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Kristen & Scott Gant<br> | Kristen & Scott Gant<br> | ||
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/gant.htm<br> | http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/gant.htm<br> | ||
<h3 style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','Arial'; color: royalblue; font-weight: bold;">USS FEYNMAN: You Play With Ytterbium, You're Gonna Get Burned, er...Lose Your SIF</h3> | |||
<h4 style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','Arial'; color: royalblue; font-weight: bold;">by Max Felsher 11-17-1996</h4> | |||
SD 81117.1430 (GMT)<br> | |||
MD 6.2100<br> | |||
SCENE: Bridge<br> | |||
Maril looked over the PADD containing information on the search for the "Piaget". | |||
It had been Bepela's quest for the jerexi (unicorns). Nothing. Not even a clue. | |||
Sighing, Maril stood up from the center chair. He quickly glanced about him, | |||
then walked over to the Operations console. | |||
"Mr. Garret, do you think we could narrow the search?" Maril asked, placing | |||
his hand on the back of the chair. | |||
"I don't see why not, sir." | |||
"Well, we're looking for a Federation Type 15A shuttlepod. So, why don't we | |||
reduce the search to Federation impulse speed trails." | |||
"Aye, sir." | |||
<nowiki><<<<NRPG:Garret probably isn't even on the ship anymore, but my rotation lists | |||
are very outdated. :| This is probably a good time to remind everyone to send in | |||
their current rotation rosters. And if you don't...., well, let's just say you better | |||
remember. <evil laugh>>>>></nowiki> | |||
Maril sighed, looking at the PADD again, and walked over to the Command | |||
Chair. He started to sit back down, but, as he did, Garret called out, "Sir, we've | |||
got a trail. It's heading away from the Issahi homeworld towards a belt of | |||
planetoids." | |||
The FO smiled, sitting down, and ordered, "Mirabi, his sails unfurled. Towards | |||
the mountains." | |||
The helmsman looked questioningly at Maril, causing the Tamarian to laugh. | |||
"Set course on that heading. Full impulse." | |||
"Setting course, sir, at full impulse." | |||
"Engage." | |||
Time passed. Maril read over several reports contunuously updating him on | |||
the situation. He paced the Bridge, waiting for them to find something of | |||
significance. Finally, he just sat down again, thinking that he would be taken by | |||
the storms of Ivepic, the Mind-Stealer. And there was always that cold feeling | |||
lurking just on the edge of his mind--not acting, but waiting. | |||
"Sir, we've reached the trail's end," Garret reported. | |||
"Where does it lead?" Maril asked, grateful to have the silence broken. | |||
'It, just seems...to go right into the surface of an asteroid." | |||
"Some information on the asteroid?" | |||
"It's about two kilometers in diameter, composed mostly of curium and | |||
plutonium." | |||
"Sir," Lt.(jg) Allard cut in, concerned, "I don't think that we should stay here | |||
much longer. The radiation levels are very high, and they're blocking our | |||
sensors." | |||
Maril nodded. "Helm, set course out of the asteroid belt. We'll come back | |||
when we have more help." | |||
"Aye, sir, course set and laid in, sir." | |||
"Full impulse, en-" | |||
"Commander! A vessel has just moved from behind the asteroid. It looks like | |||
they're weapons are powering up. And something that looks like a deflector dish | |||
is emitting a lanthanide rare-earth element...atomic number 70...it's ytterbium." | |||
Maril felt uneasy for a second, as if controlled by fear, but he quickly took | |||
control of himself. "Computer, access data in Ready Room console. Compare | |||
later ships to nearby vessel." | |||
The computer took a few moments to find its answer, but finally, it reported, | |||
<Ships compared. Styles match.> | |||
Maril nodded, wishing they hadn't matched. "Helm, keep us in the exact same | |||
position. Mr. Allard, power up phasers and arm photon torpedoes. Ops, I need | |||
some way to keep the SIF up even with ytterbium." | |||
Allard spoke up again. "Commander, we have a problem. In our current | |||
state, if the SIF and IDF don't work, the slightest hit from a weapon could cause | |||
inertial forces to exceed 5g." | |||
Maril frowned. "Very well. Helm, set course, heading 343, mark 50, | |||
accelerating at about 20 meters per square second." | |||
"But sir! That's almost right on top of the other ship." | |||
"Yes, they won't want to get in our way, will they? Engineering, divert as much | |||
power as you can to the SIF/IDF and the shields." | |||
"Course laid in, sir." | |||
"Engage." | |||
Almost as soon as he said the word, Maril regretted it. What if the SIF failed? | |||
What if the Reavers called his bluff? | |||
"1.5 kilometers...1.4, 1.3, 1.2, 1.1,..." | |||
"The other ship is firing weapons. Shields are holding. What is that?" | |||
Maril quickly turned around. "What?" he asked curiously. | |||
".4, .2,..." | |||
"It looks like an Issahi ship. The Issahi are firing on the other ship." | |||
"We've passed the hostile ship, sir." | |||
Maril nodded. "As soon as we've cleared the area, start decelerating | |||
maneuvers, at 20 meters per square second." | |||
"Aye, sir." | |||
"Report, Mr. Allard," Maril turned back to the CSO. | |||
"They're doing about equal damage to each other, but it looks like the Issahi | |||
are getting the upper hand." | |||
Maril allowed himself a small sigh of relief, but quickly got back to business. | |||
"Keep those shields up, Mr. Allard." | |||
"Aye, sir. It looks like the Issahi have disabled the hostile ship." | |||
"Contact them and tell them not to destroy it. Any large explosion could | |||
destroy us." | |||
"They're receiving it, sir. They're hailing us." | |||
"On screen." | |||
A small Issahi on a bridge similar to that on the other ships they had seen | |||
appeared on the screen. "Greetings, Feynman," the captain started. "It | |||
appeared that you needed help. I hope we were of assistance." | |||
Maril stood up, grateful. "You were. I thank you for your help. We should be | |||
operational soon." | |||
"Very well. We will be in the area if you need further assistance." | |||
"Thank you. Feynman out." | |||
The screen flickered back to a view of the asteroid field they had just left. | |||
"Maril to Lieutenant Meleah." | |||
[Meleah here.] | |||
"I want you to keep working on combatting the effect of the ytterbium. That is | |||
your top priority." | |||
[Understood.] | |||
"Good. Maril out." | |||
The sun has met the sea,<br> | |||
Lt. Commander Onta Maril,<br> | |||
First Officer, USS Feynman,<br> | |||
aka Max Felsher<br> | |||
NRPG: | |||
Well, as soon as we can figure out a way to keep the SIF up, I guess we're | |||
heading back to the asteroid. I don't know what's there. A Reaver base? A | |||
renegade landing pad? Something else? Who knows? |
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