The Star Beagle Adventures
Episode 7: The Roundabout
Scene 15: Deep Mapping

Twenty-four before my love and you'll see, I'll be there with you...

7.15
Deep Mapping

.

The liberation and return of Trader Pel, Lance Corporal Petra Spitze, and Private First Class Raanda Habib by an eadh regency was a tremendous boost to morale within the Beagle Task Force and also a tremendous boon for the rescue planning.

First, it cut the number of individuals needing rescue in half. And those that remained imprisoned on Roundabout Station were three well-trained marines, including a highly experienced NCO who was a veteran of two wars.

The rescue team would be headed up by another couple of war veterans, Lt. Jim Whitesand and Sergeant Manuel Guerra, along with their team, Privates First Class Robert Stevens, Marcia Salt, Kari Winters and Savage St. John. With the exception of Manny Guerra, the entire team was African American, and, like most U.S. Marines, tended to be somewhat larger and considerably more muscular than the average American.

These marines were gearing up for the mission in their dedicated mission room, located near the shuttle bays near the stern of the U.S.S. Beagle. The equipment they were laying out and putting through mission prep inspection included darkops visors, phaser rifles, spitfires, suspensor nets, transport enhancers, hologrenades, a pair of dogfish, and an exchange in uniform from the standard gray and brown fractal camouflage in favor of interactive, subdued camouflage armor. In its inactive state, this armor was a dark gray.

.

.

Inside Pel's Shuttle, Spike was leaned back in a seat, alternately massaging her temples and sipping a cup of cold sog. Commodore Yui Song, Captain Skip Howard, and Major Janet Carter had attended Spike's debriefing. But not the deep mapping debriefing that had followed - that was left to the exclusive talents of Falok with only Marine Captain Osollaa sh'Zhiathis to supervise.

Now it was PFC Raanda Habib's turn.

A very nervous Raanda sat facing Falok, the young vulcan astrophysics team leader. The young vulcan framed the young marine's face with his fingertips: "My mind to your mind: Your thoughts to my thoughts…"

.

.

Commodore Yui, Captain Howard, and Major Carter had moved on to the probe lab, where they joined Dean Sakura Nakamura Holland and a very annoyed Lt. Cmdr. Senek to listen to a very excited Sgt. Tommy Richards:

"There is no indication that any of these people have ever encountered transporter technology. But the station is fully shielded at all times due to a fair amount of orbital debris, which makes beaming anyone in or out very problematic. It also makes scanning difficult. Difficult, but not impossible…" Richards brought up a number of displays. "As you can imagine, there isn't a single screening system. There are layers of different screens, using different screening technology, covering different parts of the station and they overlap. Where mismatched technologies overlap, regular gaps in the screens occur due to uncorrected harmonics."

"If there were a single authority for providing this screening, problems like that might be worked out. But the bureaucracy that provides the screening is a hodgepodge of departments and individuals representing different political units in different parts of the station," Richards continued.

"Make a long story short, Tommy," Captain Howard interrupted. "Do we have a map of the deep interior the station? And can we beam people in and out?"

"We have a very comprehensive map, thanks to a combination of our scanning and the very detailed maps provided by our fine, feathered friends. But we do not yet have the exact detail on how that mapping matches up to the descriptions we have of where our people were last known to be. I'm hoping the vulcans can help us with that, once they finish digging around in Spike's head," Richards replied. "As for beaming people in and out, that can only be done at specific locations." He touched a control and locations on the map lit up. Thousands of them.

"There are about 3,000 locations. That may sound like a lot until you remember just how big this station is. And we will have to coordinate the transporter cycle with the unique harmonic shield overlap convergence cycle for each individual location. Some locations cycle 2 or 3 times a minute. Some cycle 2 or 3 times an hour. Some cycle 2 or 3 times a day."

Howard turned toward the Beagle's Dean of Ship. "Sakura, how about the holotransporter? Can it get through that shielding?"

"No, not directly. I mean, yes we can do it, but it's going to take some serious math," the lovely Japanese woman replied. "I could use your help. You and Senek. Tommy and Janet will have their hands full here. We'll have to program the system to transport continuously through the various weak points… pretty much all over the station… as each one cycles in turn. It's not going to provide a clean projection by any means, but for what you and Krank described to me, it doesn't really have to be."

.

.

In the U.S.S. Beagle's Medical Center, Trader Pel was in a curtained area, receiving more restorative surgery from Dr. Bettes Uto, the assistant medical director.

"Your skin took some serious and deep damage in areas where, because of your continual use of prosthetics, the skin is always inflamed. This caused a few tumors that had to be removed. I strongly advise against applying prosthetics for at least three weeks so that you give these areas time to heal."

Pel was even more distressed. "I can't remain hidden for that long!"

"Have you considered reconstructive surgery, to make the changes permanent so that you don't have to use prosthetics?" Dr. Bettes Uto asked. "We would still need some time for you to heal, but the reconstruction could start in a few days."

"I don't want to be male!" Pel almost wailed. Then she realized she was only separated from the rest of the medical center by curtains and quickly lowered her voice. "When I take the ears off, I'm me. I can only be me in private. I have to pretend to be male in public."

"You don't have to pretend with us, Pel," Bettes retorted. "Everyone in this task force would accept you as female. It might take them a few days for them to get used to it, but no one would think anything less of you for it. Everyone would understand."

"But I want to go home," Pel said, quietly, but fervently. "Maybe the Grand Nagus will change things and I can go home as a woman, and be me, and still do business. But maybe he won't manage to do that. Too many people in this task force already know about me. It would get out. Too many people know…"

.

.

In another area of the Medical Center, two more betazoid doctors, Mistroya Utru and Macerio Rossel, along with two medical engineers from Nakamura Enterprises, Mimi Minimari and Diya Mody, were all busy with an enormous, extremely delicate and extremely detailed full body tattoo. Their enormous patient was stretched out on the table and rolled over as instructed to accept this painful and extensive procedure. Fingers, toes, elbows, ears, eyelids, scalp… no body part had previously been tattooed, and every part was now being tattooed…

.

.

In premiere emiritus T'Eln's quarters, the series of mind-melds between the ancient vulcan and the betazoid Medical Director, Dr. Tentis Uto, entered its 29th hour…

7.15