MSNPC LtCmdr. T'Dara: Patients (Part II)

[Randal Shayne]

((OOC: This normally goes without saying, but a reminder here won't be amiss- everything here is totally, entirely and strictly in character! :D ))
((Deck 1, Conference Room, USS Khitomer)) 

Her lips twitched at that. Combat was not her strong suit. Outside of some ceremonial training with an ahn-woon, she would be largely dependant on phasers and the like- somewhat poor weapons for CQC. The ridiculous image of her trying desperately to trip a Tholian with the purple marriage sling was quickly banished from her forthright mind. 

C. Matthews / Zerva: Response

El’Heem: We’ll be ready, sir.

The sound of soft button pushing told the SCE consultant that Hobart was moving to a new aspect of their assignment. 

Hobart: And now the catch. Ensign Cain? This is our final destination: the Lagoon Nebula. It's a stellar nursery, filled with enough different gases, dusts, and radiations to make long range communications and scans impossible. The enemy won't be able to observe, but neither will Starfleet. Which is just as well, since we've been under radio silence since we left Sector 001. Official word in the Fleet is we're being reassigned, and the Renown and Lowell are taking our place. We're on our own for this. Questions? Concerns? Floor's open.

C.Dewitt: I’ll urge every team to keep in mind the radiation and particles coming up in a stellar nursery… ::pause, looking at Commander T’Dara:: Do we expect any interaction between the matter and Sencha Waves inside that nebula?

T’Dara: Yes.

Her gummy tone was devoid of flavor, of life, and still it held a sprinkle of oblivious dismay. Realizing that no one had spoken for a second, she opened her eyes and grudgingly elaborated. 

T’Dara: Models have indicated no interaction we can predict- but Sencha waves have not been tested in this environment, with its abundantly mutual interactions. I give no suggestion as to what we will see; rest assured, whatever we witness, I will be swift in my response. 

El’Heem: Have we gotten any reconnaissance on Lattice-Alliance movements? What’s the likelihood here for engagement?

Exceedingly low. Indeed, that was a significant component of their strategy to avoid alien interference. It also helped that Tholians and Sheliak alike found nebulas intriguing, but only for their own constructive purposes. The Lagoon Nebula was far from their recalcitrant borders, too far even to be helpful as a deep space outpost. If the Alliance showed up, it would be a monstrous coincidence- one that exceeded her capacity to easily calculate. 

Ohnari: ::wincing slightly:: I would like to know that as well, anything catastrophic happens...no one is going to find out until it's probably too late. 

Cain: So, let’s say everything works as advertised—our shiny new systems counteract the Sencha waves, and we come out of this in one piece. What’s the next move? The Lattice Alliance isn’t just going to sit back and let us run tests without noticing. Do we have an exit strategy if they show up early, or are we planning to fight our way out?

The Alliance was uniquely impersonal. Life was not life unless it was based in something besides carbon. Creations of such life were to be inspected with even greater disdain and disinterest. In short, there would be no reason for them to care about a single starship pulling back from the front lines; it would be viewed as one more random fleet movement amongst a star civilization spanning nearly eight and a half thousand cubic light years. Again- the risk in concept was concerning. The risk in practice was low enough to warrant some degree of excessive confidence. 

Not that she would be easily convinced to admit such a thing. 

Hobart: Response

R. Matthews: Space is pretty big. They can’t monitor everywhere, sounds like they couldn’t monitor the Lagoon Nebula if they tried. Though, if they don’t have eyes on it. We should assume someone might patrol the area at least.

T’Dara shook her head, with a greater degree of patience than she had previously shown. That had been one of her first concerns, but extensive spectral analysis of the emission from the nebula indicated nothing approximating advanced technology, and though it was not in any way likely, any life would be almost hilariously simple; the nebula itself was only some five million years old. For proteins to develop in so short a time would be astonishing. For anything living and consequential to crop up in such a soupy, gaseous margin of the universe? So near a total impossibility that only scientific extremism could make a shaky argument against it. 

A Dewitt: It seems to be a big risk to take an experimental weapon and test it in an area that at the very least will be patrolled and/or vulnerable to attack.

T’Dara, for the first time, opened both her eyes, and made no attempt to hide her searching inspection of the crew. Eyebrow 1 was raised. Eyebrow 2 was lowered over her brow. But it wasn’t incredulity that was demanding her exhibition of emotion. 

It was realization. 

These people weren’t trying to cause discord, nor consternation. They… all of them… 

These people were damaged. 

Some by recent battle and loss as a result of the Alliance. Some, she had to assume, by experiences earlier and equitably disturbing. But this was trauma- a slicing schema that showed through a lens of black and white, and left no room for middle grounds. Things were either safe, or dangerous- and nothing would ever feel quite safe again, unless, of course, these issues were contended with. 

