Reach for the star (working title)

Posted on Sun Nov 4th, 2018 @ 7:04am by Captain Remas McDonald & Lieutenant Dinui Locke (loch)

946 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1:3: Myriad Problems
Location: Outside Science Lab 2
Timeline: MD 61 7.30AM

Dinui had been looking at the original sighting of Abborax's ship she had downloaded the data to her PaDD days ago. Something was off. She zoomed in on the area of the appearance and watched the ship showing up. There was something...

Dinui ran down the corridor until she came to the Captain's location, "Sir iffen ye have a moment Ah have something to show ye about Abborax ship's appearance."

Remas looked up from where he was crouched on the floor. He blinked his eyes a few moments and then got up. For all the world it seemed like he'd just settled down beside the bulkhead and closed his eyes for a moment.

"You'll have to repeat your self I'm afraid, old habit from before Starfleet. Hear tell they used to call it cat napping, though in retrospect that seems a might bit culturally insensitive," Remas said with a smile. He nodded at her in recognition. "Lieutenant JG Locke, correct?"

Dinui blinked and laughed softly, "Ach nothin' wrong with a cat nap. Aye Sir. Lieutenant junior grade Locke, though Ah keep tellin' folks Ah prefer me given name less Ahm in trouble." She said with a delighted smile, "Ah was sayin' Ah found somethin' interestin' from the recordin' o' Abborax ship appearin'." She offered him the PaDD she had been studying, "Watch the surface o' the North Pole o' the star." It had taken several days and hours of playback but when she saw the difference there was no doubt in her mind that what she had seen was important, "Ah only have minimal data from the initial scans but there's somethin' under the corna o' that star, Sir." She was willing to bet every bottle of home brewed Scotch that it was how Abborax came to their location and left it again. What it was she had no idea yet but she would enjoy the continuing study especially if it got them a way to catch the sneak thief.

Remas studied the PaDD in his hand, his fingers swiping over its display to bring up other associated data. He settled on a false colour simulation from the Traveller's very own stellar magnetometer telescope. It showed the north pole of the star, a sea of flickering blue and green field lines represent billions of tons of plasma. And then...

He frowned, flicked the diagram back to the beginning and then put it through at half speed. Halfway through he caught it, the bright knot of diametrically opposed magnetic lines rammed up through the corona of the star and opened like the petals of a flower, revealing a tangled knot of field lines beneath it and a Myriad ship shaped void.

"Well it seems staring at the sun does have its advantages," he grinned at Dinui. "This is excellent, but its a beginning. What would you need to get a more details picture of what's out there? I'm not talking Daystrom Award level research, but the quick smash and grab science. We'll be catching up with Abborax around the time he'll be nearing whatever that thing is. Thoughts?"

"Better scans o the area 'round the pole, iffen I can see wha' beneath the surface should be able to do somethin' useful." She hoped anyway but she felt better for at least showing the data to the Captain, it wasn't a solve of their problems it was only a hint of where they could look for more answers. It was how she was looking at it, at any rate.

"We might be in a running gun battle whilst you're making those scans, I can't promise you excellent viewing conditions if I'm having to flip ship and kilt the shields," Remas admitted.

"Ahm sure we can find somethin' useful even iffen no' perfect." Any additional information would be a great help, she would continue looking over what they currently had and if they were able to gather more data she would add it to the list. Dinui was nothing if not determined.

"Well something would be better than nothing," he mused as he regarded the petite and almost pocket-sized Science Officer. "What's your usual duty station? Science Lab 2?"

He shook his head holding up a hand to forestall comment.

"Regardless you're getting a ringside seat from here on out. Head up to the bridge and make yourself comfortable. I need good eyes flying into the sun, and you seem to have a pair of them," he grinned at her.

Dinui was used to being in the labs she wasn't keen on bridge duty where most loved it. She just found the lighting to be much brighter than she preferred, but she wasn't about to complain after such a compliment from the Captain. "Aye Sir," she held her hand out for the data PaDD, "Ahm keep workin' on what we have while waitin' for more scans to be done iffen that be alright?" Maybe he had something else he wanted her to be looking over instead so finding out beforehand seemed her best bet.

"I'm fine with that in principle, but the balloon's going to be heading up yonder soon," Remas said and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are here because you are the best. I handpicked every crew member of the Traveller bar none. I have absolute trust in you seeing us clear of this."

Dinui nodded her head, "Ah willna let ye down Sir." She would find a way to get through the readings and show her worth. She turned to head for the bridge this was going to be the fun part of the day now a challenge to get past.

 

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