More Questions Than Answers

Posted on Sat Jul 10th, 2010 @ 4:37pm by Commander Fala Awen & Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Christopher McNeil & Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: USS Pandora, En Route to Science Lab 1
Timeline: Day 15, 1300

ON: [[USS Pandora, En Route to Science Lab 1, Day 15, 1300]]

Kiral (PNPC), along with Christopher, Bika (NPC), Solen (NPC), and Velia were on their way to the Science Lab. Once Christopher had returned to the Intelligence Lab, the other Intel Officers had filled him in on what they knew, which unfortunately wasn't much. However, Kiral was hoping that if they coordinated with the Science department, they'd be able to come up with something.

"Remind me to send a note to the people in charge of gathering intel on the Romulans... I think they need to reshuffle their priorities a bit," McNeil commented as they stepped off the turbolift. The amount of information they had on the outlying Romulan colony worlds could be summed up on the contents of a single isolinear storage chip.

Velia managed to contain the snicker but not the small tight grin. It made her feel a little less guilty that the Commander shared his department staff's frustrations. Mentally she corrected herself. She didn't feel guilty for feeling frustrated -- in her opinion they all had that right. The guilt stemmed more from feeling like somehow they should have done more, found more, had more to report.

"Just a bit? Hopefully between what we know and what the Science department, we'll have something of a better idea about what's going on," Kiral replied. She slowed as the approached the door to the Science Lab and paused so Christopher could lead the way.

"To be fair, up until recently the Romulan Empire has been very centralized, so a focus on Romulus made a certain amount of sense." McNeil shrugged. "I don't think they've adjusted priorities quickly enough in the wake of recent events, however. And we've always been a bit short on information about the outlying regions of the empire."

"Probably for very good reason, as far as the Romulans are concerned," Velia muttered as the group reached the Science Lab. And of course, anything that was good for the Romulans was pretty much trouble for everyone else.

[Science Lab 1]

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Isela (NPC) checked the scans she'd started in the morning for Khloe (NPC). "Still not done," she told Sonya (NPC).

"Just keep at it," Sonya said, knowing that they were both getting a little frustrated. Even with the Pandora's wide range of state-of-the-art sensors, the analysis was still taking a lot longer than either of them had the patience for, especially with the Intel Department and the admiral wanting answers to questions they did not have. Letting out a slow sigh, Sonya added, "We're trying to reconstruct several decades of information and history, not to mention trying to track down the interference problems."

Before Isela could reply, she heard the door open; five Officers in Intelligence grey walked in. A bit surprised, as it wasn't every day that anyone from Intel came to the lab - let alone five - she blinked but said nothing. It was a good thing that Sonya was the senior Science Officer in the room...

'Well this reception would be enough to give anyone the warm fuzzies deep down' Velia thought while she occupied her gaze with everything around her except for the science officers. She'd never been in a ship's science lab before and very little of the equipment interested her. While she understood the necessity of science in general, she was quite content to let the subject be someone else's expertise.

Being the senior-most science officer present, Sonya figured that it would be up to her to make the introductions. She placed her hands on the console before her and rose to her feet. Turning to face the newcomers, she took a step forward to meet the group. "Welcome to the science lab, folks," she said with a smile, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Isela gave a brief smile, "Good afternoon." She was a bit nervous with this many other officers in the room - particularly ones from another department she was unfamiliar with. Usually she wasn't this shy, but one of the previous hosts had been painfully shy and unfortunately, it seemed to be affecting her.

"Hello," McNeil replied with a smile. "We've come to compare notes. There's a lack of good intelligence about this region, so we thought you might be able to help us learn more."

Glancing over at Solen, Bika said nothing. They weren't exactly high-ranking in this endeavor and, while they could certainly offer whatever information they had, she preferred to allow the Department Head to take the lead. Solen seemed to mostly be concentrating on the conversation between the Science crewmembers and Christopher. Bika then looked over at Velia and Kiral, trying to read their expressions.

"We do have some information we've gathered about the planet - mostly basic information on the colony, as well as some geographical data," Isela replied. "We've also been running some scans." She glanced over at Sonya, allowing the other officer a chance to elaborate.

Velia smirked at the blanketed generalization of the officer's statement. Sounded to her like they had a whole lot of nothing as well. "What kind of scans? And what kind of information?" she asked, looking at both science officers in turn. It didn't matter who answered, so long as the reply was more than a simple 'stuff'.

"Our initial scans were some of the basic palate for planetary information," Sonya explained, trying to make sure she addressed the group and not the workstation, "We surveyed weather patterns, geologic activity, and ran several scans of the biosphere. Basically, we were trying to get a better idea for what Nerus V is and why they might have tried putting a colony here."

