Artemis

Last time, on Let’s Try This Again Two years’ worth of work, a near-death experience and nearly getting tossed out of Starfleet had resulted in this, well, masterpiece… "I just submitted that paper ten minutes ago. There is no way you have had a chance to read it already." "I didn't have to. I got through the first couple of paragraphs before I knew I had to call. Are you out of your mind?!" “How did you even have time to come up with this? Weren't you just in the middle of some crazy away mission?... Why even attempt this again?" "Because it works, and you know it. I don't think Starfleet's ability to move forward on Warp tech should be halted just because on Admiral doesn't want it to get out that he screwed over safety regulations!" “I'm sorry, kid, but I think you are out of luck. I would highly recommend you let it go, but since I know you won't, I will just warn you to be careful. Without a doubt, your Captain Ja'Lale has been informed of your history as it was recorded in the tribunal, so she is unlikely to be sympathetic should you be caught." Sorenson paused, a concerned look crossing his face, "Just, be careful kid. Stop and ask yourself if this development is really worth risking your position in Starfleet?” Finally pulling into SB 179, Artemis powered down his systems and started some level 4 diagnostics. Not really necessary at this point, they had done routine maintenance just a week ago, but he knew it would take down some of the internal security scanners and make what was about to happen a whole lot easier. He would have preferred a complete takedown, but Level 4 was the highest he could go without needing the Captains approval as well as having someone from the Starbase involved. Locking down the Tactical station, he made his way to his quarters. Even just doing something like this put him on edge. Every Non-com and officer on the ship was a liability to his secret. A lot of work had gone into putting this part of his idea together, and he had spent more than a few sleepless nights on planning how to get this far. Not to mention the apprehension he had been feeling the last few days as everything drew nearer to execution, mainly due to the big question that had him pausing at nearly every step; Was this development really worth his Starfleet career? Back and forth he had gone, rolling this question over and over in his head. He had arguments for and against, but it all really came down to what he had told Sorenson. This could benefit the whole of Starfleet. Medical shuttles could travel faster and farther. Escape pods could be fitted with even just a mediocre warp drive. His career in Starfleet meant little compared to the positive impact this could have. It just drove him crazy that one Admiral who didn't want it out that he had broken safety regs would be so selfish as to keep this out of the hands of people who could very well benefit from this technology. He glanced at the time-piece on his desk, a gift from his father when he was first assigned to a starship, noting that nearly everyone should be off the ship by now, enjoying some shore leave. He remembered placing it next to his bed in the quarters that he shared with Ensign Taft. Taft was a good man, knew the minutia of warp nacelles backwards and forwards. It was from him that Artemis had first gotten the idea of miniaturizing/compressing a warp core so that it could provide a more efficient [read higher] output while being small enough to fit on a shuttle as small as a Type III, giving them basic warp capabilities up to warp 2 (changed from previous log after further research into Type IIIs). The fact that it was now sitting on a personal desk was another point of contention for Artemis. Captain Ja'Lale had trusted him enough to promote him to Lieutenant, despite seeing his CV, which showed the outcome of his tribunal while he was part of SEC. It had taken him more than a few days to convince himself that he was still doing the right thing after he was promoted. Even now, there was still a part of him that knew he was, on some level, betraying the Captain's trust, but he couldn't bring himself to go to the Captain about this. His experiences in SEC had left a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to trusting authority figures, and he didn't want this project jeopardized on the chance the Captain would choose regulations over the chance to bring Warp tech to a whole new segment in the fleet. Still, there was a part of him that always argued he should just take this to the Captain.... Artemis shook his head, and repeated his line in his head. Regardless of whether or not he should take this to the Captain, she was still bound by Starfleet regs, she would have no choice but to reject this and turn him in. He took a deep breath, and made his way down to Cargo Bay 2. The doors for the bay slid open with a pneumatic hiss, and he could see the large loading doors had been open, but only a few of the deck-hands were there, moving equipment on board. Artemis made his way over to the quartermaster who was checking over the loading manifest with a frown. "Problems?" he said, feeling a lot less calm then he felt. The Quartermaster looked up, acknowledging his presence with a grunt, "Just looking over the cargo. Some of this stuff doesn't have descriptions, and your cargo scanners are down, so I don't exactly feel at ease loading this stuff up. Artemis nodded, he had expected this. Hopefully his upcoming ruse worked.... "I understand we're on some sort of Intel mission for Starfleet Intelligence, going to collect lost crew-member (Rinax was still missing at this point). I'm told they were loading some stuff on board. Captain Ja'Lale had me come down to check on it." said Artemis. It was a perfect ruse, but it should hopefully work. It was well known that SI was not exactly forthcoming on details when moving stuff around, plus when Sorenson had arranged for the cargo to be added to the loading manifest, he had used an old Intelligence tag on the manifest. Hopefully it would pass the check.... The Quartermaster keyed in a few numbers, still frowning as he considered the list. He was quiet for quite a while as he considered what he was looking at, and Artemis was worried something had been set off. He was about the knock the man out, despite his better judgement that told him it would only make things more difficult when the QM shrugged and pocketed the PADD. "Well, if that's the case, the stuffs in crates over there. You can check'em out, then let my boys know where you want them." Artemis nodded, "Aye, thanks for the help." The QM grunted, before leaving to supervise loading on other areas of the ship. Artemis made his way to the indicated cargo boxes, opening the lids on several of them, before closing them and keeping his expression neutral. He motioned to one of the deck-hands that was finishing up. "Sir?" "Everything here can be taken to Deck 12, the secondary shuttle bay, and loaded in the storage area next to Shuttle 5. We're going to need it there before this mission is out." he said, not really looking at the deck-hand as he closed the final container. The deck-hand nodded, waving down one of his fellows with a grav-sled, and gave the affirmative as they started loading the containers. Artemis made his way back to to TL 3, and leaned against the wall as he breathed a sigh of relief. A brief stop in his quarters to pick up his tool-kit, and he made his way to Deck 11, satisfied to see that the cargo containers had been loaded appropriately, and not a soul in sight. He rolled up his sleeves as he loaded the first of the containers into the interior of Shuttle 5. It was going to be a lot of work, he best get started. ---------------------------------------------------To Be Continued-----------------------------------------------------

Onboard USS Challenger Docked at SB 179 1600 Hours Artemis was still reeling by just how much they had fried in their last conflict. They would need over 100 new torpedoes (Which was good, he was hoping to get some of the latest in Quantam projectiles, those things could really pack a punch), 80% of their phaser cannon compliment and at least half of their plasma injector assemblies needed, at best, repairs. Oh, and these were just preliminary reports. He was supposed to get the final details after the Engineering Corp had gone over the ship with a Level 5 diagnostic. Taking a final look at the Repair/Requisition order, he added a few minor items to be looked at before submitting it to Captain Ja'Lale for approval. After what they had been through, he couldn't imagine having his entire tactical system inspected was going to be a problem. Lord only knows what the new equipment was going to do to his targeting relays, though. With a sigh, he made his way off the bridge, one of the last to do so, and made his way to his quarters. Having been at the base for the last 5 hours, the corridors of the USS Challenger were practically empty, everyone taking a well-deserved chance to get off the ship that had barely pulled itself out of destruction. He was half-tempted to hop in a shuttle and survey the damage in person (nothing quite like seeing the actual damage as opposed to a readout at a station), but as he had arrived in his quarters, his open station terminal reminded him he had other things to do. For the next hour or so, his concentration was completely focused off the ship, even though he remained one of the few to stay aboard. Several annotations and linked references later, and Artemis finally sat back, a small smile on his face. Two years worth of work, a near-death experience and nearly getting tossed out of Starfleet had resulted in this, well, masterpiece. Hopefully, his research would actually get recognized this time, as it would revolutionize shuttle travel, giving regular