On some ships the crew lounge was given a specific name. On the Aurora, it was called the Lookout, while on the Huascar, it was Cafe Varna. On the Maimonides, it was the Culinary Lab.
The reason for the particular name was its main distinction from other such facilities. The proprietor of the lounge was a Gersallian man, Tratan Umai, from the Kuneli ethnic group. His people maintained some distinct cultural practices from the rest of their world, and one was the idea of an eating place where prepared ingredients were left for the diners to assemble at their preference. The result was something akin to a buffet, if a buffet included an entire section devoted to the hot plates and pots for a diner's culinary work to be finalized within, should it require some final cooking. Given the numerous ingredients and prepared items on hand, either normally or by request, it was no surprise that the crew of a science ship might dub their lounge a laboratory.
When Colin, Max, and Isaac entered, they found that the people dining were enjoying a mix of meals. For those whose watches fell in Beta Shift, it was lunch time. Alpha Shift crew were getting dinner, and the early risers of Gamma Shift were getting breakfast. The food was arrayed in pots and trays along the stern wall of the lounge, as well as a separate series of three buffet tables that stood where a bar would have in other designs. Tratan stood at the entrance to the kitchen, nearly ready to end his work day. His complexion was fair, and at his temples his wheat-colored hair, graying at the fringes, was pulled into a series of braids.
Colin was something of a gourmand. He kept his figure only through exercise and sheer disciplined will, he loved trying new types of food from every ethnicity and now every world that had ingredients compatible with human physiology. He looked around the lounge and thought the set up was simply magical, then he went to town assembling what he'd euphemistically refer to as a sample platter, which was a little bit of every single unique thing he could identify the ingredients and preparation for from what he saw and p'saw on people's places that he could fit on his own.
Isaac looked over at Max. "Is this what happens when Gene isn't around to help him watch his girlish figure?"
"Nah. He'll work it off later. He… he likes to understand other cultures, and he believes that one of the best ways to do that short of scanning people is through their food."
"Uh Huh." Isaac replied, just a bit skeptical as they both followed behind, discussing in hushed tones which things they could pass off as vaguely kosher. It was a bit like Chinese food that way, the preparation wasn't done according to Talmudic law but neither of them sweated that part too much ever. So long as they made a good faith effort to avoid the forbidden foods like pork, and what they could reasonably infer would be forbidden if available on Bronze Age Earth, they were fine.
The tables were polished burgundy wood, with cushioned seats of the same material. While several tables were taken up in whole or in part, a number were also free, including a couple toward the transtanium windows. The lounge was built just above the bow of the ship, meaning there was no obstruction of the view of what was outside the Maimonides, in this case the streaks of warped space.
Colin loved the void of space so he picked out three near the windows and sat down. He looked out over the heavily blue-shifted and streaking stars. "I wonder why we never invented this?" he openly mused.
"What do you mean?" Max asked, sitting down.
"I think I get it." Isaac replied. "This drive, it's an Alcubierre drive. We could build them, we'd need negative mass energy. Jump drives use negative mass in the form of Quantium 40 to hold the vortex open, so a bit of matter-energy conversion and we could have invented our own warp drives. But whoever-invented-jumpgates got there first and after that it's inertia. There's a lot of stuff that's just random chance and inertia. Take our body plans. Pretty much chance that our basic body form made it through the Cambrian. After that, natural selection isn't gonna rock the boat."
"Good point." Colin nodded. It made sense. Why spend massive resources developing a new drive system when you had a perfectly serviceable one that everyone else used?
Around them the two telepaths could pick up a scattering of surface thoughts. Some were basic ones. Enjoyment of the food or of company, consideration of the work behind or ahead of them for the day, plans for their off-time. Whether or not the people with those thoughts knew telepaths could p'hear them was indeterminable in most cases. In a couple, the thinker in question didn't seem to care.
Then there were those who were completely aware of Colin and Max. A variety of musical rhymes or calculations reflected those who knew, or at least thought they knew, how to shield their thoughts. Others went right on with their thoughts. One mind, Human and feminine, had the thought stream of "He looks cute oh right he can hear that oh my god I'm an idiot!" Another mind saw an older family member in Max's face, a resemblance with bittersweet, happy memories.
It's okay. You're much nicer about that than people in my home universe. Colin politely told her. Flattered, but gay and very married.
The response was a flush of embarrassment more than anything, but no animosity. I'm sorry if I distracted you crossed the mind in question and Colin returned that with a reassuring thought. Then a more direct thought. I'm Security Officer Neolani Kale, by the way. A pleasure to meet you. The mental self-image of a Polynesian woman of solid build, with dark hair and kind brown eyes, came with the greeting.
While it was clear many of the present crew had no issues with them, there were some sentiments that the two telepaths found more familiar. Some of the minds were uneasy, although the owners of those thoughts didn't go beyond the basic unease. Minds struggled with the rhymes and gave up on them, then in discomfort moved away. Other minds flashed recognition and did the same.
And one mind had a familiar sentiment regardless of its alien nature: Get out of my mind, mind-readers. Several tables over, an orange-plumed Alakin with blue coloration glared with irritation at their table before returning to his meal.
The irony was, thinking at them made it more likely they'd pick it up. But neither telepath visibly reacted at all. Not directly. Max did speak however.
"It's nice to spend time in a society that isn't afraid of or hate us. I've always wondered what that would be like."
"I know, right?" Colin replied "What's really funny are that the people who get so worked up about our presence that they direct angry thoughts at us are more likely to get picked up. It's sad really. If they just relaxed we'd tune them out like we do everything else they're thinking, but no. They have to scream at us in their heads."