Once Sonya had explained what Scientific scans they'd been running, Isela spoke up again, "We were also running some scans for the Operations and Engineering Departments - they're trying to determine what might be causing the communications and transporter issues we've been experiencing."

McNeil nodded. "Most of the information we found was very lacking in detail, but it seems that this colony is the result of a project that fell out of favor when power shifted in the Senate. Have you found anything interesting in the scan data?"

"As far as the colony itself, we found that there have been at least three different locations, from varying time periods. At least the most recent two locations seem like the current colony group could have inhabited them," Isela replied. "It would also seem that the colony was moved or severely damaged due to the geological and meteorological activity."

"What do you mean that they could have been habitable?" Velia glanced at Isela. "if they had to be moved or were damaged by this planet's version of Mother Nature, it would seemingly stand to reason that they weren't able to inhabit them. If they were kept on the move, then chances would be good that they're lacking nutrition and suffering exposure, right?" The Ensign glanced around, wondering if anyone else was going to stop her ranting any time soon.

Isela paused and turned her attention to the Intelligence Officer, "We think that the locations were habitable at one point... The geological and meteorological activity was not always as severe as it currently is. It also doesn't affect the entire planet the same way. So, some areas are fine, but others aren't. And an area that is alright at first can end up not being habitable due to the changes."

"All these factors seem to have had a significant effect on the colony and its inhabitants," Sonya explained, tapping at the control surface so as to bring up a visual display of the surface, "As you can see, there is evidence of several colony sites, which clearly indicates a nomadic pattern. Based on the geologic and weather disturbances, it is reasonable to assume that the colonists have been kept on the move quite frequently and at random intervals. Surely, this would probably lead to some effect on the ability to maintain a proper food source, not to mention exposure to the elements."

"Regardless of what their current conditions are, or what their current position is, none of this makes why they were put there any more clear. All of the rest of this is just a fallout from someone's bad idea that enough people didn't care to consider before voting it in to action." Velia's arms came up and folded across her chest without her even being aware of it. "Do we know anything about the technology they took with them initially? Even if it didn't survive, tools are pretty good indicators of what the intended purpose was."

Kiral had to agree with Velia. They were still no closer to understanding why the colonists had been put on the planet in the first place. Perhaps it didn't really matter, but then again, maybe it made all the difference. Either way, it certainly seemed like the colony had been essentially abandoned by the Romulan government.

"Are there any signs of major equipment that's been abandoned at former habitation sites?" McNeil asked. "Our database lacks any information on why this colony was established, so it would be nice to be able to figure that out, at least."

Turning back to her console, Isela brought up their information, "Signs yes...something concrete, no. We found some trace evidence of some equipment, but otherwise... Most likely whatever was there was either destroyed or taken with them."

Velia hoped the rest of the room would forgive her for her lack of surprise.

McNeil shook his head. He wasn't surprised, but it was a bit frustrating, to say the least. One step forward, two steps back.

"Does anyone else find it odd that we would essentially be taken right to these colonists? Why would the Romulans want to show us a colony that they have, for all intents and purposes, abandoned?" Kiral frowned as she asked the question and glanced over at those gathered in the lab.

A glint flashed in the dark pools of Velia's eyes and her smile grew bright and sharp. "Why? So that our focus is where they want it while we're chasing our tails; which conveniently leaves them a whole lot of room to do whatever they're doing outside of our view. Whatever that may be." Confusion was a very effective time tested method for obscuring views.

Kiral nodded, "That's precisely what I'd like to know. Since they're Romulans, I'm sure that like you said, they're focusing us on something else so they can do what they want. However, there are many ways they could've done that without bringing us to this particular place. So, it might be that this colony has some form of significance. And, if they're up to something else entirely, it would be a good thing to find out."

"It's looking like that's going to be easier said than done," Sonya said, mostly to herself, as she studied the display.

Isela glanced over at Sonya, "Isn't it always?"

"We'll just have to keep digging," McNeil said softly. "Whatever's going on here, we're going to have to piece it together with the information we have and whatever other clues we can find. Good, old-fashioned Intelligence work."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Commander Christopher McNeil
Chief Intelligence Officer/Mission Advisor
USS Pandora

and

Lieutenant Kiral (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Pandora
played by: Lt. Cmdr. Fala

and

Ensign Velia Moretti (PNPC)
Intelligence Officer
USS Pandora
played by: Lt. JG Malia Jacy

and

Ensign Sonya Masterson (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Pandora
played by: Capt. Iluvar

and

Ensign Isela Vin (NPC)
Science Officer
USS Pandora
played by: Lt. Cmdr. Fala

and

Intelligence NPCs
played by: Lt. Cmdr. Fala