Scientific Minds

Posted on Fri May 9th, 2025 @ 10:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Inara Senn

832 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Cead Mile Failte
Location: USS Washington

Deanna exited the turbolift and made her way into the science lab. She found Inara looking over the sensor data that was coming in from the stellar core fragment. "Anything new of interest?" she questioned.
"Only that it's thirty times the mass of Jupiter, and it eats stars for breakfast," Inara mentioned. "It's already pulling on the outer system gas giant. It's attracted to the sun, but the Class M planet in the system is just in the way."

She tapped the console, and the holoprojection flared to life—a ghostly trail tracing the object's path. The fragment surged forward on a collision course with the terrestrial world.

"It doesn't even slow down," Inara continued grimly, as the simulation played out. "Like a hot iron through butter. Crust, mantle, core—it rips straight through. And the gravity well it leaves in its wake? It tears the planet apart on exit."

The model showed the Class M world fragmenting—oceans vaporizing, tectonic plates flinging outward, the atmosphere boiling off in moments. Then, silence. Only the trailing echo of radiation and debris spiraling into the void.

She turned back to her superior, voice low now. "And that's the warm-up."

Inara zoomed the projection out, showing the fragment continuing on toward the sun.

"We don’t know what happens when it enters the star—our models diverge. It might destabilize the fusion layer. It might compress the core. It might—" she hesitated. "—ignite something we've never seen before."

She met her superior’s eyes.

"We cannot be in-system when that happens. Not in orbit. Not in warp. Not in range. If Omega 556 Fek’lhr hits the star, we may not get a second warning. We may not get any warning."

She paused.

"And we sure as hell won’t get a second chance."

Deanna looked at all the data. "I have had a similar line of thought. I believe that if and when this core fragment meets the star, it is very possible we get a supernova event, or worse, the star implodes in a singularity. This is certainly a once in a lifetime scientific opportunity, and I know you are every bit as excited about it as I am, maybe even more, which makes this next part tough. The captain wants you on the away team that is going down to the planet. He is bringing a very science-specific team. You and I, along with the anthropologist Dalton, Sam for medical purposes, and the captain himself, plus security. All science teams will continue to work up here monitoring everything while we are on the surface."

"Wait... I'm being sent on another away mission. Do you know what happened on the last away mission I was sent on??? Other than the ego and the damned space nazis?" She noted. "Does the captain realize that no other scientist will be able to observe this unique phenomenon in the lifetime of the Federation?"

"I'm aware, on all counts" Deanna replied. "I am not thrilled about going down myself, as I would prefer to study this phenomenon as well. But we are StarFleet officers, and the captain wants us on the away team. I suggest you consider this an opportunity to view the effects or lack thereof of the core fragment on the planet. It is at least worth looking at the fact that despite the proximity to the planet, the core fragment is apparently having no impact on the planet."

"Only thing I've heard is these people are a bunch of Leprechauns that just became the unluckiest bastards in the universe. They better accept our offers to resettle them, or the god-damned gamma rays will make them shinier than their pot of gold." Inara noted. "And I'm being dragged down for diplomatic purposes because the captain needs an entourage. I'm a scientist, not a minion. And now I have go catch my lucky charms when I should be doing science."

Deanna let Inara rant without saying anything. In this case, she felt it was justified. She felt a similar way. "Considering how close the fragment is to the planet already, I'm amazed that it isn't showing any signs of it. No gamma impact, no gravitational anomalies, no tectonic instability, not even a stray ion in the atmosphere. Everything is as perfectly normal there based on the sensor readings as you might find on a sunny day in Ireland or Scotland. It is a mystery that might be worth looking into."

Inara checked the Washington's sensors. It turned out Deanna was correct. "How is this possible? On second thought Deanna, I will be going planetside. They should be awash with tidal waves by now and strange gravitational anomalies like their pot of gold going for a ride."

"Grab your tricorder and holster a phaser. We'll be in transporter room 2 shortly. I am going to grab Lt. Dalton and will meet you there" Deanna replied. She exited, leaving Inara to prep before they met up for the away mission.

 

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