Chapter 02- Tour
TRANSPORTER ROOM 1
USS WISCONSIN
STARDATE 6320.5
The transporter finished its cycle and Adama was standing on the platform. Jacobs and Leonaidas were there to greet him. Adama asked, "Permission to come aboard, Captain."
Jacobs stepped forward and shook his hand. "Granted, welcome to the Wisconsin. Where would you like to start first?"
Adama stepped off the platform and said, "How about your Bridge. I've heard that it's not the standard bridge, like many other aspects of your ship."
Jacobs motioned and the group started walking toward a turbolift. "That is correct. The bridge idea was an adaptation that Commander Troy Simmons and I were thinking on prior to leaving the Wolverine. When the new bridge idea came out of Starfleet Technical, we liked a lot of aspects, but not everything would work with the idea that we had for the 'ideal' bridge." The group stepped in the turbolift and Jacobs said, "Bridge." An acknowledging tone responded and the turbolift started off.
Adama noted, "How hard was it to work your manual controls into the bridge?"
Jacobs explained, "The toughest part was getting Starfleet to sign off on it. Shorewood Controls had actually had a system installed in the first starships, but over time, the thinking that the mass, complexity, and maintenance wasn't worth the installation. We convinced the powers-that-be that with the loss of control that starships experienced over time, it was worth the work."
The doors opened and the view from the turbolift was impressive. The turbolift was on the same level as the stations surrounding the central part of the bridge. In the center was the Navigation, Helm, and of course the Captain's chair. Surrounding were the various stations. Adama looked all around. One change he noticed immediately was that each of the stations had large screens behind them, and each station had the primary controls facing inward. Adama had seen pictures, but in person it was impressive. He nodded approvingly. "This isn't what I was expecting."
Jacobs was surprised. "What do you mean?"
Adama had a half-smirk on his face. "From the way I've heard Starfleet Technical complain about this ship, I didn't expect the state-of the art look. Virtually the whole wall of the bridge is covered in displays, almost no inch is wasted."
Leonaidas chirped in, "We wanted it that way. The displays are repeaters of the screens that the individual stations have. The wall screens show mostly what the station operator is viewing."
Adama looking around could see the stations. Immediately to his left was engineering, then going clockwise around from there was Security, Weapons, the big screen bordered by a couple of large tubes, then Science, Tactical, and finally Communications. "It's a welcome change from the old bridge design. All those idiot lights on the boards, and not enough displays."
Jacobs nodded, "Exactly. The idiot lights are replaced by screens which are multifunctional. The old idiot light bridge also had the problem if you lost power, you lost all control of the ship. We can still fight this ship even without."
Adama chuckled, "That is the joke that Starfleet Technical had about you. You invented the first Amish Starship."
Jacobs smiled, "If that's the word out there, that's great. The more I can catch people off guard about this ship, the better. When everything is up and running, the bridge operators have the advantage of simply looking up from their displays and seeing everything at once. Decisions can be made immediately."
Adama asked, "Give me an example from your last mission."
Jacobs looked at Mr. Hornblower, sitting in the Captain's chair. "Conn, please reconfigure the Bridge to show the Beluga landing action."
Ensign Hornblower said, "Aye Aye sir. Tactical, Weapons, Science, Security, please bring up relevant displays. Nav, Helm, Engineering, and Communications please stay as you are."
Jacobs pointed to the various stations to show the highlights. "As you can see, the Tactical station showed the immediate vicinity around the ships, as well as the list of Beluga crew that we knew and Sickbay status. The Security station could simply look across the bridge to see how many crew still needed to be accounted for. The Tactical station could advise on who else was around. Science showed the positions of all lifeforms superimposed on a schematic of the Beluga, that Security could use to guide the landing parties in the search. Weapons showed the damage of Beluga and the Security station could use that to guide parties also. What you may not be able to see right now is that the worst view you have is the station right next to you. In this case, the Security coordinator brought up a repeat of the Damage screen in front of him to better able to coordinate. All this time, the Center seat can observe his crew handle the situation without interfering. The Center seat truly has the big picture, and makes big picture decisions."
Adama was amazed. "You don't get information overload?"
