Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Are patents a thing in the Federation?
Starseeker
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- Logan, Queensland, australia
There are many markets outside the federation 
Part 14
I smiled and looked around the bridge. I didn't really need to have my actual avatar there for people to be able to 'look at me' when talking, I could use the brand new holographic system to simply project my avatar image.
But for the first time entering warp to leave the system... It felt fitting.
The layout was very similar to the Intrepid class, minus the special modifications of course but with a extra chair to the left of the Captain's chair.
Commander and Captain's chairs in the middle. Science over their left shoulders, tactical over their right.
The operations console was located to the front left and the pilot's seat was to their front right.
Or would be normally at least.
While there were pilots on board, they were all shuttle and runabout specialists. All dedicated pilots at least, there were plenty of people that were quite skilled pilots, but none that had it as part of their daily duties.
Which meant that neither of us had to sit and be bored while the other piloted.
Tactical was different as well, not being a permanent position like on a normal ship. The tactical officer was there in case I broke down and to give me advice and ideas during combat.
I might think a hundred times faster than any organic, but I can't think of everything at once. In any case, both positions were still there and manned at all times, but by science personnel unless there was a crisis such as a tactical situation.
"Antimatter transfer is complete," I reported, standing more or less at attention, my arms behind my back, "All diagnostics return nominal values. Ready for orders, Captain."
I had even changed my uniform, changing from the red of command and tactical to the teal of sciences. Seemed more fitting for a science vessel. Commander Janeway approved the change.
Mason nodded, "Set a course for Vulcan. Take us out, ship."
The first 'shake down' trip for every new ship. It was tradition. A short trip to Vulcan to see that everything worked like it should before receiving our first real orders.
Unofficially, Captain Mason, Commander Janeway and I already knew what they would be. We were to proceed from Vulcan to Andoria where we were to meet up with another ship, which one we did not know yet, and take on several runabouts along with two hundred scientists and engineers along with a significant amount of personnel.
We were then to assist the second ship with transferring the cargo to the Jenolan Dyson sphere where a permanent research outpost would be constructed on the inner surface. It was named as such after the USS Jenolan who... ran into the artifact. Literally.
Once that was complete, we would continue on our real mission. We were not scheduled to return to Federation explored space for over two years.
I admit, I was somewhat giddy at the prospect.
I quickly spared a thought to check on Rachel's puppy. She picked out a very adorable Beagle puppy which she named 'Porthos' after Admiral Archers famous pet of the same species. It was currently curled up and sleeping on a sunny spot in it's little holodeck.
"Yes sir. Entering Warp."
I looked back in system. We were at the outskirts of the Sol system, the antimatter refueling ship floating a couple of hundred kilometers away.
Sending a small message of Goodbye to Gates and the other AI, I diverted power to my warp drive and the universe answered, space folding around me as the warp bubble formed.
"Warp three. Warp five. Warp seven point five." I reported, "Holding steady at cruising speed towards Vulcan System. Estimated arrival... approximately one week."
"Good. Commander, you have the bridge." Captain Mason said and got up, "I'll be in my ready room."
Paperwork. Even without actual paper, it was still paperwork.
I on the other hand had a slight problem not grinning like a loon. Instead I smiled softly and enjoyed the feeling of moving under full power, to have full access to all my abilities again.
Subspace stretched out in all directions, vibrating with warpfields, gravity fields of distant stars and particularly Sol behind me folding space around them. Buzzing of subspace messages too weak or too encrypted to understand.
This is what I was meant to be.
It felt... right.
I was a Federation Starship heading towards deep space.
Adjusting my heading slightly to avoid a slightly denser section of dust ahead, I shifted some of my attention to Rachel, "How are the Ladies?"
She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair in the small control room right next to the shuttlebay, "You know.... I should be happy that the shuttles are all shining brand new, working perfectly and up to spec, but it's boring. Nothing to do on them."
I grinned mentally at that, "You are the one in charge down here. You could try to tune them up if you want."
"I could, but there is only so much I can do with them." Rachel said with a shrug, "Besides, might as well give my people a couple of easy days. Not like we can actually test them until we reach Vulcan anyway. I'm going to have them running diagnostics until then anyway."
"How about the Aeroshuttle?"
Rachel grinned at that, "She is a beauty. Not the fastest thing out there in warp, but tough and able to handle most atmospheres. Can't wait to take her out."
"I bet."
Aeroshuttles were nice pieces of hardware. Not overly fast in warp, but nice and agile at subwarp speeds and with powerful sensors for their size. Ideal for research teams to take down to a unknown planet.
One was fitted into my lower saucer, similar to how they were attached to the Intrepid class. That way they could be carried without taking up room in the hangar bay from the shuttlecraft. I carried a total of four shuttles. Three Type-6, one Type-9 Cargo Shuttle, and I also carried two Worker Bees.
That gave me just about enough room to squeeze in a couple of Runabouts more when we get to Andoria. I wasn't a Galaxy Class, I didn't have unlimited room. I was not made to carry Runabouts, that's why I have an Aeroshuttle! They had to be stored on the 'outer' and only forcefield protected part of the shuttlebay, there was no way they would fit to bring 'inside'.
"Say, Star..." Rachel asked after a moment with a smile, "Anything interesting happen when you and T'Ro was on your vacation?"
"Like what? Oh, that reminds me, I have to show you some of the holopictures I took. Some of them turned out awesome."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Just wondered if something fun happened. But yeah, I'll love to see those pictures sometime," before she got up. "Well, my shift is over. Do you know where I can find Shran?"
