[sb118-Ronin] Ensign Kelor Zh'taan - The moment of Truth
Kelor Zh'Taan
((Main Engineering, Deck 14, USS Ronin))
Around the pool table, Officers Dohna, Morgan, and Zh'taan were discussing their plan to dissolve the chroniton particles surrounding the Ronin, which were preventing it from generating a stable warp field that would allow them to leave the system.
Zh'taan: Destroying these chroniton particles should restabilize spacetime and allow us to activate the warp field. Do you have any ideas?
Morgan: According to the archives and relevant research on the subject, the USS Voyager realigned its deflector dish to spread anti-chronitons and disperse chronitons that were causing all kinds of problems, including the return of a former crew member and aging backwards. So they used the deflector dish, reversed its polarity, and blamo::making a motion with her hands:: chronitons dispersed. I think this might be our best course of action.
Kelor listened to Rachel attentively.
Dohna: ::furrowing her brow:: How did they make sure the dish didn't go "blamo"?
Zh'taan: ::speaks calmly:: We’ll need to increase the deflector power gradually; this will likely take some time.
Kelor knew time was critical, but he tried to remain calm. He looked at an LCARs display and checked the external sensor readings.
Morgan: Yes, it’ll take some time to realign the deflector dish. The problem is, we don’t want to blow it out. We need to be careful with the controls when we fire it off, if that’s what we want to do. We could also use Anyon Emitters, but we’d have to replicate a mess of them and then attach them to the hull. So I say we go with option numero uno.
Dohna: As a backup, Lt. Morgan, could we use phaser emitters?
Kelor observed the two women in turn. He was impressed by their knowledge, and he had yet to see everything! But on his side, the stress was beginning to rise. He continued analyzing his screens, remaining silent, not wanting to interfere with his colleagues’ thoughts. He still didn’t feel up to the task.
Morgan: Right now, Chip is manning engineering on the bridge. I’m not sure he has the qualifications for such a task, but we’re going to find out. Or we can notify the bridge and proceed from here.
Dohna: I suggest we handle this from here. ::beat:: Strongly.
He didn’t yet know the full crew list and had no idea who this Chip was. He nodded.
Dohna: Question. The Intrepid-class starships have very powerful deflector systems. The Ronin's is ::beat:: smaller. Will it be enough?
Morgan: It should be? ::she gave a tight shrug:: as I said, I think this is the second time we’ve ever used the deflector dish, in a fashion. We have the means to replicate certain parts of the deflector dish. But we sure as hell don’t have a backup; our backup is waiting at DS33 if we ever get back there.
He wasn’t an engineering specialist, but he knew the deflectors were their only solution.
Zh'taan: ::turns to Dohna:: The deflectors are our only solution. With them, we’ll push back the chronitons, and they are powerful enough for that. oO I hope… Oo
Dohna: My only concern is that if we overload it by pushing out the chronitons, we won't have it to protect us as we're traveling at warp speed.
Morgan: We wouldn’t be able to do anything other than sit here; we lose the deflector, we don’t move. Even on thrusters, a micro-meteor could rip through the hull. I’m hoping to make both pulses omnidirectional, which will help. ::looking up at Zh’taan:: I know we’re a bit away from it for now, but keep an eye on the forming temporal black hole.
He focused more on the LCARs in front of him.
Zh'taan: Understood, Lieutenant. The black hole is still about 50,000 kilometers from the ship.
He watched both the black hole and the deflectors’ power slowly rising. In a few minutes, they would be able to observe the results of their test.
Dohna: What do we have it emit? You know to push out the chronitons.
Morgan: ::looking at Dohna:: Anti-chronitons.
Zh'taan: ::turns to Dohna:: We need to emit anyon particles to destroy or disperse the chronitons. However, we must be careful, because destroying too many chronitons could amplify the effects of the black hole. We must act only in a way that disperses enough chronitons to allow a stable warp field to form.
Dohna/Morgan: Response
The deflector power had almost reached 50%. He could feel the tension rising along with the power.
Morgan: To answer your question from earlier, I don’t think we could use the phaser arrays for the anyon pulse. To do it, we’d be utterly defenseless. And I’d rather we not have our pants around our ankles if the Alliance decides to show up.
Dohna: Response
Zh'taan: Understood. ::He monitors the external probes to make sure no enemy presence is approaching::
Dohna/Morgan: Response
The deflectors were now at 75%.
Zh'taan: The black hole is still at an acceptable distance, Lieutenant. ::He keeps a watchful eye on both the black hole and the chronitons around the ship.::
Dohna/Morgan: Response
Power was now at 95%. Only a minute or two left before the anti-chroniton particle pulse.
Zh'taan: The deflectors will soon emit the anti-chroniton particles around the ship. Perhaps we should already start activating the warp field so that the deflector pulse and the warp field are synchronized. ::He lifts his eyes from the LCARs and turns to the two women, speaking calmly, perhaps a little too calmly:: I’m detecting a massive concentration of chronitons around the ship, and I fear that once the pulse is emitted, the area around us will be filled with chronitons again. But if the warp field forms at the same time the pulse destroys the chronitons, it should have time to stabilize before the chronitons reform around the Ronin.
Dohna/Morgan: Response