"What Happens When A Question Leads To Other Questions?"
(Previous Post: "Focused")
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Stardate: 60321.0945
Setting: TANGIERS ORBITAL, Third Floor, Black Jack Table #315
Before heading to tackle the task that had been given
to her, the Shillian scientist had needed some time to
think, not that this had ever been a problem before
now. The real issue had been to 'try
using whatever scientific knowledge and skills at her
disposal to figure out who this second Tal'Shiar
operative was', a seemingly simple objective if
someone had to evaluate its complexity by the way the
Captain had made the request.
Under normal circumstances, the Shillian woman would
have made use of the internal sensors, or whatever
scanning system the TANGIERS ORBITAL had in place to
keep track of its patrons, and requested a thorough
biological comparative scan to isolate all *Romulans*
currently present on the station. This would have
served to greatly reduce the number of potential
suspects for the individual the Commanding Officer had
wanted found, this of course going on the assumption
that the Tal'Shiar would send a member of their elite
to accomplish whatever mission had been intended and
not some foreign agent. The possibility, however
remote, that the Tal'Shiar had sent a non-Romulan to
identify, capture or even eliminate any and all
Starfleet Operative encountered had been rendered moot
since there was really no way that the Shillian
scientist would be given access to the sensor and
security systems of the casino.
As the Chief Science Officer of the USS ANUBIS,
currently under the disguise of a Cardassian
scientist, pondered the complexity of her assignment,
the Shillian watched with great interest the pair of
white gloved hands which hovered less than a meter in
front of her. Black Jack Table #315 had attracted the
interest of the scientist for a couple of reasons, the
first being that there had been no actual dealer to
interrupt her train of thought. The second reason why
the scientist had selected to sit at this table over
all the others had been that the same *magical hands*
had caught her scientific curiosity. Where they a
holographic creation made to give the impression that
the cards were being dealt by a pair of disembodied
hands or was there a less high-tech explanation behind
the puzzling sight?
As the Shillian watched the hands effortlessly move
through the air, dealing and flipping cards, the
scientist gradually began to forget about the turn of
events that their mission to the TANGIERS ORBITAL had
taken. Back in the Triple Diamond Lounge the Chief
Science Officer had in no uncertain terms voiced her
displeasure about the change in focus of their
mission, an act that she in a way regretted. As a
member of the crew of the ANUBIS, one that held both a
respectable position and rank, the scientist should
have been able to better control her emotional
outburst. That said though, Maya had learned that the
voicing of an opinion was often preferred to someone
remaining silent, so although she might have regretted
the outburst, the scientist felt somewhere within her
being that what she had said had needed to be said.
Regardless of what had been voiced, the facts had
remained the same and they all had been forced into
dealing with the situation surrounding Gul Zulot and
the rogue Romulan Centurion in one way or another.
**What if I tried using a tricorder to tap into the
internal communication grid? This could in theory
permit me to gain access to some of the local sensors.
It could also trigger a security response that would
see me floating back home, I mean there has to be a
sophisticated security and surveillance system present
in this establishment to insure that all games run
smoothly and to keep anyone from taking any sort of
unfair advantage of the games, the dealers and most
important the other patrons. I could try to
personally isolate anyone resembling a Romulan and try
to keep track of them," the Shillian though, looking
over her left shoulder at the few of the multiple
floors that made up the casino. "Given the size of
the TANGIERS ORBITAL and a conservative guess as to
the number of people currently on it, this should not
take me more than a few *months*, by which time this
mission will be nothing more than a log on the desk of
Admiral Koneki.**
Almost ready to give up trying to figure out a way to
comply with the task Captain Simmons had bestowed upon
the Shillian woman, the Chief Science Officer returned
her attention to the floating hands and placed a
simple bet on the table. Maybe focussing her mind on
a less complex problem, namely trying to understand
the dynamics behind the hands, would allow the
Shillian to tackle the larger problem with a fresh
perspective and a renewed sense of possible success.
The next dozen hands of Black Jack came and went
without the Shillian really noticing them, the
attention of the scientist having been more on the
white gloves than on the small rectangular objects
they were shuffling at an astonishing speed and
precision. If the *dealer* was more than a
holographic creation, the people in charge of the
casino had done a remarkable job at keeping the
mystery from being easily discovered, likely to keep
the interest of the patrons peeked or simply to
provide yet another source of casual entertainment.
While placing her next bet on the table, the Shillian
scientist wondered if maybe the solution to the
floating hands had not been simpler than it had first
appeared. As the Chief Science Officer watched the
hands continue their unhindered dance over the table,
the Shillian recalled something that a fellow
classmate at the Academy had said, that one of the
main attraction about *magic* was that people did not
want to know how the tricks were being done,
regardless if they claimed the contrary. This memory
made the undercover scientist wonder if she had truly
wanted to know how the floating hands worked or if she
had been only interested in the mystery instead of the
solution.
"Excuse me," the Cardassian said, calling one of the
waitresses over to her, "can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," the woman replied without a hint of
hesitation, giving the impression that she had been
both ready and able to answer any and all questions
the scientist might be able to come up with.
Ready to test the hypothesis made by the cadet back at
the Academy, the Shillian did what he had claimed most
people could do but never did because they really did
not want to know: to ask how the trick worked. "Could
you explain to me how these hands function?" The
scientist asked, pointing to the floating hands which
had not stopped dealing and shuffling the cards to the
other players present at the table.
"It would be my pleasure," the waitress amicably
replied, "the hands are a tangible multi-phasic
holographic creation possessing a high polarity
variable density generator allowing them to be both
solid and have no actual weight. This permits for the
control system located behind the wall to move the
hands as needed with a minimal expenditure of energy
while keeping the cards as real as any other set used
in the casino. The primary control system, as well as
the sensor grid located on, and all around the table,
are tied into the main computer thus insuring that all
deals and done to the highest level of perfection and
to provide the maximum level of enjoyment for all
those who come to these types of tables, such as
yourself. Do you have another question that you would
wish me to answer?"
The Shillian had been ready to reply in the negative,
being both happy and sad that the mystery of the
floating hands had been so easily uncovered. Maybe
there had been something to the idea that the mystery
had help more appeal than the solution, but that issue
quickly took a secondary position in favour of the
quest the Captain had send the Chief Science Officer
on. Could the solution be as simple as it had been
for the floating hands?
"Maybe you can help me with something else," the
Cardassian scientist said, a sceptical look having
fallen on the features of the woman that were not her
own. "Could you provide me with a list of all
Romulans currently on the TANGIERS ORBITAL?"
"Of course," the waitress replied without any
hesitation. "How would you like this list organised?
Alphabetically? According to time of arrival to the
casino? Maybe you would be more interested in knowing
in which room each one of them are staying in and if
they are in single or multiple occupancy rooms?"
Baffled by the sheer simplicity of if all, the
Shillian woman carefully debated upon her answer while
at the same time thinking about this new method of
obtaining information, that of asking the simpler and
most obvious questions.
---
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #192
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
