Needle in a Haystack
Posted on Sat Apr 28th, 2012 @ 6:35pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant JG Bonnie Myers & Commander Acle Walex & Lieutenant Allison Cathcart
Mission:
Heart of an Explorer
Location: USS Iapetus - Bridge
Timeline: MD40 1315hrs
Acle sat in the Captain's chair on the Bridge. The crew that the Captain had detailed had left for the shuttle bay, intent to inspect the strange craft. Acle and a few other crew had been left to start the search for where the strange craft had come from.
Cathcart sat in silence as the tactical scanners continued to provide her with no joy. A series of multi-level scans all seemed to be throwing up one thing. Nothing. She sighed as she looked towards the Centre Chair. There was only one thing worse than having to report negatives to Captain Krace, and that was reporting them to Commander Walex. He had a way of looking at people which seemed to make them wither away to half their size.
Bonnie had been called up to the bridge shortly after the craft had been brought onboard, to assist with trying to extract more information to relay to the command crew on the ship's suggested origin. In truth, she'd have much rather have been working from the spherical holographic chamber that served as the ship's stellar cartography lab, but that was more due to her own fondness for the space than any lack of tools for her current task. Unfortunately for the command crew seeking answers, she had none to give; or at least not very many. The three systems on their path had each only received at most a cursory long-range scan from a probe or long-range monitoring station, and they had no allies in this region close enough who would want to share their cartographical data with them. For Bonnie, it was an explorer's dream.
"Bonnie, can you please run the results of your scans through the tactical database as they come in, please?" It was little trick she had picked up from Commander Gunning. Connecting the two systems would pinpoint any and all tactical obstacles around one and a half seconds before the computer could do it of its own accord.
"Can do," the scientist responded, tapping the right commands to begin comparing her results with the database. The semantics of the cartography and the tactical databases weren't exactly a match, but thankfully the starship's complex computer systems were able to attain parity between the two in order to run the comparison. "I'm starting to get the analysis of the nearest system now. It's not much, though."
"Anything useful?" Allison asked.
"Spectral analysis is showing roughly nine planetoids," Bonnie reported. "Four of them large enough that they're most likely gas giants. Three of the remaining planets are within the region of size to possibly be class-M, but we're still too far out to get atmospheric readings."
"Launch a probe ahead of us to the other two systems you highlighted." The Captain's voice came from the back of the bridge, the turbolift doors sliding shut behind him as he exited out onto the deck. "And take us in for a closer look at the planets in the first system." He nodded towards Cathcart. "You've got the bridge, Lieutenant. Let us know when we're close enough to get some better readings." As a verbal beckoning to Acle, he finished with a "Commander," before continuing on towards his ready room to brief his first officer on what he had just learnt in the sickbay.
"Aye, sir." Allison acknowledged without rising from her seat. This was only the second time she had been left in charge of the bridge and her first instinct was to dash forward towards the chair that Commander Walex would soon be vacating. Unfortunately, she had work to do.
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
Commander Acle Walex
First Officer
Lieutenant Allison Cathcart [NPC: Gunning]
Assistant Chief of Security
Ensign Bonnie Myers [NPC: Krace]
Stellar Cartographer
USS Iapetus
