Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Kiama Naim ((A) Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Kiama Naim ((A) Chief Science Officer) in Engineering Lab - The Artifact
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Max sat on a stool and stared at the case. Measuring a simple cubic foot in size the metal of the casing was clearly old. Centuries so. Covered in rust and tarnish there was little that could be identified at this point, but the metal was of a type that he could not identify and the case defied all attempts to scan the interior.

Inside it, was like nothing existed. It wasn’t as if the casing stopped scans, it didn’t. He could tell exactly how thick the case was, no more than 10mm of solid metal. After that, nothing. It was like nothing existed beyond the walls of the case. There was no power signature from within yet, Max was confused as to why nothing was coming back from his scans. He could lift it, sure. It wasn’t exactly heavy and yet there was a feeling that something was different about it. Max couldn’t explain the feeling and yet it was there inside him. Not on any of his screens or tools, but he would swear that the Box had something in it that gave him that feeling. He was an Engineer, and when the tools failed, he trusted his gut and instinct.

=/\= Lieutenant Naim, it’s Max. Listen, you know that archaeological dig that we stopped by recently and the artifact that we brought on board for study? I have something I need your help with. If you are free, I could use your thoughts in Engineering Lab 1 =/\=

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

Kiama was in the main science lab when Max contacted her. Her left elbow was propped up on the desk in front of her, her chin resting on her left hand and her right forearm was lying on the desk. Every now and then she tabbed her cheekbone subconsciously with her index finger while staring fixedly at the screen in front of her. To her fellow scientists it didn’t came as much of a surprise that she didn’t react at all to the call. They also knew by now that trying to talk to her would have little to no effect. So after a couple of moments had passed, NE Rel Ch’qarass got up from his seat and walked over to her. With his antennae twitching slightly, he placed his blue hand gently on her shoulder and said, “Lieutenant?”

Kiama jumped slightly in her seat and inhaled sharply as she felt someone touching her. Both officers looked apologetically at each other and Kiama was aware that - as always - her fellow scientists wondered how they could startle their Betazoid department head so easily. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I didn’t mean to startle you. But Commander Wynter called. Something about an artifact,” NE Ch’qarass said. Smiling warmly at him, she replied, “No need to apologize. And thank you for letting me know.”

As Ch’qarass walked back to his station, Kiama tapped her combadge and said, =/\= Naim here. I’m sorry for the delay, Commander. Could you repeat your question? I was focused on some readings and didn’t catch what you said. My apologies. =/\= One day you’ll get in serious trouble for this, she silently chastised herself while waiting for Max’s answer.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

=/\= Not a problem Kiama, I’m in Engineering Lab 1 with one of the artifacts we found on the archeological dig. I could use your help if you have a few moments, the artifact isn’t co-operating with my scans. =/\=

=/\= On my way, Sir, =/\= Kiama replied, feeling relieved that Max didn’t seem angry. With a nod and her smile at her fellow scientists, she headed out of the lab.

Leaning back, he looked at the case and rubbed his jaw. Absently he turned the case around slightly, as if looking at it from a different angle was going to bring a new idea to light.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

It didn’t take her long till she arrived at the engineering lab. As she entered the lab she took everything in while heading straight towards Max. As always her hair was pulled back in an elaborate braid and her uniform and all seemed to to in perfect order. Though at a closer look he might notice a dark red streak on her left cheek and a stain of apparently the same colour on the inside of her left sleeve. Raising one eyebrow and smiling at him, she asked, “How can I help you, Commander?”

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

“This case is giving me some trouble,” he explained while still staring at the artifact in thought. “It’s blocking my scans as to what is inside it but it’s clearly hollow. I also can’t find any clear way to open it but it does have obvious hinge and joint Mark’s along the edges.”

Turning the box around again, he pushed it slightly towards Kiama. “I thought you might have some ideas before I start clearing the rust and tarnish and see if there are markings underneath.” Now, Max raised his eyes to her briefly then did a slight double take and looked at her again.

Kiama looked silently at the box, tracing her finger tips along one edge.

“Hey you gotta bit of, something, just here,” he grinned, pointing to his own cheek to identify where she had the mark on hers.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“Hm?” Kiama looked up and instinctively moved her hand to cheek and gently rubbed the spot Max had indicated. “Better?” she asked, with a lopsided, yet slightly embarrassed grin. “We had a bit of a mishap in the lab earlier,” she continued. “One of my officer’s experiment went spectacularly wrong and a large flask exploded as a result of it.” She chuckled goodnaturedly, apparently not upset about the mishap.

“Really? Nothing else got broken? Nothing escaped that shouldn’t have?” Max smiled, “Your Officer was ok I hope, and yes it’s gone now.”

“Yes, he and everyone else in the lab is fine. A few of us, including me, got hit by glass. I didn’t even realise that I had gotten cut,” Kiama chuckled softly and shook her head. “And yes, that is all that happened. No further damage to the lab or crew and nothing was set loose on the ship.”

Looking back at the box, he tapped the top of it a little. The sound it made indicated it was not hollow, but the weight of it definitely did not make it feel like a solid block of metal. It was oddly light in fact which was highlighted by Max being able to push it across the bench towards her with only a little effort and one finger.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

Following Max’s gaze down to the box, Kiama tilted her head slightly. For a couple of moments she seemed to just stare at the box. And while she was indeed looking closely at the box, taking in everything she could make out with the naked eye, she was also mentally probing the box. Of course, she couldn’t get a read on inanimate objects. Yet one never knew what might be hiding just out of sight and it surely never hurt to give it a try. Or at least so far it never had.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

Kiama’s mental probing got nothing in return, it simply appeared to be an ancient metal box. Covered in corrosion it did appear that there were carvings or something like them in the box, where the corrosion did not fill or build up on the surface. Lines could be seen travelling in different directions in some parts where it was thinnest.

“Here we go,” Max said and handed Kiama a small tool, like a hand held laser but used for dissolving corrosion with repeated swipes of the beam over a section. It would be slow work but without physically touching the box it would not cause any damage that wasn’t already there.

“We can adjust the beam to make sure it leaves the metal the box is made of,” Max explained, “but my forte is making engines work, not archaeology. Any advice?”

Lt Cmdr Max Wynter, CE