now,” Undine said. “It’s possible they’ve made advancements in the technology that the
general population is not aware of.”
“Perhaps, but to my knowledge they have not perfected the system,” Kitara
argued. “And Klingon research and development have gotten some weird results. It isn’t
healthy messing with quantum realities.”
“I will be able to make it work,” Losira said. “My race, the Kalandans, had
transwarp capabilities. It is my superior processing abilities that will make it possible. In
fact, it is where Star Fleet first learned of the actuality of transwarp, beyond theoretical
constructs.”
“Your race was successful with transwarp?” Kitara asked. “Then where are your
people?”
“To the best of my knowledge, they are extinct,” Losira admitted. “How can a transwarp society be extinct? They should have outposts all over the
galaxy, or more, the Universe,” Undine said.
“It is possible that there are Kalandans that have survived the cataclysm, perhaps
on some uncharted planet that my memory banks are not privy to,” Losira said. “It would
be exceedingly pleasant for me to learn that that is true.”
“Okay,” Garcia interrupted the family discussion. “It’s like this. We need to
appear to be in several places at once. One of the ways to do this is to use the transwarp
drive. As we make appearances in different parts of the Federation and Klingon Empire,
our enemies will become confused, and we will have plausible deniability.” “And what are the other ways to do this?” Undine asked.
“We will have the SaLing make its presence known in certain systems and let
people assume that the SaLing is us,” Garcia said. “In addition to the SaLing ruse, we’re
about to make our debut as Federation officers in a third ship.”
“A third ship?” Kitara asked. “We don’t have a third ship.”
“We’re about to,” Garcia said. “We’re going to steal a Star Fleet ship and make
our presence known to the Federation.”
“I must protest,” Lt. Undine said. “Why don’t we just use a Star Fleet skin?” “Because, Star Fleet ship’s have registry numbers,” Garcia explained. “As any
magician worth his salt would say, we have to give them reality before we give them
illusions.”
“We can’t steal a Star Fleet ship,” Undine argued.
“Yes, we can,” Garcia said. “We’ve been authorized by Admiral Singer to
conduct a test to see if a starship can be stolen from the surplus depot at Qualor Two. It
was a very important mission, requiring top secrecy, and consequently, that is why I was
unable to report to my court marital. I was under orders by Admiral Singer to disregard
court marital proceedings to conduct this test.”
“He gave no such orders,” Undine said.
“I know that. You know that. But Star Fleet and the Federation doesn’t know
that,” Garcia said. “Captain Picard knows that Admiral Sheaar was interviewing me and
he knows that Admiral Singer is somehow involved. That much of our story can be
corroborated. Also, Qualor Two has recently had several incidents of theft, so our cover
story, that we were assigned by Singer to steal a ship to test the depot’s security will
sound plausible. Further, if we get there fast enough, the time line for the theft of the
ship and the war games should be close enough that our stories will sound plausible if we
need them to. Further, once we’ve done this, and made ourselves known, we can start to
build a positive reputation and back peddle ourselves out of this hole that Pressman and
Sheaar have put us in. Now, if there is no more dissent, I would like to be on our way.” No one said anything.
“Lt. Bri, if you will,” Garcia said.
“Will there be side affects to this transwarp technology?” Bri asked. “I have
heard stories of ships disappearing never to return again, stories of temporal anomalies
occurring, and stories of Klingon’s who found themselves melded into the ship itself.” Garcia shrugged, thinking back to an old Earth story, the Philadelphia
Experiment. Perhaps what Bli was feeling was what all sentient beings felt when pushing
the boundaries of what they knew. Beyond this, there be dragons.
“The Kalandans have had a ninety nine percent success rate,” Losira answered.
“If the transwarp drive was installed per Kalandan recommendations, we should share
similar success. Of course, there is always an inherent risk involved in traveling beyond
relativistic speeds. In order to minimize potential risks, it is necessary to limit the length
of time spent traveling at transwarp speeds. Given the coordinates involved, I suspect I
can transverse the distance in four point three seconds, and that includes time to ascertain
whether or not the space we intend to occupy is currently occupied.”
“And if it is occupied?” Undine asked.
“Most items, such as atoms or dust particles, will be brushed aside due to our
quantum wake, but larger items, small artificial satellites, probes, or ships, will require
me to shift our position to one side of the other.”
“And if you fail to find an object?” Bri asked.
“The Path Finder’s sensors are by far the best Star Fleet has ever produced,”
Losira said. “I won’t fail to detect an item in our path.”
“But, if you did?” Bri asked.
“Naturally, no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time,” Losira
said. “Coming out of transwarp on top of such an object will generate a collision, with
the degree of damage increasing with the size of the object we collide with. Hitting a ship or rock with an equail mass of the Path Finder would be similar to mixing twenty
times our matter with an equivalent amount of anti matter.”
Bri swallowed and looked to Garcia.
“You won’t feel a thing,” Garcia said. “Push the button.”
