Communicating With Communications

Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2019 @ 3:18pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan & Lieutenant JG Mattias Constantine

Mission: Mission 1 - One Step forward
Location: Bridge
Timeline: 10 hours after
1563 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth finally wandered back to the bridge yawning a little as she stepped onto the bridge. Very few officers were there now, either sleeping or fixing the ship as per her instructions. There were no points in having everyone working and no one resting if something happened, people didn’t thrive on no rest and they needed people to be fully awake and focused. Very unlike what she at that moment. The woman on autopilot moved to the Communications console and paused as she found one of the junior operators sat her usual… former duty station.

“How are you doing Ensign?” The woman asked not having seen him when she was on the bridge before. She barely knew him as he did another chief but she knew enough that he was one of the best after her.

"Ah Commander Leroux, good morning to you. I'm doing well enough all things considered. I hope you don't mind ma'am, but I thought I'd get a little more familiar with the station here on the bridge," the man sitting at the console explained. He removed his earpiece before turning his chair to face Beth. "Honestly ma'am, it's a welcome distraction given recent events. How, uh... well, how are we doing?"

"Someone has to man the station." The woman said with a small shrug. Someone had to be there when she wasn't and as it was meant to be her shift so it just proved to her that man was one step ahead of her, she hadn't even considered who was going to replace her there. She knew it was her nerves getting the better of her but it was starting to show just how unprepared she was for command despite Leah's assurance that she would be fine. "Qui... We have been better but everyone is working on getting us back to our best."

"Aye, I'll bet on our crew any day of the week. Ensign Mattias Constantine, ma'am," he stood up and extended a hand. "I know names are difficult to remember sometimes. Matt or Constantine is what most people are calling me; either is fine by me. If there's somewhere or something else I can be doing to be of more help, I'm happy to volunteer."

"I know who you are Ensign," Beth said kindly as she took the offered hand. She knew all her former department by site and name even if they didn't know it. They had been on board long enough that if Beth didn't she would feel guilty over it. "You are doing just fine here. I ca not exactly monitor communication and the rest of the ship." She pulled back her hand as the door open and Sloan walked onto the Bridge. "I thought you were going to rest?" She called out to the man indicating he could join them at the comms console. They had agreed an hour ago that he would rest for a few hours to take over to allow Beth to rest for a few after.

"Too much to do to rest," Michael stated as he took his station at the tactical console. He looked over at the comms station and asked, "Ensign Constantine, any indication of who's yard we're currently playing in?" It was his way of asking if the young man had picked up any comm traffic in the area. He also knew the Ensign's name as he had been the one to assign security clearances to the ship before it left the station back at Earth. Nothing popped up on his console's scanner panel, so he was not very hopeful that an answer would be available.

"No sir, in fact," the young ensign motioned the wall of displays and equipment behind him, "I was running through a few diagnostics before speaking with Commander Leroux just to see if there was something wrong on our end. It's all functioning properly sir. I can't understate how quiet it is - the odd burst of gamma rays, and of course the hum of our own engines - but not much more than that."

Beth just looked away from Michael, she wasn't going to argue with the man in front of people on the Bridge again but he was really starting to test her patience as an Officer. Was this going to be a case of who collapsed first wins? The woman took the earpiece and listened to the space around them, she couldn't hear anything and that was unusual. "It is quiet. Far to quiet, the universe always has a noise." The woman didn't like it herself as she glanced at the purple hue that was outside the viewscreen.

Seeing the reactions, Michael stayed quiet at his station to not put any more fuel on the fire. He tapped at his console to try to get the sensors to pick up anything they might be missing, but there was absolutely nothing. He scratched just above his brow as the scanner showed them being in a very empty part of space. Then, he got an idea. Almost regretting wanting to ask the question, Michael followed Beth's gaze to the viewer. "Some nebulas interfere with sensors, maybe that's why this part of space seems so devoid of anything?"

"It is possible sir," Mattias nodded, having followed Beth's gaze to the viewer. "I could potentially tune the sensors by sending out a short, high energy pulse across multiple frequencies. The attenuation of the signal that bounces back from the nebula would tell us to what extent our sensor capability has been reduced, but..."

The junior communications officer paused for a moment to collect his words.

"Well, if we are in someone's yard, this would be the equivalent of blowing an airhorn at a funeral - they're gonna notice," Constantine explained.

It was a good idea and one that Beth would have suggested herself if she didn't have concerns about who might hear the signal. The crew were all coming up with valid ideas with the current predicament showing what made them worthy of being on Atlantis. "What do you think as our tactical expert?" Beth asked over her shoulder to Sloan. Personally, Beth didn't want to bring any attention onto themselves when they were still undergoing repairs and trying to fix up a broken ship.

Shrugging Michael checked the tactical console. “I’d advise against lighting up the area with our presence until we are sure the ship is at its best.” Pausing for just a moment, the Chief Armory Officer added, “If we could clear the nebula, our sensors may give us a better idea of where we are and what’s out there.”

"Aye sir, I'll continue to maintain a listening watch until then. You never know, maybe an ice cream truck will come bumbling through our little corner of the galaxy, wouldn't want to miss that, now would we?" Mattias smiled in an attempt to inject some levity into the situation.

"Thank you for the tactical advice," Beth said honestly glad he had offered his advice. "What I wouldn't give for some ice cream about now." The woman in the small group offered up seeing that the man was trying to add some humour to the situation whether it was a nervous reaction or not the woman didn't know.

"We wouldn't miss that for anything, a brownie sundae would go a long way," Michael laughed from his station. It was good to laugh at something, it had felt like a long time since he had any feelings besides pressure, fear, and sadness.

"If you don't mind Commander Leroux, I would like to stay on the bridge for a while longer and continue to familiarize myself with the station and the equipment. That is, of course, unless I am needed elsewhere to help with the repairs. I don't know much about engineering, but I can help move things around at least," Constantine explained.

"I do not mind Ensign. Someone needs to take my position on the roster." Beth assured quietly. She would be more useful in Engineering than him at the moment. They just needed someone to listen to around them and make sure nothing snuck upon them in the purple haze.

"Very well. You know where I'll be ma'am, sir," Mattias nodded to both officers. His responses were abbreviated. He, like many of the others on the ship, was battling with the reality that he might never see his home or family again. Burying himself in work seemed like a decent short term fix, but even this early in the process Constantine knew that it wouldn't feasible for the long run. Something would have to give.

"Oh, and before you go," he added, "it goes without saying, but if there's anything I can do to chip in, I'm happy to volunteer. The way I figure, we're all family now, and I'd do anything for my brothers or sisters."

Beth found herself smiling properly and nodded. It was a beautiful sentiment but she was pretty sure that like any family unit siblings fought and the family unit was disharmonious. She just hoped that like any other family unit when trouble hit they had each others back.

OFF::

Commander Bethsabee Leroux
Officer In Charge/Chief Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Michael Sloan
Acting First Officer/Chief Armory Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Mattias Constantine
Communications Officer
NX Atlantis