"I'm kicking his arse up and down holodeck two."
Rachel grinned at that, "Are you really?"
"...No, not really." I sighed, "I have to cheat to keep up. I have my strength and speed turned up slightly higher than his. If I didn't, he would crush me every time. But don't tell him I said that, okay?"
He was simply a better martial artist than I was, despite me being his primary training partner. I cheated with my improved perception and being able to dial the strength and speed of my holo avatar up. Without it, it wouldn't even be a contest. Didn't help that his reach was longer than mine either.
She giggled at that, "Don't worry, I won't. Last thing we need is for his head to get any bigger than it already is at times. Tell him I want to talk to him later? I'm just going to check on Porthos first."
"Sure."
AN// A big box of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
But for the first time entering warp to leave the system... It felt fitting.
The layout was very similar to the Intrepid class, minus the special modifications of course but with a extra chair to the left of the Captain's chair.
Commander and Captain's chairs in the middle. Science over their left shoulders, tactical over their right.
The operations console was located to the front left and the pilot's seat was to their front right.
Or would be normally at least.
While there were pilots on board, they were all shuttle and runabout specialists. All dedicated pilots at least, there were plenty of people that were quite skilled pilots, but none that had it as part of their daily duties.
Which meant that neither of us had to sit and be bored while the other piloted.
Tactical was different as well, not being a permanent position like on a normal ship. The tactical officer was there in case I broke down and to give me advice and ideas during combat.
I might think a hundred times faster than any organic, but I can't think of everything at once. In any case, both positions were still there and manned at all times, but by science personnel unless there was a crisis such as a tactical situation.
"Antimatter transfer is complete," I reported, standing more or less at attention, my arms behind my back, "All diagnostics return nominal values. Ready for orders, Captain."
I had even changed my uniform, changing from the red of command and tactical to the teal of sciences. Seemed more fitting for a science vessel. Commander Janeway approved the change.
Mason nodded, "Set a course for Vulcan. Take us out, ship."
The first 'shake down' trip for every new ship. It was tradition. A short trip to Vulcan to see that everything worked like it should before receiving our first real orders.
Unofficially, Captain Mason, Commander Janeway and I already knew what they would be. We were to proceed from Vulcan to Andoria where we were to meet up with another ship, which one we did not know yet, and take on several runabouts along with two hundred scientists and engineers along with a significant amount of personnel.
We were then to assist the second ship with transferring the cargo to the Jenolan Dyson sphere where a permanent research outpost would be constructed on the inner surface. It was named as such after the USS Jenolan who... ran into the artifact. Literally.
Once that was complete, we would continue on our real mission. We were not scheduled to return to Federation explored space for over two years.
I admit, I was somewhat giddy at the prospect.
I quickly spared a thought to check on Rachel's puppy. She picked out a very adorable Beagle puppy which she named 'Porthos' after Admiral Archers famous pet of the same species. It was currently curled up and sleeping on a sunny spot in it's little holodeck.
"Yes sir. Entering Warp."
I looked back in system. We were at the outskirts of the Sol system, the antimatter refueling ship floating a couple of hundred kilometers away.
Sending a small message of Goodbye to Gates and the other AI, I diverted power to my warp drive and the universe answered, space folding around me as the warp bubble formed.
"Warp three. Warp five. Warp seven point five." I reported, "Holding steady at cruising speed towards Vulcan System. Estimated arrival... approximately one week."
"Good. Commander, you have the bridge." Captain Mason said and got up, "I'll be in my ready room."
Paperwork. Even without actual paper, it was still paperwork.
I on the other hand had a slight problem not grinning like a loon. Instead I smiled softly and enjoyed the feeling of moving under full power, to have full access to all my abilities again.
Subspace stretched out in all directions, vibrating with warpfields, gravity fields of distant stars and particularly Sol behind me folding space around them. Buzzing of subspace messages too weak or too encrypted to understand.
This is what I was meant to be.
It felt... right.
I was a Federation Starship heading towards deep space.
Adjusting my heading slightly to avoid a slightly denser section of dust ahead, I shifted some of my attention to Rachel, "How are the Ladies?"
She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair in the small control room right next to the shuttlebay, "You know.... I should be happy that the shuttles are all shining brand new, working perfectly and up to spec, but it's boring. Nothing to do on them."
I grinned mentally at that, "You are the one in charge down here. You could try to tune them up if you want."
"I could, but there is only so much I can do with them." Rachel said with a shrug, "Besides, might as well give my people a couple of easy days. Not like we can actually test them until we reach Vulcan anyway. I'm going to have them running diagnostics until then anyway."
"How about the Aeroshuttle?"
Rachel grinned at that, "She is a beauty. Not the fastest thing out there in warp, but tough and able to handle most atmospheres. Can't wait to take her out."
"I bet."
Aeroshuttles were nice pieces of hardware. Not overly fast in warp, but nice and agile at subwarp speeds and with powerful sensors for their size. Ideal for research teams to take down to a unknown planet.
One was fitted into my lower saucer, similar to how they were attached to the Intrepid class. That way they could be carried without taking up room in the hangar bay from the shuttlecraft. I carried a total of four shuttles. Three Type-6, one Type-9 Cargo Shuttle, and I also carried two Worker Bees.
That gave me just about enough room to squeeze in a couple of Runabouts more when we get to Andoria. I wasn't a Galaxy Class, I didn't have unlimited room. I was not made to carry Runabouts, that's why I have an Aeroshuttle! They had to be stored on the 'outer' and only forcefield protected part of the shuttlebay, there was no way they would fit to bring 'inside'.
