Going Over the Data
Posted on Fri May 21st, 2021 @ 4:27pm by Commodore Samantha York & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Lieutenant Aenar Torek & Ensign Chevy Tuff
Edited on on Tue Jun 8th, 2021 @ 8:01am
1,659 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Eye of the Storm
Location: Conference Room, Deck 2
ON
When they materialized in the transporter room, the transporter operator informed them that Commodore York wished to see them in the conference room, unless any of them needed medical attention.
Tuff thought about the question and the Betelgeusian did a personal, internal check. He had no wounds and he did not feel ill. After some time, he concluded, "I am not in need of medical attention."
'I'm fine,' replied Aenar quickly. Any aches or pains wouldn't distract him from data analysis anyhow - there were just too many anomalous signals around. It would help to have Tuff and York around the table to help decipher whatever they had found.
Calith indicated she had an ankle sprain and was promptly whisked off to the Sickbay.
"I'm good," Kara said. "Kushner and I will secure our weapons and join you there." She didn't think they should parade through the ship with their rifles.
"Give us ten minutes, sir," she said to Aenar. She nodded to Trent and left the transporter room.
Aenar motioned to Tuff, 'Let's not keep the Commodore waiting, Ensign.' The Bajoran Chief Science Pfficer promptly exited the room, heading for the turbolift.
Tuff seemed to be busy doing a lot of nothing, staring at a PADD screen. He did not even acknowledge Lieutenant Torek as he continued to sift through the information on the PADD. It took a moment before Aenar's voice actually registered in Chevy's mind. "Did you say something, Lieutenant?"
Popping his head back through the door before it closed, Aenar grinned, 'Conference Room, Ensign. Let's go!'
"Oh," Tuff responded before heading to the conference room with Aenar.
[Ten minutes later]
Sam had the readings from the ship's sensors and was goign over them again as she waited for the away team to meet with her. The attack was unexpected and made her wonder what else was going on here. She hoped the team could help her find some answers.
Aenar bustled in through the door, PADD in hand as he waved in acknowledgment, 'Commodore. Agreeable to see you again.'
"I'm glad you made it back," she replied. "We noticed the phaser fire."
'I imagine it was difficult not too,' Aenar grimaced as he recalled the vivid, recent memories of coming under fire. 'It felt like they came from nowhere, if you understand my meaning - Remans move so quickly.'
"I do. I've been in similar situations before. I'm surprised to find them here, though."
'You're telling me, Commodore. I know more and more Remans have been selling themselves out as mercenaries since the Empire hit a rough patch, but,' he shrugged, 'never expected to see them for myself.'
"I never expected them this far out," Sam said. It made little sense. There shouldn't be anything this far from the nearest starbase to bring Remen.
A minute later, Kara walked in. "Hello, Commodore."
"Hello, Lieutenant," Sam acknowledged. "Have a seat. Is Private Kushner going to join us?"
"He should," Kara replied. "Unless he got detained." With Trent, it was always possible.
Sam nodded. "We'll wait for the others and begin."
Nodding his understanding Aenar took a seat, and waved at Melo, 'good to see you, Lieutenant. Even better now we're not in so ... stressful a situation,' Aenar grinned.
Kara smiled back. "It is."
Tuff shuffled into the room still processing through the data. He did not make any acknowledgments and bumped into the table, as he was so engrossed in his work. Looking up, he saw officers all around him and after a pregnant pause, said, "Ensign Chevy Tuff reporting as ordered."
"Glad you could make it, Ensign," Sam said. "Have a seat."
Tuff did so, only after making absolutely certain that he knew the exact location of the chair in relation to his rear.
When Sam had waited long enough, she pulled up the scans from the ship. The moon appeared in holographic 3D in the center of the table. "This is what we found. There's the main building, and two subterranean bunkers we can't scan. The building is less than a decade old. Two clicks away is another area we can't scan."
'So the facility is more extensive than we thought,' said Aenar thoughtfully as he studied the schematics. Are we unable to scan them because of the ion storm, or because of more straightforwardly artificial means of blocking our sensors?'
