Ensign Juliet Banks: In at the Deep End
Juliet Banks
((Turbolift to Deck 1, USS Khitomer, the Lagoon Nebula))
Juliet ran her hands down the front of her uniform (again), smoothing out non-existent creases. She’d been on the Khitomer for such a scant amount of time it could still reasonably be measured in hours, most of which she’d spent in pitch blackness and lacking gravity’s comforting embrace.
First posting. First shift.
It’ll be okay, Juliet told herself. You’ve trained for this. You’ve got experience at the helm – well, some experience, anyway. You’ve got this.
Right?
She ran her hands down the front of her uniform (again), straightened her combadge (again) and heaved a deep breath. If it was a little shaky, well, there was no-one in here with her to call her on it.
And then the elevator was slowing to a stop, and she was out of time for all the worries crowding her head.
oO Shoulders back. Chin up. And this time for God’s sake say “Sir” to the captain instead of “Hi!” Oo
Showtime.
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer, the Lagoon Nebula))
The turbodeck doors slid open, and Juliet stepped out, posture carefully straight. Despite all her floating-in-the-dark PADD reviews of New Orleans II deck plans and bridge configurations it took her a beat longer than she’d have liked to orient herself and face the captain’s chair.
Hobart: Ensign Banks, I presume?
Banks: Yes, sir. :: She nods in acknowledgement. ::
Semara: I'm Lieutenant Amelia Semara. How d'you do, Ensign? ::A big bright smile, and an actual curtsey.::
Juliet blinked for a moment like the Lieutenant’s curtsey had short-circuited her brain, before she shook her head minutely as though to reboot it.
Banks: Uh – I’m well, thankyou Lieutenant. :: Juliet smiled back, a little gratefully. ::
Juliet looked around the room at the other bridge officers, doing the awkward-but-sincere nod-of-greeting dance with each.
Hobart: Glad to have you at your post. Helm awaits. Lieutenant Zerva, please instruct the Ensign on the warp field dynamics we're about to try not to kill ourselves with.
Zerva: Response
Semara: So. Ensign Banks. :: A big, pleasant smile. :: Ever play "the floor is lava" as a kid? Basically we're doin' that, 'cept in three dimensions, and the lava's actually very real threads of deadly Sencha radiation that're spinnin' and tanglin' 'round every which way. And we can't see 'em without some fancy math on the sensors, which is why we need some fancy flyin'. They also have a pesky habit a' disappearin' and reappearin' kinda randomly, which is why we're riggin' a fancy warp-powered lightnin' rod to keep us safe if anythin' gets too close...
Juliet followed Lt Semara’s glance to the other officer and turned her attention to him for the rest of the details, her head cocked as she listened.
Zerva: Response
Banks: Alright, I think I’ve got it. A hyperboloid warp field to collapse the radiation in a way that leaves us a path through and out. :: She nods thoughtfully. ::
There’s a tiny part of her that can’t help wondering if this is Haze the Newbie.
Dewitt: =/\= Engineering to Bridge. =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Bridge. =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= We have made the necessary adjustments and will be ready within five minutes. Commander T'Dara is on her way to the bridge to oversee everything from there. =/\=
Lt Semara leaned in confidentially as the Captain took the comm call, and Juliet turned back to listen. oO I feel like a spectator at a tennis match… my head’s on a swivel and I don’t think I’ve contributed anything other than looking a bit gormless. Oo
Semara: :: A conspiratorial whisper to Banks :: Oh, and - Cap'n Hobart ain't in a great mood. I highly recommend noddin' vigorously to all his orders. But if anythin' happens, we got your back. Right, Zerva?
Juliet exhaled in relief almost involuntarily at Semara’s encouraging smile, and put as much sincerity into her voice as she could.
Banks: Thank you. Seriously. Just… thank you.
oO When all this is over, I need to replicate her a fruit basket or something. Oo
Zerva: Response
Juliet straightened, her confidence renewed, and approached her duty station. She slid into the seat and tapped at the controls, bringing up the displays she’d need in her role.
Hobart: =/\= Stretching it to the limits here, Commander. We good? =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Aye, Sir. And Nolen... As soon as the warp core becomes unstable, I'm going to pull the plug. We will lose main power and I cannot guarantee that backup generators will hold. =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Understood but, maybe give... one or two seconds extra. =/\=
Dewitt / T'Dara / Graves / Zerva: Response
Juliet frowned to herself as she tried to calculate the impact of an unstable warp core on the scenario projections, adding some notes to her interface. ‘Nothing good’ was about the extent of what she could come up with.
Hobart: =/\= We're gonna have to do this twice, remember. Once for the strands, and again for the central singularity. We've got to cover our tracks here before returning home. =/\=
Juliet looked over her shoulder briefly as she heard the swish of the turbodeck doors, and a Vulcan woman stepped out; she heard the murmur of greetings behind her as her console claimed her attention again.
Dewitt / Graves / Zerva: Response
Hobart: Everything set?
Semara: Yessir. All ready.
Graves: T-the program is r-ready, sir.
Banks: Helm is ready, sir.
