by Tori Harris
Although not designed for the delivery of technical briefings, the room performed admirably well in the role in spite of its minimal seating capacity. Every system present on the destroyer’s bridge was faithfully reproduced to the smallest detail. This included a fully functional ship’s AI, which, while clearly overqualified for the purpose, made for an excellent audiovisual assistant. Perhaps most importantly, the enormous, wrap-around view screen lining the front of the bridge was visible throughout most of the facility, and was supplemented, where required, by a few additional screens installed around the perimeter of the observation deck.
After a few minutes, Theseus’ chief engineer, Commander Kip Logan, squeezed his way through the rear entrance of the now-crowded simulator floor and made his way to the open area between the Helm console and the front of the bridge.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” he began, playing up his disarming Southeastern U.S. accent as he often did when speaking publicly. “I think most of you know me by now since I’ve been the guy running around yelling at everyone within earshot for the past several days. In case I haven’t yet had the opportunity to yell at you personally, I do apologize, and I’m sure I’ll get around to it soon. Anyway, I’m Commander Kip Logan. I was Ingenuity’s chief engineer until a few days ago, when I was reassigned to the Theseus. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not sure being Ingenuity’s Cheng necessarily makes me qualified to transition immediately into the same role aboard Theseus. After all, it’s a completely different class of ship, right? The good news is that, even after only a few days of working with her, I can tell you without hesitation that the whole ‘mod/com’ concept works, and works very well. I was skeptical at first, as I’m sure many of you were, but I have to tell you, folks, I’ve become a believer in a big hurry.
“On all four of our primary ship classes, parts, systems, and even crew procedures are interchangeable to the maximum extent possible. While it’s not one hundred percent, I’d say it’s probably about as close as we’re likely to ever get. We operational guys tend to beat up on the eggheads at Fleet Science and Engineering quite a bit for being out of touch with real-world requirements, but I think they’ve truly done a great job in this case. In fact, I think as soon as I can get someone to show me how to start her engines, Theseus will be ready to go.” Logan smiled and looked around the room in an effort to gauge his audience, but other than a few people clearing their throats or shifting in their seats, his attempt at humor was met with complete silence. Searching for encouragement, he glanced at his captain and XO and saw that each was wearing a lopsided grin while slowly shaking their heads – both clearly enjoying his discomfort.
“Oh, come on, people … that’s pretty good comedy as far as engineers go. Trust me when I tell you that I can do a lot worse.”
“It’s the truth, he can!” Reynolds interjected, which finally drew a smattering of laughter from the impassive crowd.
“Okay, now that I see what I’m dealing with here, I’ll move on. Oh, and before I forget, all of you know that essentially everything you see, hear, smell, or touch at the beautiful Yucca Mountain Shipyard is classified, Top Secret, code word MAGI PRIME. Even though the entire facility has been raised to this classification level, Fleet still wants you to be reminded of your responsibilities along those lines when we start talking tech. This is also intended to be an informal presentation, so feel free to interrupt with questions anytime. Most of you look like you’re way past due for a nap, so I’ll try not to keep you too long today.
“This briefing is primarily for the benefit of Theseus’ bridge crews, all of whom I believe have now been designated as ‘mission ready.’” Logan glanced at Reynolds for a confirmation and received a nod in return. “Alright, that’s good. So that means you all have at least a basic understanding of the ship’s systems, so I’m not going to spend too much time talking about those today. For those of you coming from Ingenuity like me, a good rule of thumb to remember is that many things on Theseus are simply three times what they were on Ingenuity. That applies to quite a few basic stats like length, crew complement, and the number of reactors, to name a few.”
On the bridge simulator view screen, and without prompting from Commander Logan, the AI provided supporting information in perfect synchronization with the briefing. At the moment, multiple views of both ship types were displayed, with specific traits highlighted as he continued to speak.
“The truth is that our ‘factor of three’ observation doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. Even with Earth under the threat of a possible attack, the Theseus-class ships were held in port until the remainder of their systems could be fully integrated. I think you’ll all agree that this was a huge risk, given the circumstances, right? Well, the reason the Admiralty was willing to take that risk is evidence of the tactical advantages these ships have over all other Fleet vessels at the moment … and hopefully over the bad guys too.
“Quick question … and feel free to shout out your answer. Successful warship design always has and always will come down to one thing — and that’s …”
There were a number of answers around the room including “speed,” and “big guns,” before someone came up with the word “power.”
“There it was, finally!” Logan laughed, “It all comes down to power. All of the other answers I heard depend on our ability to generate ridiculous amounts of power. All else being equal, the ship with a power advantage tends to win the battle. Now, even though we Humans are new at building starships, this is a fundamental tenet of warship design that we have been applying for a very long time. So the first thing you need to know about Theseus is that she can generate, manage, and direct power in the general direction of her enemies more effectively than any of our other designs. This is one of the two reasons why I believe the Theseus-class is a game-changer for Terran Fleet Command. It’s also one of the primary reasons their deployment was delayed slightly so that they could benefit from the lessons learned during Ingenuity’s shakedown cruise and first operational missions. Going forward, we’ll see many of these same improvements retrofitted into our existing frigates, cruisers … even the carriers to some extent.
