CHAPTER 14
O'Brien had nearly finished his modeling. He had a life detection system simulator up and running, and his environment assessment simulator and his gravitational simulator were almost ready. He decided to use a simple arrangement of red and green indicator lights to show the status of each of the simulators. Once the simulators were up and running, he and Dax would try various techniques to deactivate them. O'Brien was pretty confident that he'd be able to fool the gravitational sensor, but as for the others, he wasn't so sure.
Stoan had lectured him that the life and environment sensors had excellent safety records. What Stoan said was true; they did. But somehow, those safety systems had not prevented a catastrophe, and O'Brien felt he had to look into how those systems could be evaded, defeated or fooled.
It was not encouraging for O'Brien to be going over territory that Stoan had undoubtedly already covered. When Stoan had designed the safety systems for Observer and Surveyor, he had most certainly tried everything he could imagine to make those systems fail, and he could not make them fail. If Stoan couldn't find a way, what made O'Brien think he could find a way?
"Message coming in for Miles O'Brien," the computer announced. "Secure channel requested."
O'Brien wondered who was trying to contact him. He sat at a desk with a display and gave the computer his security authorization.
Once the authorization was accepted, the unsmiling face of Stoan appeared on the display. O'Brien felt his chest tighten.
"Greetings, Mister O'Brien," Stoan said.
"Greetings to you, Mister Stoan."
Stoan got right down to business. "I have been receiving reports from Commissioner Young. I wished to confirm with you whether the reports are correct in all their details."
"Very well, I'm happy to cooperate." As soon as O'Brien said the word "happy," he regretted it, since Stoan could surely see that O'Brien was not happy at all.
"Is it true that you went onto Observer to obtain detailed scans of Observer's Probe Preparation Bay?"
"Yes, that is true."
"You no doubt had the permission from your commanding officer to do so, but authorization should have been obtained from the Commission. Because your visit was unauthorized, you have committed a serious offense for which an extensive period of penalization may be imposed."
O'Brien rolled his eyes. He didn't know what to say, so he decided to be blunt. "I'm guilty. After this investigation is concluded, you can lock me up."
"The Commission does not wish to lock you up, Mister O'Brien. Commissioner Young has determined that you are not to be charged for the offense. It is within her authority to make this decision."
"Oh."
"Did you make your scans of the Observer's Probe Preparation Bay?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did the scans yield any useful data?"
"Yes, sir, they did. We have used them to generate a holosuite simulation of Observer's Bay as it currently is. We have further been able to determine that the arrangement of the equipment in Observer's Bay is not the same as we had thought. We have also verified that the explosion took place while the probe was on the bench, and that the bench was displaced aft, relative to its previous position, by about seventy centimeters."
Stoan waited several seconds before saying, "Interesting."
"Yes, sir, we think it is."
"Are your scans fabricated?"
O'Brien was taken aback. "Are you asking whether I falsified my work?"
"Yes. Do not be offended by the question. The Bay is protected against all standard sensor scans, so taking interior scans of the Bay ought to be, as a practical matter, impossible. You say that you are in possession of data that there ought to be no way for you to obtain. One reasonable explanation is that you have concocted illegitimate data."
O'Brien felt his chest tightening again. "My readings were all genuine, sir!"
"Explain to me how you obtained them," Stoan demanded.
O'Brien took a deep breath. "Sir, from a distance, it was not possible to make sensor sweeps the Bay interior, but we noticed that there were fringe readings suggesting that the shielding around the Bay had been compromised. Presumably the blast inside the Bay created some small gaps in the shielding."
Stoan listened.
O'Brien went on. "I was able go onto Observer and to use a portable scanner to make scans through the small breaks in the shielding. I made scans through as many breaks as I could identify, some forty scans in all, I believe."
Stoan listened.
"After making my scans, I used the computer to stitch the scans together to reconstruct the Bay interior." O'Brien nodded to indicate that he was finished with his explanation.
Stoan nodded in reply and said, "I would like your scans, including all of the raw data, all reconstructions and any simulations derived therefrom."
"I'll transmit that to you, sir."
"Assuming your scans are authentic and your reconstructions are accurate," Stoan continued, "it may be unwise to place reliance upon them. Indeed, the safety demonstration Summary is limited in its usefulness. Using holographic models for purposes of event reconstruction is likely to introduce error. I base this conclusion upon my experience, which is extensive. If I may advise you, a more prudent course is to create physical representations of the systems and test the physical models rather than the holographic simulations of those systems. You ought to have at your starbase sufficient materials to construct such physical models. You do not need to know the exact arrangement of the apparatus inside the probe, or any other information above your level of security clearance."
"I'm doing that already!" O'Brien exclaimed. "Sir," he added hastily.
Stoan seemed momentarily astonished. "You are?"
"Yes! I expect that I'll soon have simulations of the environment assessment and gravitational safety systems up and running in a few hours. My life detection system simulator is up and running now. Lieutenant Dax, my colleague, will be working with me to explore ways in which the safety systems might fail." O'Brien waited for Stoan to criticize this plan, or to remind O'Brien that this approach was unwise.
Instead, Stoan simply said, "Very well."
When he realized no criticism would be forthcoming, O'Brien hoped that the worst was over and that the conversation would be ending soon. But Stoan had at least one more topic to discuss.
"Mister O'Brien, in our previous conversation, I may have left you with an inaccurate impression, which I would now like to correct. I believe I may have led you to conclude that investigation of failures in the life detection system, the gravitational gradient system and the environment assessment system would be poor uses of your time. The correct impression is that potential causes that are more likely should ordinarily be investigated before the potential causes that are less likely."
"I recognize that, sir."
"In order for the probe to detonate, however, those three safety systems must permit the detonation. It is, therefore, only logical that those systems be included in the investigation. Although these systems have excellent records, it is seemingly the case that they did not provide adequate safety on this occasion. Have I now adequately explained this point?"
"Yes, sir." O'Brien wondered whether this was some sort of apology for Stoan's harshness in their previous conversation. It was, at least, an indication that the present conversation was considerably more pleasant than the earlier one. O'Brien decided to see whether it would remain so. "Would you allow me to ask a question, Mister Stoan? I will try not to ask for any confidential information above my security clearance."
"Ask your question."
"One of the possibilities that has been proposed here is that the probe that exploded had recently been returned to the ship because it had failed to prime."
"That scenario is highly unlikely, for many reasons."
"Yes, and we agree that it is unlikely, sir. But we nevertheless had to recognize that, if the probe were an FTP probe, there would have been a recent time that none of the safety systems would have prevented detonation, and that the only reason the probe did not detonate was that it failed to prime itself."
"True. When the command to detonate is given, the only things left to do are for the probe to prime itself and for the actual detonation to occur. If there is no life nearby, and if the environment and gravity are correct, the safety systems will have deactivated all guards and interlocks that prevent detonation."
"And a probe that fails to prime must be retrieved. The probe propels itself out of the planet's atmosphere, and the Observer has to dispatch a shuttlecraft to get it."
"Correct. According to the terms of the Convention and the Commission's charter, all probes must be accounted for and no undetonated or active probe is permitted to remain in the environment."
"Okay, so when the probe comes out of the planet's atmosphere to rendezvous with the shuttlecraft, we assume that all of those safety systems that have disengaged are supposed to automatically re-engage. Are we correct?"
"Of course," Stoan replied promptly, and then he raised a finger as if he were going to add something. He kept his finger raised for nearly half a minute, then spoke again. "Intriguing. I see the logic of your question. You are suggesting that a probe's safety systems had been fully disengaged, and the possible mode of failure is that, for some reasons, some or all of those systems have failed to re-engage."
"Yes, sir."
"That is an interesting line of inquiry. This is exactly the kind of thinking I try to encourage in my students. Well done."
O'Brien felt a surge of pride. "Thank you, sir!"
"However, the scenario is patently absurd."
"Uh." The pride disappeared at once.
"But still intriguing."
"Uh."
"Mister O'Brien," Stoan spoke professorially, "you do recognize that I am not permitted to explain all of the details of the probe to you. But there are some things I can tell you that may make your investigation more productive and less likely to follow absurd hypotheses. First. After a probe fails to prime, the Probe Control Station immediately withdraws authorization to detonate, thereby immediately re-activating numerous safety interlocks within the probe. These interlocks prevent detonation. Second. Even if the Probe Control Station fails to withdraw authorization, numerous automatic safety systems re-engage, and these safety systems prevent detonation. The life detection system, the environment assessment system and the gravitational gradient system are all fail-safe systems. This means that unless they are affirmatively deactivated by the probe itself, the probe will not detonate."
