CHAPTER 25
Radcliffe arrived at the office even earlier than usual on Monday morning. He
knew Captain Janeway would be eager to catch up on everything that had gone on
while she was on her honeymoon and he wanted to have the COMM logs and fresh
coffee organized before her arrival.
She strode into the office suite promptly at 0730 hours sporting a nice tan, a
wry grin and ready for whatever Starfleet and the fates had in store for her. As
she sat down at her desk Radcliffe entered with a mug of fresh coffee and her
filled office thermos. He took a moment to explain priorities of the stacks of
PADDs on her desk and left her to work. At the door he turned as she called out
to him.
“Ethan, I want to see Lieutenant Torres when she gets into the office.”
“I’m sorry, Captain. Lieutenant Torres is at Starfleet Academy today consulting
with Professor O’Brien on the interfaces Seven needs for her new processor.
She’s not expected in the office again until tomorrow morning. Shall I hail
her?”
“No, that’s okay. Tomorrow is soon enough.” Nodding, he returned to his desk and
the incoming logs.
Janeway soon caught up on the Voyager refit project, construction of the
Boudicca and current communications from Picard, Riker et al. Once she felt
comfortable with the status of immediate projects under her command she signed
off on the logs and withdrew a PADD from the inner pocket of her uniform tunic.
She’d carried it for the entire time she had been off and on her honeymoon,
reading it over frequently. Now she settled comfortably in her desk chair,
sipped her coffee and began to study it one final time. The encryption coding on
the PADD had been enhanced by Seven of Nine at her request and it took her a
moment to access and shut down the Borg coding her wife had used.
Entering her authorization code, the PADD came to life and displayed the
information she had read so often during the past two weeks. It’s amazing how an
entire career can be summed up on three pages, she thought. Scanning the
information, she read and re-read the third and final page of the service record.
The one that said so much and so little at the same time. But taken as a whole
Janeway thought she had a handle on what had happened and why Admiral Pulaski
had insisted she consider the officer for duty on her new command. She just
needed a few more pieces of information. Some she would get momentarily when she
hailed Pulaski and questioned her involvement. And some she would get later this
afternoon when she stopped by unannounced to chat with the officer in question.
Keying in the commands again, she began reading from the top of the file:
JORDAN McDEERE
(3625497)
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (Addenda xref EDISON/Chin’toka2)
NAME JORDAN ANNE McDEERE
AGE 36
RANK Lieutenant, Senior Grade
CURRENT POSTING STARFLEET QUARTERMASTER CORPS, Logistics and
Supply Utopia Planetia, MARS
ACADEMY RECORDS
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION: Tactical Operations/Intelligence
CLASS RANK (final): 03 of 1200
Phi Beta Kappa 3,4
Varsity Hoverball team, 3 years
POST GRADUATE EDUCATION/TRAINING
MIT/Daystrom Institute – PhD, Plasma Dynamics
Vulcan Security Forces Training Academy – Advanced Tactical Training
Vulcan Institute of Defensive Arts – Class 5 rating in six forms of hand-to-hand
combat
Klingon War College – Advanced Heavy Weapons Training
Starfleet Command School – Advanced Command Training
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
HEIGHT 178 cm / 5’10”
WEIGHT 72.5 kg / 160 lbs
EYE COLOR Blue eyes
HAIR COLOR Chestnut
SOMATOTYPE Mesomorph; well-developed musculature
SPECIES Human, Caucasian
IDENTIFYING MARKS
Faint ‘C’-shaped scar around left eye – more visible when officer smiles
Heavy scarring on/around left knee (see MEDICAL subsection)
MEDICAL NOTES
2374
Plasma burns, L arm and hand
Laceration, L ribcage
Severe laceration, L eye socket
Shrapnel injuries, Lower L lumbar area, L leg, L calf
2375
Functional amputation, L knee:
Severe crush injuries to L femur (epicondyles and articulating surface)
L tibia (med and lat condyles and tuberosity), Patella, Ant. and Post. Cruciate
ligaments severed, Med/Lat Collateral Ligaments severed, Patellar Ligament
severed
Fractured Pelvis
Comminuted and Compound fractures, L Femur
Fractures of 3rd, 4th and 5th ribs (left side)
Perforated diaphragm, Hemopheumothorax (L lung)
Lacerated hepatic vein, splenic vein
Severe plasma burns, R thigh, leg, and abdomen
MEDICAL ADDENDUM
(forwarded under seal to Starfleet JAG, Eyes Only)
SIGNED: Kate Pulaski
Director, Starfleet Medical Services
Cmdr McDeere has been diagnosed with several stress-related conditions in the
aftermath of her line service. Being charged with cowardice and mutiny for this
service has exacerbated what would normally be minor health problems into
serious ones. Cmdr McDeere will require hospitalization for several weeks as a
result of her court martial to repair ulcerative conditions and chronic internal
bleeding in her stomach and small intestine.
