Touring the Saint-Epoch

[Archie Phoenix 0]

Archie's first impression of the sail ship was that it was a magnificent looking vehicle. The massive vessel crowded the entirety of Bay 13 of the New Atlantis Game Division's orbital shipyard. Its broad cargo hold ran half the bay's length, before curving up and back around to its bridge. Archie noticed that the transparent dome at the front of the bridge faced the same direction as the cargo hold doors. It was, overall, a curious design that's intent would not be clear to Archie until he inspected the vessel's interior. The curved 'spine' joining the hold to the bridge was ringed from top to bottom by the ship's main sail. Two auxiliary sail 'fins' were also attached to the back of the spine and to the cargo hold's ventral surface, obviously for directional adjustments. The hull plates had a remarkable gold sheen, and black lettering etched onto either of the cargo hold's flanks announced the ship's name -- the Saint-Enoch.

 

Through the airlock to the cargo hold, the first thing that struck Archie was the lack of gravity. The Game Division 'guide' accompanying Archie and Oliver (as much to keep an eye on them as anything else, he was sure) explained that the delicate construction of the ship would not allow for the addition of a bulky gravity generation system. Large handholds and cables spread around the hold's perimeter provided for crew maneuvering. Starfleet's zero-g training was certainly going to pay off on this mission, though the guide suggested that the use of gravity boots could be a less disorienting experiencing.

 

A large projectile weapon jutted from the hold's aft wall, its turret pointed toward the space doors at the hold's other end. This, the guide explained, was the device used for the capture of the serpents. It was accompanied by a long towing cable and a container of harpoons designed to release capsules of a heavy sedative on penetration. The hunt was a simple manner (in theory) of lining up a serpent, opening the hold doors, firing a harpoon, waiting for its sedative to act, then drawing the beast in using a combination of towing action and the ship's thrusters. The hold's four walls were each lined with series of straps that could be adjusted to tightly clamp a serpent of any width, an important step that prevented the creatures from colliding with each other and the walls.

 

Through one of the four airlocks surrounding the harpoon gun, Archie, Oliver and guide proceeded into one of the spine's extremely tight corridors. Archie was reminded quite easily of the maintenance shafts on Arcadia. There were four of these corridors running the length of the spine from the hold to the bridge. Thrumming behind the walls revealed the presence of the utility cables that ran between the corridors, mainly power conduits extending from the ship's two fusion reactors; the guide assured Archie that the rental fee would include a complete refueling. Hatches along the corridor walls served any of four general purposes -- access to the crew living areas (the few that Archie looked into were cramped), access to the utility tunnel, access to the ship's exterior for emergency sail repairs, and equipment lockers which included repair equipment and pressure suits. The usual zero-gravity handholds allowed the group to steer itself toward the bridge, where the four corridors converged at a single heavily sealed hatch.

 

The bridge was constructed for optimum zero-g operation, a wide tube running from the entry hatch to the observation dome that looked over the ventral face of the cargo section. As Archie glided through the bridge, he glanced over the computer terminals that wrapped around the deck's entire curvature. Chairs were situated in front of each of them, with straps to keep the crew stationary during 'bumpy' flights. Most of the computer banks at the back of the bridge showed equipment status readouts and adjustment controls; their proximity to the entry hatch afforded attendant engineers quick access to the spine and any required maintenance tasks. Closer to the dome were the terminals used for the actual serpent hunt. The extensive bank of navigational displays provided diagrams of every sail's alignment; the controls looked incredibly complex, but the guide stated that many of the navigational processes were automated by the computer. Opposite these were displays showing sensor grids and targeting calculations; as Archie looked over those, the guide pointed to the observation dome and explained that most captains found manual harpoon firing more reliable.

 

Clearly, the view from the dome belonged to the captain. The wide computer bank standing in front of the dome provided a little bit of access to every system, including security systems (insurance against mutiny, perhaps). With the dome looking right over the harpoon gun's line of fire, Archie could see how most captains would eagerly usurp the honor of hitting a mark from their crews (blaming any miss on whatever poor sap was manning the tactical controls). The chair, larger and more comfortable-looking than any of the others, showed that many goals of Federation design were universal.

 

"What do you think?" the guide asked. "Surely the Epoch will meet your captain's needs … assuming he can cover the rental fee."

 

"A cursory examination leaves much to be determined," Archie answered, retrieving his tricorder from his utility belt. Sight of the scanning device clearly made the guide uncomfortable. "My colleague Ensign Gault will look over the science consoles here to determine the ship's sensor capabilities. I am going to make my way back to the cargo hold and take some scans along the way … if you do not mind."

 

"Scans?" the guide asked. "Of what, precisely?"

 

"I must determine if everything is in working order, of course," Archie replied. "Commander Alces will not allow me to recommend this vessel if vital equipment would break down as soon as we reach the Cloud. It is not Starfleet equipment, after all."

 

The guide hesitated, eyeing Archie suspiciously, before pulling himself out of the engineer's way and motioning to the entry hatch. "Be my guest. Do try not to touch anything, however, not until I have a signed rental agreement."

