The one where nothing happened...

Posted on Friday, 1 May 2020 - 5:34pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Commander Soral

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: USS Fontana | Various
Timeline: 2393

{ON:}

Nursing a cup of herbal tea, the young woman seated alone in the corner of the mess absently took a drink before her nose wrinkled in disgust and she peered into the cup with momentary confusion. With a sigh she realised she had been here longer than she intended for the drink to go stone cold. Without a second glance she set the beverage down and returned to the research journal she had been studying.

She had wanted to go for a run but after last night that was off the cards for at least a few days. She had protested until they’d threatened her with crutches.

She was once again lost in the paper when something made her look up. It had, she reasoned, just been her natural curiosity kicking in as the doors opened. And of course it would be Soral. She was sure he hadn’t seen her and after last night, she could well believe that would be intentional on his part. After he left she had told herself repeatedly that she had imagined the whole thing. That he had just been concerned. Like any good First Officer would.

As such she had resolved not to bring it up. But it kept niggling at her...

Soral made his way to the replicator ordering an iced coffee, one of the ones that Commander Victrix had told him to try. He'd just finished his briefing with her and had promised to speak with Alex Kingsley in order to see if there was a way to predict and stabilize a wormhole. There was also that one third of the nebula that they had not explored. He had wanted to get some alone time before approaching the woman.

His mind had drifted to last night so many times over the day. His attraction to her. The one he'd had for Ensign Kai-la had faded as they'd talked last night. He too saw that her attraction to him had faded. They had just talked and he was glad of it. He wondered if that would be the same with Alex. Just as his thoughts turned to her he was swept by a feeling and looked up to find the object of this turmoil staring at him.

Gripping his cup firmly he headed that way. "Lieutenant. You are feeling better?"

Inwardly she groaned. Sure she would never, ever, overcome the feeling of embarrassment. “Much, thank you. No running - or kickboxing- for a few days though. I may have to research the meditation you mentioned.”

"Indeed. I have some items you can read on it if you wish I will send them to your terminal to get you started."

“Thank you,” she nodded.

He let the silence stretch. "May I?" he asked motioning to the chair.

With a nod she set aside the PADD, turning it face down. “Of course,” she assured him.

He sat silently knowing that he should apologize. "I am glad you are better." He simply said. His mind wondered if he'd already said that.

“Thank you,” she said after a moment. “And for your help, obviously.”

"No gratitude is required." Perhaps he should have let someone else help her. "It was the logical thing to do." He let the silence strech again. "The Commander has asked that we work on something with respect to our nebula data."

“Oh?”

"We are to review the wormhole scans to see if there is a potential of stabilization and if we can figure out where they lead to."

“Trouble,” she guessed, thinking of the drone. “How much time do we have?”

"The commander was not specific in her time requirements but it is important. If you wish we could begin at a time more convenient for you." He knew he was asking for a miracle with respect to the wormholes.

“Now is fine. Although,” she added, “I’d like to get better data. From a safe distance obviously. Now we know what to expect we can enhance our sensors. Or perhaps probes could also be modified?”

"Probes might be better for the moment." He stood. "Do you require assistance to the lab?"

“It would be appreciated but perhaps it isn’t for the best,” she replied as she took a drink and then made a face, “forgot it was cold...”

"Nonsense if you require assistance I will assist." He held up his hand to help her walk.

“I can manage, just not at a stellar pace,” she assured him as she picked up her mug and the journal she had been reading. With them in hand she walked alongside him. “Even with modified probes, a shuttle would need to be nearby to ensure we receive the data. I had a thought and the simulation confirmed that our engines created greater instability. The probes are much smaller so I don’t imagine an issue at all...”

"Very well." He walked beside her mindful of her slow pace and trying to ensure that she did not fall. They walked to the lift and entered it. "Deck five." He called as the lift began its hum. He recalled last night how he'd carried her in this very lift. He cursed his mind for going there.

