Mr. Hawkins' Artifact


To: CMDR Mandra (@Master_Dex), LCDR H’ajah (@Sophist), LCDR Blake (@Moose)
CC: CMDR Jarnefelt
From: CAPT Varley, L.
Subj: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



Commander Mandra has completed her study of Mr. Hawkins’ artifact, a purpoted orb of the prophets. My thanks to you and your teams, Commander. In your report you recommended we get the artifact away from the starbase. I’m afraid that’s not what we’ll be doing. The telepathic and potentially manipulative properties of the artifact make me wary to release it into the public. To that end:

  • Lieutenant Commander H’ajah, I’d like you to develop a more permanent and secure containment for the artifact. The longer we hold it, the greater the potential for someone to make a mistake in handling it. The artifact has powerful telepathic and apparent telekenetic capabilities, and based on Commander Mandra’s findings it may even exhibit a form of sentience. A specialised containment field will be paramount to our work, preferrably one that can block telepathic communications.

  • Lieutenant Commander Blake, I need you to maintain a rotating shift of at least two guards at the lab where the artifact is being held for the foreseeable future. Protests have quieted around the station, but the artifact remains high on the list of things our civillian population wants to start trouble over.

  • Finally, Commander Mandra. While engineering develops a new containment field, we’ll need to continue to use your lab to hold the artifact. I acknowledge that the burning question of this being a genuine orb of the prophets or not remains. I’ve never heard of an orb throwing people across a room, but I’ve never heard of one this far from the Bajoran wormhole either. We do owe an answer to our local Bajoran population and possibly to Bajor itself, so I’ll endeavour to source some information on a proven orb that you may use for comparative study.

As for Mr. Hawkins himself, I’ll try to get an audience with him to discuss these steps and what they mean for his artifact. Thank you all for your attention to this unprecedented matter.

//SIGNED//
Captain Lauren Varley
Commanding Officer, Deep Space 13
38th Fleet ‘Argo’

//ATTACHMENT// Artifact Report.log

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To: CAPT Varley, Lauren
CC: CMDR Jarnefelt, Charlotte; CMDR Mandra, Alina; LCDR Blake, Kara
From: LCDR H’ajah
Subj: Re: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



YOU WISH ME TO BUILD A GOD-PROOF BOX? VERY WELL! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE.

//SIGNED//
tuq cargh qaStaHvIS ghIm h’ajah, shal puqbe’
Lt. Cmdr. H’ajah, daughter of Shal, of House Cargh in exile
Chief Engineer, Engineering Dept., Deep Space 13

9 Likes

To: CAPT Varley, Lauren
CC: CMDR Jarnefelt, Charlotte; CMDR Mandra, Alina; LCDR Blake, Kara
From: LCDR H’ajah
Subj: Re: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



CAPTAIN, IN ORDER TO VANQUISH THE TASK YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, I MUST KNOW MORE ABOUT THE OBJECT I MUST SECURE: ITS CAPABILITIES, ITS LIMITS, ITS FUNDAMENTAL NATURE. I PROPOSE CONDUCTING A SERIES OF TESTS DESIGNED TO PROVOKE A RESPONSE FROM THE ARTIFACT, WHICH WE WILL MEASURE AND RECORD FOR USE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRISON CAPABLE OF CONTAINING IT. I WILL REQUIRE THE ASSISTANCE OF A PSIONICS SPECIALIST TO CONDUCT THESE TESTS; ENSIGN THYZEE HAS VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS ROLE, AND I JUDGE HER METTLE SUFFICIENT TO MEET THE CHALLENGE.

AS WE MUST TEST THE LIMITS OF THIS ALLEGED DIVINE INSTRUMENT, THE RISK TO TESTING PERSONNEL, EQUIPMENT, AND FACILITIES IS EXTREMELY HIGH. MY TEAM WILL TAKE ALL NECESSARY AND PRUDENT PRECAUTIONS, INCLUDING CONDUCTING THE TESTS OFF-STATION; BUT IF WE ARE INDEED DEALING WITH THE POWERS OF GODS, THERE MAY BE NO CERTAINTY OF SAFETY.

I MUST ALSO WARN YOU THAT THE ARTIFACT ITSELF MAY BE ENDANGERED BY THESE TESTS. WE KNOW TOO LITTLE TO GUARANTEE THAT NO HARM WILL BEFALL THE OBJECT OR ITS CONTENTS, DIVINE OR OTHERWISE. IN KLINGONESE WE HAVE A SAYING: HE WHO WOULD CALL HIMSELF UNBREAKABLE MAY BE PROVED WRONG BUT ONE WAY.

//SIGNED//
tuq cargh qaStaHvIS ghIm h’ajah, shal puqbe’
Lt. Cmdr. H’ajah, daughter of Shal, of House Cargh in exile
Chief Engineer, Engineering Dept., Deep Space 13

5 Likes

To: LCDR H’ajah
CC: CMDR Jarnefelt, C., CMDR Mandra, A,. LCDR Blake, K.
From: CAPT Varley, L.
Subj: Re: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



Proposal denied.

No tests that would knowingly endanger the starbase or the artifact will be undertaken. You’ll have to apply more tact than trying to “break” it. Further, the artifact will not be removed from its current location in Commander Mandra’s lab due to its observed ability to relocate itself. I would remind you we are borrowing it from Mr. Hawkins.

