Taken for Granite

Posted on Mon Sep 23rd, 2024 @ 1:28pm by Lieutenant Gale Deekros & Lieutenant Hank Solomon
Edited on on Mon Sep 23rd, 2024 @ 1:58pm

1,466 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: USS Firebird - Science Labs

[ON]

Starfleet had certainly spared nothing when it came to the Firebird's new science labs, and the bulkhead displays and consoles around the room seemed to hum with an energy that had nothing to do with their power source.

Right now, those displays were alive with the data concerning the scans of the energy ray that displaced the wormhole and the runabout, and the preliminary analyses of said data. Worktables were strewn with PADDs, cups of varying states of fullness with coffee, tea, rakadajino, and other stimulating beverages. One of the worktables had a small photo display of the missing science team, a reminder of the stakes of this work.

And in the center of the room, hovering in the meddle of a floor to ceiling force field ringed by consoles, was a giant rock. So naturally, Gale was there, his almost unregulation length hair clipped back as he hunched over a console, lost in thought.

Hank's eyes lit up as he joined Gale in the science lab. He had been into many scientific vessels but the quantity of equipment and their state of the art was something he never experienced before, let alone on a starship.
Took him a couple of seconds to recover from the "Kid in a toy shop" shock and concentrate on the task at hand. He noticed the big rock in the center of the lab and closed in to Gale.
"So this is one of the rocks we recovered, right?" he recalled the composition data on his PADD and further information on the exact location of the rock before the recovery.
"How many of these were in the area of the singularity?" he asked the rock specialist.

"Four large asteroids, and countless smaller ones, from the size of a pebble to ones more like this size, sir," Gale explained. "Thankfully, we have all of the data from the last geological survey in the ship's computers, so we can compare their composition to the rest of the nearby belt. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, but..."

Gale motioned Hank to one of the larger bulkhead displays with the data about the energy ray. "That ray, however, isn't anything ordinary. And while when it comes to the asteroids, I am quite the expert, and while I'm well-learned in this aspect of science, I was hoping your own background in theoretical physics would make up for my unfortunate deficits here." Gale was glad he'd refreshed his memory by reviewing his boss' service record.

Hank followed his colleague to the nearby monitor and looked at the data.

"Well, considering the wormhole got displaced" he started "the ray or rays must have been powerful enough and well calibrated too. The electromagnetic field of the wormhole must have changed. And to do so the rays must have been accurately syncronized to it."

He unfolded his PADD from the belt holdter and drew a synusoid.

"If we consider this to be the resonant frequency of the wormhole.." he started while projecting his drawings to the nearby monitor ".. we either need a very powerful electromagnetic field, slightly off frequency, to interfere with it, or we need the same the same frequency but a different phase" he eyed the officer to see if he was following him.

"What does the recorded data say?" he asked hoping he was not off track with his reasoning.

"It's like music, almost, viewing the wormhole this way. And so many of our far-flung planets have ancient stories about the music of the cosmos, you wonder what that says about the so-called progenitors the Enterprise found," Gale said, in a wonderous tone, looking at the wormhole's frequency. "But, wondering about that is for after the crisis. And considering how the effects of the ray were limited to the wormhole and our vessel, that inclines me to something powerful but uniquely targeted. Which implies someone with considerable familiarity with the wormhole itself."

Gale presses another part of the display, and the different sensor feeds of the ray run in parallel. "We have the frequency and energy of the ray from multiple sensors. Identical readings EXCEPT this one here," Gale said, pointing it out, and then pointing to a stellar cartography like-display, holographic and floating above a desk, of the sensors, the ray, and the identified asteroids. "And he're where the sensor is. Gods, it's like a puzzle, but the key pieces are missing. Hopefully not for long."

The CSO smiled at the music analogy. He never really viewed it that way but Gale was, indeed, correct.
"Yes" he concurred "To apply such a change to a wormhole you need to know its functioning very well and to have it well studied, or you need to have superior technology and extensive experience in wormhole-travels" he told the rock specialist.

As the 3D holographic chart appeared, Hank turned it around to have a better understanding of the various locations

"So here is where that" he pointed to the asteroid in the center of the room "was?" he asked. "If that's so, a transmitter should have been there"

Gale nodded slowly as he approached the rock. "Whoever did this was, as far as we can tell, incredibly thorough at removing any trace it was there," Gale said, rubbing at his beard. "What I am hoping, however, that even if they removed all physical traces of the transmitter, that the rock still remembers." He turned back to Hank with a grin. "Not mentally, but in in its very atoms. The local asteroids have traces of barium and tungsten, which are likely to ionize in the presence of a strong energy field."

"Computer, reduce lab lighting to 10 percent," Gale said, and the lights dimmed to make the space cavernous and dark. He let his hand drift to the console, and slowly introduce various frequencies of short wave UV light. At least it was dark, but even the darkness couldn't hide his low grumble of frustration.

His eyes locked on a couple of rock-pockets and for a fraction of seconds his climbing mentality kicked in and he would have wanted to hang on those but professionality held him from doing it.

"If I had some sort of elecromagnetic field displacement device and I would like to get rid of it I would either make it explode or transport it out of where it was planted. And with an explosion you would leave bits and pieces here and there so traceability can be easier if an investigation is done" he pondered "If anything was here it must have been transported out of here. There are no signs of explosion, as far as I am seeing" he concluded.

"What extra materials are you seeing here?" he asked the expert

"Oh, I completely agree on the lack of any explosion. That would have been for amateurs and unfortunately whoever did this had enough professional instincts," Gale admitted with a sigh. "But in the presence of the kind of EMF field we're talking about, the barium and tungsten should be reacting to short wave UV light. That's just geological fact."

Gale turned to Hank when he asked about extra materials. "Wait - wait - there were trace amounts of a rare form of magnesium, which - very long story short, in certain circumstances, can interfere with short UV absorption. So if we callibrate for their presence, then-"

And there it was, glowing with a pale blue-green light in the darkness - the wheel and spoke trace of where the transmitter was before it was transported away.

"Can we use this to match against any known technology?" Gale looked to Hank with a hopeful expression.

"Let's check on the main database" the CSO motioned Gale to follow to the closest terminal as he inputted the data

A few raws appeared between the results.

"Ohh" Hank left out "it's not a 100% match but it could be consistent with the knowledge of wormholes and wormhole displacement as well as the transporter technology that could have been used to get rid of the device".

He pointed a line on the screen to Lt. Gale and locked eyes on him to see his reaction.

"Dominion"

There were several emotions that flitted across Gale's face. The satisfaction of figuring out the puzzle gave way to a resigned anger at the sign of their old enemy. Finally, both gave way to a grim sort of determination as the Trill turned to his superior. "We need to tell the Captain."

Hank nodded slowly "I'll draft a report for him"

[OFF]
Lieutenant Hanks Solomon
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Gale Deekros
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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