S2 M1"Macrocosm"

[Nicholas Mortier]

Conference Room

The Federationen might be excited, but the idea that this other universe contained life and civilisation of its own mostly just filled Jada with dread. It would be strange, unnatural to their eyes, obeying laws of physics inimical to them. And, sooner or later, somehow, they could come into conflict. And her universe might not stand a chance. 'It might take millions of years, but eventually it'll consume our galaxy, maybe even our own universe, won't it? We have a responsibility to protect this universe too.' she reminded them, looking around the table. She wasn't in favour of destroying it, it still contained countless lives, but she knew they couldn't take it off the table if they were to save countless more lives much closer to home. It wasn't a nice calculation to make, but it was the most pragmatic and therefore the easiest decision. But she the humans wouldn't get the cold calculus Orions had become painfully familiar with. 'Can we, I dunno, push this thing back out into the void?' she wondered aloud. 'Maybe by towing it through the wormhole?'

Nicholas raised an eyebrow. There was a case to be made for saving the galaxy
By allowing this thing to expand, we may well be allowing the end of millions of civilizations, including our own. However, that may well be their natural course...
He trailed off, as he realized a flaw in his logic
Unless, of course, we somehow triggered its appearance here. In that case,
Chief, the Prime Directive would technically bar both possible decisions.
He looked expectantly towards Naga, hoping the Gorn scientist might venture a guess as to how the mini-universe came to appear where it did.

[Klizh]

Nicholas raised an eyebrow. There was a case to be made for saving the galaxy
By allowing this thing to expand, we may well be allowing the end of millions of civilizations, including our own. However, that may well be their natural course...
He trailed off, as he realized a flaw in his logic
Unless, of course, we somehow triggered its appearance here. In that case,
Chief, the Prime Directive would technically bar both possible decisions.
He looked expectantly towards Naga, hoping the Gorn scientist might venture a guess as to how the mini-universe came to appear where it did.

K'lizh leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the conference table, looking hopefully between Naga and the Captain. "Forgive me if I'm way off here, I only studied the mandatory baseline quantum sciences at the Academy, and barely squeaked by with a passing grade at that. But since we know for a fact that multiple universes exist side by side, is this an upstart bubble of new reality forming in our universe, or is one of the many 'alternate realities' that already exist just intruding into our territory? Maybe there is some way we can... push it back to where it belongs?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Conference Room]

Ian sat quietly, listening to the others discuss their situation, but was more interested in a faded memory that he was trying to bring into focus.

"Now what was that word Gaffer used ta use about his scientists when they were chewin' on some problem? It was an old word goin' back centuries. BOFFIN! That's it! This lot sounds like boffins worryin' at summat."

He smiled as he remember that earlier time when he and his father were on speaking terms and wondered how he was doing. He still got updates about him from mom, his brother, and his sister, but never a word from him.

"One does not defy the Laird of the House without consequence." He thought glumly and wished for about the billionth time that things could be different. "Never was a soul born in all of Aberdeen with a stiffer neck than old Gaffer."

Bored by a topic that held no interest to him, Ian heard the discussion absently, but to him it still came back to one thing and he figured he'd bring it up again in hopes of focusing the group back on that one point.

"Uh... excuse me, but all the bits and bobs of what this bloody thing is goin' ta do won't take place fer hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. Isn't our primary concern gettin' it off our engine without destroyin' it? After that, we can leave a marker buoy and let the hundred pound heads in Starfleet Command figure out what ta do with it next."

[Julia Rellek]

[Conference Room]

Julia listened carefully as the team expressed their thoughts and concerns. She couldn't help but wonder how the comparatively small decision she made today could impact the universe millions of years from today. "We have know way of knowing what this means millions of years from now. I'm inclined to agree with Ian on this point. Let's focus on safely removing it. I don't think it's our decision to determine whether or not this universe should exist. It would take millions if not a billion years before this is even an issue. We have no way of knowing what life in our universe or that universe will be like at that point. We're not in the business of playing god. So how do we do safely remove this thing? Mortier proposed the EM fields, you think we need more info Naga?" Julia struggled not to live in her own scientific mind and see the situation through the eyes of a Starfleet Captain. She wanted nothing more than to jump into detailed scans and explore the possibility of entering the universe, but it was more important that she kept hey eye on the big picture.

