Season 16: Episode 2: A Night at the Opera

[Alexander Graham]

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]

The entire room was shuffling as they slowly were able to at least establish the basic system links and power on all computers they had access too. In a time like this, they couldn't draw upon support from Ops, given they were busy in other sections of the ship and trying to prevent them all being grillend by intense radiation from the systems central star. Kedan nonetheless suspected there would be multiple reports pilling up on Ramorts desk after all of this was over, calling for a better fitted out backup location and a revision of the emergency protocols.

Just as he was making his round back through the room, a mobile processing core in his hands, Crewman T'Rea approached him with another round of ideas. On her screen he could see a rudimentary layout of the astrometrics labs files and main systems. Her work was methodical and clean, perfectly adapted to the current situation.

"If we launch anything towards the planet, it might be picked up as hostile action. We would have to inform them of our actions first and await a response from their government. Which would take. Time we don't have. I don't know what the status of the shuttle uplink is at the moment, but I will inquire."

"Sending another probe in the direction of the sun could be worth it, though. Even if it just acts as a wavemarker so we can better measure its spread and get a few more second to prepare. Since it is your proposal, it's only just if you get to present it to the Bridge. Work out a trajectory and then call Ops on the Bridge. From our current working conditions we can hardly interface with the ship's tactical systems."

As he continued his way to the back wall, he was yet again interrupted by a signal from his combadge. Sliding the computing unit into the prepared socket on the wall with direct access to the ship's networking and power system, he responded.

"Understood, we will keep you appraised of any new developments from our side. Actually we might have something for you. Expect a call from us in the next couple minutes."

It seemed like his combadge would not find rest again today. Taking yet another call from the Bridge, he took in the experienced flight chief's offer. It actually came in perfectly. Someone with his experience would be of great assistance in working out the needed complex course correction manoeuvres the next probes would need to take.

"I am sending you Crewman T'Rea up. We need to calculate some complex flight paths, so any assistance you could render would be greatly appreciated." 

Sending personnel up to the Bridge was highly unusual for an Ensign like him. But with Ramort gone and Hayes and Umiga not on duty and Rajagopalan already on the Bridge, there simply wasn't anybody he could have made take responsibility for this.

Returning to Crewman T'Rea he informed her of the changed plans.

Update to our plan. I was able to enlist the help of Chief Graham. Please report to him on the Bridge and work with him on the flight paths. When you are up there, and you are done, you can also directly ask the Ops Chiefs and the Captain for launch approval. Also, the consoles and the computer access up there are better than anything we have done here at the moment anyways."

[Ensign Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

Things were hectic up here. Screens were erupting in error messages and warning far too often, and he had no way to escape the stress. As one of the oldest Junior Officers on board, he had been up here plenty of times, and he didn't really enjoy it any more as time went on.

Now his lab was locked up. His plants abandoned without him. He really didn't like this one bit.

Taking a deep breath, he focused back on his work. Most science Systems were down right now. Power had been diverted from the usual beefed up computing resources he could draw upon but the sensor grid was still giving it its best. Hearing the Lieutenants question he checked if there was anything he could do from his side.

"Right now I don't even have enough power in the systems to decipher if what I am receiving is cosmic background or actual transmission. Is there any way you can provide me with a bit more power to the receiver array?"

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

Hearing a scream behind him, he quickly spun around. 30 meters away from him, a waitress in a restaurant had let a tablet slip to the ground. Her face twisted in horror. Until she just relaxed again. A slight haze seemingly clouding her eyes for a second as the lost focus. The next second, she already was apologizing to the guest next to her. A large human shape wearing a wristband. But was the shape deflating? And was that a tentacle, a purple tentacle.

Before his own eyes could fully take in the situation the waitress was standing before an ordinary looking older man with a bowler head and a grey crown of hairs on his head.

The Tricorder was blinking in alarm now. Only to also fade as quickly as he had started. Quickly navigating to the log section of the device, meant to hold all sensor reports from at least the last 10 minutes if not saved for future analysis, he found it empty. Or at least devoid of any note that could explain what just happened.

Hearing the Commander acknowledge his observations put him at bit to rest. At least he wasn't losing his mind. Or he had lost it and was just so far gone that he could not notice it any more. Given that, if the latter option was true, he couldn't do anything against it anyway, he decided to focus on the first option.

"Maybe we just experienced some kind of .. glitch .. ? My Tricoder isn't showing anything, so I suspect it indeed has been tempered with. The human employees behaviour seemed strange though. One moment they seemed in shock, as if they never had experienced anything like this before, and the next.. just nothing."

Holding it for a moment longer in his hands he closed the lid on the delicate device and handed it to Lieutenant Lachlyn.

"Would you mind taking a look through it. I know neither of us is a computer specialist but your training against electronic attacks probably qualifies you more to find any bug they placed in it than me."

