S2 M1"Macrocosm"

[Solluk]

[Bridge]

"Good ta see you Mister Solluk. Please take the conn. It won't be very glamorous as we aren't movin', but you have earned the job fer yer quick thinkin' with the Vortex."

Solluk straightened a little bit more when the Lieutenant complemented him on his action with the shuttle.  Galloway was well known on the ship to be a quick-thinking and able hand on the flight console.  Praise from him was no small matter.

"Thank you, Sir," he said as he claimed the station.   It didn't matter that they weren't going anywhere.   It was a great honor to hold a seat on the bridge even though the ship was becalmed.

But that wasn't the end of it.

"Thank you for your prompt response Petty Officer."

It was quite a thing to be acknowledged by the Captain, and even thanked.  It made him think that Ian hadn't been merely kind before to pass along the Captain's regards.

"Pleased to be of service, Captain," Solluk responded, at a loss of anything else to say in the moment.

As the officers- and was that Jada with them?  Went off to the conference room, he settled into his station.  Smiling faintly, he checked engine status.  Maintained Stationkeeping.  Verified RCS thruster responsiveness.  Then he glanced to the other stations, offering a friendly nod.  Yes, he thought, I'm a bridge officer now.  How are you doin'?

[Jada]

Conference Room

Sighing and sipping her refreshing raktajino instead, Jada took a place at the far end of the table, at last answering formally 'I'm talking about going looking for space anomalies as you and Commander Klizh were, sir. Generally speaking.'

[Ian Galloway]

Conference Room

Sighing and sipping her refreshing raktajino instead, Jada took a place at the far end of the table, at last answering formally 'I'm talking about going looking for space anomalies as you and Commander Klizh were, sir. Generally speaking.'

[Conference Room]

Ian continued to frown as he replied.

"Perhaps it's just a human thing ta be curious. Does it cost us trouble? No doubt. Has it cost lives? Without doubt. However, by askin' why and how is what drove us ta the stars and is a fundamental part of who we are. If that means we find more anomalies than all the other species in this galaxy, then we have the opportunity ta be the first ta learn from them.

"Even though this universe is a problem, it is not a direct threat ta us at the moment. However, thanks ta our 'poking' it, at least we know about it and can help the less curious species survive along with us, because we will figure out how ta stop it. Hopefully, we can send it back ta where it came from or help it along ta someplace else. Pray it doesn't come ta us destroyin' it, but we will cross that bridge if it happens.

"But when it comes right to it, if not fer Starfleet, this little universe would have grown out here all alone until it was too big ta stop. So I'd say there is some merit ta pokin' at things."

[Julia Rellek]

[Conference Room]

Ian continued to frown as he replied.

"Perhaps it's just a human thing ta be curious. Does it cost us trouble? No doubt. Has it cost lives? Without doubt. However, by askin' why and how is what drove us ta the stars and is a fundamental part of who we are. If that means we find more anomalies than all the other species in this galaxy, then we have the opportunity ta be the first ta learn from them.

"Even though this universe is a problem, it is not a direct threat ta us at the moment. However, thanks ta our 'poking' it, at least we know about it and can help the less curious species survive along with us, because we will figure out how ta stop it. Hopefully, we can send it back ta where it came from or help it along ta someplace else. Pray it doesn't come ta us destroyin' it, but we will cross that bridge if it happens.

"But when it comes right to it, if not fer Starfleet, this little universe would have grown out here all alone until it was too big ta stop. So I'd say there is some merit ta pokin' at things."

[Conference Room]

Looking up from her coffee she let Jada and Ian talk for a moment before interrupting. "Alright folks, I can only handle one existential crisis at a time." She put a photo of the universe on the screen along with all of the data that had been collected thus far. "Let's take a seat. I think everyone know why we're gathered here but I'll give a quick synopsis. About an hour ago we hit a micro universe that is currently stuck to our hull and siphoning power. To answer your question, Ian, it would be millions of years before it would pose any threat to our universe. We could easily destroy it by venting large amounts of plasma from the nacelle but i do believe that would be a violation of the prime directive. We have no idea what kind of life exists in that universe or what the passage of time is like. It's theoretically possible that every day we experience is thousands or millions of years inside that micro-verse. So thats where we are? Is it possible to move it without harming it? I'm open to suggestions?" Julia lean against the back of her chair as she finished speaking.

[Jada]

Conference Room

Lip curled in smouldering irritation, Jada wondered if making defensive speeches was also a fundamental part of what it was to be human. But they were a young species, new to space and still full of hope and childish curiosity. They'd learn. The universe would teach them. They were in the Outer Dark now and things would not be so easy.

