Capt. Genkos Adea - Accidents Will Happen
Genkos Adea
((Power Chamber 2, Deck 742-Beta, Voth Generation Ship Igirni))
Genkos watched his crew scanning, and once they had identified some dust that was (relatively) local (it was in the same post code, but still a bit of a walk), they started to head towards it.
Adea: I guess we can clear the dust, but we would need to find its origin as well, no? To prevent it from happening again.
Xarrin: Without stating the obvious, that would require us to find the cause of the failures and we are yet to do that. ::gesturing towards Stapledon:: I also think we have a long way to go to prove your hypothesis. If the servos controlling the rods are being sent incorrect signals, I’d have expected them to fail long before the rods given the size of them.
Genkos nodded; he didn’t follow everything they said about the technology that drove this ship, but that did make sense to him.
ch’Clex: I agree that the dust alone does not prove cause. But it will give us a trail.
The Remmilian nodded as he walked, head and antennae on a swivel, cataloguing everything around him. Genkos watched him keenly, intrigued to see his process up close.
Kettick: If we can find the first element to fail, we can hope to reconstitute the chain. And break it.
Genkos gave Kettick a hopeful look, and he saw Stapledon nod - it seemed they had a path to go down, with a bit of luck and some technical skill it might prove to be the correct one.
Xarrin: I’m not saying your hypothesis is wrong, but dust on its own does not prove anything and I’m unconvinced servos firing incorrectly would have caused the two replacement rods to have failed as quickly as they did. I think we should consider what else might have caused this.
Kettick: And we are, Chief Engineer. Simply making sure to check every possibility. This one is simply the first to have jumped up at us. If we notice anything else abnormal, it will go on the list as well.
Adea: ::nodding at Kettick’s words:: Indeed, Commander. ::turning to Xarrin:: We’re not ruling anything out just yet.
Xarrin: No, we shouldn't rule anything out, I just don’t believe this is an entirely mechanical problem. Are your scans sophisticated enough to long for any compounds that shouldn’t be in the reactor? Perhaps it’s become contaminated somehow in a way our diagnostic instruments are unable to detect?
Kettick: If you give us the baseline, most likely.
ch'Clex continued to scan, and Genkos pushed a curl of errant hair behind his ear. It was a tricky problem - it was apparent Xarrin suspected something, but whether they were going to share it was another matter.
ch’Clex: I can run a parallel scan for compounds that do not match the local material profile.
Stapledon: That sounds like a good idea.
Adea: ::nodding to Kettick:: If you think it might work, Commander, go for it.
Xarrin: Response?
Kettick: By your command. Mister Stapledon, please carry on. Mister ch'Clex, perimeter sweep, if you would. I will focus on the core.
Both Tholin and Kimberly continued their scans, the corridor silent except for the beeping of their tricorders.
And their breathing.
And the groaning of an ancient generational ship.
Okay, so not that silent.
ch’Clex: I have something.
Both Genkos and Kettick swiveled their heads to stare at the Andorian.
ch’Clex: Trace amounts of an unknown compound near the affected housing. Very faint. It may be contaminated, but it is not part of the reactor assembly.
Kettick: Forward the spectral profile, please.
Tholin did so, and Kimberly looked over the spectral profile.
Stapledon: That's... interesting.
Genkos placed an impatient hand on his hip, and gave them all a look.
Adea: What’s interesting?
Xarrin: Response?
The Andorian took two steps back, seemingly following an invisible trail.
ch’Clex: The same trace is present beyond the reactor housing.
The Chief Engineer confirmed his findings, and piped in.
Kettick: Good job, Lieutenant. I have the same trace in minute amounts in the reactor core. Mister Stapledon, in your own expertise, would this kind of compound be likely to emit radiation pulses? Say, at a couple kilohertz?
She cocked her head. Genkos wondered what precisely was causing her to react that way, then she spoke.
Stapledon: Radiation pulses? No, sir. I am detecting traces of nichrome in the substance, though. This is an electrical resistor and would explain the increase in thermal radiation. It's very good at resisting current and emitting heat. Also, its presence beyond the reactor housing suggests it might be acting as a resistor to slow down signals to the servos from the sensors.
Genkos turned to Kettick and to Xarrin, looking between the two of them. They were the experts here, and so he was content to be led by them.
Adea: If that’s the case, could that cause the issues you’re seeing here?
Xarrin: Response?
Kettick: Not quite my expertise, I am afraid. But we could ask Eagle to run a quick simulation of the reaction profile with the extra compound mixed in, see where it leads us?
Kimberly nodded, and Genkos followed suit, crossing his arms as he did so. He looked over at Tholin.
Adea: If you could ask the Eagle to do that please, Lieutenant.
Xarrin / ch'Clex: Response?
Kettick nodded.
Kettick: Either the trail comes out of the reactor through this access hatch and moves towards the rest of the facility... :: He reversed the movement :: Or the contaminant has been brought in, by mistake or by malice. Mister Xarrin, if we show you the probable structure of our mystery substance, can you tell us if this has any use elsewhere on-ship, or quickly get in touch with someone that does?
Stapledon: I think it would be a good idea to scan one of the sensors.
Adea: Unless Xarrin has any reason to object, go for it.
Xarrin / ch'Clex / Kettick: Response?
Kimberly nodded, moving herself closer to one of the sensors. Genkos kept his arms folded, his eyes guarded as he watched her scan the sensor.
Stapledon: I am detecting traces of the substance in the nearest sensor here. It is not present in the sensor toward the east, that way.
Adea: I take it that’s bad?
Xarrin / ch'Clex / Kettick: Response?
Stapledon: What it means is that the sensors are not all sending their data as fast as they normally would. Some are slower. This results in cascade failures.
Adea: Can we clean the sensors? Eradicate the substance? ::turning to Xarrin:: Can you assign a team to it?
Stapledon / Xarrin / ch'Clex / Kettick: Response?
Adea: And whilst that’s taken care of, we can investigate exactly where it’s coming from. Tell me, Xarrin, I feel from your tone you aren’t certain this isn’t 100% accidental?
Stapledon / Xarrin / ch'Clex / Kettick: Response?
TBC
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Captain Genkos Adea MD
Commanding Officer
USS Eagle-A
G239502GS0
"You know, I'm really easy to get along with most of the time, but I don't like bullies and I don't like threats, and I don't like you, Culluh. You can try and stop us from getting to the truth but I promise you that if you do I will respond with all the 'unique technologies' at my command." - Kathryn Janeway