"Say, Star..." Rachel asked after a moment with a smile, "Anything interesting happen when you and T'Ro was on your vacation?"
"Like what? Oh, that reminds me, I have to show you some of the holopictures I took. Some of them turned out awesome."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Just wondered if something fun happened. But yeah, I'll love to see those pictures sometime," before she got up. "Well, my shift is over. Do you know where I can find Shran?"
"I'm kicking his arse up and down holodeck two."
Rachel grinned at that, "Are you really?"
"...No, not really." I sighed, "I have to cheat to keep up. I have my strength and speed turned up slightly higher than his. If I didn't, he would crush me every time. But don't tell him I said that, okay?"
He was simply a better martial artist than I was, despite me being his primary training partner. I cheated with my improved perception and being able to dial the strength and speed of my holo avatar up. Without it, it wouldn't even be a contest. Didn't help that his reach was longer than mine either.
She giggled at that, "Don't worry, I won't. Last thing we need is for his head to get any bigger than it already is at times. Tell him I want to talk to him later? I'm just going to check on Porthos first."
"Sure."
AN// A big box of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
Kudos Hiver! Was almost expecting another warp anomaly crossover point.
Boo! Boooo! *Throws popcorn.*
Boo! Boooo! *Throws popcorn.*
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
I was trying to figure out how to say that myself. Good work.
Part 15
I kept a careful watch on the shuttles as they slowly tractored the mission pod into place, the cold expanse of Andoria far below.
A few kilometers away, the station was floating, just forward in stationary orbit from me.
"Five centimeters."
"One."
I felt my hull shudder softly under the relatively gentle impact. "We have soft dock. Locking down clamps. Clamps locked. Rerouting power, initiating life support. Turbo lift access... complete. Thank you, Rachel."
"That was a bit tricky. Returning to the hangar bay. We need to get the shuttles shuffled away to fit the Runabouts."
"You have about two hours according to the schedule." I said as I started to run a full computer diagnostics on the new mission pod attached to the top of my hull, just above where it attached to my lower hull.
This one specifically was made for a mix of planetary survey labs and enhanced sensors. Exactly what was needed for long term, deep space exploration.
The mission pod alone increased my sensor resolution by about twenty percent and gave us a bunch more labs.
I tried out my new sensors resolution running a passive scan on a passing Ferengi freighter. Hmm, their impulse drives were running a bit hot for their power levels.
Most likely have skipped scrubbing their plasma conduits since... well, ever.
Ferengi just being Ferengi, I guess.
I know it might seem like a stereotype that all Ferengi were profit-greedy cowards willing to sell their mothers for a slip of gold- pressed latinum.
I would even have agreed that it was a stereotype... if every damn Ferengi I'd met with very few exceptions didn't live up to it.
Lieutenant-Commander Nog however seemed like a rather nice person. I met him once during a reception at Starfleet Headquarters.
"Star, what's the ETA of the Fornax?" Commander Janeway asked as she exited the turbolift from the bridge, heading towards engineering.
Now that's one thing that made me double take the first time I heard it.
Stupid sim and stupid game. It was latin for 'Forge' damn it!
"I have them on long range sensors, Commander." I reported. "From their speed and course, they will arrive on schedule in six hours and will be able to start taking on their part of the cargo in time to be able to hit our departure date."
The USS Fornax was an older ship, an Excelsior-class cruiser. During the war, she had been patrolling Vulcan space. Quite frankly, even updated, the Excelsior class was simply outdated for combat duties. Even in their prime, the Excelsior class was more of a support than a frontline class.
And while she had plenty of cargo space, much more than I did, actually, she didn't have enough to carry everything needed to establish the base on the Jenolan Dyson Sphere.
Well, I was heading in the same direction anyway and did have enough cargo space and shuttleroom to bring what they couldn't.
Janeway nodded and continued on her way, eyes locked on her PADD. "Good." she stated as she took the corner and walked into the transporter room. "One to beam to the starbase."
"Commander, You do realize you don't need to actually be on the transporter for that, right? I can simply do site to site transports."
She smiled at that. "I know. But it sets a bad precedent for the rest of the crew."
"If you think so, sir. Energizing."
XXXXXXXXXX
My avatar exited the turbolift and I took a look around. It looked about identical to the rest of the ship.
I did frown faintly, though.
Damn it. The color scheme didn't match the rest of my corridors. The walls were beige. It looked like it was part of a Nebula or a Galaxy class.
It was a very minor problem, really. It was fully functional and in very good condition, but I could tell that it would keep bothering me. Like walking around with mismatched socks.
...Well, it was going to be a long journey.
Not only were we heading out of Federation space... but we were going in a very special direction.
Straight through the Bajoran Wormhole and into the Gamma Quadrant and then out into the great unknown, leaving what little had been explored there behind. Leaving the old Dominion territories.
In any case, long journey. I should be able to talk Lieutenant-Commander Sleeman into having one of his engineering teams repaint the walls.
Technically, I could do it myself. As the rank of Starship, I had the same rank as the ship's second in command, Commander Janeway during general operations.
I could simply grab some crewmen who looked like they were having too much fun for their own good and hand them some paint.
But I preferred to run things along the right paths, if at all possible.
"T'Ro." I said as I walked into the closest lab. "What do you think?"
"You can tell the mission pod is a couple of years old. Minor imperfections." She said and scooted out from under one of the consoles before turning to Ensign Anderson. "I want a level one diagnostic on all mission pod systems."
