Ensign Kelor Zh'taan - More questions than answers
Kelor Zh'Taan
((Lab 2, Deck 10, USS Ronin))
While Kelor and V'len were hitting a wall in their research, they decided to call in reinforcement from the one who had discovered the radiation they were studying.
Zh'taan: You’re right. I’ll contact him. It’s the best way to move forward. =/= Ensign Zh'taan to Captain Niac. Would you be available to come down to Lab 2? We need your insight. End transmission. =/=
Kel: ::hurrying to add:: =/= They'll be drinks! =/=
Kelor couldn’t help but let out a smile at his superior’s comment. Nevertheless, it would be the first time he would meet the captain, and he wondered how this first encounter would go.
Kel: =/= Ensign Wren, please come to Science Lab 2. =/=
Niac: =/= You always know just what to say Mr. Kel. I'll be there shortly. =/=
Zh'taan: G-Good morning, Captain. ::straightens into an official posture:: Uh… I am Ensign Zh'taan, we would like to speak with you about Sencha radiation.
He also gave a nod of greeting to Ensign Wren.
Kel: ::nodding his head:: Morning Karrod, Ensign Wren. Ensign Zh'taan and I were just trying to break down some of what we experienced on our last mission.
Wren: Good morning, sir. And it's nice to meet you, Zh’taan, I heard good things about your work on the last mission.
Kelor instinctively lowered his eyes to his PADD, trying to hide a slightly embarrassed smile. oO Nice to meet you too!... Damn, I should have said it out loud! Oo
He quickly stiffened when the captain spoke his first words.
Niac: I was promised drinks, V'Len. I don't see any drinks, V'Len.
Kelor instinctively looked around for a beverage dispenser to ease the tension, but couldn’t find one.
Kel: Given the nature of the phenomena, namely that it was a Sencha generator, you seemed uniquely qualified to give us some insight.
Wren: :: excited:: Yes, I've been curious about how Sencha radiation is formed.
Niac: Fair enough, I was just going over some of the mission reports. Well done, all of you...there's a part of me that feels particularly at blame for what you went through. I've gone over the sensor logs but that system was such a mess many of the readings are gibberish. Take me through what you've found.
Kel: Ensign Zh'taan, perhaps you can bring the Captain and Ensign Wren up to speed on our discussion.
Zh'taan: ::quickly checks his PADD:: Th-the Lieutenant Commander Kel and I, we… um… were trying to figure out how the Alliance managed to emit so much Sencha radiation without… um… it damaging the generator.
Niac: Relax Mr. Zh'taan, you're not giving a lecture at the Academy. You were both there and I wasn't...talk me through what you're thinking. That goes for you as well Ensign Wren...I need to understand as much as I can so we can figure out how to prevent it from ever happening again.
oO He’s right, get a grip Kelor! Oo
Kel: My key question is how the hell were they doing it. How did they generate Sencha will still using subspace to pull energy to pull energy from a star in another universe?
Zh'taan: We… we also think that Tholian technology is… could be involved.
Niac: That's troubling, Ensign. Go on.
Wren: ::encouragingly:: what we currently know about Tholoan technology is unfortunately limited to mostly offensive weaponry, but I've heard records of them manipulating space-time before.
Zh'taan: If… if I rely on Starfleet’s various documentation about the Tholians… uh… they are capable of creating structures that can alter space-time. We think that… that this ring ::he points at the ring on the schematic:: was built using Tholian technology, or at least contains part of… of that technology.
He watched the captain move toward a terminal while continuing to speak.
Niac: Sencha's original research was about tapping into subspace as a potentially infinite energy source, using focused particle beams to tunnel through and open a gap between an energetic layer of subspace and normal space. It would've been self-sustaining once the gap was established. It never quite worked that way but it seems like the anomaly in that system gave them a head start. The existing damage to subspace ::He stopped typing, Sencha's thoughts growing pained.:: They got close. Much too close. If you hadn't stopped them when you did...well, beings in the Andromeda galaxy would've gotten quite the light show. We'll have to confirm your theory.
Kel: Response
Zh'taan: So, we… we could almost think that this ring acts as an alignment point between our universe and the other one.
Wren: what if it's partially constructed from materials from that other universe? It's a bit of a longshot, but if the ring was constructed out of materials from this universe, maybe it would only be able to draw energy inwards from here. But if it was constructed from materials from that outside universe, even partially, maybe that would allow it to resonate at a frequency that would allow it to draw energy from both sides?
oO Nice catch! Oo Kelor was not yet an expert when it came to space-time and parallel universe matter, but this hypothesis still seemed logical to him…
Niac: That's...one hell of a theory...::He gestured towards his gut:: you two even managed to shut the slug up and that never happens. The Tholians figure out some way to manipulate the anomaly, focus it, and use it to extract materials from another universe. It's...it's what Sencha was trying to do but on a radically larger scale. The instability problems...I'm amazed it lasted as long as it did without blowing apart most of the quadrant.
...And the captain seemed to agree.
Zh'taan: This theory could make sense… Tholian technology is known for stabilizing space-time, even freezing it. Sencha radiation does the exact opposite. The combination of both could very well allow alignment with a distinct, yet nearby, reality.
Kel: Response
Wren: The records aren't complete, but if it was able to draw energy from both universes simultaneously, that would….. I guess that would mean it could run indefinitely…. If it runs out of energy from one universe, it could just pick up the slack from the other one until its original source is replenished?
oO Interesting… and frightening too… Oo
Niac: Infinite energy. In the hands of the Lattice Alliance.
Zh'taan: But this hypothesis opens the door to even more questions… I think… Because if the Alliance established a bridge between two realities, they did it knowingly, fully aware of what they were dealing with.
Kel: Response
Wren: :: getting a little anxious:’ It's just a hypothesis, of course. I really think we need to find a way to negotiate for further information. If the Jem’Hadar and the Tholian aren't options, maybe we can get a full picture from tr’Kharis.
Kelor remembered that the situation in the Ross-580 system had ended with the arrival of the Ferengi in the system. He would never have thought that it would be law that would allow the Ronin to leave, rather than science, engineering, or combat.
Niac: Fortunately your clever little legal maneuver has lead to the Ferengi Alliance taking a vested interest in the system, so short of assembling a full scale armada I don't think the Alliance is going to make its way back into that system any time soon. We've got time to debrief them further or have Starfleet Security do it for us. My question is...did we stop it in time?
Zh'taan: I couldn’t say whether we intervened in time or not… But I think the Alliance, thanks to Tholian technology, would be capable of reproducing their bridge to another universe… provided they can recreate a Sencha radiation generator.
Kel/Wren: Response
Niac: I mean, do you think they harvested enough of this extra-universal material to try this again somewhere else? Somewhere deeper in their territory where we wouldn't know about it until they were successful or until there was a big hole in subspace where our galaxy used to be.
Zh'taan: I don’t have all the information on this subject. ::He briefly glanced at V'len:: But from what I saw on Moon Sigma, the Romulan technology used was rather outdated. I think they could make do with older, even abandoned complexes to deploy their technology.
Kel/Wren/Niac: Response
Zh'taan: I would recommend that we store the results of the anomaly signature analysis and compare them with the Starfleet database. It might allow us to detect other sites with similar characteristics… I think.
Kel/Wren/Niac: Response