"Limping Abroad"

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

"Limping Abroad"

Commander Elias Moore

First Officer, NX-05 Challenger

Officer's Starlog: September 19, 2154

 

Challenger continues its course to the Alpha Centauri star system at Warp 4.6. I'm happy to report that the ship didn't blow up, collapse, fall apart, or otherwise meet a most undesirable end out of drydock or out of the Sol system. But our departure from the Utopia Planitia station hasn't been entirely without incident.

 

Despite the Commodore's desire to meet Warp 5 as soon as possible, we're forced to maintain Warp 4.6 for the time being. Problems during the testing phase that were, ultimately, not resolved have developed further now that we're in flight. The engineers are continuing to look into the structural trembling which has persisted since our warp flight began, but the primary concern is the power drain which keeps popping up as we increase velocity, becoming critical beyond Warp 4.6. Neither of these issues were encountered with such severity or at such low velocity during the stress tests, so I suspect that the core is having problems maintaining its first warp field. It could be that defects in the warp coil assembly are to blame, but this ship contains a vast power grid that was put together far more quickly that any construction expert would have advised... the engineers could be dealing with a needle in a burning barn-full of hay.

 

As if engine trouble isn't bad enough, one of our Bridge crew has been stricken ill. Illness is never good news on a deep space flight. The early diagnosis of Lieutenant Images' condition is food poisoning, which would be a sigh of relief considering, but it has been linked to the protein resenquencers. The resenquencers have been taken offline until the matter can be investigated. If the systems controlling them are malfunctioning, it's a simple matter of repair and reactivate. But if the raw protein stores themselves are contaminated, we could be in a whole galaxy of trouble. Prolonged crew sustenance is far more dependent on the protein stores than the chef's personal stock. If the stores prove to be imperishable, we may find ourselves with no choice but to turn around and head right back to Earth.

 

Hey, at least no one would be able to say we didn't meet the launch deadline.

 

Departmental Objectives

Medical -- Provide complete diagnosis of Lieutenant Images' condition

Engineering -- Pinpoint and resolve power drain, restore Warp 5 capability

Perform diagnostics on protein resenquencing system

Science -- Determine if protein stores are contaminated

Security -- Determine if power drain or food poisoning are results of sabotage