Trans-Porter/Spotting

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:41am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander Mindo
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:50pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Current

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Mindo & Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: current
Thu Dec 21st, 2017 @ 9:04am


Mindo was not looking forward to this report. Something about the whole transporter issue made his stomach crawl, though he wasn't sure why. Nonetheless, Mindo had to report it to the Captain, and he had also called Security Chief Griffin to the meeting, seeing as his life had been on the line in the incident.

He hit the chime on the door of Captain Temple's ready room and waited for a reply.

'What the frack' Nyx thought as he tried to re-read the first line of a logistical report for about the tenth time. His heart, mind, and concentration just wasn't into reading about the 'Comprehensive Diversity of Specialised Duties on A Starship' and he was beyond grateful for the interruption.

"Enter. Please!" He cried out to the doorway, as he tossed the PADD across his desk with glee.

Mindo entered holding a PADD. Under his arm it looked huge, almost comical. But Nyx was used to the sight.

"Sir I have a report on the transporter malfunction," he said. "Normally I would have just submitted it to Nash, but this error was a little peculiar and I wanted to make you aware personally." He cleared his throat. "I've also asked Lt. Griffin to join us as this will concern him too."

"Indeed," Nyx replied grimly as he took the PADD, "It almost stranded our away team on a foreign planet with hostile combatants."

As if on cue, the door chimed again.

"Enter." Nyx called out.

The ready room doors opened and the aforementioned Chief of Security stepped inside. “Sirs,” Lieutenant Griffin said politely in greeting, placing his hands formally behind his back.. “Reporting as ordered."

"Have a seat gentlemen," Nyx said as he pointed to the chairs in front of his desk. "What I don't understand is that we're barely two months out of dry dock from a total refit. How can we be experiencing these problems already?"

Mindo tapped his leg and hovered up to Nyx's height and handed him the PADD.

"It's weirder than you think," said Mindo. "The polymer transducers were slightly off. So slight that I almost missed it in my diagnostic. As you know, the transporter is delicate equipment. It has to be checked on an hourly basis, and sometimes can be painstaking. Typically the tranporters are among the last things to malfunction when the ship is damaged, and even then, they run off several redundant power sources. Because of this, the polymer transducers are nearly impossible to break. And given our recent refit, shouldn't be deteriorating for another eighteen months."

Mindo continued, "One of my crewmen suggested the system could have been damaged in the dark matter, but further test logs confirm that when the away team beamed down, everything was in alignment, and various prior diagnostics confirmed the system as one hundred percent less than an hour before beam down. In short, the transporters malfunctioned during the time the away team was on Salvaxe, a fact that is near-impossible."

Cailus frowned, eyeing Mindo with concern from his seat. “Are you suggesting deliberate sabotage? Or gross incompetence? Incompetence is a problem, but if it’s sabotage, that’s a critical threat to shipboard security.”

"In other words," said Mindo, "it's either my problem or yours. Wanna flip for it?"

Mindo’s humour bounced off Cailus’ grim facade without making a dent. “Worst case scenario,” he said, pointedly ignoring the joke. “What could’ve happened?”

"I'd say inoperable brain tumors for the entire away team," said Mindo. "You'd still be alive, though. At least, for a little while."

“Very comforting,” Cailus said drily, his tone thick with sarcasm.

"Is sabotage really a possibility?" Nyx interjected. "To create such a specific malfunction would require high level knowledge of the transporter functions and awareness of the Away Team's progress. Senior staff essentially."

"Or just about anyone from Engineering," Mindo replied. "But I know my people. None of them did this. To be honest, I think Lt. Griffin's sabotage theory is a little too paranoid. It could be something wrong with the computers. I advise not using the transporter until I've done some more tests. I know that can be a problem, but I don't think we have any choice."

“I’d still like Ensign Logann to investigate this,” Cailus said with a frown. “He’s a capable engineer and has the training to detect any deliberate sabotage. If it’s just a one in a thousand malfunction, fine, but I’d still like to be certain.”

"As would I," Nyx replied with a firm nod. "He needs to be discreet though, we don't want to tip our hand that we're suspicious."

“Yes sir,” Cailus said. “I’ll make sure he understands.”

"What about the other transporters?" Nyx asked as he turned back to Mindo, "We need thorough checks to ensure this was a one off."

Mindo stiffened and looked down. "I already did that. Except for our shuttles and runabouts, all the transporters on the ship were affected. When I say don't use the transporter, I mean every transporter."

"Wonderful." Nyx sighed, "It's going to make engaging the Ravagers difficult but we'll work around it. How long will they be out of action?"

"About forty-eight hours if we want to be thorough," said Mindo. "My crew and I could probably do it in thirty-six, but I can't guarantee it."

"Do what you can," Nyx replied, "Meanwhile, Griffin can you have teams monitoring the Transporters for the time being? I would especially like to avoid any further malfunctions."

Cailus nodded curtly. “Aye, captain. We’ll establish discreet surveillance of the transporter rooms and keep a tap on transporter-related computer use.”

"Thank you, Lieutenants," Nyx nodded. "I'll let you get back to it."

Cailus promptly stood, inclined his head in a respectful Vulcan-style gesture and left. The busy beeps and whistles of the Bridge briefly disturbed the silence as the ready room doors opened, but then they closed again.

OFF