"Yes, Ma'am." He said with a small nod, managing to hide his disappointment. "We will get right on it."
Level one diagnostics were quite involved. Any more involved and they would have been taking the entire thing apart and putting it together again. All mission pod systems? They might, if they were lucky, be finished just as we entered the Bajor system.
"Do you detect anything we need to be aware of?" T'Ro asked me.
I leaned against the console and shook my head as I crossed my arms. "Everything shows green to me. We have to see what your engineering team finds. I do like the extra resolution the sensors give me, though."
T'Ro nodded and brushed some dust from her uniform. "Indeed." she said and frowned slightly. "We might have to reschedule our plans for later."
I shrugged one shoulder. "We can play chess at any time, really."
AN// A big bag of Thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this part.
A few kilometers away, the station was floating, just forward in stationary orbit from me.
"Five centimeters."
"One."
I felt my hull shudder softly under the relatively gentle impact. "We have soft dock. Locking down clamps. Clamps locked. Rerouting power, initiating life support. Turbo lift access... complete. Thank you, Rachel."
"That was a bit tricky. Returning to the hangar bay. We need to get the shuttles shuffled away to fit the Runabouts."
"You have about two hours according to the schedule." I said as I started to run a full computer diagnostics on the new mission pod attached to the top of my hull, just above where it attached to my lower hull.
This one specifically was made for a mix of planetary survey labs and enhanced sensors. Exactly what was needed for long term, deep space exploration.
The mission pod alone increased my sensor resolution by about twenty percent and gave us a bunch more labs.
I tried out my new sensors resolution running a passive scan on a passing Ferengi freighter. Hmm, their impulse drives were running a bit hot for their power levels.
Most likely have skipped scrubbing their plasma conduits since... well, ever.
Ferengi just being Ferengi, I guess.
I know it might seem like a stereotype that all Ferengi were profit-greedy cowards willing to sell their mothers for a slip of gold- pressed latinum.
I would even have agreed that it was a stereotype... if every damn Ferengi I'd met with very few exceptions didn't live up to it.
Lieutenant-Commander Nog however seemed like a rather nice person. I met him once during a reception at Starfleet Headquarters.
"Star, what's the ETA of the Fornax?" Commander Janeway asked as she exited the turbolift from the bridge, heading towards engineering.
Now that's one thing that made me double take the first time I heard it.
Stupid sim and stupid game. It was latin for 'Forge' damn it!
"I have them on long range sensors, Commander." I reported. "From their speed and course, they will arrive on schedule in six hours and will be able to start taking on their part of the cargo in time to be able to hit our departure date."
The USS Fornax was an older ship, an Excelsior-class cruiser. During the war, she had been patrolling Vulcan space. Quite frankly, even updated, the Excelsior class was simply outdated for combat duties. Even in their prime, the Excelsior class was more of a support than a frontline class.
And while she had plenty of cargo space, much more than I did, actually, she didn't have enough to carry everything needed to establish the base on the Jenolan Dyson Sphere.
Well, I was heading in the same direction anyway and did have enough cargo space and shuttleroom to bring what they couldn't.
Janeway nodded and continued on her way, eyes locked on her PADD. "Good." she stated as she took the corner and walked into the transporter room. "One to beam to the starbase."
"Commander, You do realize you don't need to actually be on the transporter for that, right? I can simply do site to site transports."
She smiled at that. "I know. But it sets a bad precedent for the rest of the crew."
"If you think so, sir. Energizing."
XXXXXXXXXX
My avatar exited the turbolift and I took a look around. It looked about identical to the rest of the ship.
I did frown faintly, though.
Damn it. The color scheme didn't match the rest of my corridors. The walls were beige. It looked like it was part of a Nebula or a Galaxy class.
It was a very minor problem, really. It was fully functional and in very good condition, but I could tell that it would keep bothering me. Like walking around with mismatched socks.
...Well, it was going to be a long journey.
Not only were we heading out of Federation space... but we were going in a very special direction.
Straight through the Bajoran Wormhole and into the Gamma Quadrant and then out into the great unknown, leaving what little had been explored there behind. Leaving the old Dominion territories.
In any case, long journey. I should be able to talk Lieutenant-Commander Sleeman into having one of his engineering teams repaint the walls.
Technically, I could do it myself. As the rank of Starship, I had the same rank as the ship's second in command, Commander Janeway during general operations.
I could simply grab some crewmen who looked like they were having too much fun for their own good and hand them some paint.
But I preferred to run things along the right paths, if at all possible.
"T'Ro." I said as I walked into the closest lab. "What do you think?"
"You can tell the mission pod is a couple of years old. Minor imperfections." She said and scooted out from under one of the consoles before turning to Ensign Anderson. "I want a level one diagnostic on all mission pod systems."
"Yes, Ma'am." He said with a small nod, managing to hide his disappointment. "We will get right on it."
Level one diagnostics were quite involved. Any more involved and they would have been taking the entire thing apart and putting it together again. All mission pod systems? They might, if they were lucky, be finished just as we entered the Bajor system.
"Do you detect anything we need to be aware of?" T'Ro asked me.
I leaned against the console and shook my head as I crossed my arms. "Everything shows green to me. We have to see what your engineering team finds. I do like the extra resolution the sensors give me, though."
T'Ro nodded and brushed some dust from her uniform. "Indeed." she said and frowned slightly. "We might have to reschedule our plans for later."