The Device was of little use until the bug had been removed. If their guests were able to alter any readings he took on a whim he could just as well not take any as their empiric worth would be the same.

Turning to the Chief Engineer, he offered:

"Is there anything I can do to help you with the phones?"

[USS Discovery-Bridge]

"Ok will do Ensign I'll await their arrival. I imagine the calculations would need to be precise for the complex flight paths with no margin of error." Alex was glad that the crewman came to the bridge in a swift manor. He gave the crewman a slight smile before addressing them by saying "I have an idea but do you mind if I look at the data that you got from the proposed for the course for the modified probe?" He wanted to see the data so that he could adapt his calculations and idea in a way that'll work.

[Lek]

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

"I can definitly do that. I think I saw some of these in a history class. We went over their basic functions."

The trip to the museum that had been part of that class was something he had nearly forgotten. Their entire class had been shuttled to the History Museum on the Washington Impact site. It focused mostly on the history and artefacts of the third world war. Between the display of the defused nuclear warheads and the various firearms humans had used to slaughter each other and destroy the last remnants of their civilisation there had been an exhibit on the decades before that. Each display featuring information about the most impactful technologies and cultural events of the relavant timeframe. Multiple stands had held phones in different stages of development. From gray boxes larger than a persons head to small chips that could be fittet into nearly every appliance or casing the user desired.

Ramort took out his phone and turned it around. The casing was split in two with the lower section coming off as the applied light preassure to a dented section of the alloy. Under it a black block with different warning symbols was nested in metal rails. Some form of exchangable battery probably. Behind it he could see a small green board covered in copper lines and small black cylinders.

Even though the technology was antiquated by dozens of decades he still recognised them as the circuitboard requested by the Engineer.

"I have access to the control board."

[Erewhon - Landing Site]

Lek took the phone from Ramort and twisted wires from one to the other. There was an immediate burst of sound that struck Lek like a fist. The sound was piercing for his fine Ferengi lobes, but only a low frequency annoyance for the others.

"Okay, we've got our jammer. Range is short, maybe 10 meters, but inside that sphere, the locals won't be listening in on anything."

[T'Rea]

[USS Discovery-Bridge]
"Ok will do Ensign I'll await their arrival. I imagine the calculations would need to be precise for the complex flight paths with no margin of error." Alex was glad that the crewman came to the bridge in a swift manor. He gave the crewman a slight smile before addressing them by saying "I have an idea but do you mind if I look at the data that you got from the proposed for the course for the modified probe?" He wanted to see the data so that he could adapt his calculations and idea in a way that'll work.

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

"Of course," T'Rea agreed immediately, pulling up the latest focal point sweep results of radiation intensities from the forward sensor array as a colormap over the navigation chart of their immediate vicinity on her PADD and showing it to him. "Blue indicates lowest intensities and red highest--there is a colorbar here for scale," she informed him. "And of course the radiation isn't a standing wave. These patterns are moving omnidirectionally away from the systems primary star at an approximate rate of... 37000 m/s, but at least they are periodic." She fell silent after that, giving him time to review the data for himself, and using the time to try and take in the myriad of tasks all occurring simultaneously on the bridge. She wasn't accustomed to this kind of frantic multitasking, but she knew she was going to have to learn fast if she wanted to be an asset rather than a hinderance here.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

Hearing a scream behind him, he quickly spun around. 30 meters away from him, a waitress in a restaurant had let a tablet slip to the ground. Her face twisted in horror. Until she just relaxed again. A slight haze seemingly clouding her eyes for a second as the lost focus. The next second, she already was apologizing to the guest next to her. A large human shape wearing a wristband. But was the shape deflating? And was that a tentacle, a purple tentacle.

Before his own eyes could fully take in the situation the waitress was standing before an ordinary looking older man with a bowler head and a grey crown of hairs on his head.

The Tricorder was blinking in alarm now. Only to also fade as quickly as he had started. Quickly navigating to the log section of the device, meant to hold all sensor reports from at least the last 10 minutes if not saved for future analysis, he found it empty. Or at least devoid of any note that could explain what just happened.

Hearing the Commander acknowledge his observations put him at bit to rest. At least he wasn't losing his mind. Or he had lost it and was just so far gone that he could not notice it any more. Given that, if the latter option was true, he couldn't do anything against it anyway, he decided to focus on the first option.

"Maybe we just experienced some kind of .. glitch .. ? My Tricoder isn't showing anything, so I suspect it indeed has been tempered with. The human employees behaviour seemed strange though. One moment they seemed in shock, as if they never had experienced anything like this before, and the next.. just nothing."

Holding it for a moment longer in his hands he closed the lid on the delicate device and handed it to Lieutenant Lachlyn.

"Would you mind taking a look through it. I know neither of us is a computer specialist but your training against electronic attacks probably qualifies you more to find any bug they placed in it than me."

The Device was of little use until the bug had been removed. If their guests were able to alter any readings he took on a whim he could just as well not take any as their empiric worth would be the same.

