Season 17: Episode 1: Step Into My Parlor

[T'Rea]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 - Bridge]

Ops to Tereshkova, anyone able to confirm if there is a running console panel detected on board the Momentary?

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Airlock]

When they had all made it onto the Momentary, T'Rea immediately had her tricorder open and scanning, but when it only showed what she expected from completely powerless ship she turned to M'Nia and Dupont, "Ops asked if we could detector a running console panel on board here anywhere. I'm not getting anything, but---maybe either of you have a better idea on how or what to check?" If her time at Starfleet's Technical Service Academy on Mars had taught her only one thing, it was not to assume that she knew as much as a specialist, especially an engineer.

[James Ramort]

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Outer Airlock]

The total absence of any kind of activity was disturbing. All the system that should have taken care of their docking and syncing their computers to the ships main computer were offline. The control pads were dark, doors only opened by emergency measures. His instruments were hinting at a very low atmospheric pressure, indicative of the failure of life support.

His team was moving into the dead ship perfectly he noticed. Keeping themselves covered. Taking first readings while maintaining watch for any potential dangers. But they would not be able to cover much ground if they stayed in this configuration for long.

Responding to Lt. Loruts proposal, he issued new orders:
"We will split up. Lieutenant Soreka, Officer T'Rea, you will make your way towards the nearest hull fracture to retrieve a sample of the webbing we detected. Make sure your boots stay magnetised the entire time and establish a secondary com link with Discovery. As soon as you have a sufficient sample you will rejoin us.
Lieutenants Lorut, M'Nia and Ensign Dupont, please head to main engineering and try to see if you can get us back some power and functioning emergency force fields and life support back online.
Lieutenant Michael, we will try to move to the bridge and recover any data about what happened here and to the crew.

For you all, please keep scanning for lifesigns. If you pick up any traces of the crew you are to evacuate them to Discovery. This takes priority over exploration and restoration efforts."

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Corridors]

Splitting up the team left a bad feeling in his stomache. Separated they were more vulnerable, injury risked more permanent harm. The statistics weren't lying in that regard. But lifes were still unaccounted for. Many Crewmember of the Momentary missing. An entire starship drifting in space. Some risks had to be taken to reveal the origins of this mystery.

Dim lights were only cast by their headlights, cutting through darkness, reflecting from the polished panels lining the walls. Ever so often a dead computer screen broke up the pattern. No letters displayed on their surfaces.

Deeper into the corridors, the traces of fire were lost but the bad feeling was not going away.

[Kalem Michael]

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Outer Airlock]

"We will split up. Lieutenant Soreka and Officer T'Rea, you will make your way toward the nearest hull fracture to retrieve a sample of the webbing we detected. Ensure your boots stay magnetized the entire time, and establish a secondary communication link with Discovery. As soon as you have a sufficient sample, you will rejoin us.
Lieutenants Lorut, M'Nia, and Ensign Dupont, please head to main engineering and try to see if you can get us some power and functioning emergency force fields and life support back online.
Lieutenant Michael, we will try to move to the Bridge and recover any data about what happened here and to the crew.

For you all, please keep scanning for life signs. If you pick up any traces of the crew, you are to evacuate them to Discovery. This takes priority over exploration and restoration efforts."

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Corridors]

Kalem stepped in front of the Commander in a defensive stance as they headed toward the Bridge.

"This is the best time that I'm going to be able to do this while not in front of the others."

Kalem opened a private com line with the Commander and made sure all his other com lines were muted.

"Commander, there is something that is bugging me. It is not anything I think you are doing intentionally. My name... Sir. According to Bajoran customs, calling me Lieutenant Michael is improper. While it is my name, other Bajorans will see it as too familiar. Much like the Japanese on Earth, it is Lieutenant Kalem. I would appreciate it if you would address me as such..... Sir."

Kalem continually scanned around while he talked. When he finished, he froze in place. Death was not a new sight for him, but not in this way. The body of a Lieutenant floated in the corridor in front of him. It was frozen and weightless because the ship had no power, but something was off. The body was desiccated.  Kalem pulled out his tricorder and ran a scan on the body.

"Sir, it looks like this body was drained of all fluids and other matter besides skin and bone. It's not due to the decompression, as there would at least be trace amounts. Sir, there is nothing left in it. I'm relaying this to the other teams as well as Discovery for comparison and analysis."

Kalem pushed several buttons on his Tricorder, dropped his scan results onto the main channel's data feed, and then unmuted the channel.

"This is Kalem. I have a body found in the corridor on the way to the bridge. It looks desiccated. I'm dropping a scan onto the main channel data feed."

[M'Nia]

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Outer Airlock]

The total absence of any kind of activity was disturbing. All the system that should have taken care of their docking and syncing their computers to the ships main computer were offline. The control pads were dark, doors only opened by emergency measures. His instruments were hinting at a very low atmospheric pressure, indicative of the failure of life support.

His team was moving into the dead ship perfectly he noticed. Keeping themselves covered. Taking first readings while maintaining watch for any potential dangers. But they would not be able to cover much ground if they stayed in this configuration for long.

Responding to Lt. Loruts proposal, he issued new orders:
"We will split up. Lieutenant Soreka, Officer T'Rea, you will make your way towards the nearest hull fracture to retrieve a sample of the webbing we detected. Make sure your boots stay magnetised the entire time and establish a secondary com link with Discovery. As soon as you have a sufficient sample you will rejoin us.
Lieutenants Lorut, M'Nia and Ensign Dupont, please head to main engineering and try to see if you can get us back some power and functioning emergency force fields and life support back online.

