Half-Second

Posted on Sun Dec 2nd, 2018 @ 10:47pm by Lieutenant JG Ayden Kennett & Lieutenant JG Neza Glenn

753 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 1 - Klingons on Starboard Bow
Location: Sensor Control
Timeline: 2261.189 2145

“What good am I going to be here,” Neza asked as she setup the replay in sensor control for Kennett. “I run the sensors, I do experiments.” Ayden put up a hand. “But you also know how to read the sensors better than any old engineer. If there is something that comes up that I have a question on, no one better to ask.”

Glenn rolled her eyes but finished the setup. “Okay, that screen will show you the recording that we have. Those controls will let you slow it down or speed it up as need be.”

Pulling up a chair, Ayden nodded. “If we can figure out the timing on this thing, we can maybe get a tiny bit of warning or..an opening to fire at them or..something.” He kicked it on to play normal speed for a few times before slowing it down.

“Sometimes I wish we could do that in real time,” Neza said outloud for no real reason. “Let me know if you need me to adjust anything else. I can zoom it in, but can’t guarantee the quality.”

“It’s good, thank you Ensign.” Ayden looked over at her, “You alright,” he asked as he paused the playback. “Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

He sighed and tuned the chair to look over at her at the other control panel. “Because…I know what went on between you and Bec. Honestly? The whole ship knows most likely. But, I’ve also taken a liking to her and…” He stopped, trying to figure out how to word it. Instead, she spoke up.

“Doesn’t matter, okay Kennett? As much..fun..as it was, it isn’t right. Not for how I feel for someone else.” Neza glanced over at him. “Take care of her though, she deserves it.” She nodded towards the paused recording. “Better keep going, otherwise Commander Jackson might be upset.”

“Glenn…” Neza put up a hand. “It’s okay. Go on, keep working.” He spun back but smirked. “Can’t tell me what to do Ensign, as I outrank you.”

Another eyeroll came from Neza as Ayden started back into the work. He tilted his head to the side, trying to time as he watched. “You able to put a timer on this? Doesn’t have to match ships time or anything, just length of the recording we’re watching.”

Nodding, Neza put a timer onto the image. “Any luck yet?” It took about five more, slow motion replays for Ayden to stop the image and look over at her. “That is what I was hoping to find. Do you have the sensor readings from that point right there?” Rolling her chair over, she caught what he was seeing and kicked on the actual timestamps before checking the sensor logs.”

“There we go, power buildup. But without any tactical readings, I can’t tell if that leaves an opening or not if we did have to fire on them.” Ayden stood and went over, looking at the readings. “I think your sensors are telling you a bit more than that, Glenn.” He pointed out one particular power reading that was going up rather than down. Her eyes went wide. “The moment that ship appears, those readings are consistent, until that power spike, then it drops. Shield you think?”

Kennett nodded. “That’s my best guess. Shield has to drop for them to fire, so we’d have to have this timing down perfectly for it to work if we did have to fire on them.” He went back to his monitor. “And we’d have to fire right there.” He pointed at the spot on the screen. “Hopefully our tactical team is up for the challenge if need-be,” stated Neza. “Let’s work on those calculations, do everything we can to make it easier.”

“But..we aren’t tactical, we are science and engineering. We give them everything we have, down the the half-second, and let them do the rest. Only thing I can do is work on a way for the weapons to power on faster. You,” he stated, turning back to her. “Need to watch for any of these weird power fluctuations from the bridge.”

With a heavy sigh, Neza knew he was right. “Okay, down to the half-second. Then back to the bridge for me, engineering for you. So much for any date nights tonight.” Ayden chuckled. “Late night for the whole crew.”

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