Turning to the Chief Engineer, he offered:

"Is there anything I can do to help you with the phones?"

Ramort's observation matched his own.  It was very odd that abject terror could be so quickly and easily dismissed. Something was definitely off about the clones' sudden passivity.  Whatever the cause, it certainly made for a very docile workforce. Which was most likely the intent - willing slave labor.

While Ramort sought to help Lek with the phone, Rayek moved further to the outer edge of the transport site.  He wanted to observe the other guests and clones more closely.
.
.

[Erewhon - Landing Site]

Lek looked up when he was addressed, he'd been focused on the phone and missed the glitch as he worked. He tilted his head as Ra
mort's words sunk in and was able to reply in a civil tone.

"I think if you can get the cover off of your phone, we can cross wire the two of them and that should create the feedback loop we need to take their little network offline, at least within a few meters."

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

"I can definitely do that. I think I saw some of these in a history class. We went over their basic functions."

Ramort took out his phone and turned it around. The casing was split in two with the lower section coming off as the applied light preassure to a dented section of the alloy. Under it a black block with different warning symbols was nested in metal rails. Some form of exchangable battery probably. Behind it he could see a small green board covered in copper lines and small black cylinders.

Even though the technology was antiquated by dozens of decades he still recognised them as the circuitboard requested by the Engineer.

"I have access to the control board."

[Erewhon - Landing Site]

Lek took the phone from Ramort and twisted wires from one to the other. There was an immediate burst of sound that struck Lek like a fist. The sound was piercing for his fine Ferengi lobes, but only a low frequency annoyance for the others.

"Okay, we've got our jammer. Range is short, maybe 10 meters, but inside that sphere, the locals won't be listening in on anything."

In the time it took for Ramort to disassemble the two phones to access the electronics within and then for Lek to tie-in the two together, Rayek had been watching to find a target to question.  Questioning a guest could create another incident, which the Romulan was trying to avoid, so Rayek intended the group to question one of the clones.

When Lek informed that they had a short range jammer,  Rayek turned to the pair and smiled appreciatively.  "Well done, " he acknowledged their speedy efforts.

Then turned back towards the marketplace and gave a shrill whistle to draw attention to himself.  Heads turned towards him - guests, holograms and clone-workers alike all turned to look towards the group standing around the Transport site.  Rayek singled out the waitress from the nearby cafe, pointing directly to her.  "Come here" he called - in a commanding tone that brooked no other option.  "We wish to place an order."

At his words, the interest from all but the one singled out waitress waned and the others went back to their own conversations and activities, dismissing Rayek as just another overly demanding guest.  The singled out waitress on the other hand, quickly finished up her immediate task and hurried over to take the group's order.

"Hello, my name is Tammy.  What can I get for you?" she asked looking around at the group.  She recognized, in the background, Malik from earlier and offered him a slight smile.

Rayek however was looking toward Lieutenant Lachlyn pointedly.  The Sec/Tac officer had wanted to question the locals without being overheard.  He'd now made that possible for her.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Ensign Vinod Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

"I am receiving Reports from Science that our Team that we have evacuated all Laboratories and reassembeld on Deck 5. Regarding the current situation: I don't see any way to weather the next time right now. But I find the whole situation very strange. If they knew we would be caught up in the Tide, why didn't they adequatly warn us, why didn't they provide us with some info on their shield tech so we can protect ourselves?"

Worry clouded his mind. It seemed almost like a trap. Putting a station here and inviting them while knowing they would be exposed to the tide, then inviting them to the Station and leaving them up to their hosts mercy. It reminded him of Drosera rotundifolia, a plant that attracted flies with a fluid that shimmered in the morning light like little diamonds while being placed in bigs where there were little other sources of safety. But the little dewdrops were a trap. The Drosera being carniverous catching its prey in sticky substances and them dissolving them alive with its enzymes. A harrowing fate for the poor flies that got caught.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

It was a chilling statement, but the implication was clear.  It was foolish to deny it.

"Because despite their pleas, their goal was never our enjoyment and recreation.  It is a trap." he stated, crossing his arm and shaking his head.  "And at this point, they have part of our crew on the surface and a ship about to reach critical tolerance.  There is no need for subterfuge.  That wasn't a plea, it was a threat."

{Discovery|Bridge}

Vila and Bosch were working in tandem to see if they could uncover the mystery of the glitching planet. She KNEW that it had to be something in the programming of the shields' system-but how and what was the question. It would take time to figure out. Time they may not have.

With the Lower Decks finally cleared, Vila was free to work at her pace. She opened a ship-wide channel.

=/\=All unnecessary ship functions will cease in five seconds. Civilians are advised to remain in their quarters. Fleet staff are advised to report to Yellow Alert stations.  Sure enough, the lights, computers, and etc in Science-and most of the rest of the ship-went dark.

