[sb118-ronin] Ensign S'tek - Piecing the Puzzle
Shakeel Hussein
((Briefing Room, Security Complex, Deck 11, USS Ronin))
After proceeding in silence for a few more seconds, Ensign S’tek, standing just to the port-side aft of the Lieutenant, followed T’Fearne into the Briefing Room. With the prospect of actually working seeping into his mind, he felt his mouth dry for what must have been the twenty-seventh time that day. As he cast a look towards Lieutenant Kessler and to the unknown guest next to him, a small part of him did wonder if he should indeed visit Doctor Beck and have his hydration levels checked.
Unfortunately, rushing to the Sickbay was not on the cards. The young hybrid continued to follow the other Vulcan hybrid – neither of them headed for any of the seats arranged for larger briefings – and instead made a beeline for the two officers and the large display screen that they were standing in front of. Today was a day of firsts – the first day at big school, the first day on board the Ronin, the first interactions with his Captain and First Officer, even more first interactions with Lieutenants T’Fearne and Evinrude, and now, as he stood there trying to get any hint about the man who’d be his department Chief, the first interaction with Lieutenant Kessler. Continuing to look, but not stare, towards the Tactical and Security Chief, S’tek wondered if the Human often adopted postures that made him so unreadable, as well as considering if this day of firsts was a Dear Diary moment.
Kessler: Lieutenant T'Fearne, Ensign S'tek this is Lieutenant Venn. She has been tasked with working with the Ronin on this assignment. ::beat:: Lieutenant Venn, this is Lieutenant T'Fearne, my right hand in Security and this ::gesturing to S'tek:: is Ensign S'tek. He just came aboard before we shipped out but I feel he will be a valued addition to this collaboration.
T'Fearne: ::inclining her head:: Welcome aboard the Ronin, Lieutenant.
S'tek: ::nods:: Chief. Lieutenant.
Venn: It’s a pleasure.
Kessler: Lieutenant ::gesturing to Venn:: If you would please, let them know what exactly we are dealing with.
Ensign S’tek shuffled back, just by a step or two, as Chief Kessler stepped away from the screen and Lieutenant Venn turned to face both himself and T’Fearne.
Venn: Thank you, sir. :: She quickly connected her datapadd to the nearest terminal and brought up the image of the object they were going to examine. :: We have no name for this object or creature yet, but this is our objective. We’re fairly certain it is biological, but that has yet to be conclusively proven. If it is, it would be a massive cosmozoan.
Cosmozoan. S’tek knew the word. It wasn’t his unfamiliarity with it that made his brow furrow just above the bridge of his nose – it was his understanding of what the word meant. A space-dwelling creature living in the vacuum of space that feeds on energy or drifts between star systems. Or both. And, as Lieutenant Venn had just pointed out, a massive creature at that.
Venn: Starfleet has several concerns. Firstly, nearly every cosmozoan we’ve encountered has had dangerous qualities to it. A few have proven to be relatively harmless, if undisturbed. But more have proven to be extremely hazardous; some even hostile. We’re to assess the threat, if any, and make recommendations on tactical situations as needed. To quote Captain Niac, we’re to consider a full range of scenarios from “'big space fish wants a hug' to 'it just ate a nacelle and it still looks hungry.'”
Ensign S’tek, for a moment, did feel the urge to chuckle after Venn had called back to Captain Niac calling the unknown entity a big space fish that wanted a hug, but, seeing as he was the new man in the department, he decided against it. Instead, as Venn nodded to Chief Kessler and moved herself away from the display monitor, he felt his arms instinctively cross over his chest – much in the same way the Lieutenant had his crossed not all that long ago.
T'Fearne: That is fascinating, if it’s what it appears to be. I’m not comforted at the lack of substantial information to work with, Lieutenant.
S'tek: I agree with the Lieutenant, Sir. It is the unknowns that worry me the most.
Kessler: This is a great scientific discovery for sure, but as mentioned the safety of the ship and crew falls to us. With a power that this thing must project we need to know we can defend the ship even if it is from just the creature’s natural biology versus a weapon. T'Fearne, has the Ronin ever encountered a biologic lifeform like this before?
T'Fearne: Not in the
nearly two years I have been aboard. The largest vessel encountered might be a
Lattice Alliance Super-Weapon over a year ago. I believe some crew encountered
a juvenile Space Jelly several months ago, they can grow to quite a large size,
but I’m not aware of their maximum size limit. I can run a search through the
security mission database and see if a previous mission details anything like
this.
