Computing the Solution

Posted on Mon Jan 5th, 2026 @ 3:09am by Lieutenant JG Larissa Milton & Lieutenant Commander Etan tar-Lexros

Mission: Those who are left behind
Location: USS Resolution, Cargo Bay 3
Timeline: After "Getting Away From It All"
Tags: Operations,Plot Thread

Etan was rather proud of his team lately. In spite of some harrowing events on the Cardassian ship and some other issues going around, the Operations department of the Resolution had managed to pull together and help advance the efforts of the Federation to end this war sooner. Between their advances on the weapons of the Jem'Hadar and the positive identification of Cardassian vessels, the Ops team could be confident that their efforts could save lives. But that left one last nut needing cracked - a Cardassian main computer, salvaged from what they believed to be the command vessel of the fleet here at Chin'tok'a. To deal with it, Etan had summoned the aid of his best computer specialist, Larissa Milton.

The Efrosian had started to try and figure out ports they could access from, and to try and figure out the architecture of the computer in front of him. There was some information on Cardassian systems, and they'd salvaged parts of the control panel as well, but that didn't make it easier. He was more versed in hardware than software, so he was standing with a PADD, reading the SCE files on Cardassian computer technology, waiting for Ensign Milton to arrive.

Larissa entered the Cargo Bay in a hasten manner but not running. She straightened her skirted uniform before leaving her quarters, this mission was getting to be what some might call 'Intriguing' as so much alien technology and coding that she could delve into. Coming to a halt near lar-Lexros, she gave a grin.

Ensign Milton reporting as requested." She began as her eyes fell upon the sight in front of them. "Is that our new challenge Sir? She has eyes like a girl looking at a new shiny toy.

Etan nodded at Larissa as she charged in, and passed her the PADD he'd been reading, marked with a few highlights. "It is, Ensign. The more you can get out of it, the more lives we save. Whatever strat-ops data you can pull from it, do so. I've made sure it's isolated from the ship's network, so go wild." He gestured to a lithium battery pack, one of the kind used to back up the power to the Resolution's main computer, sitting off to the side. "It's not even being powered by the EPS system. I've tried to get all the pieces we found in one place."

Larissa strolled around the computer Core; looking it up and down, watched the isolation of lights as it 'Thought' in a passive way. The rhythm of power coursing through it as a means of keeping the secrets within held from the outside universe. Only those with permission could get information out of it. Looking at an artificial being of sorts; the personality of it's programmer dictating all actions.

"This will be fun conversations." She comment as she slowly went around; never taking her eyes away. "Who are in our circle of things that I am able to share..." She glanced over to make eye contact for a wink. "Are-Jay and do not talk work; I know nothing of patients and he is not even aware of the tid bits I got while on an Away mission." Looking back to the computer. "Who else am I able to talk with at any hour with news?"

The Ops chief thought about her question, and then just nodded. He'd been doing well for the hour or so before this, but the pressure to find something valuable was bringing the anxiety back. "Fair enough. I expect that it would be difficult to 'talk shop' with someone whose experience is very different." He shrugged. "However, while I do spend a lot of time with Kay, if you need to talk about something while I'm off-duty, I'm very aware of those moments of irrepressible passion. And Kay's wide range of experience means she's an excellent sounding board for technical discussion, even if she's unable to contribute directly to the solution."

"Pillow talk with the Hubby only in extreme situations." Larissa replied. "The Core here will have encryption but with an understanding of Dominion computers are just computers and there are universal laws and operations..." Larissa paused to look at a bit of the light flashing. "It is just a puzzle to put the pieces together with."

"I'm glad we look at the situation the same way - I find that most of our department enjoys puzzles and the like. As I said, my experience is in hardware." Etan pulled the tricorder out of the holster on his hip, starting to take closer scans of the alien computer. He started checking with his PADD, and began confirming the computer's parts based on the information gained during the Cardassian conflict. It seemed the components had improved some, but not to the degree that Federation hardware had. "I think it would be best for you to work on the software side before we start considering a teardown outside of a holodeck simulation."

"I admit striking up a conversation would be fun." Larissa put the connection into a port to allow her remote connection to the Computer Core. "I think we should do some basic math to begin with; then some Pythagorean solids to really spice it up." She giggled.

Etan nodded, and quickly brought up a display of Cardassian numerals with their translations for Larissa on his PADD, passing it to her, "In case you have a situation where you need to read the numbers without an external viewer. I can also set the computer and PADD to attempt visual translation of text output, if needed."

"This all helps, math is the universal language," Larissa replied. "This is not my first Computer Conversational Rodeo." She winked. "But any help is naturally appreciated."

Etan nodded and looked over the machine, thinking for a moment. Then he put the PADD down gently beside Larissa and walked over to one of the terminals to the Resolution's computer that were normally located in the cargo bay, changing the context so the LCARS database was available to him. After the two of them had been working on their various computer work, Etan looked up. "Ensign, I just had a thought. Federation vessels have regularly received hails and communications from Cardassian ships with minimal challenge. Do you think any of the transmitted keys would help us get more coherent access here?"

"More than you might think." Larissa went beside him to look. "Analyzing the patterns gives a wider spectrum of communication range to use as a 'gate into their systems." She explained. "It is not unlike knowing 'How proper speech is spoken and then adapting your own speech pattern to be like it. The common coding and speeches used in the hails would make a base line for us to understand and use to our advantage... eventually."

Etan nodded and called up all records he had access to about communications with the Cardassians. The data stretched back to the Cardassian War, which meant that it would be easier to work out on a bigger table, so he set up a remote instance into the main Ops panel. He took a moment to consider the data scope, and cut it down to the last few years. "Absolutely. I'm working on a query now. As soon as I've processed the encryption keys, you'll have them."

"Is there any way to find out what Intel knows about their communications?" Larissa asked. "Even less classified observations might expand our scope and give us a more current knowledge base for how they are talking among themselves?"

Etan thought for a moment, looking at his board. "Well, officially, ship's logs are sealed for a century, so we might not have too many of them. We do have both public recordings of the declarations of war and peace during the Cardassian War, with full LCARS and sensor playback. It's not much, but we can start from there and I'll see what else I can dig up." It was obvious that the word 'officially' was carrying a certain level of weight for Etan - they could get access, but it could lead to uncomfortable questions. "Still, I could cross-reference fleet ships' assignments on the stardates when they were in contact with Cardassian vessels, It will take time."

"No conversation is instant." Larissa winked. "Conversations are built and that means time investment. Answers do not pop up they are sought and discovered so no hurry, it is a marathon, not a sprint."

OFF