Glad of Captain Rellek's summation, Jada thought about this mess, cursing softly in Kolari. So it really was a micro universe. For all its small size, the concept was too huge to contemplate. A whole universe? How did one even react to that? It hardly seemed their place to decide the fates of universes. 'I think we need a science lesson, captain. Is this Á¢â,¬"œ I can't believe I'm asking Á¢â,¬"œ normal behaviour for a universe? Is it supposed to be here?' She was aware of Captain Rellek's background in cosmology, and figured this would be right up her alley.

[Ian Galloway]

[Conference Room]

Looking up from her coffee she let Jada and Ian talk for a moment before interrupting. "Alright folks, I can only handle one existential crisis at a time." She put a photo of the universe on the screen along with all of the data that had been collected thus far. "Let's take a seat. I think everyone know why we're gathered here but I'll give a quick synopsis. About an hour ago we hit a micro universe that is currently stuck to our hull and siphoning power. To answer your question, Ian, it would be millions of years before it would pose any threat to our universe. We could easily destroy it by venting large amounts of plasma from the nacelle but i do believe that would be a violation of the prime directive. We have no idea what kind of life exists in that universe or what the passage of time is like. It's theoretically possible that every day we experience is thousands or millions of years inside that micro-verse. So thats where we are? Is it possible to move it without harming it? I'm open to suggestions?" Julia lean against the back of her chair as she finished speaking.

[Conference Room]

Ian was glad the captain intervened as there was something about Jada that rubbed him the wrong way on multiple levels, and getting into a debate with her wouldn't lead to anything worth the effort.

"So much for the vaunted, irresistible charms of Orion women. Chalk that one up as another old spacer's tale."

He thought to himself with a small smirk, but when the captain finished speaking he frowned and spoke up.

"Ma'am. If this thing isn't goin' ta be a problem fer that long, then isn't our only actual problem how ta get the thing off of our engine without hurtin' it? I guess why it's here and actin' this way is a scientific curiosity, but it doesn't seem ta pose a threat ta us or this quadrant."

[Nicholas Mortier]

[Conference Room]

Ian was glad the captain intervened as there was something about Jada that rubbed him the wrong way on multiple levels, and getting into a debate with her wouldn't lead to anything worth the effort.

"So much for the vaunted, irresistible charms of Orion women. Chalk that one up as another old spacer's tale."

He thought to himself with a small smirk, but when the captain finished speaking he frowned and spoke up.

"Ma'am. If this thing isn't goin' ta be a problem fer that long, then isn't our only actual problem how ta get the thing off of our engine without hurtin' it? I guess why it's here and actin' this way is a scientific curiosity, but it doesn't seem ta pose a threat ta us or this quadrant."

[Conference Room]

Nicholas listened silently to the discussion, but deemed it wise to speak up now.

I suppose, he said, that we should figure out what kind of force is attaching it to the ship. Ideally,
we should be able to run a current or EM pulse through the nacelle to nudge it away, without shearing any part of the Tempest off. 

He paused to let his words sink in, sipped a raktajino, and moved on to the technical aspects of the situation.
It isn't putting too much strain on the ship's systems, presently, but constricting the warp core to powering one nacelle is proving to be a rather difficult balancing act.
I'd appreciate resolving this matter as soon as we can.

[Ian Galloway]

[Conference Room]

Nicholas listened silently to the discussion, but deemed it wise to speak up now.

I suppose, he said, that we should figure out what kind of force is attaching it to the ship. Ideally,
we should be able to run a current or EM pulse through the nacelle to nudge it away, without shearing any part of the Tempest off. 

He paused to let his words sink in, sipped a raktajino, and moved on to the technical aspects of the situation.
It isn't putting too much strain on the ship's systems, presently, but constricting the warp core to powering one nacelle is proving to be a rather difficult balancing act.
I'd appreciate resolving this matter as soon as we can.

[Conference Room]

Ian listened to Mortier and, feeling engineering was much closer to his skill set than science, smiled as he replied.

"Since we are nae movin' can't you just take warp offline? Impulse should be more than enough fer all systems with us at a halt without shields or weapons. Actually, maybe the little boogit is feedin' off the nacelle, we dry up the cow, the calf might just back off."

[Klizh]

[Conference Room]

Ian listened to Mortier and, feeling engineering was much closer to his skill set than science, smiled as he replied.

"Since we are nae movin' can't you just take warp offline? Impulse should be more than enough fer all systems with us at a halt without shields or weapons. Actually, maybe the little boogit is feedin' off the nacelle, we dry up the cow, the calf might just back off."

