CDR Naxell — Captain's Prerogative

[Naxell]

((Science Lab, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))

The commanding officer listened to his science department chief's summary. It wasn't strictly necessary, as most of everything they knew down here had been shared freely with the Bridge. Nothing was a surprise to him, though the fact that they lost contact with the probes the instant they entered the cloud was one of those finer details that hadn't yet made its way to him. All he had known was that they weren’t getting anything out of them.

Naxell: As I feared. To understand this cloud, we’re going to need a physical sample, and that means someone’s going to have to go out and get it. ::looking to Matthews:: Are you up to date on your EVA training, Ensign?

Of the officers present, Ensign Matthews was the best choice. He needed a science officer, and that excluded Ensign Melville-Kilpatrick, who would be put to better use by monitoring lifesigns. It was foolhardy to risk the Captain’s life on a spacewalk in hazardous conditions, moreso than it was foolhardy to risk anyone’s life. A similar calculation could be made for the ship’s Chief Science Officer. Naxell did not like it, but by the sheer fact of being more expendable than the other qualified candidates, the job was Ensign Matthews’s to do, and it was the Captain’s duty to assign it to him.

Matthews: Unfortunately, yes, yes I am.

El’Heem: There’s significant risk, but it hasn’t exactly damaged the ship yet either. I’ll be right there on comms with you and Melville-Kilpatrick will be monitoring your vitals.

Melville-Kilpatrick: I've got that part down, I promise.

Matthews: Confidence, you fill me with it.

Naxell: I have some experience with this sort of thing, Ensign, we’ll do everything we can to minimize risk to you and the ship.

He stepped away from the three of them. His thoughts rushed back to the USS Charleston, the second ship on which he served as Chief Science Officer, and the last ship he would leave that way. The Intrepid-class’s science labs were well-equipped by the standards of the 2370s, but the Khitomer had another three decades of improvements to boast. Among the new standardized equipment since his days as a deep space explorer was a device fabrication station, connected to an encyclopedic knowledge of every haphazard, jury-rigged tool scientists and engineers in Starfleet had registered to the fleet’s database, as well as a fair number of items from other civilizations that they’d encountered and analyzed.

It was in essence a glorified replicator, but it was a special science lab replicator!

Melville-Kilpatrick: I should be able to keep track of everything from here.

Matthews: We have a few uplinks to sickbay from here. You should have access to your stations from here. If that helps. I know for me it’s kind of easier now to work from the science labs and if not actually be here. Still utilize the specific systems. 

El'Heem: Alright, Matthews…Richard. Come back with that sample.

The captain turned back to look at Chief El’Heem, who was puffing his subordinate up with the requisite confidence and enthusiasm. Or giving it the old college try, in any event. They exchanged a nod before Naxell turned his attention back to the fabricator.

Naxell: Computer, begin fabrication. Device reference Charleston-Nax-One-Seven.

Melville-Kilpatrick: Ideally, I'd be able to notice before anything went...too wrong.

Matthews: :: Pressing a few buttons and getting ready to leave :: Oh, but I do like surprises though.

The device chirped and whirred. It took less than a minute to produce what he’d ordered, but longer than Naxell had expected. Perhaps he was getting impatient under pressure. Piece by piece, the device he’d hand-crafted twenty-five years ago reappeared, shimmering and floating inside the chamber until every component was built and assembled.

It was awkward, about a meter long, with a long cylindrical arm in the middle of it. An ergonomic handle sat at one end, and opposite it a large bulbous form, with an opening over a third or so of its face. He picked it up, and walked to the group, then past it towards the compartment doors.

El'Heem: See you on the other side.

Melville-Kilpatrick: Response 

Naxell: We’ll be back before you know it. Come, Ensign.

