The Science

Posted on Mon Nov 16th, 2020 @ 1:06am by Commander Ayda Muldowney & Lieutenant JG Ovrora Sh'rholok
Edited on on Mon Nov 16th, 2020 @ 1:10am

Mission: 28 Days
Location: Space Sciences Lab
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0815

"Good Morning," the cool, intellectual tone behind the pinched smile of Ayda Muldowney called from the door. They'd just opened, giving way to a tall woman in her prime, hair more pepper than salt. The Commander was in full uniform as she passed the standing officers in science silvers. She nodded to a few, switching a datapad from under her arm to grasp. "If you'll all be seated we'll begin the briefing." She smiled her smile again, fidgeting her hair behind her ear. "I know it's early. I hope everyone's well-caffeinated."

There were murmurs from the small gathering of scientists, most of which were busily finding seating while the Ulysses' Executive Officer, with the aid of a young Yeoman with curly black hair and caramel skin, began an upload of data into the holographic presenter.

"Do you think this has anything to do with the sudden course change?" Someone murmured to Lieutenant Ovrora sh'Rholok. The speaker was one of the Ship's Historians, a Draylaxian woman. She reached up to scratch at the slate-gray ridge bisecting her bulbed, puggish nose. Her arms were crossed protectively under the trio of her bosom, her fingers drumming into his elbow nook.

Ovrora eyed the historian critically. The woman was nearly a head taller than her if you didn't count her antennae but then most people were.

"Seems likely." She replied eyes alight with curiosity. "I certainly hope so."

Ovrora perched on the edge of the seat next to the Draylaxian, her feet just touching the ground.

"Stupid tall person chairs." She grumbled under her breath

The bald gray shape of the Draylaxian's eyebrows lifted, amused. "There is a hydraulic in front to adjust the height." The Historian said as she looked up in time to see the Executive Officer's patient professor stare at her. Ayda was waiting for the murmur to ease. Her fingers laced before her uniforms pants, Commander Muldowney tilted.

"Thank you. To answer your question, yes." Ayda stepped one pace back to clear the way for the holographic. It scattered into life, a three-dimensional space of cool white, translucent light that eased into a starfield. At the center was an icon of their small vessel, a blinking blue line their obvious course to nowhere specified on the map. "At 0620 hours this morning, Starfleet Command the Federation Science Council issued orders for us to change course."

"Does that mean we're missing the Medical Conference on B'Saar?" A young man asked with a half raise of his hand. He was recognized as one of the ship's biologists.

Ayda nodded curtly once, "Yes. Maybe next year, folks. Instead we'll be rendezvousing with starship Zheng He. We'll be supporting Commodore zh'Vari's crew. When we arrive..." and the holographic panned inward, slipping simulated light-years past the Ulysses current position. It zeroed in on a star system: BD+18 1563 Isonzo glowed in a pale blue. "In this star system, around thirty-three light-years from our current position." Ayda swayed, "There we'll be taking on some technicians from the Federation News Network. We are ordered to give them reasonable," she emphasized with a cryptic smirk and half-bow to her gathered people, "Access to our sensors and communications arrays. Please do not feel you must agree to any interviews or quotes to their personnel."

She looked around the room, "Questions so far? Have I lost anyone?"

Ovrora's feet tapped lightly against the floor, still only lightly touching as she hadn't bothered to adjust her seat's height. Not bothering to wait to be acknowledged she piped up. "What, exactly, are we expecting to find that would warrant taking on FNN technicians?" Her antennae swiveled forward as she spoke as though by doing so she might receive the commander's response more quickly. "And do you want us to..." she paused slightly in her question as though debating how to proceed. "...play hard to get with FNN?"'

Ayda's mouth had opened and was about to point to the Draylaxian next to Ovrora when she spoke. Ayda blinked, nodding at her forceful Astrophysicist. She absorbed with the patient blandness of a politician, rocking back on heels slightly. Commander Muldowney replied, eyes glancing at the swing of azure antennae, "I'll answer your second question first." She said, tapping her datapad to activate the hologram. "You don't have to be coy with them, Lieutenant. But don't feel obligated to give them the answers they're digging for. Because the truth is," and Ayda met blue eyes with the Andorian, "We just don't know all the facts yet."

The hologram panned to a dark gray and white moon around a rusty gas giant. "These images are from the Federation science vessel Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. They surveyed this system a few months ago and detected extensive ruins on the surface. Their stay was brief but they did enter a structure here... at equatorial grid L4." The hologram zoomed again into ice-covered computer generated terrain. "Which appeared to be a mass gravesite. From roughly 5,000 years ago. The condition of the tombs was poor, but some remains were found and scanned without removal."

Commander Muldowney pinched at her datapad and then flung data upon the two-dimensional screen. It sprung to life: wire shapes generating into a graphic. "The remains match the theoretical anatomy of a being's remains found on Earth five years ago." The terminal image changed to a subtropical, desert, an oasis with a hazy blue sky. "You are looking at the terrain outside of EcoStation Bono, in Ghana, one of the former states in the African Confederacy."

