Theorycrafting

Posted on Fri Oct 14th, 2011 @ 11:58am by Commander Sakkath

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: USS Takei

Sakkath's quarters onboard the Takei were limited to say the least, but as one of the few officers onboard he was afforded the luxury of a room to himself. With space at such a premium, most of the crew were paired up in bunks. Some had even taken to setting up cots in the cargo bays, now that most of the equipment had been transferred to the surface.

He stood before the small sink, a damp towel removing the dried green blood from his lip. He was beginning to look the worse for wear... constant friction with the Divitian bureaucracy, his physical altercation with the now-civilian Captain Lorenz, and the pressures of allocating resources that may or may not determine the fate of a world... and Li had been strangely silent of late. He would never admit it to anyone but her, but he missed her. He would be glad to return to his own quarters on the starbase, and his own bed.

Leaving the bloodied cloth in the sink's basin, the Vulcan Commander began to change his uniform. Fresh clothes and a fresh perspective might serve him well, and though he was sorely tempted to darken his quarters and meditate, the demands on him were simply too many. Pulling on an Ops gold duty tunic, Sakkath made his way to the bridge, mere feet away.

"Report," he ordered as he passed through the portal. Calls of 'Captain on Deck' had swiftly been relegated to an unnecessary formality under his command, and those assembled on the Takei kept their seats.

"Unchanged, Captain," came the reply from the Ensign at the helm. "Efforts to clean the atmosphere continue to progress at an improved rate now that Divitian material is supplementing our own."

"Adequate," Sakkath replied as he took the center seat. His eyes flew over the command console next to him, taking in everything there was to know about the Takei in moments. He gave a satisfied nod and redirected his attention to the main screen.

"Open a channel to Commander qeraQ'."

"Channel open," came the reply from Tactical to his rear.

"Commander," Sakkath began, "I have completed my analysis of Divitian power consumption for the purpose of shielding population centers on the surface. It is, in a word, significant. I have also taken the liberty of projecting approximate power savings based on moving survivors beneath the surface and continuing efforts to clean the atmosphere. Data is being transmitted to your console."

Sakkath lifted a hand, and the Ops station complied with his request.

"If the Divitians agree to Commander Leroy's proposal, I should also like to request the use of several of our atmospheric probes. It is possible that superheating the atmosphere as a result of our phaser fire may have an impact on the problem, and I'd like to have the necessary data to investigate that hypothesis. I shall remain on the Takei for the time being, should you need to contact me. Sakkath out."

The Vulcan stood. "Prepare a pair of atmospheric probes for launch," he said, anticipating that the Divitians had little choice but to accept Starfleet's proposed intervention, "and let Commander Frost know that I may require his expertise in the near future. I will be in my Ready Room."

A chorus of "aye"s and nods later, Sakkath was seated behind his desk. "Tea, green, hot," he said aloud, lifting the mug from the nearby replicator as he spun his terminal to face him. Activating it showed the last thing he had been working on - a schematic for a magnetic beacon of sorts. He had yet to run a simulation, but he remained hopeful for the premise...

The ionized particles that poisoned Divitia Prime would respond more readily to external stimuli of an opposing charge than the heavier atmospheric elements, or so the Vulcan reasoned. Additional gravity generators on the surface, attuned for specific attraction to key gases such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen could even improve the process. It was possible that the act of firing the directed energy of a phaser through the exosphere would create enough of a tear to literally pull the pollutants into space.

All of it theory, but the Vulcan worked diligently at it nonetheless. Perhaps, in a few hours and with a few more gallons of tea, he would have something concrete to bring the Commander Leroy.

__________________________
Lieutenant Commander Sakkath
Commanding Officer - USS Takei
Chief of Operations - SB 900