Mission 12: "When It Rains..."

[Taurik]

"Petty Officer, you should now have access to the upgrades recently installed to the warp core," Taurik said as he nodded to T'lana to make sure it was true. "Take a moment to familiarize yourself with it's operation. It is primarily computer-controlled, but it functions somewhat differently than a warp coil. Feel free to run a few simulations on your console. As soon as you feel comfortable in it's basic use, begin to charge the drive and prepare for a test jump."

[T'lana]

<SHUTTLE BAY ONE>

"What are we to do now Captain?" T'lana asked, remembering that they were on a mission to find evidence of the Heraani's allies.

"Perhaps Miss Sar would be willing to assist us in this quest?"

[Givrillian Sarpedon]

"Captain; we have reached the Red Acropolis." Sarpedon said, after bringing the ship out of warp.

[Taurik]

Taurik knew that the idea of the Borg Queen changing her mind was quite rare, and only accomplished by something more important. And anything capable of shifting her attention from a prize like Chaya was not good news.

[Taurik]

"As I do often."

A comm message broke their mental communication. "Captain, we're arriving at Red Acropolis."

Taurik stood. "Thank you," he said. "We'll be right there." He then gestured to the door. "Would you care to remain on the bridge? You are quite welcome."

[T'lana]

For two days T'lana was working on a Quantum Slipstream Drive for the USS Rivendell. The Wormhole Induction Propulsion (WHIP), colloquially known as the Jump Drive, is definitely a useful tool. For if the vessel was in danger, the Jump Drive could be spun up and one minute later could jump out of danger. But with only a twenty light year range, the Jump Drive is not a viable  form of transwarp.

That is where the Quantum Slipstream Drive comes in. Any attempt by Starfleet to create a Transwarp Drive, to go beyond the Warp 10 barrier has met with disaster. Which as T'lana has read about the USS Excelsior, was actually the result of sabotage on behalf of a one Commander Montgomery Scott and not because the Transwarp Drive was a failure, in yet it the project was scrapped.

But, given the telemetry T'lana took of the Transwarp Drive anyway during the rescue of Captain Taurik, T'lana could see two possible flaws with any attempt to recreate a Transwarp Drive. One; the torsion stress put on a vessel's hull at transwarp velocities is accumulative and is beyond the operational capacity of most Starfleet vessels. Two; the environmental impact of spacetime caused by a vessel traveling beyond the Warp 10 limit, is quite considerable.

But as any good physicist knows, particles are but waves of energy and as such quantum level of spacetime is more malleable, than manipulating spacetime as a whole.

The best analogy of this is: Warp and transwarp can be likened to an ocean going vessel traveling across the surface, in essence, it surfs across the waves. Where as; Quantum Slipstream, is like a submarine, traveling below the surface of the water. In this respect, if there was a race between a ship and a submarine, the submarine would win, because it doesn't have the waves to contend with.

That is why, T'lana chose to have the engineers build a Quantum Slipstream Drive she researched and improved upon when designing the prototype surveillance/reconnaissance vessel, the Kelata. This was thanks to a timely visit from a Gallifreyan, that made the Kelata possible. The name was taken from a phrase the Gallifreyan, also gave her to use in the future - which she did to rescue Taurik - "Kelata Mana Darsha Kree".

The Quantum Slipstream Drive wasn't the problem, it was current Starfleet and Vulcan technology that was the problem.

The Kelata uses Organic Technology in it's Computer Core, which is necessary for the occasional nanosecond adjustments in the quantum field required when at slipstream velocities.

In order to travel in slipstream, the power requirements are more than a Antimatter/Matter Reactor can produce. The only power generation capable of giving a Quantum Slipstream Drive the energy it needs, is either a Quantum Singularity Core, or a Quantum Induction core, the former being a miniature blackhole and the latter works by creating a vacuum in the reactor and extracting the Zero-Point Energy and converting the energy into electricity.

These are two things the USS Rivendell is not equipped with and that is T'lana's dilemma.

For in order for a Quantum Slipstream Drive to function at 100% efficiency, the USS Rivendell would need a Biomechanical Computer and either a Quantum Singularity Core or Quantum Induction Core.

Of course T'lana could give the Starfleet Engineers the designs for these, but when it comes to new technology that hasn't been around for five years, Starfleet Command and personnel, are wary.

T'lana put down her PADD and tapped her communicator.