Not everyone around them heard that, but they could sense understanding in those who did. A few of those not comfortable before had some easing of said discomfort. One openly thought of a tan-skinned Human-looking woman with dark hair, likely a Gersallian given the green robes and beige tunic visible in the memory, seated beside a child. The little girl slowly began to come out of a catatonic state. The memory was accompanied by sincere gratitude toward the woman in it.
Colin acknowledged that thought, and so did Max. No one saw it but they did, with a warm smile only that person could feel rather than see; but it got Colin thinking about why. What was the difference? Maybe the cultural timing of exposure to telepathy? On his Earth, telepathy arose in a mature post-industrial culture and the result was a slowly unfolding catastrophe. The same for Becca's homeworld. From what he knew about Gersal, it showed up when they were still in caves and he saw the results. The Centauri and Dilgar were the same way, so were the Narn; the Abbai were virtually all at least P1s though they topped out at a lower maximum rating than humans did. Maybe it was just that simple. In a pre-industrial culture a telepath would have a place as a wise-person, shaman, or exorcist. The civilization would mature with telepaths fully integrated; unlike his home where telepathy turned a whole host of cultural expectations and assumptions upside down. The result of that was the horror that Max carried with him.
You know babe, there's an irony that isn't lost on me. Gene remarked.
Hm?
The rest of the telepaths in our galaxy are all basically beta tests. The genes for telepathy are optimized for humans, so on average and at maximum we're the strongest; but because the fucking Vorlons perfected the process on everyone else they all got telepathy earlier and they're less screwed than we are.
I suppose it is a species of irony, though the simple fact is the Vorlons didn't give a shit about what happened to their weapons after the war.
Yeah. Though I'll tell you what, I'd rather die like this, Gene sent him a mental image of eighteen million people, all wearing the badge and gloves standing up and saying 'No More' than like this and he completed the mental image with those same eighteen million cowering in terrorized servility. Colin agreed by way of backdrop music of the Psi Corps Internationale, and an affectionate nuzzle of his husband's shoulder. It started to escalate from there before they were interrupted by Colin's current physical reality.
"Colin?" Isaac asked. "Earth to Colin?" At that Max chuckled.
"Hm? Sorry. Lost in thought."
"I bet you were…" the Rabbi teased, and it wasn't mean teasing.
"Well…" Colin affected shifty eyes. "I didn't specify they were just my thoughts."
The department meeting room on Deck 15 was closest to the Security Office of the Maimonides, which was why Lieutenant Wendy Manchester picked it for the department wide-meeting. Her twenty-one subordinates filed in, some coming from meals, others coming off duty.
Wendy Manchester was tall, just over six feet, with long red hair. Her eyes were green and her face marked by freckles. Her uniform was worn with enough care to pass muster, given her position, but she would never win any competitions for having the best-kept appearance by regulations. Like all Alliance uniforms it was primarily black, with the trim color along the shoulder line and her collar - representing the shirt-layer of the uniform beneath the jacket - being colored brown for the Security/Tactical branch. Her collar was marked with one gold and one black strip, the insignia of a junior grade Lieutenant. She was, in fact, the lowest ranked department officer on the Maimonides.
She took the central seat at the main table. Beside her sat the heads of Bravo and Gamma Shifts. Bravo Shift's head, and her second in command in the department, was a Dorei man, Ensign Untarm Tasandi. As a native of the Dorei nation of Hargano, on the Sindai continent, he had a deep purple complexion, with pale teal spots. His dark teal-toned hair was short and braided in a style at his temples, and his eyes could blaze like glittering sapphires when his blood was up.
To her left was the current head of Gamma Shift. With Ensign Preek's transfer to the Aurora while they were at New Liberty, Chief Gunther Bayer became the third-highest ranked member of the Security detachment. The big German man was nearly twenty years her senior, with soft brown eyes and dark brown hair. His collar was clear with his rank insignia on the sleeves of his uniform: three chevrons downward and a capping chevron pointed upward.
"Alright people, we're down two from the transfers, and we've got this training with the crew to see to," Wendy stated to the assembled. "So it's going to be pretty busy. For you guys on Gamma, you'll be answering to the Chief for a while. If you're new to the shift, don't worry about him, he only bites Nazis."
Bayer gave her a bemused look. "It was only the one time," he insisted.
"Yeah, but once was enough. I thought you were trying to eat his face," she responded.
"Had to go for something, and he was in armor. Besides, my arms were broken…"
Chuckles and laughs filled the room. There was a small smile from their laid back commander at that. Whatever else she was, they were pleased they weren't dealing with a martinet or some other discipline freak.
"Also, we've got guests aboard, so stay sharp," Wendy continued.
"This about our stopover at Teyan?" asked one of the others, Treso Kalan. Kalan was a Nakta Dorei, from the Jek Nation, with dark blue skin and light blue eyes contracted with teal spots and hair. His two chevron sleeve insignia marked him a full Petty Officer, although by convention all NCOs assigned to security were referred to as "Security Officers", regardless of rank. By the same token Bayer, and others of Chief rank and above, were "Security Chiefs". "I mean, why bother heading there for just replacements, ta?"
"Ta." Wendy recognized the Nakta word for an expected affirmative. "Yeah, it's about the guests. They're some dudes who helped out on New Liberty during the attack, so we're taking them close to home first. Teyan's the only place for regular routes back to the Earth of this universe."
"These guests are the mind-readers, aren't they?"
