Chapter 569

The Alien Ship

...”Remember, if anyone asks, the Captain makes an appearance on the Bridge now and then, but when he does, he just glares at us and has threatened to shoot anyone who bothers him.”

“Again, nothing out of the ordinary there,” the Science Officer said with a snigger.

“I will personally make certain the power pack for the medunit is never depleted,” the First said with a smile while the others chuckled.

Time had passed, and other than the Commander trying to get in touch with the Captain several times under some pretext or other, his disappearance seemed to matter little to the operating of the giant ship.

With a dessert float following, the First made his presence known at the main entrance hatch to the warp engine.

“After noticing the float, “You are going to be well received,” the Sub remarked as he ushered the First on inside.

“Do you still have plenty of food?” The First asked as the Sub locked the hatch behind them.

“Yes, First.”

“Good, be sure to alert me when you run low. No one enjoys those ration packs.”

“Odd,” the Sub remarked, “the Captain has not called and threatened us in several cycles, and we have made great progress in restoring the engine. As we speak, the Chief is finishing the final tests on the warp drive. Follow me, please.”

The First was glad to have an escort to guide him through the massive engine, and the Sub was delighted about the dessert cart that was following.

A few minutes later as they neared the giant number 5 coil that the Chief had just finished integrating into the warp engine, the Sub announced, “Chief, the First has brought us more food.”

The Chief turned from his musings, a frown on his face until the Sub’s words penetrated, and he also noticed the float.

“You are spoiling us, First.”

“So?” the First returned with a chuckle. “How goes it?”

“Actually, your timing is perfect. I have only just now finished my final tests. The Commander having started the scout’s warp engine to screw with me has accomplished several very significant matters. My Subs and I have rebuilt the coils so many times that we are getting better at it, and ... I now actually understand the underlying principles of warp drive engineering – I think.

“I followed the theory as I was taught, of course, but I had only the barest true understanding of how each part of the coil interacted with the whole, let alone how the coils were supposed to interact with each other. Oh, as I said, I had memorized the theory and could use it as such, but I never really, deep down, understood warp drive theory...”

“I could never follow the logic of the theory – far from it,” the First Officer admitted.

“But ... memorizing it was not enough, at least not enough to fully understand what was happening as the coils interacted with the fabric of space itself. Oddly though, with the almost constant building and rebuilding of the coils, something seemed to ... click; I suppose you could say. I am beginning to understand, fully understand, just how the coils warp space to move us from point A to point B.”

The Chief could see by the First’s expression that he did not have a clue what he, the Chief, really meant. “First,” the Chief said as if what he was going to say explained everything and was some planet-shaking event, “I do not have to tune the coils any longer. For the lack of a better term, I have mated them, instead. Now they truly operate as one. There are no longer six coils trying to work in synchronization, which is not even completely possible. Now that I truly understand, I realize that, even theoretically, they could not operate efficiently by using the tuning process – no matter how finely they were tuned. But ... with them mated as one giant coil, they can act as one, and for all practical purposes, they become one.”

The First frowned before asking, “But how is that possible?”

The Chief smiled, grabbed a pad and began mathematically proving his statement while the First struggled to keep up, eventually only staring dully as the screen changed at a blinding rate. Several sub-cycles later, the First had a headache, and the Chief was certain he had explained his new process in terms that anyone could understand.

“And your new engine will...”

“Maintain a full warp 6 indefinitely. Not a struggling warp 5 for a few cycles at best, but to a full warp 6.0, basically for as long as we wish to maintain it. Now, we no longer have to worry about synchronization. First, we have, finally, completely, crossed the barrier at warp 5.”

“You can maintain warp 6 indefinitely?” the First repeated, incredulously. “Chief, the best engines we have produced struggle to reach warp 5, and cannot maintain that for any length of time. How could you possibly reach warp 6?”

“But I have just shown you. My engine can operate safely at a full warp 6. Were you not paying attention? It is intuitively obvious,” the Chief huffed out.

The First ignored the question and asked instead, “So, when are you going to be ready to try it out?”

“Why, now, of course. But it is not merely a trial, for my warp engine will assuredly reach and maintain warp 6 for as long as you need it.”

The subs, obviously one step before total exhaustion, had gathered near as they shared the desserts that the First had brought. “Chief, why not take a shift off for all of you to sleep? (Afraid of the Captain, the Chief and his crew had set up temporary bedding in the large engine room, rather than be caught and killed in their quarters.) I can guarantee you that the Captain will not bother you, and I will even post a double guard at the hatch while you and your subs rest. That way, you can fully enjoy your new engine when we try it out at warp 6.”