"Rerouting power to the probes. Get me a Science officer up here. I don't care which," she said, jabbing at her Comms badge. She REALLY needed to talk to tr'Lohell about a subdermal communication device. A call from Science came in.

"Yes, Ensign. After you're done there, please join me at the Ops station. I have...an idea," she said. She raised her head a moment, realizing she should clue in the Captain.

-----

The other Bajoran spoke before she could, however.

VIla shrugged.. "I have an idea....but you'd really have to trust me," she said. "How difficult would it be to undock the Saucer? I am not saying don't go down there, but...if there's TWO vessels to contend with, it might buy us some more time."

She continued.

"OR...we can blast a hole in the shield with a missile or let me build some C-4. It'll take just twenty minutes, and a probe." She shrugged. Other than that, she was out of ideas. "I don't know about YOU, but I personally have had enough of clones to last a lifetime, so I'd really rather one of those two options. Then tractor beam out who we can. If I can somehow tap back into Commander Lek's signal again, we can let them know to meet back at the landing site. It's risky, and it takes time but it saves lives," she said.

She really wanted him to choose option B-the TNT, of course, but she was TRYING to come up with less lethal approaches to problems. Even if they were uncomfortable.

"One problem at a time... there is no point in trying to get the away team if we end up killing them with radiation.  How would destroying or even attempting to destroy their only protection help them or us?." he said, frowning.

"We have less than an hour before we die, which means less time than that to either find a way to save the ship or abandon it to the station. That is the priority. The first step of which is understanding what exactly we are dealing with."

"T'Rea, Lorut, Graham, work on the probes.  We need to gather as much data as we can about that shield and this radiation tide.  If you want to try to blow up a probe against the shield, I am confident that it won't do anything, but it can still offer us data on the shield tolerances.  That technology is much more advanced than anything we have here.  Don't underestimate it.

"M'Nia, Buck, work with Kedan on reinforcing our shields. As the data comes in see what we need to do to counteract the output of the star.  One civilization already figured it out, and since they aren't telling us we know its possible but we have to do it ourselves."

"I won't sugarcoat it.  We are trapped.  And we are likely going to have no choice but to fall into their plans to get us on the station. We may even end up where the away team is now.  That can't be prevented, but what we can do is plan for what happens afterwards.  If we are forced to dock and I am not able to give orders, your orders are to tear that station apart until you know how it works and how to reinforce our own ship. We're Starfleet; our job to do the impossible and innovate our way out of any situation.  We've been through a lot; I agree with Lorut... I'll be damned if I see another clone of myself or anything else that involves control.  But this isn't that kind of situation.  We've been able to be in contact with the away team.  Do what you do best and we can make our way out.  Sometimes the best way out of a trap is to spring it."

"Make it so."

[T'Rea]

"We have less than an hour before we die, which means less time than that to either find a way to save the ship or abandon it to the station. That is the priority. The first step of which is understanding what exactly we are dealing with."

"T'Rea, Lorut, Graham, work on the probes.  We need to gather as much data as we can about that shield and this radiation tide.  If you want to try to blow up a probe against the shield, I am confident that it won't do anything, but it can still offer us data on the shield tolerances.  That technology is much more advanced than anything we have here.  Don't underestimate it.

"M'Nia, Buck, work with Kedan on reinforcing our shields. As the data comes in see what we need to do to counteract the output of the star.  One civilization already figured it out, and since they aren't telling us we know its possible but we have to do it ourselves."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]
The captain's speech captured T'Rea's full attention. She had only seen him from afar since she'd come aboard, but seeing him now in the center of the bridge she could immediately understand how he had come to his current position. Despite the stress on the bridge that felt so thick it was nearly tangible, Captain Nevir was able to immediately cut through the chaotic situation and refocus the crew.

His comments were accurate too, which the Vulcan scientist deeply appreciated. His radiation exposure estimates were well within a reasonable margin of error--and she had come to the same conclusion as he had, that understanding the station and planetary shielding might be critical to determining how they could protect themselves. Leaving her PADD with Officer Graham who was still studying it to optimize flight paths, she turned to Bajoran Operations Officer for the first time, "Lt. Vila, can you check if it is still possible to remotely access the shuttle's systems? If you can get Ensign Rajagopalan or I remote access to the shuttle's sensor array, we could run a sweep from inside the a shielded zone. That might give us some valuable information as to how their shielding functions." And combining and comparing that data to the data from the next probe they planned to launch to study the stellar radiation tides might be the key to getting them out of this mess--despite having left her family on Vulcan, T'Rea very much planned to be able to return to them one day. The clock was ticking.