T'Dara: Engineering Uplink shows ready, Captain.
Zerva: Response
Hobart: Then let's go.
Semara: Aye, sir. Singularity's present position is bearin' Oh-eight-seven, mark twelve, distance just under twenty-five thousand kilometers. I'd say the minimum safe distance to try collapsin' the anomaly is 'bout half a million kilometers. I read three threads within two-thousand kilometers. Lemme try plottin' to the viewer...
Juliet scanned the viewscreen anxiously as it lit up with a visual overlay, and checked her console readouts against it.
Banks: Targeting the large gap between strands Gamma-five-six and Iota-oh-two. Setting course for bearing two-five-one, mark three-one-seven. Engaging… warp bubble geometry is holding steady for now.
As she adjusted the ship’s heading carefully, Juliet started to feel some of the nagging worries drain away. Perversely, though they were in more danger, there was less to worry about – just getting through this minefield.
Zerva: Response
T'Dara: Loathe though I am to rush headlong into matters, we may be best served by addressing the most antagonistic threads first.
Semara: I got a solid fix on five more threads within five-thousand klicks. That big one center-right looks mean. It's really squirmin'.
Juliet eyed the thread Semara indicated, its writhing unsettling and almost a parody of a lifeform.
Banks: Adjusting heading to two-three-seven mark three hundred. I’m going to try and navigate a little further around that big—
Graves: W-Watch for the echo, ensign B-Banks!
Juliet stiffened as the ship shuddered in response to an invisible force, and she stabbed at the controls to try to soften the sudden pitch forward into a roll away from the … whatever the hell this was, anyway.
T'Dara: More power to the inertial dampeners is indicated. ::a triple tap of buttons:: You are welcome.
Banks: Thank you.
She muttered the response almost absently, still focused on the viewscreen, and then frowned at her display. She looked over her shoulder at the two lieutenants.
Zerva / Hobart: Response
Semara: Shoot... :: Beat :: How's the warp field lookin'? Just lost the trace on a thread about six thousand klicks out. Prolly comin' our way any second...
Graves: T-This will be the first thread that the w-warp signature will dis- ::pausing to swallow:: -place. The computation is s-still linear, s-sir.
At the helm, Juliet is clearly still listening, but is intently watching the viewscreen and her own station as the ship‘s trajectory inevitably intersects with the oncoming tangle of radiation. Then, like their very own scientific miracle, a hole opens up in the strand and the Khitomer gliiiiides through.
Semara / Zerva / Hobart: Response
T'Dara: Hull integrity nominal. Warp field intact.
Graves: I-it worked. ::pausing, louder now:: it worked! The p-parameters from the micro-warp burst p-pushed us right through-through Euclidian sp-space.
Graves looks as though he’s about to smile – and then the ship jolts and shudders, and Juliet feels her own expression mirror Graves’ grimace.
Semara / Zerva / Hobart: Response
T'Dara: No damage- but that's unlikely to be the last.
Graves: M-minor cavitation due to ther-thermobaric fluctuations in s-space-time. I d-do hope we aren't vaporized ::mouthing the words before saying them:: b-by a misstep in the w-warp tunnel.
Commander T’Dara seemed, for a moment, to be trying to melt Graves with the vitriol in her glare, and Juliet blinked.
oO I don’t know why she didn’t like hearing that, and I don’t think I want to know. At this rate I’m going to be lucky if my first posting isn’t also going to be my last. Oo
Semara / Zerva / Hobart: Response
Graves: A-Abundant caution w-will see you th-through a long life. I a-apologize for m-my candidness.
T'Dara: We may not have time for caution. Warp field is beginning to lose cohesion. Compensating.
Banks: Helm shows warp field oscillation rate is outside of optimal.
oO ..I think. Oo
Semara / T’Dara / Zerva / Hobart: Response
Graves: We should be ex-exiting the w-worst of it s-soon.
Banks nods, and turns back to her console to be ready for the next adjustments.
T'Dara: Messrs. Graves and Semara – can we improve sensor resolution through our passage?
Juliet watched her screen, seeing the warp field stabilising in response to the Commander’s work. The sensor question nagged at the back of her mind.
Graves/Semara: Response
Banks: If we really need every scrap of sensor resolution, what about the auxiliary craft? :: She thinks for a moment, remembering. :: Five shuttles, two runabouts and a yacht if you – we – have the full complement? If Engineering networks their sensor arrays into the Khitomer, they can serve as a distributed sensor network and lend some calculation power to the main arrays.
Hobart / Zerva / Semara: Response
T'Dara: The computer is unable to to predict a modulation derivative. ::She looked up, translating to Standard:: I'm doing it manually for lack of gel packs, but if we do not find a method of predicting fluctuations and eddies in the subspace current, we will lose our warp field. Potentially more than our warp field.
T'Dara: =/\= Engineering, this is T'Dara. Detecting a 0.3 millicochrane oscillation in our warp bubble.
Dewitt/Michaels/R. Matthews: =/\=Response
Tags / TBC...
--
Ensign Juliet Banks
HCO Officer
USS Khitomer
K240206JB1