"Commander, if it can be done, I'll do it! C'mon you two. Lets see what can be done in engineering. I'd like to get her functional again!" M'nia said. Her tail was twitching in anticipation. Granted she was in an environmental suit but it was twitching nonetheless. Engineering was her specialty after all.

[TrikNarChRehllan]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

  "In the future, I would like it if you went through the chain of command. Otherwise, I will take your suggestions under advisement. Bridge out." 

[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 3]

He clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, he reminded himself. And in a crisis, waiting on proper procedure could mean the difference between action and stagnation.

A few minutes later, as Lt. Hayes was regaining control over the chaos of competing theories from the scientists in the lab, a new data feed came through. It was from the away team aboard the Momentary.

[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Corridors]

"This is Kalem. I have a body found in the corridor on the way to the bridge. It looks desiccated. I'm dropping a scan onto the main channel data feed."

Trix stared at the report. His fingers hovered above his console, his antennae angled forward. The body was not only desiccated— it was completely drained. The first question that came to mind was when the draining had occurred. Exposure to hard vacuum would, over time, cause all bodily fluids to boil away, but the process wasn't instantaneous, or pretty. A body would swell first, then slowly shrivel as moisture was lost. And yet, this corpse also appeared to be frozen. That didn't track either. Freezing required liquid to turn solid, but in a vacuum, any exposed liquid would boil away before it had a chance to freeze. Without an external force actively cooling it, the process simply wouldn't happen. Space itself was a terrible conductor for heat after all; bodies didn't just freeze quickly in vaccuum unless something actively cooled them first. No, this could not have been exposure to vacuum alone. But a pralytic agent might appear from the outside to leave a victim frozen.

His mind conjured an image unbidden—spiders. The thought made his stomach churn. Spiders didn't simply eat their prey; they liquefied them internally first, injecting digestive enzymes before sucking out the dissolved tissue like a smoothie from hell, leaving behind only an empty husk. It would explain why only the bones remained... And that organic net wrapped around the Momentary... Space Spiders—it was a ridiculous thought, but so were the Borg. So were the Changelings. Starfleet had encountered seemingly absurd threats before, only to find them horrifyingly real. He hated the idea that this could be another one. His skin crawled at the implication.

Trix's eyes flicked up to the ceiling. A completely irrational but deeply ingrained instinct had him half-expecting something to drop onto his head. His only consolation was that the cocktail of pharmaceuticals keeping him functional would make him an unappetizing meal—whoever, or whatever, tried to eat him would likely end up with a severe case of poisoning. He let out a slow breath, shaking it off before making his way to Ensign Rajagopalan, Discovery's resident xenobiologist. He needed a second opinion before he let his imagination run away with him.

"Vinod, tell me I'm losing it," Trix muttered as he approached the ensign's station. "I'm looking at the data we have, and all I can think about is spiders. An organic net, a corpse with no visible trauma, yet all liquid and soft tissue removed."

Rajagopalan frowned, bringing up the data on his own console. "I see what you're getting at. Possibly liquefied and extracted organic matter, bones left behind, skin intact... It's weird, but I can't think of a natural process that does this. Especially not in vacuum. Decompression wouldn't be this... clean. And the freezing—space doesn't work like that. Something did this."

Trix sighed. "Great. So I'm not crazy. The process was most likely bio-chemical, since a mechanical vector would have destroyed the bones in the process. And it must have happened before decompression; the conditions under hard vacuum exposure would be too adverse for all the necessary chemical reactions to occur smoothly." He purposefully left out the part that the victim was most likely fully conscious when it happened—at least at the outset.

"Not for this, at least," Rajagopalan quipped. He leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "But it doesn't mean we're dealing with space spiders, Trix. Could be something else entirely. Some kind of unknown microbial process? A weapon?" He shook his head.

"We need medical input." Trix resolved.

As if on cue, Lt. Hayes, having overheard their exchange of ideas despite the conversational tone, turned from her own station. "I'm calling Dr. Grippen. Medical might have some insight on what could leave a corpse in this state. And..." she hesitated, glancing at Trix's screen, "mentioning that the pattern resembles that of predatory arachnids might not be entirely unwarranted." She tried to maintain a calm exterior, but Trix could tell that the situation was getting to her just as much.

"Hayes to Dr. Grippen, can you take a look at the update from the away team regarding the condition of a body found aboard the Momentary? Given the unusual nature of the preservation and the lack of traces usually associated with vacuum exposure, we need your medical expertise. Does this resemble any known biochemical processes or weapons? Additionally... there is a pattern to this whole situation that is oddly similar to predatory arachnids. I'd like your thoughts on that as well."

Trix exhaled, not sure whether he should be relieved by others taking his observation seriously or terrified that validation implied. If he was right, then whatever had drained that Lieutenant might still be out there—or even in here.

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Momentary|Corridor-Engineering}

Lorut was still scanning, but was calmer than she often was on away missions. The medications she was on and her counseling sessions were finally starting to help, and she was much less anxious and angry than she had been previously. Of course, it wasn't perfect-probably never would be-but it was better. At least she wasn't yelling at people and shooting at things.

