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Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon | Administrative Area]

[...]

"Lyssarian law is rather detailed, with many social complexities that would mean nothing to visitors such as yourselves." The answer was vague and Rayek wondered if that was intentional.

The Lyssarian then left its 'chair' and used several of its tendrils to 'walk' over to one of the blank walls.  It touched the surface and a 'video screen' appeared.

"I've adjusted the visual wavelength on this view screen, so this should be visible to you. My apologies to you and your group for the earlier error on my end.  I was a little too excited that I was to be the first to host actual humans at Erewhon.  I was hoping impress you with how accurate our details are."

Wrrhssrw tapped a couple tendrils against the wall beneath the 'screen' and a visual of the town appeared and quickly zoomed in to the front of the Library - showing the Away Team walking along the path to its entrance.  The video continued showing the woman's irate tantrum and physical attack on the groundskeeper, and then Lek's angry response in reaction.

"Describe to me what happened in this incident from your point of view."

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Adminstrative Area | Facility Mangers Office]

"We went to the Library to consult its facilities to learn more about your fascinating culture. While on the way there we bore witness to a confrontation. Another guest verbally assaulted a human that seemed to be in a position of staff of the Facility. Eventually she resortet to physically violence against the groundskeeper.

Commander Lek saw himself compelled to render assistence by questioning the attacker about the merits of such actions. At that point in time none of us had received access to the legal codes of Lyssarian Law or been given any introduction to the expected code of conduct from either the staff on hand or a cultural liason.
Following this question about her conduct, the guest immediatly demanded reparation being paid, without give an option to clear up the situation or anybody giving us the legal context.
Now we find ourselves in a tough spot. None of us meant to insult you, your culture or the other guests in any way shape or form.

How does Lyssarian Law view the incident."

Given how obvious the Manager had made it that they had been monitored so far, he tried to provide a framing for the images that retained the fact of the missing context as much as possible. Maybe Lyssarian law provided for exact consequences for their actions but could they really be held in full to that if they were not even aware of the Law in the first place.

He also tried to frame the Commander in a more innocent light. The Chief Engineer seemed to on the Edge abou the whole incident so if his own statement would be enough and there wouldn't be further questioning the situation could probably be resolved more diplomatically.

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]
The captain's orders to begin docking procedures wasn't particularly surprising to Rajagopalan or T'Rea--the current radiation levels really left no other choice at this point, even ignoring the ominous sounds of their groaning hull--and instructions to security about arming didn't apply to either of the scientists, leaving them more or less free to continue their data collection and analysis. After all, there was a countdown on now to the time until they would reach the station, and that could mean a time limit on access to the Discovery's sensor feeds and analysis computers...

Now that the data was sufficiently down-sampled it only took the computers a few moments to perform the fitting. Accessing the goodness of such fits was generally tricky, but T'Rea didn't have the luxury of a proper review of the relevant statistics. She forwarded what she had to Auxiliary Engineering, "Ensign Kedan, I have something for you on the low-frequency tide-patterns in the radiation waves. It looks like the sum of 3 sinusoids: estimated freqencies of 0.27 mHz, 0.56 mHz and 4.1 mHz. Largest amplitude component corresponds with the 0.56 mHz component." Almost before T'Rea had had finished her transmission to Kedan, Rajagopalan let out a quiet sound of surprised realization as he checked the shuttle analysis. Instinctively, she took a step in his direction to get a better view of his screen, "Look at this," he told her, maximizing the primary graphical output of her code, "It's not just graviton shielding, it's--," but before he could say more his face abruptly acquired the colored of a Vulcan blush and he lurched to the side as he vomited. Reflexively, T'Rea reached out a hand to help steady him and keep him from toppling over entirely, and she visibly flinched at the resulting telepathic contact as his nausea and dizziness swept over her. There could be no doubt that he was suffering from radiation poisoning. Suddenly, the idea of docking inside the space stations shielding felt more like a relief than a disappointment.

"Captain, is medical prepared with hyronalin to treat acute radiation syndrome? If they have a sufficient supply, perhaps it's time to disperse into the ventilation system as a radiation counteragent. Or at least send medics with inoculation supplies to the bridge and any other high-exposure areas on the ship?" For the first time, the stress of the situation had started to creep into the Vulcan crewman's voice as she spoke.

Even as she was speaking she helped Rajagopalan to the nearest chair and then turned back to the science console to first press the emergency button that would alert medical that there was an officer on the bridge in need of medical attention, and then immediately send the details of the multi-layer shielding properties generated by analysis of the shuttle data to Kedan, McNair, and M'Nia, flagging the file with the highest possible priority until she had the chance to make a voice call on the topic. She checked over her shoulder. Rajagopalan still looked green, but he didn't appear at risk of fainting outright and there was little more she could do for him without leaving the Science station on the bridge completely unmanned.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]
As the numbers spilt onto his screen and were plugged by the multitude of algorithms in the background to be fitted into new models automatically, he acknowledged the call.

"Thank you T'Rea, these numbers should prove most useful." 

Taking another look at the data, an Idea formed in his head. Given there were three interfering frequencies, their own shields, using a single frequency would be far too slow in adapting, they would need a new approach altogether. Maybe, if they could bring the shield emitters to produce multiple frequencies and create an interference from that, they could cancel out the radiation before it even hit their hull.

Inputting the parameters into the model he ran the simulation and asked the others:

"What about this? Do you think something like this could work?"

[Dr. Phlome]
[USS Discovery | Medbay]

The room was filling with burn victims and people suffering from radiation poisoning. All hands were busy replicating antidotes for various caused minor illnesses and setting up an enlarged ward to house the sure-fire influx of patients that was still to come.