Bri pushed the button. From outside the starship, the Path Finder seem to hesitate
in space, the warp nacelles began to glow, as did the fiber optic network that lined the
rotating drum like a spider web mesh, and in a flash the ship was gone. When they
returned to normal space, they were just outside the Qualor Two system. A haze of
hydrogen vapor drifted from the ship like steam from a cup of coffee on a cold day. It left
a trail in their wake, as if they had stirred a cloud, but it dissipated quickly. There was one obvious glitch: almost everyone on the crew was suddenly sick to
their stomachs, some to the point of having to excuse themselves, only to find they didn’t
make it to the nearest lavatory or restroom. Losira responded immediately by providing
everyone on the Bridge air-sickness bags utilizing the point to point replicator system, as
well as manifesting extra Losira agents to tend to those who seemed the most afflicted.
Where appropriate, the Losira agents patted backs, or manifested wet, warm towels.
Other agents began cleaning the ship.
“We have successfully traveled to the coordinates you provided us, Captain,”
primary Losira said, cheerfully. She held an airsickness bag for Captain Garcia, but since
he didn’t need it, she recycled it. It disappeared from her hands.
“I hardly call this successful,” Kitara complained, handing the full sickness bag to
a Losira agent aiding her. Her Losira agent disposed of it with a transporter beam, as
well as all the other air sickness bags, and any biological contaminants that didn’t make
the bags. She litterally mopped up the floor with a transporter beam. The extra Losira
agents took inventory, decided they were no longer needed, and disappeared. “I told you transwarp is quirky,” Bri complained.
“It’s just a little airsickness. Anyone needing to go to Sickbay may leave, but if
you can cope, hold your stations,” Garcia said. Apparently he, Undine, and Sendak were
unaffected by the motion sickness. Even so, no one departed the Bridge. “Very well.
Engage primary cloaking system and then apply a holographic skin to make us appear to
be a Federation Long Range shuttle. Drop the secondary cloak as soon as the shuttle skin
is in place and make it appear as if we just arrived out of warp.”
“Done,” Kitara said. She was not happy, but whether it was from being sick or
from Garcia’s lack of apparent concern was not immediately apparent.
“Helm, take us in, full impulse,” Garcia ordered. Bri nodded, but he was still
looking fairly shaken. If this was going to be the routine, he was going to have to
prescribe Dramamine every time they made a transwarp jump. “Trini, contact the local
operations and see if you can get someone.”
Trini nodded, closed her eyes in an attempt to regain control of her stomach, and
then proceeded with her task. After a few moments of no return contact, Kitara whispered
to the Captain, “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“I have a plan,” Garcia said.
“Captain, no response to our hails,” Trini said.
“Keep trying,” Garcia said. “Helm, slow to half impulse and follow that line of
junk.”
“What kind of Starfleet junk are you looking for?” Tuer asked. “It should be here,” Garcia said.
“What should be here?” Kitara asked.
“Ahh, there it is,” Garcia said, sitting forward in his seat. “Pull us within five
hundred kilometers of that ship.”
“A New Orleans class starship,” Kitara said. “You intend to steal a New Orleans
class starship?”
“It’s the USS Constitution,” Lt. Sendak informed them. “Decommissioned due to
the discovery of a design flaw on its maiden voyage.”
“What sort of flaw?” Kitara asked.
“The inertia dampener grid lines embedded in the fuselage, decking and
bulkheads were misaligned,” Sendak said. “The entire surface of the fuselage, along with
critical bulkheads, have to be replaced. Star Fleet decided it would be cheaper to rebuild
the ship from scratch than to tear the ship apart and replace the hull piece by piece.” “And we want this ship because?” Kitara begged, encouraging Garcia to fill in the
blank.
“Because it’s the Constitution,” Garcia said, as if that explanation was sufficient.
He might as well have said, “It’s the Enterprise,” with the sort of reverence they heard in
his voice. He did not see the need to explain his full reasoning behind his choice, but the
most important factor for him was that the Consitution was the perfect companion to the
Path Finder. He had already worked it out in his head, confirmed with computer
simulation, that the two ships could be joined with the Path Finder in a piggy back
position to the Constitution. It would greatly increase their living space, but most
importantly provide them with an alibi when performing clandestine missions. “Inertial Dampeners are a vital component to space travel,” Kitara pointed out. “It’s just a minor discrepancy,” Garcia said.
“Not when your ship changes direction and you get your head bashed against the
far hull,” Kitara said.
“It’s not that bad of a misalignment,” Garcia said. “It’s just doesn’t meet Star
Fleet’s standards.”
“Captain, a response to your hail is coming through,” Trini announced. “Klingon crew, stay out of view. On screen, Lt.,” Garcia said.
“This is Dokachin, Klim,” said the Zakdorn in a slow and weary voice. “Quarter
Master of the supply depot. What do you want?”
“I have orders to take the Constitution,” Garcia said.
“Do you know what time it is?” Klim complained.
“Not really. Sorry, did I disturb your sleep cycle?” Garcia asked. “Yes,” Klim said, and terminated the conversation.
“Did he just?” Garcia asked.
“He did,” Undine said.
“Raise Ior again,” Garcia said.
