Engineers of Different Strokes
Posted on Thu Sep 5th, 2024 @ 5:30pm by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Alan Harrison & Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
Edited on on Sat Sep 7th, 2024 @ 8:29am
1,465 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Crossed Wires
Location: Lee-Zurian Ship, Engineering Bay
Timeline: After First Encounter
The Lee-zurian who was tasked to guide Alan and Gunnar down to engineering was smaller than the others. And much more quiet. Any questions asked were answered with a soft chirrup, and she rarely looked behind her to see if they were following. She just assumed they were.
The engineering room itself was massive; and the most brightly lit on the ship. She did not explain this, only guiding them to the most central area, where a soft, purplish glow radiated from the glassy pillar in the middle. It was only then that she turned to the pair, making a gesture. "This our engine," she stated curtly. Her eyes narrowed at Alan. He seemed to be the engineer. "Power low. No power source so far out."
Alan took out his tricorder and began scanning the pillar. He'd never seen anything quite like it before, and it seemed his tricoder hadn't either, eventually emitting a defeated chirp indicating no match had been found in its database. "What power source does your ship use?" he asked the Lee-zurian, trying to be as straight-forward and matter of fact as possible until they got the universal translator up to speed.
"Is a liquid." Unlike her compatriots, the Lee-zurian engineer was straight and to the point best she could be. While she understood that there were going to be issues with translation, she seemed more interested in the idea of getting out of their situation. "We get it from our planet or from any source we can."
She narrowed her eyes a moment, before gesturing to be followed. It was a short trip to the glassy pillar in the middle, pointing up at the liquid inside. "Is supposed to be blue. This means low power." She pointed toward the console in front of them, and while the linguistic symbols may have been harder to read, the image of a bar that was three quarters clear and one quarter a similar purple to the pulsating core made it clear. "Unsure of what to call resource. It occurs naturally on our planet in minerals."
"Silica... " Gunnar murmured, almost to himself, eyes widening at the faint blue in the nearly clear liquid - a shade reminiscent of warm spring waters he remembered well. Stepping forward, he adjusted his medical tricorder, scanning the liquid. "I have no idea how it powers the ship, but the blue is from silicon dioxide - it's why the Blue Lagoon back home is blue; it reflects only blue wavelengths of visible light. It's also..." He paused, tuning his scans, then looking around is delighted wonder, "...bioreactive. Half the components here are organic."
"Strange that the tricorder couldn't pick it up. It must have an unusual signature or something, or perhaps the organic components alter the structure of the material?" Alan replied to Gunnar, "Does their ship run on... sand?" He continued scanning the rest of the engine structure, hoping to figure out how the engine worked so they could get it up and running again.
"What is sand?" asked the Lee-zurian in annoyance. "Is mostly solid when found. Warms quickly to liquid. We use to power everything. Homes, ships, systems. On home planet, it is everywhere. Generates itself. Makes for easy energy."
"We have this on my planet, on most of the land surface," Alan replied, hoping it would translate, "We use it for decoration. What kind of planets can you find it on?"
"Maybe not sand..." Gunnar thought out loud. He was at a loss as to the engineering, but medical studies had a heavy chemistry component, especially given that not all lifeforms were carbon based, so he could still recall the analogy his biochem professor had made between silica in semi-conductors and in Horta neurological systems. "The most common solid form is quartz, but there's also biogenic silica, like hydrated silica that are essential for structural development and as nutrients for many organic life forms. Though what they're describing almost sounds like a naturally occurring silica aerogel, which would be quite a rarity."
Alan nodded to acknowledge Gunnar's thoughts, before directing a question to the Lee-zurian, "How do you get this from minerals?"
"Minerals? It comes from native plants." She paused, eyes narrowing. Whether it was from suspicion or from trying to see how she was going to communicate this, it was hard to tell. "They give sap, we melt it down. Plants are all over our home planet."
"Silica from plants?" Alan thought out loud. After a few seconds, he turned to Gunnar, "Say, don't some grasses on Earth accumulate silica?"
Gunnar nodded. "Yes, most flowering grasses, in fact, on earth and other class M planets as well, but in their leaves, not as sap. Sap trees hold some silica - nearly all plants do, to some extent, as it's necessary for growth, but not a significant amount." Honestly, he probably had more silica in his tissues, both naturally and from growing up in farm country where it was regularly applied in fertilizer... "But plants need it, so hydroponic systems always include silica in their nutrient mixture!" He began pulling up data on his tricorder. "It also aids in protecting against heat and drought, so there may be something we could adapt in the Vulcan database."
As the pair went back and forth, the engineer seemed less and less enthused, even when the translator caught up and she could understand what they were talking about. They were talking about solving the issue. Which was what they said they were going to do, but she could not believe it. "Are you... always this kind?" she finally asked, eyes narrowing in clear distrust. "We have had many who claim to want to help, and all they do is take. You won't... take?"
"We hope others would help us if we were in your situation, so we try to help others when we are able," Alan replied, still trying to be clear for the translator, even if the conversation seemed to be flowing a bit better than before, "It is part of our mission, to help."
Gunnar nodded. "We believe in reaching out in friendship and we have no need to take, so we can share freely." He smiled. "Which isn't to say that we wouldn't love to learn about your people and your remarkable science and culture. But purely on your terms," he added quickly. "We ask nothing you would not willingly give."
"Share." The Lee-zurian engineer mulled the word. "We... Can share. We barter with other cultures that do not wish to simply take." While she was hesitant, she did seem intrigued by the concept. And their technology was advanced compared to theirs. There was a part of her that would not have minded at least a little look-see. "I will inform the Captain of what we discussed here. This was part of why we left. We had heard of people such as yourselves coming and being... Kind to races that were deemed lesser by others. He was curious. So we decided to go as far as we could while we ran."
At this, her head rocked side to side a little, and a soft, melodic hum came from her throat. "He is a very persuasive Captain. But good. I am sure we can all come to an agreement."
"Sounds good, we will discuss the matter with our ship," Alan replied.
The engineer nodded along, before reaching up and pulling one of the soft, pliable orbs that hung from the ceiling. It reacted to her touch, brightening up, but only for a moment, as it returned to its more dormant state. "If we could get this powered up somehow, we could land nearby safely. And then any visits will be... less intrusive." It seemed she was aware of how awkward their first 'visit' went, despite her Captain's haphazard nature.
Alan was distracted by the orb. "Is that... a hydrogel?" he inquired.
Imagining the translator might not be up to that term yet, Gunnar a scan of the orb. "It appears to be. Similar to the ones we use in some artificial organs, but much larger and both electrically and chemically reactive. Remarkable..." he said, adjusting the tricorder and taking further readings. "There's a whole network of them."
Alan turned to the Lee-zurian. "Is this how you store your ship's power?"
"Yes," the engineer responded. "They are much brighter when fully charged." She gestured to the ceiling, where differently colored globules hung. "They are programmed to power different parts of the ship. Life support, engine power, computer systems. It is the most efficient way, we have discovered, to utilize this source."
"Interesting, " Alan replied, "I think I might have an idea about how we can help." He smiled at the Lee-zurian.
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