LtCmdr Atan T'Seva, Short Cuts Make Long Delays

[Jennifer R. Povey]

(( USS Constitution - Bridge ))

Shortcuts through nebulas were always fun. Sometimes, like inns, they made for long delays. Sometimes they were just pretty. T'Seva wondered which this would be even as she tried to adjust the scanners to compensate for the clouds of dust and gas.

Rajel: Scanners? 

T’Seva: Not getting anything, I'm afraid.

She was still trying, but it appeared that this was your typical nebula...they were blind. Which was why they had their best helmsman on the job...and why she was on the bridge herself, not letting a junior tactical officer practice.

Some things you needed your most experienced people for.

Rajel: You heard it, you’ll have to fly manually. 

T’Aven: Understood, Sir. Switching to manual controls. 

Rajel: Indrid, use what little sensors we have to collect data about the nebula. Barely anyone has been down here far enough to get any information. 

Yirah: Response 

Which pointed towards long delays, but T'Seva didn't voice it. Long delays also got interesting...and they weren't transporting medical supplies or anything else hugely urgent. This was a milk run in every sense, except they weren't carrying milk either. Milk would be more urgent.

Rajel: =/\= Bridge to Engineering. I need you to try to improve our sensors. I know it’s difficult but I need to be able to see where we are flying. =/\=

Mingxing: =/\= Response =/\=

And then T'Aven was moving her hands and the Commodore called a halt. It took a bit of time for a starship to actually stop, even when full stop was hit.

Rajel: Full stop. 

T’Aven: Engines disengaged.

Rajel: Can you make out anything on the screen?

T'Seva: I think there might be some kind of...clump? I'm seeing an opaque area.

Anyone on the bridge:  Response

Rajel: Anyone got an idea what we’re seeing?

It was a suspiciously round clump. Could it be...

T'Seva: I think it's a rogue planet.

Anyone on the bridge: Response

A planet. A planet?? She whirled around to look at who had said that. 

Rajel: What? There wasn’t anything mentioned on the charts when we prepared the flight path. ::She turned to the screen again.:: Can you scan it?

T'Seva: Negative. I still can't get the sensors calibrated for this mess.

But there was enough energy in the nebula that the planet might be interesting. Most rogues, if you could even find them, were snowballs. Sometimes they proved interesting to archaeologists, if they had developed life and civilization before being ejected. More often not...

But this one?

Anyone on the bridge: Response

Rajel: =/\= Rajel to Diz’mim. Come to the bridge, we found a... surprise. =/\=

Ch'Nilmani: =/\= Response =/\=

Rajel: T’Aven pull us back a bit, maybe we can see it better then. 

Rajel: It takes a moment to see, but have a look. 

The first officer made it up to the bridge while T'Seva tried to use all sensors she had, including the mark 1 eyeball, to get information.

Ch'Nilmani: Response

Rajel: What do you think, Dizzy. Do we have time to check it out? ::She grinned cheekily:: 

Ch'Nilmani: Response

T'Seva: There's a lot of energy in this nebula. Just...pointing that out.

It could be an interesting planet indeed, and maybe they did have time for a preliminary survey to establish whether it was worth coming back for a better look. After all, they'd saved time.

But nebulas, like inns, did indeed generate long delays sometimes.

Anyone on the Bridge: Response

LtCmdr Atan T'Seva
Chief of Tactical
USS Constitution
S238312D10