"Could be both," Sam admitted. "There's something blocking our sensors, and the storm isn't helping. I want to see what you found before we send anyone else down."
'That's a fair method,' Aenar turned to Tuff, 'the Ensign here is the one with the data we retrieved. Hopefully it'll be of use to us.'
The Remen were too well-armed and well-trained for a research facility. Kara was as curious as the others to find out what was so important they needed to hire soldiers to protect it.
"That depends on what you believe is use to us," Tuff answered. Looking over the table, he asked, "Was that a colloquial statement for me to give a report, sir?"
'If you would, Ensign,' replied Aenar with a smile. Now they were back on the ship, he could relax and adapt to Tuff's quirky manner a little more easily. 'You're the one who's been studying the data after all.'
"I have," Tuff agreed. He looked around at the table and it appeared that everyone was waiting on him, so he commenced his speech. "When I first started analyzing the data, I found records on meteorology, gravitational waves, solar storms, ion storms, and magnetic readings. Digging deeper into the files, I found graphs and charts on all the data regarding these events, indicating a keen interest in all the patterns here on this planet. There seemed to be even research notes showing that the ion storms here have never lasted this long. However, from there, I ran into several blocks of protected data. At the moment, I have not quite cracked the code but there are references within what I found to a Project Romero. This is quite suspicious and lends credence to a hypothesis that I have been working on: that the building we found and the people within are somehow related to the ion storms. I need not remind you that ion storms are normally caused by coronal mass ejections. However, in my brief research, I have not found any stars in the vicinity that are undergoing such a process. Even so, the storm would not be sustained like this, nor would it be regular. This further supports my hypothesis that these ion storms are not naturally occurring and are related to the building we entered.
"Thank you, Mr. Tuff." That supported what Sam believed from what she'd seen so far. She turned to Aenar. "Intel might be able to help you get into the protected data. I'd rather not experiment in case we end up erasing it."
'Of course - I could use some encryption/decryption expertise. I know the academic applications, but someone who doesn't need to refer to a manual every two or three lines would be a more suitable attemptee,' Aenar quirked a smile, 'who should I get in touch with, Captain? By the Prophets I've not had the pleasure of meeting a member of our Intelligence Department as of yet.'
"Batiste might be of help. Or Jayna--but she's on the planet right now," Sam said. "The team should be reporting in shortly."
'Very well - perhaps Lieutenant Jayna may be best. She's been to the surface and something relevant may jump out at her while we're looking. Tuff, interested in joining us?'
Chevy considered the matter for a good ten seconds. While for others, that might be considered a short time, for those already familiar with the Betelgeusian, they knew it was only a short period. He answered simply, "Yes."
'Very good,' replied Aenar with a warm smile, 'I'm sure you'll be more than useful. I guess we can arrange what we know into a data file between now and when Lieutenant Jayna returns from the surface.'
"An excellent idea," Sam said. "I'll have the data from the sensors sent to science so you can use that as well." She looked around the group. "Is there anything else you have to report?"
Aenar shook his head, 'I think you've had the long and short of it, as a human would say. In all honesty I'm surprised they didn't interfere with the Calypso while we were down there - might point to a limitation on their part.'
"I will look forward to accepting the data for further analysis," Tuff told Sam.
"I'll send it to you and to Aenar," York replied. "In the meantime, I'd like each of you to send me a report. If there's nothing more, you're dismissed."
Kara nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Her part had little to do with science, but she knew her report would help with any future trips to the moon, and she hoped there would be more.
The Marine turned to Aenar. "Do you need anything further from me?"
Tuff accepted his dismissal and headed to his department to complete his report and await further data.
Aenar shook his head at Kara, 'just to say thank you, Lieutenant Melo. Only the Prophets know how badly we would have fared if you weren't there.'
"Happy to be of service," she replied, giving the science officer a smile. "Let us know the next time you need backup."
'You'll be my first call,' Aenar assured her, before turning to the Commodore, 'until later then, Commodore?'
Sam nodded. She was eager to hear what they uncovered. "Later, Lieutenant."
____
OFF
Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer
Ensign Chevy Tuff
Computer Specialist
2nd Lieutenant Kara Melo
Squadron Leader
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