Engineering Tour Part 2

Posted on Saturday August 27th, 2022 @ 10:50pm by Lieutenant Commander T'Pri & Lieutenant Miles O'Connell

1,557 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 2: Our Foremost Virtues
Location: Engineering /Dining hall
Timeline: 239504.30

Breaking for lunch Commander T'Pri and Lieutenant Miles O'Connell decided to break for lunch as the tour was quite extensive and would need more time to finish. T'Pri was delighted however she had learned a lot about engineering operations and maintenance procedures. She was confident that she could help the engineering staff develop a syllabus to help instruct new cadets on every training cruise.

Once they got to the mess facility T'Pri ordered Ploomeek soup and a Mesclun salad. Being Vulcan she was a strict vegetarian.

"Is that Ploomeek soup I smell?" Miles stated as he approached the table where Commander T'Pri was sitting. "May I join you?" He asked.

Yes, it is Ploomeek soup, and of course, you may join me. I would welcome the company, Miles." T'Pri said.

"I hope you don't mind, I am having a Turkey Club with no tomato and a side of three cheese macaroni. Just like what I had when I had my first tour of this ship. As you made me recall the memories of learning this ship for the first time."

"Not at all, please indulge yourself. Is this an anniversary of sorts for you"? T'Pri asked.

"I like to mark the memories and milestones with triggers," O'Connell replied. "I know Vulcans don't show their emotions but I bet you have some ways to trigger memories and celebrate without us mere nonlogical beings to shame."

"Just because Vulcans repress their emotions does not mean we don't have them. Vulcans prefer to control our emotions rather than letting our emotions control us. Unless the thoughts are repressed I have the ability to recall any experience I've ever had from birth." T'Pri said.

"Wow, you can remember your own birth?" Miles replied. "I did not know that about Vulcans."

"I remember it quite vividly, my first breath. What is the earliest memory you can recall?" T'Pri asked.

"Aren't your minds still a jumble at birth, like most humanoids?" O'Connell replied in awe. "My first memory or I think it is my first memory is seeing my grandfather holding at around 1 year or so of age and then I don't recall seeing him again. He passed away when I was eighteen months old and we were not on Earth at that time."

"There was some of that, but I was struck with the wonder of creation. Everything was new from my perspective and I did have a link to my parents, so I was prepared for the shock of birth, and the delight of living. The comfort of the heat of Vulcan, what was strange though was the dryness of it all, I became accustomed to it eventually." T'Pri replied.

"Well, I guess there are some positive blessings in the ability to remember your entire life," Miles replied. "However, I am fine to be perfectly human."

He then took a bite of his macaroni and cheese.

T'Pri took a bite of hers as well.

"This is enjoyable." T'Pri said.

"Perhaps after lunch, you can show me the fusion reactors." T'Pri requested.

"I would be honored to show you the fusion reactors, but they are rather boring but they do supply the needed power for the ship," Miles replied.

"Why do you say that T'Pri asked non-plussed? Do you enjoy being an engineer?" T'Pri asked.

"I am thrilled to be an engineer and I have always wanted to be an engineer. I just find the fusion reactors to be boring as they are in my opinion the simplest part of engineering and are easy to maintain. I get more thrill out of the Warp Core and work on ways to tweak it for possible future upgrades or such. Sure the fusion reactors are worthy of more attention for the lower levels of engineers, I find that the future of engineering is finding ways to upgrade and improve the warp core and maybe one day moving beyond that means of propulsion and hopefully transwarp will become more a means of future transportation." Mile replied with more zest for the department of his career.

"I am also optimistic about new forms of propulsion. Perhaps they will find a way to travel thru hyperspace, as well as subspace, or maybe even side space. Eventually, we will conquer each of these dimensional variances. It is inevitable." T'Pri postulated.

"Of that I am certain, but it will happen beyond my lifetime," Miles replied. "I must say I am suddenly curious about something. I am willing to continue with the tour of engineering with you but does Commander Sharpe know about this tour? I am just wanting to be sure I am not stepping on any toes with my immediate supervisor but I do enjoy this discussion and showing you around."

No Commander Sharpe doesn't know about it, at least not officially. You see my purpose is to determine if you would be a good teacher. We have openings in the engineering department to teach potential new engineers and I am freelancing you, trying to determine if you would be a good match. if you are then I will speak to Commander Sharpe. if not then no harm done...T'Pri said.

"Wow, super interesting," Miles replied. "I am honored you picked me and I do hope to get this opportunity. I felt the engineers I worked with while learning the trade were deserving of acknowledgments from the cadets and junior officers that never seemed to give them the time of day. But without them, I would not be where I am today. I do hope to show you all the greasy, grimy, ins and outs of my job. However, for the record, I do find the fusion reactors to be boring but that would never make me be so negative about them to fellow engineers. So I do apologize for seeming so negative about them earlier."

"No need to apologize. What is the total power output of the fusion generators? how much power do they supply the ship?" T'Pri asked.

"The hierarchy of power generation for the Enterprise goes like so: Warp reactor, impulse reactors, emergency batteries.

As you know the warp reactor, the primary source of energy for the main engines uses a matter/antimatter reaction. Because it takes a long time for the reactor to safely start-up or ramp down most ships run them hot even when they don't need the warp drive, producing all the electricity needed by the ship's systems.

The two impulse reactors, or fusion generators, fuse deuterium into helium via a highly efficient form of laser-induced fusion. This is the process of bombarding hydrogen plasma with high-intensity lasers from multiple angles to produce enough pressure for it to undergo fusion. The resulting helium plasma is usually routed through the impulse exhausts, where a series of superconducting magnetic coils accelerate it to extremely high velocities before it is expelled as a propellant for sub-light propulsion. In a pinch this plasma can also be fed into the ship's electro-plasma system, allowing it to be used for power generation. While the fusion reactors only produce a fraction of the energy of the warp core, they are still more than powerful enough to run everything on the ship except the warp drive. I do know that the power output of the fusion reactors here on the Poseidon is equivalent to what would be used on Vulcan to power a hemisphere of residual units or all of the Utopia Planitia for the construction of three starships. I don't have the exact numerical answer you may be seeking as it varies daily as all things in nature do depend upon the purity of the elements used. Synthetized elements do not work well in the fusion generators but can work if in a bind.

Then we do have backup batteries as our last-ditch emergency reserve. As they can't produce the plasma needed for sub-light propulsion, a ship running on battery power can't maneuver with anything but reaction control thrusters that have their own propellant supplies. Therefore these batteries are only connected to essential systems. So all systems deemed non-essential, such as holodecks, replicators, or recreation areas are shut down to make sure that the batteries last as long as possible as a ship without any maneuvering could have to wait weeks for rescue.

I do hope that can address your inquiry, Commander." Miles stated.

"I don't mind saying this Lieutenant but I just learned a lot, I think you have the aptitude to be a great instructor, " T'Pri said.

"I appreciate that compliment. You don't know how much you made my day. Thank you." Miles replied. "i always was a quick learner and thus I become the instructors' pet student so to speak in all my classes, especially the engineering or physics courses."

T'Pri nodded.

"What would you like to show me next?" T'Pri asked.

"How about a look at the bio-neural gel pack system? We have tinkered with the system and fine-tuned the ability of the bio-neural gel to allow it to transmit and relay the data much faster than on other ships. It is sort of a side experiment we have in progress with a small request from Utopia Planitia." O'Connell replied to the Lieutenant Commander.

"That would be quite acceptable," T'Pri said.

"Great, shall we proceed with the tour?" Miles responded.

"Lead on, Lieutenant," T'Pri said.

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