A Nice Little Drive

Posted on Tue Jul 2nd, 2019 @ 11:49am by Captain Wilkan Targaryen & Lieutenant Commander T'Lisha "Hawkeye" Bishara & Lieutenant Barbax
Edited on on Thu Jan 2nd, 2020 @ 5:24pm

1,530 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Atlantis
Location: Main Engineering, Starfleet One
Timeline: 2429-12-02, 13:00

Admiral William Teagarden stepped through the turbolift doors having finally arrived on the Engineering deck of Starfleet One. He'd been here so many times before that he had almost forgot how exciting it had been to be in this area, but today all of that energy had come back to him as he waited for their new Chief Engineer and the new Helm Officer to arrive. It almost took him back to his first days in Starfleet when he actually served as an engineer before switching to Tactical.

He was certain that Lieutenant Hererra was already at work in Engineering, but he was looking forward to showing Commander Lorina around their Engine Room.

Lorina had been studying the principle of the Coaxial Drive. In theory, the drive was simple to understand. The only thing she hadn't seen was the drive in action. She waited for the Admiral to arrive.

"Galatea," the Admiral called, "Location of Lieutenant Commander Lorina?"

"Lieutenant Commander Lorina is in Main Engineering," the Artificial Intelligence answered quickly.

The was glad that she was an Eager McBeaver. "Send me the directions for her location," he ordered as he stepped through the large clamshell doors. "Let our new Helmsman also know of our location," he directed as he tugged on his uniform tunic to get rid of the wrinkles. He rounded the corner to find her sitting in the Conference Room attached to the Engine Room.

"Fancy meeting you here, Commander," he greeted as he approached the table. "Nice to see you again."

"The feeling is mutual", she sighed, stretching to the full length of the rather generous chair. "Excuse me, it's so rare when you have long legs like mine you get the chance to really relax. Most of the time your knees are shoved up under your chin. Not a very elegant posture," shwe winked.

T'Lisha was closer to the engine room than she had originally anticipated when she got the call to meet in the conference room in Engineering. Turning on her heel, she headed back the way she had come and briskly walked through engineering and finally into the Conference Room

"Admiral, Commander, Lieutenants, nice little hide away in engineering. I know a good many CEO's who wouldn't kill for a Conference Room in Engineering. Truly impressive!", T'Lisha chuckled.

He smiled, "You haven't seen anything yet, Commander. When this ship was built she wasn't intended to be the President's transport, actually the original design brief for the Allegiance Class called for it to be the replacement of the Odyssey Class as Starfleet's Flagship vessel. A lot of people spent a lot of time working on her. Including myself. Back before I switched to Tactical I was part of the Theoretical Propulsion Group. One of the projects I was involved with was this one."

"Galatea," he called out.

The holographic AI of Starfleet One materialized before him, "Yes Admiral."

"Grant access to all files on the Coaxial Drive to Commanders Lorina and Bishara. Also authorize access to the Core itself," he ordered.

The hologram nodded, "Access privileges have be assigned." She looked at the two new officers aboard the ship, "Please be advised that this technology is highly classified - the files of which you have been granted are typically restricted to personnel with Starfleet level 10 clearance. Do not discuss these files with anyone other than authorized staff." She looked at the Admiral, "Will there be anything else?"

"Nope," he answered. "Thanks Galatea."

The hologram nodded and vanished.

"Alright then," he turned back toward the group, "Who's ready for a tour?"

"I know I am Admiral. I am looking forward to seeing exactly what I will be flying" T'Lisha said smiling.

Walking toward the door he tapped a control on the keypad. The door opened to allow the group access to the Main Engineering spaces for Starfleet One. Located deep within the depths of the Stardrive, Main Engineering was a multiple compartment facility located in the center of the ship. The primary control area was a bit smaller than most would've expected it to be, but it was still larger than most. Every workstation was manned while they were under Coaxial flight. The purple lights - indicating the Black Alert - were a constant reminder of how dangerous their situation was.

