Improving Sight

Posted on Mon Dec 13th, 2010 @ 11:36am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Fala Awen & Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy

Mission: Episode 1.4 - "Confusion in the Cluster"
Location: Astrometrics Lab, USS Pandora
Timeline: Day 1, 1620

ON: [[USS Pandora, Astrometrics Lab, Day 1, 1620]]

Niala (NPC), having arrived in Astrometrics a few minutes ago, moved to one of the consoles. She slid her index finger along the screen and tapped on the Maps menu. Scanning through the list, she followed through until she found one for the area near the Black Cluster, then tapped in some commands so that it was displayed on the holographic screen.

A moment later, the door to the lab hissed open and Sonya (NPC) entered the room at a brisk pace. She paused just inside the threshold of the doorway for just a moment when she realized that there was already someone there. "Lieutenant," she said by way of greeting as she slowly crossed the short distance between the doorway and the central workstation.

Glancing over her shoulder briefly, Niala smiled at the Assistant Chief, "Good morning, Ensign. I believe those helping us with the sensor issue should be here shortly. I thought I'd bring up what we have on the Black Cluster in the meantime."

"Not much to tell, is there," Sonya asked, leaning against the edge of one of the consoles as she looked up at the data arrayed on the curved screen. She didn't really know all the details about the Black Cluster, just the occasional rumor or off-hand comment she'd heard over the years. Somehow, she had the feeling that they'd be learning a lot more over the course of this mission.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Malia addressed the pair as she entered, a short stack of PADDs cradled in the crook of her elbow. "Research is a long, slow, time consuming process." She placed the stack carefully in the seat of the nearest chair and joined the other two officers at the work station.

Niala chuckled, "You're not late, Lieutenant. We actually only arrived a few minutes ago ourselves." Her eyes moved to the stack of PADDs Malia had put on a chair, then back to the Operations Officer. "We brought up a display of the Black Cluster and that's about as far as we've gotten. I suppose the next step is to try to determine what the best ways to improve the sensors would be..."

"I don't know if the captain mentioned it at all, but I remember hearing about some modifications they made to the Tethys' sensors during their first mission that allowed them to at least partially counteract the effects of the Cluster's interference," Sonya chimed in, "The closest thing I can think of to compare it to would be the SONAR systems of Earth's twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but seeing as how sound does not travel in space, I suppose that wouldn't be the best comparison."

Mali smiled and pointed a finger to the top PADD of the stack. "It did seem like the crew really did put their heads together to make things work out on the Tethys. Or at least, as you mentioned, to the best of their ability."

Sonya looked down at the PADD she had brought with her before offering it to Lieutenant Rylen. "I pulled these specifications from the computer before coming down here," she explained, "It appears to be a sound design, based on what I've been reading, but I'm no engineer. Still, the reports from the Tethys crew indicate that the modifications were reasonably successful."

Nodding, Niala took the PADD from Sonya and skimmed through the contents. "Reasonably successful, hmm? It might be that the same modifications done on the Pandora will be even more successful...the Luna class does have the most advanced sensor suite of any ship class. Then again the Black Cluster could render that distinction a moot point..." The El-Aurian looked back over at Malia as she passed the PADD on to her, "What do you think, Lieutenant?"

"Though I hate to admit it," Mali mumbled slightly as she scanned the information Sonya had compiled, "the moot point part may be all too applicable here. However," she glanced up at the women, "no advancement was ever made without a starting point, right? At best case, a stroke of genius aboard the Pandora will be able to help out some other ship at some point. At worst, chances are good we'll still be a step in the right general direction using the same method the Tethys did."

"Where do you think we should start," Sonya asked, looking from her supervisor to Jacy.

Niala glanced over at Sonya before turning her attention back towards Malia. "I suppose we should get started trying to implement this. If we're able to get it done quickly enough, we could run some simulations and perhaps make improvements as well." Personally, she didn't really have experience with something quite like this, so she hoped that Malia could confirm and perhaps take the lead on the project. Of course Niala was familiar with the sensors, but Malia likely had more in depth technical knowledge about them and how they worked.

Mali looked between them. "If we make the same adjustments the Tethys did, we could then work on expansions that our sensor systems may allow that the Tethys didn't have access to. I don't see any reason we shouldn't be as successful, maybe moreso. Any points of concern on either of your parts before we start?"

Shaking her head, Sonya looked over at the image of the Black Cluster that was still visible on the lab's main viewscreen. It seemed so ominous and foreboding, but there was a strange sense of beauty to it as well. She wondered if they might not have some time to study the anomaly itself during their investigation. There were so many things they could learn, especially with the sensor palate of the Pandora. "I can't really think of anything," she said after a moment.

"No, I think we have a good idea of what we're going to do," Niala replied. "If you'd like to get started with things on your end, Lieutenant, Ensign Masterson and I can work on our aspects and set up the simulation so we can test out the new settings." Seeing Malia nod, Niala gave the woman a small smile. Time to get to work.

OFF

A JP by:

Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy
Chief Operations Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Niala Rylen (NPC)
Interim Chief Science Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Cmdr Fala

And

Lieutenant JG Sonya Masterson (NPC)
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Capt Iluvar