LtCmdr Kettick: Tin can space telephone

[Darwin Awkward]

((SOS Labs, Deck 10, USS Eagle ))

Kettick: Lieutenant, Ensign. What can Engineering do for you today?

Lim: Probing suggestions. :: She giggled a bit to herself. Kettick wondered why. :: We’re trying to investigate the nebula without actually going into the nebula again.

Drex: Good day, Commander. Thank you for joining us. :: He acknowledged Kettick’s presence with a brief nod.:: We are considering the possibility of modifying a probe and sending it into the nebula. Specifically, we would need to equip it with an adaptive shielding system, something that operates on the same frequency modulation you configured on the Eagle to counteract whatever was suppressing our power systems. :: He glanced toward the others before continuing.:: Do you believe that is possible?

The Remmilian listened intently, head cocked sideways.

Kettick: Adaptive configuration of the probe aside, we would have to make sure that it does not lose power and shut down as soon as it reaches the edge of the nebula.

Lim: I’m assuming we can’t shield it like we did the Eagle?

The Remmilian gave a shrug, a rather expressive gesture on an insectoid frame. 

Kettick: We could. But the cost in resources notwithstanding, it would block the transmission of the data towards us, and we would have to go in there to retrieve the probe, which is precisely what you would like to avoid.

Drex: Alternatively, we could consider modifying a torpedo casing. It is structurally more resilient than a standard probe, and we could equip it with a dedicated sensor array. :: He paused, weighing the idea aloud.:: It might give us a better chance of getting clean data through the interference.

Kettick: What about something like a modified listening buoy? Have it send signals towards the heart of the nebula from a distance, and see what comes back?

Lim: How much information would we be able to get from it? If it’s not much more than we already have then I don’t think it would be useful.

Drex: A buoy? ::He echoed the suggestion thoughtfully, eyes narrowing in reflection.:: From outside the affected area… hmm. :: He leaned back slightly :: I was in the labs during our initial scans of the nebula. We did not pick up anything unusual at the tim, but then again, we did not know what we were looking for. :: He paused, fingers drumming lightly against his arm.:: Now we know. The key variable seems to be the interaction with the ipersound frequency.

The Chief Engineer raised a spindly hand to forestall more scientifical musings.

Kettick: I believe I am quite outside of my field of competence, here, but if you would be so kind as to tell me in grease-bug terms what kind of data you want from this probe, it would be a good starting point.

Lim: Something that could pick up infrasound and I’d say something that could read the electromagnetic spectrum and chemical make up if that’s possible?

She ticked off her suggestions on her fingers.

Infrasound an EM were comparatively easy to manage with a standard sensor array. Chemicals... not so much. They could not use absorption for lack of anything on the other side, so perhaps 

Drex: Perhaps we should show you what the computer compiled after we gathered all the inputs... :: He turned in his chair and brought the data back onto the console display.:: When we reached the Ifir, we found ourselves at the intersection of several quantum fields. These readings came from Commander DeVeau when you restored power to the ship… :: He tapped a control, switching to a new set of data.:: But these are from the suits worn by the away team that boarded the Ifir. The data is limited, most of it corrupted or irrelevant, but there is one constant. :: He highlighted a portion of the screen, drawing attention to a persistent signal.:: The  ipersound frequency.

Kettick: :: Dooking at the data Drex had just highlighted ::  What kind of physical phenomenon could produce such a sound, just so I know the type of shielding we will have to factor in?

Lim: Elor had a theory that the nebula might be a living one.

Drex: He also suggested the Romulan were doing strange experiments that went wrong…

... or terribly "right"? Kettick flicked his feelers along his facial plates, as if to sweep them clean of his annoyance.

Kettick: And those hypotheses might not even be mutually exclusive on a regular Tuesday.  In any case, we would have to get our listening device deep enough into the nebula that there is matter in sufficient quantity to carry the sound, which means getting closer to the source. :: He paused and looked at the map of the nebula, tracing with a finger Eagle's trajectories in and out :: Somewhere deeper in along our approach vector, given the magnitude of the effect decreased progressively the further we moved away from Ifir's position?

Drex: The combined quantum fields might have acted as an amplifier for the frequencies. That could explain why we did not experience any anomalous effects until we reached a specific position within the nebula. :: He paused. :: However, since the Ifir was already present in that area, it does not rule out the other hypothesis either.

The Remmilian nodded.

Kettick: A combination of factors, then? An unknown source, possibly deeper into the nebula, or a weak regional effect, and... whatever the Romulans did that caused a quantum amplifier effect right on their position?

Lim: Response

Drex: A buoy stationed just outside the interference zone would allow us to monitor the nebula continuously without reentering the area. We could tune it to the ipersound frequencies, maybe even attempt controlled signal output and see if there is any response :: He hesitated, then added with a hint of skepticism:: But… if the buoy is outside the field, it might not pick up the deeper signal distortions. We could miss the most critical data entirely and if this is a form of communication it might not provoke anything at all.

Kettick: :: Serenely :: On the other hand, sending signals at random might provoke an hostile reaction from an unknown species because we accidentally insulted their whole lineage in a language we do not have a translation matrix for. 

Lim: Response

Drex: ::Turning on his chair, he looked between Kettick and Lim .:: Well… it might be a safer first step. Worth testing before we escalate.

Kettick: :: Nodding :: A prudent decision. Passive scans it is.

Lim: Response

Drex: Response

Kettick: I believe we can work around this problem.

The Engineer cleared the display of his PADD and held it out for the other officers to see, drawing rough shapes with a finger on the nebula map as he spoke.

Kettick: We could install our buoy with the data collection and transmission equipment here, just outside the field, and then extend a completely passive sensor further in, at the end of a tether that would transmit the signal.

Lim/Drex: Response

The Remmilian nodded.

Kettick: Yes, of course, if the problem comes from the sound frequencies, transmitting them as is would only extend the effect to our probe. A piezoelectric transducer at the "microphone" end should do the trick. Unless the effect persists once converted, or inhibits the conversion into current, but that would be information in itself.

Tags/TBC

--

Lieutenant-Commander Kettick

Chief of Engineering

USS Eagle

G239107LR0

Your Engineering department kindly reminds you that you are supposed to read the flakking manual.