Lieutenants Lorut, M'Nia and Ensign Dupont, please head to main engineering and try to see if you can get us back some power and functioning emergency force fields and life support back online.
Lieutenant Michael, we will try to move to the bridge and recover any data about what happened here and to the crew.

"Yes, sir," she said. She followed M'Nia and Dupont to a stairwell, and down to Engineering. She let them do the engineering parts while she tried to get the computers up. "I'll be here, trying to get this going, and the systems online," she said. "Let me know if you need any help and I'll do my best." One thing that Vila knew was that her abilities had limits-she wasn't an Engineer and she had no idea how to fix things... but she could help out. 

[Lucien Dupont]

[U.S.S. Momentary | Deck 8 | Main Corridor]

It was tense as the party entered the corridor - Lucien studied the walls as his hand trembled holding the phaser. There was scoring on the walls that suggested a fire had ripped through, but the pattern seemed to suggest the fire was extinguished by the vacuum of space as opposed to the fire suppression systems of the Momentary

Lucien was snapped out of his deep pondering as the Commander gave the order to go down to Main Engineering. Lucien pulled out his PADD and frowned - it was a long way to the secondary hull, but orders were orders...and he had a feeling that him and the Lieutenant would be able to figure out what's wrong.

"Commander, if it can be done, I'll do it! C'mon you two. Lets see what can be done in engineering. I'd like to get her functional again!" M'nia said. Her tail was twitching in anticipation. Granted she was in an environmental suit but it was twitching nonetheless. Engineering was her specialty after all.

Lucien's mood improved immediately at the enthusiasm M'Nia showed. Joining Engineering was about solving problems, and what bigger puzzle could there be to solve than a starship without power?

"As Lieutenant M'Nia says, sir, we'll have it fixed as fast as we can. I don't think there is a problem that we cannot solve if we put our heads together." Lucien says excitedly as he becomes swept up in the enthusiasm. Holstering his phaser, Lucien picked up his kit as they began the trek down the stairwell towards the the nearby Jefferies Tube access.

{USS Momentary|Corridor-Engineering}

"Yes, sir," she said. She followed M'Nia and Dupont to a stairwell, and down to Engineering. She let them do the engineering parts while she tried to get the computers up. "I'll be here, trying to get this going, and the systems online," she said. "Let me know if you need any help and I'll do my best." One thing that Vila knew was that her abilities had limits-she wasn't an Engineer and she had no idea how to fix things... but she could help out.

Lucien gave a nod to the Lieutenant - he hated dealing with computer systems anyway, giving a quiet sigh of relief that an expert was with them.

[U.S.S. Momentary | Deck 20 | Engineering Corridor]

Junction after junction, corridor after corridor. In normal operations, it should only take about twenty minutes to rush down to Main Engineering. However, without power the party had to force open every single access hatch by hand, which slowed down movement considerably. They'd managed to only make it to just under half that in the same amount of time.

Each walk through through a corridor to the next junction felt eerie, as the dead computer screens reflected their flashlights like creepy mirrors. Every conduit they opened up was completely dead - isolinear spanners seemed to not react at all, while tricorder readings simply saw clumps of metal.

Lucien grunted in frustration as he forced open his way into the next ladder that lead down to deck 21.

"Lieutenant, what's your plan for refiring the ship's power? I don't understand how even the ship's battery backups seem to be completely inoperable. Surely the Momentary hasn't been adrift for that long?" Lucien looks at both of ladies with him, unable to continue his line of thinking - it just felt completely absurd to everything he knew about starships.

[T'Rea]

His eyes went to Ensign Kedan on the science control panel, the ensign looked alarmed. This was the moment where Buck knew that he needed to put his own game face on and put aside his own doubts less the whole crew began breaking out in hysterics. Buck ran a couple of system scans, ensuring that the hardware wasn't at fault nor the software and it left them with accurate readings. The self-calibration, he could see the results coming back as green. Buck raised a brow as he ran a full system scan of the system; the screen blipping ever so gently. "Working on a full, deeper system scan and download of all files at the moment to corroborate what Ensign Kedan is seeing," He watched as the progress bar ticked up and up. There was a chance that they could have been infiltrated however, that would certainly be quite a feat to do it right under their noses. "Verbalise your thoughts, ensign. Seems pretty advanced if they were able to do remote system interference right under our noses without the system picking it up."

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Verbalize his thoughts. Right. He found himself surprisingly grateful to the older officer stationed at the Ops station besides his own—his tone was cool, calm, collected and the question helped Kedan drive away the faint tendrils of panic that had threatened to distract him, "I—I don't know. I didn't have time to fully think it through, really," he was forced to admitted with a glance up from the science console in Buck's direction, "But Commander Ramort convinced Ensign T'lel and I to watch this old Earth heist movie with him last week when we were off duty and—of course the tech was ancient, but the thieves hacked the security cameras, replaced the feed. But their first attempt failed, because one of the guards noticed how the screen went black for a few moments before the replaced feed started. Null values on all sensors kind of feels like a modern equivalent of that... Can you see any evidence of something like that?" The Benzite suddenly because aware that he was very much treading the edge of mere speculation (or even worse, gossip on the bridge—and during an emergency no less—and quickly decided not to say more on the topic for now.

Taking a measured breath to steady his nerves, Nevir turned to his bridge crew. The ambient hum of the ship's systems underscored the gravity of the situation.