She glanced at the captain out of the corner of her eye. She knew he was a trained scientist (which made her feel like something of a peer, despite their vast difference in rank), so despite Kedan's earlier reasoning against her suggestion of launching a probe towards the planet itself she felt obliged to present the idea to him directly, "Captain, we should consider the risks and merits of launching a seperate probe towards the planet's surface. The shuttle might be able to give us some information about the shielding from within it's protection, but the shielding may be a multilayered approach, and if that's the case passing a probe near or even through those layers will be the only way to generate a full analysis of their operating mechanisms." Ensign Kedan was right that such a probe could be considered a hostile act, but it was clear now that they were in a hostile situation.

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Bridge}

One problem at a time... there is no point in trying to get the away team if we end up killing them with radiation.  How would destroying or even attempting to destroy their only protection help them or us?...
"We have less than an hour before we die, which means less time than that to either find a way to save the ship or abandon it to the station. That is the priority. The first step of which is understanding what exactly we are dealing with.

"Blowing a hole in the Shield will assist us in getting the radiation to spread into the atmosphere, and as it spreads, it will dissipate faster. PLUS, it gives us a way to get a team in...." she replied. He continued, though.

T'Rea, Lorut, Graham, work on the probes.  We need to gather as much data as we can about that shield and this radiation tide.  If you want to try to blow up a probe against the shield, I am confident that it won't do anything, but it can still offer us data on the shield tolerances.  That technology is much more advanced than anything we have here.  Don't underestimate it.

She sighed, but nodded, her explanation falling on deaf ears. She turned to Bosch to issue some instructions.

I won't sugarcoat it.  We are trapped.  And we are likely going to have no choice but to fall into their plans to get us on the station. We may even end up where the away team is now.  That can't be prevented, but what we can do is plan for what happens afterwards.  If we are forced to dock and I am not able to give orders, your orders are to tear that station apart until you know how it works and how to reinforce our own ship. We're Starfleet; our job to do the impossible and innovate our way out of any situation.  We've been through a lot; I agree with Lorut... I'll be damned if I see another clone of myself or anything else that involves control.  But this isn't that kind of situation.  We've been able to be in contact with the away team.  Do what you do best and we can make our way out.  Sometimes the best way out of a trap is to spring it...Make it so.

" Captain, we've been in contact because Commander Lek checked in with US. Not the other way around," she said. "He didn't stay on the line long enough to lock down his location. Ok, Bosch. I need you to continue to work on the glitch," she said. "I will see what we can figure out with science," she said. She stood up and crossed to the Science console. "Ideally, we'd send in a probe, but the radiation is too high," she said. "Ramort's already going to kill me because I killed his Astrometrics lab," she said. The power shutdown had turned it off, and she didn't know if it automatically backed up or not. Oh, well.

"I am wondering if, instead of having to risk a probe, is there some way we can disable the transmitters from here," she said. "The ones that the planet uses. Kind of like taking control of a climate control system, or something," she said. "What do you think?"

She, for one, wasn't dying that day. Tekin could, if he chose to, but she was a survivor and she'd be DAMNED if radiation took her out.

[Lek]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Ramort's observation matched his own.  It was very odd that abject terror could be so quickly and easily dismissed. Something was definitely off about the clones' sudden passivity.  Whatever the cause, it certainly made for a very docile workforce. Which was most likely the intent - willing slave labor.

While Ramort sought to help Lek with the phone, Rayek moved further to the outer edge of the transport site.  He wanted to observe the other guests and clones more closely.
.
.

In the time it took for Ramort to disassemble the two phones to access the electronics within and then for Lek to tie-in the two together, Rayek had been watching to find a target to question.  Questioning a guest could create another incident, which the Romulan was trying to avoid, so Rayek intended the group to question one of the clones.

When Lek informed that they had a short range jammer,  Rayek turned to the pair and smiled appreciatively.  "Well done, " he acknowledged their speedy efforts.

Then turned back towards the marketplace and gave a shrill whistle to draw attention to himself.  Heads turned towards him - guests, holograms and clone-workers alike all turned to look towards the group standing around the Transport site.  Rayek singled out the waitress from the nearby cafe, pointing directly to her.  "Come here" he called - in a commanding tone that brooked no other option.  "We wish to place an order."

At his words, the interest from all but the one singled out waitress waned and the others went back to their own conversations and activities, dismissing Rayek as just another overly demanding guest.  The singled out waitress on the other hand, quickly finished up her immediate task and hurried over to take the group's order.

"Hello, my name is Tammy.  What can I get for you?" she asked looking around at the group.  She recognized, in the background, Malik from earlier and offered him a slight smile.

Rayek however was looking toward Lieutenant Lachlyn pointedly.  The Sec/Tac officer had wanted to question the locals without being overheard.  He'd now made that possible for her.

[Erewhon Transport Site]

Lek watched Rayek's interaction with locals unaware of his intent. It was already clear this planet would not be approved for Federation ships to call here, so he didn't understand the point of his erstwhile friend's actions. With nothing else to do, Lek's thoughts drifted back to Discovery and hoped all was well there. He hadn't been enthused to be part of this away team and hoped his participation in this one would keep his selection for another less likely.