Their work was interrupted when the Computer alerted them to a medical emergency on the Bridge. Grabbing the Med-Kit she had barely stored away, she took the nearest exit and rushed for the Ship's upmost Deck. Her colleagues would have to take up her extra work for a second, but they could not afford the Bridge becoming unmanned through the officers falling ill and being unable to perform their duties.

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Arriving on the Bridge she quickly survey the situation. Everyone seemed tense and a large space station was growing larger on the large viewscreen in front of Helm.

"Who is the patient?"

[[Erewhon - Administrative Area]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Administrative Area]

Rayek watched with a slight frown as his friend left the room. Subtly was not a Ferengi trait apparently.

Being Romulan - raised on Romulus and then beaten and abused by his superiors because of his rare telepathic trait, distrust and suspicion were still very much a part of Rayek's nature.  He could count on one hand the number of people he trusted; and this iridescent purple administrator was not one of them; but he was smart enough not to show that distrust readily.  Hell, even the Captain, seemed to feel the Facility Manager had ulterior motives.  The trick now was to find out what they wanted and prevent it, while gaining the knowledge of their shielding so Discovery could safely leave.

The Romulan glanced back towards the very un-humanoid looking species as (s)he/it welcomed them and mentioned that it was troubled by what they had learned.  Before he could prompt for what that last comment was referring to Ramort spoke up.

Normally, Rayek didn't appreciate having a junior officer taking over the conversation that by Starfleet protocol should be conducted by the ranking officer.  However, Ramort's placating and helpful demeanor provided distraction enough for Rayek to attempt to read the Facility Manager's thoughts.

Unethical though it might be considered by Federation standards; Rayek had his family on the ship, so he would do whatever it took to protect them - and everyone else!  While seemingly listening to the two conversing, Rayek cautiously cast his mind out towards the Lyssarian.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Ramort for that offer, and I am pleased to hear that at least some of your people are taking responsibility for their disruption to our Guest. Though I am quite aware that it was not you but rather your disgruntled colleague that was insulting to our Guest - and his host; though that last one is not an infraction."

Suddenly, the Lyssarian's eyes whirled and the glowing red specks of light turned to focus on Rayek almost in amusement.

"Your efforts to read my thoughts are futile, Commander."

Rayek grimaced to have been noticed and kept out so easily.

Wrrhssrw turned back to Ramort and continued their conversation.

"I am curious how territorial law is handled when Starfleet travels to new worlds - such as Erewhon."

Regulation 256.15: Starfleet officers shall display behavior befitting an officer at all times.

[Erewhon | Administrative Area | Facility Managers Office]

He froze in place. The features on his face almost loosing composure for a second.

Reading the Manager's thoughts?

Was the Commander able to read minds? How was that even possible. Of course, he was a Romulan. Romulans were relatives of Vulcans, a species capable of limited telepathy. But that was limited to physical contact, wasn't it. Vulcans needed to touch the subject of their mind melds to establish the link necessary to read out another person's mind. No contact had taken place here, he was sure of it.
If the Commander was able to read another being's mind like that, an unknown alien at that, was he able to read his mind too? Had he done so in the past? He was not sure if he would have been able to detect it like the manager had done.

The Borg had tried to pierce his mind. The Commander might have actually succeeded in that aspect, without anyone even noticing.

A feeling of incredible violation took hold in him. He would have to ask him later. Maybe check his file if there were any notes in it that could not have been obtained by a background check alone. See for himself.

None of that could be done now.

He looked over to the Commander. Both curiosity and horror in his eyes.

Hoping the moment didn't take too long, he focused back on the Manager, hoping to play over the moment like nothing happened.

"The Federation strives to pay the utmost respect to the customs and traditions of all cultures and civilisations we encounter. I am sure if you review our legal codes and jurisprudence you will find ample proof that we have a tradition of doing our best to adhere to these laws and that those that violate them can be subject to disciplinary action according to the martial rules of our Organisation.
If one of our ships enters the legal territory of another civilisation or if we find ourselves on the exclusive territory of another civilisation, we are to adhere to the local customs, as long as they do not violate some of our superseding commands. Like the order not to kill or harm any intelligent being or the laws against interfering with the development of any pre-warp society or against interference in the timeline. I hope you find these restrictions reasonable, as they could render harm to any spacefaring civilisation in the galaxy."

Pausing his monologue for a brief moment to give the alien manager a chance to process the information he provided and maybe pull up some documents from the Discoveries Database, he undoubtedly had access to.

"So in this case we find ourselves in: We will do our best to comply with whatever laws you have that govern the conduct between guests, as well as any law for due procedure and potential standing we might enjoy. I would ask just that you enlighten us about your legal code so we can take appropriate steps to comply.
I hope we will come to an appropriate understanding, and I am thankful for the dialogue we have opened here."

His words were not an exact match to the introductory courses for diplomatic negotiations, but they were at least honest, if a bit clad in the appropriate speech. He probably should take some advanced training in negation and diplomacy when he got back to the Federation. Usually these courses were only recommended for more senior officers but after this experience he would petition the Captain to have the whole Department take some extra lessons. Better to possess an extra skill one might never need than find oneself lacking in the very same skill if a need ever came up. And a need was up right now for sure.

Richard Litt

Verified and approved

[[Erewhon - Administrative Area]]

[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Lek listened and couldn't believe these Hyoomons were being so spineless! Where are their backbones? Something is drastically wrong when it's the Ferengi arguing to be aggressive.

"We need to be prepared to fight with blistering fury. I will not walk into a cell without fighting."

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Administrative Area]

Rayek was not keen to admit that when they first had been transported back up to the station, so intent was he on figuring out where they were and answering the Captain's call that he had neglected to even notice at first that the away team was no longer disguised.

That awareness came a minute later was he followed most of the team inside the Facility Manager's office.  It was only as he turned to beckon the recalcitrant Ferengi to join them that Rayek finally realized this fact.  It caught him off guard enough that he completely blanked on introducing himself or the others.  Thankfully, Ramort was on the ball and spoken up in his place.  The Romulan gave the man a slight appreciative nod to acknowledge his assistance.

Then Lek spoke.

Rayek felt the heat of embarrassment mottle his face a darker shade of green at the Ferengi's rather provoking statement.

Attempting to prevent an interspecies incident, Rayek interjected before the Facility Manager could take offense.

"Then perhaps it would be best if you remain in the waiting room Lieutenant Commander.  This is a PEACEFUL meeting,".  The Romulan stressed the word PEACEFUL as spoke,  "and I don't want any misunderstandings to jeopardize that peace."

The Romulan turned back to the alien figure 'seated' in front of them and offered a slight bow of apology.

For several moments there didn't seem to be any visible reaction to any of the statements spoken by Rayek, Lek or Ramort.    'In that form, was the Manager not able to comprehend Standard?', he wondered.

Then the multi tendril-limbed administrator spoke (if speaking was the correct term for making whistle-like vocalizations with its facial barbels in front of its 'nose' slits.).  Thankfully, the universal translator feature of the Away Team communicator was also transferred over to the flip phone.

"Welcome to Erewhon Station, Lieutenant Ramort.  I am Wrrhssrw,"   - the name came out sounding like a whistle - "the Facility Manager.  I have been reviewing the incident  in front of the Library and delving into the vast and various cultural histories of the Federation and comparing those to that of Lyssarian Law.  I find myself troubled by what I've seen, and learned."

[Erewhon | Administrative Area | Facility Managers Office]

The Ferengis outburst left Ramort shocked. He hoped it wouldn't sour the Facility Manager's opinion of their society and colleagues any more. They would be facing an uphill battle anyway. Complicating their position by having to explain the fine nuances and aspects of the various cultures that composited the Federation and Star Fleet.

"I have to apologise for my Colleague's outburst. We have been under a lot of stress from the uncertainty of the situation. I am glad you are taking the time to review our wealth of cultures, if you find any point in which I might provide further insights or information feel free to ask.
As in relation to the incident at hand: Unfortunately, we still are unclear about the specifics of Lyssarian Law. If through this we caused unnecessary distress, we would be delighted to apologise and learn from it to prevent it for the future."

Hoping to provide a friendly and helpful line of communication in outreach with the unknown alien, he tried to stay clear of broaching the most contentious points of the incident. If he could learn more about the laws the manager was applying, it might shed some light on what was waiting for them. He just hoped the situation could be resolved quickly and without further complications.

{USS Discovery-Planet|bridge}

"Aye, sir," she said. She rose, and headed for the armory, tapping her Comms as she did so. =/\=McNair, take over the Console, please. She clicked off, and then opened a second channel.

All security personnel, please report to the Armory. Another curt sign off. She waited a moment for them to arrive, and then armed herself, as well. She returned to the Bridge. "All security personnel are armed," she said, "and ready. If you need someone to go, I am prepared," she said, as well, hoping she wasn't too hopeful. She turned to Murphy. "Murphy, please be careful; the signals are already shaky," she said. She looked to the Captain. She felt the burns starting on her own body, but luckily, she had been through worse and could easily work with it.

"On your signal, I'll see if I can beam us out. Otherwise, we're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way."

[Petty Officer Zull]
[USS Discovery | Deck 4 | Section 19 | Weapons Storage]

PO Zull was standing guard outside the Primary Phaser Access Control when the Orders arrived. Following basic security protocols the entire team had been on alert anyway before and more personnel been posted in front of vital sections of the ship.
The Order for general mobilisation and to arm was just the next logical escalation as part of often rehearsed plans for emergencies.
She didn't know what caused the new emergency, but she didn't need to know either. If the Bridge had judged the situation an emergency, it had to be serious.

"Acknowledged, on route to the armory!"

Making sure her shift mate covered to not leave the station unguarded she began a quick sprint to the armory. Speed could be of the essence and she had to return to her station as soon as possible, and doing so while carrying not one but two standard issue phaser rifles.

Back at her station she waited for further orders. Not knowing what to prepare for made her nervous. There were numerous plans for what to prepare for. Some called for the preparation of a corridor defense, some for operation of the phaser controls manually, some for preparing to quickly reposition personell to prepare for a moving defense scenario. Now they were only awaiting the orders to set in motion the scenarios.

"Phaser Control to Bridge, Awaiting Orders for Setting up Security Measures." 

[[USS Discovery | Bridge]]

[USS Discovery | Bridge]

"Thank you, Lorut." Buck replied as he pulled the signals up to his own work station. It was a bit out of his league, and he could manage with rudimentary sciences that the Academy had taught him but he hoped that all the data lined up - or at the very least made sense.

Well.

That wasn't a good sign.

Lethal levels in thirty minutes and they were already cutting into precious time. Buck's jaw clenched as he tried to think his way out of this. "It's worth a shot, cap'n," Buck ruminated, glancing over at the captain with a look that said he would just about try any good idea at this point. He began to bring up the shield frequency, getting a lock on it as he studied it and the radiation data that they had so far. "Well here goes nothing." He pressed a couple of commands on his work station and held his breath, wondering whether the frequencies would match or they'd land in deeper trouble.

"Should be able to match in a few minutes, according to our data."

Ensign, I'm en route.