"We will not be going to yellow alert yet," he announced, his tone even but imbued with unspoken determination, "but keep us at the lowest alert level to act. Prepare the Class IV probe as suggested and launch when ready. I will trust that Commander Ramort has a good idea of what we should be looking for on the Momentary."

His words hung in the air as the crew set about their tasks with practiced precision. Every command was a calculated step toward unraveling the mystery against the unknown.

Kedan gave a wince of empathy when Trix was chastised—every captain was different, and he still remembered when he himself had been brand new to the ship and trying to figure out what kind of input was/wasn't welcome when on the Discovery. But he didn't have time to dwell on the thought for long before Captain Tekin was issuing orders.

"Ops, the class IV probe loaded in port S3-A was included in the sensor system calibration and diagnostic, so I recommend using that one, sir."

"We will split up. Lieutenant Soreka, Officer T'Rea, you will make your way towards the nearest hull fracture to retrieve a sample of the webbing we detected. Make sure your boots stay magnetised the entire time and establish a secondary com link with Discovery. As soon as you have a sufficient sample you will rejoin us.

Lieutenants Lorut, M'Nia and Ensign Dupont, please head to main engineering and try to see if you can get us back some power and functioning emergency force fields and life support back online.

Lieutenant Michael, we will try to move to the bridge and recover any data about what happened here and to the crew.

For you all, please keep scanning for lifesigns. If you pick up any traces of the crew you are to evacuate them to Discovery. This takes priority over exploration and restoration efforts."

[Petty Officer (3rd class) V'letr S't'kal T'Rea]
[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Airlock]

"Yes, sir," T'Rea acknowledged the commander's orders along with the rest of the away team before turning to Lt. Soreka. She may not be interested in using her own phase, but she had to admit that she found something about the confidence with which he carried his weapon, and indeed himself, reassuring. T'Rea took a moment to orient herself and work out which direction the nearest hull fracture was from their current location. "The good news is that the hull rupture intersects this deck so we won't have to worry about moving up or down like the others," she told the security officer after consulting her tricorder, currently loaded with the Discovery's last structural integrity scans of the Momentary. "If we make our way around towards the port side of the ship and stick to the corridors towards the outer edge of the saucer, we're bound to come across it. Ready to head out?"

The clanging of her own magnetized boots against the floor tiles of the corridor was disconcerting for someone like T'Rea, accustomed to moving quite easily and smoothly about the Discovery, but she tried not to focus on it and instead kept her tricorder at the ready and scanning as they began the slow journey towards the hull breach.

[M'Nia]

[U.S.S. Momentary | Deck 8 | Main Corridor]

Lucien gave a nod to the Lieutenant - he hated dealing with computer systems anyway, giving a quiet sigh of relief that an expert was with them.

[U.S.S. Momentary | Deck 20 | Engineering Corridor]

Junction after junction, corridor after corridor. In normal operations, it should only take about twenty minutes to rush down to Main Engineering. However, without power the party had to force open every single access hatch by hand, which slowed down movement considerably. They'd managed to only make it to just under half that in the same amount of time.

Each walk through through a corridor to the next junction felt eerie, as the dead computer screens reflected their flashlights like creepy mirrors. Every conduit they opened up was completely dead - isolinear spanners seemed to not react at all, while tricorder readings simply saw clumps of metal.

Lucien grunted in frustration as he forced open his way into the next ladder that lead down to deck 21.

"Lieutenant, what's your plan for refiring the ship's power? I don't understand how even the ship's battery backups seem to be completely inoperable. Surely the Momentary hasn't been adrift for that long?" Lucien looks at both of ladies with him, unable to continue his line of thinking - it just felt completely absurd to everything he knew about starships.

M'nia gave the ok for lorut to check the computer systems. She understood that engineering wasn't loruts forte by any means. As they journeyed on to the engineering section proper, M'nia answered lucians question. "Trial and error. We do our best to figure out why things aren't working. Start with the obvious and see if everything is hooked up, all the circuits intact, etc. If all is in order there, well, after all the obvious stuff is checked and hooked up, we have to start thinking outside the box."

[Tekin Nevir]

[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 3]

He clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, he reminded himself. And in a crisis, waiting on proper procedure could mean the difference between action and stagnation.

A few minutes later, as Lt. Hayes was regaining control over the chaos of competing theories from the scientists in the lab, a new data feed came through. It was from the away team aboard the Momentary.

Trix stared at the report. His fingers hovered above his console, his antennae angled forward. The body was not only desiccated— it was completely drained. The first question that came to mind was when the draining had occurred. Exposure to hard vacuum would, over time, cause all bodily fluids to boil away, but the process wasn't instantaneous, or pretty. A body would swell first, then slowly shrivel as moisture was lost. And yet, this corpse also appeared to be frozen. That didn't track either. Freezing required liquid to turn solid, but in a vacuum, any exposed liquid would boil away before it had a chance to freeze. Without an external force actively cooling it, the process simply wouldn't happen. Space itself was a terrible conductor for heat after all; bodies didn't just freeze quickly in vaccuum unless something actively cooled them first. No, this could not have been exposure to vacuum alone. But a pralytic agent might appear from the outside to leave a victim frozen.