I believe ensign Thyzee will be assisting with a medical evaluation of Captain Nimitz, but if she has the time then you are of course welcome to enlist her aid to perform further testing, under the approval of Commander Mandra.

I would recommend beginning with the artifact’s ability to self-relocate. When Mr. Hawkins was detained, the artifact bypassed the class 1 force field around his cell to appear beside him.

//SIGNED//
Captain Lauren Varley
Commanding Officer, Deep Space 13
38th Fleet ‘Argo’

//ATTACHMENT// SFRegulations221.7:Appropriate_Testing_Practices_for_Hazardous_Phenomena.doc

6 Likes

To: CAPT Varley, Lauren
CC: CMDR Mandra, Alina
From: LCDR H’ajah
Subj: Re: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



CAPTAIN, A PROTOTYPE CONTAINMENT SOLUTION IS BEING INSTALLED IN THE SCIENCE WING THIS MORNING. THIS SOLUTION IMPLEMENTS THE FOLLOWING COUNTERMEASURES:

  • A STASIS FIELD GENERATOR SURROUNDING THE INTERIOR COMPARTMENT WHICH WILL RENDER THE PHYSICAL ARTIFACT INERT WHILE ACTIVE.

  • AN ARRAY OF VARIABLE-DENSITY CHRONITON EMITTERS FORMING A BARRIER ENCLOSING THE STASIS HARDWARE, INITIALLY SET TO A LEVEL I ESTIMATE TO BE HIGHLY PAINFUL BUT NON-LETHAL TO BAJORAN WORMHOLE GODS. BE WARNED THAT THIS SETTING IS SPECULATIVE BASED ON VERY LIMITED DATA AND MAY PROVE UNEQUAL TO THE TASK OF CONTAINING SUCH A GOD. I WOULD PREFER TO SET IT TO A LEVEL KNOWN TO KILL THESE GODS, BUT I KNOW YOU WOULD FORBID IT. NEVERTHELESS, THE CAPABILITY IS BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM SHOULD YOU COME TO YOUR SENSES.

  • A PSIONIC RESONANCE TRANSMITTER TUNED TO DISRUPT THE PSIONIC FIELD AT A RANGE OF TWO METERS SURROUNDING THE ENCLOSURE. BE WARNED THAT PSIONICALLY SENSITIVE BEINGS, INCLUDING THE ENTITY RESIDING IN THE ARTIFACT, MAY FIND THE EFFECT OF THESE RESONANCE WAVES DISORIENTING OR UNCOMFORTABLE. THE STRENGTH OF THIS FIELD IS ADJUSTABLE AS WELL, AND CURRENTLY SET TO INHIBIT BETA-LEVEL PSIONIC TRANSMISSIONS. THE ENTITY HAS BEEN ESTIMATED AS AN ALPHA-PLUS LEVEL PSIONIC PRESENCE, SO THIS MAY BE INSUFFICIENT AS WELL.

  • A SENSOR PACKAGE CONFIGURED TO SCAN FOR NEUTRINOS AND VERTERONS, WHICH WILL DETECT THE EARLY STAGES OF WORMHOLE FORMATION.

  • A BATTERY OF PARTICLE EMITTERS CAPABLE OF PROJECTING PHASE-CONJUGATE GRAVITON BEAMS TARGETED AT THE SOURCE COORDINATES DETECTED BY THE SENSOR PACKAGE. THIS BATTERY CONSISTS OF SIX EMITTERS AND IS CAPABLE OF CLOSING AS MANY AS THREE PROTO-WORMHOLES WITHIN A FOUR SECOND PERIOD WHILE DEPENDENT ON THE ONBOARD POWER SOURCE. WHEN CONNECTED TO STATION POWER, THE RECYCLE TIME IS REDUCED TO 47 MILLISECONDS.

TOGETHER, THESE SYSTEMS FORM THE MOST COMPLETE CONTAINMENT SOLUTION WE ARE CAPABLE OF BUILDING WITH OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENTITY WE SEEK TO CONTAIN. I AM NOT AT ALL CONFIDENT THAT IT IS SUFFICIENT TO CAGE A GOD. IF IT SHOULD FAIL, REMEMBER THAT IT WAS BY YOUR DECISION THAT OUR IGNORANCE WAS MAINTAINED. PERHAPS WE WILL LEARN MORE WHEN THE ENTITY ESCAPES, AND APPLY THAT KNOWLEDGE TO VERSION TWO.

//SIGNED//
tuq cargh qaStaHvIS ghIm h’ajah, shal puqbe’
Lt. Cmdr. H’ajah, daughter of Shal, of House Cargh in exile
Chief Engineer, Engineering Dept., Deep Space 13

7 Likes

To: LCDR H’ajah
CC: CMDR Manda, A.
From: CAPT Varley, L.
Subj: Re: Mr. Hawkins’ Artifact



My compliments to your and your team for devising a solution that mostly falls within our required boundaries. I will of course require the listed items 2 (Variable-Density Chroniton Emitters) and 3 (Psionic Resonance Transmitter) to be taken offline so as to avoid causing potential damage/harm to the artifact.

Good work.

//SIGNED//
Captain Lauren Varley
Commanding Officer, Deep Space 13
38th Fleet ‘Argo’

4 Likes