U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901

/||\ ----------------------------------------
/ || \ UCIP Starfleet Command, Fourth Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
.-/ || \-. Commander Tebrun Lora, Commanding
./ || \. ----------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
.-_ \||/ _-. -[ SD 239908.23 ]-

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"OK, everyone, settle in," Lt. Commander Tal said. "I'm briefing the
Captain in 10 minutes, and I need to know what we learned overnight," she
continued. "Science."

Traqzis looked up, a somewhat bemused expression on his face. "There are
a total of 81 planetary variations on Blinker. Each maintains itself--"

"Excuse me," Dejat asked, amused. "'Blinker'?"

The Chief Science Officer smiled. "One of the junior technicians named it,
and it appears to have stuck. Anyway, there are 81 variations, and each
maintains itself for 148 seconds before the next appears. Blinker itself
is just over 50,000 kilometers in diameter." Traqzis brought up a computer
graphic of the planet and its associated ring, then continued. "The
neutronium ring is at a constant distance of 100,000 kilometers from the
surface, giving it a diameter of 250,000 kilometers. The ring itself is
one kilometer in width, and appears to be a nearly perfect torus."

"We've discovered something interesting about that ring also, Commander,"
Lieutenant Drexler interrupted. "It appears to be spinning."

"Spinning?" Tal asked.

Drexler and Oswald both nodded, and Drexler continued. "We didn't notice
it before because of the rate of the spin -- almost 0.95 C," he finished
calmly. Several heads turned to look in various states of shock. "I know
how it sounds," Drexler confirmed. "But it's definitely spinning around
the planet... so fast that the motion is not easily discernable."

"What does it mean?" the Exec asked.

Drexler and Trq answered together. "We don't know yet, Commander." Both
looked at each other, and the Science Officer continued. "Anyway," he
said. "Of the variations on Blinker, at least eight of them are class M.
I have full details on what I've been able to scan of each planet ready for
review. If we're going to try beaming down to one of the variations, I
recommend number 43. It's class M, and appears to be inhabited by a
relatively low-tech humanoid race."

Tal nodded and turned to Dejat. "Was number 43 one of the targets of our
falling probes?"

Dejat nodded. "43 didn't react at all -- I don't think they had the
technology to. Before the probe impact, however, we got a lot of good data
on the inhabitants and their technology. I doubt they could pose an Away
team a serious threat, but at the same time, they appear intelligent enough
that we could learn something from them."

Finally, dreading what he might hear, Tal turned to Bentall. "Engineering,"
he said.

Bentall didn't pull any punches. "We were unable to save Corporal Freeman.
He and his Spectre disintegrated approximately 75 minutes after he was
altered by the ring structure. We don't have any way of converting
antimatter back into regular matter -- as a matter of fact, I don't see how
the Corporal was converted in the first place. It shouldn't be possible!"

"So," Major Ironside put in, "the Killers have scored their first Federation
casualty. However, we've completed eight more Spectre patrols around the
ring, and none of those patrols were interfered with in the slightest.
Apparently, the ring only responds to lifesigns within the structure."

Tal nodded. "OK, thank you, everyone. First shift begins in six hours, so
I suggest you all get some rest -- it's likely to be a busy day tomorrow."

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Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: Cmdr. Tebrun Lora (Jester)
Executive Officer: LCdr. Velorna Tal (Ol Army)
Command Liaison Interface: Savant (Mouse)
Marine Commandant: LMaj. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
Chief Tactical: Lt. Sieven Drexler (Garstini)
Assistant Tactical: Ens. Timothy Bruce (Phoenix)
Chief Flight Operations: Lt. (JG) Fornan Dejat (Ryan)
Chief Engineer: Lt. Jarod Bentall (Alffred)
Assistant Engineer: Ens. Titan (Eric)
Company Commander Alfa: 1Lt. Stephen Sirius (Sirius)
Chief Science: Lt. Traqzis Trq (Nephy)
Assistant Science: Cdt. Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Chief Medical: Callie Dakota (Callie)
Bartender: Dalton (Heiwa)

Positions Available:
Squadron Leader: Available ()

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Ross Glenn aka Jester
Commander Tebrun Lora, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.ussrenegade.com/coro2400/