“So, if you are transitioning from Ingenuity, surprisingly little has changed with regard to how the ship operates. Big picture though, where power generation is concerned, that ‘factor of three’ rule I mentioned becomes a factor of nine. That means Theseus should always have an excess of power available to run every one of her systems simultaneously, while still maintaining fully charged capacitor banks in case ‘getting the hell out of Dodge’ starts looking like the best option. Having survived a battle aboard Ingenuity where we were significantly outgunned, I can tell you that you don’t ever want to find yourself in a power-deficient situation. I strongly recommend that all of you, particularly those who were not a part of Ingenuity’s crew, spend some time studying how that engagement unfolded, with an eye towards what other options we would have had available had we not found ourselves short of power at a critical time.” Logan paused and glanced around the room. As was often the case, there were quite a few young officers assigned to the bridge crews. Although he was never one to dwell on the dangers associated with their chosen vocation, he wondered if most of the young men and women present — many of them still just kids from his perspective — had the foggiest notion of what they had signed up for.
“Well, I guess that just about covers everything that’s new and exciting about the Theseus. Did any of you have additional questions before we all get back to work?” Logan asked, deadpan. In response, the word “shields” erupted from several locations around the room and from the observation deck. “What’s that … you want me to talk about grav shields? Astounding. I never would have guessed.
“Alright, here we go,” he began again. “First off, let me give you a brief history. Much like what we saw during development of the C-Drive, gravitic shields are in many ways just an extension of technology already deployed aboard
all Fleet vessels. Also very much like the C-Drive, their ‘discovery,’ if you will, was something of an accident.”
Precisely on cue, the simulator AI began playing footage of an F-373 Reaper aerospace superiority fighter, apparently in the process of executing a low-level attack run against a distant ground target that was not yet visible on the screen. With the exception of the missing engine nozzles that once protruded from the rear of such aircraft, as well as the lack of any visible cockpit canopy, the Reaper’s appearance clearly portrayed a direct lineage extending back to the late twentieth century and beyond. Although quite large for a fighter, the ship’s aggressive, flowing lines and incredible speed mere meters from the terrain below left little doubt that she represented the culmination of over three centuries of fighter aircraft design. Also very much in keeping with top-of-the line fighters of previous generations, the F-373 was, pound for pound, the most expensive aerospace vehicle ever constructed by Human hands.
“And here we have the Reaper,” Logan said, turning to admire the footage playing on the enormous view screen. “I gotta tell you guys, I’ve been putting together models of fighter aircraft since I was a kid, but the 373 makes all the others look like a bunch of boxy crop dusters. If you can watch something like this without getting fired up about it, I’m afraid you may have chosen the wrong career path. I was lucky enough to be assigned to the first operational starship and then survive the first true space combat twenty-four light years away, but there is still very little in my experience with a higher ‘cool factor’ than an aerospace superiority fighter. Hooyah?”
“Hooyah!” came the enthusiastic, albeit obligatory, response from the crowd.
“Alright then, some of you might actually be awake now. I just have a couple of additional things to say about the Reaper before we move on. Military analysts have been predicting the end of crewed fighter aircraft since shortly after they first arrived on the scene in the twentieth century. The problem is that, even as advanced as our AI has become, there are some missions where having a Human in the loop is still seen as either critical, or at least a necessary compromise. There actually is a pilot in there, by the way, although the cockpit is now a heavily armored cylindrical structure — often referred to as the ‘bathtub’ — located in the center of the fuselage. As you can see, there is no canopy and no windows, but once the pilot is wired into the aircraft’s systems, he is literally no longer able to see the aircraft itself. Instead, the AI provides him with a full three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the space around the ship. Any data the pilot needs is projected into his field of view. There is also no longer any need for traditional controls since all of the ship’s systems are managed via neural interface, much like those embedded in combat armor and EVA suits. As has always been the case for multirole fighters, every cubic centimeter of internal volume is packed with the most advanced hardware available. With the recent rapid advances in technology, the fact that Fleet has managed to keep a significant portion of the (albeit small) F-373 fleet flying while constantly upgrading components and software is a tremendous accomplishment.
“So what does this have to do with grav shields? Well, first off, I’m sorry to say that it was actually the Reapers, not the Theseus-class destroyers, with the first operational shield system.” This bit of news was met with a smattering of boos from the now-engaged and understandably biased crowd. “Yes, yes, I know,” Logan soothed, “but the reason for that is pretty simple. The effect that ultimately led to their development was first discovered by an F-373. This one, in fact.” Logan said, turning to gesture once again at the view screen. Thanks to a bit of clever timing on behalf of the simulator AI, the fighter pulled up slightly to gain a few extra meters of altitude before a weapons bay door opened beneath its fuselage, followed by the immediate launch of an HB-7 missile in air-to-ground attack mode. A fraction of a second into the missile’s flight, the AI froze the footage, highlighting several items on the screen in brackets with accompanying blocks of textual data.
