[sb118-butler] Lieutenant. J.G. Alex Forsyth - Unstoppable Object
Robert Forsyth
((Main bridge, USS Amber))
The crew had launched a probe to study the mysterious object before them, after several scans showed it to have some odd properties and what seemed to be a life reading from within. Acting Captain Alex Forsyth and her crew waited as their probe darted towards the comet, and for what discoveries they would unearth inside.
Forsyth: Could we try a tractor beam, just enough to shift it slightly or even stop it completely?
Alex liked to ask for advice and opinions, especially as she was still learning the role of captaincy, and as her father once said; A captain is only greater than the sum of his crew.
Katsim: It's worth a try.
Suddenly, an alert from the computer about the probe drew their attention, and both science officers stopped to check what was wrong. Alex also moved closer and, upon seeing the computer, raised questions about the probe's contact with the comet.
Catona: Some damage to the probe from the acid layer. It’s having trouble recalibrating.
Katsim: The friction must have caused enough warmth to turn the acid back to a solid, thereby damaging the probe.
Alex watched Commander Katsim quickly gather as much data as she could from the probe before it was destroyed. Alex's mind raced with a thousand questions as Katsim and Catona studied the probe's remaining data before it finally shut down.
Forsyth: Well, is there anything of note?
Catona: This almost sounds like an egg.
Katsim: It does.
Alex blinked a few times to make sure she had heard them correctly, as just the idea of the comet being an egg seemed a bit out there, but then again. She did remember the time one of the crew got turned into a tree, so maybe it was not too much of a stretch of a theory.
Forsyth: An egg, that certainly would be interesting?
She wanted to know whether that was the case, but they still needed a way to get closer without taking damage from the acid. Lieutenant Catona then raised another thought that turned their little discovery and the mission on its head.
Catona: What if it needs to crash to hatch?
Katsim: It is a possibility…
Forsyth: But we don’t know that for sure.
She did not want to test that hypothesis, despite how intriguing it sounded, especially given the target location it was headed for. Alex would not have minded if the Class K world were completely devoid of life, but it was not.
Catona: Please don’t get me wrong. We must find a way to divert it, for the sake of the lives down below. But orbital insertion may be part of its life cycle.
Katsim: And if that’s the case, we’d be sacrificing its life. However, if we don’t adjust its trajectory…
Forsyth: We will be sacrificing the lives of the outpost, darn….
Alex did not like making difficult choices and always tried to find alternatives, even when things seemed stacked against her. It was often the way for a starship Captain to face the toughest decisions of their lives, but luckily for Alex and co, today was not that day.
Catona: Response
Katsim: We should try the tractor beam.
Forsyth: Yes, let’s change its course slightly.
Alex nodded for the Commander to begin and watched as the familiar glow of the tractor beam latched onto the comet. They were just trying to adjust its trajectory slightly so that it would avoid the outpost, then studied it once it was determined it would not impact the planet.
Catona: Response
Alex furrowed her brow as she thought she saw the comet shift slightly once the tractor beam was released, but that can not be right.
Katsim: That…that didn’t work. Well, it did, but the object readjusted to its previous course. It’s going exactly the way it was before we moved it.
The Acting Captain turned towards the Commander in surprise, then back at the viewscreen as she wondered just how something like a frozen ball of mercury could move on its own like that.
Forsyth: What? How is that even possible?!
Catona: Response
Forsyth: and there's nothing manmade on the probe, like engines or….
Katsim/Catona: Response
Well, that threw a wrench into her plans slightly, but Alex was not giving up yet. There was still one more attempt, and hopefully it would work.
Forsyth: Right, lock on another tractor beam and bring the object to a halt.
oO Let’s see how it like this…. Oo
The ship locked onto the object, and some unknown force suddenly rocked everyone forward. Alex had to grab onto the lieutenant's chair to avoid getting thrown to the floor, nearly taking him with her.
Katsim/Catona: Response
Forsyth: It's pulling us, how?!
Katsim/Catona: Response
Alex could hear her little Oberth struggle to hold the object still, as if it were going to rip itself apart. She was flabbergasted at how something like a comet could move them, and was not going to risk her ship and crew to try stopping it.
Forsyth: Shut it off, now!
Katsim/Catona: Response
Tag/TBC
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Lieutenant. J.G. Alex Forsyth
Tactical
USS Octavia E. Butler
D239910AF1