runabouts and the like access to warp 5, 2.5 factors higher than what they could currently achieve. No longer would you need a warp sled for journeys out to farther starbases. You could just load up a runabout, which already had great cargo capacity, and take it out. It was more nimble and better armed than a standard freighter, but would save some fuel and manpower for those smaller trips so you would have to send out a larger vessel. A few keystrokes later, and he had forwarded the paper, complete with necessary shuttle and drive specs, to his contact and old friend in the Engineering Corp who specialized in Theoretical Engineering. He closed his terminal and headed for the shower, needing to relax. He had barely made it out of the shower and into bed, ten minutes later, before his terminal started beeping. With a groan, he got out of bed, made sure he was decent, and answered the call. He couldn't hide the surprise on his face as he recognized the caller. "I just submitted that paper ten minutes ago. There is no way you have had a chance to read it already." Commander Dick Sorenson, team lead of a group of Engineers in Theoretical Engineering didn't look happy, though he did spare a small grin for Artemis' freshly showered and wholly unprofessional attire. Sorenson shakes his head, "I didn't have to. I got through the first couple of paragraphs before I knew I had to call. Are you out of your mind?!" Artemis sits down in his chair, fingers running through his hair, and gives the Commander a dirty look. "Not since my last psych eval, which you well know was only six months ago. Why? What's wrong with this?" He asked, already well aware of what the Commander was going to say. Sorenson returned Artemis' dirty look with his own, "Because there is no way a sane person would consider sending this in. How could you even think of doing this after what happened last time? How did you even have time to come up with this? Weren't you just in the middle of some crazy away mission?" "I had all the notes already," Artemis replied with a shrug, "It's not like this is a new project for me. Besides, you know that it works already, we just need a special ship requisitioned for it. The only reason my test failed was because Hanover's ship had some structural corners cut so he could afford the extra dampeners. No one would have found out if I hadn't taken it above Warp 2." Sorenson threw his hands up in the air, "But why even attempt this again? You know you will never get this approved, even with the shuttle requisition. Why continue with it?" Artemis' face gained an irritated look, and he slapped his hand of his desk, nearly sending his PADD flying off the surface. "Because it works, and you know it. I don't think Starfleet's ability to move forward on Warp tech should be halted just because on Admiral doesn't want it to get out that he screwed over safety regulations!" Sorenson sat back, his fingers steepled against his chin, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He let out a sigh. "That isn't going to make a difference, as much as you may wish it otherwise. If Admiral Hanover even knew you were still working on this, you could find yourself actually kicked out of Starfleet, and not just demoted and reassigned." Artemis just shook his head, "There has to be a way to do this. Hanover isn't even in charge of the Engineering Corp, why does he have so much pull?" Sorenson rubbed his chin, "The Admiral went through the Academy with the current Vice-Admiral in charge of SEC. They are old pals." "There has to be someone you can forward this to, someone who will be impartial?" Sorenson shook his head, "Even if I did, your previous record and the fact that you aren't even authorized to be doing this sort of work would stop it from going anywhere. I'm sorry, kid, but I think you are out of luck. I would highly recommend you let it go, but since I know you won't, I will just warn you to be careful. Without a doubt, your Captain Ja'Lale has been informed of your history as it was recorded in the tribunal, so she is unlikely to be sympathetic should you be caught." He paused, a concerned look crossing his face, "Just, be careful kid. Stop and ask yourself if this development is really worth risking your position in Starfleet? You have a bright career, and who knows, maybe one day you will be able to transfer back to the SEC. For now, though, keep your head down. Sorenson, out." Artemis continued to face his terminal, but his eyes weren't focused on anything. True, he could be in a lot of trouble, but Sorenson had asked a valuable question. Was this development really worth his Starfleet career? ---------------------------------------------------To Be Continued-----------------------------------------------------

What format for stardates is most commonly used? I know that there is really no set standard, I am just curious to see what is most commonly used here.