Buck looked over to the rest of the bridge team, excusing himself as he transported his way down to Deck 5.

[USS Discovery | Deck 5 - auxillary engineering]

No sooner had he arrived in the makeshift work station, he had been hailed by Lorut, asking for an update. "Standby Lorut, just got down to Deck 5," Buck brought out his PADD to see how his previous work was coming along. "In relation to the matching frequencies, it should be all matched. At least that's what my PADD is showing me, please advise if it is not the case."

With that out of the way, Buck turned to Kedan and raised a brow. "So, what do we have so far? What can we do with the time we've got?"

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

"The Waves are hitting us constantly. Their changing energy levels are preventing us from adapting quickly enough, resulting in enormous strain to the emitters. We are also reading intense stress levels in physical shielding. Almost as if the Energons hitting us are of quasi particular nature. I am working on a way to reflect them from the Hull. If we can catch them in the shield before they manage to polarize the hull we can prevent a lot of damage to our system."

Relieved to finally getting started he pulled up charts of the Energons hitting them. Their energy levels constantly climbing higher and higher on the charts into levels that should be impossible under their known framework of physics. Only to fall and then start climbing again. Repeating in seemingly random cycles and with frequencies changing between each pulse.
Their shields rising and adapting constantly only to be hit with a sharp fall off and being in the completely wrong frequency band again, letting critical amounts of radiation and particles hit their hull, penetrating deep into the ship. It also seemed like their shield grid was loosing more and more power as they orbited the star.

Scratching his head he thought for a second before suggesting:

"We have to separate this issue. We need to find a way to address the stark frequency shifts and somehow find a way to protect the grid against the draining effects of the Energons on the Emitters."

[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Lek listened to Ramort's exchange and the final piece of the puzzle dropped into place. While he said he wouldn't offer his opinion unless someone asked for it, but he couldn't hold this in. He turned to the human, figuring as long as he didn't talk to Rayek, he was keeping his word.

"I think I get their angle here. This is all a con. They invite you here, create an 'offense', then shake you down for 'fees or fines', It's an old scam, real old. Thing is, a contract is an agreement, we never agreed to anything since their rules were impossible for our eyes to see, so there couldn't be an agreement, so their scam is nothing but air. We are not subject to their rules and we are being detained extra-legally."

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

"I fear we are within their jurisdiction though and thus subject to their laws. Normally we should be able to expect them being interpreted in a way taking into account our missing familiarity with their legal norms, but it seems the do not extend such niceties to visitors like us."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]
Both scientists were listening intently to Ensign Kedan across the comm and at his request Rajagopalan sent a meaningful glance in T'Rea's direction and she gave a nod of acknowledgement, "T'Rea's checking it now," Rajagopalan promised even as he watched the percent certainty of subquantum pulses displayed on his screen tick passed the 95% threshold and turn green on his display. The corresponding improvement in statistics also enabled the automatic generation of a number of associated properties. "In the meantime, I'm sending some additional info on the subquantum pulses. Their resonant frequencies are inherently random, but I'm feeding you the histogram of observed of pulse durations, if it's useful in adjusting energy shield parameters."

[...]

Information relayed, she turned her attention back to her console to try and assess the ebb and flow of hyper-energons concentrations over time as Kedan had requested. She quickly decided it was in fact the ultra-low-frequency/long timescale intensity changes they were most interested in, and now that she knew what to look for, they had a several hours worth of data she could down-sample and fit. She'd use a starting guess of 0.5 mHz in the fitting script... but the thought was momentarily interrupted by a quiet chirp from the console---her analysis of the shuttle's full scan dataset of the station shielding frequencies had either completed or self-terminated in an error state. "Ensign Rajagopalan, can you check on the shuttle dataset analysis?"

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

"Thanks, I will integrate it into our models. I could also require some narrowed down scans of the particle bands. I have a suspicion that they might be hitting something. The Degradation on the Hull is simply too great."

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site >>> Administration Waiting Room]

The hologram paused for a moment during which time Rayek was certain that T'Sana contacted the Facility Manager.

His certainty was proved correct as a minute later T'Sana announced.  "The Facility Manager has agreed to meet with you and your group. Hold still for transport."

And with that as the only warning, the Away Team suddenly found themselves caught up in a transporter beam and materializing a moment later in a pristine white waiting room. Not unlike in design or appearance as the Erewhon station's arrival area.  Were they back on the station? In an administration area perhaps?

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon Station - Administration Waiting Room]

The doors at the far end of the waiting room had opened just moments before the Captain's voice was heard coming from Rayek's 'flip phone' communicator; muffled having been stuffed into his pants pocket.  Rayek quickly pulled the communicator out as the Captain spoke of the shields being on the verge of collapse.  He managed to open it and tap the privacy mode moments after the Captain mentioned bringing the Discovery in to dock.

Rayek listened to the rest privately, even as the rest of Away Team was being ushered into the room by T'Sana.  Rayek hung back to respond to the call.

Acknowledged, Captain. I believe we too are on the Erewhon station - about to meet with the Facility Manager, to discuss the legalities of the incident involving Commander Lek. I will report back to you with an update shortly. tr'Lhoell out."

He closed the phone and then followed the others into the Facility Manager's Office.

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Administrative Area]

The Transport had placed them in a brightly lit room, separated into multiple areas by semi-transparent walls.
Along the adjacent walls of the area, they were in right now, multiple chairs lined the walls. Their shapes were somewhat deformed to accommodate a different anatomy. Multiple holes hinted at a set of extremities much more numerous than the standard humanoid physique.

Besides themselves there were no other members of federation species present. Their own holo-disguises had also been deactivated, a hint that they had indeed left the areas of the complex that were meant to be frequented by guests. He suspected that to the eyes of their alien guests the walls bore signage or even art just beyond his spectrum of vision. So much lost, so much context missing.

