Ensign Talon Morda: Eavesdropping on the Ether
Eston Melton
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer))
th’Vrosa: This is a performance that makes us seem inept, foolhardy, or spurious. We must at least consider a different course of action.
Naxell: I agree. ::to Dewitt:: Number One, this charade needs to end at some point. I don’t know whether we’ve reached that point yet, but we’re going to. And soon I think. That’ll be delicate work.
Dewitt: You’re right. The cover was built for the moment, not the relationship.
A fleeting image of a junior-year classmate and a bad week of poor decisions based on “a moment” shot through his amygdala at warp speed, but he tethered it with a mental tractor beam and flung it back into the locked emotional boneyard whence it had jetted out. oO No distractions. Oo But damn it the XO didn’t know how to stir a metaphor.
th’Vrosa: ::Offering to the floor:: There seems to be a malaise regarding the Velithari. We don’t have definitive evidence they mean us harm so we should lead honesty forward.
Valeris / Naxell: Response
th’Vrosa: A simple unencrypted open broadcast. Something on a frequency band that our floaters can pick up and :stressing the word:: our friends to be can also catch on whatever hardware they’re running. Something on a harmless enough frequency to keep the filaments happy.
Dewitt: We have the capability to open a channel to Lieutenant Semara. The Velithari Captain probably is with her. For all we now the communication channel does not influence the filaments. ::looking towards Valeris::
Valeris / Naxell: Response
Morda: Lieutenant Michaels and I had open comms centimeters from the filaments in the Jefferies tube, and the ship’s full of activity on that channel - no indication they’re sensitive in this EM or subspace spectra.
th’Vrosa: The facts as have been presented to me simply do not justify the risk of alienating this species this early in our relationship.
Morda tried to think back to Lieutenant Semara’s communique. While it’d sounded like she was laying it on thick, and maybe enjoying it a bit, she also hadn’t sounded un-serious. There were compelling reasons that a swath of the crew was assigned to the away mission based on, to his mind at least, retrograde gender issues. But then again: Morda knew he had his own rather fixed gender perceptions -- and he wondered how the Andorian counselor, coming from a species with four genders, might be reading the dynamic.
Valeris / Naxell: Response
Dewitt: I agree, Ensign. But let’s keep in mind that the Velithari have been the ones having issues with our cultural differences. If you don’t want to alienate them, we might have to shove all males into a cargo bay like cattle.
Morda: ::Pivoting from his console:: From a security perspective, sirs: I’d feel more comfortable coming clean once we have everyone back aboard, and preferably once we’ve regained maneuver and initiative on the field.
Valeris / Naxell:
The XO rose and tapped his commbadge.
Dewitt: =/\= Bridge to Graves, what’s your satus? =/\=
Graves: =/\= C-Communications e-established. =/\=
Ensign Morda appreciated the commander’s grin. Looks like they were making strides toward regaining initiative.
Dewitt: =/\= Acknowledged, Mr Grraves. Patch the line through, please. ::to Morda:: Ensign, we’re listening for now, not talking. =/\=
Morda: ::Pivoting back to his console:: Aye, sir. Snooping.
While the officer at comms managed the particulars, Morda tossed an operational security seal around the underlying comms process. Practically, it meant no one could inadvertently transmit over the channel, with a limited tranche of authorized officers who could override that.
Any: =/\= Response =/\=
A burst of static presaged any discernible messages, and Morda instinctively checked the sensor returns for their filamonster. It didn’t seem to be getting cranky. oO Kriffing-- there I go anthropomorphizing it. Oo
((Echoing the OOC flag from PNPC Ensign Ceylan Graves - Interstitium V - we’re just tuning in from the bridge))
Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=
Semara: =/\= First officer Semara here. I hear ya perfectly, Mister Matthews. I'm here with Cap'n Rana. We were just talkin' about you, as it happens... :: Beat :: How are you doin'? =/\=
Morda was glad to hear ostensible proof of life from Ensign Matthews. It seemed less likely the security team and marines would unleash the heavy equipment in a recovery action.
Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=
Semara: =/\= Happy to hear it. :: Beat :: You might be glad to know this all seems like a bit of a misunderstandin'. If you're willin' to behave and we all promise to respect their nebula, I think Cap'n Rana might be real obligin' and let you come back home. :: Beat :: That ain't a problem, is it? =/\=
oO A lead question if ever there were one. Come on, Richard. Oo
Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=
Semara: =/\= :: To Rana, but for both to hear. :: Cap'n Rana, would you let one of my crew see Matthews and take him back? I'm happy to stay, if you like, and continue talkin'. Like I said, we ain't meant for him to cause a problem for anyone. =/\=
Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=
The background noise that Morda had instinctively filtered out as he tuned in to the conversation abruptly became impossible to ignore. A deep chatter, hard to discern how much was intentional, how much was static, and how much was distortion from stressed speakers.
Dewitt: ::to Valeris:: Lower the volume, we don’t want to upset the filament any more than we need to.
Valeris/Naxell/th’Vrosa: Response
The altered soundscape soon drifted into more coherent vocalizations -- or at least vocalizations as perceived by Grayson’s machinations and returned by the bridge impressive high-fidelity sound system.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= CAPTAIN-MOTHER/LISTENING-WEB. THE MALE-BODY IS ABSENT/UNHELD. NOT WITHIN THE CLEANSING-HOLLOW. NOT WITHIN ANY SEEING-EYE/EGG-EYE QUESTIONED. A SECOND-SHAPE TRAVELS/THREADS BESIDE HIM. THAT SHAPE BELONGS OUTSIDE MY WEAVING/WATCH-PRESENCE. THE STRANGER-BODIES OBSERVED THE EMPTIED SKIN-CHAMBER. FORGIVE/UNBIND THIS FAILURE-THREAD, CAPTAIN. THE MALE WAS NOT LOST/RELEASED. THE MALE WAS NOT KEPT/CONTAINED EITHER. =/= Oo.
Morda tried to prase the words. Had Matthews been released? Escaped? Who was speaking, and were they upset? He quickly pulled up sensor scans of a half-dozen filament clusters from around the ship, keeping a close eye on the scan returns. If this broadcast was going out on some kind of broader carrier wave that was connected to the mysteries tendrils…
JOROGUMO: oO =/= BE UNBOUND, ALYA-THREAD. THE MALE COMMUNICATES/REACHES THROUGH HIDDEN-DISTANCE TO HIS COMMAND-BODY/SUPERIOR-WEAVE. SOMEHOW-IMPOSSIBLY HE LOOSENED/SHED HIS BINDINGS-SELF. HE DISPLAYS GREATER CUNNING-CAPABILITY THAN OUR BREEDING-MALES/DRONE-BROTHERS. =/= Oo.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= RESPONSE/ANSWER =/= Oo.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= INDEED/CONFIRMED. HE IS DISRUPTION-TROUBLE/CLEVER-DANGER. SEE WHETHER YOUR WALKING-GROUP/TOUR-WEAVE CAN RETRIEVE/RECLAIM/REWEB HIM. BRING ADDITIONAL SISTERS-BODIES/WATCHERS IF NECESSITY-HUNGER PRESENTS. =/= Oo.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= RESPONSE/ANSWER =/= Oo.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= IF CALM-CERTAINTY REMAINS WITHIN YOUR EYES/WEB-SENSE, YOU MAY RETURN/RELEASE THE MALE-BODY TO HIS VESSEL-HIVE ACCOMPANIED BY ONE-OR-MANY OF THEIR SHARED-CREW. I SUSPECT-BELIEVE THE MALE DID NOT COMPREHEND/SENSE THE NEBULA-DANGER/HUNGER WHEN HE ENTERED/WANDERED WITHIN ITS BREATHING-MIST. =/= Oo.
oO “Return to vessel”? Did I hear that right Oo He’d setup a tertiary screen to transcribe the transmission and screened up - yep, there it was. But what about that “rewebbing” thing? That sounded similar to the filaments they’d been dealing with on the ship.
JOROGUMO: oO =/= RESPONSE/ANSWER =/= Oo.
Dewitt: =/\= That was internal communication by the Velithari? =/\=
Morda sent the computer’s live transcript up on the main viewer, its vast screen offering enough screen space to parse it all.
Morda: What about Lieutenant Semara and the others -- do we still have that connection?
Graves: Response
Morda: If that’s the ship’s computer speaking, it sounds like it might be willing to let him go and offer us some grace. I wonder if that grace would persist if we come clean on our gender ruse.
Valeris/Naxell//th’Vrosa/Graves: Response