Guesswork And More Guesswork

Posted on Apr 15, 2017 @ 12:32am by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Apr 15, 2017 @ 12:32am

Mission: In Place of God

“Guesswork and More Guesswork”
(contd from Shawn’s ‘Bad Connection’)

Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17] 0414.1732
Scene: Counselor’s office

First contact with a new race of aliens was nothing new for Jasmine Yu as those types of missions made up most of the young woman’s last five years in the fleet. Nevertheless, she was excited about going through the data packet that was sent through the micro wormhole. Right now, the security chief was tasked with establishing the cultural aspects of the species, with Eve Dalziel and Kass Thytos – a job that was challenging as the only information in their hands were just a couple of images, where they’d likely do a lot of extrapolating and guessing. It was not like they were going to get the correct answers anyway as they weren’t going to have a face to face meeting with those unknown and mysterious beings. As Jake said earlier before he left them, no penalties for wrong guesses.

Jasmine picked up a PADD, her eyes gazing over the image. “Now this image again,” she began, placing her finger on the centre of the silver object, shaped almost like the figure eight, emblazoned with some form of writing and drawings. “A piece of technology or artwork?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Jasmine,” Eve said, a hint of a smile forming.

“Well, it’s not like the aliens will be here to correct us,” Kass remarked from the couch.

Eve said, quickly glancing at the marine, “Well, we have to at some point, reach a consensus before we write the report.” The Cardassian born officer turned her attention to the image on the PADD in Jasmine’s hand. “We don’t know the size and weight of that thing and the picture doesn’t help on that front.”

The Major sat up on the couch. “So this object could really be anything from a tiny key to something so big and heavy, it’d be a huge pain to drag around.”

Dalziel nodded. “True, this could very much be a work of art or jewellery. But we can’t be sure what material the object is made up of. Is it metal or stone?”

“See the drawings on it.” Jasmine directed the Counselor’s gaze to the middle, where what looked to be a face, carved into the object. “Maybe this object, whether metal or stone sculpture, was created for someone important. Like a king or emperor.”

Eve studied the face carving and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm…this face engraving reminds me of some of the facial carvings found on tombs of kings from Earth’s own ancient civilizations. Although, this structure could be created as a gift by the artist to the ruler, assuming a king in the present or their past. These beings may be sharing with us a piece of their history.”

“You mean their system of government is a monarchy with a king or maybe even emperor as the head of government?” Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

Dalziel nodded. “Or was. It is possible, maybe sometime in their past that they may have been one entire kingdom or a bunch of many kingdoms or empires, ruled by a single individual and that this artifact shown here may just be them telling us about their history.”

“So we’re not sure if they are ruled by a king now or were in the past,” Kass added.

“True.” The Counselor sighed. “Right now, all we can do is guess and will need more information from the other teams before we can make some conclusions. I mean, that face engraving may not be that of a ruler but a soldier, a farmer or even a craftsperson.”

“Or it’s not really a face but buttons on a console and that is assuming this object is a piece of technology,” Yu said. “Maybe, it could be a key to activating a particular system like a power generator or something as simple as opening a door.” The Asian woman moved her finger to one of the two large holes. “These may likely insert over something.”

“Or a key to launching torpedoes that blow ya out of the sky,” the marine remarked. “Which brings us to the next subject, speaking of torpedoes – their military. Are there any images that give us an idea as to what type of military structure they have? How strong their military is or was?”

Eve said, sifting through the images on her PADD, “Hard to say from these images. In fact, from just looking at the data at first glance, it doesn’t seem like they have one, at least not like Starfleet or any of the other major powers like Romulans or Klingons. It is very possible that these beings chose not to even have a military or that they have other means of protecting themselves from their enemies.”

“Well we know their technology is advanced enough to contact us through a micro wormhole,” Thytos said, leaning back on the couch.

“And they don’t seem hostile.” Jasmine put the PADD on the desk. “After all they made contact and shared information with us, so for now it is reasonable to assume their intentions towards us are not malevolent. Perhaps they like meeting new species.”

“We are also not sure what their species looks like,” Eve said. “Like are they humanoid or arthropods like the creatures in some of these images.”

“What does the science team think?” Thytos asked.

“Last I spoke with them,” Dalziel replied. “They are still working on their conclusions. But aside from that silver structure, which we don’t know what it is, the other images don’t give us any indication of there being any humanoids so for now the data leans towards the species being arthropods but we’ll find more from science.”

“Who knows, maybe humanoids could have once lived on their world and are maybe extinct.” Jasmine sighed. So many questions with numerous possible answers that they would never find out if they came up with the right one. This species was a mystery to the security chief but Yu relished solving puzzles so was excited to embark on this challenging task and get the opportunity to further cultivate relationships with her fellow officers. “So assuming the species are arthropods, what kind of society do you think they lead?”

Eve pondered for a moment. “Well, that’s an interesting question and there are a number of possibilities. Maybe they could be more community oriented, linked to each other as one hive mind.”

“Or you could say, something like an ant colony or a bee hive, run by a queen,” Kass suggested. “Or you know, they all could be a bunch of individuals with their own mind.”

“So they could be run by a queen, be a community where they are all linked together, possibly enabling them to live and function in harmony or a society of individuals working together for a common goal.” Jasmine leaned forward and took the PADD from the desk. “They are technologically advanced and are likely into preserving their culture through works of art.” She pointed at first, the image of the silver structure and then to the one that was assumed to be a painting or maybe it was a form of communication for the beings. “That is assuming these are all artwork.”

“I’d be interested to see what the technology and science teams find,” Kass said. “Maybe they could help us piece together all this information.”

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NRPG: Just some theories, guesswork and analysis.


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX