There's A Snake In My Org Chart

Posted on Fri Apr 28th, 2023 @ 12:28am by Captain Benjamin Ingram Dr & Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci & Lieutenant Commander Jillian Toomey

Mission: S2:4: If Not Like A Mirror
Location: Operations, Command Level
Timeline: MD-6 10.30

JT dumped a stack of PADDs on top of the ones already loading Gald'wyn's hover cart. "See that these get to the appropriate people before they need them, Rabbit. I don't care how you do it, do it and get back to me before I go insane. The schematics are broken down by department, skill, need, and capabilities. The same goes for the personnel. If we don't need it, it goes into the construction or it goes to sleep. No arguments. Got it?"

"Yes I can see how the pile-oh-padd's is an efficient filing system," Gald'wyn said, ears drooping yet further. "If there is a landslide do I reorder the files or do I assume the new setting is the will of whatever small gods take notice of my toil?"

"It doesn't matter," she said. "All the PADDs are the same and have the same information. You just need to get them to the right people. You do know who to take them to, don't you?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"In physical form. If only there was some way to send this information via a means that, to some, might be considered magical. Like electronic mail, riding the ODN lines," Gald'wyn sighed. "I know the names of the people you want these to go to. It's the same list of names as the last trolley's worth. I'll requisition a helmet from stores for when I head over to the OSI offices."

"And what would happen if Portia decided to expand and incorporate one of those ODN lines?" JT asked. "No. I want everyone to have a physical copy in their hands. Yesterday!"

Gald'ywn stopped and picked a padd from his own uniforms pockets and entered a note into it.

"Just noting the stardate, given you just displayed an ounce of caution," the rabbit eared alien muttered.

"It's not caution, it's backup," she muttered back. "And if I don't see your backside heading out that door yesterday, I'll assist it with my boot, Rabbit. Get to hopping!"

Gald'wyn might have said something less than flattering, but they were out of the door and muttering long before anyone could have passed judgement. A moment later there was a clatter of padds from outside and a startled shriek, followed by a comically large amount of muttered back and forth that was no doubt a long-form apology or a discrete dressing down. A moment following this, the cause of the clattering and shock from beyond the door to Toomey's office made itself visible.

By slithering into her office.

Reading about the Ophidian based race named the Caustalli was one thing, meeting one was another thing entirely. It was hard to jump over the hurdle of 'giant snake' as it loomed around the door jam, its two lower sets of arms crossed holding an ornately decorated scroll case. It was wearing a vest, one festooned with pockets and what looked like a pocket watch but could easily be a communications device or a religious fixation.

"Excuse me," they said in perfectly neutral sounding Federation standard, their flicking forked tongue not even imparting an 'ssss' to all the words. "But I was informed you are the human executive agent in charge of your stations evacuation from this space? I am Trimal, and I was sent to render aid to you if I can."

Jillian had known that her days in the holodeck would come back to haunt her and one dungeon and monster themed one in particular just entered the office. "Sacred offal, it's a Marilith! Run, Rabbit!" Then she wondered if the clatter she had heard preceding the Marilith entering the office was that of Rabbit being eaten. "Rabbit?" She called out tentatively as she eyed the monster and he brain updated her on what the creature was wearing, the fact that it didn't have flaming swords and seemed rather mild mannered. Obviously, this wasn't a Marilith. She screamed.

Trimal stood there and watched as Toomey screamed. This was not the first time today that this had happened, nor did he suspect it to be the last. So he waited patiently, as one might for the lights at a crosswalk.

"I'm okay Sir!" Gald'wyn said, poking their head around the side of the door. "Couldn't see over the cart and ran into an Ensign, what are you screaming about?"

"I think it is me," Trimal sighed.

"Yeah...humans can get a little weird when aliens don't look just like them with little nose bumps," Gald'wyn said slowly. "Give her a minute, she's only got a finite lung capacity."

"Wait...Trimal...evacuation...aid?" JT regained control of herself when she heard Rabbit wasn't dead or sounded like he were in pain. "Right. Rabbit, get those Department Heads. We have some fuckery to do and little time to do it!"

"Aye aye," the rabbit said and wandered back out into the corridor.

"Right, so..." Trimal said slowly, settling down onto his coiled lower half. "From what you said you do not subscribe to the language game of small talk. I find this agreeable, from an academic standpoint. Let me be honest with you, my people owe yours a huge debt. We wish to repay it in part by providing you with some of our structural integrity field technology, as well as portable power generators that do not rely on antimatter to operate. My people built the floating cities that fly in the skies of Tangerine Dream and will be joining Canopus in our second exodus. We have some experience with mass transportation."

