Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Chief Science Officer) in Main Sim - Deck 13 - A Rock In The Labs

Posted by Ensign Claude Seguin Genard (Science Officer) in Main Sim - Deck 13 - A Rock In The Labs

Posted by Ensign Claude Seguin Genard (Science Officer) in Main Sim - Deck 13 - A Rock In The Labs
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
[snip]

Caelian stepped from the turbolift, nodded politely to the pair of waiting officers. His mind still whirring, he almost bumped into a woman as he turned into the main corridor. He muttered an apology, of course, before moving on. His mother would have had no less. Caelian swallowed around a pang of loss at the thought. So far away, he sighed. But no less far away than yesterday. He paused at a display, had the computer queue up the route to the science labs. That needed to be his focus right now: what he could do.

Plenty of time to worry about what you can’t do after you’ve done all you can, he sighed wryly to himself. We haven’t even been here a full day yet. Still plenty of possibilities.

It was possibility that had dragged him down to the science labs, had pushed him through the door into the sterile space. There was at least one person that he could see hard at work. What displays he could see from the doorway flickered as they processed whatever query they’d been given, information flowing like amber water down the screens. He’d always been fond of the sciences in his own way, more of a hobbyist than a part of who he was. Caelian preferred to know what he could do with the universe, wasn’t merely content to know how it worked. Yet there was a synergy there that he had to accept, applied himself well enough that the two worked in harmony to get things done.

He stepped up to a polite distance behind the man he saw, enough in his peripheral that he wouldn’t startle him. Hopefully. Caelian thought he’d recognized him from the corridor where his team had repaired the breach. His smile slipped a bit, but only just. Shifting the toolkit in his hand into a more comfortable position, he cleared his throat politely.

Sensing the presence behind him, Claude turned as the young officer spoke.

“Excuse me, sir. I was told this was where our boridium guest is staying. If you folks don’t need the whole thing for analysis, I’d like to take a sample down to Engineering to run some tests.”

—Caelian Weir, Engineer—

“Engineering?!!” Claude’s face brightened considerably at the news of the newcomers role aboard the ship. His expression and demeanor totally changed from intense introverted researcher to excited child. “You’re just the person I need to talk to.”

Snapping his fingers his face scrunched as he attempted to recall the Engineering’s name. “Wiggings…Wondo…Where…Weir! Weir that’s it” Motioning with his hands he called the man over to his station. “Please come over. I need your input. I think I understand this but it’s not my field of expertise.”

Caelian’s lip twitched, but only just. While he certainly didn’t expect the entire crew to know his name, it never ceased to amaze him how many confused it with other names. Reliable, not remarkable, he reminded himself calmly. But… it’s just one syllable.

“I was asked to research this asteroid and in doing so I had a wild idea that might just help The Ark Angel while we are…well where ever we are.” Pointing to the images and diagrams on the wall monitor, Claude continued his theory, “In the Alpha Quadrant, boridium is used as a power supply component usually in small scale devices and applications. But the concept is the same. Boridium has similar radioactive qualities to uranium, and as such it can be a more safer substitute for the highly radioactive uranium.”

Stepping around Genard carefully so as not to break the man’s train of thought, the engineer looked over the simulations the other man had been running. He’d worked around similar technologies as a teenager during his time aboard the Venture. While he hadn’t been allowed to be fully hands-on then, he’d familiarized himself with theory and application through simulations and conversations with his father. The simulations were very broad strokes, but Genard was at least aimed in the right direction. He nodded along as the man continued.

“Our impulse drive is powered by a fusion reaction using deuterium as the main fuel source. This heavy hydrogen mixture is the main source of the fusion reaction, but it still needs the basic uranium 238 to create the fusion reaction. My idea is to supplement this natural boridium instead of the uranium. I have been running simulations that look promising but I don’t know the quirks or side effects of this ‘natural’ boridium. As you know, our power reactors not only power our Impulse engines, but supply a reliable back up power through the ship. Heck, with all of the boridium on that asteroid field, we might be able to power the impulse engines solely on them. If I can figure out the variances…”

Finishing his soliloquy Claude anxiously looked over at Weir; “So, Weir, as and Engineer, am I just spitting into the wind or can this work?

“If I may?” Caelian set down his toolkit and gestured to the console. After a brief pause for politeness, he began to pull up information from the ship’s archives. Displays of several different boridium-based generators appeared on the nearby screens, technical details overlaying each one in sequence. The centerpiece was, of course, the Ark Angel‘s own reactors.

“As you said, the ship’s reactors aren’t far off from being able to use a different type of reaction matter,” he explained, gesturing to the displays. “Based on the designs of both Federation and non-Federation generators, we’d have to modify the structural containment fields here and here to account for variants in radiation. Depending on the energy output difference, we may have to add some extra shunts and bypasses—especially for a vessel this size—but I think there’s enough space that we could make it work. Once we find a stable reaction rate, impulse speeds wouldn’t be an issue.”

