My ‘little’ project

Posted on Sunday 9 April 2023 @ 15:21 by Captain Melody Jones

Mission: Where no one has gone before
Location: CO’s ready room
Timeline: MD1 1300
858 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure

On:

Standing in the turbo lift on his way to the bridge, Jack was making a few last minute checks on his math before he presented the project he’d been quietly working on for several months now to the CO. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if the federation would bother putting effort into his long range transporter system, but with galactic tension rising between several of the powers in both the Alpha and Beta quadrants, maybe now was a time for a technology that could relieve some of the pressure off of Starfleet.

Feeling the lift begin to slow, Jack put the PADD he’d been working on away into his shoulder bag, straightened up his uniform and took a deep breath in, “take it easy Jonny, you’ll be fine” he said to himself as the lift doors opened out onto the bridge. Stepping out, he quickly made his way to the CO’s ready room and tapped the door chime.

Melody called out. "Come." When she saw who it was she rose from behind her desk. "Ahh, Lieutenant. Come in. What can I do for you?"

“Have you got a minute Captain? I’ve got a little something I wanna run by you” Jack said as he quickly walked over to stand at the other side of her desk.

Melody smiled. "Of course, have a seat." She indicated to the sofa which she herself sat down on.

Taking a few PADDs out of his shoulder bag, Jack took a deep breath before he began, “ok, tell me, what would be the best way to get supplies from one system to another? A starship right? Well, what if we could use transporters to move those supplies instead? It would take the pressure off of both the civilian ships and Starfleet” he said before offering one of the PADDs he was holding to Melody. Displayed on the PADD was a circle made of a duranium-tritanium polymer with a 10m diameter.

“This is a project I’ve been working on, it combines a few separate technologies that haven’t been used this way before, but I think it can work. Before I go any further, what do you know of the Iconians?”

"I've read the official reports filed by Captain Picard and Captain Sisko on their encounters with Iconian technology. And I've also listed to Commodore Haistro's rather tall tale of the Station travelling back in time. "she added with a chuckle.

Jack nodded, "That should be fine. Well, my design was inspired by the stories about them appearing out of thin air, Which sounds like an advanced transporter system to me. To break it down to basics, I've taken our current transporter systems and combined them with Borg Transwarp conduits and a little engineering of my own design inspired by Admiral Janeway's reports on something the USS Voyager encountered while they were in the Delta Quadrant. A species called the Vaadwaur used subspace tunnels to navigate their way around their territory. My design creates a similar subspace tunnel linked between two devices located in separate star systems. through this tunnel, it sends the data stream from the transporter from one end to the other. Are you following so far?"

Melody nodded, clearly interested. "Indeed Lieutenant, it sounds like a very adventurous project. How far along are you?"

"It's purely theoretical at this point," Jack said as he gave a sigh, "I've run a few simulations using the ship's computer and they seem to work out, but at the time I didn't have access to the kinds of data I needed to test the effects of space bodies, like planets, blackholes and stars on the wormhole I intend to create. In theory, a strong enough gravitational pull could divert the path of the wormhole, causing it to link up to the wrong gate. This is why I want to ask the other senior staff members for help."

"Of course, as long as it doesn't interfere with regular ship duties use whomever you see fit. I'm sure our chief engineer would be interested. Will it be capable of transporting people or cargo only?"

“It should be, yes. Of course, we’ll use the standard transporter test cylinders to make sure everything is working properly before we send anything organic through, but we’ve got to get it built first, so that might be some ways off” Jack replied as he was already writing out a list of items he wanted to use for testing before sending the first officer through his portal. “Maybe if we can scrounge up some mice?”

Melody chuckled "I think the test cylinders will be just fine for you to use before we resort to using mice. As long as you stay clear of my pet hedgehog, we should be just fine. It sounds like a very interesting project and I look forward to seeing your results."


OFF:



●●●● Captain Melody Jones
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin


○● Lieutenant JG Johnathan "Jack" MacGyver
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin