The Discovery

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The Discovery -- Joint Log by Sal Rosetto & Alex Macen

 

Sal was off-duty, officially. There wasn't really a set schedule on QoB however Manning wasn't a tyrant either. Four standard hours was the limit expected for a crew member to be actively working. Obviously, off-planet life was never scheduled around night and day. There wasn't such a thing. This was why the standardized STARDATE was established in 2162. A Stardate, or standardized day, which is about 27 old-Earth hours, was near enough to an Earth-day and Mars-day, that it was easily accepted and adopted. Within this new time-base was also reestablished a universal unit of measure known as the parsec. This new value was only about 3% less than its original value which was based on the average distance between the Earth and its sun. The new parsec, however, was based on the velocity of light. One parsec was redefined as the distance that light travels in 100 million seconds. This was called the standard-year (light-year) and 1000 Stardates make up one standard year. As with all standards, however, there were exceptions and the chronological age of a species has always been based on their homeworld's orbital period. The stardate was only used off-planet between worlds where no other reference was available.

 

 

Sal was tired and hungry and made his way up to the mess where he could relax and get something to eat. The ship was quiet as most of the crew was either sleeping or over on the Verbistul where there was more room. The science vessel was half again the size of QoB and their forward lounge had quickly become a quite popular meeting place. Being an old Klingon vessel, there was not much room dedicated for comfort on QoB. Sure, the crew quarters had been modified and enlarged but there just wasn't space available for such things as recreation rooms or lounges. The Verbistul, however, had three such lounges and the forward lounge included a full bar, dom-jot and billiard tables as well as several conversation pits. It also had a forward-looking port that spanned the length of the room. Many people sat and gazed at the star field at the tables that lined this wall.

 

 

Sal reached up and opened a cabinet, pulled out some Earl Grey tea and placed it into a clean cup. He then filled it with water and heated it. Replicators were another luxury not available on QoB. He was slowly getting used to this life but it had not been easy. As he sat down with his tea and PADD, Alex Macen walked into the mess. This was the engineer assigned as liaison between QoB and the Verbistul.

 

 

Alex walked in groggily, his face dotted with a myriad of shapes. Some were triangles, others little circles, and a few streaking lines running along the sides. Red and inflamed, his face didn't make a very good pillow as it lay smacked against the grate of the metal floor in his tiny Klingon accommodations for the past six hours. There may have been a bed within that room but he didn't notice one among the dimly lit, concrete & metal construction of the cell. He had a Raktajino - or something similar to it - in a large mug within his right hand. A powdered pack of the stuff was sitting in his room as some complimentary gift to his arrival - it tasted awful but kept him awake.

 

 

"Morning," Alex initially said, one hand gripping the piping concoction in one hand, the other feeling against the creases his face had temporarily garnished from the metal floor. He started to yawn, but instead paused as he noticed Sal was deep within a PADD, his interest in science getting the best of him.

 

 

As an El-Aurian, he certainly wasn't a top notch one. With over three hundred years under his belt, his intelligence, or rather maturity seemed to be but the fray of a greenhorn fresh from some military academy. Though he spent the last two hundred years of his studying over fifty different species, including Humans, he at times could be flaky with his information. The rest of the time he was a resolute genius. Maybe it was some sort of savant El-Aurian condition, either way it at times made him apprehensive that he'd forget how to pilot a ship right when an Asteroid Field showed up, but ironically cocky when someone mentioned a topic or study he was certain to know of. In the end, it probably was just a bad case of strong wits, and poor common sense. The markings of the floor riddled against his face gave homage to this.

 

 

Though his species has been upon Diaspora for some time now, ever since the destruction of their home by the Borg, he hasn't seen another of his kind in over eighty years. He was pretty much out casted from being the norm of the rest of his people. His people focused on seeking knowledge, and then sharing it and spreading it among others. Alex sure searched for knowledge, but rarely had he shared it without personal gain. It seemed profit clouded his judgment, and information had a worthy price on any market. Whatever the Intelligent yet dumb El-Aurian did, it was always to better his income, or his own knowledge, to lead to profit. The symbiotic relationship he had with the Verbistul and QoB was a little off from the norm stated here - but in the end Alex was paid well for his work, and he always got his checks on time. This liaison job is just a testament to the efforts - it wasn't every day a mercenary crew could utilize a man with four centuries worth of knowledge behind his eyes and deep in his brain.

 

 

"What'cha looking at?" Alex remarked, sipping the Klingon coffee casually as he pulled over a stool, trying to peer over and glance at what the science officer was gazing upon.

 

 

"Good morning, Alex." Sal looked up from his reading. He was reviewing his diametric analysis of the Zoalus language; a dictionary-like compilation based on Jillian West's papers. It was definitely not considered light reading but he needed something to wind him down and refocus his energies. The captain had unofficially assigned him to Mr. Macen; told to keep him occupied and 'out of trouble'. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant. Manning was still much of an enigma to Sal; a man of mystery with several pots on the burners. "Did you sleep well?"

