Participation awards
Posted on Sun Aug 18th, 2024 @ 6:23am by Commander Rovak & Lieutenant Commander Alex Flynn & Doctor Intharia T'Zor & Lieutenant Atna & Rear Admiral Abhishek Singh & Master Chief Petty Officer Marcus Grey Horse
Edited on on Mon Aug 19th, 2024 @ 1:25pm
1,050 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Startup Sequence [0]
Location: CO's Office, DS13
Timeline: 0910 Hours - MD24
“Fascinating. Most fascinating.” Admiral Singh told DS13’s assembled command crew, his mind awash with the possibilities. He and Grey Horse had been brought up to speed on the senior staff's unique experience with the watchman. The being had saved them and the station from certain destruction with his intervention and advice, allowing them to shift the anomaly's other end away. “This watchman, what did your tricorder tell you about him?” Singh asked.
“He was a being who seemed to exist in simultaneous quantum superpositions. It was as though there was no intrinsic field holding him together, like his atoms stayed aligned simply because they chose to. If I had to guess, I would assume he was a third-dimensional being made fourth-dimensional through some sort of directed atomic reassembly.” Atna explained
“Remarkable. Have you begun to probe the other side of the anomaly?” Singh asked from the other side of the screen, comfortable in his ready room on the Qaraqorum.
“The watchman mentioned that the link is unstable, that it will jump between realities of its own accord. Not all will be as peaceable as our own, and there is the prime directive to consider.” Rovak said.
“Peaceable or not, our mission is exploration. We can send a few probes through at the very least, simply rig them to deatomise if lost. The prime directive might be broad, but it doesn't mean we can't say hello to our neighbours, so long as they have already mastered space travel.” Singh said casually.
“Very well, sir. As you say.” Rovak responded.
“You did well today. The C-in-C asked to be briefed on the events, she’s impressed with your work. The Qaraqorum will be stopping back with you tomorrow and heading off from there to retrace the Voyager trail. Admiral Gali will be in the system in two weeks aboard the Challenger with another shipment.”
“Understood, sir. Is there anything else you need?” Rovak asked.
“This rainbow bridge is fascinating, I will keep in touch with my research, and ask that you contact me with anything else you learn. I wish you all good tidings and fortune.” Admiral Singh said with a nod, disappearing from the screen.
Rovak looked towards the two women and Grey Horse. “This is an unexpected outcome. If any of you feels that the change of our mission from logistics to dedicated exploration is unfavorable, I will provide you with a letter of recommendation for any application you may choose to make.”
“Are you nuts? Sir?” Alex asked. "That's rhetorical. And I was asking myself. Thank you, I'll stay." She added for the sake of professionalism.
“Thank you sir, but I will stay.” Atna responded.
“As will I, sir. May I ask you more about this being? The watchman?” Grey Horse asked. "Metaphysical phenomena have always been a fascination of mine."
“Of course.” Rovak responded, and they stayed and discussed his thoughts and queries for some time. When Grey Horse was done, he excused himself and left.
“What are your thoughts on sharing the fact that we are the only three to not have died with the rest of the crew?” Alex asked both the Vulcans, once the three of them were alone.
“I think they will find it more agreeable not to know.” Rovak said.
“I agree.” Atna confirmed.
“Unless there is anything else, I believe we have all earned a rest.” Rovak told the pair.
“Didn’t that blue fellow with the magnificent, uh, physique say that there would be a package in your office?” Alex asked.
Rovak was surprised to be reminded of it, he had forgotten in all the drama of their victory. “I do not see anything.” He said, standing from his seat at the head of the table. As he looked around, he noticed there was what looked to be a pile of identical objects in the corner of the room.
Connected by some sort of purpose-built frame, there appeared to be five trapezoid disc-shaped items held in a stack, metallic pucks with a smaller diameter on the top than the bottom. They were about the size of the palm of Rovak’s hand, and appeared to made of a base metal by a relatively advanced but still imperfect industrial technology. He could see the one on the top had the somewhat alien image of a woman’s face engraved into it. “I would feel more comfortable with your assessment before we take any action, Lieutenant.” Rovak told Atna.
Atna had already begun scanning. “These readings make no sense. Although the object is inert, I am reading something that resembles a transporter pattern within. All the items seem to be stable, except the one on the top.”
“Is the instability a danger?” Rovak asked.
“I do not expect so.” Atna said, reaching down and picking it up, detaching it from the frame that held the others with ease. “It almost feels like it is moving.” Atna said, when suddenly it flung itself out of her hand.
The puck hit the floor and stopped, but then seemed to shunt itself violently in another direction.
Alex jumped out the way as it came towards her.
All three of the officers watched in puzzlement as the puck seemed to finally stop. Along its surface, cracks formed, and light seemed to spill out from within. Before Atna could announce what the tricorder told her, the light flared into a blinding flash, and the puck seemed to explode.
There was no noise or pressure wave, just brightness, and the clattering of thin pieces of metal. When it had dissipated, the three officers were surprised to find what appeared to be a woman on the ground. Her skin was blue and she was humanoid, obviously mammalian, but instead of hair she seemed to have a cartilaginous crest that extended back from her scalp, giving the illusion of a hairstyle. She wore clothes that suggested she came from a highly technologically advanced culture. She was the woman whose likeness was etched into the puck's surface.
“Is she alive?” Flynn asked, gripped by pessimism.
“It appears so.” Atna said, still scanning, edging carefully closer.
The blue woman opened her eyes, and upon the sight of them, let out a sound of disappointment, and made a gesture of surrender.
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