I shrugged one shoulder. "We can play chess at any time, really."
AN// A big bag of Thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this part.
Well, it's not entirely inappropriate. There IS a lot of pounding and stoking fires going on.
(edit for typo)
Last edited:
Stoking... Stoking fires...Well, it's not entirely inappropriate. There IS a lot of pounding and stroking fires going on.
Part 16
The Fornax was traveling at Warp Five next to me, barely a hundred kilometers away. We were still about a week out from the Dyson Sphere. The Excelsior class doesn't have the engines to do more than warp five without causing slight damage to subspace and as such, we were both limited in speed.
This was going to be so exciting, I had always wanted to see a Sphere. Never in my life thought I actually would, but..
The technology needed to construct something like that was a couple of orders of magnitude higher than the Federation's. A lot higher, actually.
A sphere the size of Earth's orbit around Sol. The idea of something that big boggled the mind. There actually used to be a research base there already. The local sun was a bit unstable and sent out a lot of solar flares, so the base had to be shielded, but it was definitely livable.
Hell, even the radiation wasn't bad once you got close to the surface and under the atmosphere, the solar flares just liked fucking with technology unless it was shielded. Sure, you might not want to walk around for years at a time without some kind of shield if you were organic, but it wasn't actively 'dangerous' for most species.
The inside of the sphere was not actually dead. In fact, it was covered with thick vegetation and had a rich wildlife. There used to be a manned research station there before the Romulan War, but they were evacuated for safety.
Hell, if we were able to stabilize the sun, something that might actually be possible even at the Federation's level of technology. Why the builders didn't, we had no idea. We don't know who built it, but they probably died out before the sun even started to act up.
A colonizationable Dyson Sphere in Federation space would be...
It would be quite a prize indeed. 250 million times the surface area of Earth.
Basically unlimited space to expand into. You could pick up everyone in the entire quadrant and if you spread them out equally across the entire inside of the sphere, they might never see another intelligent being in their lives again.
Yeah, that's big. If it was solid all the way through with levels instead of just a shell, you could put Jupiter in a room and then lose the damn thing.
Huge.
"Lieutenant-Commander." I said with a smile, giving Sleeman a nod as I walked over to him.
"Hey, Star." my slightly overweight chief engineer answered, looking up from his console, his grey hair cut short to hide the fact that he was losing it.
Both things easily fixed with a five minute medical procedure each. Most people didn't, though.
I hypothesized that it was a leftover from the Eugenics wars.
"Everything going alright down here?" I asked and leaned against the side of the console, looking around.
For the first time I actually had a traditional vertical warpcore. Both the Akira and the Sabre had horizontal ones.
I rather liked this design better, it was a much more effective use of room to have it ninety degrees to my deck orientation.
"Still getting used to a new design." He answered with a smile. "So what can I do for you? It's not often you send your avatar down here."
If I did, I usually ended up doing something productive with it, something I tried to avoid. That meant somebody else wouldn't get to do it and well.. I didn't want that.
"You know how I feel about taking the job of somebody else if I can help it... and usually when I get involved in engineering I can't help myself." I answered with a smile in return. "Still, I want to ask a favor. Well, two actually, but one is rather minor."
He raised his eyebrows. "I think we might be able to accommodate you. So what can I do for my favorite starship?"
"Well... the first favor is the largest one. It's about the mission pod." I explained as I crossed my arms. "It's nothing major or mission important, but it keeps bothering me that the corridors and rooms are in different colors than mine. Do you think you could spare a engineering team to fix it?"
"Sure thing." He said with a nod. "It might take until we leave the sphere, things are a bit busy until then, but I'm sure we will find be able to find the time."
"Thanks, Harold. It's not really important, it just keeps bothering me. Like wearing mismatched socks."
He chuckled at that. "What's the second thing?"
"I have a bit of an idea I want to try when we get to the sphere and I'm going to need some help building the prototype. I mean, I could likely do it myself, but I'm not sure I would make it in time with just one pair of hands."
Well, unless I monopolized one of the holodecks. There was no way I would cut into the crew's recreation schedule like that.
He frowned slightly. "What is it you want to build?"
Smiling I handed a PADD over with the preliminary blueprints, "It's a solar powered atmospheric probe. It's perfect for the inside of a Dyson Sphere."
In total, it was not very big and the sensors were mostly optical, IR and radar based. Simple to build and very reliable. Anything more advanced would be bothered by the sun. A simple subspace com gave it a connection to the 'ground' with a range of a couple of hundred thousand kilometers.
Three meters long in total and about as wide at the widest it wasn't very big, the entire craft covered with ultra-efficient solar cells that worked on all spectra. It was usually used to help provide extra power to starbases to supplement the normal fusion reactors.
It was actually powered by a propeller instead of any other kind of modern propulsion like antigrav and such.
The use of something like that as well as actual aerofoils for control and lift actually made it very energy efficient, making the solar collectors more than enough to power it.
According to my simulations, it would actually give the thing performance similar to a early mark world war two spitfire.
"Interesting." He said after a moment as he flipped through the design. "I'm not seeing any kind of landing gear."
I shrugged. "It's not meant to land so it's removed to save weight. With the solar power, it has basically unlimited range. You just beam it into the upper atmosphere and let it go. If you have to bring one back, you could always use the tractorbeam on a runabout."
He nodded slowly. "I see. Yes, this could be useful, I think. A couple of these could fly back and forth across areas of interest, allowing the Fornax to focus their attention and sensors on other spots. Have you run this past the Captain or shown the design to the passengers?"
