A tour of science

Posted on Mon Sep 2nd, 2024 @ 6:35pm by Kerilia Dosivi & Lieutenant N'vok Holv

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Science Office
Timeline: Before 'A Church Beyond Heaven' mission starts
2359 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

N'vok had tidied up his office, not that any reasonable person would think of its previous state as messy, but he wished to make a good impression on his guest. He activated a holographic globe of Vulcan and nodded at the effect. Now, he just needed his guest to arrive.

The doors to the science office were a little more daunting after Teevs dropped off Kerilia. She had insisted that she would be fine by herself, but nervousness blanketed her shortly after he left, making her question her decision to go alone. Teevs trusted this N'vok guy, however, and Kerilia knew she couldn't depend on him forever, so she took a breath before pressing the button Teevs told her to press, the square one that alerted the occupants of the office to her arrival.

"Come in," said N'vok as the doors slid open. "Welcome to my office, though I am afraid it is not very exciting at the moment. I do most of my work from here as it has direct access to the main computer and an extensive suite of holoemitters."

"But, before we go any further, can I get you something to drink?" he asked.

Kerilia couldn't help her wandering eyes as she took in his office. It was impeccably clean, with everything positioned with care. "Can I try what you like to drink, mister?" she asked, her eyes lingering on the holographic planet.

"Please, call me N'vok," the Vulcan said. "Iced mint tea then, it is a favorite from my Academy days." He went over the the replicator and returned with two glasses of iced tea. "What would you like to be called, young lady?"

"Kerilia please," she answered, accepting the tea from him. The teenager took a sip, finding the cold mint much more delicious than its hot counterpart. It almost seemed to bring out more of the flavor. Once again, her eyes were drawn to the planet, and she asked, "What is this planet, N'vok?"

Once his hand was free he gestured to the planet. "This is my homeworld, Vulcan, a dry and dusty place."

A quiet 'ohh' came from Kerilia as she took in its features. It was rather bland, a stark contrast to Earth, and rusted in color. "Are there no trees on Vulcan? Do you have things that produce atmosphere so you can breathe?" she asked, looking back to N'vok.

N'vok nodded. "Perceptive. Yes, we have a variety of plants and mosses that help stabilize the atmosphere. In the cities," he enlarged one of the sections so that it showed a mid-sized city, "we have enclosed areas to grow plants. Much of the planet is no longer suitable for such so we must protect them from the harshness of the atmosphere. There are some programs in places trying to restore a wider range of flora to our world but it is being done in a slow and measured fashion."

Nodding at the answer, Kerilia inspected the zoomed-in city, the general color of the buildings helping it blend into its surroundings. It was cool to see another one of their homeworlds, even if it was just a holographic version of it. "Do you help with any of the restoration, or do you work on other stuff?" she asked, looking over at him.

"My specialties are not there unfortunately but I do have several friends who work in environmental restoration," said N'vok. "My specialties are stars and
people, not very similar fields I know. I started in stellar cartography and star formation and moved to anthropology and cultural studies. I actually spent twenty years outside of Starfleet, teaching and raising a family. I rejoined just in time to . . . end up out here." He made a wide gesture.

Kerilia showed interest in his explanation. "After understanding what your starfleet likes to do, I think you being here is perfect. There's lots for you to see, and people for you to meet."

"That is indeed so," agreed N'vok. "Working outside of Starfleet gives one more freedom to choose what you work on but in Starfleet there are always new wonders to see."

"What are the starfleet things you can you do from the ship?" Kerilia asked.

"As head of the Science Department, I can request information from all of the sensor arrays, have probes deployed, we have a dedicated section of the computer assigned to us," said N'vok. "Though I am not sure if that answers your question. It is our role to gather information, analyze it through a scientific lens, and report to the rest of the crew so that they can make informed decisions."

About a third of those words went over Kerilia's head, and she thought hard to make sure she understood. 'Gathering information from a science perspective' sufficiently summarized it, though. "What's your favorite part of the department??" She continued, wanting to see some cool stuff.

"Well, I do most of my work here," said N'vok, "but we have some interesting experiments going on trying to model the advanced faster-than-light drives used in this sector. They are quite interesting to watch. Would you like to observe them?"

Kerilia gave an interested nod. "Yes please!" As N'vok led the way, she asked, "what are you looking for in the models? Are you comparing them to your ship?"

"We are trying to understand the technology used by the . . . slavers," said N'vok walking over and opening the door. "They are able to travel vast distances quickly, more quickly than any technology we kniow. If we can duplicate it, we could get home in a reasonable amount of time."

He leads her down to one of the labs. "So we are running simulations from the fragmentary data we have acquired to try and work out how it is done. We have not had any success." They stopped at a wall, N'vok tapped it and it went transparent showing a ship, the Elysium in fact, hanging in space.


"Would you like to see the last experiment? It was quite spectacular," he asked.

Kerilia leaned in slightly, fascinated by the display. She turned her attention to N'vok just long enough to nod before her eyes snapped back to the model of the Elysium. The mention of the slavers brought back some lingering anxiety, evident in her shoulders, but her curiosity overpowered it in the moment.

N'vok looked at his datapad. "This was an attempt to use the Elysium's systems to convert the warp bubble into a superstring transit. Which is one of several dozen theories about how the faster-than-light jumps are made."

He looked to the display. "3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . begins." The Elysium started moving, though it remained centered, the stars behind it began to zip by at ever-increasing speed. After a few seconds. both the stars and the Elysium began to stretch out, at about twenty seconds, the stretched-out stars and ship began to randomly twist and shift, then a flare of oddly colored light and there was just a static starfield again.