It is the opinion of Starfleet Medical that a non-frontline posting and
continued counseling will return this officer to full active duty status
commensurate with her distinguished service record.
CAREER POSTINGS
USS Monarch - Tactical Section Analyst; served with distinction
Promoted to Lieutenant, JG
USS Selvana – Tactical Officer; served with distinction
Promoted to Lieutenant
USS Sentinel – Tactical Officer; served with distinction
1st Battle of Chin’toka: Awarded Starfleet Cross of Valor
Citation: For outstanding heroism in the face of overwhelming enemy fire
disregarding personal injuries
USS Sitak – Chief Tactical Officer; served with distinction
Promoted to Lieutenant Commander
Operation Return: Awarded Pike Medal of Valor
Citation: Under heavy fire and at great personal risk moved thirty-one injured
crew into escape pods before SITAK destroyed.
USS Grissom – Chief Tactical Officer/First Officer; served with distinction
Battle of Ricktor Prime: Awarded Medal of Honor
Citation: Ignoring life-threatening injuries when Grissom was disabled, officer
set ship’s self destruct and beamed all six survivors to USS Monehga before
Grissom exploded. Severely injured; transported to Starfleet Medical, SF for
treatment and rehab.
*Raid on San Francisco – Awarded Pike Medal of Valor
Citation: While under medical care, Officer left BOQ at Starfleet Medical
Complex SF and organized Academy Cadets into a defense perimeter around Medical
facility and took tactical command of squad of Hawk-class fighters in defense of
city.
Promoted to Commander
USS Repulse – First Officer
2nd Battle of Chin’toka: Ordered abandon ship, set self-destruct and evacuated
crew when ship completely disabled.
After Action: Charges of Cowardice Under Fire, Dereliction of Duty and Mutiny
brought by Capt. Joshua Edison, CO; USS Repulse. Convicted by Court Martial. (see
addenda xref EDISON)
ADDENDUM, xref: EDISON/Chin’toka2
Security Classification: TOP SECRET
ACCUSED
Cmdr Jordan McDeere, First Officer, USS Repulse
CONVENING AUTHORITY
RADM Alynna Nechayev
CHARGES PREFERRED BY
Capt. Joshua Edison, CO USS Repulse
CHARGE SHEET
Cowardice under fire
Dereliction of duty
Mutiny
Refusal to follow legal orders
Article 32 Investigation Stardate: 52726.03
SUBMITTED BY: Lt.Cmdr Saandor Varik, JAG SF
FINDINGS: On stardate 52693.15 at the 2nd Battle of Chin’toka, the battleship
USS Repulse under the command of Captain Joshua Edison, and the rest of the
Federation and Allied Forces fleet came under fire from a previously unknown
energy weapon of Breen origin. Of the 312 ships in the fleet, 311 were destroyed
by these weapons. When Repulse was hit by this energy weapons fire it lost all
internal power, shields, propulsion and weapons capability. They were left
adrift with only emergency power as were all other ships in the fleet.
As the ships around them came under conventional Cardassian and Breen fire and
were destroyed, Captain Edison ordered the crew of Repulse to continue fighting
using emergency power. Cmdr McDeere cautioned against this repeatedly, stating
that to do so would destroy the emergency power conduits and would result in the
loss of the ship. Capt. Edison again ordered the crew to fight on. Under the
command of Cmdr McDeere, the crew attempted to reroute emergency power from
damaged areas of the ship to weapons systems and managed to fire two photon
torpedoes into the Cardassian/Breen fleet. However this collapsed the emergency
power relay systems and Repulse lost all life support and power as a result.
Capt. Edison again ordered the crew to continue fighting by any means possible
and Repulse came under phaser fire from a Cardassian dreadnaught. Without
shields or weapons, Repulse took staggering damage. Capt. Edison again demanded
that the crew fight on and had announced his intention to fight to the death
when Cmdr McDeere relieved him of command, placed him under guard and ordered
all hands to abandon ship. Setting the self-destruct, Cmdr McDeere oversaw the
evacuation of all hands before entering the last escape pod with Capt Edison.
