Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Main Sim - Bridge - Setting Out
[snip]

As this was going on with Malone, Mullins and others could see that a few tinier fragments of metal and such were also emerging from the nearby cloud where the larger fragment of the nacelle had come from with their survivor. All matched compositions of a Starfleet vessel so were likely yet more bits and pieces of the Trudograd. Something clearly had destroyed the ship with almost all hands. The markings so far on the bits of hull metal showed likely the explosions had come from within the ship most likely, this was not a sure thing of course yet they needed much more fragments or large pieces to make a better judgement. So far none of the pieces were bigger then say their hands or such so likely no more survivors yet.

Also picked up though that someone from science could comment on was they were picking up a higher level of solar/spatial winds passing through the nebula currently causing the various gases and such to stir up a bit more. The result was a few sparks of electrical and plasma reactions off their port bow about 300 some meters away were seen, and while not a threat were like a slowly incoming storm on the horizon.

Lance looked at his station he wasn’t especially happy with the results he was seeing, he looked up at the CSO, “we’ve been watching the power drain in the nebula, but this change is new. Any ideas, I’m wondering if the ship out there got caught in this.... I dunno wind type thing.... I would rather we don’t end up next… Sir”

=/\= Lieutenant Mullins! Captain Glen here! I’m slightly concerned about the increasing number of lightning bolts flying about outside the viewscreen here, and the quite beautiful but deadly sparks off our port bow. Are you monitoring the intense conditions within this latest plasma storm heading in our direction, and based upon your forecast do you advise that we alter our present position? =/\=

=/\=Mullins to Bridge. I am keeping an eye on the lightning bolt flying around. Based on computer reports, it might be best to see if we are able to find somewhere else without these but I believe we are close to seeing the ship. How far away is the debris from our current position? =/\= Mullins went ahead and looked over the report coming in from his computer station.

Glen also asked the Communications Officer, NE Coals, who had been rather uncommunicative, “Have you managed to make any further progress on cleaning up the earlier degraded comm signals? And can you confirm that Comms are still open, and that you are still relaying everything that we’ve seen or found back to DS - K5 as we discussed earlier?”

Cross came back on the bridge ,the last time she was there everyone had been wondering what could have happened to the lost ship ,then she was called to sickbay about the Lt who had materialized in sickbay .

She heard the Captain contacting the CE and from what the CMO heard and saw it did not look seemly safe, no wonder Glen was concerned’’ Captain the patient is stable but still under an induced coma.’’ She kept her anxiety at bay but in reality wondered if the Merrimack fate would be similar to that of the Trudograd.

“So, we won’t get any answers from him?” Glen replied. “Let’s hope that the device holds some answers!”

“What information if anything was found in device?” Cross believed the answer to what destination awaited them would come out from it.

“Lt. Malone is still working on it,” Glen replied.

“It’s taking its time to read the chip, if you will allow me to try something?” Xavier asked Lance and looked at him a moment, before reaching forward and taking the chip out of the computer terminal. Blowing on it to remove any dust, he rubbed it on his shoulder for a second before inserting back into the reader slot and then activating the terminal. “It’s an old trick I learned from a few friends once, a way to make old credit chits still read in a machine once the data strips aged a bit.” Lance explained without looking away from the screen.

Lance watched the CSO blow on the chip, “Rubbing a bit of silicone sealant on the connection works too, simple chemistry Sir, you get a microfilm of oxidation, which you really only see with a decent microscope. Blowing on it just fixes it temporarily as the moisture in your breath sort of bridges the connection…” Lance said rapidly disappearing down a rabbit hole, but he did catch himself.” Sorry sir not trying to contradict you or anything.” He said fixing his eyes on the read out hoping the card would spill it’s secrets.

This physical blowing and rubbing was a little too low tech for Glen to understand. Give him an exploit in an AI running a simulation, or a hack within the parameters of a test, where he could confidently talk a computer to death, and he was fine, but he had no idea how all of these electro-mechanical devices worked.

Jaris thought it would be prudent to do an update from Engineering. Jaris pressed his comm badge to get a status update from Engineering =^=Andor to Engineering. How’s it looking down there?=^=

Cross bend down and whispered to Glen just in case the others would fall on the floor laughing if they heard her.

‘’Captain how large is the nebula ? Why not try to go around it , instead of through it?’‘.

“I gathered that the Risans were mining something only found inside the nebula,” Glen replied, “rather than using it as a shortcut… but you make a good point, I think? We allow these ships to knowingly and recklessly put themselves in danger, and then Federation ships have to come along and mount difficult, expensive, and hazardous rescue attempts. We’ve already lost one starship because of these dangerous journeys, and now we could be next. Unfortunately, I don’t make rules, I just follow my orders.”

‘’I understand that you have to follow orders Captain but those who gave you those orders are not on the ship are they? The Trudograd could have taken this route as well and with the lightning bolts flying around could have been its demise ,we don’t know how bad it can get as the ship move forward ‘’ Cross stopped for a moment before continuing ‘’ If the Risans are mining what ever is in the Nebula, do you think they would have risked entering the Nebula from this point? Or have they found a less dangerous way in ? ‘’.

