Frontiers 07 - The Expanse

by Ryk Brown

“Do it,” Nathan ordered without hesitation.

  “Captain…” Cameron began to argue.

  “Objection noted,” he stated, effectively dismissing her concerns.

  “It may take some time,” Abby warned. “The ZPEDs are currently wired into the jump drive’s power grid, not the main engines.”

  “How long until we run out of propellant, Loki?”

  “Forty-eight minutes, sir,” Loki reported.

  “That should be plenty,” Abby said.

  “Just because we have forty-eight minutes of propellant left at full throttle doesn’t mean I want you to take forty-seven minutes to get ready, Doc. I’d like to have enough propellant left to get home.”

  “Of course.”

  “Get with Vlad. Use whoever you need.”

  “Yes, sir,” Abby answered as she rose from her seat.

  “COB, go with her. Be a motivator. The clock’s ticking.”

  “Aye, sir,” Master Chief Montrose acknowledged as he rose from his seat and followed Doctor Sorenson out of the bridge.

  Another chunk of debris struck the hull, shaking the bridge again.

  “We’ve got to be taking some exterior damage from all these hits,” Nathan stated.

  “We’re lucky we jumped in where we did,” Lieutenant Yosef reported.

  “How so?” Nathan wondered.

  “The closer to the event horizon, the greater the gravity and the smaller the debris. Farther out, that stuff is probably a lot larger.”

  “I hope we get a chance to prove you’re right, Lieutenant,” Nathan said.

  “Lieutenant Commander,” Abby called out as she, Lieutenant Montgomery, and Master Chief Montrose entered the auxiliary power room, “we must wire both ZPEDs into the main power…”

  “I know,” Vladimir said. He pointed to the two Corinairan technicians that had come with him. “We are prepared to start as soon as you power down the ZPEDs.”

  “Of course, I’ll do so immediately,” Abby said, moving toward the control pedestal that sat in between the pair of ZPEDs.

  “Wait!” Lieutenant Montgomery warned, grabbing Abby by the arm to stop her. “You cannot shut them down.”

  “We must,” Abby said. “It is too dangerous…”

  “If you shut them down, they may not reinitialize,” the lieutenant warned, “not this close to the event horizon.”

  “Why not?” Vladimir asked.

  “The gravity well from the black hole may prevent the devices from establishing their vacuum points.”

  “I don’t understand,” Vladimir said.

  “The devices must create their own stable microgravity wells in order to…”

  “We do not have time for a physics lecture,” Master Chief Montrose insisted, cutting off the lieutenant mid-sentence. “Can we perform the necessary tasks while the devices are running? Yes or no?”

  “It is very dangerous,” Lieutenant Montgomery warned. “Even at the lowest potential output settings, there are enormous amounts of energy contained within the main power transfer trunks. One slip and…”

  “Yes or no, Lieutenant?” Master Chief Montrose repeated calmly as the ship shook at another impact.

  Lieutenant Montgomery stared at the master chief, reluctant to answer. “Yes, it is possible if you install a bypass line, one that feeds directly into an energy sink of some kind.”

  “Like a power cell,” Abby said, “like the ones the jump drive uses.”

  “Yes, yes, that might work,” Lieutenant Montgomery agreed.

  “We still have the original cells,” Vladimir told them. “We saved them after your people upgraded all the energy banks for the jump drive.”

  “We must wire them into the junction points between the ZPEDs and the transfer trunks,” Lieutenant Montgomery told him. “They will drain most of the energy away from the lines. This will reduce the electrostatic field around the lines to safe levels so that we can disconnect them from the jump drive transfer junction and reconnect them to the ship’s main power grid. It will still be very dangerous, but you will be able to handle them. Just be careful. You must use non-ferromagnetic implements, and you must be well insulated from the…”

  “I understand,” Vladimir insisted, eager to begin the work. He, too, was aware of the amounts of propellant that they were burning with each passing minute. “I have changed a few light bulbs in my day,” he joked as he turned to begin their work.