When Repulse self-destructed, it took three Cardassian warships with it.
Upon recovery of the escape pods by Federation forces, Capt Edison swore out a
charge sheet against Cmdr McDeere. When this investigator questioned Cmdr
McDeere about events she stated that Capt Edison’s statements were fundamentally
correct and refused to offer any defense or mitigation of her actions.
RECOMMENDATION: In the absence of explanatory or evidence in mitigation it is
recommended that a general court martial be convened on the charges and
specifications listed above.
FINDINGS OF GENERAL COURT MARTIAL: Stardate 52747.94
In the face of Commander McDeere’s refusal to dispute the charges and
specifications or offer a substantive defense, in the matter of Starfleet v
Commander Jordan McDeere the summary findings of the court are as follows:
On the charge of DERELICTION OF DUTY the court finds the defendant NOT GUILTY
On the charge of COWARDICE UNDER FIRE the court finds the defendant NOT GUILTY
On the charge of MUTINY the court finds the defendant NOT GUILTY
On the charge of REFUSAL TO FOLLOW LEGAL ORDERS the court finds the defendant
GUILTY
SENTENCE: It is the recommendation of this court that Commander McDeere be
reduced in rank to Lieutenant, be removed from service as a line officer and
assigned to a rear echelon staff posting. No additional punitive action is
deemed necessary.
IN CONCURRANCE: Timothy Paulson
Starfleet Judge Advocate General
Alynna Nechayev
Chief of Operations, Terran Sector
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Janeway had committed the details of the record to memory when she brought her
workstation online and did some back channel research on Captain Joshua Edison.
He had been two years ahead of her at the Academy and she vaguely remembered a
tall, thin cadet who seemed ill at ease in his gray uniform. She couldn’t
remember if he was assigned to Command Track or a different specialty at the
Academy but for some reason she couldn’t remember him in any command classes.
Figuring it was better to question someone who might remember him better, she
hailed Will Riker on the USS Titan. As the screen came online Riker grinned at
her.
“Good morning, Kathryn! Is this another dinner invitation? Deanna wants to pump
Seven for details about your honeymoon.”
“Why? Didn’t her parents explain those things to her?” replied Janeway with a
laugh. “And are you on your way back toward us so soon?”
“No, unfortunately, we’re still on patrol near DS7. We’ve been tasked with
research on the characteristics of Borg transwarp corridors. But I promise to
let you know if we head back to Earth. The wedding was fantastic, by the way. We
had a great time.”
“I’m glad, Will. And make sure you do let me know when you come back this way.
Seven and I would love to have you and Deanna for dinner again, honeymoon
details notwithstanding. But right now I need to pick your brain a little.”
“Fire away.”
“Do you remember a cadet named Joshua Edison at the Academy? I think he was a
couple of years ahead of us.”
Riker’s genial face clouded. “Yeah, I remember him. And not just from the
Academy. Why are you asking about him?”
“I’m trying to find out what kind of commanding officer he was. I’ve been
reading about him in a service record and I wanted to talk to someone who…”
“McDeere? Are you talking about McDeere?” His voice mirrored the eagerness she
saw on his face at that information.
Cautiously she replied. “Yes, I’m considering her for a…posting…on Boudicca. And
how would you know about her? Maybe you’d better tell me everything I apparently
missed about this while we were out in the Delta quadrant.”
Riker leaned back in his seat. “It’s an ugly story, Kathryn. And it’s going to
take a little while. You okay for coffee?”
Laughing, she held up her mug. “Freshly poured, Will. Start talking, my friend.”
“Jordan McDeere was…well, her case caused a lot of controversy within Starfleet.
You have to remember that when the Dominion War broke out we were woefully
unprepared. Most of our captains were used to commanding research and
exploration ships. They didn’t think like a warship captain needed to. So what
we got was a lot of captains who commanded by the book, were inflexible and made
terrible decisions when they got into a firefight. Those captains cost us a lot
of good crewmen and ships. Edison was one of them. But he had been lucky enough
to be posted out on the fringes of the War and always had a good First Officer
to keep him out of too much trouble.” Riker paused and took a drink from the mug
on his ready room desk.
