A Matter of Perception

[Vakhtang_Dalsazashvili 0]

It wasn’t just Tang’s goofy grin that tipped Petty Officer 2^nd Class Aloysius Soandso off, it was his posture, the fading redness in his cheeks, and the humming as well. “What put you in such a good mood?” he asked the man. “My guess is its more than your new pip. . .Congrats on that, by the way.”

 

“Thanks.” Tang replied. “And how do you know it’s not just about my shiny new pip?” he said walking back to his console and plugging the PADD in with the data he had just retrieved.

 

“Because I’m not stupid.” Soandso retorted. “I can tell the difference between a proud ' I just got promoted ’ grin. And a funny looking ‘ Hehehe I’m in 5^th grade and a girl just talked to me ’ grin.” he told Tang. “So who’s the lucky girl?”

 

Tang’s eyes kept fixated on the console, if for no other reason than to keep still smitten facial expression hidden. “Dr. Jaz,” he told his counterpart. “And I didn’t ask her out, she asked me.”

 

“Waitasec” Soandso interrupted. “You mean Dr. Jaz as in the Dr. Jaz that the Chief spent 2 days grumbling about after the whole Harvester incident?” Tang just nodded in reply, his gaze staying fixated on the console as if carefully analyzing the data it was providing, only the data hadn’t finished loading, and he was staring at a blank screen.

 

“Well good for you,” Soandso congratulated him. “Just don’t tell the chief about it unless you want to hear a lecture on doctors.”

 

Tang chuckled. “I’ll try not to.” He said, as the data finally loaded up on the screen. “Back to the business at hand, I got the data from the doctor regarding Weyl’s medical workups from the other Tesseract jumps.”

 

Soandso slid over to Tang’s console, peering over his shoulder. “Yeah, I was waiting for you to get back. I analyzed the Coxeter records against our test jump records. The sample size is low, but the results seem clear enough. The device seems to pull the same amount of energy each time from its user. It doesn’t seem to be dependent upon Weyl’s strength, however, the weaker he gets, the less energy he has, if his body can’t handle the stress of a jump, who knows what’ll happen to the drive.”

 

Tang nodded grimly. “That’s what I’m afraid of, too.” He pointed to the medical records. “Look at his declining functioning. I mean, I’m not a doctor or a bio-engineer. But I’m smart enough to know that the older or weaker you get, the less your body can handle stress. Based on the numbers the computer came up with, that line between just draining energy and actually causing serious damage is most likely not too far away.”

 

“So what are you saying? Should we recommend calling off the jump?” Soandso asked.

 

Tang shook his head. “Its up to Weyl, really.” he said motioning to the empty chair that the Captain would be occupying in a little less than two hours. “My gut feeling is that he doesn’t care. I think he feeds off the whole reluctant hero angle.”

 

“You mean he doesn’t care about dying?” Soandso asked. “I find that hard to believe.”

 

Tang shrugged. “Maybe the term ‘doesn’t care’ isn’t the proper terminology,” he began. “You didn’t see him down here during the test jump, though. He strolled with this air of melancholy bravery, as if he wanted everyone to think that he didn’t want to it, but was doing it anyway. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way, in a sense.”

 

“How so?”

 

“I don’t know, it’s like he wants us to recognize that ‘he’s’ the one sacrificing his life and health to get this done, even though one of any number of people here on the ‘Core could probably stick their arm in that thing to get home.”

 

The Petty Officer let out a thoughtful sigh, contemplating Tang’s point. “I guess I see where you’re coming from,” he said after a few seconds.” Still, you have to appreciate his willingness to sacrifice for us.”

 

Tang shrugged again. “I never said I didn’t appreciate it. I’m just inferring that his reasons probably aren’t exactly altruistic.”

 

“Point taken. But what does it have to do with the upcoming jump, then?”

 

Tang ticked his head towards the console screen. “Well, I’m going to send my assessment to the chief, the bridge, and medical and let them make the call on how to handle it.” He said. “If Weyl still decides he’s up for it, which I think he will, then I’ll have the CMO send down a med team to oversee the jump from down here.”

 

“With Dr. Jaz?” Soandso added with a grin.

 

“Shut up,” Tang shot back, unable to suppress a smile of his own.

 

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” he added. “Nonetheless, the plan seems sound, I’d go on and go ahead with it.”

 

“I’m glad you approve,” Tang said dryly. “In the mean time, the Admiral wants the ship’s systems checked prior to the next jump sequence. Why don’t you get on that while I write up this report?”

 

“Yes, sir!” Soandso said mock-enthusiastically, throwing in a salute for good measure before heading off to the other side of Engineering. Tang turned his attention back to the screen and began typing up his letter.

 

To: Commander Farrington, OPS

Cc: CENG Faldek

Cc: CMO Mele

From: AENG Dalsazashvili

Subj: Captain Weyl and the use of the drive

 

Commanders,

 

I’ve ran some numbers the engineering data from the Manticore’s test jump, as well as the information provided to us from the uses of the device on the Coxeter. I cross referenced that information with the medical work ups provided to me by Dr. Jaz. I have attached the raw data to this memo. To make a long story short, it looks as if Captain Weyl’s current health is sitting dangerously close to the theoretical ‘cut off line’, in terms of safe usage. Be that as it may, I shall leave this data to be used and analyzed by you, the command staff. If the jump is to continue as planned, then it is my recommendation that a medical team be on scene here in Main Engineering for the final jump sequence so as to ensure that the Captain receives immediate medical care in the case on an emergency. Please bear in mind that these readouts are theoretical based on a correlation between the estimated amount of energy needed to activate the drive and a theoretically quantified level of health based on the medical work ups done on the Captain after each jump sequence. It does not take into account variables that may yet to be accounted for.

 

Thank you

 

LTjg Dalsazashvili

 

Atch: Correlational Study Results: Weyl’s Quantified Health Matrix Vs. Tesseract Jump energy usage.