I shook my head. "Not yet, I wanted to see what you thought first. If you like it, I'll bring it up with Captain Mason when he gets back from the dinner with Captain M'less on the Fornax."
"I'm going to need to go through the design in more detail, but I rather like the idea. Good initiative there, Star. Actually, add a good battery to charge during the day and this could be used on other worlds as well for planetary survey missions."
"Sometimes, having grown up on a 'low tech world' does help in perspective."
"So I see."
Actually, I mostly wanted to build it because flying with Aerofoils was something I had only done on the holodeck before and that's at the manual controls of a aircraft. I just needed to make the design practical for work as well get a excuse to build the damn thing.
This was going to be so much fun.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
This was going to be so exciting, I had always wanted to see a Sphere. Never in my life thought I actually would, but..
The technology needed to construct something like that was a couple of orders of magnitude higher than the Federation's. A lot higher, actually.
A sphere the size of Earth's orbit around Sol. The idea of something that big boggled the mind. There actually used to be a research base there already. The local sun was a bit unstable and sent out a lot of solar flares, so the base had to be shielded, but it was definitely livable.
Hell, even the radiation wasn't bad once you got close to the surface and under the atmosphere, the solar flares just liked fucking with technology unless it was shielded. Sure, you might not want to walk around for years at a time without some kind of shield if you were organic, but it wasn't actively 'dangerous' for most species.
The inside of the sphere was not actually dead. In fact, it was covered with thick vegetation and had a rich wildlife. There used to be a manned research station there before the Romulan War, but they were evacuated for safety.
Hell, if we were able to stabilize the sun, something that might actually be possible even at the Federation's level of technology. Why the builders didn't, we had no idea. We don't know who built it, but they probably died out before the sun even started to act up.
A colonizationable Dyson Sphere in Federation space would be...
It would be quite a prize indeed. 250 million times the surface area of Earth.
Basically unlimited space to expand into. You could pick up everyone in the entire quadrant and if you spread them out equally across the entire inside of the sphere, they might never see another intelligent being in their lives again.
Yeah, that's big. If it was solid all the way through with levels instead of just a shell, you could put Jupiter in a room and then lose the damn thing.
Huge.
"Lieutenant-Commander." I said with a smile, giving Sleeman a nod as I walked over to him.
"Hey, Star." my slightly overweight chief engineer answered, looking up from his console, his grey hair cut short to hide the fact that he was losing it.
Both things easily fixed with a five minute medical procedure each. Most people didn't, though.
I hypothesized that it was a leftover from the Eugenics wars.
"Everything going alright down here?" I asked and leaned against the side of the console, looking around.
For the first time I actually had a traditional vertical warpcore. Both the Akira and the Sabre had horizontal ones.
I rather liked this design better, it was a much more effective use of room to have it ninety degrees to my deck orientation.
"Still getting used to a new design." He answered with a smile. "So what can I do for you? It's not often you send your avatar down here."
If I did, I usually ended up doing something productive with it, something I tried to avoid. That meant somebody else wouldn't get to do it and well.. I didn't want that.
"You know how I feel about taking the job of somebody else if I can help it... and usually when I get involved in engineering I can't help myself." I answered with a smile in return. "Still, I want to ask a favor. Well, two actually, but one is rather minor."
He raised his eyebrows. "I think we might be able to accommodate you. So what can I do for my favorite starship?"
"Well... the first favor is the largest one. It's about the mission pod." I explained as I crossed my arms. "It's nothing major or mission important, but it keeps bothering me that the corridors and rooms are in different colors than mine. Do you think you could spare a engineering team to fix it?"
"Sure thing." He said with a nod. "It might take until we leave the sphere, things are a bit busy until then, but I'm sure we will find be able to find the time."
"Thanks, Harold. It's not really important, it just keeps bothering me. Like wearing mismatched socks."
He chuckled at that. "What's the second thing?"
"I have a bit of an idea I want to try when we get to the sphere and I'm going to need some help building the prototype. I mean, I could likely do it myself, but I'm not sure I would make it in time with just one pair of hands."
Well, unless I monopolized one of the holodecks. There was no way I would cut into the crew's recreation schedule like that.
He frowned slightly. "What is it you want to build?"
Smiling I handed a PADD over with the preliminary blueprints, "It's a solar powered atmospheric probe. It's perfect for the inside of a Dyson Sphere."
In total, it was not very big and the sensors were mostly optical, IR and radar based. Simple to build and very reliable. Anything more advanced would be bothered by the sun. A simple subspace com gave it a connection to the 'ground' with a range of a couple of hundred thousand kilometers.
Three meters long in total and about as wide at the widest it wasn't very big, the entire craft covered with ultra-efficient solar cells that worked on all spectra. It was usually used to help provide extra power to starbases to supplement the normal fusion reactors.
It was actually powered by a propeller instead of any other kind of modern propulsion like antigrav and such.
The use of something like that as well as actual aerofoils for control and lift actually made it very energy efficient, making the solar collectors more than enough to power it.
According to my simulations, it would actually give the thing performance similar to a early mark world war two spitfire.
"Interesting." He said after a moment as he flipped through the design. "I'm not seeing any kind of landing gear."
I shrugged. "It's not meant to land so it's removed to save weight. With the solar power, it has basically unlimited range. You just beam it into the upper atmosphere and let it go. If you have to bring one back, you could always use the tractorbeam on a runabout."