Ovrora's light foot-tapping continued a quiet tattoo to match the building excitement. She loved a mystery and she equally loved frustrating people who expected answers to questions before the information was even a possibility. She hadn't had a run-in with FNN since her time at the Academy when she had led an intern to the middle of nowhere in the hills around San Francisco and insisted that they were just early for the press conference. She had turned to leave just as the young man figured out the ruse and hurried after her. Perhaps if he had been less "friendly" with his hands the night before when a group and gone out to a local watering hole she might have felt bad, but he really had deserved it.

"Do we believe that the remains in Ghana predate the remains in the mass grave?" She asked, once again speaking before being called on and then added, at the look she received, "Sorry, sir. Just a touch excited."

Ayda smiled and gestured at the Andorian, "I appreciate the enthusiasm. And the answer is," he brows popped, "Yes. By quite a bit. We don't have exact dates. That will be for the Zheng He and Ulysses teams to work out with the Federation Science Council's teams as well. But the crew of the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky theorized a span of centuries. Possibly millennia."

There were murmurs, the energy of the room elevating with confusion, excitement, tension, as Ayda returned to the holographic. "What we also need to work out is this." The sphere of holographic light took on a linear topography look with odd striations and phases of blue color. "The Konstanin Tsiolkovsky encountered several ionic disturbances which formed interplanetary weather we haven't seen since the first Enterprise entered the Nekrit Expanse. Subspace in the region, as you can see, almost looks like scar fibers. It'll be the job of Stellar Cartography and Astrophysics to map these superstructures out and try to make some sense of them."

The small Andorian's eyes sparkled as she took in the newest holographic. Scar tissue. Subspace scar tissue. She turned the evoked image of a purpling striation across a light blue thigh in her head thinking about what causes such tears to pucker and pull. Had something torn subspace? Perhaps several times creating this scar-like pattern? Doing her best not to interrupt again she curled her toes up in her boots, pointing them and causing her knees to rise slightly off her chair.

"Lieutenant sh'Rholok," Ayda said, attending to a sudden Yeoman appearing and handing her a datapad. She scanned it but, aside from a missed beat, the Commander continued, "I would like you to liaison with the Zheng He's space sciences department when we arrive. You'll need to coordinate with Engineering as well to work on tying our sensors together for a better resolution of the scans. I'm also getting you access to the Federation Science Council's archives. You should be able to research and download any previous phenomena similar to this." She circled her finger at the strange, almost conical striations in the hologram.

"Aye, sir," Ovrora responded unable to keep the glee from her voice. If she could have been she would have practically levitated from her chair by this point. "When can I start?"

"We've sent the request authorization for the uplink to Subspace Relay 1142. It will take any transmitted data about a week to get it to Earth and back to us by subspace," Ayda explained, "But a temporary authorization uplink code was dispatched in the initial orders. I will transmit it to your department after the briefing. You can make the request immediately."

Ayda nodded, "Moving on. Once we enter orbit of Isonzo IV, Security and Engineering personnel will shuttle down and secure the perimeter of the ruins at Equatorial L4. It is quite cold and the atmospheric pressure is similar to 3,000 meters above sea level on Earth. They will set up camp and then our scientists, command staff, and the Federation New Networks teams will shuttle down. Pack accordingly- this is cold, hostile terrain. Not an opportunity for shore-leave."

"About how long will it take to reach this system?" Someone in the crowd asked.

Ayda nodded, "I've just received updated orders," and she raised the new datapad, "That we'll be proceeding to Starbase 15 near Denobula Triax to pick up FNN technicians who were waiting to go to the Interspecies Medical Conference as well. We may also be taking on additional science equipment so be prepared to receive any technicians into your workspaces."

Ovrora caught the Draylaxian historian's eye at this and raised her eyebrows as though she could communicate her lack of excitement at the idea of letting others into her workspace in one pregnant glance. She let out a small sound of reluctant affirmation--an almost unconscious reaction to the commander's words.

The Draylaxian smirked at the Andorian's gaze, while she flicked at her rusty copper hair. Someone behind Ovrora muttered that those technicians better not mess up an experiment they'd been running for the past three days. It didn't seem to reach Ayda's ears. The rest of the meeting was much more boilerplate: reasonable access by FNN was bantered around, and the inherent vagaries of the mission profile this early on. Commander Muldowney could only promise to keep them abreast of each morning briefing, but they were now in a wait and see mode.

The excitement and tension of it stayed well past the conclusion of the meeting as the collective of scientists began to rise and mill.

Ovrora made the usual pleasantries with those around her, offering an appreciative nod here and a word of agreement there. A well-placed eyeroll in support of the many scientists expressing concern, annoyance, and in one case outright dismay, at the press being granted access to their spaces. She knew the feeling. Nothing wrong with open access, but it wasn't as though the Ulysses wasn't close quarters already. Where would they put all of these folks? After a few more minutes she wrapped up her conversations and made for the door. There was time to kill and a certain engineer to needle and her true duty shift didn't start for another hour. And with those lovely thoughts in mind, she made her way out of the briefing room.