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 (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“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.

“Thank you,” Kiama replied as she took the small tool.

“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

Kiama looked from the tool to the box and back at the tool. “Archaeology isn’t exactly my forte either, though precision work on delicate things is, you might say. So my recommendation is to set the beam to the lowest intensity. We can later try a slightly stronger setting, but for now I’d recommend a cautious approach. After all, we want to keep this box - whatever it might be - intact, if possible.” That said she adjusted her tool and pointed it at the top left corner of the side closest to her.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

“Gotcha,” Max said and made the adjustment, then moved so that he was working on the side opposite to Kiama. Their beams dissolved the corrosion just slightly on contact and it was apparent that there was a lot of corrosion, it was going to take time.

“How have you found the Manhattan so far?” Max asked her, looking up at her over the box for a moment as he worked. “We haven’t talked much since we met. Have you settled in well?”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

While keeping her gaze fixed on her work, Kiama replied, “I like being here and I think I’ve settled in pretty well. Though not even in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I’d be promoted so soon after my arrival on this ship.” She laughed softly and shook her head in amusement. “Not that I mind, though, I like leading a team again. It just came rather unexpected. Also, we might want to make the beam a little stronger, or we’ll probably be here till the end of time. And I suspect your wife would like to see you again at some point.” While she said that, she was already slightly adjusting the tool in her hand.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

Max paused and adjusted the laser in his hand as well, and grinned. “Good point, I’m on dinner as well so if I’m late it’ll be my head. Assuming that Jaz doesn’t get held up in Sickbay by anything it’s movie night tonight.” The stronger beam did strip the corrosion away faster, and with clearly no damage appearing as the rust got thinner.

“And I’d rather not be responsible for that,” Kiama laughed good-naturedly.

“What do you mean leading a team again? I take it you had that responsibility at some point as an Ensign as well?”

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“The Manhattan is actually my first placement after graduating from the Academy, which is why I would never have dreamed of being promoted already,” Kiama glanced briefly up at Max before turning her focus back to the laser in her hand the box in front of her. “But before I joined Starfleet, I had already worked as a neuroscientist at the University of Betazed. I was in a fair amount of research involved and while working on my PhD I started to lead my own research team. Having that experience helps, yet at the university my work has always been very specialised. Being a department head in Starfleet … it’s both similar and vastly different.”

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

“Neuroscience?” Max raised his eyebrows and glanced up briefly, “Wow, that sounds like you and Jaz would have a bit to talk about one day. That’s way over my head,” Max paused for a moment as he worked, examining the runes that were being revealed as he stripped away the corrosion on his side.

Kiama nodded as she kept working only to realise that he probably wasn’t looking at her. “I can imagine. So far I haven’t really talked to her at all. Doctor Shon took care of my boarding evaluation and he was also the one how treated my injuries after our little holodeck adventure.”

“Starfleet recognizes ability, that’s for sure,” he muttered in regards to her statement about being promoted early, but he stopped working and looked at the bare metal he had revealed. It was shiny like it had been polished only that morning and he was sure that it should have been pitted under all that corrosion. It was covered in what looked to be runes, but he had no idea what they might have said or meant.

“So it seems,” Kiama replied, “Though in part it had to do with us being in the Delta Quadrant. Captain Cochrane needed an acting Chief Science Officer and he thought I was the most qualified person on board.”

“When opportunity knocks, you gotta grab it and run with it,” he said in reply, but his focus was squarely on the box in front of him.

“It looks like the corrosion hasn’t touched the actual metal of the box,” he looked up at Kiama again and leaned back slightly. “How is your side going?”
Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“Same here. How fascinating!” Kiama muttered. She then switched off the laser and gently brushed her fingertips over the now visible metal. “It looks like writing, but it isn’t any language I’ve ever encountered. Do you think the universal translator might help in deciphering those markings. Always assuming they really are letters, of course?” She was utterly fascinated by what she was seeing. It seemed that with every minute that passed they only ended up with more questions instead of any answers.

~Lt.jg. Naim, aCSO

“Yeah it might,” he agreed, and picked up a nearby Tricorder. Moving around beside Kiama so they were both looking at the same side he raised the device and scanned the runes she had exposed, noting that some were the same and some were different to what was on the area he had cleaned up.

Looking at the screen, the universal translator worked for a few moments before flashing back a reading, no language could be deciphered from the runes. “Huh,” Max huffed and sat the tricorder down. “So either it isn’t a language as we know it, or the runes have a meaning that is something other than letters and sounds or the language isn’t something that we can comprehend.”

Lt Cmdr Wynter