“McDeere was a gifted officer. I assume you’ve got her full jacket. Have you
read the fitness reports? Tenacious, intuitive, gutsy beyond belief, creative in
her tactical thinking. She had been promoted ahead of schedule until the War
broke out and then they moved her up fast. She never once let her CO down, not
until she got sent to the Repulse and Edison. Look at her records; she was
awarded the Medal of Honor and won the Pike Medal of Valor twice I think. Hell,
she won the second one for getting out of her hospital bed when Headquarters was
attacked. She was on crutches still trying to get her leg to work and she took
command of a company of cadets and organized a defense perimeter around
Starfleet Medical. Once she’d secured the Medical facility she hitched a lift to
the EOC bunker at the Presidio and took command of a squadron of Hawk fighters
in defense of the city.”
“That much I can read in her service jacket. What happened on the Repulse,
Will?” she asked quietly.
“Nobody’s really sure. But what we do know is that Edison and Repulse got
assigned to the assault fleet at Chin’toka – the second battle there – and the
entire fleet got caught in that Breen energy wave. Our ships were dead in the
water. Emergency power only. And only enough of that to launch escape pods.”
Riker took another drink and looked at Janeway gravely. “From here the story
gets confused. A lot of this is rumor and the Court Martial documents were
sealed. But crewmen from Repulse generally told the same story.”
“When the ship was hit with the energy wave Edison kept demanding that they fire
on the Cardassian/Breen fleet. McDeere was glued to a Tactical console and was
watching what was going on in the battle. She could see that the situation was
hopeless and that the Cardassians and Breen were going after the warships and
leaving the escape pods alone for the most part. McDeere kept telling him that
they needed to abandon ship and that to utilize the emergency power for weapons
would cost them life support. But Edison was crazy or stupid or some combination
of both. He kept demanding that the crew fight to the death. So McDeere
organized a couple of surviving engineers and they managed to reroute the
emergency power to the torpedo launchers. They fired two torpedoes before the
relays collapsed and they lost even the emergency power. But McDeere had been
smart; before they rerouted power, she’d isolated the escape pod launch relays
so they wouldn’t collapse.”
“Meanwhile, Edison was storming around what was left of the bridge and screaming
at everyone to arm themselves with phasers and prepare to repel boarders. By
this time, everybody on the bridge could see that the Cardassians weren’t
boarding any ships; they were just blowing them out of space using torpedoes and
phaser arrays. They didn’t need to board any of our ships. We didn’t have any
shields; they just blasted us to atoms while we floated there, helpless. Anyway,
when McDeere got back to the bridge Edison blamed her for the loss of power and
ordered her to organize the crew into fighting groups for the escape pods. He
had some crazy idea of attacking the Cardassian fleet using the pods. Apparently
that was one crazy order too many for McDeere. She relieved him of command and
put guards on him. Then she ordered the crew to abandon ship. She set the
self-destruct routines and got everyone into the escape pods. She and the guards
manually launched all of them and then hooked a power cell to the relay for the
last one. They boarded, along with Edison, and launched the pod with barely
enough time to get to a safe distance from the ship.”
“When the self-destruct kicked in it took three Cardassian battleships with it.
The pods were recovered at the edge of Cardassian space. As soon as Edison’s
feet touched a starship deck he began accusing McDeere of mutiny. I don’t even
think he stopped to take a shower before he swore out the charge sheet against
her. Once they got back to one of our bases he demanded an investigation. There
was nothing Starfleet could do. The news media was going crazy for details of
the battle and Edison got his side of the story out to the entire quadrant. They
had to follow up on his charges.”
“Why didn’t she offer a defense, Will?”
“Nobody knows, Kathryn. The only thing the investigator got out of her was that
Edison’s statements were essentially correct. She never offered any
corroboration that he was behaving erratically when anyone on the bridge would
have backed her up on it. It was the crew who testified that she was the one
telling him that to utilize the emergency power for weapons would take out their
life support. She never said one word in her own defense. The investigator had
no choice. He had to recommend a general court martial.”
“I don’t understand, Will. How could Starfleet allow that to happen? It’s
obvious that once they were hit Edison lost it and was unfit for command. How
could they allow her to be brought up on charges like that?”
“Kathryn, you have to remember that we’d just had an entire fleet destroyed in
one battle. Three hundred twelve ships were in the assault force: three hundred
eleven were destroyed. Only one ship survived that battle. The citizens of the
Federation and their Allies were terrified. The Federation Council was furious.
