The Great Unknown...

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2011 @ 5:52pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: Astrometrics Lab, Deck 5, USS Arizona
Timeline: Following 'The View from the Edge of Tomorrow...'

Commodore Nathan Cowell had left the bridge in the capable hands of his newly appointed First Officer and made his way down to deck 5 to visit his Science Officer. Nathan had spent less than a month in the Delta Quadrant, and therefore knew nothing about what could be found outside of the nebula they called the Solaria Nebula. This nebula, a natural fortress in space, had only one way in and out, one that was very hard to find if one didn't know where to look, and difficult to navigate even when you did. Nathan had a feeling that by the time they made the two day journey through the plasma storms... more if they grew worse... Aix would have come up with a destination, with or without Nathan's 'help'.

His arrival into the Astrometrics lab was a rather unimpressive one. With the room being occupied solely by Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix, there was no one around to become nervous or attempt to call the room to attention. It did also give him the element of surprise, since the Trill was studying his consoles intently and had yet to even register Nathan's presence.

"Spots!" the old man bellowed in a sudden, loud, authoritative voice.

Aix jumped at the Commodore's unexpected sudden outburst, his right hand tripping over the smooth control panel and accidentally training the main viewscreen onto the internal sensors of that very room. He looked up to find a four meter high projection of the Commodore glaring down at him. Regaining some of his composure the Trill turned around coming face-to-face with the man in person. He took a breath and steadied himself by resting his left hand on a console. "Good afternoon sir."

"Don't give me that crap, you look like you're just now waking up," the Commodore scowled as he entered the room completely, "Now wake up and tell me what you know about the great beyond out there, namely... what we don't know and ought to go look into. Need something to do while we wait for something to do."

"Sir." The Trill steadied himself. "This nebula has been declared a zone of special scientific interest." He paused, unable to believe what he was about it say. "Iconian. It seems to have been one of their last outposts. It's vast, less than a quarter of it has been properly scanned, let alone charted."

Aral stabbed at the console, the grimacing vision of the Commodore was replaced by a pair of charts intersected by grids, showing the position of the Arizona on the comm galactic axises. He zoomed, localizing the map to show the sector that surrounded the Arizona. "This is our position within the nebula." Aral gestured to a flashing rendering of the Arizona on the screen surrounded by a swirl of translucent purple fuzz in which several yellow, blue and green dots flashed. A series of numbers in the corner of the screen caught the Trill's eye. "That's unusual."

"What's unusual?" Nathan asked with a frown.

Aral did not reply immediately but busied himself adjusting the information display. The screen zoomed to show a two dimensional projection of the Arizona's present position, from which two colored lines led, showing a course into the nebula through the nebula before diverging. "There is only one known route through this nebula. It was the course charted by the Tornado in 2384." A small image of the Arizona's sister ship flashed up on the screen alongside the first, blue, line. "This, second line, shows an alternate course our computer has identified from our scans." The line intersected several of the flashing green and blue dots. "Uncharted territory."

"Yes... I can see that..." Nathan said, his frown still plastered on his face, "But is it worth exploring?"

Aral frowned. The small dots were blinking on the screen, each offered the promise of a new discovery. "Yes." He replied barely able to contain his excitement. "That is the galaxy's greatest archaeological horde... and we've barely scratched the surface. That place was ancient before your earliest known ancestor was even a twinkle in his father's eye, Commodore... That," Aral threw a hand in the direction of the screen, "is why we are alive." The Science Officer could barely contain his exhilaration at the prospect of the great unknown. He admired the map, drinking in each line, each number, each grid reference. "Wait a minute..." he stabbed at the controls.

He overlaid the chart made from the Tornado's scans and frowned. "It's moved." He glared at the numbers before smiling, "Tides. This nebula has slow moving tides that focus around specific objects... it's like the sand dunes in Vulcan's Forge. Constantly moving." Aral hit at more commands, "The computer should be able to predict the tidal movements and give us a dynamic map."

"How long will that take?" Nathan asked.

Aix looked down at the console. "About half an hour at first, but it will continually update as more data is added to the model... it should be quite accurate."

"And after that, what will you be able to tell me about this cache other than where it is?" Nathan asked.

Aral looked blankly at Cowell. "Nothing until we're within range. If we don't get carried off and destroyed by the currents." He paused before mumbling, "Which probably won't happen." And carried on talking at pace, "This is a treasure-trove of Iconian remains. Their science was beyond our comprehension, their technology never surpassed. Those dots up there could be anything.... this course could close up in a matter of months and may only open again long after the Federation has passed into legend..."

"Fine, when you get a course for us, let me know," Nathan responded to the Science Officer's enthusiasm with an equal measure of apathy.

Discovering new Iconian technology was paradigm changing, Aral attempted to underline this fact to the Commodore. "Iconian discoveries change everything. The last opened up the Delta Quadrant. Think what miracles could await us inside that nebula!" He paused, "There are species out there," he gestured emphatically at the starscape behind him, "who would tear up entire sectors for a glimpse inside one of their libraries... some probably have." He paused, "There's a course, let's go now!"

Nathan rolled his eyes and sighed, "Whatever you want to do Spots, not like we were busy saving the Universe anyway..."

Aral was already on it, "Relaying initial coordinates to the bridge now sir." He continued tapping away, "Automatic uplink established, the helm should update in real time." Aral paused, "As long as we go at one eighth impulse we have a good chance of surviving."

"Make it happen," Nathan said as he made his way toward the exit.