Mission Archive

"Something Else Changed"
[previous "Touchy Feely"]

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 30148.1915

With the Yxidii battle cruiser back in their line-of-sight, their ability to scan the moon and keep tabs on the members of the away team still there had been reduced to nil.  In an effort not to trigger a confrontation, the ANUBIS stayed put and did its best to scan around the vessel in front of them.

"What if we asked them to move?"

The questions asked by the Operations Officer had been said out loud from frustration.  The efforts to bounce sensor signals off the nearby asteroids had been less than effective, giving the ANUBIS spotty images of the moon's surface.  Unfortunately there had been nothing that anyone could make any use of to help in their situation.

"Even if we could get a direct line-of-sight, that interference field still makes it impossible for us to get a lock on the crew and get them back."

The frustration from the new Chief of Security had been all too present in her voice and words.  It was easy to see that the raven haired woman had been a person of action, and that simply standing here waiting had not been something that she enjoyed.

Jayson looked down at his console once again, this time rechecking the data on the interference field that surrounded the planet.  At least that had been the one thing they had been able to scan without too much problem. Not that it had helped them in any way.

"The field around the moon is still reading as a dimensional distortion with a level 5 amplitude and a phase variance of 12.4."

The report from the OPS had not been meant to be anything more than the stating of the obvious, at least that was until the acting First Officer stepped up to stand next to Ensign Stark.

"Actually, the phase variance is at 12.398.  Instead of using the bounced signal from the asteroids, try a direct scan towards the northern polar regions of the moon."

The idea of checking the interference field from somewhere other than directly above the estimated location of the away team had actually never crossed Jayson's mind.  After having redirected the sensors, the OPS officer noted something of interest, at least for the Chief Science Officer.

"A lot more accurate. Now reading the phase variance at 12.395 and dropping."

"Why would the phase variance of the interference field be changing?  I am not detecting any activity from the Yxidii ship other than their sensors sweeping the moon."

The Chief of Security appeared a little on edge, as if waiting for a reason to engage the Yxidii.  The problem had been that whatever had been happening had been in their favour.  With a lower phase variance the sensors of the ANUBIS would have a better chance of getting a lock on the members of the away team.

"Phase variance now at 12.388 and dropping fast."

"If this is not the result of some action from the Yxidii battle cruiser, then we have to conclude that something has changed down on the moon.  We have to be ready to take full advantage of this opportunity, regardless of what the Yxidii may want us to do."

The acting First Officer returned to the center of the bridge, ready to give whatever orders would be required should the phase variance drop low enough to allow for the ANUBIS to actually do something other than simply stand there as an unwilling observer. 

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