Var Gamoya - The Bleeding Edge
Tahna Meru
((Control Room, Gibaria Outpost))
The morning had been standard, predictable. That was always a blessing when pushing the bounds of known science: unpredictability might sound exciting, sure, if you were fresh from university hoping to make a name for yourself. But Var Gamoya was not fresh from university. She knew that unpredictability was dangerous. Routine was safe. Redundancies, documentation, standards, protocols…these were the things good scientists lived by.
Which was why she had the same thing every morning (karisepi tea, hot, unsweetened; a protein bar; standard dietary supplements). And why she arrived at the control room at the same time every day (0655 hours, precisely five minutes before her shift officially started). Redundancies. Documentation. Standards. Protocols. Routine. Ever more important on the bleeding edge of scientific discovery.
Var sipped her tea, checking energy and radiation output levels for the gateway. It was visible on a large screen in front of her: a large pointed arch constructed from dull metal that (for the moment) looked to lead nowhere. All readings were within expected parameters. Good. Excellent, in fact.
The bleeding edge of scientific discovery… Var smiled. The bleeding edge of this universe, more like. They’d opened the gateway before, briefly, long enough to ensure that it worked and take some readings of the other side. The gateway was idle now, but this was a temporary state of being. Today they had a team preparing to go through, collect samples, see what was on the other side. And then they’d close it, investigate the samples, see if there was anything of scientific value in this space between universes they’d dug into. If not, her team would come up with a new set of coordinates and reprogram the gateway, try and try again until they found something worth more than curiosity.
She leaned forward, pressed a button on her console, and opened a line of communication to the exo-suit clad team outside the gateway.
Gamoya: =/\= Alpha Team, ready to deploy? =/\=
Leon: =/\= Alpha Team ready. =/\=
The team lead’s stern, confident voice filtered back to her through the speakers. Var couldn’t help but smile. She almost wished she was going through the gateway too—only almost, though. She had never really cared for suiting up. She liked science that could be done from the sterile comfort of a lab. Still, exploring the space between dimensions…
Each member of the team was equipped with sensors and cameras that would stream data back to her, so she wouldn’t actually miss much. Var leaned in and keyed in her passcode, entering the command to start the gateway. Red lights flashed on the camera view, and a robotic voice began counting down from thirty. Inside the arch of the gateway, the view seemed to distort: at first like a mirage in a desert, then the distortion began to move more like a whirlpool. All readings were within standard parameters.
Gamoya: =/\= Good luck, Alpha Team. =/\=
Var watched, one eye on the sensor readings and one on the video feed, as the countdown reached zero, and the whirlpool of energy in the gateway flashed into a consuming darkness. Alpha Team didn’t hesitate, though they were cautious as they approached. On the screen, it looked like their lights could barely pierce the darkness…perhaps it was an illusion, because the readings were fine. But when they’d last opened the gateway, they’d seen a bright world of strange, neon-toned flora. The scientist leaned forward in her seat.
Gamoya: =/\= What’s going on down there? =/\=
Something, some writhing mass with too many limbs, reached out of the portal toward the team. The camera struggled to pick up the…creature? Frames flickered wherever it appeared on her screen. Leon and the other members of Alpha Team tried to back up out of the way…
And then all she heard was screams.
–
Var Gamoya
Lead Scientist
Gibaria Outpost
as simmed by
Lt. Commander Tahna Meru
First Officer
USS Gorkon (NCC-82293)
G239801TM4