The Stress of Uncertainty

Posted on Wed Nov 23rd, 2016 @ 2:37am by Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Captain Alistar McKeon

824 words; about a 4 minute read

Isabella took a moment to take a deep breath and collect her thoughts before she tapped the door control on the commanding officer's ready room door. Being the first officer, she knew that she had special permission to enter at any time, though she still used the door chime the majority of the time out of respect for her captain. This was one of those very rare times where she figured that bypassing respectful traditions would be acceptable. As she entered the ready room, Isabella straightened to full attention and tried not to show her uncertainty and concern as she crossed the room. "I hope you're in the mood for bad news and worse news," Isabella said as she sat down in a chair.

Alistar glanced up from what he could only call the most boring report he had ever read in recent history. He had requested a full report on everything the Federation central database had on black holes, unfortunately he hasn't been expecting the computer to compile a full documentary on the subject. He had read through four hundred years of theories and scientific facts from multiple species, none of which was helpful or simple to understand. Hearing the doors open, he had welcomed an interruption. The expression on Isabella's face didn't give him much hope though. "Well, I haven't had any luck on finding an academic solution, so I'm hoping that you and the science department managed to come up with at least an idea," he said.

"We came up with a couple of ideas, unfortunately the computer was unable to predict any form of a solution on anything we ran through the holo deck simulations," Isabella reported quietly. "The top two ideas that I feel we should consider are to launch a full volley of quantum torpedoes and detonate them at the core of the anomaly or eject the secondary warp core and detonate it at the core."

Alistar blinked as he thought over the two ideas that his first officer had just suggested. He dropped the padd he had been reading onto his desk and rubbed his eyes. "Do you know that there have been similar theories throughout history across multiple species that a high yield explosion that is caused by a high powered detonation may result in the collapse of a black hole or even help create a tear in the fabric of normal space? In every single theory that was written, every single one of them held the same conclusion that it would be impossible to predict the end result because of the sheer fact that our understanding of such matters is simply inadequate. And now, I have my first officer suggesting that I order such an action simply because if we don't we may never know what this anomaly that is a completely unknown event will cause if we don't do something."

"I can actually see your predicament, and I wish I had a better suggestion to offer," Isabella said. "Unfortunately, there's no way to tell if this anomaly won't have drastic effects on the surrounding regions if we do nothing. But, if we do something, we could be the cause of a stellar catastrophe."

"You're not making this decision any easier," Alistar growled.

"I know, and I'm sorry. As your executive officer, I would recommend that you contact Starfleet Command and see if you can get an answer from them," Isabella said.

"There's too much subspace interference from the anomaly to establish a signal lock from our current location, and it would take too long for command to discuss the situation in a committee meeting," Alistar said as he shook his head. "No, the problem is ours and we'll deal with it. The closest known system is Beta Piscis Australis, which is in communications and shuttle range of Deep Space 3. We'll try both ideas, and if they don't work or things go otherwise to hell, at least some of the crew can escape to there."

"I don't know anything about that system, but it seems to be a reasonable plan," Isabella said.

"There's a class M planet that's uninhabited there," Alistar said with a sigh. "Alright, we'll try both ideas, unless you have an alternative idea."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any idea other than what we've already discussed. I also don't think we should make any precautionary preparations to evacuate the ship until we absolutely have to," Isabella said.

"I agree. It sends a bad message to the crew if we order everyone to prepare to evacuate before we get involved in something like this. Alright, let's go try to blow up an anomaly," Alistar said as he stood and headed towards the bridge.

Isabella tried to smile as she stood, but the seriousness of the situation weighed heavily on her mind. Following the captain to the bridge, she silently hoped that the ship's current situation would and could be easily solved by her crew.

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