"I wish we would just tell them we were leaving so we could get our gear back and be able to talk to the ship."

He muttered and continued to wait.

[T'Rea]

She stood up and crossed to the Science console. "Ideally, we'd send in a probe, but the radiation is too high," she said. "Ramort's already going to kill me because I killed his Astrometrics lab," she said. The power shutdown had turned it off, and she didn't know if it automatically backed up or not. Oh, well.

"I am wondering if, instead of having to risk a probe, is there some way we can disable the transmitters from here," she said. "The ones that the planet uses. Kind of like taking control of a climate control system, or something," she said. "What do you think?"

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]
A quick glance confirmed that Officer Graham hadn't completed his course plotting yet, and T'Rea found herself reflexively following Lt. Vila to the science station. Her eyes took in the information that Rajagopalan had set to read out on the screens even as she processed the Ops officer's proposal. It included the probes final readings before failure. "I think that disabling the shield's transmitters would expose the crew of the away team to a radiation dose of approximately 700 millisieverts per second at peak solar intensity. That dose would be fatal in only 10 to 15 seconds of exposure." And that was assuming that the planets atmosphere itself wasn't also artificial, in which case it's failure would make the dose rate even higher--the same result as if Discovery's own shielding should fail outright, though she choose not to mention this last fact aloud.

"There would, however, be value in locating and perhaps even accessing the shield's transmitters, but since our scans have shown no signs of said transmitters it is logical to assume they are located behind the planetary and station shielding. The Discovery won't be able to find them--but the shuttle's scanners might be able to find the transmitters within the station, since it is currently docked inside. Can you remotely access the shuttle's systems from here?" In her short training on Mars she had learned that is was standard procedure for shuttles to keep an open communication link to their ship when unoccupied, and she hoped that might be enough for someone with the Lieutenant's skills to gain access to the shuttle's systems, even through the station's shielding.

[Lorut Vila]

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

Vila nodded as the younger woman spoke.

I think that disabling the shield's transmitters would expose the crew of the away team to a radiation dose of approximately 700 millisieverts per second at peak solar intensity. That dose would be fatal in only 10 to 15 seconds of exposure.

"That won't work, then," she said. She sighed.

There would, however, be value in locating and perhaps even accessing the shield's transmitters, but since our scans have shown no signs of said transmitters it is logical to assume they are located behind the planetary and station shielding. The Discovery won't be able to find them--but the shuttle's scanners might be able to find the transmitters within the station, since it is currently docked inside. Can you remotely access the shuttle's systems from here?

"THAT I can do," she said, confidently. If ANYONE could, it was Vila, because someone just challenged her to do it. "Thank you, Crewman," she said, and returned to her own Console. Quietly, she got to work. It took several minutes-longer than she'd like-but she was in. "Crewman T'Rea. Open your channel to receive. Please," she said.

She looked to Bosch.

"Any luck?" She asked him. 

[Buck McNair]

"M'Nia, Buck, work with Kedan on reinforcing our shields. As the data comes in see what we need to do to counteract the output of the star.  One civilization already figured it out, and since they aren't telling us we know its possible but we have to do it ourselves."

[ USS Discovery | Bridge ]

"Aye sir."

A reply that was ingrained into his head, he knew that they were about to go in danger-hot and certainly it had raised the stakes with the implication that this whole thing was a trap and those on the Away Team were captured. "Ensign Kedan, what are we currently left to work with?"

" Captain, we've been in contact because Commander Lek checked in with US. Not the other way around," she said. "He didn't stay on the line long enough to lock down his location. Ok, Bosch. I need you to continue to work on the glitch," she said. "I will see what we can figure out with science," she said. She stood up and crossed to the Science console. "Ideally, we'd send in a probe, but the radiation is too high," she said. "Ramort's already going to kill me because I killed his Astrometrics lab," she said. The power shutdown had turned it off, and she didn't know if it automatically backed up or not. Oh, well.
"I am wondering if, instead of having to risk a probe, is there some way we can disable the transmitters from here," she said. "The ones that the planet uses. Kind of like taking control of a climate control system, or something," she said. "What do you think?"
She, for one, wasn't dying that day. Tekin could, if he chose to, but she was a survivor and she'd be DAMNED if radiation took her out.

None of the options were looking very attractive. They were being damaged from all angles and sending out another probe would be seen as an act of aggression to which the planet and their peoples could easily disguise and morph into a situation where they were reacting in self-defence despite them being the problematic source. Buck was fustrated as he tapped around, playing around with hypotheticals whilst monitoring the situation with their radiation shielding and finding a way to reinforce what little shielding they had left. Buck glanced over when Lorut asked whether he was making any progress.

"Reinforcing the shielding at the moment," Buck replied. "Any of the scientists around know how to counteract the effects of these particles? Neutralise them with a signal of our own or something?"

He paused.