=A=T'lana to Taurik=A=
"Captain, when you have a moment, I would like to speak with you."
=A=T'lana Out=A=

[T'lana]

T'lana nodded,
~"Aye Captain."~
T'lana closed the message from both consoles which automatically deleted any trace of itself, due to an embedded bot known as a "Poltergeist" which removes any trace with no way to recover the message.

T'lana moved to Commander Morgan Freeman and spoke quietly.
"Come with me to engineering Morgan."

They both left the Bridge, making a stop at her quarters for the PADD containing the specifications for the Jumpdrive, on their way to engineering, Larial in tow.

Once in engineering, T'lana gave the PADD to Morgan.
"Commander, this is a Top Secret Project, so limit the staff required.
Some time ago I was commissioned by the Vulcan Science Directorate, V'Shar and Star Fleet Special Operations, to design a way of creating a Starship mounted Wormhole Induction Propulsion given my work in the field."

T'lana continued...

"This is the end result (points to PADD), and the only copy, which must remain that way for the time being at least.
The Jumpdrive is modular and attaches to any existing Warp Core.
The Antimatter/Matter Reactor of a Starship produces 90% of the energy required to effectively fold spacetime, so to obtain the further 10% to make a Jump, I designed a Zero Point Energy Converter that is built into the Jumpdrive.
I wont go into the science behind it just yet, but I must iterate that this is a Security Level Nine project."

T'lana, finished her lecture with,

"Let's get started Mr. Freeman."

[Holographic Officer Beta]

Beta moved through the Borg vessel unhindered. Either the Borg didn't realise he was there, or he wasn't worth their attention.

Left.....Third right......Second Left....

Beta followed the memorised route in his head, getting closer and closer with each moment. Left...Right....Right....Left...Straight on.....

Finally, he turned the last corner, and there was the Transwarp node, glowing with an eerie green light. There were no Drones in the vicinity. Attaching the transporter beacon, he activated it, and tapped his ComBadge.

=/\="Ensign Beta to the Rivendell. Beacon placed, ready for transport."=/\=

As soon as he said this, two Borg drones rounded the corner and opened fire on him, seemingly alerted to his presence by the signal from the beacon. Beta crouched, and rolled to the left, attempting to draw their fire from the node - it had to be in good condition to be of any use - and returned fire.

[Holographic Officer Beta]

Beta stepped onto the bridge, and looked around. Thankfully, he didn't flicker this time.

"Cadet Beta, Holographic Officer Prototype reporting as ordered Captain. Again, I apologise for my behaviour on the last mission, it was, ah, out of my control." he said,

"Which station would you wish me to man, Captain?"

[Morgan Freeman]

"You know me, I am always cautious"  Morgan said smiling.

[Morgan Freeman]

=A= Engineering to Kloek8 =A=
What do you need?

[Morgan Freeman]

"So the question is, do we want to loose the jump drive or adjust the relays and hpe we don't experience the power loss that we did before?"  

Morgan began activating the equipment in the room in order to begin the testing process.

[Chaya Sar]

Chaya Sar was shocked by the news the female with pointy ears and a bad hair cut just told her, so much so that she had to use her Starfighter as a support.

"I...I don't understand, how could..." Chaya couldn't finish what she was going to say.

[Chaya Sar]

~"I am sorry. I have failed you my apprentice. As to what you can do, it depends on your situation and your surroundings."~

[Holographic Officer Beta]

The holographic projectors in engineering warmed up again, constructing a body out seemingly out of thin air. The slow boot-up of his systems caused Beta to slowly compose piece by piece. A pair of boots materialised on the floor, and as the program worked it's magic, legs materialised, followed by a torso, arms, and then slowly a head formed, a full and a hollow pin on the side of the neck.

Holographic Officer Beta looked up towards the ceiling and 'breathed' in, making full use of all his sensory programs.

"Sir." The young engineer who had been performing the diagnostics and maintenance looked up at him. He was a relatively short Petty Officer, but behind the low rank pin and yellow tunic was a wealth of experience with holographic programs. "I've finished the diagnostics and purged the excess energy from your reserves. I've also installed a new subroutine Command asked me to work on. It's still in it's Beta stages, but it should simulate the feeling of when you've had enough of a consumable." he explained with a slight Irish accent.

"Thank you, Petty Officer." Beta said, smiling at the man, truly grateful. He had requested the diagnostic after he had embarrassed himself an his crew mates at the promotion and awards ceremony.

Glancing up, he noticed a few crew members that had not been on the manifest when he shut down. Checking the manifest again, he noticed a few new crew additions, in varying departments. Thanking the Petty Officer again, he began to head towards the security office, to make use of the consoles there and do some checking up on the new crew members.