Sorting out Science

Posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2020 - 12:16pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Iktomi
Location: USS Standing Bear | Deck 01 | Conference Room
Timeline: 2393 MD2

As the meeting drew to a close, Lieutenant Kingsley had just been about to get up out of her chair when Soral spoke up. Wondering what he was thinking she sank back into the seat, fixing him with a questioning look. She had to admit, though, that she was curious. Besides, both of them outranked her so what was a girl to do but stay back.

Soral waited as the room filed out. He then turned to Stillwater. "I had an idea and I wanted to run it by you both with respect to sensor log analysis."

"Oh?" Alex replied curiously.

"I was thinking that while sensors are important there is often clues left behind that sensors haven't had a chance to pick up. Would it be of benefit to take a shuttle out and do a sensor sweep of our own?"

Stillwater considered the option. "It is a possibility, though I would do it at a wreckage site where the Standing Bear is close by. If these marauders can tear apart larger starships, I would hate to see what they do to a shuttle" he offered. "We may want to look into another option as well, modifying probes for surveillance purposes and deploying them along the way. It would not be much, but it could be a small early detection system."

He gave a nod and looked to Alex to see if that would work.

"I would recommend using probes, linked together they will give us a much wider range, they are incredibly sensitive and even if they are destroyed, they transmit back to our labs constantly so we would at least detect something," the science officer reasoned. "It is definitely better than leaving a shuttle at the mercy of whoever is behind these attacks."

Soral gave a nod. "Can you recalibrate the probes and prepare them with current staff or do we need to have someone assigned from ops or engineering?"

She looked genuinely offended at the idea of calling in anyone to assist. "I'm certain we can manage the task," she said after a moment.

"No offense was meant Lieutenant." Soral said. "We are still somewhat short staffed and I wanted to ensure that all bases are covered."

She didn't point out she could programme them in her sleep. "They are absolutely covered," she assured him.

"Alright." He turned to the CO. "Sir? Anything else?"

Stillwater shook his head. "Not from me, but congratulations to the both of you. I was informed by my Yeoman that you have married in a Vulcan ceremony? I imagine this will not be an issue for either of you going forward should I assign you both on away teams?"

Soral gave a nod. "Indeed we have. It will not be an issue. I have attempted to put my wife in a bubble before and it was not a pleasant conversation. I have promised no bubbles."

"Old Earth adage, Commander 'Happy wife, happy life' and you'll learn quickly how accurate that is" Stillwater replied. "I am glad to hear this won't hinder your performance."

“It will not, Sir. I like that saying though,” Alex mused as she glanced at Soral, grinning. “And with that promise, I can start on the sensor probes and plan where to deploy them. Unless there was anything else, sirs?”

Soral shook his head. "No I am fine."

"Dismissed," said Stillwater. He was looking forward to some alone time. The replicator was calling his name and he was looking forward to sampling a variety of snack items.