((Timeskip, Cargo Bay 4, Deck 16, USS Khitomer, Ceram Archipelago))

It was a short walk to the cargo bay, where a variety of gear was stowed, including those items needed for a spacewalk. Within each airlock, of course, was additional equipment, but it was located there for use in emergencies and this didn’t quite qualify. For a planned excursion into hard vacuum, Naxell and Matthews agreed it was best to leave the emergency gear where it was, in case of emergency. As they gathered two sets of everything they needed—one for Matthews, and one in the unlikely event that Naxell needed to go out with him—the intraship comms chirped.

El’Heem: =/\= Richard. Ensign MK and I are ready when you are. =/\=

Matthews: =/\= See! MK just rolls off the tongue so much easier, look at all the time we saved. I’m almost ready on this end =/\=

Naxell: =/\= We’ll be ready to go, soon. =/\=

Matthews was already checking out his gear in the system by the time Naxell turned to face him.

Matthews: :: Turning on a camera from the outside :: With as close as the nebula is to the ship now. This should be a quick trip to collect samples. Captain, could you grab a kit from the supply closet? 

The captain nodded, and fetched a sample collection kit. It would work if his own device didn’t. Hopefully. Nothing in the kit was really designed to be used in situations like these—a hostile environment, collecting an unpredictable material. And the kit hadn’t changed in at least thirty years, mostly because it worked extremely well for nine out of every ten things you’d conceivably want to take a sample of. He pointed at his long-armed collector, resting against a bulkhead.

Naxell: These will be our back-up. I’ll teach you how to use that before you go out. If we’re lucky, you won’t even have to leave the airlock.

Matthews: ::Bringing up a display for the sensors:: You can monitor me from here with El’Heem. Be ready to let me back in if things get too dangerous out there? ::He glanced over his shoulder at the captain, flashing him a grin:: I’d really appreciate that. 

Naxell: Lieutenant El’Heem can monitor you. I’ll suit up and wait inside, in case anything goes wrong.

El’Heem: =/\= Suit data is coming through now. =/\=

Clearly, Lieutenant El’Heem could monitor Ensign Matthews. Their internal comms were working just fine, but it was good to know the other signals that were bouncing around the ship weren’t getting disrupted by whatever was outside it.

Matthews: =/\= Well there’s all my bases covered then. If something happens, that’s like three of our best and brightest ready to save me. Excellent. =/\=

It occurred to Naxell that depending on how things went outside, there may be no saving Ensign Matthews. But he would ensure they were at least able to recover him. As the science officer headed for the door, Naxell picked up and placed his device in the man’s gloved hands.

Naxell: ::indicating:: Swing the bulb slowly through the cloud. This trigger here will close the collection chamber. Twisting the handle clockwise will mechanically cause an isolated chemical reaction on the outer lid, creating a hermetic seal. It’s low-tech, so it shouldn’t be affected by whatever’s inhibiting our scanners. ::pantomime:: Scoop. Pull. Twist. If it doesn’t work, use the kit, but try not to stick your hands in whatever that is out there. If you can’t get a sample, come back in. There is no rush.

Melville-Kilpatrick: =/\= Response =/\=

He gave Ensign Matthews a very Terran thumbs up, and stepped back away from the airlock door, as the junior officer stepped through it. And that’s when the concerning chatter began.

Morda: =/\= Ensign Morda to Lieutenant El'Heem. Sir, Lieutenant Michaels and I have discovered something that might pose a hazard to the planned EVA. =/\=

El’Heem: =/\= Matthews is in the airlock now, getting ready. What’s the hazard? =/\=

Matthews: =/\= Yes, what is the hazard please and thank you=/\=

Naxell was in the middle of pulling his own EVA suit on—just in case there were thrilling heroics or a horrible catastrophe in his future—and did not stop. So far, he’d only heard “something” and “might.” He hadn’t yet fully calibrated himself to this crew. If it had come from the Lenart’s notoriously taciturn tactical officer, he would have felt an irresistible urge to physically drag Matthews back out of the airlock, and possibly order that the ship be abandoned. By contrast, if Morda turned out to be like the Charleston’s worrywort XO, the conversation could be stopped there. The problem was, he didn’t have enough experience with this crew to know at which end of the spectrum they gathered.

