LtJg Lera Michaels - The Results Would Be Bad.
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steve...@yahoo.com
Apr 1, 2026, 10:57:14 AM (2 days ago) Apr 1
to USS Khitomer – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG
((Jeffries Tube 127CC Nacelle One, USS Khitomer))
Morda: I take your meaning, Lieutenant. Where does it start and end?
Lera pulled off one of her gloves and holding it by the sleeve of the glove waved it from left to right ever closer to the thread. She held her breath until the glove finally made contact and the fingertips of the glove fell free to the deck below. Another sweep of her hand and the fingers of the glove were sliced off. Her father's phrase came to mind.
Michaels: Like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Morda: Absolutely lethal.
Michaels: That is what I thought might happen. Imagine what would have happened to you if you had crawled up to it.
Morda: Yeah. I got a nice haircut on shoreleave and this would’ve really messed it up.
oO That is one way of putting it. Oo
Michaels: It is an ultrathin cable attached to our power systems siphoning energy away from the ship to... something. Somewhere. And, with a few million similar microscopic cables, strong enough to keep Khitomer from leaving without ripping itself apart. :: beat and a slight smile :: We seem to be caught in a spider's web with extraordinarily strong microscopic filaments. :: beat :: This looks like a job for Science.
Morda: Specifically targeted, too. If we had these kinds of filaments firing arbitrarily through the ship, we’d have more overt damage: injured crew, water storage leaks, fusion reactor failures, even the warp core and the whole plasma distribution system. They must be small enough not to trigger decompression alarms if they extend or originate outside the ship. I wonder: could they have stuck us with these pins and then put the squeeze on the ship to keep us from moving and damaging ourselves further? Where are these things anchored?
Michaels: That is an excellent question which has several theoretically possible answers. These are clearly not natural. They are designed to perform this way. If the creators have something massive as the anchor and we were to move the ship... the results would be bad.
Morda: =/\= Ensign Morda to Lieutenant El'Heem. Sir, Lieutenant Michaels and I have discovered something that might pose a hazard to the planned EVA. =/\=
Lera frowned. oO We were considering extravehicular activity? Oo
Michaels: We should probably tell him something of the nature of what we have found and the hazard it would pose.
Morda/El’Heem: Response
Nicholotti: Hazard might be an understatement.
Lera turned her head as quickly and as far as she could. The admiral was right there.
oO Stupid Lera. Stupid. How could you miss the admiral being there? Oo
Michaels: Admiral. :: more than a little mortified :: My apologies, ma'am. I was unaware you were with us.
Morda: Responses?
El'Heem: =/\= Response? =/\=
Nicholotti: Given the information we have now, perhaps we reconsider the walk outside?
Lera ventured a half smile in the general direction of the Admiral. The answer to the Admiral's query was obvious to her but it was not her decision to make.
Michaels: We will require a great deal more information about these before we will be able to come up with an engineering solution. :: turning to Morda :: One thing you will find about engineers is that we are seldom without a tool.
Lera pulled a durite screw driver from a pocket and repeated her experiment, slowly moving the tool across the thread near the Jeffries tube ceiling. While the tool offered greater resistance, the results were the same. One portion of the screwdriver clanked as it fell to deck next to the portions of the ruined glove. Lera shook her head, bit her lower lip and held up what remained of the tool to first Morda and then to the admiral.
Michaels: Given the near invisible nature of these filaments and their impact on these materials, I struggle to come up with a scenario where I would recommend leaving the ship.
Nicholotti/Morda: Responses?
El'Heem/Any: =/\= Response? =/\=
Tags/TBC
——— ○● ———
LtJg Lera Michaels
Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2
Morda: I take your meaning, Lieutenant. Where does it start and end?
Lera pulled off one of her gloves and holding it by the sleeve of the glove waved it from left to right ever closer to the thread. She held her breath until the glove finally made contact and the fingertips of the glove fell free to the deck below. Another sweep of her hand and the fingers of the glove were sliced off. Her father's phrase came to mind.
Michaels: Like a hot knife cutting through butter.
Morda: Absolutely lethal.
Michaels: That is what I thought might happen. Imagine what would have happened to you if you had crawled up to it.
Morda: Yeah. I got a nice haircut on shoreleave and this would’ve really messed it up.
oO That is one way of putting it. Oo
Michaels: It is an ultrathin cable attached to our power systems siphoning energy away from the ship to... something. Somewhere. And, with a few million similar microscopic cables, strong enough to keep Khitomer from leaving without ripping itself apart. :: beat and a slight smile :: We seem to be caught in a spider's web with extraordinarily strong microscopic filaments. :: beat :: This looks like a job for Science.
Morda: Specifically targeted, too. If we had these kinds of filaments firing arbitrarily through the ship, we’d have more overt damage: injured crew, water storage leaks, fusion reactor failures, even the warp core and the whole plasma distribution system. They must be small enough not to trigger decompression alarms if they extend or originate outside the ship. I wonder: could they have stuck us with these pins and then put the squeeze on the ship to keep us from moving and damaging ourselves further? Where are these things anchored?
Michaels: That is an excellent question which has several theoretically possible answers. These are clearly not natural. They are designed to perform this way. If the creators have something massive as the anchor and we were to move the ship... the results would be bad.
Morda: =/\= Ensign Morda to Lieutenant El'Heem. Sir, Lieutenant Michaels and I have discovered something that might pose a hazard to the planned EVA. =/\=
Lera frowned. oO We were considering extravehicular activity? Oo
Michaels: We should probably tell him something of the nature of what we have found and the hazard it would pose.
Morda/El’Heem: Response
Nicholotti: Hazard might be an understatement.
Lera turned her head as quickly and as far as she could. The admiral was right there.
oO Stupid Lera. Stupid. How could you miss the admiral being there? Oo
Michaels: Admiral. :: more than a little mortified :: My apologies, ma'am. I was unaware you were with us.
Morda: Responses?
El'Heem: =/\= Response? =/\=
Nicholotti: Given the information we have now, perhaps we reconsider the walk outside?
Lera ventured a half smile in the general direction of the Admiral. The answer to the Admiral's query was obvious to her but it was not her decision to make.
Michaels: We will require a great deal more information about these before we will be able to come up with an engineering solution. :: turning to Morda :: One thing you will find about engineers is that we are seldom without a tool.
Lera pulled a durite screw driver from a pocket and repeated her experiment, slowly moving the tool across the thread near the Jeffries tube ceiling. While the tool offered greater resistance, the results were the same. One portion of the screwdriver clanked as it fell to deck next to the portions of the ruined glove. Lera shook her head, bit her lower lip and held up what remained of the tool to first Morda and then to the admiral.
Michaels: Given the near invisible nature of these filaments and their impact on these materials, I struggle to come up with a scenario where I would recommend leaving the ship.
Nicholotti/Morda: Responses?
El'Heem/Any: =/\= Response? =/\=
Tags/TBC
——— ○● ———
LtJg Lera Michaels
Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2
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