"Can There Be a Single Solution to Multiple Problems?"
(Previous Post: "Nice And Easy")
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Stardate: 60342.0830
While the HATHOR carefully scrutinized SURIAL III and
its surroundings, the USS ANUBIS had been left to
tackle the many obstacles which stood in their way of
retrieving their missing Intelligence Liaison Officer.
All of the problems had been anticipated and examined
prior to their arrival to the planet but that had
still left the entire command staff of the
SCARAB-Class Intel Cruiser with a great deal of
unknowns to tackle in very little time.
The first problem the Shillian scientist and acting
Executive Officer of the USS ANUBIS set herself up
against had been the issue of scanning the complete
atmosphere of the planet in a single sweep so as to
give them the best possible odds of locating all of
the errant energy particles which at one point or
another constituted Lieutenant Commander Enaii. At
first the Chief Science Officer had expected to use
the HATHOR as a relay station while it orbited the
planet on the other side but that had unfortunately
left a large area where the sensors would have a very
weak reach. To insure that all of the planet could be
scanned at the same time would have required no less
than six ship, but since the team sent by Admiral
Koniki had been four short of this number the Shillian
woman had been forced to seek an alternate means of
accomplishing total sensor coverage of the atmosphere
of the planet.
"We could launch a set of Class-5 Orbital Probes," the
Enaran Marine said having been working on the same
problem as the Shillian who had been far too
preoccupied with the scientific requirements of their
current situation to be bothered by any other type of
thoughts. "According to the manifest, the ANUBIS has
over twenty such probes onboard, that should be more
then sufficient to get a good sensor coverage of the
entire planet."
"Class-5 Orbital Probes were designed to gather and
process planetary surfaces," the Shillian scientist
said while shaking her head in clear disapproval.
"Each of the probe would have to be modified to a wide
sensor scan so as to be able to inspect the atmosphere
instead of the surface, and we would also have to set
up a direct link with the computer so as to avoid any
communication delays and make sure that each probe is
in perfect synchrony with the others. I mean the
scans would prove to be next to useless if we need to
spend more than a few seconds trying to match the time
parameter of each probe, also the probes would have to
be equipped with some sort of targeting scanners so
that they could be used as relay stations for the
transporter signal."
"Divided as it would need to be, the transporter
signal will be extremely weak requiring the addition
of some kind of booster," the Oltharian Engineer added
having returned to the Bridge of the ANUBIS to assist
with the technical difficulties they all faced. "What
about the orbital platforms?" Elan added sending the
Shillian scientist on another problem which had been
plaguing her thoughts since their arrival.
"Although the satellites are still inactive their
simple presence is a cause for concern as several of
them are bound to get in our way thus reducing the
sensor accuracy which could easily make any attempt to
lock on whatever we find in the atmosphere
impossible," the Chief Science Officer said sounding a
little overwhelmed by the scope of the task at hand.
"I mean I am thankful that those things are still
non-operational since we would likely not be here
talking about them if they were, but their sheer
numbers is not at all helping us. Maybe we could
blast some of them out of the way giving us a less
obstructed view of the planet as a whole."
As much as the Marine liked the idea of shooting at
something, Pravat had found it hard to believe that
the Shillian woman had been the one to make such a
*violent* suggestion leading the Enaran to believe
that maybe he had not known the Chief Science Officer
as well as he had initially believed. Either that her
the desire to see Enaii returned to them had been
stronger in the scientist than the Chief of Security
of the ANUBIS could have ever anticipated.
Not letting his surprise take the best of him, the
Enaran Marine pointed out the one major flaw in the
plan suggested by the Shillian woman, even if it had
not been meant as an actually possible course of
action. "Those orbital platforms are heavily armoured
and we would have to use pretty much all that we have
at our disposal to make any noticeable dent in their
number. Not only would this leave us with a depleted
combat resources but I am sure that we would lit up
this region of space like a supernova which would
certainly draw the attention of the Cardassians *and*
of the Imperians."
"Agreed," the crimson haired Capitan said, "part of
the key in the success of this mission is for us to
keep as low a profile as possible. We are faced with
enough obstacles right now without having to take a
course of action that would only make things more
difficult for us in the end."
"What about the Orbital Platforms?" the Olthrian said
once again drawing a puzzled expression from both the
Enaran Marine and Shillian scientist.
"What? You want to use them against the Imperians?"
Pravat asked, not entirely certain as to how the Chief
Engineering Officer had planned on making this happen.
"The moment we purge their system of the virus Doctor
Summers and I created and reactivate their full combat
abilities they would target us as well as anything
else they would perceive as being a threat to the
security of the planet," the Shillian clarified
surprised that Elan had not already considered this.
"Please forgive me," the giant said bowing deeply, "I
did not express my thoughts clearly, what I meant was
what if we used the orbital defence platforms as our
relay stations? The satellites already possess both
the scanning and targeting equipment we would need to
perform a full planetary sweep and the adapting of
their program should prove to be much easier than
trying to upgrade our own probes."
"Could it be that simple?" Captain Rikar asked of her
First Officer curious to see if the Shillian woman
would support the idea that the solution to their
problem might have been right there waiting for them
all along.
The Chief Science Officer gave the entire issue a great deal of thought before turning to face the Commanding Officer of the ANUBIS with a glow that had almost been blinding. "If we use the base programming of the virus that we initially used against them and transmit a new set of instructions it should, in theory, allow us to use the orbital defence platforms to scan the atmosphere of the planet and lock on anything and everything that matches the bio-energy signature of Lieutenant Commander Enaii. I mean we never actually tested the resolution of the sensors onboard those orbital platforms but I do not see why they would be less than the standard used by the Cardassian or the Romulan both of which would be more than sufficient for us to get a solid lock on whatever is down there." The Shillian scientist paused for an instant as she looked at the giant Oltharian and suddenly, out of nowhere the Chief Science Officer leaped across the rear section and hugged the gentle giant.
The unexpected show of affection between the Shillian and Oltharian took the Enaran by complete shock leaving him unprepared to hide the surprise that he had felt. By the time the Shillian woman had broken away from the Chief Engineering Officer, the expression of absolute astonishment had still been perfectly visible on the face of the Marine First Lieutenant.
Reacting more with her overwhelming joy at the discovery of such a simple solution to their gargantuan problem the Chief Science Officer skipped towards the baffled Marine and also hugged him before momentarily pulling away so as to see the mixture of emotions reflecting in his eyes, emotions which became even more intense as the Shillian woman pressed her lips against those of the unsuspecting Marine.
"That is a most unusual reaction," Annie said looking back at the Commanding Officer who had found herself to be speechless by the sudden display of affection on her bridge. "Maybe there is something about the Shillian way of expressing gratitude and joy that we are not aware of."
"Maybe," Captain Rikar said in a tone of voice which immediately brought the Shillian scientist back to reality, making her realize exactly what she had done. Before her face could match the red colour of the hair of the Commanding Officer the Chief Science Officer hurried back to her station and began working on the specifics required to seeing the plan of using the orbital platforms become reality.
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"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2006 post #104
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Executive Officer and 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)
