The Purr of the Warp Core

Posted on Wed Nov 9th, 2022 @ 4:11pm by Ensign Debbie Larson & Lieutenant JG Rafe Hunnicutt
Edited on on Fri Nov 11th, 2022 @ 4:33pm

1,410 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The devil wears tripolymer
Location: Deck 11, Main Engineering (Level 1)
Timeline: ?? June, 2395

There was something special about the Luna class. Although Lieutenant Junior Grade Rafe Hunnicutt was pretty sure that he was forever sentenced to stay on ships that had less personnel that your average witch hunt. Still, one thing that every ship had, or should have, was a warp core. And with the pleasant hum of it, there was almost a soothing quality of the glow of the warp core, with its simple containment field and...

And of course, Rafe being Rafe, he was contorting in some strange resemblance to a yoga pose on the ground. Everything was fine with the warp core, but the last diagnostic had shown a blip. The blip was within standard operating parameters, but Rafe being Rafe again, was curious. So he had decided to look into it.

Which now led to him twisting his body to use the mode stabiliser, to adjust the fluctuating converter of the anti-matter flow converter. He knew better than to say that quickly three times in a row. The adjustment was microscopic, would have no impact whatsoever on the speed, but in his eyes...a blip now could be a ka-boom six months down the line.

At another station on the upper level Debbie was monitoring the warp cores power flow, the science department was running some very high power demand tests and she was making sure they didn't take too much from elsewhere on the ship.

"Who is fiddling with the antimatter flow?" She called out noticing a very small change in the levels.

"No idea Debbie." An engineer replied.

Poking her head over the balcony she looked down towards the base of the warp core, she could see the legs of someone on the floor beside the core no doubt they were elbow deep in its vitals. "Rafe I hope that's not you in there." She shouted down.

Rafe cleared his throat before calling back in a higher pitch, his accent watered out. "Oh no, not at all! It's the ghost of Warp Cores Past!" he grinned, before he checked his end. "I'm almost done, Debbie! It's been bugging me and has taken me 48 hours to track it to this, and I will damned well get it all sorted properly," he added, now in his normal voice.

"Just don't make it any worse." Debbie called back. "Science is needing a lot of juice for whatever it is they're doing up there."

"They should have ordered ahead, I would have reserved a table for them. With candles. The real ones as well, not holographic ones," Rafe said lightly, finishing up. He twisted and managed to bump his head, grimacing as he rubbed the sore spot before pulling himself out. He closed everything up properly though, you didn't take short cuts with a warp core. "There we go!" he called up, before packing up the tool kit, getting to the ladder to climb up to be on the same level as Debbie. He smiled, leaning against the balcony as he watched the blonde. "So, what are science doing? Mutating kittens? Generating event horizons? Smoking salmon?"

Debbie shook her head. "I've no idea but they're using nearly half the ships power to do it, most of it's routed to the deflector and sensors, and the main computer core is almost on fire it's working so fast."

"If it is Wells, I might have to have words. I suspect I will have to get wrapped up in protective gear, I doubt she'd appreciate it and I have delicate skin," he said, frowning slightly as he went to look at the readings. "A little more and we can smoke salmon in here."

"I wouldn't cross Lt Wells, she's a weird one." Debbie warned Rafe. "Will talk your ear off about theoretical science and leave you completely bamboozled."

"Well, I am lucky, I am in a constant state of confusion. I don't even know why I am here, I sort of just fell into the wrong classroom in my youth, and was handed a uniform. Since it was gold, I had options, but the purr of a well tuned warp core was all that it took and I was in love," Hunnicutt said with a quick, disarming smile.

"The Wolff has a good heart, though this one is relatively new, same with the nacelles." Debbie motioned in the direction of the warp core. "She nearly got blown apart only 10 months ago, was in one hell of a state. The brass were going to scrap her but they were persuaded to fix her up."

"A grand lady like this deserves some scars, it gives her character," he said, looking towards the warp core. He leant over the balcony, watching for a long moment. "Out here, this is the heart and soul. This room. The warp core. It's...magic and engineering all in one."

"It would certainly sound like magic if you tried to explain it to anyone pre-warp." Debbie remarked. "Half the stuff on this ship would sound like magic."

"And that's just the replicators," he said, giving her a small smile. "You know, we take a lot of this for granted. Always water, always food...although quality of it seems to depend a lot on your taste buds. Transporters...it's all magical, but we don't even blink at it."

"True," Debbie said with a slight sigh. "There's still room for more 'conventional' things though, Jessica and James in the lounge use freshly grown food as often as they can."

He groaned at that, smiling as he tipped his head back. "Ah, real food. Some ancient traditions should be upheld. You know, I've not actually tried the lounge food. Is it good?" he met her eyes, holding them for a long moment.

Debbie met his gaze for a few miments before looking away. "Depends what you're after, James is a wizard with seafood, Jessica is more a drinks person but she makes mean salads and roast dinners."

"Okay, I am heading there once the shift ends. If I sneak off, I can head off before shift ends..." he said quickly, but there was a joke in the last part. He wasn't in the habit of sneaking off duty, he was more likely to find a job that was needed somewhere quiet, and hide there from the reports. "Roast sounds nice. To be honest, anything that didn't materialise in front of me would be good. Something not manipulated to be the healthiest thing ever. Oh, to have something deep fried one day..."

"Deep fried chips and a piece of fish...." Debbie said, trying to hide a touch of salivation. "The replicators just don't do it justice.... need to stop talking about food I'm going to wind up cheating on my diet."

Hunnicutt watched her with surprise when she said diet. "Well, I am good at cheating on things like that," he said, with a small smile. He didn't see why she'd need it, but maybe it was some exercise thing, or something the doctor had told her.

"Oh I'd better not stick around you for long then, might pick up some bad habits." Debbie laughed.

"Oh no one should stick around me for long, trust me," Hunnicutt said almost innocently as he watched her. "It's how you end up getting in trouble by association. Or worse, pranks!"

"Don't get me started on pranks, Joran didn't really do any when I met him but now him and Will are their own worst enemies." Debbie told him. "They tend to leave me and Amanda alone though, especially after Amanda threatened to break their arms."

"Arm-breaking usually stops even the most committed prankster," he said mock-serious, but his face only showed good humour. "I am...a committed prankster myself. Although usually I try to keep it safe, and with some slapstick. And never on those that couldn't handle it. Also, always expect retaliation, and when someone gets you...you have to laugh about it."

"Just don't get me, or my retaliation might involve a coil spanner and a fleshy part of your anatomy." Debbie said in a mixed jokey and serious voice.

"Oh, no, the rules of pranks is that no one ever end up in sickbay," he said, with a small smile. "But you're safe, I try not to prank where I end up having to work."

Debbie laughed. "A good plan."

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Rafe Hunnicutt
Engineer
USS Wolff

&

Ensign Debbie Larson
Engineer
Uss Wolff
Npc Taliserra

 

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