Fingers On The Pulse
Posted on Wed Apr 18th, 2018 @ 11:43am by
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 9:29pm
908 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Enemy Within
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: MD002 1100 hrs
Tags: SD 71373.1100
Thalk narrowed his eyes at his console. His shield retrofits had cut back power requirements by half, giving him leeway to install or modify other systems. Weapons would come later, but his first priority was maneuverability. If the crew's new hobbies included being shot at while outnumbered, propulsion could use all the power it could get. The Klingon rubbed his eyes, tapped his comm badge, and said "Petty Officer Morol Rial, I have a present for you. Please report to main engineering at your convenience."
Moral was sitting in one of the lower engineering sublevels going over the damage to the propolsion system. The enlisted officer held his head in one hand as he read then put the PADD down, "bloody officers...." he started as his commbadge went off, "copy, sir, on my way," the engineer called and headed out of the small room into the corridor and jefferies tubes.
It wasn't long before Morol was in engineering. He tugged the hem of his tunic and walked over to the engineering chief, "Propulsion Specialist Rial reporting as ordered, sir," he announced, though he didn't snap to attention, instead choosing to stand at rest.
Thalk heard the forced respect in Rial's tone, and didn't begrudge him it. Seldom did a present from a commanding officer bring joy. "Relax, specialist." The Klingon brought up the power expenditure display on the main console.
"What do you think of our current propulsion system? What improvements could be made?" His tone was cordial, informal- what you would expect from a peer, not a directly superior officer. "Specifically, what would you do if I said you had a forty five percent increase in power allowance?"
Morol quirked an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest as he thought, "well, we're overdue for a cleaning, the plasma conduits are causing a ten percent reduction in engine efficiency," he said then moved over to a nearby console to do a quick engine test, "and the increase in power I think we could get a few more c out of the impulse engines, double our speed with some adjustments..."
"Very reasonable. However, we've been asked by the captain to be a little unreasonable." Thalk took a moment to look around the engineering bay. "This ship isn't quite state of the art, and we're likely to be shot at by people who know their way around a Federation ship." That was an understatement, but there was no need to elaborate. "I'm quite willing to throw crewmen and resources your way. Hell, I'll fabricate parts by hand if you think it will help. Point is, we need a surprise or two in the propulsion department. You get to play with whatever toys you think will work, so long as we can do it without docking." Would the crewman be up to the task, or would Thalk be sending comms to old lab colleagues late into the night?
Rial thought for a second before typing in a few commands, "how about a warp shadow times two?" he asked as the computer played the simulation through, "if we recalibrate the engines to put out a burst that close together we can triple ourselves...the added side effect is this could, in theory, also give a faster sustainable warp if control the output rather than bursting when we need to move. I think have those both would give a card or two to play."
"That's a good plan. The new rotating shield emitters already give us a larger signature than they'll expect." Thalk was impressed. It was good use of under utilised technology; it was brilliant work. "I'll assign two crewmen to the task, under your direction. Well thought out, Specialist. That's well done. Anything to add? Related or otherwise. Speak freely."
The Petty Officer nodded, "thank you, sir," he replied before turning and sitting on the edge of the console, "well, I think we could squeeze out another few thousand megajoules if we cut replicators and holodecks when we goto red alert. We can divert the extra power to the phasers, doubling their power. So, while our documented specs say we have type nine arrays we could actually get closer to eleven. The drawback is we may go through coils a little more often than normal," he offered, "however, even if the aggressors know our specs that should knock them back off balance."
Thalk thought for a moment, and realized where the young Petty Officer was going. On the one hand Thalk did not wish to increase the effeciency of the weapons, but on the other something needed to be done. "Do it, but make sure that the power relays can be changed back if needed. I want this to be an on and off feature."
"Copy that," the Propulsion Specialist replied then shut the monitor off and picked up a nearby PADD, "I'll be pulling some shift time in Holodeck three then, I'd rather blow up the holodeck working this out than us," he added with a smirk before taking one step back and turning on his head to head out the big bay doors that were the entrance and exit for the bay.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Thalk
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer
Petty Officer Third Class Morol Rial
Propulsion Specialist, USS Pioneer
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