Ensign Talon Morda: Let's light this candle!
Eston Melton
Morda: Tenuous as it is, there is a medium in this nebula. It can convey pressure waves of a sort to affect the filaments.
th'Vrosa: If the external filament structures are connected to the ones inside the ship, could we play Kathputli with them?
Not sure whether “Kathputli” was some kind of stringed instrument or hire-wire act, he leaned over to a tertiary screen and keyed in in a dictionary search. oO Oh, puppets. I knew that. Oo
Semara: :: Pointing :: Ensign, that's genius.
The lieutenant didn’t explain the apparent geniusness, keeping it to herself as she sidled over to Science 2 to his left. Maybe she’d share something with Zerva, seated next to her.
Zerva: Response
th’Vrosa: The Engineering Team might buck a bit at it, but if we can figure that out maybe that might be a simpler approach than harmonics?
Semara: :: Holding up a hand. :: No need to be botherin' engineerin'. :: Working busily :: When we start movin', we'll naturally tension the filaments lodged in the hull, pullin' on their neighbors, pullin' them tight too. Any harmonics we set up in the hull, the fillaments'll pass those signals to their neighbors, tellin' em to relax and let go so we can pass. Ain't gonna have much range, but enough. :: Beat :: I bet that's how the Velithari do it, only their hull's organic and prolly even naturally self-heals and even feels return vibrations like it's hair on skin...
Morda nodded as the lieutenant rambled on. An organic hull and self-sealing repairs would make sense in this environment.
Morda: There’s a chance a tendril that hasn’t gotten the message will affect a torpedo under way. If it ruptures the antimatter bottle, big boom. But even with all these filaments, it seems the nebula is overwhelmingly not saturated with them. ::A pause:: I might be able to add some mechanism to get the torpedo’s onboard systems to detect and avoid. On it.
He caught a glance. Right. He was rambling speculations out loud. Maybe there was something in the air?
Again: life-and-death mediated through a computer. The goal was not to destroy or even directly engage the Lattice Alliance. Still, as his fingers danced across the panel’s smooth tripolymer-coated transparent aluminum wafer, sending laser-light signals flashing down the ODN lines, flipping qubits in the torpedo guidance system, waiting to be flung thousands of thousands of kilometers out … Morda wished for the simplicity of looking up and seeing the adversary eye-to-eye.
Zerva: Response
th’Vrosa: Though I will admit I’m talking out of a very limited understanding. Let me be the first to express this is entirely out of my wheelhouse.
Semara looked over her shoulder at the counselor, while Morda turned to that same tertiary display to lookup what a “wheelhouse” is.
Semara: None of y'all ever made a string telephone as a kid?
Morda remembered a smartass squadmade who, confronted with a similar rhetorical question, had declared that she was never a kid and had emerged fully grown from the dirt just two months prior. The drill instructor had clearly wanted to pummel him back into the ground.
But he understand the essence of Semara’s question.
Morda: Instead of using the ship’s atmosphere to carry a message to the tendrils, we’ll use the hull to cause the tendrils themselves to carry a transmission to the rest of them. I wonder if the structural integrity field might be viable for fine-tuning?
Zerva / th'Vrosa: Response
Semara returned to manipulating the science console, then opened the comm.
Semara: =/\= Semara to Naxell. =/\=
After the channel connected, she continued:
Semara: =/\= We got an idea. We can use the tractor beam to pull the nebula into a retreat, but we gotta know where the Alliance will shoot. We can draw their fire where we want it with torpedoes from the nebula's cover, and drag all the gas can with us when we vacate the premises. We oughta be able to keep that up until the Velithari are innoculated. =/\=
oO This sounds almost as crazy as rotating a bunch of Tholians in and out of the transporter buffer. Oo
Naxell: =/\= Response =/\=
Semara: =/\= We think we can navigate the nebula safely if we transmit the same sleepy harmonics through the hull, and let the filaments lodged there transmit it to their friends. I'd like permission to test that theory first. =/\=
Naxell: =/\= Response =/\=
Semara: =/\= Then there's the last bit. We got a Leviathan-class out there. We'll need the Jorogumo to make an appearance - the more dramatic and frightenin' the better. Any luck, they'll turn tail when they see our's is bigger. If not, we only got one shot, maybe two from the SDA to cover any attack the Velithari make. =/\=
Naxell: =/\= Response =/\=
The captain didn’t order the lieutenant confined to sickbay for a loony idea. Just as well, since the ship’s counselor had contributed to the concept. So: they were on.
Semara: =/\= Aye, sir. I'll be in touch. =/\=
After ending the comm, she went on:
Semara: Alright, let's test our theory out. Zerva, engage the hull harmonics program, then keep an eye on the sensors. I wanna know if the Alliance sees us movin' around, or if the nebula takes issue with us. Counselor, kindly take the left seat and watch damage control especially - we shut it down the moment there's a sign it ain't workin' right.
It made sense to put the counselor there. That's where the counselor sat. Left of the captain's chair. But that meant...
Amelia stared at it a moment, eyes narrowing to a glare before she caught the empathic brew of three other officers staring at her...
Morda locked eyes with her, then cartoonishly shifted his gaze to the captain’s chair. oO Just sit on the kriffing chair, Lady Semara. Oo
Zerva / th'Vrosa: Response
Their assorted messages landed; the lieutenant planted her backend in the big kid’s seat and got on with it.
Semara: Alright, Ensign Morda, thrusters gently, please... Ready to stop on a moment's notice.
Morda punched in the code to add navigation thrusters to the tactical console, and he glanced up and saw the helmsman shift their hands away from that part of the helm console.
Morda: Aye, sir. Starting at half-a-meter per second … now.
Zerva / th'Vrosa: Response
OOC: Lots of tags here for the captain, counselor, and security chief -- gonna let ‘em chime in.
Tags / TBC