"Isn't a universe, by its very definition, self-contained though?" K'lizh ventured, though he was a bit out of his depth. If he fully understood quantum mechanics, he would be wearing a blue shirt right now instead of a yellow one. "I assumed we were stuck because it's intruding into subspace and thus, our warp field can't get any 'traction.' Like a cheap hoverboard over water. Do we have any indication this thing is drawing power from us?"

Where was Naga, anyway? Even if this wasn't her duty shift, she would be here as a senior officer. This was the sort of thing he knew would cause her frills to rise in excitement.

[Naga Rylu]

[Conference Room]

As if summoned by his thoughts, the female reptilian alien came in through the door, nearly clipping the tops of her spines on the frame.

"My apologies for the delay."  Naga said as she ducked slightly out of habit, eyes riveted to a datapad as she used her claws to scroll up and down.  "This is a fantastic discovery.  We've launched the lateral arrays, and with your permission, Captain, I would like permission to try sending out a Nano-probe to investigate further.  We haven't had much cause to test it in other situations, outside of medical emergencies, perhaps if we used it to penetrate the outside of the event we can find out more of it's makeup."  The Gorn's silver eyes were shining brightly as she looked at the others, her elevated tail, spines and frills indicating her pure excitement over the situation.  True, it wasn't an ideal situation, but still.  Discovery!!  "Preliminary results are actually showing a few radio waves of structures indicative of civilizations!"

[Jada]

Conference Room

Softly, Jada hissed a Kolari curse; that made things more difficult. 'Is this universe-thing affecting the ship? I'd like to rule it out of the investigation into the sarium-krellide cell rupture.'

[Solluk]

[Bridge]

The silence on the bridge stretched on for some time.  Most of the alternate bridge officers had little to do in the ship's current state.  Solluk kept stationkeeping... or rather he watched carefully that the ship's computer did so.  Ensign Capris at the auxiliary science station monitored sensor data.  Ops was probably managing resources of some flavor.  But with the Tempest at a standstill, everything was very routine.

And perhaps very dull.

Eventually, tedium forced someone to break the silence.

"It must have come through some kind of dimensional barrier, don't you think," Capris asked from the auxiliary science station.

"I don't care where it came from," Petty Officer Halsey declared from tactical, "latching on to our ship is a hostile action.  We should just cook it and move on."

"What, and commit genocide against countless alien species," Capris objected, horrified.

"Hey, that's countless alien species making a de-facto declaration of war with their hostile action," Halsey countered.

"They may not even know this is happening," Capris' voice elevated, the woman clearly aghast at Halsey's casual disregard.  "Do you know what our own universe is doing right now?  Can you control it?  Don't be ludicrous."

Halsey shrugged, indifferent to such concerns.

Capris looked for support elsewhere on the bridge.  "What do you think, Solluk?"

Solluk frowned slightly, considering the options.  "I agree that committing untold genocides merely for the sake of convenience is unwarranted.  In fact, I am already alarmed at what damage may have been done to this universe by its impact with our nacelle.  It seems to me the safest option would be to jettison the nacelle, place a navigational buoy warning of the hazard, and send a message to Deep Space Nine requesting a tow back to base.  When refitted with a new nacelle, we can even return to conduct scientific research of this pocket universe.  Of course, I am perhaps not the person best suited to make such determinations."

"You're right about that," Halsey said, "Leaving us limping out here on one nacelle with the Dominion and God knows what else out there?  I hope they never put you in charge of people."

"By the Powers, Halsey," Capris said, her blue face darkening, "every time I think you can't be more rude, you surprise me."

Solluk's frown deepened.  "Commanding others is a weighty responsibility," he conceded, "not unlike deciding the fate of an entire universe, though perhaps on a smaller scale.  Should we really respond to such responsibility by 'cooking' those whose lives we hold in our hands?"

Now it was Halsey's turn to frown.  Capris, contrarily, sported a smirk.

The bridge resumed its silence for a time.

[Julia Rellek]

Conference Room

Lip curled in smouldering irritation, Jada wondered if making defensive speeches was also a fundamental part of what it was to be human. But they were a young species, new to space and still full of hope and childish curiosity. They'd learn. The universe would teach them. They were in the Outer Dark now and things would not be so easy.

Glad of Captain Rellek's summation, Jada thought about this mess, cursing softly in Kolari. So it really was a micro universe. For all its small size, the concept was too huge to contemplate. A whole universe? How did one even react to that? It hardly seemed their place to decide the fates of universes. 'I think we need a science lesson, captain. Is this Á¢â,¬"œ I can't believe I'm asking Á¢â,¬"œ normal behaviour for a universe? Is it supposed to be here?' She was aware of Captain Rellek's background in cosmology, and figured this would be right up her alley.