Before his minds eye he drew up some plans for some glasses that integrated sensors for multispectral vision and would be able to project varying spectral bands onto their glasses, reminiscent to a now obsolete technology used to cure visual impairment, they could offer future cultural ambassadors a way to pick up all that now was lost to them.

"This room is too empty for my taste, where is everyone?"

While talking a door embedded into one of the semi-transparent panels opened. Prompting them to enter.

In the space behind, a large lifeform was occupying a similar chair to the ones in the other room. It was shimmering in purple hues as if its exterior was made up from a compound similar to chitin. Its bodyplan featured multiple tentacle like appendages. Its face, or what he assumed to be their face, taking biological projection bias into account, featured two large black eyes, almost glowing from within. The slow and measured movements performed by the appendages and the slight tilt of their head as the group entered suggested a high degree of self control and intelligence. Again, he reminded himself to not project his own biological bias upon an alien species.

"It is an honour to meet you. My name is Lieutenant Ramort from the United Federation of Planets and these are my superiors, Commander Lek and Commander trLhoell. Thank you for taking the time to meet us."

[[Erewhon - Transport Site]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Rayek waited expectantly for an answer to this question; while he waited, Ramort pressed the hologram more.

To this query and statement, T'Sana looked to Ramort.  "This is Lyssarian territory.  Your free citizenry to the Federation means little here, if you do not have the means to pay your fees or abide by our laws.  You would expect the same if we were in your territory."

.
[...]

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

Her refusal was... quite clear. They were not allowed to leave. And once again. Her choice of words was telling. Their rights were not respected here.

Of course, she was correct. They had entered foreign ground and now were subject to their laws. Between the established powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, there were treaties that dealt with the status of Diplomats. Extending traditions from earth and many other cultures, they offered special rights and protections to travelling diplomats and created what essentially were legal bubbles around them. Creating a special status shielding them from prosecution and prevented their holding.
As Officers of Star Fleet, they generally were authorized to handle First Contact Scenarios. Vital cornerstones of the diplomatic landscape of the galaxy. So they should have been protected by these treaties. But his culture didn't seem to respect these treaties. Since they had their database, they must have known about them. Still, they decided to not act according to them.

He had to find out if there even was a similar notion of diplomatic status here:

"Sorry, I meant no disrespect. If I might inquire, given we face a complexe legal situation here and we do not want to cause any further disturbances. Might I inquire about the legal status we currently find ourselves under?"

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

"Thanks T'Rea, I'll give it a try." Rajagopalan answered. He had used the last few minutes to prepare the full catalogue of known decay signatures for all known subatomic particles. As soon as he got the renewed feed of data through on the bridge console he began a check against the catalogue and watched as the computer spit out a list of probably matches and percent certainty of each match.

"Captain, I can confirm the presence of hyper-energons." It was at the top of the list with a 96% certainty. "This variety seem to carry energy between 4 to 8 electron volts. That's the right range for any number of molecular bonds in the hull material--tritanium bonds are right in the middle of that range, so it will be particularly vulnerable.

"Rajagoplan to Kedan. I'm sending the energy distribution of observered hyper-energons your way. I recommend you check the peaks against the bond dissociation energies of the most common hull materials. They'll be most vulnerable, if there's anything you can do to stabilize those bonds specifically."

Even as he was still speaking, his eyes were skimming through the rest of the list. The percent certainty value next to the second particle on the list had been climbing steadily and had now crossed over the 80% certainly threshold. High enough to report. He kept the comm channel open with Kedan so he would be able to hear the same report he announced to the bridge. "I also seem to be detecting subquantum pulses." He hadn't been able to seen them before--at least pushing the sensor frequency to it's limits had paid off! "I'm not sure if our energy shields can catch that kind of ultra-short time scale burst without modification." But he certainly wasn't an engineer (or a particle physicist for that matter). Instead, he forwarded all the spectral details he had for the pulses to Kedan, M'Nia, and McNair in addition to displaying it on one of the bridge's forward displays for anyone here to see.

When he glanced up to check that the information was displayed properly his eyes couldn't help but slide to the radiation exposure display nearby and he found himself nervously glancing between it, T'Rea on his right, and the Captain on his left---Their total received dose since arriving in this system was still a fair way below lethal, but it was creeping up into the range for radiation sickness now. And considering the rate at which they had accumulated the dose was also high, more sensitive members of the crew would likely start to display symptoms any minute, if it hadn't already begun. He swallowed heavily. Was he nauseous or was that just his mind playing tricks on him? How much of the remaining 30 minutes would they actually be able to use?

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

"Thank you, Ensign, we will get to work on this asap. Keep us advised if you find any more details. Every little bit might help. Any chance you could find any patterns in the waves of Energons hitting us?" 

The screen in front of him began showing lines upon lines of readings. Models showed dissolving atomic bonds. Splitting apart after being excited to such a high degree by the incoming particles and radiation that the previous rigid bonds that were the only separation between their feeble carbon bodies and the emptiness of space around them. Their time was really running out.

Seeing no other way he began the first simulations. He couldn't know what held up the others in his team but he needed to be able to present something to the captain at last.

[Crwmn. T'Rea]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]

T'Rea was listening intently to Rajagopalan's theory as she took a careful first sip of teris-masu to test it's temperature, but the alarm took her off guard (she had never heard it before) and a bit of the liquid spilled out of the tea bowl as she quickly set it down on the nearest bit of counter. "Something wrong with the comet investigation?" she guessed with a concerned glance in his direction, already on her feet and heading towards the door.
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 2]
M'ura had already started to pad a lap around the large machine in search of any signs of electrical failures or chemical excursion, and the rest of the team was making an effort to rouse themselves and find some useful actions to pursue.