Naxell: =/\= This is the Captain. Lead with the discovery, Ensign, we’ll assess the risk. =/\=

Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda / Michaels: =/\= Responses =/\=

El'Heem: =/\= I’m seeing it. Seems to be localized to the nacelles. Must be why we’re pinned. We’ll see if we can get a better understanding of it. ::turning to the console:: Richard, captain, I suggest we steer clear of the nacelles and any other filaments you might encounter out there. EVA screen filters will be able to pick up the infrared signatures. ::beat:: Captain, this might not be a one-man job anymore, but it’s your call. ::hesitating:: I can be down there in the airlock right away. =/\=

Naxell checked the seals on his suit, then flipped on and off the infrared filters on his helmet’s visor. The discovery was indeed a hazard, but it made sense that this was the first he was hearing about it. Nobody crawled into the ship’s warp nacelles unless they had a very good reason to do so, and if they’d been randomly distributed through the ship, from the sounds of these things he would have had some reports of injuries. Probably. He realized, then, that he didn’t know Lt. Commander Ohnari as well as he assuredly would come to know her, and, as with Ensign Morda, had not yet calibrated his interpretations of what she did and did not say.

Matthews: =/\= Gotta teach you how to delegate when we have the time. Can’t be doing everything chief. =/\= :: Richard twisted around to look in through the airlock window at Naxell and waved his hand in a ‘go for it’ signal :: =/\= Actually this sounds like it’s even more so a one person’s job now. =/\=

Naxell: =/\= Stay there, Lieutenant. Ensign Morda, pass along your findings to Commander Ohnari. If these threads start appearing elsewhere on the ship, she’ll have a very bloody mess to clean up. =/\=

Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda / El'Heem: =/\= Responses =/\=

Matthews: =/\= It’ll be easier if it’s just me going out there. If I don’t have to worry about a partner, I can get a sample quickly and be back on the Khitomer before you finish saying KP’s full name. =/\=

Naxell had to agree, though he wasn’t sure whom “KP” was supposed to refer to. It would be easier for Matthews if there was only one person out there to collect the sample, and get back in. But that assumed things would go well. What if Matthews needed assistance for some reason getting back? What if the cloud shifted again in some way and caused more unforeseen problems?

He opened the airlock door and stepped through.

Naxell: =/\= Captain’s prerogative, officers. I’m entering the airlock now. I’ll wait here, in case something happens while you’re on the hull. Lieutenant, are you registering my suit? Vitals? =/\=

Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda / El'Heem: =/\= Responses =/\=

Matthews: =/\= I’ll feel safer knowing you’ve got my back from there Ras. I’m not stupid. I know I’ll need help out there. But it’ll be more helpful with a person in my ear giving direction and watching my blind spots - Captain, permission to head out? =/\=

Naxell: =/\= You can do this, and I’ll be back here. Permission granted. Beginning depressurization. =/\=

With the airlock door closed and sealed, Naxell initiated the depressurization sequence through the contacts on the wall beside him. Through his helmet he heard the hiss of atmosphere being drawn out of the room by audibly pulsing pumps.

El'Heem / Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda: =/\= Responses =/\=

Naxell: =/\= While that cycles, let’s set up a level 3 forcefield across the outer hatch, in case this cloud decides it wants to come in. =/\=

Matthews / El’Heem / Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda: =/\= Response =/\=

He was used the audible buzz of a forcefield erecting, but owing to the reduced atmosphere it was difficult to perceive when Matthews entered the commands on his wall-mounted terminal. They still had a little more waiting to do, so the Captain turned to his junior science officer.

Naxell: =/\= Plan of action. If the cloud is within arm’s reach on the other side of the forcefield, we’ll pass the sampler through. If it’s away, we’ll lower the forcefield, and wait to see if there’s a reaction. =/\=

Matthews / El’Heem / Melville-Kilpatrick / Morda: =/\= Response =/\=

TBC

——— ●●● ———

Commander Nax-Ellarneii-Tellargo

Commanding Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

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