Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds - Cool Blue
Quinn Reynolds
((Vermillion Wastes, Gateside Dimension))
They had a plan. Using what they had observed in the facility — the flora of this dimension slowing its activity when colder — they intended to use an endothermic "bomb" to cool the roots of the reactor tree, reduce its output, and hopefully stop the power flowing to the gate from this side. Said bomb had been entrusted to Spelvan. Quinn, as the slowest of the trio, was to retreat to a safer distance.
Quinn paused before she moved, reluctance pulling at her feet like an anchor. There was a small tightening around her mouth, the rest of her face carefully schooled into neutrality. She hated the idea of leaving Spelvan there, on his own. He was a doctor, not a munitions specialist, and he was handling a device he helped to build but was far from an expert in.
Reynolds: Give yourself a healthy margin of error, Spelvan. There's no need to cut it close.
Spelvan: O-okay. Everything... everything will be okay.
Valek: Response
Spelvan managed calm stoicism right up to the last word, when a slight tremor caught his voice. Quinn managed a tight smile, nodded, and then retreated. She could almost hear Walter's baritone in her ear, telling her it was the right thing to do, but that didn't make her resent it any less. The snowy-haired Vulcan stood rigid while they moved, concentrating on the timer. Once they were in position, he held the device over the bore Valek had made, let it slip from his hands, and sprinted across the red earth to join them.
He made it perfectly intact, and she nodded once again. Another taut smile, although this one carried relief.
Spelvan: And now, I suppose, we wait.
Reynolds: And hope?
Valek: Response
None of them were inclined toward small talk, and so they stood together in silence as the seconds ticked past. The only sign the device had triggered was a fluttering beneath their feet. Barely enough to feel, even less than the vibrations of the Gorkon changing warp factor.
Spelvan looked up toward the tree, as did Quinn. First, the vines loosened and fell away, as though they had lost all strength, landing on the ground in loose, red ropes. More surprising was the change in the ground, the dusky red rocks and dirt shifting to a cool azure. Grass sprouted in the same cyan-blue hues, both bringing a colour to the landscape Quinn hadn't imagined possible.
Spelvan: Perhaps this is what dormancy passes for in this dimension.
Reynolds: ::Quietly,:: Or we've shifted the balance of power.
Valek: Response
Her gaze lingered on the patch of vibrant blue. Was this the outward expression of the other force or intelligence Valek had theorised about? Was there some kind of balance or cycle to the dimension they had interrupted? It was a little alarming to think about, and a little disappointing that they would not have the time to learn. If they were right, they had set a series of events in motion, and started a countdown they had to stay ahead of or else risk being stranded here forever.
She lifted her tricorder, reviewing the data streaming in through the passive collectors.
Spelvan: What are your scans showing, Admiral? The temperature at the center of the tree is now 4 degrees Celsius and dropping.
Reynolds: Much the same. ::She glanced toward him.:: Your bomb appears to have done exactly what we hoped for.
Valek: Response
She looked at her tricorder for a few more moments and then shifted her gaze back to the tree. The patch of blue around its base was expanding at a barely observable crawl. What worried her was the tricorder's dispassionate observation that the rate of expansion was increasing. Slowly and linearly, but there was no guarantee that would hold.
Spelvan: The EM resonance levels are also slowly dropping.
Reynolds: At much the same rate that patch of blue is expanding. ::She frowned.:: We need to find our way back. Somehow.
Spelvan / Valek: Response
Reynolds: Let's try backtracking along those resonance traces before they disappear. It's the best we have.
Spelvan / Valek: Response
Commanding Officer
USS Gorkon
T238401QR0