Starfleet couldn’t leave itself open to accusations that its commanders were
unfit. They needed the support of the Council to rebuild the fleet. So, they
convened a court and tried her. Jean-Luc once told me he’d never seen Admiral
Nechayev angrier than the day she had to authorize that trial. She did what was
politically necessary, but she also worked behind the scenes as much as she
could. McDeere was acquitted on all the serious charges. The only thing they
convicted her of was refusal of an order. She got dropped two grades in rank and
assigned to a staff position. Nechayev was hoping that everyone would forget
quickly and in a couple of months she’d be able to reinstate McDeere. Edison
went back into the Fleet with a political hack as his First Officer and got
himself killed in his first skirmish. The only bad thing about that was he took
a lot of decent crewmen along with him. But I think the trial broke McDeere’s
nerve because when Nechayev approached her about going back into a ship of the
line she declined.”
“Any ideas why?”
“You’ll have to ask her. Maybe ask Admiral Pulaski too. I seem to remember that
she was a staunch supporter of McDeere. Threatened to resign and raised three
kinds of hell at Headquarters over the trial.”
“It was Pulaski who insisted I consider her, Will. She told me that once I’d
read her records I wouldn’t have to go any farther to find my First Officer.”
Riker nodded sagely. “Pulaski’s right. From what I know McDeere would be a great
fit at First Officer for you, Kathryn.”
“Well, I’m going to surprise her this afternoon to interview her. We’ll see how
she handles it. But I think I’ll take your advice and get more information out
of Pulaski before I go. Thanks, Will. I appreciate your candor.”
“My pleasure, Kathryn. We’ll need all the good officers we can lay our hands on
out in the Delta quadrant. I hope she works out for you. I’ll pass your query
along to Jean-Luc too. He may have some additional information that will help
you. Any problems with that?”
“None at all. I’d appreciate any light he can shed. Give my best to Deanna.
Janeway, out.”
“And you give mine to Seven. Riker, out.”
Janeway refilled her coffee mug, leaned back in her chair and contemplated her
next move.
* * * * *
B’Elanna stood in front of the office door and took a deep breath before
knocking. At the barked permission to enter, she opened the door and strode to
the desk. Master Chief Miles O’Brien – now Professor O’Brien – regarded her
easily.
“And you’d be Lieutenant Torres from Voyager. Glad to see you folks finally made
it home. Have a seat.”
B’Elanna didn’t sit so much as collapse into the chair in front of the desk.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Master Chief. I need your feedback on something
I’ve been working on.”
“You told me you’re assigned to Utopia Planetia, right? The Voyager refit? What
new designs are you working on for that? I thought I’d heard you were the
resident expert on the Borg technology on Voyager and were overseeing its
removal.”
“That’s right. But I also worked closely with Seven of Nine on Voyager and she’s
at MIT-Daystrom now. She presented me with a problem and asked if I wouldn’t
mind trying to come up with some solutions for her to try. And I wanted to run a
couple of them past you before I forward them to her.”
“What kind of problem?”
“CPU/processor interfaces with deflector arrays.”
O’Brien considered her for a moment before he answered. Then folding his hands
and leaning forward toward B’Elanna he said very quietly, “Are you trying to
tell me that Seven of Nine has made a breakthrough in slipstream drive
technology?”
Torres fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. “Master Chief, I can’t comment on
that. I haven’t been given permission to do so. I can tell you that she
requested that I come up with a means to increase and strengthen the interface
between the processor and the deflector array and that she needed it as quickly
as possible.”
O’Brien’s eyes widened. “’As quickly as possible’? My God, are you telling me
that she’s nearly ready to start on a prototype? We can’t ignore this. If she’s
ready to build a prototype we’ve got to alert Starfleet Command and TPG.”
Now it was B’Elanna who leaned forward in her seat. “Master Chief, all I know is
that she’s made a significant breakthrough and needs this interface designed
before she can present anything to Starfleet. She’s married to Captain Janeway;
do you honestly think that she’d try to build a slipstream drive and not bring
Starfleet into her project? Believe me when I tell you that is not how Seven
works. But I do know that she wants to present Starfleet with a complete package:
new processor, enhanced interface and improved deflector array technology all
aligned to support a slipstream drive. I need your help with the interface;
she’s got the rest already.”
O’Brien stood and indicated a large worktable at one side of his office. “Well,
let’s have a look at what you’ve got.” At the table he linked her PADD and her
calculations and schematics were suddenly blown up to blueprint size. The two
heads bent together over the large display.
