The Power Grid

[rosetto 0]

The Power Grid

 

As the Andorian cruiser approached, Sal looked down at his monitor screen. They were in standard orbit about Fesoan, the Homeworld of the Andorian people. It was a cold world and every continent was touched with blankets of snow and ice. He thought about how life may have developed on such a hostile world and how the human race and other earth fauna had survived its many ice ages. Andoria was much like Mars but larger and much more humid. Though bitter cold, there were oceans of water dominating the southern hemisphere. The mountain range that spanned its equator was surrounded by lush and dense conifer forests.

 

He watched as the high cloud formations danced below. It was well known that the winds of Andoria were ferocious. This had much to do with the proximity of Tsubar, the gaseous giant that the planetoid orbited. Its gravitational forces had shaped the surface of Fesoan and kept the ambient surface temperature fairly constant. For 9 day-cycles in the Andorian year, this massive body eclipsed the distant sun and the entire planet was covered in darkness. The return of the sun had been celebrated for thousands of years as an awakening and rebirth.

 

This was the first time that Sal had met an Andorian. He had read the data stored in Memory Alpha. It was required reading material. They were a highly emotion and some what violent society. Possession took on a whole new meaning and formed the basis of their geo-political stew. The Andorian with the most toys ruled. That was simply how it worked. They respected those in power and yet thrived on their defeat.

 

Sal would be a mere assistant to the Federation team who had been detached to aide a government expedition exploring a new geo-thermal energy source. He knew little about geo-thermal activities. It was his mapping skills that had interested Commander Phillips. Sal was always fascinated exploring. That was why he had joined Star Fleet and this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

 

The Andorian Cities were primarily built underground due to the extreme conditions on the surface. They had constructed a maze of tunnels and passageways that interconnected their populous regions. Some of them were thousands of meters long and they reminded Sal of the root structures of the grasses on Mars. According to the mission brief, they would be traveling down one of these lone tunnels and then taking a branch that would lead them deep beneath the Aeson Rift. This was one of the deepest crevices on Andoria and there would be 5 kilometers of frigid ocean above them.

 

The Andorian cruiser had pulled along side and Sal was ordered to the transporter room. He stood, nodded to the captain and proceeded to his quarters to grab his personal affects. He'd be gone for at least five weeks and the El Paso would be leaving orbit after the team had transferred over to the Fintalric; the Andorian vessel. The Fintalric was designed for atmospheric flight modes and would be taking them to the surface city nearest the rift, Konadeo. It would be approximately a forty-five minute trip. From there they would board a subterranean shuttle that would take them to First Camp.

 

First Camp was a city-sized complex deep beneath the Fesoan surface. Any expeditions into the rift were initiated here. There was a translucent glow that seemed to have no source as Sal and the rest of the team exited the shuttle. It was an eerie feeling and the air was dense and humid. At a constant 25 degrees centigrade, he welcomed the warmth and walked with a pride in his step. It was a pleasant contrast to the -28 degrees on the surface. He perused his environment and saw that most of the Andorians here were scantily dressed with simple tunics and short legans. He was comfortable in his short-sleeved uniform, tossed his pack on his back and followed the group toward a three story structure that seemed to be the center of local activities. The cave that they were in didn't seem like a cave at all and this had come as a shock. It was not what he had expected at all. The ceiling was almost not visible due to the high water vapor. There was a mist but it wasn't suffocating. It was actually quite nice.

 

They entered the building and were lead into a large conference room. Finally they would rest. Refreshments were offered and soon the room was filled with chatter. It was a light-hearted gathering and their host was telling funny stories. Sal watched quietly while scanning the room. A young Andorian woman approached him and asked to share conversation. He motioned for her to sit and she did without hesitation. Her hair was pearly white and her flesh an intoxicating surreal blue-green. She had a warm smile and a soft voice which made him feel at ease. They were chatting about nothing mostly; just general small talk sparring for position and feeling each other out. Sal could tell that she was used to dominating a conversation and he let her exploit her assets as he listened intently. She was telling him about her home town; where she lived on Fesoan. She had never left the Andorian system before but enjoyed meeting and working with humans. Her forte was geology which was why she had been selected for this expedition but Sal could tell that she was a very social person.

 

"So, tell me about Third Camp."

 

"Well, we won't arrive there for another week. It is much warmer there as there is an exposed mantle surface. The force field has only recently been installed and provides protection from the extreme radiation. This is where we'll be working most of the time however we will not stay there for periods longer than six hours. Second Camp has residential facilities. It is two days travel from here."

 

"The mantle? Seriously? Wow!" Sal exclaimed. "So how does all of this work?"

 

"It's really quite simple, Sal. We drill two holes next to each other that reach the mantle. The holes are then connected by fracturing the hard hot dry rock between them. Water poured down one hole will rush through the fracture and rise up the other hole as super-heated steam. This energy is used to generate power and the steam is returned to its source. It's a completely closed system and has a very low environmental impact."

 

"And so why are we here? What is so special about this site?"

 

"The Konadeo plant is the largest of its kind that actually uses the ocean as its source. The key to this system is the return. The directional force field inside the rising shaft allows the steam to rise beyond the floor of the ocean and eventually escape back into the open sea without the sea back-feeding.

 

"Each hole is 500 meters in diameter and over 5 kilometers in length. The Third Camp is situated about 200 meters below the sea floor. It's where the energy exchange units are housed. In an almost organic fashion, power conduits spread from this point to nearly 1.5 million subterranean distribution nodes that are used to power a third of the planet."

Sal was overwhelmed by the immensity of the system that Daeni was describing to him. He was still unsure as to why he had been selected for this mission. That was dancing in his head as she finished her lecture and saw that his drink was empty.

 

"Thirsty?"

 

Sal nodded and she led him to a replicator.

 

"So what do you do, Sal?"

 

"I'm a Navigational Engineer."

 

"Navigation? Like interstellar navigation? What are you doing here?" Daeni laughed and then stammered a bit, "I mean... I didn't mean it like it sounded... What task have you been assigned here on Fesoan?"

 

"I suspect that it was for my mapping skills. But from what I have seen I am not going to be very useful."

 

"Ah, so they haven't told you."

 

"Told me what?"

 

"The power conduits; the ones of which I spoke. As I stated, they are almost organic. We do not have a diagram of their exact interconnection. You will be assisting me to map them."

 

He was three for four weeks with Daeni at his side. They became good friends and Sal had resolved the Andorian power grid problem by sending tracer elements down the power conduits. Once he had inserted the tracers into the power stream the system mapped itself. Every little turn and corner was traveled and recorded into the array of tricorders they had placed.

 

He wondered why he had recalled this mission. It seemingly had nothing to do with his current situation. They had got away from the drones for the time being and were dredging through the creek bed toward the coast.