It seemed the Caitian members of the department were among the fastest to react and recover from the shock, because T'lel was the next to respond to the Lieutenant's instructions, "I'll check on the sample, sir." She looped the strap of her tricorder around her neck and climbed up to the primary view port to scan the atmosphere inside to see if it was safe to open.

Sam had never witnessed anything quite like it. Far more accustomed to interacting with experiments only from the safety of their resulting datasets, the officer watched the rapid fire developments in something shocked silence before they spoke up, "I can take care of the data backups, no problem." They quickly moved forward with a storage chip towards the primary control computer.

As Sam worked, a voice came from the far side of the machine, "There's some burnt out circuity over here," M'ura called. He sniffed the air for the tell-tale sounds of scorched components to better pinpoint the location of the source before starting to work opening a panel near to the ground.

[Ensign Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]

"Yes, thats Lab 2. We are linked into their systems. And there I fought I could get one day of productive work in."

Taking only the time to shut down his Terminal, he rushed behind T'Rea to the door. If something was going on back there, they had to help, however possible.

"Lets see if they need us!"

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 2]

Pulling out the security pins and pushing red buttons all over the place he worked as fast as possible to bring the entire apparatus to a full stop.

Their collective efforts were soon rewarded when the Computers warning sounds began to die down. Being replaced by longer and longer log files pilling up in the storage they had originally reserved to chemical composition data on the material composition analysis. All screens showing various analysis of parts that had been damaged, either by the misdirected energies or by the unplanned shutdown of the assembly.

In his heads he could already see the tons of documents he would have to write to the Daystrom institute, explaining how he managed to break their newest crown jewel within seconds of taking it online.

"Thank you all for your quick reactions. Lets take a five minute break and get some coffee for everyone. I certainly need one now. We will reconvene afterwards to find out what went wrong."

[ALL]

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

Kedan had left the improvised Science Lab behind. With most of the Chaos having died down and all necessary emergency tools established, he felt confident he could focus on the immediate problems again.

With Engineering still being better equipped than them, he had transitioned to the auxiliary Engineering Space. As the Ship was in crisis, the Bay was a hornet nest of activity too. Engineers were running all over the place, attempting to hold together the most important systems.

Grabbing the attention of one of the Crewman running past him, he stopped him and asked:

"Is there a spare station I could use. Also, where is Lieutenant M'Nia? We need her help.""

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

"Sorry Sir, I haven't seen her in a while. I think she got called to another section of the Ship. I can't be sure however and even if, it would have been some time ago. She should have been back by now. We really need her down here. Until she returns, you can use the back-up stations at the far wall."

Nodding in appreciation to signal his thanks for the engineer taking his time to answer his questions, he went to one of the free stations indicated and began reconfiguring it. By standard, it was meant to mainly interface directly with the secondary systems and back up power reserves. He input instructions to change the link to tie into the power and shield systems instead, opening the science systems direct access to the Ships sensors and databanks in a secondary datastream.

Thus having his station prepared he called out for the rest of the Team.

"Kedan to M'Nia and McNair, I set up a work station for us in Auxiliary Engineering. Please report to Deck 5 for shield reconfiguration."

[USS Discovery|Bridge]

She'd been "calm and collected" long enough. Now, she was inching towards antsy, and soon would bridge into all out panic. She was doing her best, but she still wasn't fully "ok" in tense situations in which she had little to no control to help or do something. Frankly, sitting here, as a sitting duck, wasn't "doing something."

Vila silenced the alarm. She knew. They ALL knew.

"Initating observation protocols. Ens. Rajagopalan, how's that study going?" She asked, pressing some buttons. After a deep sigh, she stood up to stretch. Moving her body would help to calm her mind-at least for awhile.

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

"I am only getting back garbled data. The radiation is still interfering with the data. With the auxiliary sensors back online, I am able to run a comparative algorithm on the sensor's data to at least sort out the false positives. I am pushing sensor frequency to the max to get us the data we need."

Remembering he wasn't alone in his pursuit here called turned to the only other qualified scientist on the Bridge. Hoping to not overwhelm her with her tasks, but seeing no other option given the urgency for results he asked:

"T'Rea, if you have a hand free, can you help me managing the data flow?"

[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Lek couldn't have been more dumbfounded, he stared at Rayek with utter disbelief at what he had just been told. He choked back a hot retort, took a breath and then answered in a measured tone.

"Sir, returning to the ship is patently impossible. Their shields are only just barely holding back whatever this radiation is doing. It would be dangerous for the ship to drop their shields for a transport. It would also be dangerous for me personally to attempt to beam through this radiation as well.

"As I stated earlier, since we did not, could not, consent to their contract, no contract exists and therefore I am under no obligation to apologize, much less offer compensation to that woman. Thus I will do neither and since my input has no value, I will not offer anything further unless asked."

Lek then went silent, he would not speak again unless asked. In his mind, the matter was concluded, including what was left of the friendship he once had with Rayek. Lek supposed command and being married had sent Rayek down a different path that no longer included him. This made him think of Helga and how she had changed too.

"I guess being Borged does that to you. Well, that now means Rayek and Helga are no longer part of my life. I like to think I haven't changed, but it wouldn't surprise me that losing both of them ended up being my fault. I wish there was a Rule of Acquisition that fit this moment, but profit hasn't any room for relationships or love if you follow the true Ferengi way."

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Landing Site]

Ramort froze in place. What the Ferengi said there might be enough to cause a minor scandal if recorded for Star Fleet Command. It was a testament for the stress they were all subjected too.

