Introduction to Main Engineering

Posted on Mon Dec 18th, 2023 @ 2:26pm by Lieutenant Commander Travis Paladin & Lieutenant Razeen el-Ben
Edited on on Mon Dec 18th, 2023 @ 3:18pm

1,553 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: First Deployment
Location: USS Unicorn; Decks 9 and 10 - Main Engineering
Timeline: MD 0 - 1830 Hours
Tags: 2156, Character Development

[ON]

As the newly minted Lt. Commander Paladin left his quarters, his trek to Deck 9 was rather uneventful. There were crew about, though the majority were so busy with their own things that he barely got a nod. A few recognized his pips and went to attention briefly. He gave them a nod back, calling out their pips in recognition, and even seeing a few MACO's along the way who gave a nod in return. MACO's were a special kind of folk. Like the special forces of the old United States and other Super Powers of yore, they were highly trained individuals and weren't exactly required to recognize Starfleet ranks. The mere fact they gave a nod was, in itself, a huge sign of recognition and respect - entirely voluntary. When they did give it, Travis was sure to give it back in earnest with a healthy nod.

It was a new experience traversing the great expanse of the Yorktown-class. Travis was accustomed to ships of smaller sizes, with smaller distances, and fewer decks. The Unicorn put them all entirely to shame. She was a true battleship, a ship capable of great and mighty things, and her expanse of corridors and walkways demonstrated her girth and size for those inside her; a protective shell with thick armor and the latest in advanced polarized hull plating technology. When he arrived at Main Engineering's entrance on Deck 9, he wasn't expecting much. When he walked through the sliding doors, however, he had to take a moment to catch his breath.

"Officer on deck!" called out someone beside him after a moment. He looked and noticed a Lieutenant to his side at one of the consoles. The entrance to Main Engineering had an antechamber with various consoles and displays which introduced itself into a larger room that was two-decks tall.

"At ease," Travis instinctively called back as several of the Engineering personnel began to come to attention. They quickly went back to work after his order to resume their work. He moved to approach the Lieutenant.

Travis reached out to the slightly muscular middle-eastern man, well built and finely toned. It seemed as if his uniform was inches away from ripping to shreds. When the Lieutenant grabbed his offered hand, the handshake was tight, strong, and demonstrated remarkable restraint. Travis didn't show it, but he felt like his wrist was about to rip off.

"Lieutenant Razeen el-Ben at your service sir," the man introduced himself as. "Ben for short, most folks find it easier to pronounce and I prefer it. I'm your Assistant Chief until a suitable replacement is found."

"You got one helluva handshake there, Ben," complimented Travis, on the verge of tears from the pain as the handshake ended but thankfully hiding it well. "Lieutenant Commander Travis Paladin, but my nickname is Tap. Initials of my name and all that. I'm not very formal with my team so you can call me Tap."

"Fantastic, sir," Ben remarked, beaming at the compliment. He had some very well chiseled features and his strikingly crisp dark raven hair complimented them. "I hear you have some experience with them fancy Warp 5's the NX's have, is that right?"

"Not personally, no," Travis almost scoffed, releasing a chuckle. "No, the highest I've tinkered is a Warp 4. I heard this is a Warp-" Travis briefly glanced at the two story reactor at the center "-6 engine, right?"

"Actually it's a Warp 7," Ben corrected, a gleam in his eye. Then raised his hands defensively as he noticed Travis' changing expression. "I know! I know! When I first came aboard I took the schematics to heart too. They say Warp 6, but that's the open classification. Starfleet wanted to keep things on the low, if you catch my drift. This here-" Ben motioned quickly toward the engine "-is a bonified Warp 7 engine, crisp and new."

"I'll be damned," Travis said in astonishment, hands on hips as he looked at the large manifold assembly. "No wonder it fills two decks. How in the hell did they manage to fit all the components necessary to such a small size?"

"Vulcan miniaturization, sir!" Ben answered, happy that the brief moment of shock had passed from his Chief. "Damn long-ears really came through with the sharing of tech after the Xindi attack."

"I'll say," Travis said, looking on in wonder. Then he had a thought. He leaned in close to his Assistant Chief and with a hushed voice, asked, "You think I could tickle her to Warp 8?"