He nodded slowly. "I see. Yes, this could be useful, I think. A couple of these could fly back and forth across areas of interest, allowing the Fornax to focus their attention and sensors on other spots. Have you run this past the Captain or shown the design to the passengers?"
I shook my head. "Not yet, I wanted to see what you thought first. If you like it, I'll bring it up with Captain Mason when he gets back from the dinner with Captain M'less on the Fornax."
"I'm going to need to go through the design in more detail, but I rather like the idea. Good initiative there, Star. Actually, add a good battery to charge during the day and this could be used on other worlds as well for planetary survey missions."
"Sometimes, having grown up on a 'low tech world' does help in perspective."
"So I see."
Actually, I mostly wanted to build it because flying with Aerofoils was something I had only done on the holodeck before and that's at the manual controls of a aircraft. I just needed to make the design practical for work as well get a excuse to build the damn thing.
This was going to be so much fun.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I don't think they require aritficial gravity the mass of the sphere itself should hold the atmosphere in just fine. There sun is a long way away the sphere is very close so it will have a much greater effect on anything on it's surface.
- Location
- Germany
Unfortunately no...
the gravity influence of a hollow sphere on the inside is zero... everywhere. the "far parts" of the sphere cancel the ground effect out perfectly.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere#Dyson_shell
I was under the impression that they used the rotational motion of the sphere to keep the atmosphere in place, or am I messing up my physics again?
- Location
- Germany
Rotation would only work on the equator because the force would be at a right angle to the rotational axis, not away from the star.
Still, maybe if you have the tech to build a "solid Dyson", you might have the tech to build in reliable (solar powered?) gravity generators into the surface.
Considering it's a bloody Dyson Sphere, solar powered everything is probably a given. Also, I think I got confused with the ring versions with that rotation comment.
TechnoMage
Hacking Reality is Fun
If something like that was built to be livable on the inside, then you just add your version of thermoelectric converters to the outside of the shell.
Now you have access to at least one percent of the energy output of the star.
Now you have access to at least one percent of the energy output of the star.
Part 17
Floating outside the dyson sphere, I couldn't help but have to struggle against a small case of claustrophobia.
I couldn't help but feel like an ant about to be crushed under a boot. A planet is large. But even a gas giant wasn't this... mind-bogglingly massive. It was like somebody had cut the universe in half.
…In scale, it was larger compared to my ship body than the Earth was compared to a fly.
"Captain... I have located the entrance. Ready to trigger the mechanism at your command." I reported.
I suspected it would be better once I got inside it. It would be like being in orbit around a planet or being inside a starbase. I was okay then, I should be okay inside too.
Mason leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Take us in, Star. Signal the Fornax to follow us."
I sent a quick message to the Fornax before I pulsed a signal towards the receiver on the surface of the dyson sphere, right next to the large aperture in the surface before cutting my engines.
The massive... if only compared to me, not the actual sphere... gate started to open slowly as a set of tractor beams lashed out to scan across my hull before starting to slowly pull me inside.
Now that I really didn't like. But it was the way this worked. At least the last research team found the way to open it from the inside as well instead of needing to trick it like the Enterprise did when they ended up inside by mistake.
Passing through the massive set of doors, a forcefield slid across my hull and suddenly the pressure of atmosphere was around me, pressing down on my hull from all directions.
As the tractorbeams let go, I reengaged my engines and powered upwards, making sure not to go too fast to cause shockwaves or strain my shields.
"Keeping below the speed of sound until we breach the atmosphere. We are exiting the atmosphere in approximately one minute, sir."
I had to crank up the inertial dampeners to keep things from shaking. I was not meant to move in a bloody atmosphere!
Well, I could, but I was not built for it and I was not evenly aerodynamic. My hull geometry was for an efficient warp field, not for air.
"Acknowledged, star." Commander Janeway said, checking some things on her armrest display. "Bring us to a stationary..." she started to say before she paused in thought. "...What do you even call it when staying stationary 'inside' a sphere?"
I shrugged my hologram, seemingly leaning my back against the railing next to her chair, my arms crossed across my chest. "I have no idea, Commander. Orbit works as well as anything, if not very accurately. Locating beacon... beacon located. Changing course and adjusting altitude."
This was much better. The star was shining far above and I could see what was the problem with it. Its magnetic field was a bit... fucked. It's like it was constantly at the worst end of its sun spot cycle. No wonder it gave off small radiation bursts and was hostile to technology.
Even so, the inside of the sphere was... there was no other way to say it, than that it was beautiful. The areas around the entrances were built up into structures and looked rocky, but the rest of the sphere was covered in a thick carpet of green vegetation, from time to time broken up with structures, lakes, oceans or mountains.
The inside was as beautiful as the outside was scary. There were lifesigns... everywhere. In all directions.
Actually, there was so much that I was having problems making out specifics other than 'plant' and 'animal'.
Hell, you could hide the entire population of the Klingon Empire a couple of thousand kilometers away and there would be no way I would be able to tell with this much life around in combination with that unruly star above messing with my scan resolution.
"Research Base Alpha coming into view now, Captain."
"On screen."
I brought it up and zoomed in. "... Permission to log a name change to Research Base Salad, sir?"
Mason hid a grin by rubbing his chin. "Denied, Star. I see they might need some weeding done, however."
Now that was the understatement of the year.
It was a standard modular research base, capable of holding two hundred personnel basically indefinitely. Integrated solar and fusion power plants, replicators, holodecks, labs, personal quarters, hydroponics. Everything you needed to live somewhere and learn everything you could about it.