Standing beside him she felt oh so aware of the small distance between them but figured moving would be too obvious. And awkward. Thankfully the journey was not too long. It just felt long.

He all but rushed out of the lift when it opened. Then remembering her gait he stopped. "Apologies. I was..."

“Politely trying to say I smell bad?” She offered helpfully as she followed in his wake. She hoped that wasn’t it... was sure it wasn’t. What if it was?! With a sigh of frustration at her pace she finally caught up. She gestured towards the door to the main lab, “shall we?”

Soral studied her. "Smell bad? No you smell of strawberries and flowers." He quickly shook his head. "Never mind." He entered the lab cursing himself for that slip.

She stared after him for a long moment before following. What was she meant to say to that?! “Okay... Modification of the probes should be straight forward enough,” she began, “and quick to do. As it won’t be entering the nebula, beyond perhaps the periphery, a shuttlecraft with shields up should be more than sufficient.”

If we launch a series of probes we could programme them to attempt to traverse a wormhole and then attempt the return journey immediately,” she added as she slid onto a stool at the nearby workstation, “it would give us a snapshot of the other side of the wormhole and we would have data to compare to our astrometric database.”

"Agreed but before we do this I would recommend an analysis of the wormholes that opened and we avoided. Their composition might aid us in getting the probes prepared."

“From the data we did gather, there is everything you would expect,” she pointed out, “neutrinos, ionized hydrogen, theta-band radiation. In that respect they are completely normal. Save for our mysterious energy signature. The majority of wormholes are unstable, so that in itself is not usual.

Perhaps Doctor Khan’s research... she was focused on creating a wormhole, not stabilising one. Although we’d never get that level of power or generate a magneton pulse... no...”

"Please continue. Perhaps we can... as Human's say get creative." He thought a moment. "As I recall the Enterprise A did manage to create a wormhole with their engines. It would have been stable for travel but for the asteroid that was pulled in. We might be able to use that with Khan's theory and work to come up with something new."

“Or.... blow up the ship,” she countered as she peered up at him. “I am not a theoretical physicist.”

She took a deep breath as looked back at the day. “Okay, first thing, we need hard data. Class 4 probes. Hopefully we don’t loose them all... I might be able to use class 3 probes later to test stability... I’d like to go on the shuttle. I can review Doctor Kahn’s research while waiting on the probe to send back data.”

"Excellent. I will file a flight plan with the Commander and we'll leave in one hour."

We?! She thankfully stayed quiet. “Yes, sir, I’ll be ready.”

Thankfully she knew they carried a compliment of Class 4 probes aboard so it would be a simple matter to request them. Designed specifically for spacial anomalies, they would provide detailed data which would hopefully prove useful. No, she chided herself, they would be useful!

“I’ll meet you in the shuttle bay,” she promised, grateful fo something to focus on.

"Indeed."

Soral headed to his quarters. He changed into a new uniform refilled Bones' bowl for water and food and left a few treats along with his own jacket as Doctor Rose suggested. Bones curled up in his doggy bed on top of Soral's jacket and fell asleep. Soral for his part finished packing an away bag. It would only be a few hours but still he wanted to be ready.

He made his way to the CO and cleared everything with her and headed back to the shuttle bay. Yolen was working on the first shuttle so Shuttle two was prepared. It was a bit smaller but had better maneuverability. He would pilot the shuttle himself. He went inside and began to do pre-flight checks waiting for Alex to join him. He was also having second thoughts about going but it was best, with the unpredictability of it all that there were two people there at least.

Entering the shuttle, Alex paused to say a quick hello to Yolen on her way to shuttle two. Entering, she nodded to Soral as she took the adjacent seat. “Ready?” She asked.

"Pre-flight checks are underway." The probes you refitted are ready. We should be out there a few hours before we have to return and start assimilating the data."

It was an interesting choice of phrasing, she though. “In that case, shall we go?” He gave a nod.

{OFF:}

Lieutenant Commander Soral
Executive Officer

&

Lieutenant JG Alex Kingsley
Chief Science Officer