[Jada]

[Conference Room]

Jada shrugged, guessing no firm decision would be made today, nor in a hundred years. 'It's attached to us like a leech Á¢â,¬"œ we have an opportunity to relocate it now, off the space-lanes if nothing else.' she reminded, offering a last Tactical opinion.

[James H. Hawk]

[Conference Room]

James was good at strategy. And tactics. At warfare. But he knew his knowledge and skill in Science was lacking. He understood most of what was said but he knew many of the other officers had a much better understanding than he did and so he left them to debate and theorise.

James remembered reading somewhere about how the universe expands over time. The Tempest's current situation reminded him of this and he wondered what would happen if this universe expanded. What would happen to our universe?

Conference Room

The Federationen might be excited, but the idea that this other universe contained life and civilisation of its own mostly just filled Jada with dread. It would be strange, unnatural to their eyes, obeying laws of physics inimical to them. And, sooner or later, somehow, they could come into conflict. And her universe might not stand a chance. 'It might take millions of years, but eventually it'll consume our galaxy, maybe even our own universe, won't it? We have a responsibility to protect this universe too.' she reminded them, looking around the table. She wasn't in favour of destroying it, it still contained countless lives, but she knew they couldn't take it off the table if they were to save countless more lives much closer to home. It wasn't a nice calculation to make, but it was the most pragmatic and therefore the easiest decision. But she knew the humans wouldn't get the cold calculus that Orions had become painfully familiar with. 'Can we, I dunno, push this thing back out into the void?' she wondered aloud. 'Maybe by towing it through the wormhole?'

It seemed that someone else shared his fears. Jada.

"I share Jada's concerns. If this micro-universe continues to expand, even if it does so slowly and will take millions of years it could do irreparable damage to this universe. Speaking purely from a tactical and logical perspective, stopping things is easier when they are smaller," James said careful to use the word "stopping" rather than a more aggressive word. "It may never come to cause a harm, aside from whatever it may do to our ship if we can't find a solution, but one day it will do someone harm and as Starfleet officers it is our duty not to allow harm to come to anyone if we can help it."

[Ian Galloway]

[Conference Room]

Jada shrugged, guessing no firm decision would be made today, nor in a hundred years. 'It's attached to us like a leech Á¢â,¬"œ we have an opportunity to relocate it now, off the space-lanes if nothing else.' she reminded, offering a last Tactical opinion.

[Conference Room]

"I share Jada's concerns. If this micro-universe continues to expand, even if it does so slowly and will take millions of years it could do irreparable damage to this universe. Speaking purely from a tactical and logical perspective, stopping things is easier when they are smaller," James said careful to use the word "stopping" rather than a more aggressive word. "It may never come to cause a harm, aside from whatever it may do to our ship if we can't find a solution, but one day it will do someone harm and as Starfleet officers it is our duty not to allow harm to come to anyone if we can help it."

[Conference Room]

Ian shook his head in disbelief as he listened to security have its usual 'concerns' about.... everything and spoke up.

"Sir. I'm nobodies philosopher, but I am very glad that ten billion years ago, there wasn't someone standin' over the Big Bang and decided that we were a threat. I am strugglin' ta find the threat in summat that will take millions of years ta occur. Could this thing displace our universe? I suppose so, but that fer the Federation Council ta debate.

"Events are dictated by severity and probability. Havin' our universe displaced by this one is about as severe an event as is imaginable, but what is the probability of that? Unknown, no one has seen summat like this happen and no one ever will because it takes too bloody long. Which, in addition ta severity and probability, I will add time. The event that seems ta concern you is so far remote in time as ta be worried about bein' eaten by a T-Rex while sittin' in ten forward. Even that isn't a good comparison, as us and the dinosaurs are only separated by millions of years, and what you are talkin' about could be measured in billions."

Ian paused for a moment to let what he said sink in, the moved on to his more practical topic.

"Cosmology is nae my field, but I do understand the physics of this universe. Gravity along with both the strong and weak nuclear forces that bind things together have a polarity. Based on how this little boogit is attached ta the nacelle, that implies we are operatin' on an opposite polarity ta the mini-universe and that's why it's stuck ta the hull. If we reverse our polarity ta match that of the mini-universe, here is where I need Mister Naga ta help me here, but in my understandin', it would stand ta reason that it would repel the bloody thing off of us. Am I on the right track here?"

