Science Update

Posted on Mon Aug 22nd, 2016 @ 3:54am by Ensign Theodore Vega & Lieutenant Ryan North

Episode: Lost Property
Location: Science Lab
Timeline: Right After A Surprise Visitor

Given what he had just seen on the De Salle, Ryan was a curious as to what would happen next. He had no idea how they managed to get someone from their phase over to the one that the Highlander was in especially using equipment that old. He had summoned Ensign Vega as soon as he had returned to the ship, although ops would be working on their own theories it never hurt to have someone else take a look at things. And, from a strictly biological stand point, aside from the doctor there weren't many more people well versed in it than Theo.

Theo poked his head inside the science lab, then quickly entered as he realized it was kind of pointless to delay. He wasn't sure what his boss wanted from him. Hopefully it wasn't about anything from the biologics lab; he was pretty sure nothing had gotten loose or made the ship sick or anything of that nature, but then again there could be a problem and he just didn't know it, which was its own larger problem.

"What can I do for you, sir?"

Ryan looked up from the main control monitors and smiled. "Theo, come on in. I have something that I need your help with."

Very briefly, Ryan described everything that had happened with the De Salle to date, including the sudden appearance of her chief medical officer in the imaging chamber.

Theo rubbed his temple as he tried to absorb the information. "And just to be completely clear, this guy arrived in one piece? No missing parts at all?"

Ryan nodded. "Trust me I am still trying to figure out that one. I'm no doctor but I would assume that a trip like that would have serious repercussions on his body systems."

"I'd expect results similar to a transporter accident," Theo said. "Without precise control over the transition between dimensions, you couldn't guarantee everything came through simultaneously. Even small, momentary displacement at the cellular level could cause... anything from chemical imbalances to microscopic tears to something like massive radiation damage."

Ryan nodded. "My thoughts exactly, I know that the doctor will be working on a way to revive anyone else that comes over, although given the fact that the imaging chamber on the De Salle is now non-operational I doubt that they use that way. Establish a link with the medical systems in sickbay, assuming that we can figure out a way to bring them back I'd like to have some options available that don't fry their insides or anything."

"It's got to be something about the imaging chamber that made it happen safely, since it hasn't occurred anywhere else," Theo said, trying to think of possible explanations. He knew next to nothing about the old ship. He'd looked up the basic information when they'd found it, but until know his duties had been pretty well removed from the entire thing. "And it would have to be something that would cover the entire body simultaneously, so it's not any of the functions that scan the patient bit by bit."

Ryan nodded in understanding. "Maybe some sort of scan? I've been racking my brain to come up with anything but so far nothing makes sense. Admittedly, I am hoping that our intrepid chief engineer knows something about the imaging chamber systems."

"A scan would be the most likely candidate." Theo picked up a PADD from Ryan's desk and opened up a drawing utility. He quickly sketched a rough human figure with his finger, then some field lines. He also did a few quick calculations. "See, you'd need something that evens out the transition within the volume, so there's no more than a microsecond lag between any given molecules. You can probably use the safety margin for transporter dematerialization to give you a range of acceptable difference. Anyway, I'd say the most likely candidates are either a strong magnetic field, which acts as a conductor to speed any spatial displacement, or some kind of penetrating radiation that makes the entire body more susceptible to subspace effects."

Ryan did some of his own mental calculations. "Correct me if I am wrong but the level radiation that would be needed would cause serious side effects for whoever used it. Maybe the crew on the De Salle figured that medical technology had advanced to the point where we could revive and treat them as soon as they crossed over."

Theo shook his head. "Not necessarily. There's a number of short-lived particles that wouldn't cause serious damage from a single exposure. Or even repeated ones, depending one what it was that was used. I mean, there's a lot of old healthcare and bio-analysis techniques that had unpleasant side-effects and have gone out of use in favor of less invasive techniques, but didn't cause long-term problems. Or at least long-term problems that they knew about at the time. Certain chemical dyes for tracing intestines or blood flow, for example."

"I'm not sure the level of technology that they would have access to in the sickbay but its possible some of those techniques and diagnostic tests could have still been used when the ship was launched," Ryan nodded. "Seems as good a place as any to start. Assuming that me and the chief engineer can figure out how they did it, we may require your biological expertise in finding a safer way to get them into our phase."

"I'll start getting some test mediums growing, in case we need to do some experimentation," Theo said, referring to standardized stocks of quick-growing tissue designed to mimic common life forms, including humans.

"Great," Ryan said, heading for the door. "I'm headed back over to the De Salle. I'll keep you updated as to what we figure out."

OFF:

Ensign Theodore Vega
Biologist, USS Highlander
PNPC Reynard

Lt JG Ryan North
Chief Science Officer, USS Highlander