"How about disguising our probe as a waste ejection? Send it in the path of the planet and see if it can get us any further readings?"

His station beeped as to indicate the shields were nearng maximum capacity of reinforcement.

[James Ramort]

"Gotcha. Let's do this. Where do you want me to grab?" M'nia asked. She wanted to do it right and not injure kanes further. Although the power outage was a problem. One they would be working on. Right now though, this was the priority.

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Deck 11 | Access Corridor 14]

Getting back into the lift she opened the panel with one hand and pressed two of the hidden buttons underneath. The one for emergency overrides and the one for Medical. The Lift door closed behind the two Officers carrying Kane between them. His tortured form have stopped its occasional spasms as the pain medication settled in.

As most secondary systems on this Deck were offline, Phlome had to push the start button manually, the overwrite working and the lift accelerating back to the Primary Sickbay on temporarily diverted power.

As they arrived in Sickbay, she got two other nurses to help them put Kane on a Biobed, his pain soon hopefully quashed with the wonders of modern medicine.

"Thank you Lieutenant for your help, I don't know what I would have done without your help. You probably saved his life."

[ USS Discovery | Bridge ]

"Aye sir."

A reply that was ingrained into his head, he knew that they were about to go in danger-hot and certainly it had raised the stakes with the implication that this whole thing was a trap and those on the Away Team were captured. "Ensign Kedan, what are we currently left to work with?"

[...]

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Spare Computing Space 2]

"We have set up ourselves in the Spare Computing Area on Deck 5. For now, we are operational, albeit somewhat hampered in the tools at our disposal. We still should be able to assist you with everything as good as we can. The Captain's orders were relayed to me. I suggest we meet with Lieutenant M'Nia in Engineering in Auxiliary Engineering. The tools there are simply better than what we have here at this moment."

Although it hurt him to admit it, he had to be realistic. They needed those shields as soon as possible and as effective as achievable. Engineering simply was better equipped than a spare computer room hastily fashioned a would be Office.

Anticipating the need for Lieutenant M'Nias help, he called for her:

"Lieutenant M'Nia, we require your help to get the shields upgraded. Can you meet us in Auxiliary Engineering?" 

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Tanner had no questions, none of which she could verbalize, at least in the moment. Everything about this place was confusing, and she'd been in a daze the entire time. She held back. She was silent. Shaking her head to the Commander, she made a soft motion and wandered away from the team. Not going far but just away enough to take in their surroundings.

Her arms moved to cross in front as she let out a quiet, long, held breath. Oh, what she wouldn't give for her partner to be here. He had a way of pinpointing exactly why her emotions were off and then would tell her what to do. What had her so uneasy?

The sound of a child crying caught her attention and she turned her head in the direction. With a furrowed brow she wandered over and knelt down to a small girl who'd fallen and scraped her knee.

"Hey," Tanner said with a warm smile, "That looks like it hurts." She eyed the wound, noting the first layer of skin missing and a deep gash filled with gravel. With a flick of her gaze, she looked around for a parent. After a moment, she narrowed the choices to one and walked over to a woman holding a small butterfly-covered backpack.

"Excuse me," She pointed to the little fallen girl, "Is that your daughter?"

With a nod the woman confirmed it, although she didn't seem concerned. It seemed to take a moment to even register that the child was upset. Or HAD been upset. Where once there were tears, the little girl was now skipping over, visibly wincing as she walked on her sore leg with a smile.

Tanner watched as the mother took her daughter away. The crease in her forehead furrowed deeper. Heading back to the group she continued to chew on her lip, this time finally taking in the people around her. Well behaved people.

"Can I ask," Tanner said to her crewmates, "Have any of you noticed how quiet this place is for somewhere so busy? I dunno about you but, back home, places like this are loud. People are loud. They bump into you. They're rushing places and moving fast."

[M'Nia]

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Deck 11 | Access Corridor 14]

Getting back into the lift she opened the panel with one hand and pressed two of the hidden buttons underneath. The one for emergency overrides and the one for Medical. The Lift door closed behind the two Officers carrying Kane between them. His tortured form have stopped its occasional spasms as the pain medication settled in.

As most secondary systems on this Deck were offline, Phlome had to push the start button manually, the overwrite working and the lift accelerating back to the Primary Sickbay on temporarily diverted power.

As they arrived in Sickbay, she got two other nurses to help them put Kane on a Biobed, his pain soon hopefully quashed with the wonders of modern medicine.

"Thank you Lieutenant for your help, I don't know what I would have done without your help. You probably saved his life."

"Ahh, thanks doc. Well glad i could help. Engineering is my life and something like this, well definitely need a combined effort. I'm glad I could get him out in one piece. That's a nasty situation. Hope there are no more like that!" M'nia said. "So tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it to the best of my ability."