[Naga Rylu]

[Conference Room]

Julia listened carefully as the team expressed their thoughts and concerns. She couldn't help but wonder how the comparatively small decision she made today could impact the universe millions of years from today. "We have know way of knowing what this means millions of years from now. I'm inclined to agree with Ian on this point. Let's focus on safely removing it. I don't think it's our decision to determine whether or not this universe should exist. It would take millions if not a billion years before this is even an issue. We have no way of knowing what life in our universe or that universe will be like at that point. We're not in the business of playing god. So how do we do safely remove this thing? Mortier proposed the EM fields, you think we need more info Naga?" Julia struggled not to live in her own scientific mind and see the situation through the eyes of a Starfleet Captain. She wanted nothing more than to jump into detailed scans and explore the possibility of entering the universe, but it was more important that she kept hey eye on the big picture.

[Conference Room]

Ian shook his head in disbelief as he listened to security have its usual 'concerns' about.... everything and spoke up.

"Sir. I'm nobodies philosopher, but I am very glad that ten billion years ago, there wasn't someone standin' over the Big Bang and decided that we were a threat. I am strugglin' ta find the threat in summat that will take millions of years ta occur. Could this thing displace our universe? I suppose so, but that fer the Federation Council ta debate.

"Events are dictated by severity and probability. Havin' our universe displaced by this one is about as severe an event as is imaginable, but what is the probability of that? Unknown, no one has seen summat like this happen and no one ever will because it takes too bloody long. Which, in addition ta severity and probability, I will add time. The event that seems ta concern you is so far remote in time as ta be worried about bein' eaten by a T-Rex while sittin' in ten forward. Even that isn't a good comparison, as us and the dinosaurs are only separated by millions of years, and what you are talkin' about could be measured in billions."

Ian paused for a moment to let what he said sink in, the moved on to his more practical topic.

"Cosmology is nae my field, but I do understand the physics of this universe. Gravity along with both the strong and weak nuclear forces that bind things together have a polarity. Based on how this little boogit is attached ta the nacelle, that implies we are operatin' on an opposite polarity ta the mini-universe and that's why it's stuck ta the hull. If we reverse our polarity ta match that of the mini-universe, here is where I need Mister Naga ta help me here, but in my understandin', it would stand ta reason that it would repel the bloody thing off of us. Am I on the right track here?"

Naga listened to all, nodding here and there as her tongue flicked in concentration.

When Ian made his observation, she paused for a few moments before looking up at him in what could be surprise.  Or excitement.  It was hard to tell.  "... Mister Galloway.  Your idea has quite a bit of merit."  She looked back at her pad, tapping and scribbling with an elevated energy, her back frills and spines twitching.  "In fact, if engineering is willing to work with us on recalibrating the lateral arrays temporarily, it could very well be possible to 'shift' the location of the entire universe to a safer locality, perhaps even slingshot it into deeper space."  There was another brief pause.  "Ah, and of unrelated relevance, Mister Galloway, I am a female of my species.  It is difficult especially for mammals to grasp the traits, so do not feel badly.  I merely would feel guilty at not correcting your misconception."

[Julia Rellek]

[Conference Room]

James was good at strategy. And tactics. At warfare. But he knew his knowledge and skill in Science was lacking. He understood most of what was said but he knew many of the other officers had a much better understanding than he did and so he left them to debate and theorise.

James remembered reading somewhere about how the universe expands over time. The Tempest's current situation reminded him of this and he wondered what would happen if this universe expanded. What would happen to our universe?

It seemed that someone else shared his fears. Jada.

"I share Jada's concerns. If this micro-universe continues to expand, even if it does so slowly and will take millions of years it could do irreparable damage to this universe. Speaking purely from a tactical and logical perspective, stopping things is easier when they are smaller," James said careful to use the word "stopping" rather than a more aggressive word. "It may never come to cause a harm, aside from whatever it may do to our ship if we can't find a solution, but one day it will do someone harm and as Starfleet officers it is our duty not to allow harm to come to anyone if we can help it."

[Conference Room]

"Commander, we have no way of knowing if that universe will cause any harm to our universe millions of years from now or if anyone will even be alive in this universe to witness it. While i appreciate your concerns, I draw the line at destroying it. In my eyes, it's not a viable option." Julia said making the executive decision on the matter. She knew it wouldn't be popular with everyone but she knew the oath she took and she knew, although unpopular, it was the right thing to do.

[Conference Room]

Ian shook his head in disbelief as he listened to security have its usual 'concerns' about.... everything and spoke up.

