Slipstream Drive: Part 1, Meet the Scientist

Posted on Sat Jan 6th, 2024 @ 7:15pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters & Major Clay McEntyre III
Edited on on Sun Jan 7th, 2024 @ 6:52am

1,087 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 0: Where do we go from here?
Location: Deck 36 Main Engineering
Timeline: MD -7 days to anticipated launch. 1530 hours

Remy leaned against one of the guardrails in main engineering and scrolled through the notes that Dr. Hurtz had sent ahead of his presentation on the engineering upgrades that the Imperator had received during the refit process. Most of them were standard, but the slipstream drive was still new technology and Remy didn't feel like she understood everything about the drives that Starfleet was rolling out, and she wouldn't be comfortable until she did.

"You must be Commander Johansen, I'm Dr Hurtz." The newcomer said offering his hand.

Remy stood up straighter, leaving the support of the guardrail as she took the engineer's hand. "I am. And pleasure to meet you. I'm looking forward to hearing all about what you've done to the place."

"Oh there's been a few additions that are quite exciting!" The Doctor said with some glee

Newly arrived Lieutenant Clay McEntyre, the third, strode into the engine room like a man on a mission. Confident, together. He was already geared for duty, having donned the new issued Tactical Armor and duty belt to his standard duty uniform. He approached the two standing against the guardrail on the upper levels of engineering.

Chief Engineer Nash Winters couldn’t help but notice the arrival of Johansen and McEntyre at the top rail; he was on the lower level inspecting the newly installed warp core/quantum matrix. Nash took the elevator to the upper level. “Commander, Lieutenant—I see you’ve joined the party. This slipstream drive is going pack a helluva wallop, if we can keep the quantum matrix stable. Dr. Hurtz here was just telling us all about it.”

"It's quite exciting actually, now this is for the most part an improved version of the technology Voyager brought back, there is still issues with the heat exchangers but over all this should be fun." The Doctor said.

Remy' couldn't keep the sarcastic humor to herself. "Oh, issues with heat exchangers in an engineering component, that's always fun," she said dryly giving a subtle nod to whoever was paying attention.

Dr. Hurtz looked at the Commander, "It's not as serious as it sounds, the drive itself will function as expected, the maximum limit is approximately a eight to ten hour run, before the key systems will have too cool off."

“It’s a matter of finding a balance during the energy transfer. We need to incorporate some kind of buffer or protective barrier to prevent overheating. Like the Doc said, not too serious, Commander. I can’t wait to see this baby in action,” Nash said, hardly able to contain his excitement.

Vila was headed to Engineering herself, but for an entirely different reason. She needed assistance fixing a computer that was fritzing out, and not responding to her overrides. She had fought the urge to just call Benny and ask him to walk her through it, though she would've if she didn't think it was too rude.

She found a small group gathered at the main computer. "Hello. I am looking for Nash? One of your people said you were the man to see. I am Commander Lorut. I run the Science department. One of the Botany computers is going haywire and I can't override it," she said. "Would you be able to take a look at it?" She asked. "I was on lunch, anyway, so I thought I'd just come by instead of sending a relay," she said, by way of explanation. "It isn't urgent, per se, but I'd like to finish that lab as soon as possible. Hey, Remy," she said, finally. "I'll have a fuller staff Rota for you shortly," she said, her brown eyes looking to the ceiling as she spoke. Duty rosters were possibly the MOST boring part of her job.

“Over here, Vila!” Nash said as he waved Vila over to him.

“I suppose they’re keeping you pretty busy up there. Up to my chin in slipstream prep. Um… what terminal is it? I can probably clear it up remotely, right from here.”

She nodded. "Terminal 7, in the main Science lab," she said. "Of course, it's the one that connects directly to the Science Council's database," she said, with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, Commander. Come on, let’s take a look.” Winters and Lorut strolled over to the main engineering console.

“Terminal seven…” Nash said as he scrolled through active science terminals. He found the one Lorut requested and found the problem.

“Here… look. The router interface disconnected from the comm protocols. A….little….manipulation….recursive algorithm… and ——-there you go! All cleared up. You should be good to go. And you’re welcome!” Nash said with a sarcastic grin.

"Thank you!" She said. "That will be very helpful. You're a lifesaver!" She made a face, but she WAS appreciative. She glanced around. She'd interrupted something. Oops.

"You can take your time on the roster, until they tell me who the Captain is going to be I'm not holding any of your feet to the fire on duty rosters. Vila, you should stay for a bit and meet Dr. Hurtz," Remy said gesturing to the engineer behind the upgrades. "And I don't know if you've ran into our Chief of Security yet, Clay McEntyre," she added gesturing to the human security officer who was wearing tactical armor. Remy assumed he must have come from a training exercise.

Clay gave a nod as he headed down to the main level of Engineering to join the others.

"Dr. Hurtz was about to go over in some more detail some of the changes made to assist in engineering efficiency. If you aren't readily familiar with slipstream technology you might want to stay," Remy suggested. "It's still new to me, and it sounds like we haven't worked all the bugs out. Dr. Hurtz and Commander Winters were just talking about one."

"Dr. Hurtz this is our Second Officer, Commander Lorut Vila," Remy said gesturing to the Bajoran officer who had just arrived.

Vila smiled. "Nice to meet you, Sir," she said. She leaned against a hull. She looked at the console. "Hmm...what if you rerouted them through the refrigeration system until something else could cool down?" She shrugged. "My ex-husband was an engineer. I paid attention," she said.

>> to Part 2>>

Commander Remy Johansen
First Officer
USS Imperator

Commander Vila Lorut
Second Officer, Chief Science Officer
USS Imperator

Lt. Commander Nash Winters
Chief Engineer
USS Imperator

Lt. Commander Clay McEntyre
Chief of Security
USS Imperator

Dr. Richard Hurtz
Starfleet Engineer

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