In this case, if I didn't know where it was from the automated beacon, I would never have seen it. It was covered with vegetation and all the land that had been cleared for landing pads had been completely hidden.
The station was left there a year ago. In a year, the plants here had made it look like it had been unmanned for twenty years.
It was one thing to read in a report that due to the constant sunlight, the plants here were evolved to use all that energy. It was quite another to see it for yourself.
Basically, some of them made bamboo look like redwood.
"...This is going to be more work than I thought it would." I said with a small frown.
Shran leaned against the 'tactical' station to my left. "Most of which will be handled by the crew of the Fornax. Something I'm infinitely glad for. I always was bad at botany."
"Then I guess it's good you will get your chance to practice it, Lieutenant." Janeway said with a grin, glancing back at him. "We will help them get the base up and running again before we leave. We can't unload our cargo or the passengers until we have somewhere to unload them after all."
"...Yes sir..."
Personally, I was looking forward to sending my avatar down there to take a look around. It was so rare that I got to go on away missions.
I loved being a starship, but other perspectives are always nice.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I couldn't help but feel like an ant about to be crushed under a boot. A planet is large. But even a gas giant wasn't this... mind-bogglingly massive. It was like somebody had cut the universe in half.
…In scale, it was larger compared to my ship body than the Earth was compared to a fly.
"Captain... I have located the entrance. Ready to trigger the mechanism at your command." I reported.
I suspected it would be better once I got inside it. It would be like being in orbit around a planet or being inside a starbase. I was okay then, I should be okay inside too.
Mason leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Take us in, Star. Signal the Fornax to follow us."
I sent a quick message to the Fornax before I pulsed a signal towards the receiver on the surface of the dyson sphere, right next to the large aperture in the surface before cutting my engines.
The massive... if only compared to me, not the actual sphere... gate started to open slowly as a set of tractor beams lashed out to scan across my hull before starting to slowly pull me inside.
Now that I really didn't like. But it was the way this worked. At least the last research team found the way to open it from the inside as well instead of needing to trick it like the Enterprise did when they ended up inside by mistake.
Passing through the massive set of doors, a forcefield slid across my hull and suddenly the pressure of atmosphere was around me, pressing down on my hull from all directions.
As the tractorbeams let go, I reengaged my engines and powered upwards, making sure not to go too fast to cause shockwaves or strain my shields.
"Keeping below the speed of sound until we breach the atmosphere. We are exiting the atmosphere in approximately one minute, sir."
I had to crank up the inertial dampeners to keep things from shaking. I was not meant to move in a bloody atmosphere!
Well, I could, but I was not built for it and I was not evenly aerodynamic. My hull geometry was for an efficient warp field, not for air.
"Acknowledged, star." Commander Janeway said, checking some things on her armrest display. "Bring us to a stationary..." she started to say before she paused in thought. "...What do you even call it when staying stationary 'inside' a sphere?"
I shrugged my hologram, seemingly leaning my back against the railing next to her chair, my arms crossed across my chest. "I have no idea, Commander. Orbit works as well as anything, if not very accurately. Locating beacon... beacon located. Changing course and adjusting altitude."
This was much better. The star was shining far above and I could see what was the problem with it. Its magnetic field was a bit... fucked. It's like it was constantly at the worst end of its sun spot cycle. No wonder it gave off small radiation bursts and was hostile to technology.
Even so, the inside of the sphere was... there was no other way to say it, than that it was beautiful. The areas around the entrances were built up into structures and looked rocky, but the rest of the sphere was covered in a thick carpet of green vegetation, from time to time broken up with structures, lakes, oceans or mountains.
The inside was as beautiful as the outside was scary. There were lifesigns... everywhere. In all directions.
Actually, there was so much that I was having problems making out specifics other than 'plant' and 'animal'.
Hell, you could hide the entire population of the Klingon Empire a couple of thousand kilometers away and there would be no way I would be able to tell with this much life around in combination with that unruly star above messing with my scan resolution.
"Research Base Alpha coming into view now, Captain."
"On screen."
I brought it up and zoomed in. "... Permission to log a name change to Research Base Salad, sir?"
Mason hid a grin by rubbing his chin. "Denied, Star. I see they might need some weeding done, however."
Now that was the understatement of the year.
It was a standard modular research base, capable of holding two hundred personnel basically indefinitely. Integrated solar and fusion power plants, replicators, holodecks, labs, personal quarters, hydroponics. Everything you needed to live somewhere and learn everything you could about it.
In this case, if I didn't know where it was from the automated beacon, I would never have seen it. It was covered with vegetation and all the land that had been cleared for landing pads had been completely hidden.
The station was left there a year ago. In a year, the plants here had made it look like it had been unmanned for twenty years.
It was one thing to read in a report that due to the constant sunlight, the plants here were evolved to use all that energy. It was quite another to see it for yourself.
Basically, some of them made bamboo look like redwood.
"...This is going to be more work than I thought it would." I said with a small frown.
Shran leaned against the 'tactical' station to my left. "Most of which will be handled by the crew of the Fornax. Something I'm infinitely glad for. I always was bad at botany."
"Then I guess it's good you will get your chance to practice it, Lieutenant." Janeway said with a grin, glancing back at him. "We will help them get the base up and running again before we leave. We can't unload our cargo or the passengers until we have somewhere to unload them after all."
"...Yes sir..."
Personally, I was looking forward to sending my avatar down there to take a look around. It was so rare that I got to go on away missions.
I loved being a starship, but other perspectives are always nice.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Probably more than one variety.