A Few Thoughts

[WxMurray 0]

“Time.”

 

“Estimated five minutes to warp reactor cool-down.”

 

Murray sighed and hoped the General wouldn’t be calling down for the umpteenth time asking if the warp core was operational. Despite her prodding to get the warp core operational sooner, it just couldn’t be done. The ship was old; her warp core was old; and they were pushing it much further than it had been designed to go. They were lucky they hadn’t yet blown themselves up.

 

The coolant system wasn’t much better. It had been installed at some point before Murray joined the crew and was also a piece of outdated equipment. It took about an hour for the system to cool a fully overheated core, forty-five minutes if they pushed it. Unfortunately, this was probably the last time they could push it. With the recent destruction of the shipyards at Organia, the Alliance was now short on ships and parts. The Reaent needed a new coolant system, a new core, or both, but neither was readily available without the shipyards. Things were getting worse. One could only hope that they were going to get better.

 

Murray left his office to wander around engineering. Panofsky was tending the cool-down sequence, and Harris was fitting whatever access panels he could over the exposed EPS conduits. Engineering wasn’t the most pleasant place in the world. The lighting was low to conserve power; a few consoles were still burned out from previous engagements – they didn’t have the resources to replace them at this point. What they really needed was to steal some new starships from Starfleet. With a few of those they could replicate all the parts they needed for the whole fleet. And it could possibly give them the force they needed to…

 

Murray was broken from his thoughts by a voice from across the room. “Sir, the warp reactor has reached nominal temperatures.”

 

“Very good, Panofsky. Murray to bridge. The warp core has been cooled. Warp speed is at your discretion. And please don’t say ‘It’s about time.’”