Firsthand Data

Posted on Mon Jul 1st, 2024 @ 9:22pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant Inara Senn

Mission: The Andromeda Strain
Location: USS Washington

Shran and Deanna emerged from the captain's ready room onto the bridge, Jon being in command of the bridge at the moment. Deanna walked over to the rear of the bridge and looked over at the linkups with the probes at the science stations. Inara was sitting at science station 1 and Deanna leaned over and looked at the set up, "Everything looks ready. You have your people ready to do a deep dive into everything as it comes in?" she questioned quietly.

Inara thought for a moment, 'I will either die a horrible, painful death, or I will be erased from existence by the fates.' She thought to herself as she began to study the data. 'And everyone here is going to pretend it's all hunky-dory while we run into a possible version of ourselves, where we've all gone insane.'

Shran walked over to Jon, "Everything seems ready. It seems your shift was fairly quiet besides launching those probes a few hours ago."

Jon stood up and moved to vacate the center seat and return to his XO seat. "Yes sir. No red alerts, no standby battle stations. Nice and peaceful of course that was before we launched the probes. Data should be coming in shortly." He noted.

Shran nodded as he took his seat. "Just the way we want it. I'm sure we'll have plenty of surprises to deal with once we get closer to those anomalies." Shran looked back to Deanna, "Are you linked up with the Andromeda to share information as it comes in?"

Deanna looked at Inara and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing normal about this mission Inara. We wouldn't think you disappearing would be hunky-dory" she whispered. Deanna looked back at Shran and Jon, "Yes sir. Link up is complete. We'll be getting data from their probes just as they will be getting data from ours. We should be getting data in the next few minutes."

Jon nodded and answered crisply. "Yes sir. Andromeda is getting the information from the probes as we get it."

"I know Commander, but with all due respect, it is missions like these that have the hair on my neck raised up, we should take care, time is not something you want to mess around with. Dare I tell you about the time that the Voyager was displaced across multiple points of time? It can get dangerous." Inara studied the initial data. "Damn... I'm picking up chronoton levels on the long range. It's difficult to pin down where these anomalies are, and where they go in multiple space-time continuums. I'm getting clear readings in one area, and in another, it's like we're not even scanning for anything."

"You are not alone in being cautious or even fearful regarding dealing with time. Time is a cruel mistress that does not take kindly to those that would attempt subdue and control it or manipulate it" Deanna mused. She looked at the incoming data. "Look at that, chronoton spikes and look there, that appears to be signs of tesseracts. We have dimensional shifting it would seem."

Shran took note to the two females discussing what he assumed was initial information. He leaned over to speak with Jon, "I get concerned when Deanna and Inara are speaking together in hushed tones."

Jon gave a quick glance over his shoulder at the two women then shifted his gaze back to Shran "I know what you mean sir. Puts me on edge as well."

"Anything to report?" Shran asked.

Deanna looked at Inara and then turned to look at Shran. "We are getting initial information from the probes. Chronotons are present at high levels, as are additional anomalies. I don't want to jump to conclusions. Inara and I will need to look over this information further before giving you a proper analysis."

"Don't sugarcoat it Deanna. You are seeing something that concerns you. I've known you too long for you to be able to hide such things" Shran replied.

Deanna furrowed her brow. She was the telepath, but Shran could read her like a book. "We are reading tesseracts. It would seem that on top of temporal rifts, we have potential dimensional rifts as well. This area of space is even more dangerous than we initially thought."

Shran looked to Jon and then Inara, "Anything to add Inara?"

"We need to set up warning buoys, warning all ships away from this area once we complete our investigation and determine how large an area we are dealing with." Jon added.

Inara spoke. "Hazard warning buoys recommended, Captain. Unless you want people to end up in the mirror universe, these rifts are not only temporally displaced, but transdimensional. Which means we may get paid a visit by the ISS Washington if it's lurking about somewhere in reality. That being said, it's no holiday meeting the evil version of oneself."

"Considering most of us have already done that once, I would agree. I think the buoys are a good idea. Let's launch a buoy when we are an hour away. That should give Deanna and Inara a few hours to study the data before we arrive. We already have an idea that this is going to be far more dangerous than initially expected" Shran replied.