  Lieutenant Montgomery grabbed Vladimir’s arm. “This is not a light bulb, Lieutenant Commander,” he said, his face grim.

  “It’s okay,” Abby said. “It was just an expression.” She looked directly into the lieutenant’s eyes. “He knows what to do. They all do.”

  “Bring us one of the old energy cells!” Vladimir instructed one of Abby’s jump drive technicians, “Buistra!” Vladimir turned to the Corinairan technicians that had come with him.

  “You will need two cells,” Lieutenant Montgomery told them.

  “Okay, I now have stupid question,” Vladimir said. “Why two?”

  “We must connect both ZPEDs, not just one,” the lieutenant told him.

  “Now I have another stupid question,” Vladimir said.

  “The devices are currently running in phase,” Lieutenant Montgomery explained. “That is probably why they are still able to function in the presence of the black hole’s gravity well.”

  Abby turned to her technician who was still waiting for clarification. “Two,” she told him, “we need two cells.”

  “Prepare two short trunk lines,” Vladimir ordered. “We will use them to connect the energy cells,” he said, pointing as he spoke, “here and here. I want the lines ready by the time they get back with those cells.”

  “The electrostatic fields in the trunks will spike as soon as we connect them to the junctions,” one of the Corinairan technicians reminded him. “We will not survive the discharge.”

  “I have a plan,” Vladimir insisted. “Mister Donahue,” he called over his comm-set, “I need two REMS-poles in the ZPED room, quickly!”

  The Corinairan technicians and Vladimir pulled two bundles of thick, heavily insulated cables from the storage locker along one wall of the room. The cables themselves were as big as a man’s arm and several meters long. Using special self-tapping plugs, the men quickly prepared each end of the pair of cables with quick-connect plugs that would fit into the receptacles in the junction boxes. Working in pairs, they slid the plug over the end of the wire, activated the clamps, and pulled the levers located on each side of the plug up and over, forcing the prongs deep into each side of the inner conductive material.

  “Will the cables be long enough?” the lieutenant asked. “The cells must be as far apart as possible.”

  “These should reach to either side of the room,” Vladimir explained. “We have longer trunks, but we will have to bring them from elsewhere on the ship, and they are not light.”

  “These should suffice,” the lieutenant agreed.

  “How are you going to do this?” Abby wondered.

  Vladimir appeared annoyed. It was not the first time the doctor had insisted on an explanation of the most basic, technical procedure. “We will connect the transfer trunks to the cells, positioned on either side. Then we will use the REMS-poles to push the plugs at the free ends of the trunks into each of the ZPED junction blocks, all from a safe distance.”

  “How long are these poles?” Master Chief Montrose wondered.

  “Four meters.”

  “I would not call that a safe distance,” the master chief stated.

  “Did I say safe? I meant safer,” Vladimir admitted.

  “What is to prevent the electrostatic energy from transferring through the poles?” Lieutenant Montgomery asked.

  “REMS-poles are used to remotely manipulate EM field emitters within the outer containment bottle on the antimatter reactors,” Vladimir explained. “They are designed to prevent the electrostatic energy from reaching the handler at the far end.”
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br />   “How do they accomplish that?”

  “We do not have time for a REMS-pole mechanics lecture.” Vladimir smiled. “Trust me; they will work.”

  The ship shook again as another piece of debris struck the hull. Caught unexpectedly, the violent motion nearly toppled the Takaran lieutenant. “I trust you,” he insisted.

  Several men pushed two carts carrying energy cells larger than themselves into the room. “One on each side,” Vladimir instructed. The men maneuvered the carts into position and prepared to unload them. “Leave them on the carts,” Vladimir insisted. “It will take too long to unload them.”

  “They should be grounded to the deck,” one of the jump drive technicians said.

  “In the locker behind you,” Vladimir said, “connect one end to the ground terminal on the cell. Strip the other end bare and wedge it between the deck plates to secure it. That should be enough.”

  The jump drive technician looked at Doctor Sorenson for some sort of a visual cue that it was all right to do as the Cheng had ordered. “What are you waiting for?” she asked him.

