...Pretty sure i can do that!

Posted on Fri Dec 4, 2020 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Brash & Staff Warrant Officer Jax Grenhorn

Mission: Episode 1: On Stranger Tides
Location: Emgineering Lab 1
Timeline: Current
1035 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Jax had taken over as acting Chief until a new one could be found. Which of course she hated, Jax wasn't a chief, she liked her job as an engineer and nothing more. That said she had taken on the project of trying to work out how to shield a Type 9 Shuttlecraft from the tidal forces of a pair of black holes!

"Grenhorn to Lieutenant Brash, Any chance you could meet me in Engineering lab 1? I have a few ideas I would like your opinion on. If you have the time that is. Oh, it's about the shuttle mission by the way" Jax stumbled over herself a little in her rush to get her meaning across as quickly as possible. She talked fast, this she had been made aware of more than once.

"I'll be right there!" Came the reply through her badge.

Three minutes later, the door to the lab opened. A red-skinned Lieutenant bounced through the door, landing heel-by-heel just inside as the door closed behind him. He sprung to attention, saluting into the distance towards no one in particular. "Reporting as ordered, ma'am!"

The doors opened again, and an Andorian walked up. The Petty Officer slapped Ethan across the back of his head, "Stop being stupid," she chided him, "you'll scare the poor girl."

Jax stared at the red man who had just bounced... that’s right bounced! She stood up straight and raised an eyebrow in a very Vulcan way, the smile that crossed her lips was very un-Vulcan though.

Ethan favored the wounded side of his head, his lips pursed like a scorned child. "Ouch! Okay, I get it!"

His attention was now fully and steadily focussed as he looked Jax in the eye. "So... what do you have for me?"

Nodding she said "I think I can reinforce the hull of the shuttle with carbon nanotube cross members. If we are looking at an unmanned mission then we could also fill the inside of the shuttle with crash foam." Jax brought up a holo image of the proposed ideas "The crash foam would give a little more suitability to the shuttle, that along with the enhanced SIF and the cross-bracing might allow it to survive long enough!"

Ethan had followed each step of the way, watching the holo-presentation with interest. Hand on elbow, other hand on chin, he compressed his lips, deep in thought. “The crash foam is an interesting idea…” He finally said.

His Assistant Chief, however, didn’t agree. The Andorian pointed towards the displayed cellular structure of the material. “Crash foam is meant for cushioning organics. It isn’t suitable for structural integrity, and will get sucked out by the first hull breach.”

Ethan shrugged, “It might give the shuttle a few more milliseconds to collect data, though. So… why not?”

Etzel Hannis shrugged in return, “If you think that’s worth the effort.”

Ethan’s smile was bright, the apologetic white toothy sort. “She means well.” He said to Jax. “And she’s probably right, but if you want to do it, I’m all for it!”

Jax thought "Well, if we can come up with a carbon nanotube version of the crash foam..." she trailed away and started working on a nearby console, "Like this," she said "Then it would help to counter the crush effect by..." again she started working "22 percent, this would mean the SIF field wouldn't have to work so hard. If we added another micro fusion reactor and recalibrated the SIF generators we will be able to survive for another few minutes"

“Mhm,” Ethan mused, snapping a finger. Etzel produced a data PADD and he took it. “Comparing notes…” He explained, tapping away on it for several seconds. It took a moment before he looked up, again. “I like it. In theory, this should take a few teradynes of stress off the hull.”

He bumped her shoulder with the back of his PADD-holding hand, a congratulatory slap. “Good thinking, Warrant Officer! I think we should implement these ideas right away, don’t you agree, Master Chief?”

Etzel nodded. “I’ll make sure all necessary materials are made available for the project.” She said while making entries in her own PADD.

“Let’s get to it, then, shall we?” The enthusiastic grin was back, as bright as ever. "Time is of the essence!"

A few hours later

Jax watched as the shuttle headed out the shuttle bay. Well on a screen as she was back in main engineering with her red friend. They would monitor the shuttle from here and make adjustments as they went along. With the extra power and enhanced SIF they had a pretty large margin of error and had plenty of power to play with. They had managed to add a small number of nanites to the foam so they would make 'very' minor repairs thus increasing the life of the shuttle in those conditions ever further.

Due to the time delay, even that far away from the black hole, there would be a few microseconds. SO Jax had given the shuttle a small amount of AI so it could at least get itself out of trouble long enough for them to try and fix the problem before it became... well before the shuttle imploded!

Hands-on-hips, Ethan stood triumphant over the finished project- or the screens confirming the data, anyway. “Everything is on schedule.” He shot a satisfied look towards Jax, “You did good! Don’t be so nervous, I’m sure it’ll all shake out.”

Jax grinned, she was starting to like the red fella. "Well, let’s hope that they are getting the readings they wanted, otherwise this is gonna be a very expensive test".

He scratched his chin in response to that. “True, that…” He gazed out into the general direction where the shuttle had departed, a small frown appearing. “And our little baby, all grown up, is about to be incinerated by a cold, uncaring universe.” He pretended to wipe away a tear, playing up the moment. “I hadn’t even given her a name.”

Jax smiled, "Her name is Artemis" she said, although she did suspect that he already knew that.