“But I am fine,” the Chief assured the First Officer.

“A bath, some food, and a full shift of rack time surely would not hurt,” the First insisted. “If not for you, think about your exhausted team,” the First whispered to him.

“What, but they are...” Finally, his Subs’ appearance registered in the lead engineer’s tired mind, and he turned to his team. “Eat and take a full shift to sleep,” the Chief told them.

“Not just your team, but you, too. Go and sleep a full shift, and... I will make that an order if you decide otherwise,” the First warned.

“Yes, First,” the Chief said as he finally realized just how tired his body was.

“Helm, lay in a course for this Earth planet.”

“Course laid in, First.”

“Very well. Bring us to warp 1,” the First ordered.

“Warp 1, Sir,” Helm responded.

A few microcycles later, “Steady at warp 1, Sir.”

“Maintain warp 1.”

“Maintaining warp 1, Sir,” Helm acknowledged.

Later. “Reporting still steady at warp 4, Sir,” Helm said.

“Still no fluctuations at all?”

“None showing on my boards, Sir.”

“Bridge to Engine Room. Chief, we have maintained warp 4 for a full cycle, and our instruments still show no abnormalities. Maybe that scout’s engine was the problem after all.”

“First, quit pussyfooting around.” (Interpreted). “My engine is operating at top efficiency, and I am getting bored. We now have the fastest warp engine in the fleet. Go to warp 6.”

The First turned from his personal screen and the Chief’s frowning face. Trusting his friend, “Helm, go to warp 5.”

“Warp 5, Sir.”

The noise level changed slightly as well as the pitch. Helm said aloud, “Warp four point 5 ... point 6 ... point 7 ... point 8 ... point 9,” with his voice becoming even more tense. “Warp 5.” Then after a moment, “Sir, we are steady at warp 5.”

“Helm, there are no fluctuations?” the First asked, incredulous.

“None, Sir. We are at full warp 5.0, and my boards show no fluctuations whatsoever.”

“Helm, maintain warp 5.”

“Maintaining warp 5, Sir.”

There was no sound of a struggling warp engine, just the steady, strong tone of an engine working properly.

Time drifted slowly onward with the warp engine producing a steady warp 5.

“Chief, we are maintaining a full warp 5.0, and she continues to be rock steady. Our speed is slightly greater than any ship in the fleet has ever achieved.”

“I informed you that my engine was capable of warp 6. Will you go to warp 6 and get it over with?” the Chief groused out.

There was quiet on the bridge for several mini-cycles before the First finally said, his voice not as steady as he would have liked, “Helm, bring us to warp 6.”

There was a shocked silence on the bridge. Warp engines pushed to warp 5 for more than a few sub-cycles tended to scatter their ships and crews over several dimensions. Warp 6 had not even been considered by most of the bridge crew.

“Sir?” Helm said as he turned in his seat to stare at the First Officer.

“The Chief says she will do it. Helm, go to warp 6,” he repeated.

“Warp 6 ... Sir,” Helm hesitatingly returned even as his hands obeyed his First Officer’s order.

The sound of the massive engine increased only slightly, and so did the tone.

“Warp 5 point 5 ... point 8 ... point 9. Sir,” Helm responded, incredulously. “A full warp 6 point zero. First, we are at warp 6 and holding steady,” he repeated,” as the sound of the engine smoothed out to a constant, deep hum.

Chuckling, the First realized how tense his body had become and forced himself to relax. Still sitting in the Captain’s command seat, he thanked the grinning Steward as, unbidden, he brought the First Officer a fresh cup of stim before doing the same for the rest of the bridge crew. Deep in thought, the First sipped the stim and stared into the swirling nothingness of warp space displayed on the forward screen.

Hmmm. No ship in our fleet can even sustain a continuous warp 5. Then, with a sigh, But ... should we go rogue, we still cannot run forever, and how long can I get away with delaying the Captain’s full recovery? If we return to base, my fate is already sealed. As far as the High Command is concerned, there is no excuse for firing on the Captain of a starship. Shall I kill him while he is still under the healing fields? When he recovers, he might be more careful, but he hates me too much for his feelings toward me to change – ever. If the warp engine continues to operate the way it is doing at present, we could quickly outrun any ship or fleet of ships that try to engage us. Eventually though, we would have to settle on a planet somewhere. Well, at least long enough to resupply. The High Command will never forgive us. There would always be ships looking for us.