“Until recently, Fleet had not spent a lot of time planning for ground attack missions — understandably, their primary focus had been developing the capability to successfully attack enemy spacecraft. When they did get around to doing some air-to-ground weapons testing, however, the Reaper was the obvious choice. The problem was, every time we sent an F-373 out to the range to attack a ground target, our engineers kept noticing small variances in ordnance delivery. That held true regardless of what type of weapons were being used. Missiles like the HB-7 you see here are generally smart enough to correct the problem for themselves, but when we attempted to drop weapons that don’t have their own propulsion systems, we experienced some pretty significant problems. There was even one case where we very nearly lost an aircraft when the lead pilot in a two-ship formation dropped a glide bomb that separated from the aircraft in an unexpected manner and came close to taking out his wingman.”
“Anyone know — or care to guess — what the problem was?” Logan asked, looking around the room. “Lieutenant Lau, you were a physics major right? What do you think?”
While paying attention, Lau had not been expecting a direct question and was somewhat caught off guard. “Uh, yes, sir,” he stammered as he stood up from his Tactical console. “I don’t know for sure, but it pretty much had to have something to do with the gravitic field generators,” Lau answered. “I’m thinking it was related to either inertial dampening for the pilot, or the way they manipulate the field to attenuate sonic booms.”
“That was two guesses, Lieutenant, and they’re both wrong,” Logan laughed. “Not bad guesses, though. No, at first, the Science and Engineering Directorate didn’t suspect anything related to the grav fields because they should not have been anywhere near strong enough to cause the effects they were seeing at the time weapons were being launched.”
On the view screens the AI now displayed a rotating three-dimensional depiction of the F-373, including a spherical bubble surrounding the fighter to represent its gravitic field. “We’re obviously not going to delve much into the physics here today, but let me try to give you a grossly oversimplified version of what they found. The gravitic generators aboard all Fleet vessels are active to some extent all of the time. They serve a variety of functions including what everyone refers to as ‘artificial gravity’ as well as inertial dampening for those of you who prefer to avoid being crushed. When we operate inside the gravity well of a planetary body, those same generators ramp up their power tremendously and create an effect we all like to call ‘mass cancellation.’ Incidentally, this whole subject area is full of misnomers and technical inaccuracies, but the real physics underlying these systems is so complex that using colloquial terms is generally accepted practice, even among Fleet engineers.
“So you might be thinking, ‘But the Reaper has wings, so why would it need a mass canceling grav field?’ While it does indeed have wings that provide quite a bit of lift when flying in dense, Earth-like atmospheres, it’s generally not enough to sustain flight for such a large ship. This thing is a ‘hyper maneuverable’ aircraft, and there was no way to create the kind of flight envelope its mission required using aerodynamic lift and flight controls. The designers also wanted the ship to have essentially the same capabilities, regardless of what kind of environment it was operating in. To accomplish that, we ended up with a gravitic field that would look a lot like this if you could actually see it,” Logan said, gesturing towards the view screen. “What I want you to notice is that, although the field is spherical, it’s actually generated in two pieces … two hemispherical domes. That results in an interference area you might describe as a ‘seam’ running all the way around the field. It actually looks a little like the way two halves of a walnut shell come together. As you can see, the seam circles the ship’s longitudinal axis through points above and below the fuselage.
“Alright, Lieutenant Lau, here’s your chance to redeem yourself. Now what do you think the problem was?”
Lau had ju
st sat back down, but now stood once again to answer the commander’s question. “I’d say when weapons are launched from the aircraft, they have a nasty habit of going right through the area of interference.”
“Exactly, thank you. Please take your seat and I promise not to pick on you anymore today,” Logan smiled. “The engineers discovered that this grav field seam sometimes caused localized, and unexpectedly intense, variations in field strength. Once they figured out that this was the problem, it took several months of testing to accurately model what was going on and come up with a workable solution. During that testing, one of the things they did was fire beam weapons through the interference pattern to see how much accuracy was lost. That testing inspired a gifted and irritatingly lucky doctoral candidate from Missouri S&T — which happens to be my alma mater — to suggest essentially four things: first — that what was going on was actually a form of gravitational lensing, second — that the ship’s AI was fast enough to detect and respond to disturbances in the field … and by disturbances I mean things like incoming fire, third — that the AI could be coaxed into producing and controlling the lensing phenomenon on demand, and fourth — that the effect might potentially be used in reverse to deflect incoming fire. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Logan paused for a moment, correctly assuming that there might be a few questions at this point. The first came from Captain Prescott. “Commander Logan, if I can interrupt you with a question or two …”
“Of course, Captain.”
“I think I managed to follow you reasonably well, but I’m not sure I understand how we made the jump from some sort of distortion in the gravitic field to a workable shield system. Can you expand on that subject a bit?”
“I can try, sir. First off, although the technology involved is quite similar to the existing gravitic systems we were already using, some additional hardware was required. To provide some redundancy, additional, dedicated field generators were installed for the shield system. There are also a number of emitters installed at various locations on the hull that allow the AI to control the local intensity of the shield on the fly.”