She leaned back, placid dismay neutralizing any expression. 

This was not a ship of babes. 

This was a ship of wounds. 

Michaels: If they do not detect us entering the nebula and can not detect us once we are in the nebula, then it is improbable that they will present us with any difficulties. Unless they are already there.

Her gaze switched to another Vulcan- younger, more spirited, even if such spirit was challenging for an outsider to see. Rather than insult the youthful professional with an approving nod, T’Dara closed her eyes, and let the ensign’s thoughts stand on their own. 

R. Matthews: Again, space is big, we just make sure no one is waiting for us there and then monitor short range scanners to avoid any surprises.

Semara: Could always daisy-chain a coupl'a probes as range extenders for early warnin', too.

T’Dara turned her head left, then right, and brought it back to middle- her approximation of a lackadaisical head shake. 

T’Dara: Any communication probe or early warning system launched is a greater liability to our mission than an asset. Our certainty is based on conclusive evidence, but our mission profile is carefully balanced on the presence of two craft in the nebula- the Khitomer, and the Sencha Probe. Anything further cannot be tolerated. 

She briefly flicked her gaze to the captain. 

T’Dara: Sir. 

R. Matthews: I’m sending an updated map to navigation Ensign Cain. Pin 1 and Pin 2 located at 9’ and 1’ north of the star cluster. We could aim for there to do our testing if the commander okays it.

T’Dara closed her eyes again, content that the conversation was turning away from outright dismay, and towards logical mitigation strategies- whether or not they could actually be implemented. 

Cain / Hobart: Response

R. Matthews: And then if we need to beat a hasty retreat, I’ve circled an additional dark nebula on the map. We could use that for cover if needed, or check out the dark lane that split the luminous nebula from a north to south axis. That’s a dust lane according to our records. We should be able to hide in there. The hig column density would obscure optical wavelengths.

Though Starfleet was not known for hiding, there were enough examples of captains forced into tactically inauspicious positions to fill a small textbook. Matthews’ suggestion was not addressed to the spirit of the end goal, but it was not totally out of place. 

Cain / Hobart: Response

R. Matthews: I just want to cover possible line of sight issues. Yes we have sensors and communications scrambled. But anyone can use a telescope.

This, T’Dara could not let slide. She fixed the man with her most excoriating expression, saved for ne’er-do-wells, children, house-defecating targs, and the illogical. 

T’Dara: Ensign… Matthews? A telescope viewed from directly outside the nebula would see light that had been emitted some sixty years previously. There is a not-insignificant chance that every person in this room will be dead before the light containing our presence escapes the confines of the phenomenon, and we will be various colors of mulch by the time said light reaches a stellar body, or even a sufficiently intrigued starship that knows where to look. Galileo weeps, Mr. Matthews. 

A. Dewitt: And what if we are discovered? What’s the contingency plan for that?

T’Dara: Discovery is unlikely. 

The Bajoran…? woman- newly wed, if she was correct, pressed on. 

A Dewitt: It’s a valid question. We’ll be vulnerable and with an experimental weapon that’s ripe for the picking.

Michaels: It is apparent that these technologies have been tested extensively in laboratories. It is also probable that prototypes have been tested on spacecraft as well. Have there been tests on starship-scale craft, perhaps using older, decommissioned ships? Were any of the tests conducted in environments similar to the Lagoon Nebula?

A stiff head shake was her response to the ensign’s questions. They were the prototype, the test bed, and the best hope for these technologies to synergize in activation. 

Semara: S'posin' things don't work as advertised... What's our emergency shut-off procedure for the probe's emitter?

T’Dara lifted a finger of approval and pointed it at S’mara. 

T’Dara: The probe’s interface is directly tied to the ship’s mainframe. Without a constant feed from our uplink computer, it is utterly non-functional. Multiple safety access points for the probes, and for the upgrades themselves, exist on bridge terminals, the deflector deck, engineering, and due to the specifically telepathic disruptions caused by Sencha waves, an additional emergency cut off exists in Sickbay. 

Her own (blessedly minimal) telepathic capacity encouraged a thorough overview of safety procedures. 

Hobart / Any: Response

Semara: And if I can't do that owin' to bein' unconscious? Or radiation from the stellar nursery interferes with our uplink to the probe?

A valid question- but one that T’Dara had no capacity to sugarcoat the answer to. 

T’Dara: For the latter I would recommend greater faith in the Corps of Engineers. For the former, I would suggest greater faith in yourself. 

She closed her eyes once more. 

Hobart / Any: Response

Tag/TBC…

Captain Randal Shayne
Commanding Officer
USS Khitomer
NCC 62400
G239202RS0