"You know it might not be the engine designs that are the problem"
"What do you mean Sentinel?"
"Easy, the engines were already modified a great deal back when we first tackled our little problem of getting to Republic space faster than a year and a half, now it only takes about half a year a big improvement but now we need to go even faster? I think we need to reverse our thinking in order to make the Captain's request/order work"
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that we don't tweak the engines even more, instead we start thinking about a whole new warp core design that will make us even faster"
"But that will take years to work and be approved"
"Not if we do what I did when I first returned to the Republic"
"You mean combining the technologies?"
"Yes, that happened years ago with the Bacta tanks and what not, so why can't we do the same with the engine designs that we know work? I know for a fact that the only reason why they never looked at my ship is because they never thought about it"
"But that technology is outdated by now"
"Actually in the Republic it's not, so it'll work, look just let me try it in simulations and I'll tell you how it's working, if I fail then I will tell the Captain that we can't make the ship any faster"
"In the meantime I think you need some sleep"
"You're right, I haven't slept in almost twenty-four hours because I thought I was getting close to a solution and then found out that I was as far away as when I first started tackling this problem"
"Get some sleep, someone else can work on the problem for now or if you don't trust them to know Republic technology well enough to do what you're thinking of you can at least trust us to work on solutions that don't involve Republic technology"
"Okay that I will allow because no one but me and maybe the other Sentinel's knows exactly how the engines work and as I'm the only Sentinel on board the ship I can't ask another Sentinel to take over, plus I don't know if any other Captain or members of Starfleet are starting to think six and a half months is still too long"
"Why do people think it's too long?"
"Simple, it's because of situations like this that people think that six and a half months is too long, because if there's an emergency in either galaxy then it takes way too long in several peoples minds to get help to one another"
"So all we can do is wait and hope we can get faster than six and a half months so that if emergencies happen in the future instead of months it will only take days or a couple of weeks at the most"
"Exactly, now then I desperately need to get some sleep so I'll see you after I get at least a solid twelve hours of sleep"
Fifteen hours later Ashland was back in the holodeck working on the problem with a solution in combining the two different technologies and she finally gets a solid lead on the solution and continues heading in that direction for the next three weeks and gets positive results in all the simulations, by that time they were only about two and a half months away from the Federation. She gives the Captain her daily report and he's also pleased with the results
"This is great news Sentinel Portland, I think the people in engineering will be glad for this, but I have to wonder why they didn't take advantage of Republic technology when you first arrived"
"Two reasons, first of all they had no understanding of Republic technology and didn't want to do anything that could be potentially...explosive let's just say and for another they never thought to ask me if they had permission to study Republic technology and see if we could combine the two. I was the only person who thought of such possibilities but because I was still learning for my first two years I never went to them about combining the two because I was nervous they would get onto me about that"
"And then you had to combine the two technologies anyways so that you could communicate with Starfleet after you guys made it to Republic space in the Texas"
"Exactly, by that time I was fairly certain it would work no problems, I just wasn't sure of the time it would take for the two to combine until I truly thought of it and then it only took fifteen minutes"
"Why did the Bacta tanks take longer though?"
"Those are a little more complex then the communication systems I'm afraid because it deals with technology that is potentially life saving"
"So depending on what the technology is for it's harder for the two to combine, then what does that say about our two different engine designs being able to work well together?"
"It says a lot, but at the same time do remember something, this is only a theory, we won't know if it works in the real world until we try it on one of the newer ships"
"Why not use a ship that's about to be retired I would think that makes much more sense"
"In some ways yes it would, but in others it would take twice as long to get things moving because it's in a ship ready to be decommissioned"
"Look we're going to have to find a way to pitch this idea to engineering and using newer ships typically isn't the way to do things"
"I know that Captain, but think of it from my point of view, ships ready to be decommissioned are old and typically already starting to fall apart on the inside if not the outside, it takes twice as much power to keep them running and even regular engines are ready to start cutting out on you at in opportune times how do you think that looks to someone like me who already has to combine two different technologies and is now forced to make them work in an old ship?"
