Post 452: First Flight

Stardate: 70923.1230
Title: First Flight
Author: Commander Salvek
Scene: USS Alchemy
Time: The next morning after "Citizens of Troy, Beware" and "Stepping up to the plate"
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Salvek made a few final adjustments the calibration of the transwarp jump drive, still not quite able to grasp that this ship was real and he was actually feeling its vibration in the plates beneath his feet. Kellyn and Xhian buzzed around him in Engineering making last second checks of their own.

"Take care of things down here Kellyn, I will be back soon."

"Of course Salvek. I always do."

Salvek had been allowed to hand pick his team for this project. Besides Kellyn, who had been by his side through the development of the technology, he could think of no one else he would rather have in engineering then Xhian. The young man had proven himself quite thorough in his duties on the Independence, and his Borg experience would make him as knowledgeable on transwarp as anyone on the ship.

The crew for the trip to Yensul was small. Kellyn, Xhian, Reece, Grace and Maak commanded alongside Salvek, and a handful of junior officer filled in slots on the ship mostly for the sake of monitoring the ship during the cruise. As he strode onto the bridge, Reece was desperately trying to calibrate the sensors of a ship for which sensors were an after-thought to the propulsion systems.

"Status, Commander Reece?"

"I think Starfleet gave us whatever scanning equipment they could salvage from the scrap heap at the ship yards. This is not exactly the most powerful system they have to offer."

"This is not a ship of exploration Mr. Reece, it is a short range auxiliary vessel with prototype engines that require a substantial amount of power resources."

"Yeah, I know, which doesn't leave much left for the science department. Hey, that's fine dude. I'll remind you of that when we transwarp into an asteroid we couldn't detect with this glorified flashlight you've given me."

"I have full confidence in your abilities Mr. Reece."

Salvek walked away from the station, Reece continued to mumble to himself. "Full confidence, great, just like I had full confidence your little experiment wouldn't turn the station into a twisted mess of fractured time, OOPS! Oh wait, it did!"

Salvek made his way to Maak, who was pulling double duty watching OPS and the weapons console for the journey. Salvek and Kellyn had never done any work on the weapons systems, so whatever they had would be the add on of Starfleet Engineering. "Report, Mr. Maak."

"Small compliment of 15 torpedoes, four phaser banks. The main phaser bank has some pretty good punch sir, and the trans-phasic shielding is the best thing I've seen this side of a cloak. Ship has impressive maneuverability too and with a good navigator working with a good weapons officer we can at least keep a full sized Starship busy for a while, even if we can't take them down."

"Long enough to at least buy Independence time if they need some help, however." Salvek replied. "Operations?"

"Everything looks ready to go. All systems are functioning normally. Replicators, transporters, tractor beam, sonic showers if you'd like to freshen up.""I don't believe that will be necessary right now, but thank you for the update." Salvek left Maak to his work, and stepped to the fore of the bridge where February Grace was seated at the helm. "Status, helm?"

"I've got full control, at least what this ship calls control, of warp, impulse and thrusters. Flying this thing is sure nothing like flying something as bulky as the Independence."

"Are you prepared to operate transwarp jump drive?"

*Yeah, without snapping off the port nacelle like you did on the holodeck?* The voice of Dabin Reece went through her mind telepathically.

"Yes Commander, I've plotted a course starting and ending with the transwarp jump, then switching to conventional warp drive in between. We should reach Yensul in 3 days, and poor Independence will only get there in 5 days at maximum warp."

*And as for you Dabin,* she thought, *you know what I discovered this morning before reporting for duty? That nacelle only broke off in the sim because the holodeck wasn't programmed correctly. And who was in charge of setting that simulation up?*

*Um, Lily?*

*Guess again!*

Salvek had calculated that the transwarp drive would take them about 5.5 light years before needing 24 hours to recharge. That was roughly the same distance the Independence would cover at its maximum cruising speed of warp 9.7 in one day. The Alchemy had a cruise speed of warp 9.7 as well, meaning anywhere the two ships were headed, the Alchemy could cover the same distance each day that Independence could cover in two days by using and recharging its transwarp drive again and again.

