Technical Advice

Posted on 03 Jun 2023 @ 9:00pm by Lieutenant JG Christina Hartley & Captain Erik Larsen

1,085 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Bridge/Engineering

ON

Commander Larsen just came out of the Ready Room, fresh from the news that he was being reassigned once this mission was over. He had taken more than several moments to process that news, then made sure to have his game face on before he came back onto the Bridge. He wanted to make especially clear that his primary focus was on the Away Team below, the ship around him, and the people that looked to him for leadership and strength. Finally, he needed to have his head in the game for this mission. It was an important one, and so far, everything had gone on without a hitch.

Making the short trek from the Ready Room to the Center Seat wasn't long, and was shortly sitting in the Captain's chair, reading reports and catching up on everything he had missed in the fourty-five minutes he was away in the Ready Room. Several things that kept coming up in the communications he was reading was that the delegation from the planet below that was aboard kept wanting more and more access and information on the technology they were seeing, and if they could get their hands on it. He thought about it for a moment, then tapped his badge. There was really only one person he could think of that would have an idea of what could be given, if anything, and how much of said technology. "Bridge to Lieutenant Hartley," he said.

Christina looked at the PaDD she had been given by one of the engineers. "Hartley here, go ahead," Christina said, making a note on the PaDD. "Looks good Emma, get going with it," she said to her officer.

"Hey Lieutenant," Erik started. "I am getting a great deal of requests from all over the place on the ship from crew that are hosting our friends from the planet. They are wanting technology," he started.

Christina rolled her eyes. "Of course they do. They see it as magic. You should have seen the Elder I gave a tour to, his head almost imploded multiple times," Christina said.

Erik chuckled. "I bet. What did he ask for? I didn't see your report come through just yet."

"He didn't ask for anything, I showed him the holodeck, and I showed him a little history of how the Federation and Starfleet came about. Even told him at one point, humans would have found our tech to be like magic. I think he understood, though I've been researching their tech," Christina said.

"Oh," Larsen said, letting the sound drag out a little in understanding. "Well, I look forward to your report when you can get to it. Now," he said, getting back to the reason of the call, "As I mentioned, others are wanting to get pieces or, I suppose, to be taught how to replicate our technology. Since you are the resident technology expert, being the Chief Engineer, what can we give them or teach them?"

"Honestly? I'm working on that as we speak. The problem is, anything we give them is going to radically alter their lives, they don't even have replicators, so it's about the prime directive and making sure we don't cause a problem. We give them the wrong thing, and it could literally blow up in their faces. It's why I'm trying to research their tech, to give them a boost with tech they know. For example, if we give them M/ARA reactors, within a few years, something will happen and the planet will be one big wasteland," Christina replied.

The Executive Officer could scarcely believe they didn't even have replicators. It was a wonder how they even fed themselves. In fact, he wanted to know. "If they don't have replicators, how do they feed all of their people on the planet. We know they have not yet colonized any of the other planets in this system, nor any of the satellites, including their own."

"There was a time we didn't have replicators. Hell, even the NX 01, despite being out, only had protein re-sequencers, so it isn't a huge surprise. We only had them thanks to some help from the Vulcan's. They use a different kind of tech. No transporter systems, no replicators, no holodeck. They base their tech on minerals and irradiated metals that provide them with power. Hell, their FTL drive uses a different kind of radiation that we haven't discovered yet. I've already found a way to refine their star drive so they can go at warp two, without any major changes, just a few tweaks," Christina explained.

"Their lack of technology for basic space travel is astounding," Larsen exclaimed. "Do you plan on giving them the tweaks you talked about? Warp one to warp two is a massive change. They would go from travelling at the speed of light to travelling at four times the speed of light. That sort of speed would greatly expand their travel radius, I would think."

"At the moment, no, but that's because Captain Bane has ordered me not to, not yet at least," Christina replied. "I think he's thinking of the ramifications of them getting this."

Erik nodded. He felt the same way, but was curious what the junior lieutenant would say and think. He was glad that she had already talked to Captain Bane about this. "Good, I would have said the same thing had you asked me. Giving them that much room so soon in their technological limits would open them up to things they aren't quite yet ready for."

"And we know how bad things can go. Can you imagine if we'd gotten warp drive before Doctor Cochrane? World War Three might not have happened, but we'd likely be different, or dead," Christina said. "We definitely need to be careful with sharing any tech with them. We can give them something to aim for, but they have to discover things at their pace."

And there was the answer to his question. "Thank you, Lieutenant. That is what I needed. They have to discover things at their own pace. I will be sure to note your expert advice in the ships log."

"Understood sir. I'll be forwarding you a report regarding the radiation they use and the minerals they use. Some of it has interesting potential to make some of our tech better," Christina said.

"Roger that. Thank you. Larsen out."


OFF

LtCmdr Erik Larsen
Executive Officer
USS Cygnus

&

Lieutenant Junior Grade Christina Hartley
Chief Engineer
USS Cygnus

 

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