Long Distance Call
Posted on Thu Nov 29, 2018 @ 8:24pm by Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas & Captain Maritza Soran & Lieutenant Alanna Wells
1,391 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Doors of Perception
Location: DS5 Engineering Support Labs, Deck 1000
Timeline: MD 02 0500
Tags: Core, Romulans, Engineering, Science, Vulcan
[ON]
The computer terminal in Kivan's quarters started to beep, and got louder. After a few moments, the computer voice said, "Lieutenant Kivan, you have a priority call from engineering."
Kivan heard the noise before his mind registered what was actually said. He hated being abruptly awakened. His eyes slowly opened and he sat up on his bed, giving himself a few seconds to gather himself before responding to the computer.
"Computer, go ahead with the message." The Cardassian said groggily
"Sir, can you come down to the Romulan core?" Chief Baelz's voice came over the com. "Its active. I'm calling Lieutenant Wells as well."
"I'm.....on my way." Kivan said wearily as the stood up and began to gather his uniform. It took several minutes before the significance of the message finally registered in his mind. How the hell was the Core active? More importantly, what the hell could have activated it? This realization made him move with more urgency.
Several decks above the same insistent beep was sounding in Alanna's quarters,
Alanna sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Computer, read message."
"This is Chief Baelz in Engineering. Can you come to support Lab four. We could use your help. The Romulan Core is....awake."
"On my way." Alanna paused long enough to change into her uniform and run a comb through her hair before hurrying down to engineering.
Ensign Kivan Ta'Gas entered the Support Lab and stared at the sealed doors leading to the Romulan Core for several moments. The device was an inanimate object; however, it held so much significance to the lives of so many people. To Kivan, it represented the key to explaining how the Pangea portals work and just how he can prevent others from trying to interfere with the timeline as Legate Umar had tried to do.
The young Cardassian could still feel some sensitivity in the part of his body where he was stabbed during the encounter. Modern technology of course had healed any visible injuries. However, the body itself would always remember when it had been punctured in such a violent and sudden way. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he did not hear the doors behind him slide open.
Alanna walked quickly into the room and paused to look at the Romulan core before stopping beside Kivan.
He turned around and looked towards the woman. "Good morning ma'am, I'm assuming you got the same message I did about the Romulan Core?" He asked.
"I did. Any idea what woke it up?" she asked.
"No ma'am, I received a call from Chief Baelz about the COre. Here I am, in the middle of the night, expecting to at least know what the hell is happening." He said as he looked through the double-doors and saw the pulsating Core.
Baelz, a slightly balding denobulan saw then approach as he came out of an alcove and beckoned them forward. "Thank you for coming sir, ma'am. But the processors powered up all on their own, and I thought I'd better let you know."
"When did this happen?" Kivan immediately asked. "We had disconnected it from primary power distribution systems after the last go-round." He said, referencing the previous time he and Lt. Wells attempted to peer inside the device. "What would have been able to re-activate it remotely?" He asked. It was obvious that someone had not just walked into the lab and hit the "on switch".
"About five minutes before I called you. I ran a scan and there appears to be a small backup power core deep inside it. I don't know what triggered it, but its processing something." Baelz called up his scan, indicating the small points of energy, in the tiny power core, and smaller ones in the part of the core where the processors were working.
"What exactly is it processing?" Kivan asked as he looked at the screen. "Is there some data stream that is delivering information for it to process. More importantly, what is it going to do with the process information?" He asked. There were certainly more questions than answers at the moment.
"Have you checked for external signals that may have triggered the activation?" Alanna asked. She went over to the nearest computer console and ran the video from five minutes before the core activated to see if she noticed anything.
"We're scanning now. So far nothing on the usual frequencies." Baelz pointed to a screen where wave forms and columns of numeric data, signal strength, wave length and others, were scrolling past.
"Check the unusual frequencies," Alanna said. "Run a full spectrum analysis."
Baelz added the parameters to the computer. A minute later the consul began to bleep steadily. The denobulan squinted at the screen. "That can't be right." He turned to his senior officers. "Its listed as an obsolete Vulcan emergency frequency."
"Vulcan?" Alanna said, moving closer. "Not Romulan? Where is it coming from?"
More tapping. Baelz leaned forward at the screen, frowned, then tapped again. He obviously got the same result, and he started a third time. When he was sure he was right he said, "The planet. Pangaea"
"The planet? Again!?" Kivan said incredulously. "Who on the surface has the capability to access our systems and power on any device on board? How are they getting through our shielding?" He asked, his mind was going at warp 15 trying to process what was happening. "And what exactly is being processed?" He asked.
T'gan stepped forward. "May I?" she asked. "I am Vulcan, and may be able to ascertain what the signal is supposed to do."
The Vulcan looked at the signal. "It is indeed Vulcan, but very old. Most likely from the time of the first Vulcan/Andorian war. If my history is correct, it was used for First Contact." She looked at the others. "I can obtain the encryption code if you'd like."
"Please do," Alanna said. She turned to the engineer. "And please, record everything."
The denobulan turned to his panel, to start recording, and transferring the signal to a larger screen. The waveform was dense, and varied, and every few seconds the line went flat, indicating a pause. On the bench, the lights on the romulan core pulsed softly in time with it.
T'gan watched carefully. "That is not one signal. I believe there are at least three distinct messages repeating in a pattern."
Alanna looked closely at the signal. "I think you're right."
"Of course I am correct." She isolated one of the waves. "This is a standard first contact message." She added another wave. "This is the second message." Then she added a third. "And the third." The rest of the waves joined the three. "I do not know what these are."
"Nice," Alanna said. "Do you think Intel will have these encryption codes?"
T'gan shook her head. "Unlikely. They are outdated and only utilized by Vulcan military. I should have an answer in a day or two."
More lights within the core lit up, flashing urgently. Baelz looked to Kivan. "Should we connect it up to main power? See what it does?"
"No, we still don't know what is controlling the Core, nor do we know if it has the ability to communicate with Station primary or secondary systems." Kivan said from the nearby console. "For all we know, this could be a trojan horse by some outside force trying to gain access to our systems." He added.
"Do you have any other ideas?" He asked the group. "Other than throwing it out an airlock?"
"We find out what those encoded messages say, then decide what to do," Alanna said. "We're not going to destroy it or jettison it out an airlock. We need to let T'gan get the proper encryption codes and then we need to make this thing think it's been hooked up to the planet without actually giving it access."
“I agree” Lt. Kivan said as he entered the necessary parameters into the console. “If we can’t control the thing we can at least fool it until we figure out WHY it’s turned on.” He added.
:OFF:
Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Five
Lieutenant JG Kivan Ta'Gas
Assistant Chief Engineer
Deep Space Five
Chief Petty Officer Baelz
Engineer
Deep Space Five
NPC by Notty
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