Jacobs shook his head, "No, the problem is the temptation is to micromanage. I view the drills we do as training for me as well as the crew. The Captain, as you well know, has to be efficient at delegating and coordinating as well as making decisions."
Adama looked at Jacobs. "How can you drill? If you come up with the scenarios, you know what is going to happen."
Jacobs pointed to Leonaidas. "Leo and I switch. I come up with scenarios for him, he plays Captain. He comes up with them for me as well."
Adama looked at Leonaidas, "Is it hard for you with a Security background?"
Leonaidas shook his head, "Not at all. Josh got me interested in fleet history, and with it being over a hundred years since Starfleet was created, there are more than enough historical scenarios to adapt from. Also, I have been looking at current Starfleet intelligence briefings and come up with my own. Remember that every XO has qualified for starship command."
Adama nodded. "You've done the Kobayashi Maru?"
Leonaidas nodded, "Yes."
Adama asked, "How long did you last?"
Leonaidas smirked, "Seven minutes."
Adama looked surprised, "What did you do to last that long?"
Leonaidas answered, "I concentrated on the first ship then when it had a shield down, I beamed a photon torpedo into the engine room. After that, it was me against only two Klingons, much better odds."
Adama chuckled, "Original. Josh, Leo, this is very interesting. I see the state of the art, now how do you fight without power?"
Jacobs turned to Hornblower. "We will show you. Mr. Hornblower, run an EMP drill. The whole works."
Hornblower acknowledged. "Aye aye, sir. The works. All stations, reconfigure from showing the Beluga."
All bridge stations acknowledged as returning to normal operations. Hornblower looked around, when he was satisfied, he pushed the PA button on the command chair. "All hands, this is CONN. By order of the Captain, this is a drill. Battle stations EMP Drill, Battle stations EMP drill. Prepare for simulated EMP. This is only a drill."
Instantly the bridge started transforming: the lighting subtly changed from normal lighting to a reddish hue, over the Communications and Security stations a door popped open with several levers with labels on them, the columns to either side of the screen moved vertically revealing some optical devices, and perhaps the most dramatic was an opening that opened up to form a stairwell down to the deck below. Two crewmen came from downstairs and manned the optical devices in front and started searching. Lt. Jareau turned to Ensign Hornblower and reported, "All stations report ready for EMP." She also handed a pair of shoe covers to Leonaidas.
Hornblower acknowledged, "Thank you Lieutenant. Commander Santini, are you ready for simulated EMP?"
Santini turned and nodded, "All ready Mr. Hornblower."
Adama was impressed at the transformation. He looked around and asked, "What were the transformations?"
Jacobs explained, "When the EMP fires, almost all electrical fields go to zero for a few minutes, we think the effect lasts for five minutes. To fight, we need to maneuver the ship. Controls at both the helm and nav station have manual backups that basically fire thrusters to both control the attitude and translating the ship. Stations like Security and Communications have handles to pull that will deploy signs throughout the ship so that the crew can get rudimentary commands. Other stations like engineering and Weapons have air hoses where they can talk to Engineering and the forward phaser emitters. Those scopes in front actually are connected to both optical telescopes both on top and bottom of the dish, and also, they are connected to the respective forward phaser emmiter on top and bottom of the dish. Let me show you."
Jacobs, Leonaidas, and Adama walked up to the screen where the periscopes were at. Jacobs motioned for the crewmen to give way and let Adama take the scope on the top of the dish. "As you move the scope left or right, the connection is mechanically linked to a hydraulic system that moves both the top phaser and top telescope. You can change the magnification with one lever and change the elevation with this other lever."
Adama moved the scope around and was amazed at the clarity. Changing the magnification was a blink, then the image came in as the new set of lenses snapped into place. He could look all over the top side of the Wisconsin. Adama asked, "What powers the hydraulic system?"
Jacobs pointed to a very simple dial on the wall. "Nothing. Pressure is stored in an accumulator system and can be monitored here. We have enough hydraulics for about fifteen minutes of operation. Mr. Santini is working on an engine to give us power even under EMP."
Adama took his eyes away from the scope, "How?"
Jacobs explained, "The idea is to use a Sterling thermodynamic engine running a pressure pump. We can use the heat from anything hot and exhaust it overboard. It's still in the concept phase, lots of ideas to crunch out, but ideally it would power the hydraulics as long as we have heat in the ship."