S’tek glanced towards Lieutenant T’Fearne and muttered to himself, not really expecting a response.
S’tek: ::quietly:: Space jelly?
Kessler: Ok, then we are starting at square one. ::beat:: options? Through them out no matter how crazy they sound. We'll weed through them one by one.
T'Fearne: ::glancing at Venn:: You mentioned it has not yet been confirmed that this is biological. What of the non-biological option. Synthetic, some sort of living machine, large scale photonic? What do you think ensign?
The Ensign could feel T’Fearne turn to face him – he didn’t have to look towards her to know she was facing him – and he really wanted to look back at her with his brown eyes screaming I do not know what to think. In the end, he didn’t look back at her or scream; he inhaled slowly through his nose and considered a more measured response.
S'tek: A synthetic or a living machine is possible, Lieutenant. It wouldn’t be the first time that Starfleet has encountered something like that. ::pause:: A large-scale photonic construct? The power source needed to create a projection of that size… without coherence drift or field collapse… it would be enormous.
Venn: I have no more data than I’ve shared, but considering that we’re tasked with tactical options, I think I’d personally like to start with something that let’s us get this thing away from the possible hands of the Consortium or the Lattice Alliance. Like, how do we move it?
T'Fearne: Agreed, the Consortium and the Alliance have both demonstrated a willingness to weaponise what they can. ::slight brow raise:: Move it the same way you control any crowd or a larger, stronger opponent. Attraction or repulsion through leverage.
He felt both of his eyebrows raise slightly.
S’tek: What is that old Human adage? ::pause, recollects:: Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.
Kessler: Response
Venn: It’s massive. We’re not even sure how massive yet, but early speculation is on the order of kilometers.
T'Fearne: Do we have a way to verify that? The details about the size? It would be remiss of me not to bring up the possibility of an Alliance or Consortium scheme? Could we be heading towards a trick? False readings created to lure Starfleet explorers?
As the questions of concerns rang in his ears, his mind starting to pick them apart one by one, S’tek was distracted by the doors to the Briefing Room opening and closing once more. Turning for a moment, he felt his eyes narrow to mere slits as he focused on the latecomer to proceeding – he did not recognise the woman, and all he could gauge from looking at her was that she was an Ensign, Bajoran and had a gold to her uniform exactly the same as his own.
T'Fearne: ::in greeting:: Ensign Akani.
After learning the newcomers name and feeling somewhat relieved to no longer be the only ensign present, S’tek offered the woman a respectful nod and a weak smile.
S’tek: Ensign.
Akani/Kessler/Venn: Response
T'Fearne: Given current uncertainties, I believe Security has several immediate objectives. I assume the Science department is attempting to determine what this entity is. What they uncover could help us understand more of its nature, tactical assessment is merely conjecture without more data. Regardless of what they uncover, it would be prudent to have a range of repellents and attractors.
Starting to feel nerves creep in, Ensign S’tek, now facing all of those in attendance at the briefing, licked his dry lips slightly. He had thoughts, questions, perhaps even ideas – but he found himself holding his tongue, using it instead to only dampen his desert-like mouth.
Akani/Kessler/Venn: Responses
T'Fearne: I prefer to think of heightened situational awareness as a significant advantage in ship security and preparedness. I don’t assume hostile intent, but neither can I assume it can identify us as non-hostile, or that it can even distinguish between incidental contact and a deliberate attack.
S’tek: We do need more than just conjecture… Sirs.
Akani/Kessler/Venn: Response
S’tek took a moment but then continued.
S’tek: I apologise if I’m going over ground already covered but where did… ::gestures to the screen:: …these images come from?
Akani/Kessler/T’Fearne/Venn: Responses
S’tek: Any puzzle starts with the edge pieces. For us, that’s the source of these images. If they were taken at range, we’re missing context. If they weren’t… then someone got close to this creature…
At that point, the Ensign cast a look towards T’Fearne.
S’tek: …or non-biological creation, and we need to know how, Sirs.
Akani/Kessler/T’Fearne/Venn: Responses
[TAGS/TBC]
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Ensign S’tek
Tactical and Security
USS Ronin NCC-34523
A240012CM1