The question came from Kretulo Pako. His plume of orange feathering made Wendy think almost of a parrot, even if Alakin beaks were a little too wide to fit the image. His mottled skin, visible above the neck of his uniform, was blue. Like Kalan, he was a full Petty Officer in rank. His dark eyes looked perturbed.
"Yeah, a couple are Psi Corps."
"So our ship is being used as a glorified transport for them?"
"Well, they kinda saved the life of the Governor of New Liberty, Kret," Wendy pointed out. "So yeah, we're giving them a ride home. And I don't want to hear anything about it from you."
"We heard enough when he met Dr. Weyana," sighed Olga Kalikova, a three-chevron Petty Officer 1st Class. The lithe woman spoke English with a thick Russian accent.
Kretulo whistled lowly, a sound equivalent to a frustrated grunt from a Human. "I believe anyone without mind-reading should have healthy caution about them. They have the capability to attack our individuality, and I prefer not to be exposed to the chance. Even if I agree most would not try." Kretulo gave his superior a cautious look. "At the very least we should have some idea on how to handle an unexpected threat from them."
"We've got procedures, Kret, and we follow them. That's all you need to be worried about."
Wendy was answered by a nod. He knew she wasn't going to share his worry, but her response was mollifying and, more importantly, professional.
"Neolani here couldn't keep her eyes off of the Psi Cop," Marwa al-Jabbar teased from her chair. Beside the slim Arab woman from Kuwait, the solid Polynesian - like al-Jabbar, a Junior Petty Officer - blushed. "I think he noticed too."
"Unfortunately, he is taken," Kale sighed, while chuckles and giggling broke out, with a few snorts. "Like all the good ones."
"You're a badass surfer chick, Neo, don't worry about it." Wendy gave a look to Bayer, who was eying her with bemusement. "You're about to tell me I'm Chief of Security, not their life coach, right?"
"You said it, sir," Bayer replied, grinning.
"How did someone like you end up heading a security detachment on an Alliance ship, anyway?" Tasandi asked. "You don't seem the type to seek authority."
"It kinda fell in my lap," she confessed. "I got a battlefield commission to Ensign when the Pathfinder got boarded in the 1st Argolis Campaign. And then they made me a Lieutenant when Bayer and I went into the naval infantry for the big push on Nazi-Earth. We were in the 2nd Company and sent to back up the Dorei. I almost lost a hand in… what was it again?" She looked to Bayer.
"Rehfelde," he replied. "The tank."
"Yeah. That stuff was brutal." For a moment the laid back exterior slackened and terrible memories of the worst of war showed themselves in her green eyes. "So when the war was over and stuff, they decided to keep me at Lieutenant and offer me a bunch of postings. And the science ship thing sounded the most interesting. Getting to see new stuff, I mean."
The rest of the security staff were quiet at that. Some had their own war stories, but none were from the naval infantry volunteers that fought in the final days of the Battle of Germania.
"I had no idea, Lieutenant," Kalikova said with real surprise in her voice. "I wish I had."
"It's no big deal now," Wendy replied. "The big deal is getting this training regimen set up. The Captain wants the crew ready to back us up in case the SS ever hit the ship, so we've got a lot of work to do. For the time being half of each shift will be overseeing training with the others. We've got holodeck time reserved and the armory's ready…"
It was after breakfast the next morning that the three guests were met by Nasira for the tour of the Maimonides. That she was giving them the tour personally spoke to some enthusiasm for the ship she was now in command of.
Colin was reminded somewhat of the HMS Beagle in a way. That particular survey vessel did double duty as a sloop of war and the UAS followed the UFP's penchant for multi-role capability in a similar way. It couldn't necessarily stand up to a proper warship, but it likely had other tricks if it wasn't forced into a straight fight. But that, he realized, was just his own bias. The Earth Alliance didn't have military science vessels at all. The explorers came close but their mission profile was all about expansion and exploitation.
Isaac was giddy for that same reason. Purpose built government run science ships were a foreign concept to the society in which he lived. There were a few science ships, but they were converted from Asimov-class liners and run by university consortia. Or IPX, but they were scientists only in the same way that televangelists were clergy.
"Captain, I'd like to thank you for giving us the tour personally. I can't imagine anyone knows the ship better." Isaac said grinning from ear to ear.
Nasira's grin nearly matched his. "I spent my first week aboard exploring every deck and section," she admitted. "From the nacelle chambers to the sensor pod. I never expected to get a command this early and I had a lot of excitement for the chance. Not every officer in the service would agree, I admit. There are those who find the concept of a cruiser dedicated to the science mission ridiculous." She led them around a corner. "In case you're wondering, the design was laid during the war with the Nazis. Command felt that a fleet of dedicated science cruisers would help with the war by releasing more of the star cruiser fleet for war duty, and they could be staffed by civilians and personnel rotated out of combat commands for time served. Even with the war over, the idea is still a good one. The star cruisers are multi-purpose ships, so freeing more of them for other missions is useful given how much they are needed. I experienced this first hand while I served on the Challenger as her First Officer. The demand for our presence was high, and we were often run as quickly as they dared."
"Hmm. Unfortunately my own government would agree with the detractors… but then, the Earth Alliance has always had short-sighted and small-minded people as leaders. 'Business' mindset, if you get what I mean. At best."
Nasira nodded at that remark. "I had some of my peers, those who don't frown down on me for my background in the Facility anyway, advising me to turn down the command and put in more time in the star cruisers. But Admiral Ikamria was quite persuasive. And I'm confident I'll get my own star cruiser regardless of this posting."
