LTJG Lhandon Joseph Nilsen - Lhandon The Scientist
Lhandon Nilsen
(( Lower Astrometrics Lab, Deck 11, Octavia E Butler))
Even though he wasn't a scientist, he had tried his hardest to help wherever he could. It also seemed fair that he had been a guest in the science lab after Peri and Yinn had been guests in the OC at the end of the last mission.
Nilsen: Yeah, even at the longest range, there still might be something ::beat:: erm what do you make of those clouds on the edge of the system?
Avander came over to see what Lhandon had found. He was half expecting Avander to say that this cloud was a simple thing found pretty much everywhere. As such, for the most brief of moments, he kicked himself; the voice in the back of his head braced him for the "try better Nilsen," speech but instead and to his utmost surprise he got:
Katsim: That’s probably the most significant thing I’ve set our sights on.
Promontory: Ah—the Oort Cloud! Nicely spotted Mr. Nilsen.
Yinn: We might make a scientist out of you yet, Lhandon!
He allowed himself a mental "really?" and offered a small smile and a nod. Science had never been his strong suit. Despite the efforts of his fellow cadet, Nere Ay, a Bajoran medical student, he had managed to only just scrape through.
Yinn (to Promontory): Sir, how much do we know about the Unity Dow's mission? Both in the short-term before the ship disappeared, and in the long term. If they were a science vessel, their interest in the system would be obvious. If they weren't, then we have to ascertain what brought them to Omicron Victor.
Katsim: At this time, we don’t know. I believe Commander Rouiancet is working on that with her team.
Promontory: (to Yinn) The Dow isn’t a science vessel, per se. It’s a multi-mission explorer, like the OEB. But pending any additional information (nodding to Peri) it should have just been a routine survey of the region. (beat) At least it started that way.
Nilsen: Yeah, routine surveys don’t just end with sudden no contact.
It had been too early to suggest anything suspicious about this system, but Lhandon hadn’t been a suspicious person and his first thoughts hadn’t fallen along those lines. There had to have been a reason, he had wondered to himself, his eyes darting around the lab, his brain sending them around in an effort to help him think.
Yinn: Response
Katsim: I’m sure they’ll let us know if they find anything. In the meantime, we should focus on the system itself. Something must have happened to the Unity Dow, and we need to be prepared lest the same thing happen to us.
There were a hundred things to be prepared for, but he had no idea what to focus on. So he only reinforced what he was thinking
Nilsen: But prepared for what?
Yinn: Response
Promontory: How’s that sensor analysis coming along?
The computer chirped with results but Katsim’s response was less the encouraging
Katsim: Hm. It seems this cloud remains an enigma. Even with the newest sensors, the ship can’t penetrate past them.
Nilsen: o0 the ship can't penetrate past them? 0o and as you said, how do we know that we won’t get caught in whatever happened with Unity Dow
Yinn: Response
Promontory: Well, our primary objective at the moment is to ensure that the system is safe for the Butler to enter.
Nilsen: I don’t know how we’d do that without being able to see into the system
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Avander considered the comments and paused a beat before responding.
Promontory: So, what can we recommend to increase ship safety, maybe some modification to the shields?
Nilsen: I can have some fun with the shields if Kessler will let me. If that cloud is a barrier of sorts maybe we can adjust the shields to interact or protect us from the cloud, but until we really understand what the cloud is made of, we may as well just be hitting random buttons and hoping for the best
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Promontory: (letting out a breath) I guess we’ll have to see when we get there.
Nilsen: Yeah, for the best idea of what to do our shields, we’ll basically have to park right next to it and poke it with our sensors.
Katsim/Yinn: Response
Nilsen: Have we got anything we can use to look in side when we get there? Like radar? Radiowaves or anything else we hadn't thought off.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: response
He had brought up some numbers on the display, showing the speed of the suggested idea specifically the speed of certain radiowaves compared to the various speed settings of the ship. One paying attention would have noticed that Lhandon had reduced the ship's speed progressively, transforming the nice six-digit numbers into five-digit numbers, and then into four-digit numbers, until they were just under 75000 km/s.
Nilsen: That would work I think. The range would be limited; we'd have to travel no faster than 1/4 impulse or we'd outrun it. We have no idea how the cloud will react to us, whether it will be a smooth ride or if we'll encounter turbulence but it would provide something resembling a map. Depending on the cloud's composition, we might have to repeat the process on the other side. From a pilot's perspective, we prefer to avoid clouds where possible. Just like in an atmosphere, turbulence is a factor in space too. Both…
He paused for a second, at looked at the figures on the display. He put that next to the limited scans of the system he has, and with a certain degree of ego that comes with a certain stereotype of the HCO he spoke decisively
Nilsen: Both me and Tox could pull that off.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: response
Nilsen: This all helps the helm and I’m coming at it from that perspective but it’ll do nothing for the shields. We still have that issue to solve.
Promontory/Katsim/Yinn: response
Nilsen: Alright, tell me what you need from Ops and I'll get it for ya. I can access to entire OC from here.
As he spoke about ops, even in this most minor of mentions, he seemed more confident than he did talking about science, he was clearer with his thoughts, and he was able to articulate his words better. He seemed to let go of a breath that he had been unconsciously and metaphorically holding
Tags/TBC
Lieutenant JG Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
Assistant Chief of Operations.
USS Octavia E Butler
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)