[USS Charon, sensor pod]
Nathanial's stomach grumbled, it had been well over ten hours since they entered the sensor pod and his stomach made its point to remind him so.
He was standing at the outer reaches of the 'bubble' with Thomas, they had just finished conducting the latest set of scans.
With the new data it was time to get everyone together again.
"Nathanial to Ensign Rufo and Specialist Shenn, can you please report to Deck A, at the aft junction Jeffery tube hatch."
"On my way." Galen said transferring the running data to a tablet so he could monitor the two level diagnostics that he was running while he went to see what their fearless leader needed. Walking into Deck A he said Doyle and Clipper standing at the Jeffery tube hatch, "here I am." Galen said doing another mock salute he was getting irritated by the situation and that usually puts him a sarcastic and not a very helpful mood.
Banging his fist against the stubborn subspace transceiver, Shenn let out a few more innovative curses. Not that it was helping, but it made him feel just a little better. Getting the lines inside the sensor pod back up and running had required just a bit of innovative tinkering. Getting a damn thing from outside, that was another matter.
When the Science Chief called him away from his work (again!), the Andorian had a sudden urge to pretend he didn't hear. But knowing those types, they'd just come looking for him and get hurt crawling about the sensor pod, blast them.
"Yeah, coming. But you know, sir, it might help if you'd let me do my job every once in a while."
As soon as everyone was there Nathanial started "Thomas and I have analyzed the bubble and it seems to be a temporal distortion. I suspect that the temporal distortion started back when we worked with relocating Lyrillia, judging by its growth rate it must have started out as some micro distortion. Unfortunately something, in the sensor pod has caused a reaction and made it expand, and its growth rate is increasing at an exponential rate"
Galen couldn't help but laugh, "this is why we shouldn't mess around with time." Galen said between chuckles, "lets just hope that this isn't happening somewhere in space where a ship can get stuck in it." Galen said really wanting to just leave to get back to his lab.
"Well that sure would explain the mess with the comm system. And glad you think it's funny, Mr spoonhead." Shenn ran a hand through his snow white hair, scratching the base of one antenna deep in thought. "If we're out of temporal sync somehow the array would try to compensate and create the kind of garbled … hmmmmmm…"
That wasn't the point, was it?
"You said something caused it to expand." Turning to the science bigwig, Shenn played with the phase compensator in his hand, twirling it around and tossing it in the air "Meaning you don't know what did. Sir. Now if you don't mind my asking, what exactly have you guys scanned for this far? In between running yourselves ragged in this pod I mean."
It had been a long running event for Cadet Clipper, sure not the 10 hours for those who had been mucking about in a single space-time continuum. If this distortion had caused him to really not exist for five minute intervals every time he had gone through that disturbance that existed just below deck A. It was an exercise he had done numerous times at the onset of this trip. He wouldn't be able to account for a bit over two hours of his life today. It's a shame he hadn't had a working tricorder on him for the experience.
That Line of thought entertained Thomas long enough for the rest of the isolated group to convene and for Ensign Doyle to explain the situation. Thomas was still wearing the white EV suit. Without the helmet and gloves and that he fact he wasn't dashing about, it had become quite bearable. He had intended to take it off however he simply hadn't had the time in the last few minutes, too much was going on.
He noted that the tension between Shenn and Galen was still simmering, however it was still only words, apart from winding each other up a bit there was nothing really adverse coming from it. And there were defiantly far more unproductive ways to vent frustration. For now Thomas had nothing to add to the conversation, he simply stood and listened in rather than let his mind continue to go off on more tengents.
Nathanial was worried about the situation becoming volatile, especially since his plan required they all worked in unison for it to have any chance of working.
"From what I can gather" He started "...one of the mutated chronometric particles that was hit by the Tachyon beam when we shifted Lyrria is currently on Deck A."
"So... what we need to do, is reverse the effect of the Tachyon beam that originally hit the chronometric particals, and... if my calculations are correct, that should stop the temporal distortion we are experiencing. Now, practically speaking, all we would need to do is target Deck A with another tachyon beam from the main deflector, this time reversing the polarity, but alas the distortion has cut us off from the rest of the ship! As such... I have a more radical idea, what we do is, turn the sensor pod into an emitter, acting as a large inverse antenna, creating the reverse polarity tachyon field, 'in' the sensor pod."
Chronometric particles… Thomas would defiantly have to have a real in depth conversation with some of the other science personal regarding the Lyrria encounter. Regardless it defiantly made certain pieces fit, the way it was interacting with the pods equipment must had triggered the reason they were up here in the first place. It had defiantly been causing all their woes ever since. That was all now beside the point, in front of them was now a defined problem, what was needed now was a solution.
Radical was a most modest word indeed for what was being proposed, reversing the cause of a problem was always an option to be considered, however this plan came across to him like using an axe to take out a splinter. It would work, however the treatment could be worse that the problem.
Foremost on his mind were their lives and he didn't hesitate to voice it. "We wouldn't survive the exposure of that level tachyon radiation." Thomas wasn't going to be so defeatist to just reject the idea. "We need a smaller antenna to better focus the field, one we would not be exposed too. It needs to be confined to a smaller area. If the radiation exposure was just on deck A. As we need to be on deck C to man the sensors from the control station, the shielding between decks would protect us."
The Cadet considered the equipment which was on the top deck. He had been staring at the schematics of the pod for the best part of the day. "Possibly use the Dorsal Sensor Array, we could further analyse the data on our tricorders to better locate the particle and reduce the necessary size of the field."
Galen just nodded in agreement to what the young cadet said, "well it sounds like the cadet brought up all the risk factors now with those out of the way lets get this done I have some sensor data that I need to correct." Galen said not sounding happy that he's been stuck here for 10 hours and that the plan they were considering could kill them and if it didn't he would then need to spend the month dealing correcting sensor data errors.
Ensign Nathanial Doyle
Chief Science Officer
USS Charon
&
Ensign Galen Rufo
Stellar Cartographer
USS Charon
&
Cadet Thomas Clipper
Assistant Science Officer
USS Charon
&
Specialist Shenn
Basic Engineers Mate
USS Charon
