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Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2004 00:29:16 -0500
Subject: [ASC] REP Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile 17/335(?) [PG] TNG-OC (Misc, OCs)
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Forwarded by the ASC-VSO 
Posted: Sun, 08 Feb 2004 22:52:34 GMT  
In: alt.startrek.creative 
From: Moderator on Duty ascatrekfic@crosswinds.net 
 


Title: Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile
Author: Jay P Hailey (JayPHailey@hotmail.com)
Series: MISC - TNG OCs
Codes: None
Part: 17/335(?)
Rating:[PG]
Archive: Fine with me, just tell me where.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Star Trek.  I claim Original
Characters and Situations for me.
Webpage HTTP://jayphailey.8m.com

    The Voyage of the Harrier: Episode 17
    By
    Jay P. Hailey
    And
    Dennnis Washburn

    "We are in a universe that measures approximately two kilometers
across." Tillean said.

    "We're in an alternate universe?" I asked dumbly. Some part of my mind
didn't want to hear this.

    "Not as such." Tillean explained "This seems to be some sort of
temporary micro-universe. It's a direct expression of van der Hock's
theories of special case quantum cosmology."

    "Who? What?" I asked. The explanation was confusing me even more. "Give
me the bottom line." I said.

    "This universe is shrinking." Tillean said. "It seems to have some
relationship to the power level of the Harrier. As our power runs out, this
micro-universe will shrink."

    "And when our power is gone?" I asked.

    "Then this micro-universe will collapse and cease to exist."

    "Us with it, I suppose?"

    "Exactly."

    I went over to her station and read her analysis. Some of the math I
understood. Some of it was disturbingly similar to the math used by Charles
Holly, a mad scientist of my acquaintance.

    "How long?" I asked.

    "Twenty to thirty hours. As I see more of the collapse, I will be able
to give a better estimate." Tillean said.

    There was silence on the bridge. It looked grim indeed. I went to the
Captain's chair and sat down, thinking furiously. Even if it was hopeless, I
had to give the crew some hope. They wouldn't hold together otherwise.

    Oddly, the question of maintaining discipline and morale became my chief
focus as death breathed down my neck. I knew that if the conviction that we
were doomed took hold of the crew, then it would become a self-fulfilling
prophecy. If we were to have any hope I had to look like I had an idea.

    I looked around at the Bridge. "I am open to suggestions at this point."

    Tillean shook her head grimly. Plainly she felt as if she didn't know
enough about the phenomenon, yet.

    The result was similar all the way around the Bridge. Anderson wanted
know if we might crack open a way with weapons fire. If this was a self
contained micro-universe then the force of weapons fire had no place else to
go but the confines of the micro-universe. We'd end up shooting ourselves, a
lot.

    I said "Download all scans, analyses, and applicable reference material
to my office. If I come up with a plan I'll let you know. Li'ira, you have
the bridge."

    -*-

    I went down to my cubby hole of an office. The original design of the
Harrier didn't include much space for an office or ready room for the
Captain. I guess ninety years ago they didn't ask them to do as much paper
work.

    I sat down and called up the information on my desk. I just stared at
it. Then a reference caught my eye. Some Ensign named Crusher had done an
experiment with a static warp bubble. His equations I could figure out,
eventually.

    If we created an inverse warp bubble, the chances were we'd destroy the
engines of the Harrier in short order. Some of the math seemed to imply that
we could stave off disaster for a short time. When the engines blew, the
micro-universe would collapse quickly.

    There were other things in the math. An inverse warp bubble might create
a wormhole. The wormhole might lead back to our universe. Or maybe another,
bigger one.

    It was a desperate gamble. It was pretty much suicide. Try as I might, I
couldn't come up with a more constructive approach. Time was short. I had to
move. I designed the warp field and wrote the basic command kernel for the
engineering computer.

    Then I called a briefing.

    -*-

    "What?" Ruezre Vengla said "I can't do that!"

    "I have the specs right here." I said, waving the PADD. "Just follow my
program and wing it a little bit and we'll be okay."

    "The intercooler manifolds will melt in about four minutes under that
load! There will be plasma feedback in the warp coils! The phase inducers
are probably destroyed right now, just from hearing you suggest it!" Vengla
had correctly spotted the weaknesses in my plan before she had even read the
specs. Perhaps I hadn't given her enough credit.

    "We won't have to hold it for that long." I said

    Tillean spoke up. She looked me right in the eye. I knew that she knew.
"Are you sure, Captain?"

    I looked her right back in the eye. "Yes. I believe this plan will
work."