Leonaidas chipped in, "And cold outside."
Adama nodded understanding, he then asked, "How do you fire the phasers?"
Jacobs explained, "When CONN commands to fire, the command is SHOOT. The operator refines the aim then commands fire. When he does, the WEAPONS console pulls the fire handle for the top phaser. The phaser crew will see a fire flag deploy and mechanically close the phaser capacitor relay, firing the phaser. This also retracts the fire flag and a CHARGED flag on the Bridge Weapons console. We have one recharge from a battery in a protected chamber, when the phaser crew sees the phaser is recharged, they pull the charged handle and the Bridge station sees a CHARGED flag. We have two shots, and will have to recharge both the phaser capacitor and battery when the EMP subsides."
Adama could not get over how nice the scope worked. "I'd love to be able to see the surface."
Jacobs said, "We can accomplish that, first I want to show you basically what happens on an EMP. Admiral, continue to man the scope, search for anything that we will hit. Mr. Hornblower, fire simulated EMP."
Leonaidas handed the shoe covers that he received earlier to the Admiral. "Admiral, slip these on over your shoes." Adama dutifully did.
Hornblower nodded. Pushing the PA he said, "Attention all hands, simulated EMP firing in thirty seconds." Hornblower looked to Santini. "Mr. Santini, fire simulated EMP in thirty seconds."
Santini nodded. He pulled up the program for the simulated EMP and a button appeared on a screen. The location was right beside a door that was next to the screen. Jacobs explained, "Our simulated EMP is just that, simulated. It will cut off all electrical power all over the ship with some notable exceptions. Some power is retained in engineering to prevent the Warp core from automatically venting, this power is also used to power some lighting that simulates our emergency lighting."
Adama asked, "How do you get lights with no electrical fields?"
Leonaidas answered, "Chemically." He reached into his uniform and pulled out a clear plastic tube. He bent the tube and broke an internal capsule. After this he shook it up, creating an errie green glow, but it was bright. Leonaidas continued. "A binary chemical when mixed creates this glow. We have different colors too. Red here on the bridge because it allows the eye to see in low light for the scopes."
Santini announced, "Firing simulated EMP in 3, 2, 1, MARK." And he pushed the virtual button. Instantly all the screens and normal lighting went dark. A red glow came from small lighting in various places around the bridge. Also, the artificial gravity went away. Adama could feel the sickening feeling of coming off the floor, except the shoe covers held fast to the deck.
Jacobs explained. "This is how the bridge would look under an actual EMP. The lights in this case are part of that powered lighting I was referring to earlier. Now for your look at the planet. Mr. Hornblower, orient us to give the good Admiral a look at the planet."
Hornblower nodded and said, "Aye Sir." He maneuvered from the Captain's chair and floated to the stairway just in front of the helm. Once there, he planted his feet on the floor and called downstairs, "PLOT, give attitude for inverted attitude relative to Planet's normal."
Adama heard some numbers but could not make them out. Hornblower turned to the helm and said, "Mr. Carter, roll 135 degrees left, then 70 degrees up."
Carter at the helm operated the ship and everyone on the bridge could feel the ship move and heave to the correct attitude. Once there, Hornblower announced, "Starbase 5 directly in front on the nose."
Adama slewed the scope around to face the front. The planet was beautiful to look at. Adama was looking at the raw image, not a computer-generated image from various sensors displayed on a screen. Starbase 5 was very similar to Earth, and just as beautiful. He changed magnification to view various landmarks. Changing the magnification again, he could make out the office complex of Starbase 5, the very large landing pad, and the hanger complex. Slewing around, he could also see some of the orbital drydock facilities. It was amazing, he realized that he could also have done precision shots and hit targets with no other guidance than his eyes and hands. "Right where you said it was going to be. What instrumentation do you have under EMP?"
Jacobs pointed to the helm. "Those boxes that came up on top of the helm console are gyroscopes. They only take a minute to spin up and start spinning when we reconfigure for EMP. The Gyroscopes are easy to read for the ship's attitude. Down the stairs is what we call 'Deck 2'. It's a large open place where we can holographically display any information we want. Under EMP, one of the walls contains a mechanical computer like what World War II submarines had for tracking targets. CONN asks for the information and they send it up."