"I understand, sir."
"I believe you are aware that the probe detonates when a component called a 'striker' physically impacts a component called a 'core.' Is this correct?"
"I am aware of that, sir."
"In the case of the life detection system, for example, there is a collapsible barrier that is interposed between the striker and the core. That barrier is always in place, preventing detonation, unless the life sensor affirmatively registers a 'no life' reading. Then, and only then, will the barrier be moved out of the way. If there is a life reading or an ambiguous reading, then the barrier will not be moved; or if the barrier has already been moved, it will be moved back to its interposing position. So when the shuttlecraft comes to collect a probe that has failed to prime, the life sensor detects the life forms aboard the shuttlecraft long before the shuttlecraft actually arrives, and moves the barrier back into position between the striker and core."
"I see, sir."
"The environmental system is somewhat different. It includes physical locking elements that are interposed between certain mechanical components. These locking elements must physically withdraw in order to release the priming apparatus and the striker, and thus for detonation to occur. When the probe descends deep into the planet's atmosphere and senses a proper pressure and atmospheric chemistry and temperature, the sensor registers a 'proper environment' reading, and the locking elements are drawn back. When the probe rises out of the atmosphere, long before the shuttlecraft arrives to retrieve it, there is no longer a 'proper environment' reading, and the locking elements re-engage."
"I understand, sir."
"The gravitational gradient system is similar, but with different locking elements in different positions. The gravitational gradient sensor will detect an incorrect gravitational gradient at least thirty minutes before the shuttlecraft is able to retrieve it, and will re-engage its interlocks."
"Thank you for the explanation, sir. It's very helpful." O'Brien was mostly being gracious. He wasn't sure he'd learned anything new, except that shuttlecraft retrieval took thirty minutes, at a minimum, and that did not count the time needed for the shuttlecraft to get to the probe, or the time needed for the shuttlecraft to return the probe to the ship.
"Have I now explained to you how and why the safety systems of an FTP probe re-engage?"
"Yes, sir, you have explained it very well. I was wondering, though, sir, whether electromagnetic shear may have affected the functionality of the guards or interlocks when a probe attempts to prime, preventing or perhaps hindering re-engagement."
Stoan pondered the question for several seconds. "Highly unlikely. The electromagnetic fields associated with priming are regulated so that only the core is affected; components that are away from the core avoid significant electromagnetic shear from priming. When priming occurs, there are no such components in proximity to the core." Stoan looked like he wanted to say more, but he abruptly stopped speaking.
O'Brien thought he knew why. "I take it, sir, that explaining this further would be conveying information above my security clearance?"
"Correct. I am not permitted to explain the arrangement of the components to you. It is sufficient for you know that the chance of electromagnetic shear preventing re-engagement of all safety systems is negligible, and that detonation cannot occur if any of the safety systems re-engage. That is, even if all of the systems, save one, should fail to re-engage, the remaining system will make the probe safe to handle. In the case of the automatic safety systems, all three systems would have to fail to re-engage, and this is highly unlikely."
"Yes, sir."
"And let us not forget that a retrieved probe has failed to prime, and cannot detonate for that reason alone."
"Yes, sir, I understand."
"So the hypothesis that the probe in question was a recently-retrieved FTP probe is highly unlikely. Even so, the line of inquiry is intriguing. Quite remarkable. I shall think upon it further."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." O'Brien wondered what could possibly be intriguing or remarkable to Stoan. It seemed to O'Brien that Stoan had utterly demolished the notion that the probe that exploded could have been an FTP. Yet Stoan had done so in a relatively pleasant and scholastic manner, and O'Brien had not felt himself or his credibility to be personally under attack.
"I shall expect to receive your raw data and derivative works within the hour."
"Yes, sir."
"I am traveling in the company of four other members of the Commission. We have just secured towing and escort vessels that will take control of Observer and tow Observer to a secure location. We will be arriving at your station in approximately five days. I will, at that time, be expecting to receive all other materials that you have collected or generated."
"Of course, sir." As a courtesy, O'Brien added, "I'm looking forward to meeting you."