LTJG Josh Herrick: Caught in his eyes

[Mark P]

(( Outpost Cavern, Alpha Brenkelvi II ))

As the COO pulled out his ‘sci-corder’, Josh couldn’t help but remember that old Scouts’ motto of ‘be prepared.’ It seemed a bit overkill that between himself and Arlill, they had brought 5 tricorders. But if they couldn’t figure out this anti-intrusion program, they’d be literally burning through them quickly.

Herrick: Seems like this guy ::nodding to the wall panels:: has a bit of a temper. What do you think of trying to give it instruction sets to solve while we try another route at the same time… attempt to distract it?

Arlill: That’s a (beat) a good idea. Probably should have tried that the first time.

It took a moment for him to realize the smell that was in the air, he hadn’t noticed it in all the excitement.

Herrick: oO What is that? Steak? Oo ::turning to Arlill:: oO More like seared Bolian Oo

Josh opened the medkit that was slung on his shoulder and opened the case up. The standard fare was there, hyposprays, ampules, a cortical stimulator, exo scalpel, and a medical tricorder. However, one section of the foam was notably empty — the dermal regenerator.

Herrick: Well, note to self, check the kit contents before departing the ship. Someone seems to have borrowed the dermal regenerator. (beat) Things better look up soon.

They exchanged glances and then Arlill returned his focus to the mission in front of them. Luckily, it seemed like the other man wasn’t too injured as he was using both hands.

Josh looked back over his shoulder as the normally cerulean, but now brown man from the purple and green lights, tapped away at the tricorder. Etan and Maxwell had wandered off a fair bit, it seemed like the marine was looking down or over something. At least, no one had been caught in a trap and after a minute, Toxin grabbed his attention.

Arlill: Ok, so I’ve programmed a sequence of impossible mathematic equations from the Starfleet mathematician database and sent it over, that should be eno…

As Toxin stopped speaking, Josh craned his neck to get a better view of the display which had filled with question marks.

Herrick: I mean, it is capturing how I’m feeling but…  

Arlill: Yeah, that didn’t work, let me try one more option. (beat) ::working his sci-corder:: I’m programming the interface to request a bit by bit verification of this system ::sweeping his arm across the room:: (beat) that should delay it a little. Tell me when you’re ready.

Josh selected the appropriate program and hesitated for a moment before triggering it. He closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer to the gods, Please let this work.

Herrick: On my mark (beat) 3… 2… 1… mark.

Both men tapped their tricorder in unison, and the room started to glow brighter. It seemed to be working as the mysterious system gave a bit of let and information.

Arlill: Wow, according to this, (beat) this system has over one times ten to the 15th bytes of data storage, that’s over a goopbyte, not even a starbase has that level or capability of storage. This is amazing.

Herrick: ::eyes widening:: Maybe this is some sort of central computer for the entire planet… or system. We’ve not really explored any of the planets in the system… I wonder.

He looked down at the tricorder, trying to use the universal translation program on the tricorder, with its limited databank, had been frustratingly slow and now the idea was toast and laying on the ground. But what if the processing power got amp’d up?

Herrick: I’d like to know more about this computer, if we can read anything on the filesystem we’d get more clues. I’m thinking that we load the UT program into the computer and see if it can come back with any response. What do you think?

Arlill: Response

Herrick: Maybe… maybe not. Worst case scenario, we trigger some defense thing and blow the whole cavern. Only one way to find out!

It was amazing how the almost millimeter of progress they’d made was enough to shift Josh’s mode to align closer with the commanders. The excitement with testing out wild guesses and seeing if they’d land. With a wink to the man beside him, he hit the button.

Arlill: Response

It took a few seconds and Josh rescanned the filesystem. Most of the names were simply errors of unsuccessful translations but about every 30-40 words, there was an unexpected word in Federation Standard. Eyes transfixed on the screen the words scrolled by, Josh hadn’t realized that the illumination in the cavern had been increasing.

Then, a blinding white flash. The engineer rubbed his eyes, trying to regain his vision and after a moment he saw his tricorder was dead.

Arlill: Response

Herrick: ::turning to Arlill:: Well, there goes…

He stopped mid-sentence.

While the cavern had returned to normal illumination, Toxin’s eyes were a different manner. They were glowing bright white, as if he had lights for eyes. Unable to rip himself away from the unusual scene, he shouted back at the rest of the team.

Herrick: Uhhhhhh, guys!

Arlill/Etan/Maxwell: Response

TBC / Tags!

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Lieutenant JG Josh Herrick

Acting Chief Engineer

USS ‘Oumuamua

O240005JH3

he/him/his (player/character)