“Ior?” Kitara asked.
“A bedtime story,” Garcia said. He sighed at the fact that no one ever got his
references or jokes. Except Losira, and it was her fault that the story was in his head,
having made an allusion to the story earlier in the day. She was smiling, knowingly.
“Never mind. Trini, hail him again.”
It didn’t take as long for Klim to return. “What?”
“We have business to discuss,” Garcia said.
“Come back tomorrow at a descent time,” Klim said.
“My orders are very specific. Upon arrival, I am to board the Constitution and
begin the installation of the new warp core,” Garcia said.
“I have no paper work regarding this,” Klim protested, lazily. “I’ll contact you
when the appropriate paper work arrives.”
Klim terminated the call.
Garcia sighed. “Sendak, transmit the authorization papers I had you create,”
Garcia said. “Trini, hail him again.”
“Why don’t you let me kill him?” Kitara asked.
Garcia silenced her with a motion of his hand as Klim returned to the view screen. “It is obvious to me that you transmitted these orders,” Klim said. “Yes, those are copies of my orders. May I please begin work?” Garcia asked. “I have to confirm these orders with an Admiral Singer,” Klim said, glancing over
the forms on his PADD. “It will take a while to send a message to Star Fleet
Headquarters. And by the time the message gets there, Admiral Singer will no doubt
have entered his own sleep cycle. Please, just let me get some sleep.”
“Look, it’s obvious that it’s going to take some time on your end to get things
straightened up. What, twenty four hours at best?” Garcia asked. “It will take us at least
three days to install the warp core. If you would let me proceed, you should have the
confirmation before I finish the installation and everybody will be happy. Think of it this
way. The sooner I have my task finished, the sooner I’ll be out of your hair. And you
can get some sleep.”
“You will just have to wait,” Klim said, and terminated the call.
“Get him back,” Garcia said, standing. “I’ve had about enough of this.” “Just relax,” Garcia’s mental Troi told him.
“What?!” Klim yelled. “You’re beginning to make me angry.”
“Tough. I’ve come along way, in a very small ship, with barely enough room for
the warp core I brought, much less the recovery team to fly the Constitution,” Garcia
said. “Now, either you allow me to board the ship and start doing my job, or I will
demand that you prepare to allow my crew to disembark on your premises in order to
stretch their legs. Which do you find more preferable?”
Klim bit back his initial, and even his second, response. “You may board the
Constitution. But if I find any discrepancies in this order, there will be hell to pay.” “Fine,” Garcia said.
“Fine,” Klim said, and terminated the call.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to kill him?” Kitara asked.
“No,” Garcia said. And mumbled to himself, “I’m not sure.”
Garcia walked over to the helm and pulled up a display. “Bri, I want you to dock
the Path Finder up against the Constitution like so. There should be just enough room, at
this rotation of the y axis for the warp nacelles here and here, and the mid section of the
cone should make contact right here on the top, aft edge of the saucer section, and the
lower nacelles will contact here.”
“Aye,” Bri said.
“Losira, once the Path Finder is in place, I want you to create holographic docking
clamps to secure us to the Constitution,” Garcia said. “Also, extend a holographic bridge to the Constitution so we can more easily board her. Captain to Lt. Gomez, what’s the
fastest warp core installation on record?”
“Twenty eight hours, nine minutes,” Lt. Gomez answered.
“I want you to beat that. Use the mass replicator to make any parts you need,”
Garcia said. “I want the Constitution warmed up and operational as soon as possible.
Kitara, make sure she has enough people to assist in that endeavor, and then who ever is
left over, assigned them to inspecting the Constitution to get her flight ready. Basically,
all hands, minus Path Finder’s minimum crew compliments. Treat this as a battle
simulation.”
“Aye, Captain,” Kitara said.
“Losira,” Garcia said. “Take the long range shuttle skin and have it land in the
landing bay on the Constitution. Once the shuttle bay doors close, you can terminate that
holographic projection.”
“Aye, aye,” Losira said, saluting.
“One aye is sufficient,” Garcia corrected. “And no saluting.”
“The Klingons salute you,” Losira said.
“You’re not Klingon,” Garcia said. “Can you help with the Constitution project?” “Certainly,” Losira said. “I can run some power couplings from the Path Finder
to the Constitution so that the Constitution can run off our power systems until its
batteries have been fully recharged.”
“Excellent,” Garcia said. “Also, go out there on the hull and paint the word New
in front of all the Constitutions. Make it look like graffiti.”
“As you wish,” Losira said, looking up and to the right. “It’s being done even as
we speak.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Garcia was on his way to the Path Finder’s Engineering section when he was met
by Marvin Smith, Dryac’s attendant.
“I’d like to talk to you about the transwarp drive,” Marvin said.
“Okay, shoot,” Garcia said, not slowing his stride.
“It makes Dryac sick,” Marvin said, trying to keep up. “She became temporarily
disorientated and then violently ill. Not as ill as she was made by the phasing cloak, but
still…”
Garcia stopped. “Is she alright?” Garcia asked.