His mind conjured an image unbidden—spiders. The thought made his stomach churn. Spiders didn't simply eat their prey; they liquefied them internally first, injecting digestive enzymes before sucking out the dissolved tissue like a smoothie from hell, leaving behind only an empty husk. It would explain why only the bones remained... And that organic net wrapped around the Momentary... Space Spiders—it was a ridiculous thought, but so were the Borg. So were the Changelings. Starfleet had encountered seemingly absurd threats before, only to find them horrifyingly real. He hated the idea that this could be another one. His skin crawled at the implication.

Trix's eyes flicked up to the ceiling. A completely irrational but deeply ingrained instinct had him half-expecting something to drop onto his head. His only consolation was that the cocktail of pharmaceuticals keeping him functional would make him an unappetizing meal—whoever, or whatever, tried to eat him would likely end up with a severe case of poisoning. He let out a slow breath, shaking it off before making his way to Ensign Rajagopalan, Discovery's resident xenobiologist. He needed a second opinion before he let his imagination run away with him.

"Vinod, tell me I'm losing it," Trix muttered as he approached the ensign's station. "I'm looking at the data we have, and all I can think about is spiders. An organic net, a corpse with no visible trauma, yet all liquid and soft tissue removed."

Rajagopalan frowned, bringing up the data on his own console. "I see what you're getting at. Possibly liquefied and extracted organic matter, bones left behind, skin intact... It's weird, but I can't think of a natural process that does this. Especially not in vacuum. Decompression wouldn't be this... clean. And the freezing—space doesn't work like that. Something did this."

Trix sighed. "Great. So I'm not crazy. The process was most likely bio-chemical, since a mechanical vector would have destroyed the bones in the process. And it must have happened before decompression; the conditions under hard vacuum exposure would be too adverse for all the necessary chemical reactions to occur smoothly." He purposefully left out the part that the victim was most likely fully conscious when it happened—at least at the outset.

"Not for this, at least," Rajagopalan quipped. He leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "But it doesn't mean we're dealing with space spiders, Trix. Could be something else entirely. Some kind of unknown microbial process? A weapon?" He shook his head.

"We need medical input." Trix resolved.

As if on cue, Lt. Hayes, having overheard their exchange of ideas despite the conversational tone, turned from her own station. "I'm calling Dr. Grippen. Medical might have some insight on what could leave a corpse in this state. And..." she hesitated, glancing at Trix's screen, "mentioning that the pattern resembles that of predatory arachnids might not be entirely unwarranted." She tried to maintain a calm exterior, but Trix could tell that the situation was getting to her just as much.

"Hayes to Dr. Grippen, can you take a look at the update from the away team regarding the condition of a body found aboard the Momentary? Given the unusual nature of the preservation and the lack of traces usually associated with vacuum exposure, we need your medical expertise. Does this resemble any known biochemical processes or weapons? Additionally... there is a pattern to this whole situation that is oddly similar to predatory arachnids. I'd like your thoughts on that as well."

Trix exhaled, not sure whether he should be relieved by others taking his observation seriously or terrified that validation implied. If he was right, then whatever had drained that Lieutenant might still be out there—or even in here.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Verbalize his thoughts. Right. He found himself surprisingly grateful to the older officer stationed at the Ops station besides his own—his tone was cool, calm, collected and the question helped Kedan drive away the faint tendrils of panic that had threatened to distract him, "I—I don't know. I didn't have time to fully think it through, really," he was forced to admitted with a glance up from the science console in Buck's direction, "But Commander Ramort convinced Ensign T'lel and I to watch this old Earth heist movie with him last week when we were off duty and—of course the tech was ancient, but the thieves hacked the security cameras, replaced the feed. But their first attempt failed, because one of the guards noticed how the screen went black for a few moments before the replaced feed started. Null values on all sensors kind of feels like a modern equivalent of that... Can you see any evidence of something like that?" The Benzite suddenly because aware that he was very much treading the edge of mere speculation (or even worse, gossip on the bridge—and during an emergency no less—and quickly decided not to say more on the topic for now.

Kedan gave a wince of empathy when Trix was chastised—every captain was different, and he still remembered when he himself had been brand new to the ship and trying to figure out what kind of input was/wasn't welcome when on the Discovery. But he didn't have time to dwell on the thought for long before Captain Tekin was issuing orders.

"Ops, the class IV probe loaded in port S3-A was included in the sensor system calibration and diagnostic, so I recommend using that one, sir."

[Petty Officer (3rd class) V'letr S't'kal T'Rea]
[USS Momentary | Deck 8 | Airlock]

"Yes, sir," T'Rea acknowledged the commander's orders along with the rest of the away team before turning to Lt. Soreka. She may not be interested in using her own phase, but she had to admit that she found something about the confidence with which he carried his weapon, and indeed himself, reassuring. T'Rea took a moment to orient herself and work out which direction the nearest hull fracture was from their current location. "The good news is that the hull rupture intersects this deck so we won't have to worry about moving up or down like the others," she told the security officer after consulting her tricorder, currently loaded with the Discovery's last structural integrity scans of the Momentary. "If we make our way around towards the port side of the ship and stick to the corridors towards the outer edge of the saucer, we're bound to come across it. Ready to head out?"

The clanging of her own magnetized boots against the floor tiles of the corridor was disconcerting for someone like T'Rea, accustomed to moving quite easily and smoothly about the Discovery, but she tried not to focus on it and instead kept her tricorder at the ready and scanning as they began the slow journey towards the hull breach.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain stood firm, the bridge seemed tense, with just Kedan and McNair speaking.  The most recent report from the away team had come in; a completely desiccated corpse of a crewman. Corpse, completely drained, just like the ship's power.  In addition, the webbing filaments on the ship had unsettling implications. No one seemed to say it out loud, but the pieces were there. After hearing the probe to use, he nooded.