"I get the point, however you still need to cover it with our engineering and design department at Starfleet and like I said they most likely won't give you a brand new ship which takes time to build anyways, besides we've modified all the current warp cores to go to Republic space in six and a half months we can do the same with current warp cores after we test yours on an older ship"
"Look I will talk to them about it but I'm telling you doing it in an old ship will only cause more delays but for now I am willing to talk and listen"
"That's all I'm asking, now then we still have two and a half months before we reach Federation space, have you figured out Sentinel assignment's that the Federation just can't handle?"
"Ages ago Captain, I even know where I'm going to request assignment within the next few days"
"Very well, talk to you again once you're on shift on the bridge in two days, now get some rest and take the two days off I'd say you've earned it"
"Yes sir and thanks"
Two days later things were back to normal and actually stayed that way until they reached Federation space, after that happened things took a turn for the worse because the Komatsu was invaded by pirates shortly before they were able to get any closer to a Federation starbase
"Okay, you are in so much trouble, time for the Sentinel Defense"
Ashland goes all out in the Sentinel Defense but was ultimately captured and put in the cargo bay with the rest of the crew
"They captured you"
"Like I didn't notice Lt. look I know you're shocked but they would've caught me eventually because of how fast and sudden this attack was, I was lucky that first time a ship I was on was captured this time I didn't get so lucky"
"But you were using your Sentinel Defense I thought no one could beat you with the Sentinel Defense"
"Hey I never stated that, it just gives us an edge is all, you never know the enemy though so it is still possible to be caught using the Sentinel Defense, like this time"
"So what's the plan now?"
"Don't worry I have a few ideas and even if we're dropped off on some planet with no means to communicate with the rest of the Federation I still have means of contacting people"
"You mean T'vran?"
"No, there's a reason why I suddenly collapsed a month ago in the middle of my shift"
"How did it happen?"
"According to his Captain he was on what was supposed to be an easy away mission, or at least easy compared to the last three missions, unfortunately things happened and he was killed in the line of duty, but still even without him I have my methods and no I will not be explaining them to anyone, mainly because they involve Republic information that you don't have"
Well they were dumped onto another planet while the Komatsu was taken further into Federation space which meant everyone was now in danger because the Komatsu was a friendly ship and would be considered as such until such a time a reason is given for them not to be considered friendly
"What now?"
"Easy we use my method of communicating with the right people to inform them the Komatsu is no longer a friendly ship"
She then sits down in her typical meditation pose and goes deep into the Force seeking out a Sentinel or at least a Force sensitive, and if that failed she would then expend herself trying to make contact with a non Force sensitive, but fortunately a Romulan vessel was actually nearby and one of them was Force sensitive enough to get the message, even without proper training. It also helped that the Romulan was currently asleep and as such more receptive to Force messages
Mental connection
"Look as soon as you wake up inform your commanding officer that the Komatsu is no longer a friendly ship, it has been taken over by what I am calling pirates, warn the rest of the Romulan and her allies fleet, inform the Federation but most importantly inform Starfleet so that they can warn everyone else before a confrontation happens and the Komatsu is declared rogue"
End of communication
Ashland opens her eyes and talks after she regains her bearings
"Well I sent a message, now all that's left is for the Romulan to believe the message and inform his superiors immediately now then I need a nap because this method drains me pretty badly still"
"Get some sleep Portland we have watch"
Meanwhile on the Romulan vessel
"Sir I am not lying to you I did receive a message while I was dreaming"
"But how is that possible soldier?"
"I don't know but I get the feeling that this was no ordinary dream, either way we should contact Starfleet and tell them the message"
They do contact Starfleet and give them the message
"How did you come by this information?"
The Romulan who had the dream told them
"Just under an hour ago I was asleep when suddenly I had a dream where someone told me that the Komatsu had been taken over by what they were calling pirates and that I needed to inform everyone else who are our allies and the Federation, but it was vital Starfleet heard this before an attack that forced you to declare the Komatsu rogue"
"Tell me was this person female?"
"Yes they were"
"Did they look like this?"
With that the Admiral brought up Ashland's picture