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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 12:59:09 GMT -5
"I don't know about safely," Hector said, chewing the inside of his cheek as he mused on it. "But we certainly could do it. I wouldn't blanche. I would say that a second crash from that height might well be the end of her, however."
Something was bothering Hector. Not about their situation, or even the atmosphere itself -- it was a glimmer of inspiration... the solution to this conundrum, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it yet. He felt as though he had been given the answer in advance, and it had been muddled in with a load of other superfluous information.
"We should test the transporter," Hector suggested. "Beam something inanimate up there and then beam it back. See what sort of a state it's in."
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 27, 2011 13:07:44 GMT -5
Christian was puzzled by the Chief Engineer's suggestion to test the transporters. What had that got to do with it? He didn't ask, though, that would make him look stupid and lose face to his already non-impressed Chief Engineer. Instead, he asked him to elaborate. "Let's hear more of your plan, Commander," he said.
Tag: Hector
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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 13:17:50 GMT -5
"Transporter scans from the Orion indicated that there was a disturbance in the center of transit," Hector said, with a shrug. "But they also indicated that we should theoretically arrive safely -- it just wasn't something I was willing to take a bet on. I'm suggesting now that we should find out just what it does to transport through that disturbance. Toss a rock into space and bring it back. It wouldn't give us much to work with, really, we don't know the position of the Orion -- but it would open another avenue to think on."
Something... on the very... edge... of his brain... Hector was beginning to feel considerably irritated by this niggling thought. It evaded him with perfect ease.
"If the engines are a bust we could always send a beacon with our coordinates in it up, try to catch the mother ship's attention that way. It's a bit of a circular way of thinking about it but -- oh, for God's sake! I can't latch on to it. I have an idea, in there, and it's hiding."
Hughes had become more of a sounding board than an advisor or confidante. Hector was talking at him now, trying to think his way around the problem. Hector had begun to pace like a caged animal.
Tag Hughes
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 27, 2011 13:24:00 GMT -5
Christian listened to Hector's suggestion intently and nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said. When the Chief Engineer kept talking about having an idea but being not able to quite get it, Arthur had to restrain himself from laughing. It's probably better if I don't, he reasoned with himself. Commander Romilly can be hard to deal with... well, that's an understatement. He's -extremely- hard to deal with.
"Keep thinking, we'll first get to the Transporter plan. Can you get a rock for us? I'll configure the Transporter to beam it across the atmosphere. Not above the shuttle. If something goes wrong, it might smash us." An interesting thought, but not relevant. He looked at Romilly.
Tag: Hector
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Post by Cadet Zackery Syda on Apr 27, 2011 13:51:34 GMT -5
"Don't cry." Zack still said softly, keeping his voice low. He briefly looked around before he gently pulled Rose in for a hug. "It's not your fault." Well it wasn't. Zack thought for a moment. Keeping an arm around Rose, Zack picked up two tricorders and escorted her out of the shuttle. "Did I ever tell you about my first time flying a shuttle? I can tell you right now, none of the simulations prepared me for what I had to do, with more than seven people on a class two."
Tag: Rose
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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 13:54:04 GMT -5
Under normal circumstances "fetching a rock" would have been so beneath Hector that he might have verbally eviscerated Hughes where he stood -- but he was so preoccupied with the absent idea in his mind that he simply drifted off out of the shuttle, rubbing at his neck habitually as he considered it.
Inspiration. He needed inspiration. Xena was inspirational. She had already become something of a private muse to him. He collected a large rock and carried it on his hip, arm draped over it. He didn't even take in the alien landscape, he was so consumed with his own thoughts he might as well have been strolling along the corridor to his quarters.
He was forced to shrug off the sweet thought of her lips on his as he re-entered the shuttle and dropped the rock with an almighty clang on the floor, and then removed his comm badge.
"Something to lock on to," he explained, and used his phaser to heat the rock and fuse the two together. "Ready when you are."
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Ensign Rose Digby
Science Officer
Age: 20 Race: Human
Science's brightest young Ensign
Posts: 73
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Post by Ensign Rose Digby on Apr 27, 2011 14:54:05 GMT -5
Zack was there for her. He hugged her and comforted her, and she felt comfortable and safe with him. She wasn't sure he wasn't all saying it to stop her crying. He doesn't really mean that, she thought. I'm rubbish and he knows it. Another thought crossed her mind. And we're stranded. There's a chance that I'll never see my parents again... She started crying, sobbing on Zack's shoulder.
When she had calmed down some, she still hadn't said anything to him. However, as they were heading out with two tricorders, Zack still kept an arm around her, which reassured her somewhat. He offered her to tell her something about his first time flying a shuttle. "Did it go.. well?" she asked. "Of course... it must have gone better than... well, my show."
They had now exited the shuttlecraft.
End Rose - Move to Outside (other thread, Zack may make that one) Tag: Zack
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 27, 2011 14:58:53 GMT -5
Christian grinned as Hector came in with the rock. "Looks about large enough," he said. "I'm impressed that you can carry it that way." He put the rock on the pad, locked onto it, then loaded the coordinates. "Ready?" he asked, somewhat redundantly. There was nothing to be ready for. "Energising." The rock disappeared as it was beamed into the atmosphere.
"Did that help anything?" he asked Hector, whose job it was to analyse the things. He moved over to Hector's console, bringing up the sensor data.
Tag: Hector
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Post by Cadet Zackery Syda on Apr 27, 2011 14:58:55 GMT -5
Zack put one of the tricorders in it's place so it was at his waist. He'd give Rose the other one in a minute or so. He thought she needed to calm down first. So, they both exited the shuttle and went from there.
End Zack - Move to new thread
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Post by Crewman Janet Chan on Apr 27, 2011 15:27:32 GMT -5
After the captain had tended to her injuries she slowly stood up and moved to the front of the shuttle where Christian and Hector were playing with the transporter and some rocks. The cadets had gone outside to do what they came to do, since they had a security escort she could focus on securing the crash site. She took a small pack from under one of the consoles and exited the shuttle...
She made her way around it, surveying the damage to the extirior as well as to the ground and then made her way back in to report.
"I'm not a shuttle design expert or an engineer, but I think the next time this shuttle moves it should be to get to the ship and be gone from here, it doesn't look like it can take much more."
TAG: Any
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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 15:38:02 GMT -5
"It never arrived," Hector said grimly, as he tried to scan for the rock. He knew exactly the position it had been beamed to, and yet the sensor indicated that nothing was there. "Two options, Mr. Hughes. The first is that the rock was obliterated so completely there's nothing left of it up there. The second is that it arrived safely and the scanner can't see it."
It wasn't a risk he imagined any of them were going to be willing to take. He glanced at Chan and nodded once, curtly. It wasn't often he agreed with anybody.
If only he could think!
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 27, 2011 15:44:41 GMT -5
"I'm watching for..." he stopped short. Of course! That might be a way to test both of Hector's hypotheses: watching. "Okay, plan B. I pick a rock outside the shuttlecraft and tell you to lock on to it. I'll choose one large enough to see in the sky. Then we'll beam it into the upper atmosphere, and I'll look whether we see a rock burning up there. If it's not, we know there's a problem with the sensors and the upper atmosphere."
"What do you think?"
Tag: Hector
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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 15:53:07 GMT -5
"I think it's all we've got," Hector said, with a nod. It would still be risky, even if the stone survived the journey. Big enough. Big... enough... it was like a flash in Hector's brain. The idea! His inspiration, and the reason that Xena reminded him of it -- it was Shawn. What had he said?
That he had once built a working shuttle-craft by replicating miniature parts.
Hector pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and began to bounce on the balls of his feet. Eureka.
"WAIT! Wait! I have it -- I have it," he said, with a wicked grin. "If the replicator's working we can run a far more conclusive test. I can build a miniature replica of the shuttle. Nothing too intricate -- but I could replicate the engine set up, the sensors, and fly it remotely from here. We could -- in theory -- run a simulation flight and collect crash data without ever leaving the ground."
His glee was evident.
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Post by Commander Christian Hughes on Apr 27, 2011 15:56:59 GMT -5
A remote control shuttle? What was Hector, a child of around Shawn's age? This was no time to play, but he had to trust the man's genius. He had to make a remark about it though. "Sounds like something Shawn would come up with," he said with a grin. "We still have power. It's the atmosphere that seems to be the problem. Replicating should be no problem."
"So make it so, Commander," he said.
Tag: Hector
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Post by Hector J. Romilly on Apr 27, 2011 16:08:02 GMT -5
"He did," Hector said offhandedly. He was too pleased with the idea -- it rarely mattered to him what inspired the process. Half of his intelligence came from taking what others offered and finding new ways to use the information. Hector only pushed people so that they would push back, and from that tended to come new ideas. It was only staying safe in the confines of social niceties and rigid protocols that left him uninspired.
This was just his sort of problem. The equipment was unreliable, and they had no idea why. The only solution was to use hardware. To observe it. And to adjust it.
With a project and a structured method for progression in tow, Hector was almost a new man. It was boredom that tortured him the most, and inspired him to nudge at people and make himself a nuisance. With a project to occupy his mind and hands, he was able to channel himself constructively. It made a world of difference.
His bloodied nose was long forgotten as he made his way to the replicator and set to work.
Tag: Hughes/Any -- we can assume he's busy for a while and you guys could move on to something else, I don't mind:)
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