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I'm trying to write 1000 words a day--pulpy science fiction, that sort of thing. Mmm-hmm. |
| A thousand words a day of pulpy science fiction starts, shorts, and sketches. Maybe some of them will be fleshed out at some point. Or, you know--maybe not. Hmm. |
| In the shuttlebay of Epitetes, two young officers in red jumpsuits were gathered around a partially disassembled panel. Tools and supplies were strewn across several floating platforms to their left and right. “Aren’t there supposed to be two mag phase inverters in here?” The voice had come from inside the panel; apparently, a third officer or someone was in there effecting a repair. “There’s supposed to be an A inverter and a D inverter,” said Lieutenant Commander Liz Lemmer. She was staring at a display screen on the vertical riser. “According to this, the D inverter is on top, and then the A is under it.” “Oh, yeah, I see it now.” A pause, and then “This thing is fried. Can you confirm no positive monopoles in here?” “Confirm,” responded Lieutenant John Reese. “We’re negative on positive monopoles.” “Okay,” the voice inside the panel said. “I’m removing the D.” Reese pressed a button on his panel. “Reese to Engineering.” The speaker on the panel activated. “Engineering, Williams here.” “We’re going to be ready for the insert shortly.” Reese released the press-to-talk. “We are going to be ready shortly, aren’t we?” “Yeah, I’m on the last disconnect…there.” There were mechanical noises in the panel, and then a gloved hand appeared, holding a piece of elaborate-looking circuitry. Lemmer reached forward, took the circuitry, and peered at it. “Looks like some muon damage. See the striations here…and here?” She pointed as Reese looked. “Yeah, it’s muons all right,” the voice inside the panel said. “Come on out of there while they plug in the new unit,” Reese said. Momentarily, Lieutenant Phil See pulled himself deftly out of the panel and stood. Reese turned back to the panel. “Reese to Engineering. We’re ready for the insert.” “Ready for insert, understood,” Williams answered. “Inserting in three…two…one…mark.” There was a sparkling of reflected light from the hole that See had just climbed out of, and an odd sound. Then, from the speaker on the panel, “Insert complete.” Lemmer stepped back. “You guys get all this cleaned up. I’ll take this on upstairs.” “Yeah, okay,” Reese answered. He bent down to peer into the open panel while See started picking up the various tools they had used and placing them on the floating platforms. Lemmer strode away from the panel, turned the corner, and was gone. Up on the bridge, the captain’s chair was empty. Commander Sa’kav, duty officer for C shift stood next to the science officer’s station while Commander Dolly Whalen analyzed the latest long-range sensor scans. “I do not see a source, but the muon flux has definitely increased sharply over the last several hours, sir,” she said. “What’s the density right now?” Sa’kav asked. “There’s a gradient, sir. Forward of us, it’s 4.4 megapelkas per hour. Aft, about 4.1.” “Hmm.” Sa’kav’s crown feathers erected and then relaxed, and he clicked his beak. “Okay, keep an eye on it. I see no reason to awaken the captain, do you?” “No, sir.” There was a chime from the arm of the captain’s chair, and then a voice from the adjacent speaker. “Bridge, Engineering.” Sa’kav strode over and pressed the button. “This is the bridge, Mr. Domingo.” “I’ve got that D inverter up here. It’s been damaged by muons.” Sa’kav turned to meet Whalen’s gaze from the science station. “Muon damage? How does an internal piece of circuitry get muon damage?” “I don’t know,” Domingo answered. “From the looks of it, I’d say it’s a subspace punch-through.” Whalen had walked over and was now standing next to Sa’kav. “Lenny, are there any other inverters acting up?” “Negative. Any kind of local muon source would be affecting all of our inverters, especially the Ds. But this is the only one.” “Are you sure its muons?” Sa’kav asked. “Yes, sir. The damage muons do to these things is very characteristic.” There was a pause. “We put another one in there, so the problem is fixed for now, but if there’s a punch-through somewhere, we need to find it and plug it.” “Roger that, Mr. Domingo. Continue to monitor.” “Continue to monitor, aye, sir. Engineering out.” “Subspace punch-through?” Lieutenant Commander Dave Craddock said from the helm. “I thought those couldn’t happen at warp.” “They’re rare, but not impossible,” Whalen said. She stepped back to her station and sat down. She peered into her display. “The density is increasing, sir.” “What’s it up to now?” “Ahead is 4.8, behind is 4.1.” Sa’kav sat down in the captain’s chair. “Helm, come around 180 degrees and make your course 104 mark 18, sharply.” “One oh four, mark 18, aye sir,” Craddock said. He manipulated the panel. “On course as ordered, sir.” Sa’kav turned his head to Whalen. “Gradient?” “That’s odd,” Whalen responded. “The gradient is still uphill ahead of us and downhill behind. “Ah. You see what’s happening?” Sa’kav asked. No one answered. “Full stop, Mr. Craddock.” “Full stop, aye.” Sa’kav pressed the button on the arm of the captain’s chair. “Engineering, there’s a subspace punch-through somewhere on the ship that’s pointed forward. Can you assemble a team and find out where the hole is?” “Yes, sir. Twenty minutes.” “Twenty minutes will be fine.” Sa’kav looked down at the display on the arm of the captain’s chair. “Get your team assembled and get them going. I’d like to find the hole before the captain comes in this morning.” “Aye, sir. Domingo out.” “So, you think there’s a punch-through that we’re dragging long with us?” Whalen asked. “I do.” Sa’kav stood up and rustled the feathers on his wings and back in a gesture that equated to a stretch. “This happened on Tu’tan’lak once,” he said. “A punch-through got caught in our warp flux and we ended up burning out all of our D inverters.” The turbolift door opened and the captain stepped forward. “Captain on the bridge,” Whelan announced, as was customary when the captain arrived for duty. Sa’kav turned. “Good morning, Captain,” he said. “Good morning, Mr. Sa’kav,” Captain Nkyoto Uhura said. She was in the standard Starfleet athletic uniform, no rank insignia, but of course none would be needed, as she was recognizable on sight by everyone on board. She stepped over and sat down in the captain’s chair. “I’m not here yet, just on my way to the gym. What is your status?” “Ma’am, all systems are operating as normal. We had a misbehaving D inverter a couple of hours ago. Upon replacement, it showed evidence of muon damage. We measured a muon gradient around the ship that was increasing as we moved forward.” “Are we dragging the gradient around with us?” “Aye,” Sa’kav responded. “I believe we have a subspace punch-through, and this is the source of the muons.” “Yes. You’ve got Mr. Domingo on it?” “Aye. His team expects to be going in about fifteen minutes.” “Very well,” the captain said. She stood up. “Keep me informed, please, I’ll be on Deck 14.” “Aye, Captain,” Sa’kav responded. The captain stood and stepped over to the turbolift, and then was gone. ### |
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