The show captured Kerilia's attention, and her eyes darted around at different parts of the simulation as it ran. She grew confused when the simulated ship suddenly disappeared, and she looked to N'vok. "Did... did it essplode?"

"Our current model says that it was a total protonic reversal, every molecule in the ship exploded outward at the speed of light," says N'vok. "Obviously, not good for the ship or crew. So, onto the next idea."

A quiet 'ohhhh' came from Kerilia as she looked back at the dissipating particles in the simulation. "Do you know what causes it?" The question was more for the sake of conversation over any attempt to be helpful, as Kerilia's schooling certainly hadn't gotten to 'protonic reversals' yet.

"We are not entirely sure, we think it was a result of crossing multiple strings that led to it," said N'vok. "It requires more analysis. But it is only one of the ideas we are following up on. While we know it is possible to travel much faster than we currently can, we do not know how it is achieved. So, we study and experiment."

Kerilia was confused by the use of 'strings' in his reply. Strings as in... thread? "How do... 'strings' affect a ship this big?"

N'vok paused, gathering his thoughts. "Reality is not always how we see it, there is a deeper level of reality. Supersting theory is one of the way to think about that. Have you seen how traditional cloth is made?" He brings up a hologram of a weaver working a shuttle through threads. "The underlying structure may be threads of . . . reality. I am sorry it is really complex math to fully explain it. But the attempt was to travel along a thread to get back to our home."

Oh. Maybe he was talking about actual thread. "How do you know which thread will take you home?" She asked.

"Guesswork and analysis," said N'vok. "We think certain strings have a harmonic, a sound, that matches where we came from and if we could follow that back we could at least get close to home if we can avoid a total protonic reversal or worse fate. It is all theory and models right now, as we would not wish to risk anyone if it seems too dangerous."

"We are looking into other ways as well. The problem is that going really fast has been something that everyone wants to do and many have tried with more information and technology then we have," explained N'vok. "So, we simply may not have the resources to work out such a solution, no matter how we try. But that does not mean the effort to learn how to do so is wasted. Science is built on failure as well as success, all add to the gaining of knowledge."

Kerilia nodded at his explanation, which seemed to align very closely with the goals of the Third House. Lady Relou loved anything related to knowledge. "So even if you don't find a way home, you still learn a little about the universe. And your federation, um... chases knowledge? Is that how you say it?"

N'vok nodded. "Yes, we do. We seek to learn and understand. Do you think you would be interested in studying the sciences in the future?"

"I haven't thought about it much, but I don't really need to until I'm mature," Kerilia responded thoughtfully. "In my culture, we have a... not a ritual, but kind of like a celebration, when we grow our forehead ridge. The first year after that is where I would decide what to do. But I do think this is interesting, even if I don't understand a lot of it."

N'vok nods. "We also have coming-of-age ceremonies among the Vulcans. I am currently acting as a caretaker to a Vulcan girl in your age range and I am tutoring her in basic scientific understanding. If your parent agrees, you could join us on occasion."

Kerilia gave N'vok a smile. "My dad likes you, so I think he would be ok with it!" Admittedly, it seemed like Teevs liked everyone, but Kerilia knew of his science background, and she recalled him spending a decent amount of time with the science people on board. "What does Vulcan coming-of-age look like? Do you get your pointy ears?"

N'vok unconsciously reached for his ear with his right hand. "No, we are born with our ears like this. It is more about achieving certain milestones in self-control and understanding. The Vulcan tradition is very concerned with control of one's emotions and mastering one's self."

"Ohhh, I understand." It seemed like the concept of maturity in other cultures may not be physical changes, but perhaps intellectual changes. Kerilia was in the labs for a tour of the labs, however, not for a deep dive into the cultural nuances of Vulcans. "What else can you do in the labs?"

"Just about anything," replied N'vok. "We have one scientist studying the unique molds found on an isolated moon. Another is making a deep dive into an Alien culture, trying to piece together what we know of them and understanding how they got there. We generally work on what interests us until there is a problem for the ship that we can help with, then we all work on that until it is solved."

Kerilia tilted her head curiously. "You get to do whatever you want here? What's your favorite essperiment?"

"Not quite anything, we are devoted to expanding knowledge and must work within the constraints of the system," said N'vok. "Additionally, we are at the command of the ship and the Commodore and must respond to any tasks we are assigned to help either. Our chosen projects are secondary to the safety of the ship and her crew."

"That makes sense. Is the simulation one of the tasks that the Commodore gave you?" Kerilia pointed back to where they watched the simulation of the ship undergoing 'protonic reversal.'

"Indeed," said N'vok. "Though one that several of the scientists here were happy to work on. Such a breakthrough would be a great scientific achievement as well as a way home."

Home. With the time Kerilia had spent on board gave her conflicting feelings. She wanted to stay with these people, they were nice, and curious. Part of her also longed for her homeworld, to see her family and some of her long-distance friends. "If... if it doesn't work, will you look for other ways to get home, or will you decide to make a home here?" she asked.

Sensing her distress, N'vok knelt down to be closer to Kerilla's level. "We will never stop searching for a way home, it is what we do, try to solve problems. But we may also try to make a home here. Time will tell. But, whatever the future holds you will always be welcome."

Kerilia looked at N'vok when he got down to her level. It was difficult to tell what these Vulcans were thinking, but he seemed sincere. "I hope you're able to find home, wherever that is," she said with a smile.