Rare Things

Posted on Wed Nov 25th, 2020 @ 5:55am by Lieutenant Declan Roderick & Captain Nycolas Temple

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Deck 3 - Operations
Timeline: Current

[ON]

The Pandora was due to depart from Hesiod Green's atmosphere in a few hours, and the ship was about to make the long journey back to Earth. The Hesiod people had settled into their new home over the last several weeks, giving hope that despite all of the tragedy and danger, there was at least some good news to come out of these events. Nyx's mind was now focused on getting to Federation territory again in one piece. It didn't help that the ship had received quite the battering while on Hesiod Green, and the Carnwennan Corridor was still a month's travel ahead of them. He knew the crew could handle whatever the Expanse threw at them, but Temple wanted to be prepared.

The Captain strolled into the Operations Department, seeing that it was a flurry of activity and progress. If the Warp Core was the beating heart of the Pandora, then Operations were the veins that kept that blood flowing. They worked with efficiency and purpose, already well-into the pre-departure processes.

"Captain." Declan stopped short of checking over a deuterium efficiency quotient padd he was handed from another officer before noticing Captain Temple enter the department. He turned to the rest of his crewmates. "Captain on Deck." He called to attention. Everyone around him stopped what they were doing for a brief moment.

"Sir. Welcome to my area of expertise." He gestured to the busy analytics and management processes of the few officers fulfilling and trafficking inter-departmental requests.

"Continue with your work, please." Temple said humbly to the crew standing at attention, waving his arm in a gesture to dismiss them. As the team resumed their business, Nyx turned to Roderick with a firm smile, "Good to see you're settling in. Thank you for helping out here, we're going to need everyone digging in if we're to make it back in one piece."

"Sir." Roderick began as he then turned from the ears of the departmental personel. "I have the upmost faith in your Command, that we will have a fighting chance to get the message through." He had stated with admiration.

"Would you care to have a seat with me in the office, Captain?" He had wondered if Captain Temple wanted to discuss something in a more private setting.

"Sure." Temple replied and allowed Roderick to lead the way into his office. Once inside, Nyx casually sat down on the chair opposite the Chief's desk. "I hope I'm not interrupting too much."

"Not at all O' Captain, my Captain." He grinned to himself. Taking a seat himself he turned to his replicator. "Care for anything. A coffee, a drink Sir?" It wasn't everyday that the Captain of a Starship had entered the Operations Department. But this wasn't any ordinary Captain he could tell, and he had liked that about him.

Nyx smiled, "No, thank you. I'm trying to cut back. Too much shore leave and I'm getting a coffee addiction."

"What can I do for you Sir? An update on the Systems?" He sat down himself and pulled up his seat to the desk, placing both of his hands together on the top.

At this, the Captain paused. He wasn't much for beating around the bush, so he decided to get straight to it. "I want to talk about Pithos. Again. But specifically about the experiment the team were working on."

"Pithos." Roderick had nodded slowly. He was just getting past the horrors of being stationed there without his will. If he had anything to answer, Declan would do so.

Nyx continued, "I have read through all of the reports from the scientists myself. It makes for fascinating reading. While I still abhor their use of an inhabited planet, and the deliberate deception that occurred to build and run the station on Hesiod, and their wilful continuation of the experiments despite the obvious damage it was causing...." He sighed, giving a resigned shrug, "The project had merits. In fact, Ensigns W'lang and Panaouris had made progress in one of their studies to create a stable density field within the shield generator matrix which was able to withstand the forces of the dark matter."

"Here is the thing, Sir." He looked from the table taking a moment to figure how to answer this. "The experiments in the field dynamics and plasma articulation accelerators could have proved, substantial. The scale of the operation was negated by the fact that the physical structures of the compound could not sustain the levels, the inputs they had demanded constantly. Despite the compartmentalized nature of information, there was consistent failures in systems. As Operations, I was able to articulate and confirm the extreme levels of degradation the base was unable to withstand, let alone endure the further degrading of increasing the energy field production, the energy containment all became problems... To the point of the experiment imploding within it self." He paused and shook his head. "I had no information on the positive analytics of it all, you probably got to see it most, Sir. Yet, I was in the dark." He paused. "My point being, Sir." He stressed. "If the experiment was performed at the scale of it being warranted, more oversight, more resources at the greater Starfleet levels of access. Then quite possibly it could have succeeded."

Nyx took in Roderick's view with a slow nod. "That's certainly what the data indicates as well. Unfortunately I fear that means others will try again. Perhaps not on Hesiod, but in other similar locations. If anything, I hope we can prove that stronger oversights and checks are necessary on any scientific programs in the future. We owe the Hesians that commitment, don't you think?"

"Sir." Roderick could not help but question. "Do you still harbor concerns regarding my core values of safety of crew, or concerns on what I did on the planet?" He had thought they had hashed that out with Commander Owen prior.

Shaking his head, Nyx gave a short laugh, "Not at all. Relax, Lieutenant. I'm talking about what we're going to propose to the Federation in light of the Pithos disaster. Something has to change because of these events, we can't allow history to repeat itself."

"Somehow I am more skeptical they will listen, but we have to try." He offered.

“Agreed.” Nyx replied. “Of course, if we could completely disprove or complete the experiments, then it would stop others from trying.” He gave it as a suggestion. Nyx liked to consider all possibilities and have every option available. “We have the potential to try something with the Pandora.”

"Interesting." Declan had paused. "May I ask Sir, what that something is?" He was now very curious. How could they work on the experiment, potentially bring it in to play and prove that the technology had worked. The Captain was a total man of mystery, seemingly bringing the impossible to the possible. Or other words from other Captain's from history. A fighting chance, to live another day.

"We have materials from the planet's atmosphere in our processing recyclers, and some brought on board from Pithos scientists when they evacuated." Temple explained, "We also have access to dark matter within the Expanse. If there's an opportunity to mix the two together and potentially create a stronger shield generation? It's worth trying. So long as we're careful?"

The Operations Officer was surprised at the plan, yet there was no real reason why they could not try. Given the set of circumstances that they were in. A fleet wide notification to halt the progress of the USS Pandora.

"I don't see why we should not try. Anything you need, we will be ready for it. Sir." He had nodded and smiled in return. He was learning alot.

Nyx nodded, "I want to be cautious, of course." He said in reassurance, "We'll have to work with the Science department and run strenuous simulated projections before we even consider attempting a practical test. But it's something to keep in mind."

"Understood." Declan had nodded. "If you can give me a timeline and possible augments needed to the ships systems, computers, equipment we will be needing. I am your guy. Sir!" He nodded at Captain Temple.

"Good to hear," Nyx remarked, "Though I must confess, I've recently made a vow with my wife not to make any rash decisions. So if we have a plan in place, I will submit it to Starfleet for approval first."

Declan had chuckled. "Agreed, Sir."

"I'll let you get back to your work," The Captain smiled, standing up again, "Thank you for your time, Lieutenant."

"Always. Happy to do my job, Captain." He nodded, and then sat there, thinking of the upcoming issues at hand. It would be interesting to say the least.

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