Adama observed, "Impressive ship Josh. Well thought out." About this time the lights came back on and gravity came back on.
Leonaidas explainded, "Simulated EMP over."
Jacobs turned to Hornblower. "Secure from EMP, report when ready."
The bridge returned to normal, shortly later Hornblower turned to Jacobs, who was still standing by the big screen. "All stations secure, no casualties or damage reported."
Jacobs nodded, "Let's continue the tour. Mr. Hornblower, thank you for indulging us, the ship is yours again."
The three officers stepped in the turbolift and Jacobs said, "Security." And the turbolift started moving.
Adama asked, "Who was the young officer at the CONN?"
Leonaidas answered, "Ensign Hornblower."
Adama asked, "Why such a junior officer? Why not one of the Senior ones, especially during an inspection?"
Jacobs answered, "Excellent training opportunity. He has training wheels on the bridge, there were a lot of senior officers there. I have the junior officers stand watch over CONN during non-critical times. After every watch, they go through a debrief with me and the senior officers that observed the watch. We talk about everything. My point is to groom them into being better leaders. Your inspection is a perfect time to put some pressure on him without risking the ship's operation."
Adama smirked, "Tell Mr. Hornblower he impressed the old man. What is next?"
Jacobs answered, "I'd thought you would like to meet the Badgers."
Adama lowered his head and smiled, "I would, very much."
The tour continued through the security area, then went to the photon torpedoes and of course, engineering. Overall, most of the ship looked like what the new Enterprise class ships will look like, the customization that the Wisconsin had was mostly subtle. Adama was impressed with the extras that the Wisconsin had installed. "Josh, you have an impressive ship and crew. I look forward to your deployment and what lies in the future."
Jacobs smiled, "Thank you sir. This is not just my idea, but everybody involved. As we formed the crew, I shared the vision with the senior officers, and asked them to come up with ideas for improvements. I also wanted historical precedent for the reasons for improvements. Admiral, I believe we have one stop left, and I've saved what I think you would most enjoy for the last."
Leonaidas quipped, "I'll get my barfbag."
RAPTOR 1
MANEUVERING NEXT TO USS WISCONSIN
Adama was truly enjoying the flight. Jacobs had let him do most of the flying, and it took the Admiral back years. Adama turned to Jacobs, "Josh, this has been probably the most enjoyable inspection I've had. I think you are right on with the philosophy of the Wisconsin. In the meantime, enjoy your shore leave."
Jacobs smiled. "We will. Thank you, the crew thanks you."
Leonaidas was sitting in the lead squad seat, directly behind Adama. He leaned forward and mentioned, "Admiral, can we have you fly with us? I'm not nearly as spacesick as when Josh flies!"
Jacobs had a wry smile and pointed to Leonaidas, "Always a critic." And the men had a good laugh.
Suddenly Lt Jareau's voice came over the radio, "Wisconsin to Raptor 1."
Jacobs opened the channel, "Raptor 1, go ahead."
Lt. Jareau continued, "Priority message for Admiral Adama."
Adama spoke up. "Adama here, can you forward it though to us?"
Lt. Jareau spoke up, "Sorry, Sir. It's marked as Secret."
Adama asked, "Who is it from?"
"Admiral Clayborne sir."
Adama spoke up, "What's the time delay?"
Jareau answered, "Four hours."
Adama sighed. Clayborne is no longer on Earth, but significantly on the way here. "Alert my office, I'll take it there."
ADAMA'S OFFICE
STARBASE FIVE
Yeoman Street stood up, "Welcome back Admiral. There's a message for you from Admiral Clayborne."
Adama said quietly, "Thank you Miss Street." He walked in to his office and the doors slid closed behind him. He logged into his computer and pressed the icon for the message. Admiral Clayborne's image showed up.
Clayborne spoke. "Bill, I'm enroute to you and will be there in six days. The purpose of my visit is inspection and evaluation. I want you to inform the cargo vessels that are slated to leave Starbase 5 later in the week that according to Starfleet regulations, they will participate in wargames on their departure, the delay to their schedule will be at most one day. The exact list is appended to this message. Clayborne out."
