Resistance is not futile..
Posted on Wednesday 15 August 2018 @ 23:05 by
Edited on Friday 17 August 2018 @ 12:22
1,240 words; about a 6 minute read
Yes, I'm new here. I'm still gettin' settled in. Gettin' t' know th' crew, but most importantly gettin' t' know my staff. They say nothin' brings people t'gether like a crisis. I think m' staff has disproved that theory.. It started 3 days ago...
The interior of Stephanie's office was decorated more like a 21st century dorm room than a professional office on a 24th century Starship. There were plastic weapons hanging on the wall that read "Nerf" on the stocks. There was a foam-rubber Bat'leth hanging above her head... A model of the Merlin was suspended from the ceiling, next to models of the Sovereign, Galaxy, Ambassador, Excelcior, and Constitution classes. Her desk had several toys sitting on it; A Rubix cube and a micro-drone were among the most prominent. The only actual desk chair was hers, The rest of the chairs were beanbags and overstuffed, worn and comfy looking couches.
She sat on the edge of her desk, cradling a pen and a drawing PADD as the rest of the senior Engineers sat in the chairs and couches staring up as the image was projected on the wall, just under her fake bat'leth.
"Now that 'were all here, I'mma just rip the bandaid off, We have 72 hours to come up with a bulletproof defense f'r th' Borg," O'Hara stood as the gasps rose. "That's right. I'll give ya a minute. Get it out of yer systems now. Because when we start again, there's no stoppin' until we have given the captain somethin' he can use against the Borg. Why? Because We are alive, an' by God, I plan t' keep us that way." The volume of her voice was rising as s she spoke."When we get back t' work, We work. We don't lose our shite over what we can't change. We have t' prove t' these langers that we've got th' biggest brains in the galaxy!" Her intent was to sound like a battlefield general in an attempt to inspire her troops. She more or less completely failed to miss the mark.
O'Hara growled. They were making no progress. A Bolian in a beanbag chair was arguing with a Tellarite about the viabily of running the warp core plasma exhaust into a plama collection tank and using it to create superheated plasma weapons. They were just starting up round 2 on the Delivery system when O'Hara snapped.
"ENOUGH!" She seethed. "One more word about this argument from either o' ya will get ya 2 weeks of Waste Extraction duty. The Tellarite inhaled sharply as a prelude to bringing it up again. Stephanie fixed him with a glare and he was shocked into silence.
"Everyone take a deep breath," Stephanie massaged the bridge of her nose. "Le's take it from th' top.'
On the PADD, she drew a crude cube in green. "What happens when the Borg attack?" She asked outloud as she drew what could be best described as a stick-figure Federation ship. "I'm an Engineer, na an artist," She said by way of apology. "So the Borg come in and they're all like "'We are the Borg', Blah blah blah... 'Biological and Technological', an' all that bullshite. What happens next.
"They scan us?" Someone offered up.
"Naw," O'Hara said. "They scanned us already an' decided that they want us. If they didn't they would've just destroyed us. They're givin' us a chance to surrender because they want us intact."
"Tractor beam," Liz said.
"Right!" O'Hara pointed. "They lock us in a tractor beam an' start carvin' chunks outta th' hull. An' what d' we know about how a tractor beam locks on t' a ship?"
"It establishes variable particle density within the beam so torsional stresses don't tear the ship in half," Raiek offered.
"So what if," O'Hara began drawing a shield around the crude starship in alternating wavy and sharp pointy lines. "What if th' shield was irregular?" She asked. And she drew over the shield lines again. "An' it just kept changin'?"
"Then a tractor beam wouldn't be able to lock on," Liz said. "Starfleet did experiments with Varible Geometry Shielding when they first discovered the Borg. Power Consumption was off the charts."
"Then How d' we bring it down?" Stephanie asked.
There was no answer. They sat in silence for quite some time.
O'Hara stood and said "Bayel! Thilgrim! Front and center."
The two of them approached timidly and stood at attention. "If you lot don't get it t'gether an stop squabblin' over every wee thin', I'mma break open yer brain boxes an' let all th' feckin air out! Two weeks Waste Extraction f'r ya both. Bayel opened her mouth. "D'ya care t' make it three, Missy?"
That was when it hit her..."Let all the air out... Like a balloon..." She began scribbling equations on the board.. "What if we flood the interior of th' sheilds with a charged inert gas?" The wheels were turning. "I think you two gave me an idea. Now, get out. All o' ya. I need t' think."
Eventually between the five o' us, we hammered out a workable plan, and found a way t' reduce power consumption... Even as such, if we dump every scrap o' power on th' ship into it, it won' last f'r more'n three an' a half minutes. It's a kinda win. I'm jus' na sure it'll be enough.
End log.
LTjg Stephanie O'Hara
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Merlin
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