As she spoke the telepaths sensed the determination behind the words. The chain of thought also led to worry: Nasira was thinking of Julia Andreys as well, whom she'd looked up to.
She's alive Captain. Captain Dale has a connection with her, and I was in Fassbinder's mind. He has plans. Robert is walking into a trap, but there's a reason Fassbinder hates him… they'll get out of it.
Then I will pray that God gives her strength. "Here we are, gentlemen," she said, changing that subject. "This is the medbay."
The doors she brought them through led to the receiving ward of that facility. It was relatively quiet for the time of day. A pair of male nurses, one East Asian and the other a Dorei of dark blue complexion with purple spotting and hair, were running the triage desk. She waved them off and received nods in reply. "The facilities on the ship are expanded to accommodate an isolab," she explained to the guests. "In keeping with our purpose, this allows our medical staff some independent capability in analyzing unknown pathogens. A civilian specialist in xenovirology oversees the isolab under the Chief Medical Officer's oversight."
"Cool. Similar to the one on Babylon-5, though yours looks… much more advanced technologically. Had we only made contact a few years earlier the Markab would probably still be around." Colin remarked.
"Shame what happened to them, though to an extent they brought it on themselves." Isaac added. "They kept that outbreak so secret there were mere days to prevent their extinction."
Nasira nodded. She'd heard of the fate of the Markab during the Challenger's first mission to E5B1.
Further discussion of that was put off as she led them into the Standard Care ward. There was only one patient present, a crewman who was recovering from a skull fracture during the recovery efforts on New Liberty. A figure in a green robe over a Stellar Navy uniform with blue medical branch trim walked over. She was between Colin and Max in age, although with no gray or white hairs. Her skin had a mocha tone to it, with chestnut-toned hair and bright blue eyes. The telepaths knew right away she was alien - her mind didn't feel quite Human - so it was easy to guess she was Gersallian. At the same time, they could also sense she was a telepath as well. "Everyone, this is Doctor Weyana, Chief Medical Officer of the Maimonides."
Colin instinctively slipped into his telepathic senses, almost like analyzing a gravity well. It wasn't exact, not without an assessment, but he'd put her somewhere in the middle range as far as rating. "Hello Doctor." Cousin he added mentally. He knew enough about the genetics of telepathy to know the genes controlling telepathic ability were the same. Somehow. That made her a cousin in a sense, albeit at a somewhat more distant remove than the Dilgar or Centauri telepaths. At that point, he looked at the mind of her patient. No evident brain damage from the fracture, though he was suffering the lingering effects of a concussion.
Yes. Thankfully the fracture was not a serious one, but I do not take chances with such injuries. Weyana nodded respectfully. And I accept the label of 'cousin'. "Doctor, a pleasure," she said aloud, extending her hand from familiarity with Human greeting customs. Her voice had the same lilting tone of the other Gersallians the guests had spoken with, although this accent was less thick, showing a greater capability for pronouncing English clearly. "I hope you are enjoying the tour of our vessel?"
"Immeasurably, thank you." Colin replied, shaking her offered hand. "Though Isaac here, well… you can feel his mind."
"I think he might be experiencing an overload right now…" Max joked, and Isaac shot him a look.
Weyana smiled gently, the kind of smile one could find described in solar terms in particularly metaphorical literature. "I sense some of the sentiment is derived from the name of the ship. I am aware of some of Maimonides' accomplishments from my studies of Human cultures. The distinction is deserved."
"I think he would be very pleased to have this ship named for him. He valued knowledge above all things, and viewed knowledge of G_d's creation to be as close as we could get to knowing Him, though only in negative terms. We might not be able to know what G_d is, but we can know from examining His creation what He isn't. For example male. That's just a convenient pronoun, gender is meaningless."
Weyana nodded in understanding and some agreement. "Knowledge brings with it blessings, and those blessings strengthen the Light."
Well aware that the result of the exchange could be a time-consuming theological debate, Nasira smiled at Weyana and said, "You are better suited to explain the function of the medbay than I, Doctor, if you can spare the time."
"Of course," was her reply. "I will show you the wards now, then there is our laboratory spaces, including our isolab."
The tour of the medbay and isolabs went by well. Dr. Henry Moore, a xenovirologist from Universe C5O2, demonstrated some of the advanced technology they had on hand for analyzing pathogens from newly-discovered planets and biosystems.
Nasira led them down one deck, to Deck 7, and led them along a central corridor from bow to stern, toward the former. They arrived at a door labeled "Science Lab 1 - Physical Sciences" and entered.
On the inside was a variety of workstations and tables, joined with sensor equipment. Three central holotanks allowed for large-scale displaying of simulations or holo-recordings of research findings. Currently one was open showing a valley on a rocky, barren-looking world. Rocks tumbled violently toward the bottom while a host of figures, humanoid and non-humanoid watched.
"The readings are clear," one of the attending, a Human, said. "The velocity is inconsistent with the mass of the objects and the gravity of Yan Teram III-B. There is another influence at work."
Another voice, female, spoke with quiet calm. "Neither do the readings confirm your theory of a localized gravitational increase, Doctor Picknell."
"Everyone," Nasira said aloud. That prompted the others to turn. Commander Ka was among the represented scientists, only one of which was in a Stellar Navy uniform. The others all had various civilian wear on, with the exception of a cyan-colored gum-drop shaped alien form, a Gl'mulli. "These are our guests." She introduced the trio to them.
