U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901

/||\ ----------------------------------------
/ || \ UCIP Starfleet Command, Fifth Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
.-/ || \-. Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
./ || \. ----------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
.-_ \||/ _-. -[ SD 240008.21 ]-

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Commander Tal and Lieutenant Oswald came in together, which should have been
Dalton's first clue that something highly unusual was going on. Engrossed
as he was in his scans, however, he missed it. The two stood behind him,
watching, for several seconds as the Ullian muttered to himself. Underneath
the scanner, one of the pieces of alien jewelry was flickering slightly in
the bright lights in Sickbay. Finally, Tal cleared her throat.

Dalton turned and nodded at the taller Romulan, noting Oswald's presence
behind her. "Hello, ladies," Dalton said. "What can I do for you this fine
evening?" He turned back to the scanner, turned it off, and removed the
jewelry from underneath it, tossing it onto a tray as if it were completely
unimportant.

"Well, Doctor," Tal said, "we've got a bit of a mystery here, and we were
hoping you could shed some light on it." In the Romulan's hand was a
fragment of bluish metal. Dalton took it and looked it over.

"What's unusual about it?" Dalton asked finally. "It just looks like a
piece of metal to me."

"That's the thing, Doctor -- it's not. We took it off the alien ship, and
we've spent a couple of hours working with it. One thing is for sure: it
isn't metal," Tal said, "it doesn't conduct electricty, has a very high
specific heat, and doesn't oxidize or rust at all. Based on the scans, we
thought it might be biological."

Dalton noded, turning the blue fragment over and over in his hands and
finally slipping it underneath the scanner he'd been using on the jewelry.
"Valuable?" he asked casually.

Tal smirked. "Well, it could be. It has a very high stress tolerance, and
is very rigid, but under the right kind of pressure, is also very flexible.
I can see why the aliens used it as a building material."

Dalton nodded absently as he scanned the material. Several minutes passed.
Tal waited patiently. Lieutenant Oswald did not. "Well," Dalton said
finally. "I can tell you one thing... it's not biological. No cell
structure, no living tissue at all... don't do that." The last comment was
directed toward Oswald, who had picked up the alien necklace and was
examining it.

"Why not?" Oswald asked, eyes wide. After a moment, Dalton shrugged and
decided not to pursue the matter. He turned back to Tal, turning off the
scanner. Oswald, meanwhile, continued to examine the jewelry. "Is it
possible that it's a crystal of some kind?"

"Very possible," Tal said. "It has the right kind of molecular structure,
but a crystal of what? It's not hard enough to be any of the traditional
ones. As I said, put it under the right kind of stress and it will flex, or
even shatter."

"Can I have this?" Oswald interjected, holding up the necklace. "You
already have a lot of them..." she continued, pointing at a nearby sample
case.

Tal watched amused as Dalton tried to come up with a good reason to object,
then hid a smile as Dalton shrugged again. "Feel free," the Ullian said.
"As you say, I have several." He handed the blue fragment back to Tal.
"But as you can see, I really do have a lot of work to do this evening, so
if the two of you will excuse me..." He indicated the door.

Tal nodded diplomatically, still hiding her amusement. "Of course, Doctor."
He and Oswald left, the latter looking over the necklace's clasp. Dalton
let the door shut for a full three seconds before exhaling his annoyance,
removing another piece of jewelry, and setting it under the scanner.

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"That's odd," Spec3 Laura Davilla said, digging through her bureau drawer.
Her quarters-mate, Spec2 Sha'sara turned over in bed and looked at the other
woman somewhat sleepily.

"What's odd?" Sha'sara asked as Davilla's digging became louder and more
insistent.

"The diamond from my grandmother's wedding ring is missing," the human woman
said, holding up a large gold band. Sha'sara squinted sleepily. Yes, the
central prongs were holding only air. Davilla's digging through the drawer
continued. "It must have come out of the setting, but I can't find it in
here."

Sha'sara allowed the digging to go on for several minutes, trying to ignore
it long enough to fall back asleep... without success. She turned and
regarded her quarters-mate, sleepiness mixing with annoyance on her face.
"Laura," she said finally, voice firm, "look for it tomorrow."

Davilla snorted and threw a pile of underclothes back into the drawer. "I
guess so..." she said reluctantly, turning toward the bed.

Interestingly, the incident wasn't unique...

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Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: Capt. Tebrun Lora Kor (Jester)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. Jarod Bentall (Alffred)
Marine Commandant: Maj. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
Squadron Leader: 1Lt. Nick Curcio (NickC)
Squadron Leader: 2Lt. Thomas Wayne (Masters)
Platton Leader: 2Lt. Darius tr'Onto (Ragarok)
Chief Tactical: Lt. William Darren (Darren)
Assistant Tactical: Lt. (JG) Aurel Ian (Aurelian)
Chief Flight Operations: LCdr. Fornan Dejat (McC)
Chief Engineer: Ens. Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Chief Science: LCdr. Velorna Tal (Tinky)
Chief Medical: Lt. Dalton (Heiwa)

On Leave of Absence:
Command Liaison Interface: Savant / EMH / EEH (Mouse)
Assistant Engineer: Cdt. Skylooker Aramis (Lewis_Sharp)

----------
Ross Glenn aka Jester
Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/
Deputy Fifth ("Epsilon") Fleet Commander