"Right," JT said. "SEF is absolutely critical to our endeavor as is mass transportation. Let's see what you have and then you can talk to the Devi...er, Dr. Ingrams about how much of the debt your people have paid off. For now, lay it on me."

"Laying it on you would be rather traumatic, the field containment units alone weigh several tons," Trimal said with a worried look before his eyes widened. "AH! An idiom, no? You will have to explain that one t me another time. The SEF technology we have is more structural than your general dampening fields. With your guidance, we would install a network of our generators at key structural points across the station. Once activated our generators would become quantum locked to their relative positions, with no amount of force able to move them away. Placed along the central spine of this station it would be able to sustain a great deal more acceleration in a linear direction."

"Before we continue, I need Commander Ricci here," JT said. "She's our Chief Engineer and you'd need to talk to her about that aspect and other questions. How many generators can you give us?"

"Four hundred and eight," he held up his hands, the claw tips maybe a foot or so apart. "They are wirelessly charged from a central source, and are self contained. But as I said each one is roughly several tons in mass."

"That might cover the entire station," JT mused as she tapped her combadge. "Commander Ricci to Operations, please." She looked at the snake man. "I've paged our Chief Engineer to assist on those matters."

There was a slight pause before Mara answered, her voice sounding irritated and stressed. “Can’t this wait?” she said.

"Only if you don't mind the station and everyone on it being destroyed, Commander," JT snarked.

“All right, all right,” snapped Mara, sounding even more irritated. “I’m on my way.” And the connection closed.

Five minutes later, Mara appeared, looking as if she had just had some bad news- which of course, she had. But that was neither here nor there. Her brother would live. She had to put him out of her mind and do her job right now. “Whats going on?” she asked as she approached the pair.

"I seem to have come to the wrong office," Trimal said with a hissy chuckle. "I am a structural engineer from the City of Glass, one of the floating cities in the skies of the gas giant. My people wish to repay part pf the debt we owe to you, part of that being a small shipment of four hundred and eight quantum locked structural integrity field generators. As I said, a small repayment. They should allow for this space station to traverse interstellar distances much easier."

"We need to know exactly how much damage the station ship is going to theoretically take when we take it to warp and if Trimal's generators are going to be enough," JT broke down to Mara before she handed a PADD to the Chief Engineer that held all the data and configurations for Portia that she and Ingrams had worked out.

“Knowing exactly how much damage is impossible,” Mara pointed out. “Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any. There’s no friction in space, and stations are moveable as a rule. But we all know how rules go.” She squeezed her eyes shut for half a moment, and then shook her head and they popped open again. “Never mind,” she muttered. “Anyway, my own predictions are for minimal damage, mostly to the hull. But I’m preparing for the worst. All shuttles and escape pods are being inspected and the two Defiants on patrol will be on hand for emergency beam outs. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

"Does this station have a deflector system? Our own cities on the exodus to Carpathia witnessed a number of high energy impacts at low super luminal speeds. We had predicted as much, and were able to weather the storm of it. But you're station was not designed to move was it. Travelling at event low C value would meaning particle of sand impacted at that speed would have a substantial energy value," Trimal said. "I would point out we do not have this technology, instead we perfected the outer shells of our cities to be a nearly impervious."

“Designed to?” repeated Mara. “Yes. Meant to? Not at all. Which is why I expect some damage even though there really shouldn’t be any. However, with structural integrity generators to help, we may avoid even that. May being the key word.”

"Then I will arrange for delivery," Trimal said with a nod. "And if I'm permitted I would enjoy aiding you, marrying our technology with your Federation will be interesting to say least."

Mara grinned. “I think you’ll find I’m pretty good at marrying Federation tech with that of other civilizations,” she said. “But yes, I would appreciate some help.” She hadn’t had help on the Odysseus or the Palatine and she had often lamented the fact that nobody understood the alien tech and what she wouldn’t give for someone who did. She wasn’t about to pass it up when given a choice.

"Then it is all for the good," Trimal said. "My work crew can begin ferrying the generators up as soon as possible, all we need to know is where you need us to deliver them and a place to set up shop."

The snake-like alien turned his head to look at Toomey

JT produced another PADD and handed it to the non-Marilith. "Everything is prepared and ready for transfer, Trimal. I'll get with Captain Ignrams immediately."

“If you don’t need me for anything else, I’m heading back to Sick Bay,” Mara added anxiously. She had been waiting to find out how her brother’s surgery had gone and was keen to get back in case he was awake.

"Excellent. I do so like it when the plan self-organises," Trimal said with a sibilant hiss.