Moving Full Ahead

Jin Simma directed his skeletal Givin frown at Jace Ismay, the Calamari Star Line's managing director, who was sitting behind his desk. Ismay, smiling his squid-like, Quarren smile, started the conversation.

"How can I help you, Doctor Simma?" asked Ismay, his facial tentacles quivering slightly.

"I would like to talk about several modifications to my initial designs. Numerous modifications that were approved to be built by you. Modifications that greatly increase the probability for accidents and loss of life to occur," replied Simma, concealing his frustration with the sentient cephalopod sitting opposite him.

Simma had been elected from the Calamari Star Line's stable of Naval Architects to design and supervise the construction of the Titanic. But as the construction neared completion, Simma had noticed that several things didn't look right. So he had re-checked the schematics of the Titanic, and found that several glaring modifications had been imposed upon his original design. He had boarded the ship to observe her performance, and to suggest any changes that could be made for future improvements.

Ismay gave him a dismissive wave of his hand, "No worries, Doctor. The modifications were designed and approved by Izal Walz." Izal Walz was one the Verpine architects employed by the Calamari Star Line.

"WHAT?! You allowed Izal to modify a ship's design?" asked Simma, flabbergasted, "You know as well as I do that Izal, or any other Verpine out there, would prefer to be a starship architect."

"True, but his modifications to your original design were VERY economical," replied Ismay, smugly putting emphasis on the word 'very'.

"Economical to the Sith! Your 'economical' modifications will one day resulting the sinking of Titanic!" spat Simma.

Ismay's eyes widened in horror, "What do you mean by that?"

Simma leaned back in his chair, enjoying the look of horror on Ismay's face, "For starters, you allowed Titanic to be fitted with a rudder that was smaller and less efficient than the type I had initially planned into her design."

"What's the problem with that? The ship will still be able to turn," said Ismay.

"Yes, she can still turn," admitted Simma, "But do you recall the time we took to leave Reef Home?"

Ismay thought for a moment, "Yes. We were ten minutes behind schedule."

"Ah. Aha. That's the problem right there. The reason why it took us ten minutes more than expected to leave Reef Home was the inferior-quality rudder you had installed," declared Simma, somewhat triumphantly.

"What do you mean by that? Surely the more economical rudder is not entirely to blame," said Ismay, now nervously fingering a pen.

"Yes indeed, the rudder is the problem. For a ship of Titanic's tonnage and physical makeup, the rudder is horribly insufficient. Titanic's turning radius has increased from a mere fifty meters to a dangerous three hundred meters," said Simma, glaring at Ismay, "If we needed to turn to evade an obstacle such as an iceberg, at our current speed, we'd be dead."

"Okay. Are there any other problems?" asked Ismay.

"Indeed. Note that all of the problems I'm about to mention are caused by your 'economical' modifications," said Simma, tapping his fingers on the desk. The sound was like ceramic being hit repeatedly, "The main propeller, lateral thrusters, and lifeboat chains, coupled with the inefficient rudder you had installed are a recipe of doom."

"How are they a 'recipe of doom'? And quit bugging me about the rudder."

"Well, the main propeller is incapable of reversing its turn, due to the engine that you had installed. Due to this, Titanic's reversing abilities have been reduced by fifty percent. The lateral thrusters that Izal had incorporated into his modifications are also incapable of withstanding great amounts of stress. They shorted out as we used them at Reef Home, to help the tiny rudder in turning her," said Simma, now sounding mildly angry, "Add the lifeboats which are not chained to the deck and you'll get an incident whereby the lifeboats will be released by their magnetic clamps before the lowering tractor beams are locked on."

"Why is having no chained lifeboats a hazard?" asked Ismay, puzzled.

"If they're not chained to the deck, when the magnetic clamps release them, they'll be dropped off the side of the ship before the tractor beams lock on. Kindly take note that half of our lifeboats are positioned on the edge of the open boat deck."

"Why weren't the thrusters fixed?" asked Ismay, full of bureaucratic anger.

"We tried to fix them, but we discovered that the thrusters had been of a brand that was terribly low in terms of quality. The entire thruster units had blown into a molten slag."

"Sithspawn!" cursed Ismay, "Now we'll have to buy new thrusters!"

"See you around, Ismay," said Simma, standing up, "I'll be going to talk with Ak-Buz in engineering."

"It's Mister Ismay to you, Simma! I don't care if your ancestor created Ju Simma's theorem, you still work for me, you hear?" said Ismay sharply.

But Simma had already left his office.

xxx

On the bridge, Captain Ooryl Qrygg was watching as Titanic moved forward at a steady speed of 18 knots, or approximately 28.8 nautical kilometers per hour, if you wanted to be metric about it.

Ooryl barely noticed as Ismay entered the bridge, and came up to him. He noticed, however, that Ismay was holding a sheet of plastinate that was probably an engineering report.

Ismay cleared his throat, "Captain?"

Ooryl sighed, and turned to Ismay, "Yes?"

"I read from this report here," said Ismay, waving the report in front of Ooryl's large eyes, "That you've not fully powered up the secondary plasma reactor and reciprocating engines yet."

"Ooryl is reluctant to tax the engines so much before they've been broken in properly. Plus, this time of year is iceberg season," replied Ooryl.

"Why not do so? If we move at full speed ahead, we'll arrive at Foamwander a full day ahead of schedule!" said Ismay, excitedly, "We'll have headlines in every news channel in the galaxy!"

"Ooryl still thinks that current speed is fine to be safe."

"And weren't you planning to retire after this voyage?" said Ismay slyly, "Why not retire with a bang, eh?"

Ooryl was silent, pondering Ismay's words. He had been part of Rogue Squadron for a few years, and had then joined the Calamari Star Line as a captain of luxury liners, be they for space or oceanic travel. He had been a captain for thirty five standard years, and was planning the make Titanic's maiden voyage his retirement voyage.

"Thank you, Mister Ismay," said Ooryl, as Ismay left the bridge.

Turning to look at Second Officer Cintan, a tall Nautolan, Ooryl decided.

"Take her to full ahead, Mister Cintan."

xxx

In engineering, Ak-Buz was relaxing by playing sabacc with his seven engineers. Doctor Simma had just left, after checking on them and making sure everything was shipshape. The engineers liked Simma, for he was the only member of the 'High Ups' that actually cared for their personal well being.

The command lever then sounded an alert, as it moved to the label 'FULL AHEAD'.

Ak-Buz was puzzled, given that this time of the Calamarian year was iceberg season, but gave his instructions nonetheless, "All right boys, fire them up! We're going full ahead!"

He went over to the engine control console, and started up the last secondary plasma reactor and reciprocating engines. As he did so, one of his engineers, an Arcona named Lensi, turned the propeller speed wheel, and watched as the speed dial's needle moved away from the initial speed they had been using, bordering on the danger zone.

xxx

Under the ship, the massive propellers attained their maximum safe speed, creating a churning trail of bubbles as they pushed the Titanic forward at full ahead, or 25 knots. The ship rushed into the night, towards an iceberg-filled sea.