Someone Fix the Translator!
Posted on Thu Jul 25th, 2024 @ 4:58am by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Commander Lylja Tigerlilly & Lieutenant Alan Harrison & Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
2,311 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Crossed Wires
Location: Various, above Haumea airspace
Timeline: MD 01: Midday
Lylja had all of the passive sensors running, trying to gather as much information as possible about the unknown vessel, but only a minimum of active sensors, she did not want anything pinging the ship that could be mistaken for a weapon's lock. The comm channels were also open as wide as they could be looking for anything from infrared pulses to subspace echoes.
"Get anything useful, Commander?" Alan inquired. He had somehow gotten to sit in the captain's chair on this mission - he hoped they wouldn't manage to mess up this mission bad enough for them to never let him sit in it again.
"We do," said Lylya with a note of surprise. "We could not get a clear reading from the ship but now were are closer . . . But I am not sure why." She reviewed the readings. "That ship is old, as in centuries old, possibly of non-Alpha Quadrant origin. It has a powerful but inefficient force field generator. Getting life signs . . . around fifty mostly unknown and one human."
"Human?" Gunnar said, leaning near the console for a better look. "It's probably S- ... Nikedoros. Is there any chance we can get a transporter lock?"
"I would prefer not to risk it," said Lylja. "I do not have a clear analysis of the structure of the hull and the force field is fluctuating, the chance of disruption in transit is simply too high right now."
"A single human lifesign? Either it's a coincidence or...," Alan trailed off, "We've had multiple people go missing, so a single sign may be an unfortunate coincidence. Can you detect any communication systems onboard?"
Gunnar sighed inwardly. He was right of course, though the chances that it could be Luka were slim, unless he'd come through whatever alternate dimension he'd been in and landed on that ship. But those details weren't general knowledge and would only distract from the problem at hand.
"Yes, but it does not seem to be functional," said Lylja. "No response to our hails."
"Weapons of any kind?" Alan inquired.
"Lasers, mass drivers, nothing significant like plasma or photon weaponry," said Lylja. "Dangerous but not to a Starfleet ship."
Alan looked around at the crew on the bridge, "Ok, so they're probably not a direct danger to us, but we need to find a way to communicate with them. Any ideas?"
Gunnar frowned. He was medical, not comms or engineering, so there was little hope of having much to contribute. What had Burnie done when he'd been trapped in that underground complex? Something about old time miners using a tap code on airshafts had inspired ...whatever that crazy engineer had kludged together as a carrier wave signal. But he'd been too involved in treating people half gone to oxygen deprivation to pay attention to explanations. So now all he could do was stare out the viewport at the enigmatic ship bathed in the odd glow of its shield, hoping the God Sofia was so sure of would supply some kind of miracle.
And then the shield flickered. And flickered again. He stepped closer to viewport, watching as it continued. A pattern! "Hey, look - I think they're signaling. Three short... three long... three short. It's old earth code! SOS."
Lylja checked the sensor logs. "They have been doing that for a few minutes, well spotted," she said. "I will try a return message using the same code using our lights. What about 'We come to help'?"
Most humans knew SOS. It made sense to use to simply send a distress signal, but how well did Sofia know Morse code? Or Luka or anyone else it might be for that matter? "Maybe shorter to keep it simple, like 'We help'. Or... can we do something more efficient and project words on the hull or some other way they can see the message?"
"Sure, we can light up the area around the shuttle," said Lylja. "I will bring it up slowly so they do not see it as an attack. So, 'We Help' and 'Peace' for the first messages? I wish we knew if they had some other ways to communicate."
"Make it so," Alan decided the opportunity of establishing communication outweighed the risk of being seen as a threat and getting off to a bad start in a potential first contact scenario.
"Initiating," said Lylja. "Let us hope for a reply. But if they are being forced to use the force field as an ad hoc communicator, I am thinking we are going to have to dock with the ship to establish communications."
"Perhaps," Alan said cautiously, "but let's hope this will be enough to gauge their intentions first."
"One way to find out," said Lylja. "Pilot, take us in. slow and easy. With your permission, Harrison," she added a little embarrassed.
Alan nodded, "Do it, but slowly and with full lighting to increase our visibility."
"Once we make contact, physically," said Lylja, "we should be able to make contact with their system. I am fairly confident I can hack into anything in this technological band without too much trouble."
================== Alien Ship ==================
Dear Lord, let someone over there recognize Morse code. And let me remember it well enough to translate a response.
The prayer had been on repeat since they had begun sending the SOS as Sofia watched out the viewport. She had asked the Lee-zur - to the best of her and the lagging UT's ability (she was going to submit a tech review request on that once she was back) - to look watch for any return signal as well. Flashing lights shouldn't be that hard for a shuttle...
And she saw it: not just an answered prayer but the miracle of someone realizing it would be just as easy to project words! "There!" She pointed excitedly. "They are replying. It says 'We help' and 'Peace' - they understood." Thank You, God She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "They know you need help and mean no harm. They will try to dock. Is there a place for that? Or an airlock they could come through?"
Nearby, the Lee-zurian Captain squinted through the viewport. There was a moment's hesitation. While Sofia had not proven to be untrustworthy, this all seemed convenient. But, if the planet full of people below wanted to hurt them, they may have the means to vaporize them out of existence. "A cargo bay," he said finally, "They can use that. It is... Behind? Back... Ah!"
He pulled up an image on the console, which looked to be a rough diagram of the ship. Then he pointed toward the lower back area. "Enter there."
