Trek Knowledge, Humor, Romantic Rivalry

[Alix Harford]

This sim is well written, as Chris' always are, but it's rare that I genuinely laugh out loud while reading and this one got me. Beyond humor and a romantic rivalry, it's also got some really great Trek science in it, even if Caldwell would rather leave the big words to the blue shirts! 😅

 

Lieutenant Christopher Caldwell: Yeah, Science!

((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Astraeus))
((Time Skip: 45 minutes later))

Right now Christopher Caldwell didn't have that much to do having successfully worked with his counterpart on board the Borealis around arranging a rendezvous. True there had been a minor disagreement to resolve as to which ship should divert more out of it's way in order to facilitate the transfer, something that ended up being settled relatively easily with a simple 'mine is bigger than yours', a contest the diminutive Nova class Borealis was simply never going to win.

With the disagreement resolved he'd spent much of his time looking for opportunities to shave some time off of their journey, whilst it would take weeks no matter what he did, he was eager to reduce the time spent travelling by as much as possible, especially with Esa Kiax goading him about how long it would take and the Captain having served at the helm himself earlier in his career. 

oO I need to show both of them what I can do. Oo

Matthews: Commander Kiax. I… Would you mind taking a look at this please?

His ears perked up, figuratively speaking, as Charles called Esa over to his station.

oO Come on now Charles, let's not us have a falling out, kindly stay away from Ms Kiax. Oo

Kiax: Of course, what have we got?

He wasn't quite sure how to define his relationship with Charles. At times they had got on very well, working in near perfect sync, operating as if they had been serving for years together. Other times the two had very nearly come to blows. As childish as it seemed, he did feel a little pang of jealousy as he got her attention.

Matthews: The electrical interference is on the fringes of the system, but it seems to encompass it entirely. And not only could it interfere with our shields; it may cause problems with more than just that. Transporters, long range communications, engines, weapons, scanners. Basically, anything with an electrical signal. We could enter the system and find ourselves adrift.

Kiax: Hm…

 

That certainly didn't sound good. They were some distance from the system, so it was possible that some of their sensor data was inaccurate and whilst it was possible for sensor data to be misinterpreted, especially given the sheer quantity of specific measurements their sensors could record, even if the sensor data were open to other interpretations or somehow faulty, detecting such issues already did not bode well for them.

Kiax: Doesn’t sound like the kind of position we really want to be in, does it…?

Using the opening he quickly gestured for someone to take his station as he moved over to stand between the vacant XO chair and the railing that housed the combined security and tactical station. For a moment he took a look at the chair he wouldn't mind making his one day, especially with Esa Kiax in the centre seat, from there he could more easily engage in conversation with the pair and he couldn't help but chime in, for a few reasons, firstly he was hoping they weren't going to run into issues, secondly and if he was being honest, possibly more importantly, he didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to join in the conversation. 

oO Stop hogging all her time and attention Charles, it's alright Esa, Christopher is here now. Oo

In his head he heard a little musical cue that accompanied that.

Caldwell: Are you sure it isn't just a faulty sensor? To result in all of that disruption, the only natural phenomena would be... what... a neutronic storm intersecting the system? But I'm sure we'd known if a neutron star exploded, right?  

Both as a result of his Academy training and since becoming the alpha shift helm officer, Christopher had a pretty decent knowledge of various navigational hazards including dangerous astronomical phenomena and had a pretty good track record during actual encounters . Neutronic storms were a type of plasma energy storm that could easily span many lightyears. They were often nothing more than an inconvenience, a smattering of highly charged particles and neutron radiation, a 'particle density anomaly', but the really big ones could generate wavefronts capable of moving at even high warp speeds and being so concentrated that it could take weeks to dissipate. 

oO But if it were a neutronic storm, what caused it? They were naturally occurring but they were relatively rare. Oo

Matthews: That’s true. If it could do all that, it raises several more questions.

Caldwell: It's a pretty damn short list of naturally occurring phenomena that could cause that, right?

He was by no means a scientist and given how they liked to overcomplicate things, it could just be that there were in fact, many natural causes of the readings that Matthews was discussing.

Kiax: Are you suggesting that it’s not a natural phenomenon?

Matthews: Response

He pivoted to allow Esa to more easily move past him as she returned to the centre seat. She looked contemplative, she looked quite cute as her brain worked.

Kiax: I don’t think we should discount any possibility yet. We’re still four weeks out, with a lot of work ahead of us. It might be worth hooking up with Lieutenant Ral, and seeing what the two of you can come up with to fortify our power grid… ::Beat:: In the meantime, howeverrrr….
 
With a little dramatic flair he tilted his head and struck a pose as if he was waiting for the very secrets of the universe to be shared with him.

Caldwell: ::Teasingly:: Use your words.

She shot him a glare, and he quickly raised both palms apologetically, he'd had a look at Esa's bad side and he did not want to be on it.

Kiax: Making decisions is harder than it looks, alright? ::Beat:: What about the Bussard collectors? Build some giant energy stores in the cargo bays, and use them like massive lightening rods to absorb and store the excess?

Whilst he hadn't read the always thrilling 'Bussard Collection Field Operations' for sometime, he had done some work on the nacelles. Whilst primarily designed to collect hydrogen, they could be modified to collect a wide range of particles. 

Caldwell: If it is a plasma phenomena then the ramscoops could be reconfigured to try and collect some but it's going to be like ::pausing to think of an appropriate metaphor:: trying to drink an ocean through a straw.

Matthews: Response

Kiax: Alright then… Suggestions? I’m not in the position to approve or deny anything, but we’ll take whatever we have to the Captain when he’s back…

Caldwell: Depending how localised all this is could we use the main deflector array? Cut ourselves a path through ::waving his hand:: whatever all that is?

Matthews: Response

Caldwell: You're right, we still don't have much to go on. 

Kiax / Matthews: Responses

Caldwell: What about running a long range multiphasic scan? Might help penetrate ::once more waving his hand:: whatever all that is?

oO Where are all the blue shirts when you actually need them? I should not be having to use words like these. Oo

Kiax / Matthews: Responses

 

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Lieutenant Christopher Caldwell
Helm Officer
USS Astraeus, NCC-70652