He felt it too. The creeping feeling that something was deeply wrong.

The way the held humans and brainwashed them here. The way they frooze as if controlled. The smiles of the holograms. And all of that confined in a neat illusion. Walled in by a contract. A contract they provided only in a form they barely could decipher while they had full access to their database and must have known which spectrum humans perceived the world in.

Seeing the Commander moving out of the jamming zone he took some steps to follow him. Breaking up the group was a horrible idea in an enviroment that proved more and more that is was potentially hostile.

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Erewhon - Transport Site]

Rayek had never heard Ferengi being described as stubborn -  Clever, devious and greedy sure - but then Lek was certainly of a different breed.

The Romulan noticed how Lek hadn't countered his comments about the appropriateness of firing on or the station.  No, the engineer just focused on the impossibility for them to leave the planet.  Rayek had his own suspicions of that.

"Let's test that theory." he said aloud.

Rayek walked away from the Transport Site , heading towards the Cafe.  At the location that he knew the jammer was no longer effective, he called out.  "T'Sana, I have a question."

He got to the silently count of two before the hologram appeared around the corner and approached him.  "You had a question, Mr. tr'Lhoell?"

Rayek nodded affirmatively.  "Yes, I would like to know if it would be possible for you to safely transport one of my team up to your station or better yet onto my ship which should be docking with the station soon."

T'Sana smiled agreeably.  "It most certainly is possible, however until the Facility Manager gives their judgement on your situation, I'm unable to permit such a request. You and your team must continue to wait here."

Rayek frowned and pressed the conversation.  " A guest wishes to leave - are you saying you intend to hold them here against their will?"

The hologram hesitated as if uncertain how to respond based on conflicting programming.

Judgement. That sounded bad. Very bad. If it was merely a review of their spendings they should have called it a review. The Universal Translator usually worked quite well even in linguistically edge cases. So Judgement meant they were not merely looked after but tested against the law.

"On which grounds do you hold us here. We are free citizens requesting the right to exercise our freedom to return to our duties on our Ship."

[James Ramort]
[Erewhon | Transport Site]

The Tricorder informed Ramort it had decoded a new section of the Alien script. It featured lots of tables and enumerations sorted into parallel columns. Some symbols returned as not part of any regular coded script at all. They were adorned by additional numberings forming concentric rings, making for a highly inefficient system of holding whatever information was saved here.

Then the title finally snapped into place.

"Exchange Rates for approved Currencies"

So this was about the monetary system they used here.

Going on from that he could put some sense to the tables he had scanned through. They were exchange lists of quantities of either currencies or commodities. Most were unique names in languages from species the translator had no context for, so they returned as phonetic approximations that had to miss the mark somewhere undoubtedly. Going on from there it shed more light on the strange ringed symbols though. They had to be elemental notations with charged ions used to indicated interactions with fitting minerals. More effective in recording data than putting the whole molecular notation, especially given it was to service various langagues and scientific backgrounds. The only problem being: He lacked the reference data to determine the molecules reacting to these charges noted here.

When he heard the Commander calling out for the Ship he snapped out to the ongoing events again. It seemd like his mind had been trapped by numbers and tables for a second there. Kinda embarassing but probably one of the dangers he had to be more aware of as a Scientist. Getting distracted might be a danger to his Crewmates in more dangerous circumstances. But were their circumstances really without danger? He still didn't know enough to judge that correctly but what they had observed so far left him with a strange feeling.

Looking around he saw Lieutenant Lachlyn approaching a child while the device in Commander Leks hand looked like it was functional now.

Seeing as his progress with his data seemed to be hindered by his limited understanding of the Currencies presented in the TOS he asked around the Team, maybe one of them could sheed some light on what was

"I think I found something that might be monetary exchange rates, does any of you know what a Barien Tanar is?""

Getting no immediate response, he tried looking through the pages more. The Staff had told something about the Commanders Account being on hold. If these Terms held monetary exchange tables, they also had to have some info on account freezing. Setting up the Tricorder to continue scanning through the pages taking only a couple of button presses.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 5 | Auxiliary Engineering]

Kedan had left the improvised Science Lab behind. With most of the Chaos having died down and all necessary emergency tools established, he felt confident he could focus on the immediate problems again.

With Engineering still being better equipped than them, he had transitioned to the auxiliary Engineering Space. As the Ship was in crisis, the Bay was a hornet nest of activity too. Engineers were running all over the place, attempting to hold together the most important systems.

Grabbing the attention of one of the Crewman running past him, he stopped him and asked:

"Is there a spare station I could use. Also, where is Lieutenant M'Nia? We need her help.""

[Crwmn. M'ura]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 2]

As it turned out, it was M'ura's reflexes that were fastest (and perhaps the most well trained, as he was one of the most experienced in the room when it can to hands-on experimentation).

The Caitian crewman all but leapt forward to press the emergency stop button that Ensign Kedan had wired up just a short time ago. The sudden silence was loud.

There hadn't necessarily been any danger but such a feedback loop could do serious damage to the carefully set up chamber and computers---better avoided if at all possible. But even still... "Now what?" he asked

[Lt. Jg. James Ramort]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 2]

How did this go from perfect to a hairs width from exploding in his face so quickly. If not fur M'uras quick reaction worse might have happened.

Taking a quick breath, his mind went into analysis mode.

"Ensure everything is shut down. I want a full analysis of what went wrong. Someone ensure we didn't just convert our sample into toxic fumes. I also want the sensor data backed up. If there is something in there we will get to it."