"Sir. I'm nobodies philosopher, but I am very glad that ten billion years ago, there wasn't someone standin' over the Big Bang and decided that we were a threat. I am strugglin' ta find the threat in summat that will take millions of years ta occur. Could this thing displace our universe? I suppose so, but that fer the Federation Council ta debate.

"Events are dictated by severity and probability. Havin' our universe displaced by this one is about as severe an event as is imaginable, but what is the probability of that? Unknown, no one has seen summat like this happen and no one ever will because it takes too bloody long. Which, in addition ta severity and probability, I will add time. The event that seems ta concern you is so far remote in time as ta be worried about bein' eaten by a T-Rex while sittin' in ten forward. Even that isn't a good comparison, as us and the dinosaurs are only separated by millions of years, and what you are talkin' about could be measured in billions."

Ian paused for a moment to let what he said sink in, the moved on to his more practical topic.

"Cosmology is nae my field, but I do understand the physics of this universe. Gravity along with both the strong and weak nuclear forces that bind things together have a polarity. Based on how this little boogit is attached ta the nacelle, that implies we are operatin' on an opposite polarity ta the mini-universe and that's why it's stuck ta the hull. If we reverse our polarity ta match that of the mini-universe, here is where I need Mister Naga ta help me here, but in my understandin', it would stand ta reason that it would repel the bloody thing off of us. Am I on the right track here?"

Naga listened to all, nodding here and there as her tongue flicked in concentration.

When Ian made his observation, she paused for a few moments before looking up at him in what could be surprise.  Or excitement.  It was hard to tell.  "... Mister Galloway.  Your idea has quite a bit of merit."  She looked back at her pad, tapping and scribbling with an elevated energy, her back frills and spines twitching.  "In fact, if engineering is willing to work with us on recalibrating the lateral arrays temporarily, it could very well be possible to 'shift' the location of the entire universe to a safer locality, perhaps even slingshot it into deeper space."  There was another brief pause.  "Ah, and of unrelated relevance, Mister Galloway, I am a female of my species.  It is difficult especially for mammals to grasp the traits, so do not feel badly.  I merely would feel guilty at not correcting your misconception."

"I like where you two are going. Getting it out of the shipping lanes and deploying warning buoys to ward off vessels of the potential hazard. From my perspective this all theoretically works." She looked down the table to the chief engineer Mortier. "What is the feasibility, from your perspective, reversing polarity to nudge it loose and reprogramming the lateral array and moving this thing?" She asked. Theory was her strength, but putting theory into practice was where the engineers came into play.

[Ian Galloway]

When Ian made his observation, she paused for a few moments before looking up at him in what could be surprise.  Or excitement.  It was hard to tell.  "... Mister Galloway.  Your idea has quite a bit of merit."  She looked back at her pad, tapping and scribbling with an elevated energy, her back frills and spines twitching.  "In fact, if engineering is willing to work with us on recalibrating the lateral arrays temporarily, it could very well be possible to 'shift' the location of the entire universe to a safer locality, perhaps even slingshot it into deeper space."

[Conference Room]

"I like where you two are going. Getting it out of the shipping lanes and deploying warning buoys to ward off vessels of the potential hazard. From my perspective this all theoretically works." She looked down the table to the chief engineer Mortier. "What is the feasibility, from your perspective, reversing polarity to nudge it loose and reprogramming the lateral array and moving this thing?" She asked. Theory was her strength, but putting theory into practice was where the engineers came into play.

Ian smiled to hear he had his physics right after all, as when he brought up his plan, he wasn't certain as he answered the Gorn.

"Oh aye Lass. I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes ta the sciences, but I'm nae the dullest either. I'm just glad ta hear my theory has merit. Now it's up ta the engineer boffins ta make an idea actually work. Which is always the hard part."

[Jada]

Conference Room

Jada scrutinised her raktajino as an alternative to challenging someone to a knife-fight at high noon. She'd had better chance making herself heard as a newbie slave, and not getting her ideas pinched. Was it because she was enlisted, because she was a woman, or because she was green? Rule of threes... she reflected, reminding the room for the third time that 'It's already stuck to something that moves Á¢â,¬"œ us. If we start flying, even at sublight, it will have enough momentum to sail out into the galactic void after we sling it off. Or we can tow it into the wormhole, and drop it outside our space, and protect both universes.'