    She held my gaze for a moment longer. Then she grinned merrily. "Give
the word, Captain!" A typical Vicharrian response. She did, however, grab my
PADD and change the math around. When I got it back, the inverse warp bubble
had been tuned to a specific frequency. It was a more difficult task for the
control computers, but it could be done.

    Li'ira had watched the exchange between the two of us. I could see the
realization cross her face. As it passed it was replaced by a calm mask. Her
poker face.

    Ruezre was a hard sell, but eventually she agreed to tune the engines to
my specifications. It wasn't that I was going to give her much choice. Now I
was able to see the possessiveness and protectiveness of a Chief Engineer
for her engines from the other side. Although I had once been a member of
that club, I was now the outsider. I was the Commander who demanded the
impossible and ruined all the equipment to get it.

    Silently I breathed an apology to Commodore Narahrat, where ever he was.
I had often given him the same problems when I was the Chief Engineer of the
USS Akagi.

    In the end, though, the Captain is the boss. My will was done.

    -*-

    It took sixteen hours for us to rig the engines for the inverse warp
bubble. During this time, the Harrier began to feel the drain of the
micro-universe. Each moment that passed found the Harrier's power reserves
weakened and drained.

    During the work to rig the engines, I could feel things getting better
on the ship. We might live or die but at least we were doing something.

    Finally all the preparations were complete. The ship was at red alert. I
looked around at the bridge. Everyone was ready to go.

    "Engage"

    I could feel the engines of the USS Harrier thrum. On the Bridge
Engineering Station I could see the power output and the temperature rise.
The main view screen became a riot of color, drowning out the images of the
Harrier. I could see a blue glow of energy begin to surround them as our
view screen became obscured.

    "Warp bubble formed." Varupuchu reported.

    "Warp bubble stabilized!" Tillean said

    "Power reserves dropping, Captain." Spaat reported.

    The Harrier began to vibrate. I was sweating. Lights were going red all
over the Bridge.

    "Power reserves have been depleted. We are now at parity." Spaat said.
This meant that the Harrier was running flat out. There was no more to give.

    "The micro-universe has collapsed against the warp bubble!" Tillean
said.

    "The warp bubble has become asymmetrical." Varupuchu said.

    I thought that we were dead. I expected a flash and then nothingness.

    "Captain, the engines are beginning to super heat!" Ruezre reported from
Engineering. I could see the temperature rise on the Bridge Engineering
Station. It shot up and up.

    "Power generation is now negative by 5%" Spaat reported. Now the engines
of the Harrier were not producing enough energy to sustain the warp bubble.
Somehow it wasn't collapsing.

    The Harrier's vibrations became worse. White noise from the vibration of
the hull was becoming quite loud.

    "Warp bubble destabilizing!" Tillean shouted.

    "Warning! Engine heat has exceeded design parameters." The computer
said.

    "We can't hold it! I'm shutting down!" Vengla yelled down in
engineering.

    I wanted to yell for her to wait. I knew that the moment the warp bubble
collapsed, the micro universe would follow. As the edge of the
micro-universe crossed us, each of our atoms would cease to exist in one
universe and return to its home universe. All energy would be gone from our
atoms. Cold and separated, they would join the dark matter nebula.

    It hadn't worked. We weren't free. We were going to die no matter what.
I just had to accept it. I got as far as not yelling for one more second of
life from Ruezre.

    The coruscating flow of energy subsided. The engines wound down and
quit. The screen returned with stars in it.

    On the Bridge of the Harrier, we shouted and danced. We had cheated
death. It was just a hell of a lot fun to be alive. I'm told the reaction
was the same all over the Harrier.

    "Find our position!" I yelled happily "Hail the Ugohaid destroyer!"

    Spaat had not joined in the celebration. I wouldn't have expected him
to. He did spend a few moments serenely contemplating life. I didn't
begrudge it to him. He bent to his task and then double checked.

    I then checked engineering. The engines were a mess, but nothing we
couldn't fix. We were, however, shut down for the time being.

    Tillean was scanning the vicinity. Her joy turned to concentration as
she scanned.

    "Captain," Spaat said "I have our current position."

    We all stopped to listen.

    "We are 1,307 light years to spinward of Starbase 24. Starbase 24 is the
closest Federation outpost to us."

    I sat back in the Captain's chair, stunned. The Harrier could cruise at
a sustainable rate of warp six. That was one light year a day. At our best
cruising speed, it would take more than three and a half years to return
home.

--
Stephen Ratliff
ASC Stories Only Forwarding

In the Pattern Buffer at:
http//trekiverse.crosswinds.net/feed/







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