  As the jump drive technicians began grounding the cells, the Corinairan engineers connected the energy transfer trunks to the cells in preparation for connecting them to the ZPEDs. As one of the technicians attempted to push the massive plug into the side of the cell, another piece of debris struck the hull, shaking the ship and knocking him over.

  “I don’t suppose there is anything we can do about that,” Master Chief Montrose wondered aloud as he helped the technician back to his feet to continue his work, “like perhaps increasing power to the inertial dampeners?”

  “They cannot spare the power,” Abby warned. “We would risk slipping closer to the event horizon.”

  “Pity,” the master chief exclaimed, “as all this shaking is not helping matters.”

  Another impact shook the ship, forcing Abby to grab the control pedestal to steady herself.

  “The cells are grounded, Doctor,” one of the jump drive technicians reported.

  “Good, clear the room,” she instructed the four technicians.

  “We have prepared the junctions,” one of the Corinairan engineers informed Vladimir. “We are ready to connect the drain trunks to the ZPEDs.”

  “Position the REMS-poles,” Vladimir ordered. Several Corinairan engineers scrambled to unfold the tripods used to steady the REMS-poles. They placed them in position about two meters away from each of the ZPED junctions, coming from opposite sides of the room so as not to interfere with one another. Two men on each side placed the REMS-poles on top of the tripods, securing the poles to the mounting heads on top, while another man checked that the legs of the tripod were connected firmly to the deck plates.

  “Do as I do,” Vladimir ordered the team on the other REMS-pole. He picked up the control box for his REMS-pole while two Corinairan technicians took hold of the distal end of the pole and began moving it, raising the other end up off the deck. The pole was well balanced and easy to manipulate, even with the ship being tossed about by frequent debris impacts. As the end nearest the plug raised up off the deck, Vladimir manipulated the clamps on the end of the pole with his remote.

  “Cheng, Captain,” Nathan called over the comms.

  “Gospadee!” Vladimir exclaimed in annoyance. “What is it, Nathan?”

  “If we’re going to have enough propellant to get home, we’re going to need to wrap this up sooner rather than later. How’s it going down there?”

  “Soon, Nathan, soon.”

  “What’s taking so long?”

  “Would you like me to talk or work?” Vladimir snapped. He suddenly remembered that everyone was listening to him and that, despite the fact that the man he was speaking with was his best friend, he was also the captain of the ship. He quickly added, “Sir.”

  “Carry on,” Nathan answered before closing the channel. Vladimir knew he would catch an earful from the XO later. He shrugged it off and continued his work. “Are you ready?” he asked the other team. They indicated their readiness to proceed by nodding. “Okay then. We must connect both ZPEDs to their respective energy cells at the same time, da?” he asked, looking to Lieutenant Montgomery.

  “That is correct,” the lieutenant confirmed, “or you risk knocking them out of phase with one another. They must remain in phase for both to be connected to the main power grid.”

  “Understood.” Vladimir looked at the Corinairan technician manning the remote on the other REMS-pole. The man nodded back to Vladimir, indicating he, too, understood the situation. “Move the pole heads to the plugs,” he instructed as he remotely opened the clamps at the end of his pole. The two men manipulating the REMS-pole slid it forward in its mount, pushing the claw at the far end up against the plug lying on the deck. Vladimir activated the clamps, taking a firm hold on the plug itself. “Clamps secured,” he announced. He looked at the other operator who nodded that he had also completed the same step. “Lift the plug.”

  The two men manipulating Vladimir’s REMS-pole slowly lowered their end, causing the other end to lift the plug off the floor. The servos in the REMS-pole kicked in, humming as they exerted additional lifting force to compensate for the weight of the plug and the heavy trunk line connected to it.

  “Activating field opposition,” Vladimir announced as he pressed the button on the remote. “Advancing the plug.”

  The men again moved the arm, sliding it farther forward. The ship shook again as another piece of debris struck the hull. The men stopped their advance momentarily as they steadied themselves.

