[sb118-khitomer] PNPC Ensign B’Ella - Morse Coded
BC Cooper
((OOC: Trying to keep tags light at the end, so as to not swamp Graves with more tags))
((Stellar Cartography, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))
Matthews: ~/\~ Get ~~ Graves? Heading there ~~~~. Call ~~~~. ~/\~
Graves: ~/\~ Response ~/\~
The communications were becoming increasingly difficult to discern and understand and then the comm line went silent.
B’Ella: Graves? Did we lose him?
Graves: Response
B’Ella gritted her teeth. Come on Graves, don’t lose the call!! But it was too late. To say she was miffed at losing the comm line was an understatement.
B’Ella: =/\= Captain were you able to make out any of that? What are your orders, sir? =/\=
Naxell: Not really, no.
Just how high can a Klingon jump? Well apparently pretty high. She almost jumped right out of her boots! B’Ella was not expecting the Captain to be standing right behind him. Turning she saw Melville-Kilpatrick waving to her and Graves. It was a good thing she wasn’t carrying a weapon.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Sorry to say I didn't catch much of it either.
B’Ella: Please sir, ::beat:: you almost gave me a heart attack! ::taking a deep breath:: Given the static communications between Ensign Matthews and Graves, it’s a wonder that I even understood half of that.
Graves: =/\= Response =/\=
Naxell: We know he's alive, he's ambulatory, and he's coherent. More or less. What else do we need to worry about, Doctor?
Melville-Kilpatrick: Well, besides the obvious "they eat people" that he mentioned earlier...he can't exactly make it back on his own. He needs to find our people. Probably best if Dr. Ohnari gives him a good scan, too...just in case they did do something to him already.
B’Ella: Agreed, what are you thinking sir?
Graves: Response
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.
B'Ella: Yes, I believe there is a way. I’ll begin running some ideas I have on the ship's computer to get the best percentage of results.
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: Response
Melville-Kilpatrick: Were you able to lock onto his helmet? Or did the signal cut off?
B'Ella: ::double checks the computer logs:: ::beat:: Yes! We have a signal, but it’s weak.
Graves: Response
Naxell: If we knew more about their communication technology we might be able to piggyback our signal on their systems
Hmm, B’Ella did have some ideas on that thought. Double checking the computer’s calculations that were currently running with her own, while the Captain stroked his beard in thought.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Maybe we could get into contact with someone on the away team? Could that boost the signal?
B'Ella: Possibly, but if it’s just as much static as the call with Matthews, who knows if it will work?
Graves: Response
Naxell: Hm. Challenging without giving away what we're doing. But a good thought.
That too.
Melville-Kilpatrick: I just thought, maybe it would sound clearer bounced from someone who isn't...er...about to be tortured?
B'Ella: Good point. Someone on the inside could in theory get a clearer transmission through to Matthews.
Graves: Response
Naxell: The scanner—what if we used that?
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves: Response
B’Ella: ::gives the Captain a look:: The scanner sir? The scanner just scans things and does not communicate them.
Just to be sure she checked the computer to be sure. She was a communication specialist. It wouldn’t look too good if she didn’t know the answer to the question.
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.
Exciting something? Inside the nebula? Was that a good idea?
B’Ella: Lighting protocol?
Did she miss something? Perhaps she needed to double check the computer logs to see what this was about. Surely the results were logged into the database by now?
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves: Response
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?
That was certainly quicker for the Captain to explain. Bored a hole in the shuttle? It could work if it was focused enough. It was then the computer beeped indicating its calculations were complete.
B’Ella: ::computer beeping:: Sir, we know the probability to send a call back on Matthews helmet wouldn’t likely work, but what about the Morse Code he used to send to us? The computer believes with a eighty nine percent probability, that such a code could get through from our end. It draws a lot less power to send given its primitive form of communications. What if we used your idea of a focused scan on the shuttle to send that code? It would boost our chances of success. We could then lock onto the helmet and track its location once the code makes contact from the scan.
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves / Naxell: Response
B’Ella: It’s worth a shot. ::beat:: Graves if you could refine a focused beam, while Melville-Kilpatrick implements the light experiment to get us there, I’ll begin typing out the message in code. What should the message contain sir?
Melville-Kilpatrick / Graves / Naxell: Response
They finally had a working plan, but that plan would have to be put on hold as the XO gave the Captain a call.
C. Dewitt: =/\= Bridge to Captain Naxell =/\=
Naxell: =/\= Response =/\=
Hopefully this would be good news.
C. Dewitt: =/\= Sir, Lieutenant Semara just came through from the Alien ship. She has reason to believe that the nebula itself is alive. A diffuse, possibly non-sapient organism. Maybe the crystalline structures we see is the answer of the nebula’s immune system. She suggested the nebula might be allergic to subspace fields. =/\=
So the nebula was indeed alive and had an allergy? Wait, how did Semara get a call through, but Matthews was mostly static? Could they have unscrambled it in some way that was readable? Maybe Semara found a way to get a boosted signal through?
B’Ella: ::to no one in particular:: How was Lieutenant Semara able to get a call through to the Khitomer?
Naxell / Any: =/\= Response =/\=
C. Dewitt: =/\= Yes, Sir. I think we were able to lie the central mass on the bridge dormant. Ensign Morda raised the question of the masses are the origin of the filaments or the result of their intersection. Either way, I think we have the bridge contained for now and we are trying to apply a similar frequency strategy on Deck 5 currently. =/\=
Intersecting filaments? Hmm interesting. Maybe that’s how she was injured on her calf by one of those filaments intersecting in this very room. Was that frequency on Deck 5 a part of the light show the Captain and Melville-Kilpatrick were just discussing?
Naxell / Any: =/\= Response =/\=
Assuming the plan was still in motion with the focused scan and the Morse Code, B’Ella continued her work and then it dawned on her. She tapped her combadge to speak to the XO, without waiting to ask permission.
B’Ella: =/\= Sir, would it be possible to send a message back to Lieutenant Semara? =/\=
C. Dewitt / Naxell / Any: =/\= Response =/\=
B’Ella: =/\= We intercepted a transmission from Ensign Matthews. It was in an old Terran Morse Code. He’s alive and wants us to find a way to lock onto his helmet to get him out. Ensign Graves sent a call back via the comms in Matthews helmet, but it was filled with static. We were in the middle of trying to contact him back. Can you let the Lieutenant know we are trying to find him and send him a return message. ::eyes Commander Naxell:: If that’s alright with you sir? =/\=
She didn’t want to get into any more trouble than she had thus far. She hoped her speaking up was a good sign of showing initiative and not taken as being rudely interrupting.
C. Dewitt / Naxell / Any: =/\= Response =/\=
——————
Ensign B’Ella,
Communications Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
As simmed by
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Lieutenant (JG) Ezra Zerva
Security Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240101EZ2