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

[Erewhon Transport Site]

Lek watched Rayek's interaction with locals unaware of his intent. It was already clear this planet would not be approved for Federation ships to call here, so he didn't understand the point of his erstwhile friend's actions. With nothing else to do, Lek's thoughts drifted back to Discovery and hoped all was well there. He hadn't been enthused to be part of this away team and hoped his participation in this one would keep his selection for another less likely.

"I wish we would just tell them we were leaving so we could get our gear back and be able to talk to the ship."

He muttered and continued to wait.

[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Tanner had no questions, none of which she could verbalize, at least in the moment. Everything about this place was confusing, and she'd been in a daze the entire time. She held back. She was silent. Shaking her head to the Commander, she made a soft motion and wandered away from the team. Not going far but just away enough to take in their surroundings.

The Romulan tampered down his annoyance as the Security Chief, whom he had set up this meeting for, was silent and shook her head before moving away.  Between Lachlyn's leaving and Lek's irritability (with the Romulan's keen hearing he had overheard the engineer's muttering), Rayek was at his wits end with the Away Team.  Fine, he'd question the woman himself!

Turning back to the waitress, he offered a slight apologetic smile for making her wait.

"Sorry, it seems that my colleague has changed her mind about making an order, but I could use a refreshment.  I'd like to order a small black chai - no sugar or cream.  I do however have a question first, since I'm a guest to Erewhon." He lifted his wrist which held the bracelet which had been placed upon him during transport down to the planet.

Tammy, the waitress, glanced to his wrist uncomprehendingly before looking back up to his face.  "Yes, I recognized immediately that you weren't from around here.  I know all the locals.  But I'll help however I can - what's your question?"

Rayek had expected some sign of recognition or acknowledgement regarding the bracelet, but it seemed it was a Guest identifier for the facility managers, holograms and other Guests only - not the Erewhon workers.  This knowledge changed his line of questioning.

"Hmm.. Well, you see, I was instructed not to remove this bracelet by my guide, T'Sana, or I would incur a fee, as a penalty, to my account.  I was curious as to why?  Also, I assume the cost of my beverage order will be billed to the same account.  Is there a way you can help me access my account, since my guide is not here to help? "

Tammy looked once again to the bracelet, this time more curiously at his explanation regarding the bracelet and it's penalty fee.  "I'm sorry, I don't have the slightest idea as to why. I can, however, help you locate your account.  What's your name again?  I knew it a moment ago when you called me over, but it's slipping my mind at the moment." the waitress commented as she pulled a handheld padd of sorts from her apron.

Rayek blinked in surprise at her apparent previous knowledge of his name.  He hadn't mentioned it to her.  He could understand the holograms knowing his personal information - given that the facility had scanned the ship and it's database prior to making contact.  Did the clone-locals have access to that information as well?  Were they somehow connected to the facility mainframe?  "My name is Rayek tr'Lhoell." he offered his name, which she then tried to type into the padd.

After a moment she frowned.  "I'm so sorry, Mr. Trowell,  I don't understand, why my tablet isn't connecting to the network.  I won't be able to get you any information on your account until that has been fixed."

Rayek ignored the butchering of his surname, and suspected that the problems with her tablet were arising because of the signal interference that they had created.  "That's a disappointing, however, I will try another time. Please, cancel my drink order."

Tammy nodded apologetically.  "Of course. Again, I'm so sorry, I couldn't help more."

Rayek acknowledged her apology with a slight nod, and watched as she took her leave.  She got about 3 meters from the group when her tablet pinged.  She stopped, glanced at it and then turned to look back towards him.  "Oh it's working again!"

She tapped at it's surface a moment before she looked towards Rayek and his group with a nervous frown.  "Um, I don't have access to your personal details, Mr. tr'Lhoell, but it seems your account shows as 'On Hold'. I'm afraid I can't take your order. You'll need to contact your guide for assistance."

The disguised Romulan's eyebrow rose at her sudden correct pronunciation now... Interesting.  And news of the suspended account was troubling, not that the Romulan showed his concern to the the local waitress.

"Ah, thank you for that information.  I will see to that in a bit." He waited until she had made her way back to the restaurant, before turning to seek input from the group.  This was just as Tanner returned and asked a question of her own, offering an observation.

"Can I ask," Tanner said to her crewmates, "Have any of you noticed how quiet this place is for somewhere so busy? I dunno about you but, back home, places like this are loud. People are loud. They bump into you. They're rushing places and moving fast."

Rayek, who usually prided himself with his observational skills, hadn't picked up on that.  He glanced about, alert to this new perception.  At first, he didn't seem to notice what Lieutenant Lachlyn was talking about - the market seemed quite active and loud to him just like any other he'd been to... but after a moment, he noted that all that loud activity only came from those wearing wristbands.  The locals were quite passive in comparison.

"Yes.  Now that you point it out. I think that might be because the locals are somehow tied into the facility's computer.  It could be muting their natural reactions, keeping them docile and under control..." he hypothesized.