Smith cocks his head, something they've noticed he does when consulting the computer, and says, "I've just determined that the average number of inhabitants of this area is approximately 100 per ship. At 60 ships, that gives us 6000 persons. So far, we've allocated space for about half of them. The Imperial Quinquereme Hesperus and Her Imperial Majesty's Battlecruiser Indomitable are each capable of carrying 1000 persons, which leaves 1000 requiring berths. Not only does that mitigate Khendron's concerns regarding Captains Domitia and Syrene, but it appears that we may well be able to do this in one trip—" The deck suddenly shudders and the lights fade. Emergency lights briefly flicker on, then the main lighting resumes at 50% illumination. "—which appears to be imperative."

The intercom blares, "Cdr Manyard and Dr. Smith to Main Engineering immediately! Capt Mercer and LCdr Bowman to the Bridge! Captain, there's been another Lazarus Effect! The rate of collapse has doubled and is increasing!"

Thoma comes on line, "I have Curator Purple on hailing frequency!"

“Commander, pipe it in here.”  McCurrvey straightens his uniform and ramps up his diplomacy.  He glances at the others to see their composure.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Mon 08 Feb 2021.

Purple looks frightened. He gets right to the point, "Commodore, these aberrations are most alarming! Some of the captains are panicking. As our most recent arrivals, have you any indications of what is happening? Is this some form of incident which is known in the greater universe?" On the viewscreen, several captains are arguing. Dame Flavia and Raven Syrene seem to be acting as a calming influence on them, but their ability to reconcile differing factions is being tested severely.

“Curator Purple, we are monitoring a collapse of this pocket universe and determining a strategy.  We believe we can transport everyone out before the collapse and are working on several options at this time.  To do this as quickly as possible, it may mean people abandoning their ships.  We would like to meet with you and the Captains in two hours to discuss options.”  McCurrvey looks to Thelev for a reaction.  “I suggest that the Hesperus and the Indomitable begin preparations to take on a significant number of passengers”

OOC: Using my Diplomacy skill

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 95):

OOC: Maybe I have misunderstood or missed something.  We are talking taking people out, but have we actually determined if we know how to jump out.  I was really waiting on a reply to that since my last post was I was trying to work on getting the ability to accurately jump first.  Did I miss something. Did we already know how to do that.  I was under the opinion we did not. Please clarify so I can jump back in. I know Smith suggested a target but my understanding to be able to jump to a location we need to know the relationship between the two locations. And I don't think we know that and that is where my skill really is here. See msg #86 from me. Captain Confused. 

[OOC: No, you don't need to know the relationship between your current location and your destination. You just have to know the destination coordinates in a 26-axis matrix, consistent with Closed Unoriented Bosonic String Theory. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/...ics...2042S/abstract (Yes, I'm cherry-picking scientific papers I don't really understand just 'cause they look complicated—it is 23^rd century quantum subspace astrophysics, after all.)]

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 97):

"Commodore, several items to consider.  Number of ships we can jump with us.  My gut is at least 8, 4 above and 4 below our center axis at our 4 corners. They must be within the bubble the silver ball can generate.  We should exclude any ship that we think is structural damaged and may not survive the jump. We should exclude any ship that we think that their propulsion system may interfere with the silver ball.  And we should select ships based on capacity of people they can carry and ability to survive the jump.  The decisions will quite likely be unpopular." Thelev suggests.

"We should offer them the plan to try and take them home after taking them to our space but tell them there is no guarantee if we can not plot a course to the final destination." he adds.

"Another option but I would take all the people first trip is if we can plot a jump back here we could try and recover additional ships, which means we should do the first jump sooner rather than later. But this is a pocket universe which is collapsing."

Pointing to the card on the table "There is one final option that will buy time for everyone, especially Purple whose home this is.  Determine who or what is causing the collapse and stop and possibly reverse. But there is a risk, we are not spending our time and resources getting people to safety." as he gestures to the ship
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Thu 11 Feb 2021.

OCC Not sure when this statement from Thelev is coming in, but we’re still on with Purple.  I’m assuming he made the statement before Purple comes on.  In that case, I’m waiting for Purple to respond.

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 99):

OOC: No this would have been current.  Purple both said captains are arguing and he is panicking.  And I am sure he would be happy if we could save this place. And if people need to abandon their ships they will be unhappy. And to my point about offering them the plan to take them home I was agreeing with the the Commodore. May not have come across that way in typing.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 100):

"Screw this!" Khendron mutters to himself, deciding they all (himself included) are doing too much planning and not enough doing.

"Actions speak louder than words," he says louder, to the general audience. "Let's do a jump, and prove to everybody what we can do! I'm sure as the reality of the situation sets in, we will get more cooperation. Anybody who want to come with the first group, well, you're welcome to come along."

