CDR Naxell — Just the Two of Us, Scooping Sky
Naxell
((Airlock, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))
Commander Naxell nodded sharply. Extra “PADDwork?” How could he pretend to be persuaded by an excuse like that?
Naxell: Good. Ensign? You and I will wrap this up. ::to El’Heem:: The explosion in here means the “black widows” as you called them are using a great deal of force to keep this cloud together. Take Lieutenant Michaels from Engineering and report to Lieutenant Semara in the shuttlebay. She’ll be lead on your team, but you’ll be responsible for figuring out how they do it, so we can undo it if they won’t.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Yes, sir
El'Heem: Aye sir.
As Lieutenant El’Heem prepared to take his leave of them, Naxell stepped further out into the airlock to make way for him. He surveyed the pink splatter and noted substantial piles in places as the material fell under the pull of the ship's artificial gravity.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Good luck, Lieutenant.
El’Heem: And you, Ensign. See you on the other side.
El’Heem left and Naxell took only a single step before the Chief Science Officer was looking his head back into the airlock.
El’Heem: Thank you Captain.
Naxell nodded, and the man was gone.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Alright, sir. How would you recommend we start here?
The Captain found himself filling the department chief's shoes. There were standard procedures to follow, and to him they came as second nature. Or maybe third nature. It had been quite some time.
Naxell: There are specimen plates on the side of the vessel. We're going to load them up with… the pink stuff. Then cap them.
Melville-Kilpatrick: I imagine we'd want to keep it contained as much as we could. That doesn't give us a ton of options for testing. Does it?
Naxell: We'll be freer in the lab, not to fret, Ensign.
A voice broke in over the shipwide comms as Naxell fumbled around in his EVA suit. He would have preferred to take it off, but he couldn't be sure it was clean. He would need the Ensign’s assistance to clear away all loose matter from the cloud, or else risk getting some into his clothing underneath.
Zerva: =/\= Attention all hands, attention. This is Lieutenant Zerva. I have been advised to issue a shipwide security advisory. The nearby nebula is emitting nearly invisible filaments that have been located on the bridge and engineering. Use the sensor data uploaded by Ensign Morda in the ship's computer to locate them. Avoid direct contact and do not touch them. Send your findings directly to engineering, where we have set up a monitoring station to coordinate with the XO and all departments. =/\=
Naxell: It sounds like our threads are appearing elsewhere. We should be careful when returning to the science lab.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Response
The larger piles of pink dust made collection easy. They scooped the material with a specimen plate pretty easily, except for the stooping. If they could be sure it was safe, it would have been much more comfortable to do the collection in their duty uniforms.
Naxell: ::awkwardly screwing a cap over one plate:: Two more should do it. Then I'll need your help to brush off the suit.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Response
Naxell: I don't think the dust is hazardous, but I have no way to be sure. We need to get my suit as clean as possible before I take it off.
He gestured towards the hard metal connection around his neck, holding his helmet to his suit's collar. He couldn't see it but he'd been around them long enough to know there were plenty of nooks and crannies for foreign contaminants to hide in.
Melville-Kilpatrick: Response
TBC
——— ●●● ———
Commander Nax-Ellarneii-Tellargo
Commanding Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240001NH3