Ensign Kovar - A Race Against the Clock (Part 1)
Kovar
(( Observation Bay, near Engineering Annex, Gibaria Outpost ))
The small team of three beheld one of Gibaria's many mysteries, namely a highly modified Type 9 shuttlecraft that was potentially the source of some of the installation's current woes.
Kovar: I am curious as to how this vessel might be connected to the evolving situation here. Is this bay enclosed, or does it extend toward the epicenter of the extra-dimensional incursion?
With that question out in the open Commander Marshall seemed deep in thought and Ensign Fenn made her way to the adjoining monitoring stations.
Fenn: We’ll need a lot more information to answer that question. I’m going to see what information these monitors were recording. It might shed some light on what’s happening.
Marshall: What are the chances this is still connected to the breach in some way.
Kovar: There is a high degree of likelihood that this vessel is connected to the breach. However, the question of how, as Ensign Fenn has pointed out, requires more data.
As Fenn scoured the readouts, Kovar considered what exactly they would do with the Type 9, if anything. Obviously, its phasing was a cause for concern, but where that fell within the hierarchy of crises at the outpost remained in question. However, logically speaking, it did not seem like they could leave it in this state if it were contributing to the larger crisis on hand.
Fenn: I can tell you whatever this is supposed to be is reading as stable though I’m not sure how much I trust that assessment at this stage.
Marshall: Given everything else on this station that's been both stable and contained, that's a healthy dose of skepticism.
Kovar: That would be an appropriate disposition. The staff of this
installation do not seem to have operated from any standard of logic, ethics,
or safety with which we would be familiar.
Kovar noticed Commander Marshall move to another console connected to the
shuttle. It seemed to him that she felt concerned at what it told her, and her
expression told him that his assessment regarding the Gibarian staff was
correct.
Marshall: The dimensional field around the shuttle is
degrading. Has been since the stabilization systems went offline. My
guess is when the dimensional breach opened, it knocked out the automated
systems. We've got maybe four hours before the field
collapses entirely. ::Her eyebrow nearly escaped to
her hairline.:: That's not ideal.
Fenn: Then that’s how long we have to become experts... ::gesturing casually to the shuttle:: ...in whatever this is.
Kovar: Yes, the inefficiencies present are...considerable.
Marshall: Best case scenario, the shuttle phases
completely into the other dimension and we lose it. Worst case—
::She glanced at the shuttle existing in four different states
of reality.:: —the field collapse triggers a localised dimensional
cascade that spreads outward from this bay.
Kovar’s experience told him that it was far more probable that the latter scenario
would befall them. Logic told him that there was no cosmic puppeteer pulling
the strings in increasingly problematic directions, but he did not blame those
who felt that way. Either way, it did not matter because it did not change what
they have been called upon to do, even should they perish in the attempt. After
all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Fenn: Either way, not great outcomes. Either we
lose our ability to potentially traverse the gate safely, or we die.
Kovar: Yes, and the "we" here likely includes a great number of
people. So, though unexpected, we must stabilize this device regardless of
whether that renders it inoperable.
Marshall: Right, new priorities. Fenn, I need you to work out how to access and restart the auto-stabilisation sequence. Your call, make it fast. Kovar, shuttle access. We need the onboard computer active and communicating with the external systems but the pocket is blocking the connection, so we need to get on there. While it's phasing between dimensions. Also, not ideal.
Fenn: Aye, Commander.
Kovar: Copy that.
Engineering Officer
USS Gorkon, NCC-82293
G240302K13