Let the Modules Do the Talking

[Brian Graham 0]

A Joint Duty Log brought to you by

Lt. Chen and Lt. Graham

USS Excalibur

Stardate 200506.03

 

Brian Graham walked through the corridors of Excalibur. He was currently en route to Main Engineering where Chen was working on some of the equipment he and Cougar had salvaged from the Novgorod. The mission had gone quite well. No renegade Jem’Hadar, the ship was neutralized, and they had rescued a survivor, a Lt. jg Baund. More would have to be done with him later, though Brian doubted he would have much to offer. The poor guy had been marooned for quite awhile. Plus, as a bonus, this mission Brian had been able to breathe normally the whole time, which is always an added plus.

 

Brian turned a corner and was met by the twin doors leading into Engineering. Not stopping, Brian walked as the doors opened and he stepped into the large room, confronted by a mass of engineers all going about their duties. Brian stopped and scanned the room for Chen, since he didn’t want to have to do an orbit around the room. Spying the distinctive blue of Chen’s uniform in the sea of yellow, Brian made his way over.

 

Chen was hunched over a console, scrolling his eyes over the data the console was displaying. Sensing someone stopping near him, Zack looked up to see the distinctive Andorian features that could only be his colleague Brian.

 

“Hey there,” Chen began, “like the crowd? It must be an engineer’s party of something. It had been pretty quiet a moment ago.”

 

Brian looked back at everyone walking around, checking workstations, typing commands, performing maintenance, etc, etc, and etc. “Yeah, Lt. Xavier keeps his people pretty busy.” Brian returned his attention to Chen. “How about you, how are you making out?”

 

“Well…” Chen said, and turned around, gesturing to the dissected modules laying on the table, surrounded by numerous PADD’s all displaying all sorts of notations. On top of that, there were sticky notes everywhere. Brian was surprised these things still existed, but he figured that when there are Replicators, there is a way.

 

“Cougar and I were able to extract the data in usable form.”

 

Brian was still stunned by the plethora of materials laid out on the work station. “Great, how did you manage that?” From what Brian saw, the data looked like it had been dragged out of the modules, kicking and screaming. But that was dumb since data didn’t do that.

 

Chen gestured to each step of the process, giving the commentary of how each operation was accomplished. “Hmm, well this computer terminal extracted the raw data into this segmented info recorder. Then…well, it gets complicated after that. Basically, the data is checked for errors, blah blah blah, uncoded segments are deleted, and the finished data is transferred to the PADD here.” Chen gestured to the PADD sitting off all by itself.

 

Brian relieved Chen had told the short story, was impressed with the work involved. “Great, so what have you been able to find out? Oh, and I don’t tell me you need anything else, because we have already gotten rid of the Novgorod.”

 

Chen shrugged, “No, that’s fine. Pretty much that hulk of metal is trash material. From what the logs have told us, Novgorod was indeed attacked by a squadron of Jem’Hadar fighters. The polaron blast residue confirms that. The Captain maintains through his logs that the ship was scouting the area for Dominion activity.”

 

Brian nodded, “That reinforces the data Starfleet sent us on the ship’s mission. I guess it is pretty obvious they found some Dominion activity.”

 

Chen sighed and shook his head at the comment, “There newer technology wasn’t a match for brute force apparently.”

 

“It wouldn’t be,” Brian replied, still looking at all the stuff. He remembered studying about Norway-class vessels, as well as a whole mess of other vessels in the Advanced Starship Recognition and Capabilities class at the Academy he took in his third year. “Norway-class vessels aren’t combat oriented. Mostly science and diplomacy, and the already advanced sensor capability they were outfitted with was a likely choice to get augmented and make them a candidate for the mission. But yeah, they still could have used some better weapons.”

 

“Indeed,” Chen replied, looking at a PADD that contained some data on Novgorod’s condition. “The battle didn’t even end in space, but they did put up a nice fight. They were able to dodge the fighters to a rocky planet near the initial battle when, then, well…they pummeled planetside.”

 

“Yeah, that much is evident. The Jem’Hadar vessels must have assumed the ship destroyed then? Since the ship wasn’t found, it couldn’t be salvaged.”

 

“That…is the mystery. Normally they would pursue the ship the ship below, check for any survivors and take them prisoner. However, we have no evidence that they did or didn’t. For one, there were no other crew alive and their bodies weren’t around to be seen when we were there. Another, the Jem’Hadar’s sensor lock on the ship would sure be lost if the ship separated into a couple of pieces, which it did. That leads me to conclude that most of the crew died or vaporized on impact and the Jem’Hadar left the scene quickly.”

 

“That conclusion seems accurate, based on the number of grave markers we saw, vaporization of the majority of the crew explains why there weren’t as many as the crew’s manifest would suggest.”

 

Chen nodded at the morbid facts of the situation. “Terrifying experience for the man. I would think his nerves would be a little fried now.

 

Brian nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I would hate to be the Counselor that would have to tackle all that emotional baggage. Dr. Delgado will more than likely give him a psych evaluation to see what shape he is in, and prescribe treatment if needed.”

 

Chen gave a nod, “Well sir, that’s all I have for you right now. Is there anything else I could do for you?

 

Brian pulled at his chin somewhat, thinking if there was anything else, and came up empty, and so shook his head. “No, nothing I can think of. Nice work salvaging that information Chen. It filled in a lot of spaces in Novgorod’s record. If you see Cougar around before I do, pass the commendation on to him as well.”

 

Chen nodded, “Of course I will.”

 

“Good, thanks,” Brian said, finishing up and turning to go. He stopped himself though and turned back. “Oh, Chen…”

 

Chen turned back as well, wondering what else Graham had to say. “Yes?”

 

Brian extended his hand, “I want to say this before I forget. Congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant.”

 

Chen smiled and took Graham’s hand and shook it in the time-honored traditional fashion. “Thank you sir, though I would have preferred a few more senior science officers. Hopefully soon…,” Chen added with a chuckle.

 

Brian smiled at the comment as well. “Yes, well, we may suffer some manpower problems on this mission, seeing as the Academy is in another quadrant, but we will make it through alright I’m sure. I know, my security roster isn’t as full as I would like, but it does keep us busy, leaving less time to worry about being so separated from the Federation. Although the extra work has cut into my model-building hobby. But in retrospect, I probably have too many already.”

 

Chen quickly stifled a laugh, remembering the model aspect of Graham’s life. He saw, as he had started calling it “The Gallery” a month ago at the post-awayteam get-together that had been held in Graham’s quarters. “Oh yes…yes indeed, they are good models.” Unable to hide it any longer, Chen just smiled wider than a Galaxy-class saucer section.

 

Unable not to notice, Brian remembered Chen’s reaction to the model collection when he had saw them, and the jabs Chen had thrown at him as well. Brian pointed a finger at Chen mockingly, “Don’t start! I can stop whenever I want.”

 

Chen threw the smile away and nodded as seriously as he could. Brian decided this was a time to make a quick exit, “Good, I’m glad you agree. I’d better get out of here before you jab me again. See you later Lieutenant.

 

Chen nodded again, making Brian wonder if he had some muscle problem. He dismissed it, knowing Chen didn’t really talk much, and turned toward the doors of Engineering to leave. Surprisingly, he made it to the doors without running into anyone. Not wanting to take the chance of getting hit, he quickly left through the doors he had come in earlier.

 

Chen returned to the console, distracting himself momentarily by pondering about what it would be like to turn into a console.