Ensign Lyra Voss: Within You Without You
Sarah Terry
((Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Narendra – Deep within the Phaethon Nebula))
Maybe a shuttlecraft was a bit reckless at this juncture. She just couldn’t shake the pulsing desperation she’d felt in the creature’s memory. Every moment that passed was another moment of bitter agony, and she could feel the weight of it against her heart. But of course, no one would be served by running in headfirst. They were one ship against a station of who knows how many - any misstep could end them. She had to pull the rational part of her mind back to the forefront.
McLaren: What about probes? Would they be able to help us pierce through the interference?
Kel: Probes would avoid the neurological risks. And with solid-state systems instead of organic processors, they might resist the interference better than we can.
She crossed her arms. It was like trying to turn away from someone rattling the bars of a cage. A small shudder ran through her.
Voss: We’d have to be careful where we place the probe. It needs access to the station, and we need access to it, but we can’t risk either of us being seen by the Romulans.
McLaren: If we can link with them using an optical signal… theoretically we should be able to get data from them so long as we could visually see them. We wouldn't be able to scan the far side of the station, but they could get close enough to scan the near side of the station without being easily detectable.
Kel: ::eyes fixed on the swirling light of the nebula beyond the hull:: It’s our best chance. And if the entity reacts to the probes… or doesn’t… that’ll tell us far more about its current state. ::a steady breath:: And with the station’s sensors crippled by the eddy, this may be the safest way to get a clear look at what the Romulans built...and what it’s doing to the creature.
There was a deliberate cadence to Kel’s voice, his sentences broken by deep breaths. She could almost feel the creature’s telepathic defences pressing against him. Against the entire ship. Shooting a probe out into the nebula didn’t only risk alerting the Romulans to their presence - it risked hurting the creature as well. Who knew where its body started and ended? What its corporeal form was like? The thought of causing it more pain, even accidentally, unsettled her deeply.
Voss: What if it reacts poorly? If we hurt the creature and it lashes out…
Kel: ::exhaling slowly, grounding himself:: From a medical standpoint… the probes are the least risky option we have. No crew exposed, no telepathic feedback loops, no chance of anyone getting overwhelmed again. If the creature reacts to the probes... agitation, fear, anything... I should feel that shift before it escalates. It’ll give us a buffer we don’t get with living minds out there.
A buffer for them. Not for the creature. It trusted them enough to give them a path to this station - what if it felt they’d broken that trust? But they couldn’t just sit here staring at the Romulan base and wait for it to reveal its secrets. The creature had to understand that. Didn’t it?
Voss: I’d like to… to try to keep the creature apprised of our actions. I don’t know how effective it’ll be, but I think it’s worth a shot.
McLaren: ?
Kel: And whatever data we pull in… even partial scans… I can cross-reference with the neurological patterns we’ve already seen. If the station is causing further harm to the entity, the stress signature should be unmistakable.
Lyra took a deep breath herself, and brought up what sensor data they had of their position in the nebula. After running through a few viability projections, she settled on a set of coordinates that would place the probe within their line of sight, but still obscured enough from the base to hopefully evade notice.
Voss: ::sending her data to McLaren’s console:: Commander, what do you think of this placement for the probe? We have a class-5 reconnaissance probe on board that should be able to avoid detection from here.
McLaren: ?
She nodded and made a few final adjustments.
Voss: Ready for launch?
Kel/McLaren: ?
For a small moment, Lyra closed her eyes and broadcasted their intentions as clearly as she could. How they needed this information if they were going to come up with a way to help. That any pain was accidental, unavoidable. As soon as she opened her mind like that again, the creature’s presence enveloped her. It was so visceral that she found her hand straying from the controls as if she could reach out and touch it. She was suddenly skirting the edge of a black hole, bracing herself against the dizzying pull of such an expansive consciousness. Forget intentions - it was within her and without her, in her heart and in her head and… She had to keep hold of the boundary line. With great difficulty, she dragged herself back, disentangling their strands, and resurfaced with a small gasp. Lieutenant Kel’s voice was the first thing she heard when she was aware of the bridge again.
Kel: ?
Voss: ::shaking her head to clear it:: I’m all right, I… yeah, I won’t try that again unless it’s absolutely necessary. I think we can safely say it’s watching us very closely. Let’s… let’s hope this gives us some of the information we need.
With one final shudder that didn’t actually manage to rid her of that heavy feeling, she pressed the button to launch the probe, and the bridge crew all watched its tiny tracking dot start to move away from the Narendra. A few tense, quiet minutes went by before data started filtering back to their consoles.
McLaren/Kel: ?