As the ship's lead Science Officer, Treepk Ka took up introductions of the scientists. "This is Doctor Roy Picknell, the head of Science Lab 1, a geologist with sub specialties in xenogeophysics and meteorology. Doctor T'Rya of Vulcan" - Treepk now indicated the woman who'd been speaking, a Vulcan with tan-toned skin wearing a black robe - "heads Science Lab 2. She is an astrophysicist with doctorates in subspace physics and quantum mechanics. Dr. Tre'tan'pana is head of Science Lab 3, she is a zoologist with xenozoology specialization." The Gl'mulli's vocoder moved across the surface of her gelatinous form to face the three. A pleased trilling sound came from the device. "Lieutenant Kwame Mabogunje oversees Science Lab 4, he holds a doctorate in botany, and his senior assistant Doctor Kenna Lopez has a doctorate in microbiology." The two figures, an African man in the Stellar Navy uniform - with the secondary trim color being dark blue for science - and a bronze-toned woman in a white lab coat over a blue blouse, nodded. "Doctor Charles Talbot holds a degree in computer language science," she now indicated a man of mixed African and European ancestry, also in civilian wear, "and heads Science Lab 5. His senior assistant, Doctor Indira Vajpayee, is a xenoarchaeologist." This brought Treepk to a dark-eyed man who otherwise looked Human, save his eyes were not the right color tone to be Human. Colin and Max both sensed telepathic capability in the man. "And our science advisor from the Federation Science Council, Doctor Andrus Hagan, assigned as part of the scientific exchange and research assistance treaty we have with the United Federation of Planets."
"A pleasure to meet you all." Colin said aloud, while thinking to Gene Did you catch that?
Of course I did. The test is an obvious one…
Max interjected by way of Colin, catching what Gene was referring to. Do they even have telekinetics? Probably a decent question to ask… Also, what the hell. Andrus Hagan looks really familiar. I suppose there are only so many ways to construct a humanoid face.
What do you mean? Max asked.
He looks a hell of a lot like Welles. Yes, that one. Gene replied through his husband's mind. Andrus felt the eyes of not two telepaths on him, but three. Now that they'd been alerted to it, none of them could escape nor would bother to hide the fact that he looked like someone all three of them found loathsome, but they didn't project that antipathy toward him at all. It was just a curiosity. There was something else that Colin picked up. A wound in his mind that was starting to heal, a tell-tale sign of acute psychological trauma.
Are you okay? He asked. Tightbeam, so even Max wouldn't know the subject matter.
Andrus's face shifted slightly, showing a small grin. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't, he projected back, with it the data that this was his first field assignment since the incident where his trauma was acquired. He was not forthcoming from that, although Colin did pick up the name Brittain and the context of it being a ship. The phrase "Tyken's Rift" came toward the end of the thought, subconsciously associated with the trauma.
Isaac on the other hand beat Colin to the verbal question with one of his own, about the basics of the experiment itself. "So if I'm hearing you properly, you have motions of objects under gravitation that aren't acting in accordance with the laws of gravitation, and are postulating some external unknown force might be acting on them?"
Picknell nodded. "Exactly. The velocity of the rockslide is inconsistent with the mass of the rocks and the actual gravity of the moon in question."
"I have conceded as much," noted T'Rya wryly. "But you are postulating a gravitational anomaly that is inconsistent with observed scientific principles."
"And you have a better explanation?" Picknell asked pointedly.
"There is insufficient data to make a…"
"Forgive me." Colin interjected. "I'm just a psychologist, but do you have telekinetics? Not people who have a connected swevyra but actual telekinetics in your telepath populations? We do, and they can actually see force vectors. If you could find one, you might be able to trace the source and confirm either technological intervention or some naturally occurring but unseen anomaly."
"A question for Doctor Weyana, certainly, although I have never heard of Gersallian telekinetics beyond the practitioners of Swenya's Order," observed T'Rya.
"Wait, Colin is that why they tend to be crazy?" Isaac asked. He considered that sensory overload and simply not having a brain that was meant to perceive those things might be enough to make one unstable.
"Probably, yeah. Not all of them, Isidora is mostly sane, and then there's Ashmeeta Vaswani, one of our architects… There's at least a couple stable telekinetics on the Byron Free Colony. They'd likely help if you asked."
Picknell smiled at that. "I'll send the request through to their government. It will be nice to finally get a solution that won't involve traveling to the far end of Dorei space."
"Glad to help. I'm sure they will be too. They fled the Earth Alliance so they wouldn't be used but that doesn't mean they don't want to contribute on their own terms…"
"I noticed you have a very heavy emphasis on the biological sciences, I assume you work in tandem with your medbay frequently?" Isaac asked, completely unaware of the telepathic conversations.
"Yes. Dr. Moore's isolab is considered an adjunct of sorts to Lab 4," replied Dr. Mabogunje. His accent was West African. Nigerian, a couple of the visitors considered. "They specialize in pathogens, of course, and analyzing health risks to the crew or future colonists, while our lab's function is analysis of the biology itself."
"I figured," the Rabbi nodded "but between the microbio, botany, and xenozoology, I can't imagine you don't have opportunities to discover things like new medications, even if you end up synthesizing them in replicators later. You have the potential here for a full discovery to clinical trial pipeline. Or is it more efficient, given your technology, to simply design medicinal interventions from scratch?" Rapid dissemination too, he considered. Probably at such a fast pace that there was no way their medical doctors could ever dream of being current, or fully integrating those advancements on any kind of scale.
