep an eye out for any more asteroids in our way? We'll need to be ready to blast another before this lightning gets to us first.
Tam: The lightning strikes have not doubled in frequency yet, but they will get to that percentage soon enough. Let me see if I can do anything about visibility? There will be more asteroids, and we can't route power back to weapons. We need to keep as much power on the shields as possible.
oO Some more visibility would be appreciated although the cloud should start to thin out shortly anyway. Oo
Any: Responses
Beyett: If I've been keeping an eye on the clock correctly, we just need to survive this for another minute or so and we'll be through the cloud. Is there anything else we can do to protect ourselves before we reach the other side?
With the sensors not being entirely reliable he couldn't say exactly how long they were through the worst of it but a minute or so sounded about right based on what they had previously established although he might have added or if lucky subtracted some time following his rather erratic flying in order to avoid some of the hazards they had encountered.
Caldwell: That sounds about right.
Tam: Alentonis, can you pull any data from the Borealis' probes. We aren't in a position to pick them up, but they could have valuable information.
Alentonis: Response
Tam: I have an idea.
He allowed himself to change focus for a moment, taking a quick glance across at Tam as she worked the computer almost excitedly.
Tam: Alright, that should be better. Give it another shot.
Alentonis: Response
oO Careful Divya, Esa might just steal you away for Ops full time. Oo
Tam: Beyett, how are the shields holding up?
Beyett: Response
Tam: Nav readings are picking up rocks a bit further out. Harford, can you let Caldwell know when a big one is coming up, and on which side. For instance, a medium sized boulder is 4 seconds out on the left.
Hartford: Response
Caldwell: You're too kind. We should be out soon.
He was tempted to make a joke about how much of a shame it would be for them to be in sight of the finish line only to get blindsided by a wayward moon or something but thought better of it.
oO If Alix has a breakdown, I'm the one sitting next to her. Oo
For a moment it seemed like the cloud decided it, rather than his humour, would be the one to test the mental resilience of his crew; a series of nearby electrical bursts punctuating the danger that still remained. Their shields continued to hold.
Tam: Good work, Diego.
Beyett: Response
Tam: Any luck connecting to the probes.
Alentonis: Response
Caldwell: Worst case if there's any we can get in touch with, Astraeus might have better luck on its trip through.
Alentonis: Response
For a moment he thought he caught sight of something, a speck of light, maybe a reflection.
Caldwell: Can anyone see that?
He nodded ahead roughly at a 1 o'clock position and slightly downward by a few degrees.
Tam / Harford: Response
Caldwell: I think I can see something, might be a star or a distant planet. ::Keeping his eyes locked in place but turning his head slightly to the right towards Harford:: What are sensors showing?
Harford: Response
He grinned.
oO The cloud must be thinning out. Oo
Caldwell: ::putting on a voice to mimic a low quality comm line:: This is your Captain speaking, apologies for the turbulence as a result of bad weather, but you'll be happy to hear that we're through the worst of it and will be arriving at our final destination more or less on schedule. In a moment we'll lift the seating restrictions and you'll be able to move freely around the cabin and within the next few minutes Doctor Harford will begin serving the in-flight meal.
He suspected the Doctor would not be too happy with his suggestion although unbeknownst to her there was a very good reason for it.
Harford: Response
Caldwell: Sorry Doctor, cost of having the least pips.
Harford: Response
Caldwell: I don't make the rules... well I mean, I do, but I didn't make that one, I am simply enforcing it.
He raised a hand to preempt any objections
Caldwell: ::Again putting on his voice:: We also have in-flight entertainment available from the crew module, including the 2394 remake of the classic Vulcan Love Slave, Part II: The Revenge, viewer discretion is advised. ::Turning to Alix, speaking quietly:: You're not involved in that one.
Any: Responses
After a few more minutes the cloud had thinned out to the point that visibility, both with their eyes and with their equipment, was almost fully restored and things were quickly returning to normal.
Caldwell: Ok we're through the worst of it, good job everyone. Harford, could you please head back to the lounge module and rustle up everyone some food and drink? ::He shot her a look:: Everyone might like a moment to relax back there.
Harford: Response
He watched as she got up and out of her chair and headed aft.
Caldwell: Lieutenant Tam, please signal the Astraeus, make sure they're aware of our current status and have all the data our sensors recorded.
Tam: Response
Caldwell: Lieutenant Beyett, please check for any damage we've sustained and get me repair estimates.
Beyett: Response
Caldwell: Lieutenant Commander Alentonis, at full impulse it will still take us a good hour or so to reach our planet but you should be able to start getting some uninhibited scans and we'll be able to deploy probes, fill your boots.
Alentonis: Response
Caldwell: As for me, if one of you fine folks can take the helm for a moment, I'm going to go and check what the Doctor is rustling up from the replicator.
Any: Response
He got up and out of his chair, waited to make sure the helm controls were under a sentient operator then headed in pursuit of Alix Harford.
((Caldwell exits scene temporarily, discussed with Harford's writer))
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