When Theory meets practicality

Posted on 14 Jun 2025 @ 5:19am by Lieutenant JG Cajag Lagnas & Lieutenant T'Lara Ahmad

1,454 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Festival of Unity
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Current

[ON]

Caj was sitting at a small computer in main engineering typing at the LCARS touchscreen display. It was one of the few working computers online and main engineering was very busy with repair crews rebuilding the battered starship.

It was the third simulation he had run and each time the intermix chamber would reach critical, overheat and then probably explode. Caj could swear that each time he ran the simulation the tolerance levels for the intermix chamber were within thresholds. But with the new anti matter mix he was running through it seemed to destabilise the fuel induction feed and raised heat levels by over burning on the sub-particle fluid mix. Caj had thought with this new injection system he could at least up the fuel regulation on a starship and get a bit more speed out of the warp core. Caj shoulders slumped and he massaged his forehead with the balls of his fingers to relieve pressure.

T'Lara was performing yet another walk-through given that she wasn't technically allowed to do much of anything while the ship was being overhauled. She returned to main engineering where she observed a teal-collared wearing Trill sitting at one of the engineering workstations.

Raising a brow, she walked over to the unfamiliar science officer, announcing, "Are you lost? The science labs are not on this deck."

"Oh sorry Ma'am" said the Trill Ensign as he stood up at the presence of a senior officer. "There are no science labs at the moment. They are all under repair" His fingers briefly touched the LCARS display to pause the simulation. "This was the only working computer i could find that could handle this simulation, that wasn't already being used."

T'Lara listened impassively to the science officer's explanation. It was reasonable, she supposed, but she hadn't planned on sharing engineering with anyone today. That this...irritated her was a new development. Emotions had been far closer to 'the surface' since her injury...perhaps it was time to say something about it?

She recognized that more than an appropriate amount of time had elapsed since his answer to her. "Apologies ensign. Your rationale for utilizing an engineering terminal is reasonable. You may carry on..." She looked over his shoulder and saw a lot of 'red' in his simulation numbers. "Considering your current results, you will be here for...awhile?"

Caj scratched his head for a moment "Is it really that bad?" he asked. His fingers touched delicately on the touch screen display. A small, blue holographic sphere display appeared showing his formula. "In theory this should work?"

"'In theory,' a lot of things should work. What are you attempting to achieve with this simulation?" T'Lara inquired in a light tone as she refrained from studying the screen any further and awaited the scientist's explanation.

"I am running a new anti-matter matrix composite through the simulation to improve engine efficiency. But the mix I am running seems destabilise the fuel induction feed and raises heat levels by over burning on the sub-particle fluid mix."

T'Lara tilted her head as she reviewed the scrolling data from his simulation and quickly discovered the problem. "Your ratios are incorrect. You have failed to take into account ship speed. The intermix rate can vary substantially, even between subtle shifts of acceleration."

She felt her mouth pull, but was uncertain how exactly the movement made her appear. Her mouth pulled into a smirk, as she unknowingly conveyed her amusement at his unfortunate predicament.

"This is where science collides with engineering, apparently. I have an algorithm that determines specific intermix proportions based on velocity. Perhaps it would prove useful for you to determine more appropriate balances of these fuel components. It would need additional modifications--that being any specific fuels you are utilizing for your simulation--but that should not prove too taxing. It may provide you with less...volatile fuel ratios."

Caj folded his arms a little defensively and leaned further back in his chair, swivelling the chair to face the Chief engineer directly. He was a little internally surprised to se a smirk on a Vulcans face.

"Thank you Lieutenant" responded Caj with sincerity. "That would be greatly appreciated. It would seem i am out of practice with Applied Starship Warp Field mechanics."

"It is a rather specialized field." T'Lara demurred, satisfied that he accepted her assistance. She pulled out a small padd from one of the pockets on her pants and accessed her personal database and began searching for the specific algorithm she had mentioned. While looking she added, "May I inquire why you are performing this particular simulation?"

Caj smiled broadly his eyes twinkling a little as he did "For the fun of it....." he trailed off a little "and the practice. I have been assigned temporary head of the science department by the Captain. My own specialities are theoretical and applied temporal sciences. i have not really been out of that scientific field since the academy. So i thought it was ......logical to refresh myself in other science fields and have a bit of fun whilst doing it."

T'Lara's eyes widened ever so slightly...the repetitive--if hypothetical--destruction of her warp core was considered...fun? The thought did not sit well, but she chose to not comment on her own perceptions of his exercise. Besides, his disclosure of what duties he performed did not sit well...she had no recollection of this officer. The retrograde amnesia was proving quite challenging to navigate.

"My apologies, I do not recognize you. I am recovering from an injury sustained in the explosion that has caused my ship to be under the control of Starbase 385."

"Ah.....I see" said the Trill sympathetically. He looked around the main engineering and the repair crews. "It looks like it was a hell of an explosion. Do you mind if I ask what happened? I have only recently been assigned to the Cygnus, and nobody has told me how she ended up in this condition?"

"Cygnus picked up a distress signal from a damaged freighter that had sustained a hull breach. It was transporting isolinium. We were towing the ship back towards Federation space when the freighter self-destructed while we were at warp, unshielded, with the added catalyst of the isolinium...our survival was a statistical outlier. As it was, we lost 452 crew members."

Cajag jaw dropped in surprise. "Well that certainly explains a few things...." mumbled Cajag to himself. 452 crew members was almost half the crew of a nebular class starship. Without looking away from the Vulcan Cajag reached out with one finger to touch the LCARS display of the computer and switch off the simulation. Deciding it was probably in bad taste.

"It has been 'decided' that the warp core is to be upgraded. It will require those who want to become competent in the operations of the Class XXIII--including the intermix ratios--to obtain additional certifications. Although you wear the teal collar of the sciences division; you appear to have a curious mind regarding the minutiae of warp propulsion. I am willing to...make an exception. Given our recent...losses, cross training in other departments may help to foster new cohesive 'bonds.'"

"That would certainly be logical Lieutenant" said Cajag as he took the isolinear chip with his simulation on it, out of the ships computer and stood up. "I certainly would encourage that level of cross department cooperation." He smiled "I would like to volunteer." Cajag's smile broadened again.

T'Lara dipped her head in a quick 'nod' of assent. "That is agreeable. I will inform you once I know more; in the meanwhile..." She pulled her trusty--heavily modified--tricorder off of her belt and flipped it open and began tapping on the thing 'furiously.' "I have transferred the algorithm file I discussed earlier. That should assist you in further simulations. There is also an active computer terminal in the ChEng's office that could be utilized for any additional simulations - there would be less interruptions there."

"Excellent. Thank you kindly for your time Ma'am" said the science officer with a polite nod of his head. "Our conversation has been most informing."

The Vulcan woman dipped her head in a non-verbal gesture and stepped away, moving off to get back to whatever 'lurking' she had been engaging with since she had been nicely--but in an iron-fisted manner--removed from any oversight over this vessel while it was currently undergoing massive repairs. However, not all was in chaos. She had managed to find her first 'volunteer,' to get cross trained with the new warp core being installed.


[OFF]

=====

Lieutenant T'Lara
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Cygnus

Ensign Cajag Lagnas
Science Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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