[Nicholas Mortier]

[Conference Room]

"Commander, we have no way of knowing if that universe will cause any harm to our universe millions of years from now or if anyone will even be alive in this universe to witness it. While i appreciate your concerns, I draw the line at destroying it. In my eyes, it's not a viable option." Julia said making the executive decision on the matter. She knew it wouldn't be popular with everyone but she knew the oath she took and she knew, although unpopular, it was the right thing to do.

"I like where you two are going. Getting it out of the shipping lanes and deploying warning buoys to ward off vessels of the potential hazard. From my perspective this all theoretically works." She looked down the table to the chief engineer Mortier. "What is the feasibility, from your perspective, reversing polarity to nudge it loose and reprogramming the lateral array and moving this thing?" She asked. Theory was her strength, but putting theory into practice was where the engineers came into play.

Mortier was deeply relieved that they were done philosophizing. He was by his nature a practical man, and didn't have much taste for philosophy. In fact, he would much rather do business with a Ferengi subspace scammer than debate ethics.
Implementing the LaForge principle is covered in basic training, and I believe it will allow us to nudge it off. I am, however, not so sure about using the lateral arrays. I'm more inclined to execute a series of polarity reversals on each nacelles, that would bounce it out of the shipping lanes like a ping-pong ball.
The "LaForge Principle" is the term applied by Engineers to reversing the polarity of anything aboard a ship, and in hindsight Nicholas wasn't sure if the non-Engineers would understand it.  Still, there was no harm in using jargon - that is the Chief Engineer's highest duty.

[Julia Rellek]

Mortier was deeply relieved that they were done philosophizing. He was by his nature a practical man, and didn't have much taste for philosophy. In fact, he would much rather do business with a Ferengi subspace scammer than debate ethics.
Implementing the LaForge principle is covered in basic training, and I believe it will allow us to nudge it off. I am, however, not so sure about using the lateral arrays. I'm more inclined to execute a series of polarity reversals on each nacelles, that would bounce it out of the shipping lanes like a ping-pong ball.
The "LaForge Principle" is the term applied by Engineers to reversing the polarity of anything aboard a ship, and in hindsight Nicholas wasn't sure if the non-Engineers would understand it.  Still, there was no harm in using jargon - that is the Chief Engineer's highest duty.

[Conference Room]

"Sounds like we've got a plan here. James, I want you to coordinate things from the engine room with Nicholas and Jada. You guys can get us ready. K'Lizh, Ian, Naga and myself will hold the bridge. We will engage one quarter impulse on engineerings command and then you guys in the engine room. If no one has any questions, let's make this happen." Julia said with a confident smile. She was ready to get this over with.

[Ngara V'kee]

[Main Engineering]

Hearing about the Micro-universe latched onto the warp nacelle had fascinated and frightened Ngara, the thought of an entire universe contained in a space no larger than the warp nacelle astounded her but at the same time, the fear that it could engulf the entire ship and the universe as she knew it was everpresent. When it had first appeared, she had been in Engineering, working on a problem with the engines when all of a sudden, the alarms went off and the entire ship started shaking like an Aurelian just learning how to fly. Standing up amid the smoke, Ngara saw to her shock that the left nacelle had gone completely dark. Mere seconds later, she heard the warp core entering it's emergency shutdown sequence.

By His grace! What's happening? I better check the sensors... Checking the sensors from her console, she discovered that something had appeared on one of the nacelles and was causing problems with the propulsion systems. Not knowing anything else, she decided to contact the bridge for further clarification. Her reaction upon hearing about what exactly it was shock, she hadn't quite expected THAT. Walking over to the warp core, she checked the console as a precaution and then sat back down at her station and got to work.

[James H. Hawk]

[Conference Room]

"Sounds like we've got a plan here. James, I want you to coordinate things from the engine room with Nicholas and Jada. You guys can get us ready. K'Lizh, Ian, Naga and myself will hold the bridge. We will engage one quarter impulse on engineerings command and then you guys in the engine room. If no one has any questions, let's make this happen." Julia said with a confident smile. She was ready to get this over with.

[Conference Room]

After many of the officers in the meeting disagreed with his concerns James mostly sat there in silence. Not because he was moping but because he figured it was best to leave the science to the scientists. They did after all raise a few good points against James' worries, they were right, they needed to concentrate on getting the Tempest free first.

"Aye, ma'am," James said once he revived his orders. He was the first to stand up and moved towards the door waiting for Jada and Nicolas to follow.