"We can, if necessary, design treatments for pathogens," Dr. Lopez replied. "It's necessary should the crew become exposed to a virus or bacteria from an alien world. We only have so much capability for production, though. Short of such an emergency that we have to do the work ourselves, we usually forward findings on to the Alliance, and in turn the Stellar Navy relays those findings on to research teams to finalize everything for production."
"Ah. I suppose that follows. You have the capacity for emergencies, but it's not necessarily an efficient use of your resources."
"Exactly."
Treepk spoke up next, resuming her explanation. "Every Science Lab has its own particular range of fields. This Lab is Physical Sciences. Lab 2 is Astronomy and Cosmology. Lab 3 is Macrobiology, specifically fauna, and Lab 4 is Botany and Microbiology. Lab 5 is for analysis of artifacts, including any recovered pieces of advanced technology, and computer sciences."
"Interesting combination, that last." Max remarked.
"Potential artifacts include pieces of computer technology," stated Doctor Vajpayee. Her accent was a rich Anglo-Indian. "So placing computer science with artifact discovery made the most sense when the layouts were considered."
"We are quite lonely in Lab 3," trilled Tre'tan'pana through her vocoder. "Technically speaking, botany is a macrobiological science as well. But plants do not typically require Level 3 forcefields if they are hostile."
"Unless they are Yoland's Man-Traps from Gamma Reticuli 4," joked Mabogunje.
"Indeed so!" agreed the Gl'mulli. By this point Colin couldn't help but notice the slight electromagnetic field shift whenever Tre'tan'pana spoke.
"Plus there are all the toxins." Isaac replied "Oh sure the plants might not try to eat you, but the pollen can be deadly, and especially unpredictable with dextro amino acids…"
"Exactly. My Gl'mulli colleague just feels lonely sometimes," Lopez said in a teasing tone.
"I shall remember that the next time you come to ask my aid with one of your projects," retorted the gelatinous alien. The vocoder's electronic tone denied the voice the kind of nuance that one could use to show sarcasm or humor, but it was clear she was being teasing as well.
Colin tried to assess the electromagnetic fields to see what it was they did. A form of communication maybe?
It is, Andrus Hagan informed him mentally. Gl'mulli communicate with each other through electromagnetic fields. It is also how they see the world around them. They use the vocoders to translate their communication into spoken words, and vice versa. It also helps them to "see" life forms that their electromagnetic sensing has difficulty with.
Aaah Colin replied I wonder if I could learn the language...
Uh oh. You've brought out his not-so-inner language nerd. Max teased.
"We'll be waiting for you at each of our labs," stated Talbot. "For when the tour brings you our way." With that he and Dr. Vajpayee departed.
"While they go, allow me to show you around," said Picknell.
After time spent in Science Lab 1 (during which Nasira thought she would have to pry Picknell off of their guests with a crowbar) and a visit to the ship's gymnasium and a holodeck, Nasira led the three men into the drive hull section of the ship. The doors were further apart here and usually referred to machinery shops, storage spaces, or machinery access.
A lift ride down to Deck 15 and a minute of walking led to Main Engineering. Officers and crew here often had belts or vests for tools, all wearing black uniforms with beige branch trim. Main Engineering itself was two decks high and centered around a table with hard-light and touchscreen controls beside a large holo-viewer displaying a master system control display of the Maimonides. Along the walls were the boxy shapes of the ship's naqia reactors. Two of those reactors were tall enough to be on both decks. Two more sizable ones were on the lower deck about ten meters closer to the bow. Thick trunks of cabling ran through both while monitoring displays were watched over by engineering personnel.
Colin wondered about the use of naqia rather than Matter/Antimatter annihilation reactors he knew were common on Federation ships. Safety maybe? Given the amount of power these ships drew for everything from interuniversal drives to their weapons arrays and shields, it almost seemed to him that naqia wouldn't be up to the task. But then, they did have multiple reactors. He decided to ask.
"Forgive me what might be a silly question, my civilization is still using stellarators; but given the power requirements of your ships, wouldn't it be more efficient to use Antimatter?"
"I will allow my Chief Engineer to answer that," Nasira said, knowing he'd heard them.
At the central table, a Dorei man looked up. His skin was dark teal, with the spots along his hairline bright blue. His hair was a rich purple, his eyes a lighter shade of the same color.
"This is Lieutenant Tagiya sal Iktas," Nasira said by way of introduction.
To Colin and Max, Tagiya had the same low level sensitivity they'd felt in every other Dorei. And though his mind was alien, they felt the shadows of trauma on it.
After Nasira introduced them Tagiya nodded and spoke in an accent that sounded like a blend of Polynesian and Spanish accents. "To answer your question, Doctor, a single matter/anti-matter reactor is more efficient, but naqia is far safer as a reactor material, and naqia reactors are easier to maintain."
"Ah, I thought it might be something like that. Our intelligence indicates that UFP Galaxy-class starships have a tendency toward warp core destabilization, and when that happens…" He glyphed a mental image of a flash of light.
Tagiya grinned ruefully. "Yes. Starfleet has a legacy of over-engineering their ships on occasion. The Galaxy is a very sophisticated ship, and quite capable, but I would honestly find overseeing one's engineering department to be far too stressful. I'm sure Starfleet's engineers will sleep easier if their superiors finish a transition to naqia power."
"I imagine overseeing their engineering department must be something like supervising an old soviet fission reactor, yes."
