Doing A Little Digging

Posted on Thu Feb 20th, 2020 @ 4:52pm by Lieutenant Dessame Sar

Mission: In the Family
Location: Science Labs, Deck 4
1110 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

They had all left the bridge together but the turbolift journey had been a quiet one as they all contemplated what they had just witnessed, what they had just taken part in. Their job was now to sift through data, source information and find out who had done this at the very least, the why would come later.

Dessame let Morty enter the room first, it was his lab after all and she wasn't quite sure what he would want to set up. "I would say this would be a long night if it wasn't so early in the day." She commented as she entered in between the two men. She wondered how her security team was on the Glory... if they were alright.

"Then it will likely be a long day instead," Peter answered as he brought up closing ranks while they entered the room. "We know now these little mosquitoes are far more dangerous than they originally appeared. How do we prevent us getting caught off guard again?"

The Evoran made his way over to the replicator and had a warm drink prepared. He spoke as he waited for it to materialize in the alcove. "There are many questions that require answers, which in turn may help us to get an answer for yours, Mister Horn. Did the perpetrators achieve what they wanted to? If they believe that they have, then it is doubtful they will attack again. On the other hand, if they are unconvinced of their success, then I believe the most prudent course of action would be to relocate the people from the transport onto the Athena, where we can better guarantee everyone's safety."

"It depends on what their goal was to begin with," Peter mused, "were they intending to only disable the Glory, or was it their intent to destroy it?"

Dessame brought up a holo-projection of a fighter. They were small, agile and hard to hit. Almost like they were made from a material that refused to be pinned down by their sensors... it reminded her of old Maquis vessels she had seen in archives from the 2380's. "It must have been someone, or a people, with some degree of angst against either ourselves, the Ambassador or the Paratans." Dessame said as she spun the ship round with her hand. "The markings on the hull are interesting..."

"Would either of you like a refreshment?" Mortigar asked, as he was still near to the replicator.

"Just a water please Lieutenant." Dessame answered as she called Peter over to look at the markings she had mentioned.

"Water for me too," Peter replied as he walked over. "Unusual markings," he commented as he studied them, "they seem familiar but I cannot recall where I have seen them before. Do you have thoughts?"

Once the two glasses of water materialized on the replicator pad, Mortigar returned to the others with the water in hand. "Here you are," he said as he handed the glasses to each of them. The Lieutenant then took a look at the image on the screen. "I'm afraid that I've never seen those markings before," he admitted. "Try running an algorithm, comparing them to what we already have in the database."

"I doubt the database will show anything." Dessame admitted looking closer, she pinched the hologram so she could enlarge the area of the markings. "I know I have seen this before." The very thought of it was annoying her. Morty then did admit that the database had found nothing on the markings and it clicked to Dessame where she had seen them before.

"Paratan." she said to the two men.

"Yes, we are dealing with the Paratans," Mortigar agreed, not realising what it was that Dessame was actually concluding.

"What about the Paratans?" Peter prompted.

"No I know that seems like I am reaching." She replied. "But hear me out." Dessame continued as she called up some reading she had been doing on the Paratan planet from Federation dignitaries. She flicked through 'pages', they too had been brought up on an adjacent holoprojector, and stopped. "Does that not look like the seal of this 'Duke Alonso', or the very least Paratan royalty?" she asked cropping the image and bringing it up to the enlarged area next to the craft. The craft's image was blurry, scratched and worn but similarities could be made if you looked close enough. She wondered if the others would agree, or if they had their own theories.

The Evoran looked more closely. "Hmmmm... there are a number of similarities, particularly the twin blades crossing one another. Also, the colours," Morty remarked.

"That the craft might be Paratan, does not mean the occupants are," Peter pointed out, "those craft look old and damaged, who knows ... they might be stolen?"

Mortigar shook his head in light frustration. "Sensors were not able to discern the bio signatures within the small ships which isn't very surprising as they were having much difficulty simply locking on."

"Then we should try to determine what alloy the ship's hull is made of," Peter added thoughtfully, "and find a way to make our scanners penetrate it. Perhaps they are coated in something that deflects our scanners."

"That is why I attempted the charged particle burst from the deflector," Morty explained. "Unfortunately, everything went downhill before I could see whether or not it worked."

"We could try again now," Peter suggested. "Or we reel in the one that crashed into the Glory and do hands on studies of the vessel."

"I have already cleared it with Commander Kane to bring in a derelict vessel into one of the cargo bays. Best way to investigate something I feel is to get your hands on something tangible." Dessame interjected to the two men before her.

"I would have to agree with that sentiment." He gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

"Sure." Dessame replied. "I suppose now is as good a time as any. It means Morty can do a physical analysis and I can get inside, poke around a bit."

Analyzing what was left of the attacking vessel was a place to start although Mortigar wasn't certain if their tests would produce entirely accurate results. It was all going to depend on how intact the little ship would be. The Lieutenant logged out of his station and then started to leave the room, alongside the others. The faster they got to the cargo bay, the sooner they could hopefully get some answers.

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Lieutenant Dessame Sar
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Athena

Lieutenant Commander Peter Horn
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
pnpc Savin

Lieutenant Mortigar
Chief Science Officer
USS Athena