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 101):

"Hold that order." Thelev commands.  "Dr. Smith will we be able to return to get more ships?"

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 102):

"I'd say that the probability approaches unity. Whether or not the bubble universe lasts that long, I cannot say with any certainty. However, the 26-axis probability matrix does have a temporal component. I can take particular care to fix our return coordinates to one second later and 5 kilometres off to prevent us returning to the inhabit the same Minkowski coordinates, which occurance Jerry Robinson would term a major bummer. In that case, I would suggest we return to Sector 0-0-1. All the major research done by the Institute took place in Neptunian orbit in the Sol system, so we have rock-solid coordinates for it.. The only place in the Federation with better scientific resources would be the Vulcan Science Academy."
"Indeed, we should be able to commandeer Starfleet vessels to aid in the evacuation. Two of the Sydney class Starliners should be able to accommodate 6000 people. Their standard load is 800 passengers with a 3200 person evacuation capacity."

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 102):

"Then I agree with Mercer, lets take who is ready to go now and come back and get the rest.  The more trips we take the more people and ships we can savage." Thelev says.

Smith replies, "Very well, Captain. Shall we go to the Council chamber and give Curator Purple our decision? How many ships have matter transporters? We have 72 individual pads and 10 cargo pads. If we boost safety measures to their rated maximums, each cargo pad can handle 20 persons safely, meaning we can handle 272 safely. 236 will be beaming straight into cargo holds. The executive shuttles can carry a total of 204, but it is a logistic bottleneck moving people from the shuttles to the ship itself. Best case scenario, engaging all transporter pads, we can embark a full 1500 persons in 60 minutes, including time to beam 204 passengers to the shuttles rather than disembarking, loading and reembarking the shuttles.

"As for the Klingons, they have only twelve individual pads, two cargo and two combat. Their cargo transporters are less reliable than ours, so I'd rate them at ten persons each as a maximum, while their combat transporters are good for twenty persons each, for a total of ninety six persons per cycle. That means that in the same hour, the K'Tanko can only take 529 persons in addition to its crew of 350. This means that it will take them two point four hours to take on a full load, which is unacceptable.

"It is my proposal that we take our full load and the K'Tanko with its 529 evacuees while the Hesperus and Indomitable take on as many as they can in one hour, and make the first jump with that number. We should jump to the Institute's testing grounds, narrowcast an emergency signal to Starfleet Command and the Federation Council, and take it from there. We can request the emergency recall of the Excalibur, which still retains its Silver Ball equipment, as well as however many passenger ships as we can for the second trip. Depending on how many are available, that may be enough. We can also activate the System Defense Force for security measures with so many unknown alien refugees coming in-system." He pauses. "Does that meet your approval, Commodore? Time is of the essence!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Mon 15 Feb 2021.

McCurrvey kills the audio. “Gentlemen, does everyone understand that we have just let the Captains of 59 capital ships know that we have the only way out of this and that we may not be able to take everyone at once?  What would a Klingon crew do?  How about Romulans?  AND THOSE ARE PEOPLE WE KNOW!”  McCurrvey stabs the audio back on “Curator Purple, we will beam over presently.  Please have the entire council present and we will go over options.”  McCurrvey kills the transmission before he can respond.

"On the contrary, sir!" objects Thoma, "When I put Purple's hail through, I only transmitted your direct reply." She sounds offended. "Sir, I've worked with you for long enough that I would hope you know I observe security protocols. Only your comments went through, though you yourself did make vague allusions to these facts." Brad has never heard Thoma admonish him for a command decision. "However, we are going to have to give them these details sooner or later. We may as well begin shaping what we tell them in this emergency situation." Thelev has, over the years, heard this tone from Thoma, and usually she proves right.

Smith breaks in, "Cdr Thoma is correct. We're going to have to be up front with them. Otherwise, when we make out initial jump, they will in all honesty be;ieve we're abandoning them."

MacCay notes, "Perhaps we should return my crew to the Museum on the understanding that we won't abandon our own. With your permission, I'd like to have Thoma contact all my crew so I can issue the order. Indeed, we can do it over intership to keep everything above board... That way, your crew will also be kept informed."

Thoma replies to Purple, "Curator, please stand by. We are discussing the minutiae of transporting 6000 people in an orderly and secure manner."

Purple answers, "By all means. I'll try to keep a handle on it down here!"