Right. Now, how to send that message? Her memory of Morse code was sketchy. 'Come to lower bay hatch' was definitely beyond her abilities. Hmmm... 'Aft' might do. In the way most people recalled at least the first letter of an alphabet, she knew 'a' was dot-dash, and for reasons she'd rather not dwell on she knew the sequence for Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot. "Change the code flashes to this." She tapped out a-f-t with a pause between each letter. "Are there lights to show the entrance to the bay? Some way to make it easier for them to see?"
"Yes." The leader waved his clawed hand, and one of the nearby Lee-Zurians turned to their console. "We shall turn those on now. And... move to side so they can see."
"I should probably move to the cargo bay, so I'm one of the first people that they see," Sofia added.
================== Shuttle Team ==================
"Is that a..." Alan paused before finding the right words, "docking beacon?"
"Looks like an invitation to me," said Lylja. She glanced to her datapad. "The force field pulse has changed, repeating . . . A . . . F . . . T. Aft. Well, let us go in and see."
Alan nodded, "Make it so. Slowly."
"Looks like a cargo bay," said Lylja. "Lots of room to land but will leave us a little exposed. Still, we come in peace so it will all be fine, ne?"
"They sound peaceful, so let's hope they remain that way," Alan replied, watching the cargo bay approaching on the viewscreen.
Lylja trained the scanners on the structure of the ship as they entered the cargo bay trying to get a clear reading of its age and condition.
"If you see a reasonable place to land, take it," Alan stated, "Looks like any other cargo bay I've ever seen, if a bit emptier."
TAGS any docking procedures you guys wanna continue through
The cargo bay, while large, contained little actual cargo in it save for a few worn down looking crates near the double sliding doors that had just opened up to reveal the tall Lee-zurian leader and Sofia. The leader stared in awe at the small shuttle, though it was hardly evident with his glassy, black eyes and his un-humanoid face. He was, however, making a soft clicking noise in the back of his throat, which only got louder as Alan and Lylja stepped out. Nearby were a pair of Leezurians who had previously insisted on accompanying the duo, in what could have been seen as a gesture of security. Just in case these new arrivals did not come in peace, as Sofia had promised. Not that the leader would have blamed them; they did sort of... Abduct Sofia without asking.
He raised his long, clawed arms up in a gesture of greeting. "Hello!" he exclaimed, warm as he could.
Lylja mimicked the gesture. "Hello! We have come to help."
Gunnar was right behind her, medical supplies slung over a shoulder in case of the worst, and broke into a big relieved smile at seeing Sofia standing by the alien with what he'd come to think of as her Chaplain 'be at peace' expression. He also copied the gesture, saying, "Hello, we come in peace."
Sofia smiled - it was nearly impossible to imagine Gunnar not coming in peace - and took a half step forward. "I'm glad to see you. My hosts are the Lee-zur, and they have travelled a very great distance from somewhere in the Delta Quadrant, and their systems are in urgent need of repair."
Lylja nodded and patted her satchel. "What is the first priority for repair, Lee-zer Leadership?" she asked.
The Lee-zurian leader tilted his head from side to side, before looking back at his already on guard staff. While they did not hold phasers, one held an instrument that looked like it could have been used as a blunt object - or a tool to repair things with. The leader made a gesture, and the pair seemed to lower whatever they had on them. "We have... overtaxed the engine," he said carefully, abundantly aware of the universal translator's attempts to convey his language to these new people. "Many systems need repair. Biggest concern is... propulsion. We cannot do more than move in a... a circle."
Recognizing the signs of struggle with translation, Sofia decided to step in. "There are still issues with the UT, so allow me to add that the other priority needs to be navigation controls so that the ship can be moved from the current collision course." She looked at Harrison; she was technically the ranking officer here, but he was the chief engineer and should be in charge. "I do not know what timeframes we have to work with given mass and speed, but as we will be trying to repair wholly alien systems, I'd suggest a comm to bring in the Atala as back-up in case we need to resort to tractor beams to divert the ship away from Haumea."
"On it," said Lylja, sending a message conveying that information. "Perhaps I should look over the controls while Harrison and his team look at the engines?"
Alan nodded, "I'll get my team and lend a hand in engineering. I'll also see if I can figure out a way to improve the translation." He turned to Sofia, "It's good to see you in one piece, Commander. I'm not sure how much longer we would have been able to keep everything calm in your absence, given... everything."
"Once I have access to their computer system, I can integrate their language files, with permission, to the translator," said Lylja. "That should sort the majority of the issues there."
"Thank you," Sofia said with a nod to Alan, while hoping the difficulty with calm was not from the direction of the medical officer trying to surreptitiously scan her. She then looked from Tigerlily to the Lee-Zur leader. "I think there should be no objection to integrating language files as improving translation is to everyone's benefit."
Lylja did her best to look non-threatening and approached the Lee-Zur leader. "Please, sir, will you assign someone to help me improve the translator? We wish to help."
The leader gave it thought, but nodded in agreement. Understanding their potential new allies would help. At least they were amiable about the crew taking one of the denizens of the colony. It was... Lucky, he would say.
He gestured back to the duo of Lee-Zurians, making a set of clicking and gentle noises back toward them. There was a hesitation, before one of the pair disappeared further down the corridor.
"We are... Grateful, for your help," he stated evenly, offering a tilt of his head as he turned back to the pair. "Please, this way."
Alan nodded with a smile, hoping the gesture would be interpreted properly across cultures, and began to follow.
Lylja followed, thumbing her tricorder to scan as she observed everything she could about the ship and its construction. "Thank you. We will help you get through this difficult time."
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