“See, what I was thinking was that if we increase the number of capacitors in
this area, we could buffer the resistance here and utilize a higher frequency
bio-neural relay. But I’m afraid that if we don’t provide a buffer on the
resistance it won’t work. And none of the conventional buffering media would
work against that kind of energy flow. Its resistance would compromise the data
stream and degrade the processing speed. That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”
O’Brien considered the schematic carefully. “You’re right. We don’t have a
buffer strong enough to withstand the energy flux. But maybe we don’t need one.
I think I’ve got something here that might…give me a second to find…” He strode
to the workstation on his desk and began to scan his archived files.
“Once on DS9 we had to utilize our deflector array and shield generators to
boost a subspace energy burst fired into the Bajor wormhole. We had to beef up
the interfaces on the station’s systems and we used interlink buffers to spread
the load evenly across the interface. By eliminating the variances in energy
phase the interfaces were much more stable and we didn’t have to deal with any
buffering medium along the linkage. If I can just find the schematics…here we go.
Take a look at this.” O’Brien sent the file in question to the worktable and
opened it to display the schematics and calculations of the array enhancements.
B’Elanna immediately recognized the efficiency of spreading the energy streams
evenly across the interface and was amazed at how well the interlink buffers
performed the task. Moving to her original PADD she began to feed in the
parameters of Seven’s new processor and adjusted O’Brien’s calculations
accordingly. As both of them watched the worktable displayed a simulation run.
B’Elanna’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
“That’s amazing! How is it the interlinks aren’t overheating at these
transmission levels?”
“We buttressed them by utilizing a honeycomb alignment. That way the excess heat
is dissipated along the exterior of the interface where the heat exchangers can
deal with it. As you can see, even at the increased transmission stream levels
neither the interlink buffers or the heat exchangers come near to being
over-extended. Add standard cooling protocols to the interface and you’ve got a
link that’s even more stable. I think an arrangement like that will work quite
well for your interface.”
The two engineers continued to discuss the interface for another two hours but
all they accomplished was to more firmly convince each other that the buffer
alignment was precisely what was required. B’Elanna headed for the Transport
Center shortly before noon after hailing Seven. With any luck they’d get the
interface designed after lunch.
Stepping onto the transporter pad in the Starfleet section of the center, she
commanded “Cambridge, Massachusetts. Energize!”
* * * * *
The morning had gone well in Seven’s lab. She and her lab team had met with the
beta-testers and the two groups spent the morning discussing the test protocols
that had been conducted so far. As of that morning the new processor was
performing precisely to specs and had not even wavered once despite the best
efforts of the beta testers to crash it. Seven’s team was quietly ecstatic;
there was no question that being part of the first team to build a working
slipstream would guarantee career advancement and success. While Seven wasn’t
concerned about those things for herself, she realized that their enthusiasm
could hasten construction of a working prototype, and she was concerned about
that.
She set both the development and test teams to work and walked to the
administration area to brief Dr. Pedersen on the status of her project. The
director waved her into the office and Seven took a seat across the desk from
the older woman.
“Welcome back, Dr. Hansen. You look like you got some sun.”
“We stayed in a plantation house on a tropical island. It would be unusual if I
did not have a tan after a week in those latitudes.”
The director chuckled. “Very true. Well, the wedding was lovely. Are you and
Captain Janeway settling in to married life smoothly?”
“We are. It is strange; we had been living together before the wedding. I did
not think that a ceremony would make any difference in our attitudes toward each
other, but it did. Kathryn and I are closer than we have ever been.”
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be, I believe. But I’m delighted you’re back.
How are things in your lab?”
“The testers have been very busy. We had a briefing from them this morning and
so far none of their test protocols have caused the processor to in any way fail.
My team has been working with them to create more stringent tests and we will
continue to push the limits of the processor to simulate what might happen in
space. A quantum slipstream drive could power a starship across an entire
quadrant in four to five hours. We plan on testing the processor continuously
for twenty-five hours to insure it is capable of safely propelling a ship to the
farthest reaches of the galaxy and back. That test will happen mid-week.”
“And where do you stand on your interface enhancements for the deflector array?”
“Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres will be here this afternoon with some ideas on
interface enhancements. She was Chief Engineer on Voyager and a most capable
engineer. She and I work efficiently together and should have schematics and
preliminary calculations by the end of the week.”
