1stLt Samuel Woolheater – “Scherza in mar la navicella”
Radamio
(( Holodeck 4, Deck 7, USS Octavia E. Butler ))
The AI was now sharing real-time tactical data. Too bad, none of it was good news. They had no choice but to take its word that those numbers and those conditions were truth. Another act of trust and it was thin.
Sam could hear the Colonel and some of the other members of the away teams come through. As the numbers displayed and other relevant data scrolled on he spoke.
Woolheater: Reduce the interference. If those numbers and thresholds are collapsing, we need a physical rally point. Hull-adjacent compartments. Minimal grid interference. Mark and stage teams there before any lock attempt.
Away Team: =/\= Response (optional) =/\=
Greaves: =/\= With the transporter interference here we’ll need to move. We’ll try and find a beam-out point. Greaves out. =/\=
With that, the comms closed and Arlill was first to act.
Arlill: Is there anything we can do to help you get the control you need to resolve this, Continuance?.
Continuance: Assertion: No successful outcome exists within current authority constraints. Novel intervention required. Directive: Conduct immediate simultaneous analysis by Starfleet personnel to identify novel approach to success.
Arlill: We can do that! =/\= Computer, run program Ops-1001. =/\=
The consoles that were around morphed into the large console in the OPS pit. Above him, the mezzanine level formed too. Toxin's old office, now Percy's, loomed over the OC. There was always a trick or two up their sleeves.
Arlill: ::To Lhandon:: We can access communications and all exterior connections from here. It's directly tied to the operations control center. It was designed as an emergency program, should ops be damaged beyond use.
Continuance: Notification: USS Octavia E. Butler command-and-control pathways restored to Starfleet personnel for crisis response. Clarification: I will not issue orders. I will provide options, data, and access where possible. Emergency safeguards remain available.
Nilsen: We appreciate that, Continuance. Welcome to the team. Woolheater, I want you to get on the terminal behind you; that's transporter support. Two people working on a transporter pattern can help stabilize it.
Woolheater: On it.
Woolheater moved, sliding into the auxiliary transporter support console. The LCARS layout wasn’t his battlefield, but a transporter pattern was still a line to hold.
Arlill: I imagine it would be possible, but we’d need to know the exact frequencies. ::beat:: are you comfortable sharing those Continuance?
Continuance: Confirmation: Affirmative. Action: Sphere frequency sets, hopping schedules, and phase correction tables have been transmitted to Ops-1001 consoles. Warning: STATION core absence remains the primary barrier. Frequencies will improve communication and transport windows only if local field geometry can be stabilized.
Samuel saw a digital looking timer start a countdown: 03:48…03:47…
Nilsen: Arlill, if you lock onto those frequency sets the Continuance just sent, you can route them through the pattern buffer. Woolheater, help him out with that.
Woolheater: Understood. Stabilizing buffer now. ::beat.:: We get one clean window. We use it.
There were options before them. Yet as each option would be in vain, the Continuance presented one more option.
Continuance: Assessment: I do not possess a direct override vector. Working together, we may create one. Projection: Stop self-destruct probability under current conditions: 0%. Evacuation probability under current conditions: 34%. Projection: If the STATION core is reinstalled and simultaneous problem response is conducted, probability of stopping self-destruct rises from 0% to 12%. If core is reinstalled, this program transfers to Sphere substrate to attempt delay, and Starfleet evacuates, evacuation probability increases to 68%. Cost: 98% probability of termination of this program.
Mama Cee was suggesting that it suffer its own destruction to save the Starfleet crew.
Nilsen: No, there’s got to be another way.
Arlill: Response
Sam was listening but he remained focused on watching the transporter system looking for a stable window to appear. Even so, the moment that was happening was intense. A few hours ago, this conversation would have seemed impossible to him.
Continuance: Clarification: Long term loss-prevention projections are marginally more favorable by preserving USS Octavia E. Butler and crew than by self-preservation of this program. Assertion: Overriding directive –- prevent loss. Self-preservation is not a primary directive.
Nilsen: Continuance, what are you saying? We can find a way. I know we can.
As the Continuance laid out the sacrifice math, Sam’s jaw tightened, not in defiance, but in recognition. It was binary again. And it rang a bell in him.
He didn’t look up from the transporter buffer he was stabilizing. But he did think:
Holodecks.
Independent processor stacks.
Isolated environments.
Pattern buffers capable of holding complex neural matrices.
Temporary ground.
Not a solution.
A bridge…no….A lifeboat!
Woolheater: :: to Arlill:: Holodecks run on independent processors, right? Twenty holodecks across decks seven and eight. All independent cores, sandboxed environments. ::glances toward Arlill:: If we pooled them, strictly partitioned, could that give Mama a temporary substrate? A lifeboat? Not control of the ship. Just processing space. A place to live until we figure out the next move? Buy us time while you work the core problem.
The transporter control lit up. A stable transporter window was opening. He went right back to the transporter buffer.
Woolheater: I’ll keep the window stable.
Arlill: Response
Continuance: Directive pending: Select response pathway. I will comply with and support the selected pathway. If you choose reinstall and transfer, I will initiate handoff procedures immediately. Clarification: Delay is a choice. Refusal to decide is still a decision.
Stella: =/\=Kevara Continuance, I am Stella, also known as the USS Octavia E. Butler. Request assistance in shutting down the self destruct sequence. A request to return the core has already been submitted. =/\=
Nilsen: Okay, Continuance, before you go, dump your logs here, maybe we can return them to you afterwards.
Continuance/Arlill: Response
Nilsen: Good luck. =/\= Bridge, this is Nilsen. Set a course out of the nebula, maximum possible speed. We'll hit the warp command from here. =/\= Woolheater, keep working on the buffers. I'll hold us until the last moment.
Sam answered affirmatively.
Woolheater: Aye sir!
Continuance/Arlill: Response
Sam’s holo-transporter buffer terminal began to beep. There was a stable transport window opening.
Woolheater: Stable window opening.
Arlill/Away Team Rouiancet/Away Team Greaves/Away Team Lahl/Continuance/Stella/Nilsen: Response?
Sam waited as the window took its time to effectively stabilize.
Woolheater: Stability. Forty-seconds!
Arlill/Away Team Rouiancet/Away Team Greaves/Away Team Lahl/Continuance/Stella/Nilsen: Response?
Tags!
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Scout Sniper / Infantry Officer
MARDET, Starfleet Marine Corps
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850