 

 

This was a rhetorical comment and he brought a smile across his face knowing that the accommodations on QoB were less than desirable. Macen, to him, looked like he had just been run over by some Orion Speeders and left for dead. Sal could definitely relate and imagined it was like his first sleep on QoB in his not too distant past.

 

 

Sal was familiar with the El-Aurian and had had at least one business acquaintance of that species. There was also another El-Aurian on the El Paso with whom he had befriended but that was many years ago. Their nature and mannerisms, the way they carried themselves was obvious to Sal and he warmed to them quickly. He thought perhaps it was their child-like quality. They tended to have insatiable curiosity in whatever subject had interested them. The one on the El Paso, whose name had escaped Sal at the moment, was a medical officer. He just remembered her as an older woman who always had a kind ear. She was a very good listener and Sal had shared many personal issues with her during their off moments between duty assignments. He wondered if Alex had known that he was aware of his status; whether he knew that Sal knew he was El-Aurian. Alex had not introduced himself as such and had only briefly mentioned his extended age.

 

 

He set down his PADD and got up to refresh his tea and help Macen with his preparation of his morning beverage of choice, in this case -- Raktajino. Sal knew that QoB's services were, how do you say politely, 'rural'. "I must apologize, Alex. That beverage service doesn't work. There is some coffee in the cabinet near your left hand. It's individually packaged but much better than the mud you might find smoldering on the coffee maker in the science lab. Troy likes to let it brew for a week before consumption, I think!"

 

 

He laughed to himself as Alex grimaced as he looked down toward his cup. Now that Sal mentioned the alternative of human coffee, his Klingon variant appeared to have congealed to the consistency of some dirty dark paste, smoldering much like the aforementioned science experiment gone wrong in the lab. His grimace turned to laughter as he dumped the muck down the waste disposal in favor of a labeled Columbian variety of coffee. The creation in his mug now much more relatable to the stuff Sal was drinking. He lowered himself onto a stool sipping the Columbian coffee black. He used to douse the stuff with creamers and sugars, but ever since getting food poisoning within his first week aboard the Verbistul - he was almost positive it was from that sour milk - he has learned to cope with the bitter taste as opposed to directly injecting himself with the caffeine he desperately needed after that night of restless sleep.

 

 

"Thanks for the warning." He said, referring to the muck now sifting itself inside the trash disposal, "I thought I could smell something from the lab with the consistency of burnt rat" he remarked with a chuckle to his rather off-key joke.

 

 

Alex adjusted his vision now, the dim lighting of the entire facility a bit of an endurance to overcome at first - it reminded him of a late 20th century submarine he had seen his father in photos of in their measly Earth shanty he was conceived of in the star-crossed love of two now long dead El-Aurians. Gotta love the tenacity of humanity to frantically and nearly destroy their entire civilization in that nuclear war, and how he alone barely made it out alive. His parents, both naval officers for some now long gone and nameless nation, were not as fortunate. At first, his family, like any El-Aurians, was simply seekers of knowledge, but it was soon replaced with a sense of patriotism his parents died to protect - again for a now nameless and unknown nation.

 

 

Those thoughts, buried deep within his past and somewhere within him, would creep every now and then, and nibble at his character, and emotion. The photo shot into his mind for but a moment as he spoke to Sal. His character wavered in his voice for but a moment, but his emotions remain repressed, himself able to hold back the contempt in front of Sal. He simply offered him a smile as he got himself cozy in the dark, filthy, and cold mess hall, "As for sleep, I could say I've had better," Alex replied to his list of questions, "but that's not important now really is it? What are the results of our last sensor sweep?"

 

 

Sal thought for a moment trying to recall the hours since they had spoken and exactly what he had done. The preliminary sweep had not taken very long at all and in fact was nearly complete when Macen had left earlier. But that was merely a passive sweep meant to collect general information concerning the atmosphere, climates, lifeforms and terrains. This was a Class-M planet which meant that it contained an appreciable amount of liquid water on its surface. The sweep had provided Sal with a detailed map of the surfaces above and below the level of the oceans.

 

 

Directed by his own interests, Sal had proceeded to run an active scan of Site 8, the Устата на Бог. This was the site that had reportedly contained the sky-scraping buildings as well as the tree houses. The active scans that he had performed on this area had returned some interesting results. There was an additional lifeform that had not turned up on the preliminary scans and this had baffled him at the time. He opted to wait further analysis until he had opportunity to show the results to someone more familiar with biological systems; some one like Macen here. Sal had hoped that Macen could provide some answers.

 

 

"I'm glad that you asked. As a matter of fact, I did encounter something that you might find of great interest. This item seems to register as a lifeform but only showed up on the active scans. This is rare, indeed, to my limited knowledge. The only record I could find of such an animal was in some early 23rd century archives, classified as lifeforms from outside of our galaxy. It had been recorded by some doctor named McCoy."

