The Hardest Part

Posted on Fri Nov 2nd, 2018 @ 3:11pm by Captain Liarra Von & Commander Titus Livius Drusus PhD & Commander Walter Prescott

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Station Operations

They always said that waiting was the hardest part. Liarra Von was starting to agree with them. From her position in Ops, there wasn't much she could do but continue monitoring the situation. The ion storm had been battering the station for a few hours, and amid power fluctuations and flickering lights, all she could do was ask for more updates. She wandered back over to Prescott's station for what had to have been the hundredth time. "How are we holding up?"

"We've had several minor fluctuations at various points in the system," Walter explained, pausing in his constant sweep over the display readouts surrounding him to look at his commanding officer, "nothing we haven't been able to handle thus far. I'm a little concerned about what I've been seeing around the lower antenna clusters, but otherwise, I'd say we're doing about as well as could be expected."

The shell of the station was for the most part doing as intended, providing a protective barrier between the harsh elements of space and those nestled within the dock and the station itself. With all the ships crammed into the dock came with crews, passenger ferries, cargo ships, shuttles and transports and all of them had mouths that needed feeding, injuries that would require treating but more importantly, nerves that would need to be soothed. The storm had left the station blind and deaf to the outside world which for worried civilians would mean they were unable to call loved ones to let them know what was going on or that they were ok. This would only fray nerves even more in an already tense situation.

Over at science, where the Magna Roman had stood since this whole thing began, Drusus scowled at the display as though a severe expression could somehow change what it showed. But there was no denying it. He grabbed a PADD from the stack nearby and quickly transferred Whitlam's report onto it before marching over to the captain. "Captain, we've got a new problem," he said, holding out the PADD for her to see for herself. "This thing is slowing down."

Liarra paused a moment while her chief science officer's words sank in. "What do you mean, it's slowing down? How is that even possible?"

"We've confirmed it's velocity is decreasing," Drusus replied, pointing at the PADD. "As to how, I could only speculate. We're still gathering data, but what seems clear is that the charged particles in the storm are reacting to the Starbase itself, resulting in a drag effect. This drag effect is strong, but not strong enough to stop the storm, so it will still pass. But it will take longer to do so; maybe twice as long."

Sure enough, the data he presented showed a dramatic change in velocity. "This may be the understatement of the year, but that's not going to be good. Commander Prescott, what will this mean to our estimates. Can main power hold out that long?"

There was a moment's hesitation as Walter processed the new information. They had been fairly meticulous in running their simulations, all things considered, having gone so far as to build a considerable buffer into their estimates. Unfortunately, he knew the kind of delay Drusus had just described would definitely be pushing their limits.

"I'll be honest captain...we didn't account for the intensity of what we're seeing in some of these pockets."

It was hard for Liarra to be too upset with her chief of operations. After all, he could only work with the data that they had available.

"It's putting a greater burden on our systems," Walter explained, "drawing more power in some places than we expected, creating interference in others. I could probably find some way of giving us another hour or two, but beyond that..."

She could sense that she wasn't going to be happy with his answer, but she had to ask. "How long can you give us, Commander?"

"No more than six or seven hours, tops," Walter replied.

Von sighed, probably much louder than she had intended. She looked over to Drusus. "How long do you estimate until the effects of the storm clear the station?"

Drusus looked grim, his jaw set. "Seven hours if we're lucky. Nine if we're not."

She was right. Von didn't like either of their answers. "Mr. Prescott, divert power from whatever you need and try to keep us running for as long as possible. Mr. Drusus, we might have to take down some of your sensor pallets. Bring us a list of what you absolutely can't live without so we can trim it down further."

---

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer

Commander Leonardo Luciano [P: S'er'in'e]
Executive Officer

Commander Titus Drusus [P: Whitlam]
Chief Science Officer

Lt. Commander Walter Prescott [P: Rutilius]
Chief of Operations