Commander Jo Marshall - The Dark Beyond (Part III)
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Jo Marshall
Mar 1, 2026, 4:33:21 PMMar 1
to UFOP: StarBase 118: USS Gorkon
((Engineering Annex, Gibaria Outpost))
There were laboratories, and then there were places where engineering and science had slammed so hard into one another that everyone stopped pretending there was a difference for a short while. The Engineering Annex of Gibaria Outpost had crossed that line some time ago, beset as it was with a mixture of equipment that Jo imagined would turn her partner's heart into mush. Thankfully, they were safe in there from the xenoflora making the science labs into gardens. For their friends and colleagues, however, that was a different situation.
Tool carts stood half-open, their contents spilling onto the floor. A portable emitter frame hummed happily in one corner, around a sealed but clear sample canister full of plant matter—black veined and pulsating—which shifted now and then as if it was dreaming unpleasantly. Jo was particularly thankful it didn't include a sample of the aggressive and nightmare-inducing fauna written in the recent reports.
As far as Jo was concerned, however, they'd seen worse. Putting what they were there to do aside, it was actually kind of cosy, if one ignored the background noise of quivering flora.
Cold crept through the air, though, like someone had left the lid off a liquid nitrogen canister overnight. When she inhaled, Jo could smell hot circuitry, rapid coolant, some kind of sterilising agent that tickled the sinuses, and the forever tang of overworked machinery encouraged to overclock with enthusiasm.
Overhead, a conduit rattled unnervingly.
The central bench sat surprisingly in the middle of the workspace, surrounded by several other benches littered with a variety of replicated parts and equipment. A broad display vomited up what telemetry data the facility had been able to transmit in batches before the Experimentation Wing had gone dark.
Jo looked around the bench at her team. Vylaa, a formidable engineer at the best of times; Maezel, an accomplished scientist with a brain like a light show; and Kovar, who had recently joined the Gorkon crew in engineering. Good. Competent people were about the best luxury the Outpost could hope for.
Marshall: Right. Welcome team. The good news is we know what the problem is.
She tapped the display with the hand that wasn't wrapped around a freshly replicated mug of coffee, and a warped image of the gate bloomed over the table. Angular, metal, hungry, and dark. She suppressed a shudder and instead sighed.
Marshall: Bad news is the problem appears to be another dimension. We need to use everything here at our disposal to develop the equipment and systems needed to traverse the gate safely. The lucky few will need to go through it, operate on the other side of it, and make it back alive. Preferably intact.
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
Sweeping the schematic aside with a midair gesture, Jo brought up another cluster of reports, none of which provided much help at all, save for a short brief from medical. The word 'radiation' featured heavily. The sample canister clicked, and inside one of the nightmare vines uncoiled and pressed itself against the clear canister wall as if listening to their conversation.
Jo didn't look at it.
Marshall: Medical's already confirmed this likely isn't just radiation, considering everyone's had a shot for that and we're no better off. We're looking at a stack of threats. Unknown atmosphere, potential unknown energy exposure, contamination vectors we don't have names for yet, sensor drift, comms failure, to name a few, plus the real possibility local physics becomes more of a suggestion than a rule.
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
Marshall: It doesn't have to be perfect. Perfect isn't on offer with what we know versus what we've got to work with. It just has to survive contact, which is a lower bar and the only bar we have. So. ::She set her mug down on the metal bench.:: Fairly standard engineering day for Starfleet. Initial thoughts?
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
--
There were laboratories, and then there were places where engineering and science had slammed so hard into one another that everyone stopped pretending there was a difference for a short while. The Engineering Annex of Gibaria Outpost had crossed that line some time ago, beset as it was with a mixture of equipment that Jo imagined would turn her partner's heart into mush. Thankfully, they were safe in there from the xenoflora making the science labs into gardens. For their friends and colleagues, however, that was a different situation.
Tool carts stood half-open, their contents spilling onto the floor. A portable emitter frame hummed happily in one corner, around a sealed but clear sample canister full of plant matter—black veined and pulsating—which shifted now and then as if it was dreaming unpleasantly. Jo was particularly thankful it didn't include a sample of the aggressive and nightmare-inducing fauna written in the recent reports.
As far as Jo was concerned, however, they'd seen worse. Putting what they were there to do aside, it was actually kind of cosy, if one ignored the background noise of quivering flora.
Cold crept through the air, though, like someone had left the lid off a liquid nitrogen canister overnight. When she inhaled, Jo could smell hot circuitry, rapid coolant, some kind of sterilising agent that tickled the sinuses, and the forever tang of overworked machinery encouraged to overclock with enthusiasm.
Overhead, a conduit rattled unnervingly.
The central bench sat surprisingly in the middle of the workspace, surrounded by several other benches littered with a variety of replicated parts and equipment. A broad display vomited up what telemetry data the facility had been able to transmit in batches before the Experimentation Wing had gone dark.
Jo looked around the bench at her team. Vylaa, a formidable engineer at the best of times; Maezel, an accomplished scientist with a brain like a light show; and Kovar, who had recently joined the Gorkon crew in engineering. Good. Competent people were about the best luxury the Outpost could hope for.
Marshall: Right. Welcome team. The good news is we know what the problem is.
She tapped the display with the hand that wasn't wrapped around a freshly replicated mug of coffee, and a warped image of the gate bloomed over the table. Angular, metal, hungry, and dark. She suppressed a shudder and instead sighed.
Marshall: Bad news is the problem appears to be another dimension. We need to use everything here at our disposal to develop the equipment and systems needed to traverse the gate safely. The lucky few will need to go through it, operate on the other side of it, and make it back alive. Preferably intact.
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
Sweeping the schematic aside with a midair gesture, Jo brought up another cluster of reports, none of which provided much help at all, save for a short brief from medical. The word 'radiation' featured heavily. The sample canister clicked, and inside one of the nightmare vines uncoiled and pressed itself against the clear canister wall as if listening to their conversation.
Jo didn't look at it.
Marshall: Medical's already confirmed this likely isn't just radiation, considering everyone's had a shot for that and we're no better off. We're looking at a stack of threats. Unknown atmosphere, potential unknown energy exposure, contamination vectors we don't have names for yet, sensor drift, comms failure, to name a few, plus the real possibility local physics becomes more of a suggestion than a rule.
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
Marshall: It doesn't have to be perfect. Perfect isn't on offer with what we know versus what we've got to work with. It just has to survive contact, which is a lower bar and the only bar we have. So. ::She set her mug down on the metal bench.:: Fairly standard engineering day for Starfleet. Initial thoughts?
zh’Tisav / Fenn / Kovar: Response
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