"Launch the probe." he ordered, a bit softer than he expected.

The database looked for any cultural similarities in the sensor loss, but the majority of the records seemed to link to standard operating procedures dealing with sensor loss or sensors out of calibration.  Too many records from too many ships in Starfleet, as well as other known species.  For a while, the computer seemed to just assume the sensor bleeps were a rare misalignment as a result of a diagnostic, but there was one entry that wasn't technical.  A report from a Romulan science vessel accidentally released during the Dominion War told of an anomaly that absorbed emitted energy, including sensor readings.  The closest translation was a 'subspace blackhole.'  That vessel ended up sending a probe in there and got unusual readings before the 'blackhole' dissipated.

A further search with that reference as a source showed three other suspected instances throughout the last century, with only one recording a loss of that investigating ship.

While that was going on, another sweep of the center showed another blip of null values.  This one had moved by several degrees, but when the sensors went back to the spot, everything was normal.  The sensors were starting to require more power to maintain their strength.

[Lorut Vila]

{USS MOmentary|Main Engineering}

Vila sighed in frustration. Nothing was working. All the switches were down, and she couldn't figure out how to get anything to even give an iota of life. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Hey, either of you have a spare piece of metal?" She asked the Engineers. From her boot, she pulled out two wires. She'd BLOW some power into it-basically, she'd make a circuit. If you couldn't turn on the power, homemade was fine. "Also, I'll need a magnet," she said. "Any chance the replicator is working?" She asked. From the pocket of her slacks, she withdrew a small tin-the size of a box of mints. In it were some supplies. From that, she withdrew a tiny clamp, a battery, and a penlight. She took apart the penlight, and took out the bulb. Perfect. She could use the batteries from that to run more power after she got the circuit set up. "Anything magnetized would work," she said. Suddenly, she remembered that her chronometer had a magnet in it. In a few moments, she had it apart, and pulled out the piece that made the hands go. It was a small magnet-it wouldn't give them much power for long, but it might spark some life.

Quickly, she set it up. "Ok. I am going to start it up. Lt. M'Nia, on my signal, flip the power," she instructed. She placed the clamps, wires, and battery together in a line, and wired that mess to the lightbulb, creating a spark. "OK...GOOOO," she called out. HOPEFULLY this would work, even for a few minutes. The absence of oxygen may end up being a problem but she'd cross that bridge later. A potato would work for more power...once they got a replicator online. 

[Buck McNair]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Kedan gave a wince of empathy when Trix was chastised—every captain was different, and he still remembered when he himself had been brand new to the ship and trying to figure out what kind of input was/wasn't welcome when on the Discovery. But he didn't have time to dwell on the thought for long before Captain Tekin was issuing orders.
"Ops, the class IV probe loaded in port S3-A was included in the sensor system calibration and diagnostic, so I recommend using that one, sir."

Buck listened to what the away team had to say, they were certainly the current eyes and ears of influencing the captain's decision on what they were going to be doing next. He had the schematics up for the class IV probe, checking and running diagnostics on the probe prior to them launching should it be required. "That is all received, Ensign." He would reply, glancing over at the Captain to see whether or not he would agree or disagree with the input. Buck certainly felt ill at ease with the updates that were being patched through, the discovery of a corpse that had been drained but no explicit signs of trauma, organic netting from the hull and the potential of space spiders was something all too much for the junior lieutenant to consider. He considered the null values and the potential blindspots that it was causing for them and the away team. "There is something appearing on my end, seems like a repeating loop of code somewhere....scans are only now picking up on it. Might have to double check with the Away Team with what's being feeded to us to ensure we aren't lagging behind on anything vital."

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]
The Captain stood firm, the bridge seemed tense, with just Kedan and McNair speaking.  The most recent report from the away team had come in; a completely desiccated corpse of a crewman. Corpse, completely drained, just like the ship's power.  In addition, the webbing filaments on the ship had unsettling implications. No one seemed to say it out loud, but the pieces were there. After hearing the probe to use, he nooded.
"Launch the probe." he ordered, a bit softer than he expected.
The database looked for any cultural similarities in the sensor loss, but the majority of the records seemed to link to standard operating procedures dealing with sensor loss or sensors out of calibration.  Too many records from too many ships in Starfleet, as well as other known species.  For a while, the computer seemed to just assume the sensor bleeps were a rare misalignment as a result of a diagnostic, but there was one entry that wasn't technical.  A report from a Romulan science vessel accidentally released during the Dominion War told of an anomaly that absorbed emitted energy, including sensor readings.  The closest translation was a 'subspace blackhole.'  That vessel ended up sending a probe in there and got unusual readings before the 'blackhole' dissipated.
A further search with that reference as a source showed three other suspected instances throughout the last century, with only one recording a loss of that investigating ship.
While that was going on, another sweep of the center showed another blip of null values.  This one had moved by several degrees, but when the sensors went back to the spot, everything was normal.  The sensors were starting to require more power to maintain their strength.