The Admiral turned toward the front of the room and motioned toward the oversized transparent aluminum viewport and the Engine Core beyond. Unlike the Core of other vessels, a Coaxial Core was surprisingly smaller than its counterpart. While a great deal was obstructed from view, the primary access they could see was a large sphere that pulsed with the chaotic energy of the Drive inside of it. Monitors all throughout the room kept an eye on the Core.

"There's our Core. Isolated at all times," he pointed toward the doors on both sides of the Chamber, "Only authorized personnel can get into that compartment. This room itself is severely restricted, even more than a standard Engine Room, and these are the only authorized people that can get into this room." He glanced around and saw Lieutenant Hererra, "Mister Hererra is one of our Senior Engineers aboard and usually works from this room."

"Oh wow! Pretty lights.....so this is the heart of the lady. This is very interesting indeed", T'Lisha said.

"I just recommend not spending too much time with the Core itself. It's a bit unstable from time to time. Unfortunately we had a critical systems failure on a recent mission to investigate an attack upon Starfleet and Federation interests on Betazed. Our Drive failed while at Coaxial and the Engineers were barely able to stabilize it. If it had destabilized faster than light travel would've been impossible in the entire Sector."

"Oh jeezz, There should a way for the computer to shut down the coxial if a problem like that should arise. I am no engineer but I do know there is a program to shut it down when an instibility occures", T'Lisha offered.

"If only it were that simple," the Admiral commented. "The problem is not so much the software as the hardware itself. The drive operates via an incredibly powerful molecular chain reaction. It gets out of balance and, most of the time, not even a computer can react."

He glanced at their Chief Engineer and motioned toward the workstation below the large observation window overlooking the Drive, "That will be your primary station over there if you want to check it out."

Lorina turned to face the Admiral, "Thank you sir, it will be interesting to see how the drive operates in practice. I learnt its theory at the Academy, but have never seen it in front of me like this, and certainly haven't had the chance to operate it myself

"Theory and practice are two separate things, Commander. Starfleet Engineering spent decades trying to get the Drive to function. Reality is far from the proposal. I'll leave you to your engine to get acquainted. Lieutenant Barbax will be able to assist you. Commander Hawkeye if you're interested we can head for you to see the fighterbay. That way the Chief can explore her engine room in peace."

Trying not to sound to enthusiastic, " Oh hell yes! I definately want to see the fighter bay and the fighters, including my personal bird", T'Lisha said grinning.

"I'll take that as a yes," the Commander of Starfleet One answered nonchalantly. "Commander Lorina we'll leave you to explore the engine room. Commander T'Lisha if you're ready we'll head up to the Hangar Bay."

"Yes sir, I would enjoy looking around the fighter bay and seeing my own fighter again. It has been a while since I've seen her. Besides, a look around would be great so I know basically how it is set up on the ship," T'Lisha added.

He smiled, "I think that you're in for quite a treat, Commander. Come on, we'll head there now. Commander, enjoy your engine room but be preparing for when we reach the source of the alien signal. We may need your investigative services then."

"Oh yes Admiral let's go. This ship is so big and so important, I am so overwhelmed by everything. I am wondering however as to why you don't have a full fighter squadron on board? I mean, sure you have the standard compliment for shows and other pomp and circumstance affairs and the like. But in the case of defense of the fleet or ship or anything else, me and my fighters will be dispatched on CAP right?" T'Lisha asked.

"Typically yes," he answered as they approached the Turbolift. "It also depends on the engagement itself. If we have a conflict involving the ship going up against other fighter craft then most certainly. If we are facing off against another capital ship perhaps not."

An interruption as they walked, "Bridge to the Admiral."

He tapped his communicator, "What is it Yavan?"

"We're approaching our destination, Admiral."

He looked at the CAG, "Maybe the Hangarbay will have to wait. We'll be up in a second, Lieutenant. Teagarden out," he tapped the communicator twice to close the channel. "Let's head to the Bridge."

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