 

 

"We can go review the data in the Forward Sensor Room. I have a lab set up there and even have a coffee pot that you can use if you'd like." Sal motioned a finger toward the cabinet again. "Grab a couple of spares for yourself and that box of Earl Grey if you please."

 

 

Alex tapped against the rim of his ceramic mug, nodding. The idea of a creature missing out on his preliminary scans, and only on an active sweep, was puzzling to him. The reference to a McCoy creature was also unique to him, he had not heard it in his biological history and knowledge of the events claimed by the Scientist named Sal - he never really cared to pay a lot of attention to Federation activities. With as much neglect as he could give the organization - once the most powerful in the Quadrant - he didn't really dwell in the activities they made during their first century or so - only paying much attention beyond the times of the Enterprise B Class.

 

 

He pondered however, wondering what the creature might be in regard to his active scans. There was a lot of radiation involved in a simple Class I sweep - it had to be troubleshot as to what was detecting the creature.

 

 

"Well then," Alex finally said, after a minute or so of deep thought. "It appears we have two mysteries to solve then: What this creature is, and if your coffee maker's any good. " he chuckled as Sal was already on his was out the door ahead of him down the corridor. Alex fetched the tea Sal requested and followed shortly thereafter.

 

 

Waiting for Alex to catch up, Sal paused before proceeding down the gangway to the main deck. He then climbed down and headed through the corridor and dog-legged across the bridge to a door on the other side of the gunnery turret. This was the forward sensor room and it was quite a bit larger than what Troy had been using as a Science Lab.

 

 

Most of the space was occupied with boxes of various content, but Sal had cleaned up an area in which to work; a place of his own on QoB. His coffee maker was on a shelf in a corner and Sal pointed it out to Alex for future reference. He then sat down at his console and began typing away. There were not too many choices for seating and Alex made do with some stacked crates, pulling them over to the console area and looking over Sal's shoulder.

 

 

Sal brought up the detailed scan to which he was referring and the monitor showed several worm or snake-like creatures scampering around in a syncopated pattern. There had to be some logical reason for this but it was just not within Sal's realm of knowledge. He knew little beyond the basics of husbandry which he'd learned from his father out of necessity as a youth. He showed Alex the basic operation of the console and then rose offering him to sit down and examine the data for himself.

 

 

Alex at first wavered at the sight of all the equipment - call it sensory overload. What seemed like some sort of chaotic construction slowly fell into order and control as Sal pointed out the coffee maker, made him a seat at the console, and began typing away to pull up the preliminary reports. While the reports were being drawn up Alex had brewed himself a fresh cup, sipping at it casually as it kept his mouth busy in some form. He listened to the keys crunch against one another until finally, Sal paused. He turned and gave Alex the gesture that he was ready to let him take a look. Alex obliged.

 

 

"Mhmm," "Uhuh..." "I see..." words like these rambled on as Alex took in the findings, cross-sectionalized them with some data he had on his own personal PADD, and slowly built a chart that was appearing on the screen. Though it was indeed a Biological survey, it quickly turned into what appeared some sort of statistical nightmare: data plots, charts, graphs, and correlations all over the viewer in Alex's workspace. It seemed haphazard to many, but it was how Alex confirmed his findings.

 

 

After some time of this mumbling, this chart construction, and this detail dissection of but a few square kilometers, a solution was found, and ready for examination.

 

 

"It's the delta bandwidth." first these words appeared from his lips, enticing Sal. Alex's eyes remained focused against the viewer, watching precariously as the data slowly melded together in his head - all the various correlations, causations, data, and thesis to his research.

 

 

"The computer here classifies it as Species XJY006. Reptilian in nature: snake-like, with a cold blooded Irysium-based circulatory system. The creature would appear to be like a giant rubber tube - black in composure with no definite end or beginning, much like a worm. It appears it is feeding off the delta bandwidth radiation from our ship. Whether or not Sal was really paying attention was irrelevant to Alex; he spoke to himself verbally at this point.

 

 

"A Class I sweep runs the entire major bandwidth spectrum to scan and identify the creatures. This includes the delta bandwidth, and each bandwidth sweeps through the entire sector in about thirty-five seconds. These creatures are causing black streaks in the data stream - as they absorb the entire delta bandwidth spectrum when it hits them, while our other bandwidths pass right through and identify them for us. It's a little strange, but it might justify their activity. These snake-like reptiles feed off the delta bandwidth and likely other spectrum of energy to fuel their bodies and keep them warm."

 

 

"The thing is..." Alex again noted to himself, but only briefly "This star doesn't appear to emit a high amount of delta bandwidth radiation...."

 

 

"Anyways," he continued, "This would likely explain on the delta bandwidth layer there were long streaks of unavailable data near clusters of these creatures. We should probably run a high-intensity delta-band sweep for this sector - it'd prove the hypothesis and might tell us how these and maybe other creatures found here react to delta band radiation. Your thoughts?"