[Conference Room]

"Normal is such a relative term, when it comes to cosmology. There is nothing particularly normal about the formation of a universe. But thats another conversation for a different day." Julia said as she pondered the rest of the security officers question. "As for whether or not it's supposed to be here. We have a tendency to think of our universe as a place with a solid barrier, like the hull of our ship. But the reality is that the edges of our universe are more porous than that. We see glimpses into other universes and dimensions from time-to-time through a wide array of phenomena. I read a paper a few years ago that theorized this was possible but i doubt the author ever expected to see it happen."

[Conference Room]

As if summoned by his thoughts, the female reptilian alien came in through the door, nearly clipping the tops of her spines on the frame.

"My apologies for the delay."  Naga said as she ducked slightly out of habit, eyes riveted to a datapad as she used her claws to scroll up and down.  "This is a fantastic discovery.  We've launched the lateral arrays, and with your permission, Captain, I would like permission to try sending out a Nano-probe to investigate further.  We haven't had much cause to test it in other situations, outside of medical emergencies, perhaps if we used it to penetrate the outside of the event we can find out more of it's makeup."  The Gorn's silver eyes were shining brightly as she looked at the others, her elevated tail, spines and frills indicating her pure excitement over the situation.  True, it wasn't an ideal situation, but still.  Discovery!!  "Preliminary results are actually showing a few radio waves of structures indicative of civilizations!"

Julia was naturally excited to hear the news that their were signs of intelligent life inside that small universe. Sh couldn't help but wonder if any life in there would be aware of the predicament their universe was in. Likely, it would be impossible for them to know. "That's awesome Chief. We can certainly try to explore it, but those findings definitely complicate matters further. Now we know we must remove it without endangering it further. We could potentially have trillions of lives in our hands right now." She added.

[Conference Room]

Nicholas listened silently to the discussion, but deemed it wise to speak up now.

I suppose, he said, that we should figure out what kind of force is attaching it to the ship. Ideally,
we should be able to run a current or EM pulse through the nacelle to nudge it away, without shearing any part of the Tempest off.

He paused to let his words sink in, sipped a raktajino, and moved on to the technical aspects of the situation.
It isn't putting too much strain on the ship's systems, presently, but constricting the warp core to powering one nacelle is proving to be a rather difficult balancing act.
I'd appreciate resolving this matter as soon as we can.

"I like it." Julia said with a hint of concern in her voice. "But im not sure how an EM pulse would effect the universe." Looking to the other scientist in the room Julia turned to Naga. "What do you think Naga? I would be inclined to try it and hope that the barrier between the universe is strong enough to keep out the EM fields."

[Naga Rylu]

[Conference Room]

"Normal is such a relative term, when it comes to cosmology. There is nothing particularly normal about the formation of a universe. But thats another conversation for a different day." Julia said as she pondered the rest of the security officers question. "As for whether or not it's supposed to be here. We have a tendency to think of our universe as a place with a solid barrier, like the hull of our ship. But the reality is that the edges of our universe are more porous than that. We see glimpses into other universes and dimensions from time-to-time through a wide array of phenomena. I read a paper a few years ago that theorized this was possible but i doubt the author ever expected to see it happen."

Julia was naturally excited to hear the news that their were signs of intelligent life inside that small universe. Sh couldn't help but wonder if any life in there would be aware of the predicament their universe was in. Likely, it would be impossible for them to know. "That's awesome Chief. We can certainly try to explore it, but those findings definitely complicate matters further. Now we know we must remove it without endangering it further. We could potentially have trillions of lives in our hands right now." She added.

"I like it." Julia said with a hint of concern in her voice. "But im not sure how an EM pulse would effect the universe." Looking to the other scientist in the room Julia turned to Naga. "What do you think Naga? I would be inclined to try it and hope that the barrier between the universe is strong enough to keep out the EM fields."

Naga blinked, then cocked her head to the side in a considering manner before looking back at her pad.  "... I'd like to learn a little more about the envelope before we try that, personally."  She replied, sending her data and partial report to the others as she spoke.  "From what I can tell so far, what we're caught on right now is an outer layer.  We fortunately haven't penetrated into the actual universe, though I still expect we have caused some damage.  Much like how humans have a fluid-filled sack to protect against damage in case of a shock, that seems to be the purpose of the first envelope.  But a hard enough shock can cause irreparable damage."

[Jada]

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?'