Things Seen and Unseen

Posted on Tue Nov 12th, 2019 @ 11:07am by Commander Dominic Aldrich

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
704 words - 1.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Dominic sat at his desk wearily going over more and more data. He had written tighter and tighter algorithms and was down to the minutiae of anything that could be analyzed. Then a series of small data fluctuations caught his eye. He then tapped his comm badge. "Aldrich to Sommers. Can you meet me in the science lab?"

"On my way," the Romulan answered. It appeared he had been close by because he walked in under less than a minute. "What's on your mind Dom?" he asked casually, even though his trained eye took note of the man's weariness. He arched an eyebrow at him. "When's the last time you slept?" he asked curiously as he pulled up a chair. "Or ate?"

"I actually have been sleeping a little better recently, and I had a light breakfast. But," Dominic looked back at him, "I didn't call you here to discuss my rest and nutrition. I am trying to make sense of something I've seen in the smallest data I can feasibly analyze. There is a 'ghost' in the system somewhere, and it isn't software."

"Ghost?" Switching from 'doctor' mode to a more serious one... a natural switch to intelligence which was so normal to him he didn't really notice. He was still finding his bearings as security chief, and old habits did die hard. "What kind of ghost... show me."

"I know how it sounds, but that's the best word I have." Dominic pulled up the data and the layout of deck six to display it. "There are three EPS conduit sections, in a line, that show only the slightest voltage fluctuations in sequential order based on time stamps. The issue is that they are not connected in any way to say that it was a ripple in the system. I can't explain it."

"A ghost is a ghost, no matter how you describe it or where it appears," Lhaes answered, leaning forward to study the shown readings. "Could it be a man-made glitch to send a message? Like a code?"

"I doubt it very heavily. The sections aren't linear, they are parallel. A code follows a direct path. These are separate events that follow each other in a straight line, like running a knife through guitar strings one by one," Dominic replied.

"But surely that could be pre-programmed?" A field agent by heart, Lhaes wasn't much of a programmer at all. "have you tried running it by a cryptologist?"

Dominic shook his head, "No, I haven't. That said, the algorithms I have used showed that there are very low chances of this being an internally initiated phenomenon. It mimics the effects of a magnet placed near a stable electric field."

"Then what would you suggest these signals are? Are the pulses of some kind to control some kind of device?"

Dominic shrugged, "I honestly don't know. There aren't quick pulses. They almost drag across the fields. I imagine it would look a lot like pushing a box through a force field. It isn't quick. The box would sort of drag through the field for a longer time and then end sharply."

"Is there a way to test this?" Lhaes shrugged. "I have one of these implants we found among a majority of crewmembers. Do you think you can run tests and correlate the data?"

"I'm sure with some time we can come up with a way to test it. I'm not sure what exactly to test for, but perhaps that implant can help. Maybe we will find a link or something if it communicates with someone," Dominic replied. "As for now, I will set a program to continuously monitor for these fluctuations in the conduits. It'll be easier to analyze now that I know what I'm looking for."

"Well you have your guinea pig if you need one," the Romulan said, "let me know when you've set up your program." He stood and started back towards the door. "In the mean time, if you need anything just let me know. I'll be in my office."

Dominic nodded and replied, "Thank you. I have a feeling we will find something very interesting..."


Lieutenant Commander Dominic Aldirch
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Commander Lhaes Sommers
CTSO