Near Pink (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on 16 Sep 2016 @ 3:10am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Crewman Aurangzeb Ameen & Commander Langdale Wiggins & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant JG Rahl Tyton Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie & Ensign Mimi & Petty Officer 3rd Class Micah Hershey
Edited on on 16 Sep 2016 @ 3:15am

2,384 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo/Paulson Nebula
Timeline: MD 02 - 2300 hrs

Previously, on Near Pink (Part 2)...

Braxton gasped. He checked his scans and double checked them. "Damn!" He took a deep breath. "Ma'am we have the distress call's location to the left and five minutes from here....But... It' a broadcasting beacon. It's not the freighter." His mind screamed trap.

Rahl's eyes narrowed as he began punching more buttons on the console. "Standby, confirming initial readings. Adjusting sensors for close range scanning. Sorting out chromium interference by scanning for known Federation construction elements not native to the nebula."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

An eyebrow rose as he looked over the results of the scans coming in. "Confirmed Admiral, it appears to be a class six probe set as an emergency beacon sending out a distress call in a loop." He shook his head as other thoughts started turning in his mind. He turned towards the Admiral.

"Admiral I suggest we lock onto the beacon with a tractor beam and tow it out with us. As it stands there is no way for us to begin to calculate what trajectory it came from as it was staying in a stationary orbit. Secondly, we have no way of knowing if this probe indeed comes from the Recluse. Not without further examination which cannot be done inside the nebula. Also once we pull it out of the nebula we should be able to scan it for any...surprises...should it not be what it seems. Once isolated and deemed safe we can beam it on board and engineering can take it apart and start transferring any logs that may be in the probe for further review."

Braxton piped up. "It's a great plan but if there are surprises I'm worried that a tractor beam might set them off. I think, the Lieutenant," he said referring to Rahl, "and I can get the sensors to scan it when we get closer or ...we can use the Mayri probe. The sensors would be useless but it has a built in guidance system we can control from here and a tractor beam. This way we're not taking the risk." He said.

Rahl shook his head. "Unless it was put here for just that reason. Considering sensors are less than optimal for scanning the probe could have proximity detectors on it. If that were the case then getting closer as you advise would be a very bad idea. On a probe of that size as long as we kept to the maximum distance to use the tractor beam we should be well out of the way of any blast radius if there is a surprise in the beacon."

Braxton sighed. "That's why I gave the second suggestion we use the probe in storage. It's sensors would not work but we can use the guidance system and its tractor beam to tow the one that is emitting the signal out of the nebula. If it is booby-trapped then we lose a probe at most. If we tow it and depending on what it is designed to do it could still hurt us even at max distance. What if it sends something through the tractor beam to the ship? We need to be smart about this and use a hands off approach. " He said. He waited for the Admiral to make her decision.

Lirha was confused by the revelation of the beacon, but not too much so. Sometimes a starship in distress would launch such a probe if they knew it had greater signal output than their ship's internal sensors. In the Paulson Nebula, that could have very well been the case. She also agreed that the beacon needed to be investigated for further confirmation. "Erect a level ten forcefield within our main cargo bay and tractor the probe inside verify it," she instructed. An internal shield of that magnitude would be able to contain an IED or similar biological device should that turn out to be the case.

Braxton did as Lirha asked but he was apprehensive about bringing the thing aboard. He mumbled to himself under his breath and noted that Jonas was watching him like a hawk. He sighed. It appeared that he'd read the counseling records and now he knew why Jonas was standing close to him. As if with a will of his own his hands touched the Amulet that was around his neck.

Rahl looked back to his console as Braxton got the force field in place. "Confirmed force field is up. Turning internal sensors on maximum to scan the probe as it is brought on board. Setting sensor priority to look for any known explosive devices or elements. Secondly scanning to see if there is any sort of secondary transmission of any kind coming from probe that might be sending out co-ordinates or any other readings on alternate channels." If there was something devious going on he was not about to let the ship be caught unaware if he could help it.

Luke scanned the local space for any sign of ambush or cloaked ship but the ships systems were being effected by the Nebula 'A perfect trap He thought to himself. "Admiral I suggest going to Yellow Alert, this smells like a trap. A beacon set-up to send a distress signal of a ship missing in action inside a nebula which is affecting our systems... As A wise fish man once said ITS A TRAP!"

"Perhaps." Lirha replied while tapping away at her console to view the surrounding space. "Or maybe Recluse was only barely able to eject a makeshift beacon before having to change their location," she postulated.

With a frown on her forehead, she then brought up the navigation sensor display. "Open all hailing frequencies," she instructed Ops.

"To SS Recluse, this is Admiral Saalm of the Federation starship Galileo. We have received your distress signal and are at the coordinates of your beacon. Please respond," she said, before giving the non-verbal wave of her hand to loop her recording.

Mimi logged Lirha's message and transmitted it on a loop. "Message transmitting on all channels."

It was all he could do to keep from tapping his fingers nervously against the console, awaiting a response from Mimi's transmission. After three interminably long minutes with no result, Noah bit back a curse. "No reply, Captain."

Lirha's frustration was beginning to build and her first instinct was to search for further clues. "Can we scan for decayed impulse ionization trails within the nebula?" she asked out-loud, he attention now turning to Kirilova.

"It's possible, Captain. We'll give it a try." Natalya said, trying to sound optimistic. Scanning for anything inside a nebula was problematic, at best, given the unfavorable conditions, and the notion that many ships that went in there didn't want to be found. But they did have several factors working in their favor.... the Recluse was an old design, and thus easier to track. It was also likely damaged, which would reduce engine efficiency and leave a more noticeable trail. There was also the possibility that the Recluse wanted to be found, given its general distress.