"Not all of their ships are so badly off. I'm told the Excelsior-class ships run like a dream, which is why the Federation has used them for so long." Tagiya gestured to his display. "As for this ship, we have two capital-scale naqia reactors and two regular scale ones, as well as three small-scale reactors to supplement the two fusion reactors we use for standard power. Emergency power is provided by ten backup batteries. Due to our reactor systems being newer we have a higher efficiency rating than the existing star cruisers, so in raw power capacity, the Maimonides is not far behind them at all. The power is useful given the array of sensors we carry that are not seen on normal star cruisers."
"So," Max said "when someone in told you that you have guns armor and speed and you can only pick two; you decided to cheat. You threw enough energy at the problem that the conventions of naval engineering begged for death?"
"I suppose that if the designers had given us superior armament, that would be true," Tagiya answered.
"Among other things, the Maimonides and her sisters are compliant to the Alliance-Goa'uld treaty, allowing us to operate in the R4A1 universe," Nasira added. "Our ship isn't equipped with Darglan plasma weaponry, just phasers."
"Ah. Still the principle applies. Even you're self-defense weapons are going to be formidable, relative to other ships of your role and tonnage. From what I've heard of the Goa'uld, I have to ask: why are they permitted to continue to exist? I'm not talking about genociding them directly of course, but they're obligate parasites. Vector denial."
"They also have more dreadnought-scale starships than most of the Multiverse put together with advanced technology equal, even superior, to the Darglan," Nasira said. "And a galaxy-scale faster-than-light hyperdrive we haven't matched yet. We don't have the power necessary to defeat them if they were provoked. Any conflict would probably result in our expulsion from that universe and the conquest and subjugation of R4A1 Earth and its six billion inhabitants, as a best case scenario." She needn't mention the worst-case scenario: the Goa'uld recovering the IU drive, just as the Nazis had done.
Colin nodded "Our intelligence on that universe is a bit lacking, given our lack of IU drives we're reliant on second hand sources. We were under the impression that the Goa'uld were in decline and embroiled in factionalism between various System Lords but that could be old or a false impression."
Considering the intelligence she'd been cleared to see on them, Nasira picked her answer carefully. "While they are in decline compared to the height our intelligence indicates they once held, they still have enough power to be such a threat, and nothing would end their factionalism like a common foe that threatens their superiority."
"So you maintain the status quo, which forces them to spread resources fighting each other and thus contains them. Do understand the things they do might be more… well taking someone over like that might be more existentially horrible for us than it is even to their current supply of victims. Though we might be able to fight back more effectively, none of us have ever tried."
Isaac wasn't able to follow the conversation, being a well-educated but still civilian rabbi. "What are Goa'uld?" he asked, trying to relieve that confusion.
Max handled that question "Quasi-immortal sapient brain parasites with a God-Complex. They use sapient beings as hosts and control them like meat puppets. They masquerade as deities using mostly-stolen technology to over-awe and enslave primitive peoples to act as a supply of soldiers and hosts."
Nasira nodded. "And they destroy any civilization that becomes too advanced. The only reason the current treaty holds is because another species grants them concessions to leave us alone." Colin could hear the gentle song in her mind, a Coptic hymn sung in Arabic. She did not distrust them, but she couldn't risk letting sensitive intelligence leak into her surface thoughts.
Tagiya didn't need telepathy to see that Nasira wanted the conversation to change. "Well, if you would like, I will show you more of Engineering."
Isaac was left aghast at the very concept of the Goa'uld, especially when Colin glyphed him an image of the pyramid ships; but he set it aside and nodded "Please. I feel like I've been transported to a world of magic, but then there is that line from Arthur C. Clarke. What else does the engineering department handle?"
"We are primarily responsible for the ship's motive and power systems," Tagiya stated. "The reactors, the warp drive, the interuniversal jump drive, the navigational deflector… and other such systems linked to our mobility and power generation. If needed, we assist Ship Operations with other systems, everything from the sensors to the holodecks to the stoves used for the crew lounge. The line between our departments can occasionally blur, as ship repair is one of our secondary responsibilities. Flexibility is desired in an emergency situation. Now, these are our normal-scale naqia reactors…"
"Hmm." Isaac considered the reactor. "Standardized designs and sizes for different outputs, I take it?" He was thinking of old fission reactors on Earth, where each one was a custom job. He was happy to see that lesson had been learned.
"Yes. They are meant to be brought up to full power as our ship's power needs demand…"
The tour continued on through the Science Labs. Dr. T'Rya's demonstration of Science Lab 2's capabilities amounted to a small lecture on the nature of astronomical sciences and the requirements for them, with a brief elaboration on the nature of subspace. In Science Lab 3 Tre'tan'pana delighted in discussing the native dextro-amino acid life forms of Isaac's current homeworld, stating a wish to compare their biochemistry to samples she had from Palaven, the Turian Homeworld. Mabogunje and Lopez provided samples for the three to examine through the delicate instruments of Lab 4, and in Lab 5 Dr. Talbot shared with them restored video clips from one of the Darglan databases recovered from a site in Darglan space. Dr. Vajpayee's main attraction, besides a certain look at Colin, was an artifact from Universe F8Y3 belonging to a species believed to be called the Vaht.
From there the tour continued toward the bow, showing off main deflector control and, further down, the ventral hull's Manual Astrogation station, with its transtanium flooring that made one feel as if they were standing over empty space. Nasira demonstrated the station's reversed gravity field, causing all four to flip around so they were standing on the "roof" of the station, before they departed. "There is also one attached to the main bridge," she informed them. "There are several such stations should the ship's sensors be completely disabled, allowing for manual astrogation in an emergency."