  “Chort,” Vladimir cursed under his breath. “Forward,” he urged.

  The men continued advancing the pole, moving the plug closer to the receptacle on their ZPED’s junction box.

  “One hundred centimeters,” Vladimir reported as they continued to advance the plug. He glanced at the other remote operator. The man was concentrating on his display as well. Vladimir assumed that he was matching their rate of advance centimeter for centimeter as best he could. “Seventy-five centimeters,” he continued. “Fifty…”

  A loud pop accompanied a blue-green arc of electrical energy jumped from each of the ZPED’s junction boxes to the poles on the plugs that dangled from the end of the REMS-poles.

  “BLIN!” Vladimir looked at Lieutenant Montgomery, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty.

  “It is all right!” the lieutenant declared. “The energy jumped, and the connection was made when you closed within fifty centimeters! This was to be expected!”

  “It was?” Vladimir exclaimed. “Thank you very much for warning me!”

  “I apologize,” the lieutenant told him. “You are now connected and in phase.”

  Vladimir looked over at the technician near the energy cell on his side of the room. The technician checked the indicators on the cell, then turned back and nodded at Vladimir.

  “Gospadee,” Vladimir mumbled as he regained his composure. “Continue advancing and make contact,” he ordered.

  The men continued sliding the pole forward, moving the plug all the way up to the socket and slowly inserting it into its receptacle on the ZPED’s junction box as the blue-green energy sparked and jumped about.

  The ship shuddered from another, even larger impact, knocking Vladimir to the floor. One of the technicians manipulating Vladimir’s REMS-pole also lost his footing and fell into the pole, knocking the technician on the other side over and away from him. The clamps on the end of his pole broke free from the force of the suddenly shifting pole and slid across the top of the partially inserted plug, making contact with the edge of the receptacle. Blue-green energy leapt up the pole, blowing past the limiters at the tripod mounting head with ease and finding the technician still clinging to the pole for balance. A gurgled cry of pain erupted from the man’s mouth as the massive amount of energy generated by the idling ZPED surged through his body. Had most of the energy not been channeled directly to the energy cell, the technician’s body would have been in
stantly vaporized. Instead, he stood there frozen, clinging to the electrically charged pole and unable to release his grip.

  The remote control exploded in a shower of sparks in Vladimir’s hands as he quickly released it. He looked at the technician not more than a meter in front of him, his face frozen in pain and terror. “Bozhe moi.”

  “We must free him!” one of the Takarans exclaimed as he charged toward the frozen man.

  “NYET!” Vladimir cried out, but it was too late.

  The Takaran ran at the Corinairan technician, momentarily adding himself to the conductive circuit and knocking the Corinairan free from his death grip on the electrified REMS-pole. There was a flash of blue-green light as the Takaran made contact and the energy invaded his body as well. A moment later, both men lay on the floor just beyond the smoking remote control unit that Vladimir had dropped. Faint smoke lingered around them, slowly rising from their bodies.

  Vladimir scrambled to his feet to help the injured men, his face recoiling in disgust at the smell of burnt flesh.

  “Medical emergency in the ZPED room!” Master Chief Montrose called over his comm-set. “Two men down! Repeat! Medical emergency in the ZPED room. Two men down!”

  “The plug!” Lieutenant Montgomery yelled. “It is not inserted all the way.”

  Vladimir stopped and looked at the plug, then at the bodies of the two men as others rushed to their sides. He looked back at the lieutenant, his eyes pleading as the ship was rocked by another impact.

  “If that plug falls out and is knocked beyond fifty centimeters, the ZPEDs will be out of phase!”

  “Quickly!” Vladimir ordered the other REMS-pole team. “Move over here! We must secure that plug!”

  “Med teams two and four are en route!” the damage control officer’s voice reported over the master chief’s comm-set. “ETA two.”

  “We must be quick!” Lieutenant Montgomery urged. “We only have a few minutes before the energy cells will be filled to capacity and the transfer trunk will again be too dangerous to handle.”

  Abby and the other members of her jump drive team rushed to the sides of the fallen men.