The Alchemy would make a great addition for covert missions as well as a staging ship for medical and humanitarian missions by getting triage medical staff to planets quickly to stabilize situations until Independence, with its full medical facilities, could catch up.

The plan for this mission was to jump once, then use conventional warp drive for the next 3 days of the trip while the engineers aboard studied every aspect of the jump to ensure the drive functioned properly. They would then cover the last day of the trip with a second transwarp jump that would take them to Yensul. Independence would follow at maximum warp, and arrive about 2 days behind Alchemy. The trans-phasic shielding would be tested in a few war games with Independence as well.

"If I can ask one thing." Grace said, before Salvek could step away.

"Of course."

"Why the interest in transwarp drive?"

"Kellyn and I had little interest in transwarp when we began our research. Our goal was to continue work started in my family on time travel experiments. That's why Zanh Liis came to the station to watch over us and our work, because as a Temporal Investigations agent she was...is. . . aware... of how things will ultimately work out, even if we are not. The line between transwarp and the time barrier is very thin, but very complicated. Kellyn and I crossed that line, but there were complications on the other side. This ship incorporates the technology we worked on, that brings us right up to that line again, without quite crossing it."

February lowered her voice, as if she were telling a secret. "Then Starfleet had more incentive to build this ship then just to replace the Starion and dabble in transwarp technology."

"Correct. We now have the opportunity to work on crossing that fine line again, this time hopefully without the complications. Rest assured there will be forces who know of this ship's existence. That will be interested in the results of our work, but it works out quite well for Starfleet with myself and Kellyn serving on the Independence, and Zanh Liis here with us once again, in command."

"Yeah good luck with those experiments by the way." Reece said, "I'm sure they will look very cool from very far away, which is where I'll be watching them from."

"Then we should be ready for battle?" Maak asked.

"Apparently the acoustics on the bridge are quite enhanced as well. I shall have to compliment Starfleet." Salvek said, taking note of the fact everyone was eavesdropping on his conversation with February. "Not just yet, Mr. Maak. The technology is incomplete. This ship is of little use at the moment to the forces interested in obtaining time travel technology, but know this. They will be watching, and when the time comes, they will make their presence known."

Salvek let his words hang in the air a moment, as he moved to the command chair. Alchemy hung in space next to the Independence, having already left its bay for the final preparations for the trip to Yensul. "Hail the Independence."

[Are you ready?] Zanh Liis asked, as her face filled the screen.

"Yes, Captain. Permission to get underway."

[Granted. give us a moment to move to safe distance.]

"See you in 5 days. When you catch up." Salvek said, almost smugly as he closed the channel. "Mr. Maak, you have the bridge. I will be in engineering. Engage the transwarp drive as soon as Independence is clear."

"But, don't you want to see this?" Grace asked incredulously from the helm.

"Indeed I do, February. Kellyn and I poured our heart and soul into this for years. I want to be in engineering with her to see this drive work for myself. My place is there."

Salvek stepped into the turbolift, leaving Maak to give the final order.

*******************************************************
Commander Salvek
Acting XO
USS Independence

NRPG: Ok, I hope I explained it good enough, but if not, I'll try one more time LOL Alchemy can, basically, transwarp jump in a matter of seconds the distance it takes Independence one full day to travel at maximum warp, BUT Alchemy then needs one full day to recharge its transwarp drive (but it can still use conventional warp during that time). I placed these limitations on the ship so we aren't doing anything silly like traveling to the delta quadrant and back LOL.

The distance we can jump, 5.5 light years, is, for comparison sake, about the same as the distance between two relatively nearby stars like Earth and Alpha-centuri or Bajor and Cardassia. Feel free to ask me any questions about the Alchemy and I'll see if we can get this info put on the Captain's blog so you can all refer to it. ~Salvek