Getting to work himself closed some quick valves to the chemical tanks to prevent any potential leakage. The last thing he wanted to do know was to explain to Ops how he managed to get acid stains into the flooring and why they had to remove and replace the panels.

[Crwmn. T'Rea]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]
"Archean is a curious finding, certainly. I pondered how it might have been inadvertently brought to Rhea--it seems unlikely that it could have developed naturally from the other building blocks and implanted organisms already known to be present," she mused aloud as she continued preparing nutrient solutions.

His offer for a drink took her slightly off guard--Vulcans tended to be slightly more pedantic about food and drink in research areas than she had observed amongst Starfleet personnel in her short time in service. But given the nature of the work they were engaged in, there was no reason to abstain. "If the replicator here is capable of making theris-masu, it would be pleasant to have a cup," she requested her preferred variety of Vulcan tea, only lightly spiced. Perhaps, if she was particularly fortunate, the act of consuming it might even help her feel capable of a proper rest period.

[Ensign Vinod Rajagopalan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 1]

"I am sure it is saved somewhere in the library. And if it is saved it most likely can be replicated."

Turning to the computer he ordered the exotic drink he never heard about.

"One serving of teris-masu please", taking the cup out of the replication bay and carefully carrying it over to the Crewman he sat down at his station again.

"I believe they attached themselves to the exterior hulls of some probes that sat down. They could have survived the harsh environment in space without much issue. Some might have even used the spare exhaust residue from the manoeuvring thrusters to jumpstart their.."

He was interrupted mid-sentence by the Lab's System blaring out with an alarm. All three main lab's systems were linked to ensure equal access to data and processing power. This also had a security aspect, though. In case something went wrong in one of them, all other Labs would also get notified to rush to their aid.

[[USS Discovery-B - Deck 6 - Officer's Mess]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
and NPC Fvienn tr'Lhoell

[USS Discovery-B - Deck 6 - Officer's Mess]

Rayek eyed his sniffling son, as Fvienn tried not to cry, and was impressed with the young boy's control this evening.  He was about to insist that Fvienn make his choice verbally, when Ramort and then Lorut spoke up with suggestions.

Fvienn, for his part, would like to hear stories but he doubted his eneh would allow it unless he gave up on his wanting fries.  But the idea of combining his fries with one of the meal choices seemed like it might satisfy his Dad.  The young Romulan hybrid looked to his frowning father and tentatively put forward his choice.  "Chicken, veggies and fwries?"

There was a pause while Rayek considered Fvienn's choice.  It wasn't exactly as he'd offered but it met the needs of a healthy.  He nodded. "That will do. I'll be right back."

As his father accepted his selection, Fvienn beamed happily.  He looked to the Bajoran woman and inclined his head in imitation of his father when acknowledging a good deed.  "Tank you for help."

He then turned to the man seated beside and asked. "Can I get story now? I eat.  I pomise"

[USS Discovery | Deck 6 | Officers Mess]

Sure he would. He never simply would receive his story now, eat his fries then and decide to be finished then.

He didn't interact with children all that much but even to Ramort this ruse was easy to see through. It called back to some classes he had taken on negotiation with alien species. If intend was not established with an unknown party, assume the shortest way to reward will be taken.

The shortest way here was to get the story early. The reward was the fries. The long ardous path lead through other dishes and having to wait for the story.

Then again it was not his position to meddle with the Commanders efforts to raise his child and his own projections of alien diplomacy lessons onto a childs psychology probably leaded subpar insights. But he knew, if he refused the request outright, Fvienn might shut down this line of thought and entrench in the idea of getting a story early. Maybe not wanting to eat at all until he'd receive it.

There also was still an issue with picking a story, he didn't knew what the story he would like or which once his father would appreciate they telling him.

He needed to offer a compromise and that quickly.

"How about this: You choose the story you want to hear, then eat your food and once you are finished the story you picked yourself, we will tell you?"

Not seeing the flaws in his proposal Ramort was quite happy with his effort. At least it should buy them some time without distracting the kid too much from the food.

Does this feature no longer work?

It still does work, you need to put

Code Select Expand

[member=number]text[/member]

to get it to work.

The number used is the profile number, you can find that as the one in the address when looking up a member's profile.

Deputy Chief Science Officers Log - Stardate : 79374.4

The Stack has grown again. I think I will have to move the report hand in format to only accept direct submissions through the Computer soon. Looking back at how Commander Garrison organised everything, I can only stand to admire the effort that goes into keeping the labs running.

Between all the admin work, the reviews and the reports I have to write myself for the Captain, I find myself looking forward to this next project.

A couple of hours ago, we pulled something from space. An asteroid it seemed, it reflected most of our scans and even sent back mixed up signals on some frequencies.
After petitioning the captain, I got permission to have it pulled into a storage bay. When the team had a look at the data our primary sensors pulled on this thing, they got pretty excited, and I wanted to test out the new prototype we got anyway.

I had to call quite a few people and ask for some favours as well as write some serious security projections before the Daystrom Institute approved M'uras request to release the Blueprints to Discovery for a Field Test.
Supposedly it can handle many experimental steps as well as data aggregation autonomously, which would be a great help. I have to admit, it would also be nice to be the first team to assemble and operate it successfully.

Furthermore, I got quite a lot of requests from people from other duty shifts to either swap shifts or be assigned for additional hours to partake in the examination of the Asteroid. I tried to grant as many as possible, let's see if more will make their way to me before the day ends.

Overall, I feel the workload on my desk increasing. It is not unwelcome, as it gives me something to do and distracts me from the occasional flashback. Frontier day has been Months by now, but I fear the images will never fully leave me. The Counsellors say it will fade with time. For now I will focus on what I can control. My work and doing the best job I possibly can.

"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?"