"Bridge to engineering," Natalya said, opening a channel "we could use a few more eyes and ears processing this sensor data. We're looking for an ionization trail hopefully left by the impulse drive on an Antares-class freighter." The worded the request carefully, indicating what they were looking for, but leaving it open that any ion trails found could be from something else.

Micah turned back into his char, shoulder blades tensing cat-like as he leaned onto an elbow, "Yessir, we're on it down here." Micah drew up the sensor bandwidth from the lateral array and started casting low-band scans. he tapped into the sensor probe telemetry, lip chewed first, then a breath of tension feathered up into his bangs. Time to go to work. Mutara-class nebulae were notoriously difficult to get much of anything on. Sensors were near useless within them, communications was likewise a garble. Fingers dancing, brushing near Aurangzeb's, he called up the available data on the S.S. Recluse. It was an old Antares class and that meant old Mark IV type impulse engines. Heavily shielded and far less efficient. There should have been a higher than normal level of ionized particle bleed off. A Mutara-class itself was heavily ionized. But against a background...

"Crewman," Micah winced at the title for Aurangzeb. "Could you get me a telemetry map of the probes they've launched? We're looking to map the ion particle dispersal patterns. And if possible the eddy currents for the gravimetric distortion of any protostars."

"Okay," Micah nodded. "Alright now... we're looking for bread crumbs. Greater concentrations of ionized particulates... look for deuterium, tritium and protium. They'll occur in the nebula naturally but if we are lucky, there will be linear densities that might be a pathway in. That'll be the Recluse's impulse drive signature." Micah even then sifted into his cargo pants for his earpiece and pressed it gently into his ear, "OK... lets play the probe telemetry... get me the harmonic resonance of the nebula..."

"I'll take care of that." Natalya spoke up from her position on the bridge, still monitoring the conversation in engineering. She adjusted some of the systems used to monitor the ship's warp field to analyze the data readings of the nebula. The harmonic resonance was no doubt complex, and subtle. There weren't several large systems causing orbital resonance and damping, but many smaller ones. Protostars, concentrations of various chemical compounds, and of course the asteroids and other forms of debris rattling around inside the nebula. She cleared up the harmonic resonance and transferred the audio output to Hershey's console.

He winced away from the noise in his ear and stopped pressing on the gunmetal gray fixture in his ear canal with a sputter. The howl was eerie, the type of sound that could make your skin crawl. Haunting wails from the protostar winds, and a deep vibrant underrumble. "OK... lets start by taking the readings of protostar A and phase it out... then protostar B..." he waited as the two men helped him phase those out, lips partly open and yet tooth set into the corner. He held his breath, afraid to breathe.

The two protostars were the most distinct sources of orbital resonance. Those frequencies were relatively easy to identify and filter out of the audio. "Done." Natalya said simply.

"OK...." the sound wailed softer, less complex, less chaotic. His eyes squinted and he dared a hissed breath, "I"m still getting a lot of ionic feedback. Lets... back that off and filter by a few hertz..."

Micah's eyes widened and his finger ghost jabbed the air above the panel, "That's it, that's it! Contact with the Recluse's impulse trail, we've got a postive harmonic signature. Uh! Bearings are... 032, mark 054... about four million kilometers in... and growing." He chin jutted at Parker to report in to Kirilova as he pulled his earpiece out and allowed a noisy phew of breath up into his bangs. "Good job," he offered Aurangzeb a high five, followed by Parker. Then he turned to his console and relayed the filtered harmonic engine signature- a distinct set of tapping groans- to Kirilova and Flight Control. That was their bread crumbs.

Wiggins had returned to his seat beside Lirha, not before eyeing Braxton and Rahl and giving them a look that was difficult to interpret.

The remnants of Recluse's impulse trail had now been identified and the next step was only logical...even for even those non-Vulcans aboard. Lirha glanced over at Wiggins and whispered something private in his ear before sitting back straight in her own seat. "Engineering, send the data to the conn. Miss Derani...plot a course and engage at best possible speed. I would like to get in and out of here as quickly as possible."

"Coordinates sent." Natalya said simply. She also sent a quick thanks to her people down in engineering. They'd done some great work down there and that would no doubt reflect well on engineering as a whole.

Miraj did a quick calculation. 4 million kilometers was nothing at even a fraction of impulse speeds. Even at quarter impulse it would be a few minutes at most. On thrusters it would take an eternity. But at impulse, if there was anything out there, they would go splat like a bug if they hit it. She checked sensors. Everything looked clear and the admiral had said best possible speed. She bit her lip. She had flown nebulas before, but this one was particularly tricky, since they couldn't really see where they were going and a clear sensor ping wasn't worth spit. She checked her internal sense of Galileo. Her skin itched uncomfortably, and she patted the helm gently to reassure him.

"Setting course, one half impulse, arrival in ninety seconds." It was probably far too fast, but the admiral had said best possible speed. She just had to hope the deflectors would make sure anything that hit them bounced.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Ryan Alexander
Operations
USS Galileo

Lt JG Rahl Tyton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Chief strategic Operations officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Mimi
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Natalya Kirilova
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson
Nurse
USS Galileo
[PNPC McCarthy]

Lt. JG. Braxton MacKenzie
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. j.g. Min Zhao
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Langdale Wiggins
First Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn PsyD
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Nemo Bardasi
Astrophysicist/Cosmologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Christopher Parker
Asst. Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 Micah Hershey
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Noah Khoroushi
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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