He paused for a moment while the scientist processed his suggestions. Simulations were one thing, but the practical application would be a whole different beast. In Federation space where the Ark Angel could at least limp to a nearby starbase or garner assistance, there wouldn’t be an issue. With a properly-outfitted space dock, Caelian could have the modifications done in less than two days. But, as Genard pointed out, they had no idea where they were. Resources were unknown. Obstacles were unknown. The territory was unknown. And, worst of all, threats were unknown. Mistakes, he knew, were something they could not afford to make.

“My biggest concern,” he continued with an almost grave expression, “is how this natural stuff will react compared to the boridium you and I are familiar with. Back home, we synthesize it—which means we’re able to control a great deal of its creation process, thereby limiting factors of the outcome. Natural resources come with things like impurities, something that I’d very much like to avoid when it comes to our power systems.”

The ghost of a smile returned. “If this stuff is good enough, though, it should buy us time to sift through the rest of the asteroid field and prospect ourselves some choice nuggets for the trip home.”

Caelian’s attention drifted back to the display of the Ark Angel and her impulse reactors. HIs mind was already moving throughout the ship, changing this part for that and tinkering around with various modifications. As he worked out the kinks in his initial process, the engineer’s hands drifted over the console to enter commands to alter the model before him.

“We’d most likely have to set up a containment area in one of the shuttle bays,” he murmured thoughtfully, as much to Genard as to himself. “That way, we could flush the boridium if it somehow destabilizes to reduce risk to the crew. Maybe I could talk to the captain about an auxiliary reactor against the ventral hull section here before we…”

Caelian blinked and laughed sheepishly, stepping back from the console. “Sorry, sir. I hadn’t intended to take over your station. If you’d rather, I can run these spec simulations in Engineering once I get the sample for analysis. If you have any other suggestions, I’m happy to hear them. If we’re going to get home in one piece, we’ll need to work together.”

Before the other man could respond, a chime came over the comm. =^=Engineering to Ensign Weir.=^=

Caelian shrugged apologetically to Genard before stepping a polite distance away and tapping his comm badge.

=^=Weir here. Go ahead.=^=

=^=You’re needed in Engineering. The chief wants an update on those hull repairs and a report on the asteroid.=^=

=^=Understood. On my way. Weir out.=^= He smiled sheepishly to the other man. “Sorry to theorize and run, but duty calls. Once I’m done, I’ll borrow a workstation and draft up some modifications, loop you in remotely. I’ll just grab a small sample for analysis and processing…”
—Caelian Weir, Engineer—

Genard was able to take in all that Weir had stated. Yeah, the main concern was the unknown factor of the natural over the synthetic.

Working in the shuttle bay was a good idea, but he had another one. Once he was able to isolate the flow matrix, and the simulations showed promise, he would request the use of one of the scientific shuttles to run the test, and do so away from the Ark Angel. If this boridium was as powerful a source of energy as he thought it was, better to sacrifice a shuttle then the whole ship.

With a renewed purpose, he got back to his equations.

It took some time, but Claude found a solution. He ran some tests and results seemed promising. Time to contact Weir.

=/\= “Genard to Weir. Caelian, I got it!” Claude was obviously excited, almost giddy as he spoke. “I have run several simulations and I have a way to refine the natural boridium to a something similar to the synthetic element we have in the Alpha Quadrant. Then we can work with it in a way we are familiar with.” =/\=
=/\= “I’m going to check in with Lieutenant Fayth. Can I meet you down in Engineering?” =/\=

=/\= “Genard to Fayth. Commander, I believe I have a solution to our boridium problem. I want to run it by you and make some suggestions before I go down to Engineering. Are you available?” =/\=

-Lt. Genard

=^=On my way Genard. Fayth out.=^=
5 minutes later Fayth walked into the labs, spotted Genard and walked over. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Lt jg Fayth CSO

“OK…” he began. Genard brought up the charts and simulation results he had been working on. He knew Fayth would want to know the details as much as possible.

“I was working on the properties that was making this natural boridium different from what the synthetic we are used to, when I got a idea. I believe that we can use these natural boridium asteroids to power our impulse drive, or at least our auxiliary reactors. I ran my simulations by Lt. Weir in Engineering, and he said they looked promising if I could find a way to refine the boridium. I believe that I have.” He added with a sense of pride.

“If we infuse the natural boridium with a mixture of chlorine gas and sulfuric acid, the chemical reaction will render the natural boridium to a state similar to the synthetic version that we already know, and have data on. All of these findings have been tested only in computer simulations, and would need to be tested in the field, so to say.”

“With your permission, I would like to request one of our scientific shuttles. I’ll perform the refining process aboard, then test it in the shuttles’ impulse engine. If there is a mishap, we lose only a shuttle instead of causing damage to the Angel. If all works out, then we can make the modification to the Angel, and save our deuterium stockpile.”

-Lt. JG Genard