“My apologies Commander.” McCurrvey looks slightly admonished.  “My suggestion is we jump with the largest ships and provide the other Captains with the option of abandoning their ships or waiting for the second trip”.  “MacCay.  Before you leave, I’d like your opinions on who you feel are going to have problems with this arrangement.  Please coordinate with the XO.”  McCurrvey turns to Thelev.  “Let’s see how many ships we can squeeze into our bubble”

"I've been doing some calculations," answers the android. "The Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Field has a radius of 662.5 metres. That gives us a total volume of 1,217,996,079.24 cubic metres. With sixty ships, that gives us a cubage of 20,299,934.65 cubic metres per ship. That's approximately the volume of our shield envelope. We're nearly the largest ship in the bubble universe. Many are much smaller. I conclude that if necessary, and it is fast becoming so, we can fit the entire fleet into the field bubble... It is risky, but I estimate a 79% chance of success, +/-5%. Personally, I am not in favour of this level of risk, but I am not human. It has been my experience that humanoids have a quality Jerry Robinson would call dumb luck. Humanoid decision is therefore required."

He gives a credible simulation of a sigh. "Captain Mercer is a trained astrogator as is Commodore McCurrvey, with Captain Thelev having some training in the field. I would suggest you consult with the Navigator and arrive at a decision."

[OOC: The following are the comparative skill levels:
McCurrvey - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 2 (3)
Mercer - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 2 (3)
Thelev - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 1 (2)
DesMarais - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 3 (4)

Specialisation 2 is qualified, 3 is professional training, and 4 is expert level training.]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 18 Feb 2021.

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 109):

"Roughly 1 chance in 5 of failure, then" says Khendron. "Not bad but not great. What are the consequences of failure? Does the jump simply not work? Do we lose some ships? Do we lose everybody?"

"Consequences? Unknown," states Smith. "We could simply fail to jump and be destroyed with this pocket universe—" There is another discontinuity— The deck shudders once and the lights fade. Emergency lights briefly flicker on.

"Engineering to Captain Thelev! We've just lost the dilithium—we'd just got the replacement crystal into the standby articulation frame and—"The lights come back on at full illumination"—There! Power restored, for now anyway. We're running low on dilthium crystals. We can't recrystallise the old ones either! The lattice didn't just delaminate—it completely disintegrated! It also caused microfractures in the articulation frame."

"Astrometrics to Science officer! The rate of contraction in the bubble universe has just increased! we now have less than forty-eight hours before annihilation!"

"Other consequences include," continues Smith, "A mis-jump to unknown coordinates. As evidenced by our experiences on the Excalibur, this need not be a disaster, but having sixty ships in the convoy does complicate things beyond contemplation."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

"Given the new time constraints it seems we may only get one attempt," he concludes, "Assuming we issue the directive to begin boarding all ships immediately. I will now suggest that we use the Bridgetown coordinates since we can use the anomaly known as the Hole to amplify the Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Field. Further, it will obviate the problem of transporting sixty ships of uncertain loyalties into the heart of the Federation. I now feel certain of this decision, since the alternative is a certainty—complete destruction."

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 112):

"A Starfleet initiative that that drops sixty ships of uncertain loyalties into the heart of a non-Federation collective of uncertain allegiance may produce even worse diplomatic issues," says Khedron, frowning at Smith. "But I definitely agree that we must start the preparing for the jump now! It is going to take some time to get all the ships organized.

"Will the Odyssey be ready to jump as soon as the sixty ships are in place, or will additional calibration time be necessary once everybody is in position?"

Smith is impassive. "Ah, but it just so happens that we have both the Federation and civilian administrators of the area aboard, as well as the Captains' Council of the Rag Tag Fleet, if I may borrow a designation from an old television show. Finally, we have the Curator, who has considerable influence. I propose that we get Cdr Harris, Sam, Purple and representatives from the Council to convene as soon as possible. We should meet in a briefing room here on the Odyssey ASAP!"

He continues, "The jump capacitors remain fully charged, so we can engage the Ball even on emergency power. Both sets of coordinates are in memory and can be engaged on a moment's notice."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:05, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

Thoma announces, "The last of the USS Genser crew has beamed aboard. Many of them are volunteering to assist the crews of the alien ships in readying themselves for the jump to normal space. The Hesperus and Indomitable both report ready, and Trierarch Dame Flavia Domitia of the Imperial Quinquereme Hesperus wishes to come aboard to help in coordinating the return to Federation space... And I still have the Curator holding on the line."

"Navigator to Flag Ready Room: Sirs, we have multiple ships manœuvring independently. In the last minute we've had a minor collision and three near-misses. They're panicking. Request instructions, Sirs!" Collette's voice is strained and alarms can be heard over hailing frequencies in the background.

Thoma comes back on the line, "Sir, Curator Purple is getting desperate. Several ships are on the verge of mutiny. It seems a Kapitan Sir Karl-Friedrich Hieronymus has rammed a smaller ship that was 'in his way'! Minor casualties only but the other ship is threatening to open fire."

Purple comes on the line, put through by Thoma, "Commodore, things are getting out of hand. Hieronymus has always been a loose cannon and he's rammed Captain Ahab's Spelljammer Pequod. Ahab's threatening to use the Crucio—The Cruciatus Curse—on him. It's not a weapon as such. It's more what you'd call magic—a psionic attack."