With a press of a button and an imaginary inserted sound, the probe had been launched. Buck watched as the transponder blipped to life as it began its scans. "Probe's been launched, everything looks green at the moment, sir." He relayed. Had the theory changed? Was it still just the two potential species that could have wiped out the entire crew of the Momentary with very little else to show for it? Of course the sensors were blipping, there was something just off about the way that it would flicker back and seemed to drain more power than most sensors would have.

"Cap'n, you seeing the readings of the sensors currently?" Buck needed to check that it wasn't just something he was having problems with.

[TrikNarChRehllan]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]
The database looked for any cultural similarities in the sensor loss, but the majority of the records seemed to link to standard operating procedures dealing with sensor loss or sensors out of calibration.  Too many records from too many ships in Starfleet, as well as other known species.  For a while, the computer seemed to just assume the sensor bleeps were a rare misalignment as a result of a diagnostic, but there was one entry that wasn't technical.  A report from a Romulan science vessel accidentally released during the Dominion War told of an anomaly that absorbed emitted energy, including sensor readings.  The closest translation was a 'subspace blackhole.'  That vessel ended up sending a probe in there and got unusual readings before the 'blackhole' dissipated.

A further search with that reference as a source showed three other suspected instances throughout the last century, with only one recording a loss of that investigating ship.

While that was going on, another sweep of the center showed another blip of null values.  This one had moved by several degrees, but when the sensors went back to the spot, everything was normal.  The sensors were starting to require more power to maintain their strength.

[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Science Lab 3]

Trix's antennae straightened as his console beeped, signaling a long-awaited result from his database search. He had almost started to think the search parameters were too broad, that he was chasing ghosts. But here it was—something tangible, or rather intangible.

At first glance, it looked like just another entry in a sea of anomaly reports, but something captured his attention. An energy absorbing anomaly. No sensor readings. An old report from a Romulan science vessel, coincidentally obtained during the brief alliance between the Federation and the Empire during the Dominion War. A kernel of sand in a desert sized data dump. Then again, Trix mused, was anything ever really a coincidence with Romulans? That would be like assuming a Ferengi misplaced a bar of latinum—technically possible, but highly unlikely.

The Romulans had dubbed the phenomenon a 'subspace black hole', though the term was more of a best-guess translation than an accurate description. According to the report, the anomaly had seemingly dissipated after the Romulan ship launched a probe into it. Trix frowned. Or had it?

If the recent sensor readings of the Discovery were anything to go by, maybe the Romulans hadn't actually seen the anomaly vanish. Maybe they had just lost track of it before it reappeared somewhere else. That would explain the newest sensor non-blip—the null values appearing in a slightly different position before disappearing again. A physical phenomenon like this shouldn't be able to move on its own accord, or phase in and out of existance. Then again, what was normal about an energy and signal devouring subspace black hole anyway?

Whatever it was, it was better than being eaten alive by space spiders. Trix shuddered involuntarily at the thought, shooting another quick glance upward—just in case. Or so he told himself. "Subspace anomalies I can deal with. But interstallar crew eating spiders? No, thank you."

He quickly refined his search to chase down more records. Three other potential encounters cropped up over the last century. In two instances, the anomaly had simply vanished before further analysis could be completed. But in the third instance... the investigating ship had been lost. Trix tapped his antennae in contemplation while he tasked the computer with finding whatever information existed on that ill-fated vessel, the SS Weir, cross-referencing any sensor logs that might remain, salvage records from the vicinity around the time of disappearance, insurance claims, anything really.

While the search was running, Trix couldn't help but wonder how the Momentary had encountered this same phenomenon. Had it simply flown into one of these subspace black holes out of sheer bad luck? It would not immediately explain the hull breach, or the remaining laundry list of oddities about the Momentary's current state, but at least the completely depleted energy levels could be accounted for. If so, was there a way to predict when and where the subspace black hole would reappear?

Shaking off his unease, he turned to Lt. Hayes, explaining his findings. Having heard Trix's theories, Hayes nodded sharply. "We need to inform the rest of the team. I will get them up to speed on this and coordinate task. You contact Kedan, make sure he sees this."

Trix nodded, adding his findings to the common data feed before tapping his combadge.  "Ch'Rehllan to Kedan—check the data I just uploaded. We may be dealing with a moving 'subspace black hole'. Lt. Hayes has the rest of the lab dig into it for corroboration as we speak.  You may want to inform the away team to watch their step. They can probably use their tricorders to look for blank returns ahead of them when they are traversing the ship. We could also try to direct our probe's sensors into the general trajectory of this black hole to cover gaps in our  own sensor sweeps."

As he took another look at the sensors, waiting for even nothinger nothingness to re-appear in the nothingness of space, another concern began to gnaw at him. The sensors were pulling more and more power with each consecutive sweep for no discernable reason. Either something was pushing back. Or, more concerningly, siphoning energy off of the Discovery via their sensors emissions. Like a regular black hole, but instead of pulling in matter, it pulled in energy.

Concerned by his observations, Trix's hand briefly hovered over his combadge, before he thought better of it. He briskly walked over to Hayes, who was by now occupied moderating a discussion between T'lel and Parat about the finer points of subspace harmonics. "Ma'am, sorry to interrupt, but we should reach out to Deck 1. Our sensors are pulling more power than usual, and I don't like the look of that given the condition of the Momentary. If this anomaly interacts with energy the way it seems to, we might just be getting the first taste of what happened to them..."