Adama leaned back and thought a minute. Clayborne was Jameson's lackey; it cannot be a coincidence that he is heading out here. If Clayborne wanted to do a wargame, it probably involves the Wisconsin, and he could have done that when the Wisconsin was back at Earth. Jameson must have really got to him for him to take an unscheduled trip all the way out here, and that could not be good for Jacobs. Wargames with cargo ships? That could mean anything. How best to handle this? Adama did not like politics, especially when one of his officers was being railroaded. This smelled bad. How best to handle this? Adama was a quiet man, often spoke in a hushed voice. He pushed the reply button and simply said, "Acknowledged."
He thought a minute more. Clayborne is going to be here in six days, and the unsaid item was going to be the Wisconsin. Clayborne surely did not leave Earth to inspect a bunch of civilian cargo vessels that Starfleet had chartered. He pushed the intercom button to Yeoman Street, "Miss Street?"
"Yes Sir?"
Adama said, "Contact the Wisconsin, ask Captain Jacobs when he would like a service shuttle for his shore leave. Arrange to have one dropped off, I'll fly it."
"Sir?"
"Adjust my schedule accordingly, I need some air time."
"Yes Sir."
OFFICER'S MESS
IKV TERROR
Kruge strode into the room and all stood up. The Captain of the Terror named Cern gave the Klingon salute to Kruge and said "Captain Kruge!"
Kruge delivered a backhand so strong Cern fell backwards across a table, he leaped up angered, but Kruge stared him down. "That's LORD Kruge, to you! I'm of the same house as the Emperor!"
Cern glowered, "Lord Kruge, it is an honor!"
Kruge turned to face all the warriors in the room. As Klingon warriors, they left a lot to be desired, especially their Captain. The mission of this ship is not honorable, and would not attract the best warriors anyway. Kruge started into his speech, "Warriors of Terror, we embark on a great mission for the Empire. We are to engage a Federation starship in extended combat, your ship will make that possible. Your ship's stasis weapon will be employed to freeze a Starfleet vessel. I will come out of cloak and start attacking the ship. Once I have their shields down, I will beam some of your warriors over to their ship for personal combat! You will bring along our traditional melee weapons, the batleth and mekleth and strike terror into the Federation!"
Cern remarked, "What about the Organians?"
Kruge turned sharply as to an insolent dog barking, "We continue battle until they stop us! Do you have a problem with that?"
Cern remained quiet. Kruge spoke again, "Since your disruptors won't work, you will use the melee weapons and attack the weak Starfleet crew."
The warriors started getting excited at the battle to be at hand. Kruge continued, "We will proceed to a point just outside the Federation Neutral zone and wait for our prey. In the meantime, we will drill. They are as good as dead right now! Death to the enemies of the Empire!"
The Klingons started chanting and Kruge changed the chant, "Long live the Emperor!"
The chanting continued. Kruge thought that these warriors still had a Klingon heart, the battle will go well.
CORRIDOR 7C
USS WISCONSIN
Jacobs was walking toward the physics lab. Wisconsin's primary mission was still exploration, just with a heavy security attachment. Lt Gibbs came around a bend and walked up to the Captain. "Captain, can I have a moment?"
Jacobs answered, "Absolutely, walk with me. What's up?"
Gibbs said, "Practice, sir. During our time for shore leave, I'd like to practice some long distance shots with the sniper firearm."
Jacobs smiled, "Your Barret .50 caliber?"
Gibbs nodded, "Yes sir, I need to keep in practice. Shooting targets tossed out the hangar bay does not really help in a real situation. We need gravity for one thing."
Jacobs had an idea. "Do you have a data pad?"
Gibbs handed one over. Jacobs started typing and explaining, "Would a hunt be good for you?"
Gibbs smiled and nodded, "That would be excellent. What are you thinking?"
Jacobs looked up, "We have three luaus coming up. A roasted boar would be good for each one."
Gibbs chuckled, "It would be perfect. Do you know where to go?"
Jacobs shook his head, "Not specifically, but here is someone that does. He will take care of everything for you. All you have to do is shoot. Give me a half hour to contact him."