 

Archie grinned and pulled himself to the hatch. His tricorder was taking thorough readings of the surrounding structure, but not just for the reason he gave the guide. He recalled the Commander's suggestion that an impounded vessel could be concealing 'special features' that could further aid Blue Team's mission. Once he informed the Commander that the ship appeared adequate (he understood that the mission needed to get moving quickly), he would begin investigating every compartment of the Saint-Epoch.<< I attached a small diagram to help with the visualization (don't kill me, I'm not an artist) >>

 

Archie's first impression of the sail ship was that it was a magnificent looking vehicle. The massive vessel crowded the entirety of Bay 13 of the New Atlantis Game Division's orbital shipyard. Its broad cargo hold ran half the bay's length, before curving up and back around to its bridge. Archie noticed that the transparent dome at the front of the bridge faced the same direction as the cargo hold doors. It was, overall, a curious design that's intent would not be clear to Archie until he inspected the vessel's interior. The curved 'spine' joining the hold to the bridge was ringed from top to bottom by the ship's main sail. Two auxiliary sail 'fins' were also attached to the back of the spine and to the cargo hold's ventral surface, obviously for directional adjustments. The hull plates had a remarkable gold sheen, and black lettering etched onto either of the cargo hold's flanks announced the ship's name -- the Saint-Enoch.

 

Through the airlock to the cargo hold, the first thing that struck Archie was the lack of gravity. The Game Division 'guide' accompanying Archie and Oliver (as much to keep an eye on them as anything else, he was sure) explained that the delicate construction of the ship would not allow for the addition of a bulky gravity generation system. Large handholds and cables spread around the hold's perimeter provided for crew maneuvering. Starfleet's zero-g training was certainly going to pay off on this mission, though the guide suggested that the use of gravity boots could be a less disorienting experiencing.

 

A large projectile weapon jutted from the hold's aft wall, its turret pointed toward the space doors at the hold's other end. This, the guide explained, was the device used for the capture of the serpents. It was accompanied by a long towing cable and a container of harpoons designed to release capsules of a heavy sedative on penetration. The hunt was a simple manner (in theory) of lining up a serpent, opening the hold doors, firing a harpoon, waiting for its sedative to act, then drawing the beast in using a combination of towing action and the ship's thrusters. The hold's four walls were each lined with series of straps that could be adjusted to tightly clamp a serpent of any width, an important step that prevented the creatures from colliding with each other and the walls.

 

Through one of the four airlocks surrounding the harpoon gun, Archie, Oliver and guide proceeded into one of the spine's extremely tight corridors. Archie was reminded quite easily of the maintenance shafts on Arcadia. There were four of these corridors running the length of the spine from the hold to the bridge. Thrumming behind the walls revealed the presence of the utility cables that ran between the corridors, mainly power conduits extending from the ship's two fusion reactors; the guide assured Archie that the rental fee would include a complete refueling. Hatches along the corridor walls served any of four general purposes -- access to the crew living areas (the few that Archie looked into were cramped), access to the utility tunnel, access to the ship's exterior for emergency sail repairs, and equipment lockers which included repair equipment and pressure suits. The usual zero-gravity handholds allowed the group to steer itself toward the bridge, where the four corridors converged at a single heavily sealed hatch.

 

The bridge was constructed for optimum zero-g operation, a wide tube running from the entry hatch to the observation dome that looked over the ventral face of the cargo section. As Archie glided through the bridge, he glanced over the computer terminals that wrapped around the deck's entire curvature. Chairs were situated in front of each of them, with straps to keep the crew stationary during 'bumpy' flights. Most of the computer banks at the back of the bridge showed equipment status readouts and adjustment controls; their proximity to the entry hatch afforded attendant engineers quick access to the spine and any required maintenance tasks. Closer to the dome were the terminals used for the actual serpent hunt. The extensive bank of navigational displays provided diagrams of every sail's alignment; the controls looked incredibly complex, but the guide stated that many of the navigational processes were automated by the computer. Opposite these were displays showing sensor grids and targeting calculations; as Archie looked over those, the guide pointed to the observation dome and explained that most captains found manual harpoon firing more reliable.

 

Clearly, the view from the dome belonged to the captain. The wide computer bank standing in front of the dome provided a little bit of access to every system, including security systems (insurance against mutiny, perhaps). With the dome looking right over the harpoon gun's line of fire, Archie could see how most captains would eagerly usurp the honor of hitting a mark from their crews (blaming any miss on whatever poor sap was manning the tactical controls). The chair, larger and more comfortable-looking than any of the others, showed that many goals of Federation design were universal.

 

"What do you think?" the guide asked. "Surely the Epoch will meet your captain's needs … assuming he can cover the rental fee."

 

"A cursory examination leaves much to be determined," Archie answered, retrieving his tricorder from his utility belt. Sight of the scanning device clearly made the guide uncomfortable. "My colleague Ensign Gault will look over the science consoles here to determine the ship's sensor capabilities. I am going to make my way back to the cargo hold and take some scans along the way … if you do not mind."

 

"Scans?" the guide asked. "Of what, precisely?"

 

"I must determine if everything is in working order, of course," Archie replied. "Commander Alces will not allow me to recommend this vessel if vital equipment would break down as soon as we reach the Cloud. It is not Starfleet equipment, after all."

 

The guide hesitated, eyeing Archie suspiciously, before pulling himself out of the engineer's way and motioning to the entry hatch. "Be my guest. Do try not to touch anything, however, not until I have a signed rental agreement."

 

Archie grinned and pulled himself to the hatch. His tricorder was taking thorough readings of the surrounding structure, but not just for the reason he gave the guide. He recalled the Commander's suggestion that an impounded vessel could be concealing 'special features' that could further aid Blue Team's mission. Once he informed the Commander that the ship appeared adequate (he understood that the mission needed to get moving quickly), he would begin investigating every compartment of the Saint-Epoch.