Preparing For Time Jump

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 13002.02)

 

 

The Challenger crew returned to the ship, and the senior officers were quickly paged to report to the

rec deck. When they arrived, Captain Ja'lale and Commander Rinax were waiting for them. "We would

like for Lieutenant Freeman and Doctor Hanson to be front and center, please," the captain said. The

two officers came forward, and Ja'lale said, "Lieutenant Freeman and Dr. Hanson, for your continued

service and dedication to the USS Challenger, you are hereby promoted. Lieutenant Freeman, I bestow

upon you the rank of Lieutenant Commander, with all the privileges and responsibilities attached

therein." He pinned a pip to Freeman's collar, nodded, and turned to Gretchen. "Dr. Hanson, I bestow

upon you the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade, with all the privileges and responsibilities attached

therein." He pinned a pip to Hanson's collar, nodded, and stepped back. The senior officers applauded,

and the captain said, "Dismissed!"

 

The meeting disbanded, and the officers went to their respective departments. John and Eddie made

their way to engineering, and immediately upon entering, John went straight to the main console to

begin laying in the parameters for Challenger's time jump. Freeman went to his office, where he had

been assembling his gear for the mission; he and Randall were to pose as NASA engineers to help

ensure that the Apollo 11 mission to the moon took place. Eddie stared at his gear, trying to decide

what to take. About 5 minutes later, he came out of the office, and went over to check on John's progress.

 

He moved behind Randall's chair on his way to his locker, and said, " I don't suppose you've got any

kind of experience with time travel?" John, without looking up, said, "Only what I've read in Commander

Montgomery Scott's books, Commander." Freeman nodded and said, "About the same. I keep wanting

to pack equipment, and then I realize what I want to take hasn't been invented yet." John finished his

latest round of calculations, and sat back in his chair, mopping his brow. "Well, there it is," he said,

"according to Scott, and I still don't like it. But, according to him, this was how the Enterprise did it."

 

Freeman wandered over to where John sat, and said, "Here, let me see. Not that I'm gonna to have any

better idea than you if you're on the right track." He stared at the screen, which showed some complex

equations, and shook his head. The intercom sounded with the voice of the 'comm officer, Dvokr chim

Hok, requesting a status update. The chief of engineering turned to his number two. "Are we ready?"

he asked. Randall sighed, spread his hands, and said, "I guess as we'll ever be, chief. I'll go assist

Steve in inputting the data, all right?" Freeman nodded, said to him, "All right," and thumbed the 'comm.

"Engineering is go," he said. John walked back to the warp core station where his friend Steve Davis

was on duty. As he walked, he saw on his PADD a request from helmsman Lieutenant H.G. Reed for

final data for the temporal jump. John formatted a message to her, and sent it.

 

He arrived at the warp core station, and gave his friend a worried smile. "Hey, Steve, how's it going?"

Davis looked over at Randall briefly, and said, "Hey, Lieutenant; we're good to go, far as I can tell." John

nodded at him, then made a wry face. "Ok, all we have to do is keep the engines from blowing up now."

Davis looked at him. "How fast are we gonna have to go, sir?" Randall replied, "Well, from what I've

read, we have to maintain a speed of warp 9.7 for about 5 minutes in realtime. So, this is gonna be

tricky. I hope these new engines live up to their billing."

 

Davis, upon hearing that news, shuddered slightly. "I hope so, too, John." Randall nodded, and began

making some last-minute adjustments on the panel. A few minutes later, he stepped back, looked at

his work, and was about as satisfied as he was ever gonna be, he realized. He thumbed the 'comm

button on the panel. "Randall to Freeman." "Go ahead," responded the chief of engineering. "We're

good to go, Commander," John reported. "Sounds good," Freeman said. "Quick question. You planning

on packing? It sounds like everyone's taking a 20th century pistol instead of a phaser, me included."

John shifted uncomfortably, and replied, "Uh, yeah, about that, chief; I have a Colt .45 revolver that's

been in the family for a while, and it's here on the ship in my cabin. All I have to do is clean it." Freeman

smiled to himself, and said, "I made a clone of some little German 9 millimeter in the machine shop

last night. Some famous fictional spy used it. Feel free to grab yours and bring it down. If we're gonna

get in a firefight, better not to use energy weapons."

 

"Acknowledged, sir," John said. "The one I have belonged to my grandfather, who bought it in a pawn

shop on Rigel." He chuckled briefly, then continued, "I'll get into the appropriate dress code when we

arrive. I'm still worried about these configurations. Randall out." He looked over at Davis. "Ok, Steve,

stay alert, and be ready for anything, and I mean ANYTHING." Davis looked at his friend. "What's

bothering you, pal?" Randall sighed, looked around for a second, then lowered his voice. "Every time

Enterprise did one of these jumps, something went wrong with the ship. I'm really hoping that doesn't

happen to us." Davis' eyes widened briefly, this his face set grimly. "I'll be extra vigilant, John." His

friend nodded worriedly, his eyes never leaving the panel in front of him.

 

Time crawled by, or at least it seemed that way to John. 'Give the order already, captain,' he thought

to himself. Finally, he heard Hok's voice come over the 'comm. "Engineering, prepare for timejump

departure," it said. Freeman's voice came from behind him, and the lieutenant turned to look at him.

"Randall, that's our cue," said the chief. "Let's get her ready." John nodded and said, "Aye, sir. We're

ready." Freeman nodded to him, and went to the main console. Randall turned back to the panel, caught

Davis' eye briefly, and nodded. He glued his eyes to the panel, and hoped ferevently that this worked.

 

The engines began to increase their whine, and gradually built up to a sustained rapid pulse thrumming

through the warp core tube. John watched the panel nervously, willing the ship to make it. What seemed

to be a few seconds later, the ship lurched to the right, and John felt himself losing consciousness. He

and Davis had strapped themselves into their chairs. Matters were beyond their control now.

 

 

 

END LOG