Gibbs took the pad and looked at it. He looked up to Jacobs, "He's out here?"
Jacobs smiled, "Just give me a half hour."
BRIEFING ROOM
USS EXCALIBUR
Captain Jackson looked at the big board of Starbase 5's system. He pointed to it and said, "Admiral Clayborne, it depends on what you want the wargame to test. Are you testing the Excalibur? The cargo ships? What exactly is your purpose?"
Clayborne thought how to put it without giving away the real purpose. "We've been having a debate among the admiralty of small vs large ships. Should we build a few battleships or many small ships?"
Jackson tried to think a polite way of saying what he was thinking. "You produce a mixture. You don't need a fleet of one type of ship."
Clayborne was irritated, "I know that. How should I put it, can a cruiser take you one to on one?"
Jackson shook his head, "Never. This ship is worth two cruisers. In some cases, efficiencies of scale work for us."
Clayborne continued, "Ok, could two cruisers destroy you?"
Jackson nodded, "Possibly. Out in open space, never. In a system, they can use asteroids, planets, whatever else to make it difficult for me to defend against both. I still should win though."
Clayborne asked, "That was what I was thinking. What about a Cruiser and Liberty class freighters?"
Jackson was trying to think of what Clayborne was trying to do. It sounded like a test for the Excalibur, but why would you send a battleship to attack a convoy? You would use one to protect the convoy. "It would take a lot of freighters. They don't have much shielding and virtually nothing for weapons. The Liberty class is the best armed, but they still don't have much. Sir, if this is a test for the Excalibur, it would be better to defend the convoy, rather than attack."
"I know that, but what about attacking?"
Jackson thought for a bit, "Well, a battleship attacking a convoy isn't really efficient. We would have to be mobile and move fast, and that costs power. We lose our efficiency of scale then and it starts to hurt us, because it takes a lot of power to move a ship this big. Are you looking for a strict battle point equivalency?"
Clayborne nodded. Jackson thought a bit more starting to add things up. "Combining shielding and weapons along with a Cruiser escorting them, at least a dozen, probably more."
Clayborne was surprised. He knew that the Excalibur was powerful, and it is going to be tough to round up that many ships. He turned to Jackson, "Thank you Captain. That is all." Jackson turned and left. Clayborne continued to think, there were not that many cargo vessels scheduled to be at Starbase 5. The problem would be to scare up the extra ships. He did want this test to be as close as possible to being fair, just to make it appear to be fair. Still, he thought that Jackson was deliberately underestimating the Excalibur to avoid looking bad. Some more research is in order.
KANG'S QUARTERS
IKV KLOLODE
LOCATION SOMEWHERE IN KLINGON SPACE
Kang leaned back and was tired from looking at the latest intelligence reports. Overall, they were bland. He reached over and grabbed a flask of water and sipped it a bit. This one on some action the Federation took on a Norsican outpost was a bit unusual though. Just then his wife, Mara, who also was his science officer came in from her duty watch. She recognized the look on Kang's face and asked, "What is wrong husband?"
"I have been looking at the intelligence reports. This one here intrigues me."
"What is unusual about it?"
Kang sighed, "First, this did not come through normal intelligence channels. I have looked at reports so long I can recognize how we got them. This one I cannot. It is as though we got a direct download from the Norsican base that was hit."
Mara sat down and looked at the computer. "Perhaps we did."
Kang shook his head and his scowl was unchanged, "I checked with the High Command. We had no authorized operations with the Norsicans."
Mara turned and asked, "What about unauthorized ops?"
Kang's scowl deepend, "That's what worries me."
Mara looked at the computer and her hands flew across the keyboard. "First look is that it is a rescue. Looks like a Cruiser and a smaller ship attacked. That cruiser looks similar to Kirk's ship."
Kang nodded, "It is the latest version, an improved class. Go on."
Mara quickly scanned the data. "Normal type engagement, readouts, what's that?"
Kang's scowl softened, "Now you see what I see?"
Mara moved the cursor forward and backward, "It looks like the data stopped recording for at least five minutes."
Kang nodded, "Exactly."
Mara started getting engrossed in the data, "I need to check this out."
Kang leaned forward, "Later, Wife. First, we need time to ourselves." And they kissed.
