The Engineers

Posted on Fri Mar 29th, 2024 @ 10:46pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Jules Mundy & Ensign Rilaxa Moxx

1,268 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Artifact or Artifiction
Location: Serenity
Timeline: MD 4, 1800 hours

Remy and Mundy walked with some of the junior engineering officers as they were getting a tour of the Serenity's engines while Nash worked on the bigger problem of getting Serenity to Starbase 76 in a reasonable amount of time.

Maven, one of the engineers from Serenity who had been revived was talking, "So what you found when you first boarded the ship was engineering's control room, but if you want to manually access the engines, their actually several more decks down, and behind a bulkhead protecting the ship and her crew should anything overload." She and a few of the other Serenity engineers escorted the Starfleet officers down to the actual engine rooms. "If you didn't know exactly where to look, you would have had a hard time finding the door."

Thisbe's head was spinning. This time, it wasn't because she was about to pass out. It was because she was still so agog over what was even going on! Still, she was up for the task. She nodded along. "I missed the first day," she said. "So this is actually my first time. Your ship is..ahhhhmazing," she said, gushing a little. She knew she was being silly but it was true. "Commander Nash said that your ship can do warp?" She asked, to clarify. "So..is it a core type tech or ??" She asked. That would help her to determine what she might be working on that day.

"We don't completely understand 'warp," but it sounds like there are some similarities," Maven stated. "Hyperdrive takes our ship out of phase, and allows us to travel a little over three times the speed of light without the worry of colliding into other planets or stars. But our navigational calculations must be precise. We can travel through a planet in Hyperdrive, but we can't come out of hyperdrive at the wrong time for obvious reasons."

Tener added, "Because space is always moving, it's not recommended for particularly long journeys without known stops along the way."

Thisbe nodded. "I understand. What sort of engine do you use?" She asked. "I can take a look at it, or ask my boss to," she said. "And while he's doing that, we can address the rest of the power and infrastructure problems. Do you need any assistance with things like that? We have some modern tools that may be of assistance that I can teach you to use," she said. "The materials replicator, for one, and decouplers and such," she said. "I'll let YOU guide me; you know your ship best," she said. The Carjoran was eager to learn as much as possible, but she wasn't about to think she was more advanced than these people. After all, her father's side had barely just joined the Federation and were still under a carefully watchful eye, rightfully.

Remy put a hand on Thisbe's shoulder. "We should slow down a few steps. We're all eager to help, but the Federation does have protocols in place before we share too much technology."

Thisbe nodded.. "Oh! Yes, ma'am," she said. She liked to help but she didn't want to burn out again. "My apologies," she said to their alien friends, with a dip of her head. She stepped aside, busying herself with other work.

Rilaxa, meanwhile, had been spending the past few minutes learning how exactly the Serenity's crystal-based power system worked. She listened with great interests as Serenity's engineers walked her through the system; indeed, each crystal was polarized like a battery with subtle differences only visible with the aid of equipment as a form of security.

"We deciphered many of your console symbols, so we could work safely to restore your main power. It wasn't easy, but we finally figured it out." Mundy addressed the aliens.

Teven nodded. "We owe you a debt of gratitude. I don't know that the rest of us would have made it much longer if you hadn't found us when you did."

"No one contemplated the ship would be dormant for so long," Maven added. "But it does seem that something happened recently to speed up the power drain. The ship stopped keeping logs several hundred years ago - at least the best we've been able to tell."

Mundy spoke up. "We were able to scan the surface of the ship, looking for asteroid impacts or weapons fire. The results were inconclusive."

"Your ship lands, right?" Remy asked. "Perhaps if we get you to where we are going a manual search would say more." She kept back the worry that plagued her - that Starfleet might try to commandeer the ship in some way or hold if for study.

"Oh she lands. Hopefully still does. In here," Tevin pressed his palm against an invisible panel - not unlike one that Mundy had observed Dani find a few days earlier. A door slid open, leading them into a new corridor. There was an audible hum in this part of the ship, the power that was now being supplied to the engines.

"We like to clear staff from the area before going into hyperdrive, though theoretically it should be perfectly safe," Terven said as led them past the control panels. He turned on a viewscreen, or maybe it was a window and the crew could see what appeared to be a large orb. "The ship has three of these. When powered up, they act somewhat the same way your nacelles do. They are only exposed when we are in hyperdrive. When powered down, they retreat back into their protective housing units."

Mundy looked at the Orb, then down at the control panel. "How long can you stay in hyperdrive?"

"Twelve to fifteen hours depending on the speed and complexity of the route," Tener explained. "If there are more obstacles, it's more taxing on the engines."

Remy looked at Lieutenant Mundy, "It might make more sense to have the Serenity travel directly to the relocation site, rather than make the extra stop at Starbase 76. We could have support meet them there."

"Makes sense captain. But I still would like to get more information on the Orb device before we part company." responded Mundy.

"Of course, Lieutenant. Just don't be too rude about it," Remy teased,

"I wasn't trying to be rude, captain. If I did, I apologize." replied Mundy.

"It was a joke, Mundy. Carry on with your questions," Remy said with a cheeky grin.

Jules looked back at Tener. "Your hull. What's it composed of?"

"Mostly duranium," Tener responded. "We use stoarium throughout the entire ship as well. We have certain automated technology and stoarium is the activating element in the technology. The trace amounts in our hull plating has allowed us to integrate certain features into the hull, docking rings, shuttle doors, shields. Things like that."

"I never heard of stoarium, and having integrated features like that can make a ship very sleek." Jules responded.

"It is a mineral with conductive properties that was once mined on our homeworld," Maven responded, interjecting herself back into the conversation. "Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - given what became of our planet, most of it had been mined by the time we were forced to evaculate. I believe some of your science officers have been studying the material closely. It is quite powerful."

Remy watched the younger officers follow Mundy and the Ataran engineers into the depth of the ship eager with their questions. She was trying to keep an eye on everything that was going on... which was a lot. She let them be and went on to the next project.

[End]

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