The tour ended at the bow of the ship and the Culinary Lab. By this point the party had been touring much of the day, and all were ready for a meal. Nasira joined them, assembling a platter that required no extra cooking time, preferring the immediate gratification of basic prepared items over something more elaborate and inventive.
"Captain, that was both informative and immensely enjoyable. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to show us your ship." Colin thanked her, doing something similar with the food, in this case going for gyros. Max was eating some sort of Dorei-Indian Food fusion, and Isaac was sampling anything even vaguely kosheresque.
"You are welcome," she said. "I enjoyed showing her to you." She turned her attention to the pita in her hand and took a bite out. When she was done swallowing, she added, "And since we are still five days out from Teyan, I thought you would enjoy the chance to do something to pass the time." She looked to Isaac with slight amusement. "I was quite certain Rabbi Liebgott was already eager for just such a tour."
"Oh yesh," he confirmed over a mouthful of something that smelled like pork, but wasn't. Nasira thought it looked like Dorei kunam, which came from a buffalo-like creature from the Sindai continent.
Tell her I said thanks too.
"My husband Gene appreciated the tour as well." Colin said "He didn't catch all of it because he's busy picking up the slack for my absence, but he's been eavesdropping from time to time. He particularly appreciated the correction regarding the Goa'uld, and we'll be changing our posture toward dealing with that universe appropriately." The parasites might not have IU drives, but people who transited between universes did and if they're strong there's always a chance of infiltration.
"He is welcome as well." Nasira considered what it must be like, being constantly connected to your spouse's mind. To truly share souls. "I am very proud of my ship and crew," she added. "We finished a difficult mission to the Fracture in S0T5 just to find out about the attacks." Nasira's eyes betrayed her emotions even to Isaac. New Liberty was her home. Her family lived there, and many in her community after they left Egypt to get away from the militants who might target her and the others for getting away from their would-be converters and husbands. Her Uncle Ilyas was one of those known to have died, and her cousin Samih was among the missing, presumed dead.
Both telepaths caught that. In their home universe, the one good thing that could be said for the Earth Alliance was that violent religious conflict like that was over and done. Isaac reached across the table and offered her his hand if she wanted it, while the telepaths pretended like they didn't know everything already.
Nasira accepted the hand in the spirit offered. "There are those who have had worse lives," she said, self-conscious about her thoughts. "I saw them during the war, after we liberated their worlds."
"People might have it worse, but everyone's life is its own little universe, you don't need to measure your own pain relative to others." Isaac reminded her. "And saving that many… it's a lot of universes saved."
"It is," she agreed. "So, Rabbi, would I be right that my ship matches your expectations?"
He considered for a moment; he hadn't really considered what his expectations were "I think so. If anything it exceeds them. I didn't actually have a good context for what a science ship would look like."
Nasira laughed lightly at that. "I felt much the same way. I began my career, as you might call it, as a bridge officer on the multi-mission Darglan scout ships the Facility used. And I use the term 'bridge officer' loosely. And in Alliance service I was in command training before I became First Officer of the Challenger, a Discovery-class star cruiser with another multi-mission profile. Commanding a ship dedicated to scientific missions is something new to me. I've been speaking with Dr. Hagan to learn more about how the Federation Starfleet's science ships operate, just to have a baseline."
Isaac chuckled "Even in our home universe, the Federation has something of a reputation. Technical competence combined with… ambition."
"We've had some indirect dealings with them," Colin clarified. "Mostly through the Ferengi."
Nasira groaned. "Them. It is hard to believe such a culture can exist."
Colin laughed. "Oh, it's maddening to us too. Indiri told us about the Rules of Acquisition; it's amazing that they ever became spacefaring. However, they are excellent sources of intelligence and technology. They're like the Narn, they'll sell to anyone who can afford their prices and they'll include technical specifications for a surcharge."
"Of that I am aware. Unfortunately, they do not care whom they sell anything to."
In response to that, Max simply shrugged. "One interstellar power's headache is someone else's reason for hope."
"Even if there's no hope of actually winning, it's often all someone can do to stand up and say enough is enough. To tell the oppressor and the world that you are human beings. The Warsaw Ghetto taught us that…" Isaac added. He didn't know the specifics, very few mundanes in their home universe did, but he knew there was a war coming. He knew what the badges recapitulated. In that moment he looked at the pins on Max and Colin's chest, and they felt him cringe internally; not at them, but for them.
"My concern is not when they sell to those who need hope, but to those who are in the business of crushing that hope," Nasira elaborated. She was openly thinking about the Batarian Hegemony of M4P2. "Although that may vary by individual. Some of them must have something of a conscience."
"Quark kinda does." Colin confirmed, catching that thought and nodding. Much of their personal arms and armor had come from that universe, it was of superb quality though they lagged behind in spaceborn weapons and defensive technology. Of course, then there was the Element Zero, which Sigma was experimenting with in vitro. "The bartender on Deep Space Nine was our contact with his weapons-dealer cousin. Surprisingly, he does screen the people he sends to that moon; though given what Indiri told us, his brother Rom might be more responsible for that than he is."
Someone needs to give that one copies of the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. He has potential. Max remarked privately, and both Colin and Gene chuckled.
Unaware of the telepathic conversation, Nasira focused on finishing the last bite of her food. A check of her omnitool confirmed the time. "I'm afraid I must be going now," she said. "I have a bridge watch to get to and the day's paperwork."
"Understood Captain, responsibilities of command and all that. I have… a great deal to catch up on as well." Colin nodded.
"And once again, thank you for the tour, it's been illuminating." Isaac agreed.
Nasira gave him a friendly nod before heading off.