CDR Naxell — Searching Through a Straw
Naxell
((Stellar Cartography, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))
Commander Naxell turned, placing his palms on the top edge of the main console. He leaned forward and peered into the holographic representation of the cloud, and their ship trapped within it. Transporters were a no go, even if their scanners could function in the hostile soup.
Naxell: Is there any way we can get more information to him? Let him know who's over there? If he's looking for Lieutenant Semara's team as hard as they're looking for him, we might get get a little luck.
Melville-Kilpatrick: ::thoughtfully:: I wish I'd kept track of the vital signs instead of passing those on to Dr. Ohnari. Or better yet, kept track of all their vital signs.
Graves / B'Ella: Response
Naxell gave the Ensign a sympathetic look. There was no point in beating himself up over a decision that was, even in hindsight, wholly defensible. They were, at this moment, so wildly beyond the handbook that none of them—himself included—knew beyond a doubt and beyond their guts the right call from wrong with any certainty.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Were you able to lock onto his helmet? Or did the signal cut off?
Graves / B'Ella: Response
Naxell: If we knew more about their communication technology we might be able to piggyback our signal on their systems.
The captain's hand reached towards his face, thoughtfully raking his trimmed beard. They had an instant assortment of officers present, and disciplines represented by them, but they were missing a key ingredient. They needed an engineer.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Maybe we could get into contact with someone on the away team? Could that boost the signal?
Graves / B'Ella: Response
Naxell: Hm. Challenging without giving away what we're doing. But a good thought.
Setting aside their subterfuge, they would have no way to reach the shuttle crew without somehow clearing away the cloud around them. It couldn't be scanned, and so getting transmissions out was just as impossible.
Melville-Kilpatrick: I just thought, maybe it would sound clearer bounced from someone who isn't...er...about to be tortured?
Graves / B'Ella: Response
Naxell: The scanner—what if we used that?
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves / B’Ella: Response
The looks he received were exactly what he expected. A trio of Ensigns all wondering exactly how much trouble they could get in for telling the Captain he was stupid. Quite a bit, depending on whether they were right, but Naxell knew he had some explaining to do. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries could be traced back to supremely stupid questions.
Naxell: Back in the lab, we ran a full spectrum analysis of a sample of the cloud and it seemed to excite something we couldn't really see until we ran Lt. Commander Valeris's lighting protocol.
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves / B’Ella: Response
This was old news to Ensign Melville-Kilpatrick, but he needed Graves and B’Ella to be on the same page as well. They didn't have any better luck with the “inert” sample, though admittedly they had not spent a lot of time on the problem.
Naxell: Supposing that if it weren't trapped in the containment field it would have moved, what if we bored a hole to the shuttle with a focused scan?
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves / B’Ella: Response
TBC
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Commander Nax-Ellarneii-Tellargo
Commanding Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240001NH3