The CMO thought about the patient in sickbay and the horrific burns he had sustained ,though she as everyone else had no idea what could have happened and the reason as to why he was the only crew member that survived.

“This was the exact route of the Trudograd that we followed…” Glen replied. “If I remember correctly from the briefing, the Honey Pot is a nebula rich in stellar gases and minerals that are well worth scooping up and regularly so. Six civilian mining ships were sent to gather various gases on this occasion, just as they normally do, but about 4 days into their effort the SS Gas Bug under the command of merchant captain Steven Hull picked up what seemed a matter/antimatter explosion 1.4 light years within the nebula. So, whatever we are seeing happening now is not usual, and isn’t what the Risans normally experience when mining here.”

“Why not send out warning beacons around the border to warn other ships in the vicinity?” asked Cmdr Andor.

“The mission was too urgent for us to do that before we entered the Honey Pot, there were lives at risk to save first… but I agree, it should be done now,” Glen replied. “If Comms are still open, and that we are still relaying everything that we’ve seen or found back to DS - K5 as I wanted, then they can send a small vessel out to do that around the Honey Pot.”

“I have seriously thought about us slowly backing out the way we came in, but just to recap: there is still a signal from a Risan ship on a frequency band used for distress calls, so we do still have lives to save! Its origin is only a few thousand metres away from us; we can almost touch them. We also know that it isn’t just an automated signal because there was a brief pause then resend when I hailed them. So, maybe they can hear us but cant respond normally or adjust the distress transmitter other then off/on. Maybe indicating low power and/or damage to it. I would be derelict of my duty if we ran away and left them to die now!”

“I’ve thought of other ideas that don’t require us to go forward any further,” Glen added. “If we could get a tractor beam hold on the Risan ship, then maybe we could pull her out?”

“And I’d just like to add,” Glen said, “that for the newer officers here, that I don’t run that tight a ship, and I’m always open to other suggestions. Despite what I said earlier about us picking up the pieces when dangerous endeavours go wrong, galactic convention is that we will always help those in trouble, no matter who they are or where they come from. And they do say that danger is never the barometer of an officer’s conduct, but on the other hand there is a red line between courage and stupidity. The first rule of rescuing others in space is to make sure you do not put your own ship in danger when going to the assistance of another ship. I’m not going to risk the destruction of the Merrimack on an impossible rescue. If anyone has any suggestions other than a tractor beam, then please don’t hold back. This is the time to come forward with them.”

Cross stood silent for the simple reason that she had already given her opinion that the ship should take another route to enter the nebula .

In the absence of any Plan C, D or E, Glen decided it would be best to investigate Plan B a little more. =/\= Lt. Mullins. Captain Glen here. How would our tractor beam work inside this nebula? Would it be possible to get a lock on the Risan ship from this distance without being able to see it? Do you think that we could pull it out of that storm? =/\=

Max thought for a second and with the energy in the tractor beam, the reaction to the tractor beam as what might happen with the shields being up. He wanted to run some tests before saying it would be fine. He then tapped on his communication section of his station and responded =/\=Captain, I am afraid the energy from the tractor beam might cause the same sort of problem with turning on the shields. Would you let me confirm with a few simulations before moving forward? It should not take more than 20 or 30 minutes. Please let me know. Mullins out.=/\= Max went ahead and started to prepare the simulation based on the data he had on the nebula and what happens with the shields to see if they would apply to the tractor beam. He did not kick off the simulation until he had confirmation from the captain. He just waited for the response.

=/\= I didn’t think about that. Please run those simulations, but I’ll need an answer faster than 20 minutes. In the meantime, I’ll have us back away from the storm to avoid contact with it. Glen out. =/\=

“Lt. Pokorski,” Glen instructed the Navigator. “We need more time to run tractor beam tests. Take whatever evasive maneuvers are required to avoid the subspace eddies and lightning from that storm, up to, and including Full Speed Astern. We can always return again if needs be, but we’ll be no use to rescue the Risans if that storm damages us. What I’m not prepared to do is to leave them to die!”

– Glen, C

Lance was waiting on the reader but something struck him about the name, and as the Captain had just said he didn’t run his bridge like other captains so Lance felt okay speaking out.

“Sir who named this nebula?” He asked “I’m just asking as I roomed with a guy at the academy who was studying ops. And I used to help him with a few of his classes one of those was systems and security. There is a thing that comes from old Earth that we still use in some security systems called a Honey pot trap, it’s used to trick people into something. In security systems it makes you think you can get into stuff you shouldn’t be able to, you think you are getting information when actually you have made yourself vulnerable to a counter attack.” He paused thinking about it “it just seems an odd name, almost like a warning that everyone is ignoring” it was the CMO’s suggestion of beacons that got him thinking and now he couldn’t really stop.

Lt. Malone