Ben, wide eyed, almost stunned, looked at the manifold reactor. A brief pause as he took in the question, then casually shrugged.

"It's possible," Ben affirmed. "Why, did you have some ideas?"

"I did, I tinkered on a few 4's like I said. Got them to go thirty percent higher. I also put a damn boot down my throat by promising the CO Warp 8 in emergencies," Travis said.

Ben laughed. It was loud enough that a few Engineering personnel stopped to briefly looked, but they quickly went about their business.

"Why in the hell did you do that?!" Ben asked, a mixture of accusation, humor, and curiosity in his voice.

"Honestly?" Travis asked, and Ben nodded. "Well, I pulled up the public stats. Saw how the antimatter flow regulators utilized the plasma cooling connections outside the dilithum combustion chambers. I know the first obstacle to any higher warp capacity is heat, period. When I saw how they remodeled the flow regulators for greater heat capacity and cooling, I just figured ... well I figured it was possible, but I said it'd destroy the engine. Not possibly, not maybe, but it would destroy it."

Ben nodded. "If you're so sure, then, why did you ask me?"

"Because when I sat down after this promotion here," Travis replied, tapping his pips for emphasis, "I got access to the real schematics. The flow regulators are actually on the outside corners of the reactor, near the plasma radiators to the sides. The cooling lines don't even loop the same as the public stats. They're actually constructed through the manifold to the sides of the combustion chamber, not around it."

Ben nodded again, then gave a shit-eating grin. "You know why that is, right?" he asked.

Travis squinted his eyes. Already through the conversation they were having, he felt that Ben was a well educated and informed man. He also had quite the personality that conflicted with his appearance. Travis had already decided he liked the man, so when Ben tested that with his grin, Travis thought it more of a peer relating hazing; friendly, testing the waters, but friendly.

"No," Travis admitted.

Ben's smirk widened. "Because if the plasma flow conduits and regulators were even near the combustion chamber, they'd melt. You can't have them so near the source of the heat as to sour the breakdown of anti-matter and dilithium. It would permanently put a governor on the manifold energy output."

Travis's eyes widened. He then grabbed his personal datapad and reviewed the official specifications again. He mouthed an, "Oh!", in surprise as he saw it.

"So, wait, do you think the Vulcans had a part in that?" he asked.

"Damn straight they did," Ben confirmed. "But we got smart, creative, crafty. One of our engineers saw that governor and knew what it was for. To stifle us, keep us slow, but we can't have that with Romulans on our doorstep and Xindi waiting in the dark. No sir, we fixed that problem, and that's why she's a 7, sir. So you asked me, can she do 8?"

Travis nodded.

Ben grinned, wider than before, his shiny teeth showing. "Try 9," he said, a hushed whisper.

"Ain't no way!" Travis whispered back, making sure the conversation was limited to them. "It'd cause an anti-matter implosion! There's no grade of plasma coolant in existence that could stifle that!"

"Not if the antimatter flow regulators worked in tandem with the plasma coolant lines," Ben corrected. "We could, briefly - and I mean briefly - hop at 9, but 8 would be our max. Yeah, like you said, it'd melt the engine, but it wouldn't be as catastrophic as you stated. We could fix it. I'd say at 9 we'd destroy the ship if we don't do everything right. We'd absolutely create a spatial anomaly. No one would be around to see the fruits of our genius!"

A moment of thought, then, in a hushed tone, Travis leaned a bit closer as he spoke.

"Let's keep her at 7.5 for now. Max output. Let her idle at 290 millicochranes to prevent fusion of the dilithium matrix. When we get into a fight, we can push it, find a new idle speed for the matrix and manifold, but until then let's keep it by the book and tinker a little on it."

"Aye, sir," Ben said, and Travis swore he heard in the mans voice a hint of relief. "I think we can manage that. Anyway, want the tour?"

Travis looked at the large Engineering room, then back at Ben. "You damn right I do," Travis said, grinning from ear to ear. "Show me everything."

[OFF]

----------

Lieutenant Commander Travis "Tap" Paladin
Chief Engineer
USS Unicorn

&

Lieutenant Razeen "Ben" el-Ben
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Unicorn

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