Without further comment, she held up her palm to stop the young Andorian from elaborating further before opening a channel to the bridge.  "Hayes to the bridge. Captain, we've found records indicating that the blank readings we are seeing belong to an energy absorbing anomaly dubbed a subspace black hole. We also show that our sensors are pulling increasingly more power to maintain their scans. Recommend isolating the sensor grid from the rest of the ship's power distribution and keeping a close eye on other systems for heightened power draw until we have a more definitive answer. I will report back once we have more information."

As Trix listened to Lt. Hayes finishing her report, his mind kept circling back to the SS Weir. He glared at his computer console, with the nonsensical notion that he could simply will it to produce more information for him faster that way.

[Lucien Dupont]

[U.S.S. Momentary | Deck 36 | Main Engineering]

Lucien gave a small sigh of relief as they finally entered Main Engineering after what felt like an eternity of popping open hatches and moving through desolate corridors. In reality it had been no more than an hour, but that did not make the experience any less miserable.

You could almost hear everything go to a standstill as we walked into the main room. This wasn't right - none of this was right. Lucien shuddered slightly out of sheer disgust of such a sight - the warp core, which normally gives off a constant stream of brilliant aquamarine pulses that illuminate the room, sits in the center of the room completely dead. If Lucien did not know better, it almost was as if the ship was sitting completely turned off.

Immediately in front of them was the center island, where in normal operations the current Engineer in charge of the room would run the bustling hub of yellow-topped jackets. Its center viewscreen was simply a long dark piece of glass, while the various console interfaces that crusted the edges of the table-like structure sat with their buttons darkened and - for now, at least - unusable.

{USS MOmentary|Main Engineering}

Vila sighed in frustration. Nothing was working. All the switches were down, and she couldn't figure out how to get anything to even give an iota of life. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Hey, either of you have a spare piece of metal?" She asked the Engineers. From her boot, she pulled out two wires. She'd BLOW some power into it-basically, she'd make a circuit. If you couldn't turn on the power, homemade was fine. "Also, I'll need a magnet," she said. "Any chance the replicator is working?" She asked. From the pocket of her slacks, she withdrew a small tin-the size of a box of mints. In it were some supplies. From that, she withdrew a tiny clamp, a battery, and a penlight. She took apart the penlight, and took out the bulb. Perfect. She could use the batteries from that to run more power after she got the circuit set up. "Anything magnetized would work," she said. Suddenly, she remembered that her chronometer had a magnet in it. In a few moments, she had it apart, and pulled out the piece that made the hands go. It was a small magnet-it wouldn't give them much power for long, but it might spark some life.

Lucien watched in surprise as Lorut set up a jury rigged solution to power up the center console. It wouldn't be much, and to be frank it'll still be somewhat limited with the main computer core likely offline, but it's better than the dead room they were in. Understanding the idea, Lucien quickly pulled out his hyperspanner and began to assist with connecting some wires around - it wasn't ideal, but maybe they could find SOMETHING out.

Quickly, she set it up. "Ok. I am going to start it up. Lt. M'Nia, on my signal, flip the power," she instructed. She placed the clamps, wires, and battery together in a line, and wired that mess to the lightbulb, creating a spark. "OK...GOOOO," she called out. HOPEFULLY this would work, even for a few minutes. The absence of oxygen may end up being a problem but she'd cross that bridge later. A potato would work for more power...once they got a replicator online.

"Eep!" Lucien lets out in surprise as the messy collection of loose wires they unleashed upon the floor begins to spark. More and more sparks can be heard as the center island comes back to life, the previously dead screen in the center showing the rarely seen boot-up sequence. Several errors are shown, indicating that the console is unable to connect to the main computer core, the stardrive computer core nor the auxiliary computer core. After several seconds, it finally shows that it is ready - though at limited functionality.

"Awesome...looks like the engineering backup computer is still online. We won't be able to interface with any records or frankly anything outside of Main Engineering, but we should be able to run some diagnostics on the equipment in this room itself." Lucien says as he swiftly moves over to one of the edge consoles and begins to run a level 3 diagnostic on systems in the room.

"This is strange...if I'm reading this correctly, the dilithium chambers are completely empty." he gives a frustrated sigh as the readout shows the state of components - everything is in good condition...there's simply no power source.

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Momentary|Main Engineering}

Vila let out a soft chuckle of triumph as the wires began to spark and the panels in front of her lit up. Quickly, she ran through the start up procedures, and, soon, the entire ship was back online. She put the sparks out with her boot, and then radioed over to M'Nia.

I have the systems online.

She looked over to Lucien. "Good job," she said. She bent her head, and got to work, doing her best to get the whole ship running. But things were...wrong.

This is strange...if I'm reading this correctly, the dilithium chambers are completely empty." he gives a frustrated sigh as the readout shows the state of components - everything is in good condition...there's simply no power source.

She nodded. "How old is this ship, again? Some were using spore drives," she suggested. "Dilithium wasn't used in all Federation ships, either, as it was hard to get and destroyed planets. Crystallized Lithium was sometimes used. Look for that," she advised. "Particularly for exploratory ships and medical ships," she said. Those ships didn't need a warp drive of the same kind and speed that, say, a combat ship might, for obvious reasons. Still. It WAS strange.

"Life support systems were drained in the first few hours...it's like...no one ever existed on this ship," she said. She reached up and tapped her Comms. "So that makes sense, in regards to the Dilithium being gone...if they were running critical systems, they would've used it quickly."

=/\=Ramort. What are you seeing there?