“So I’ll need to contact Starfleet at the beginning of next week to notify them
that we’ve got the makings of the slipstream drive they’ve been waiting for all
these years. Dr. Hansen, I cannot tell you how delighted the Board of Governors
is right now. Not that we deliberately place ourselves in competition with
Starfleet and TPG on a regular basis, but when it happens it’s always good for
us when we come out on top. That’s not to take anything away from Dr. Brahms and
her group, but she and her team do seem to garner a great deal of notoriety.”
“I do not claim to understand the political ramifications of research. I will be
happy just to move into construction of a prototype drive for testing.”
“I would hope that a research scientist wouldn’t need to understand the
political wrangling that goes on. That’s the administration’s job. Just do your
research and leave the politics to us.”
“There is one other thing; I’ve been requested to help oversee removal of the
Borg alcoves from Voyager tomorrow afternoon. Will that be a problem?”
“I don’t see why. If you’ve established the testing protocols and have your team
working on the interface enhancements then there’s no reason you can’t be at
Utopia Planetia tomorrow. Will one day suffice or do you need longer?”
“I believe that most of the work has already begun; I’ll be overseeing the final
disconnects and storage of the alcoves. I’m afraid that Kathryn is too demanding
regarding them; she is determined to have them available if ever I need another.”
“Perfectly understandable. If I were in her shoes I’d feel the same way. We’ll
see you when you get back. And Dr. Hansen?” Both women rose and Pedersen reached
out to shake Seven’s hand, “Congratulations. On both your marriage and your
research.”
“Thank you, Director.”
B’Elanna’s arrival at the main desk of Seven’s building was heralded with little
fanfare. Starfleet engineers were a common sight at MIT-Daystrom; Dr. Pedersen
saw to it that a good working relationship existed between the two organizations.
B’Elanna was escorted to Seven’s lab suite by a security officer and then Seven
introduced her to the lab team. Torres and Seven set up at Seven’s workstation
as Seven’s lab team tried to watch them without appearing to do so.
“I think you’re going to be pleased, Seven. I consulted with Miles O’Brien this
morning and we came up with an unbelievable interface. Look at this.” Torres
linked the PADD she carried to Seven’s workstation and the schematics appeared
on the screen. As she examined them, even the unflappable Seven raised an
eyebrow in appreciation.
“This is a very efficient design, B’Elanna. Have you tested it in any way?”
“Only twice with this particular configuration, but I’ve got results of both
simulations and real-world performance specs from a similar interface that
O’Brien used on DS9. They used it to bolster the interface to the deflector
array to fire a high-energy beam.”
“And it worked for them?”
“Got the performance specs right here. Check them out for yourself.”
Blonde and brunette heads leaned close to the screen together as they studied
the calculations and results displayed. After several minutes of murmured
conversation Seven leaned back.
“Chief O’Brien and I believe this honeycomb configuration will allow the heat
dissipation necessary for the interface. And look what happens to the heat
coefficients when you add standard cooling protocols at critical junctions along
the interface.”
Seven looked at the calculations and nodded her approval. “That increases the
cooling coefficient even more. B’Elanna, this is far better than I had hoped.
With this enhanced interface the data stream speeds will be far more than
adequate. Thank you. You have made a slipstream drive possible.” The women
looked at each other both knowing that not only their lives, but also the lives
of those they loved would depend on that drive.
“Well, lets get your lab team busy testing it. If they can’t blow a hole it in
then we’ll know we’re on to something. Once we get them started can we grab a
bite to eat? Breakfast was a long time ago for me.”
“Of course, B’Elanna. It shouldn’t take long to show them the schematics and get
the simulations started. Come with me.”
The lab team’s eyes bugged out as they saw the design and performance specs. It
didn’t take long for them to put together a test protocol and set up a testing
simulation. Seven and B’Elanna supervised the beginning of the tests and once
the simulations were running smoothly left for the dining room. Seven’s lab team
was so efficient B’Elanna’s stomach didn’t even have time to growl.
Meanwhile on Mars, Janeway picked up the PADD she’d been studying for the past
two weeks and headed for the Logistics and Supply Department wondering what kind
of officer she’d find there. Would it be the kind she needed as her new first
officer or more of the broken wreckage of the Dominion War? Whichever McDeere
turned out to be, Janeway was looking forward to the interview. Unconsciously,
she quickened her pace.
* * * * *