Science

Posted on Thu Mar 26th, 2026 @ 8:33pm by Lieutenant Darru & Ensign Lilith Magnum

Mission: Royal Mail
1229 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The old lab that was still closed down was where Darryl found himself looking over documents from the the planet where they found the fuel last month. He was still trying to look into ways to make the fuel last so they would not have that issue once in a while as the humans did not cope well and he wanted to live to make it home if it was possible. He would be the only one due to age but he wanted to make it there and for that they needed fuel or at least a better approach to reusing what they had.

He glanced up as a familiar face slipped into the space he thought no one else ventured into. “Ensign?” The Vulcan questioned glancing up.

Lilith looked up from the PaDD she was looking at. "Oh, hello Sir. I didn't realize someone was using this space. I was just looking for an area to work on a side project. I'll just go back to my quarters and allow you some space." Lilith began to step back.

"I always use this space, but there is more than enough space for us both," The man assured, indicating all the space around them. "But let's hear about your side quest." He said, turning to look back at her to work out what she was up to.

Lilith stood there for a moment, then rushed into her pet project "I am not sure you know what my assignment was before being posted to the Atlantis. I was on the project Pioneer Pathway. It is an attempt to improve Earth’s astronavigation abilities. We werewas mapping all the known Pulsar stars as well as all the Andorian and Vulcan subspace beacons to better see if we could improve astrogation for Starfleet, and by extension Earth Cargo Service. Well I have begun extrapolating the data from the Pioneer Pathway with our current astrogation data. I am hoping to better fix our position. Perhaps find a way back." Lilith waited for the inevitable Vulcan derision at her scientific efforts.

“I am well aware of your assignment and the project.” Darru commented lightly as he turned to look at her better. “I am not sure how you propose for that to work when we are so far past subspace beacons and known space.” Darru wondered intrigued by the prospect but also why she had not brought it to him at any point over the last year.

Lilith paused for a moment "As you are aware pulsars emit beams of electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles, which can be detected when these beams are oriented towards the viewer. Now each pulsar rotates at a specific rate, allowing us to efficiently identify their position on the Milky Way stellar cartography map. The main reason subspace beacons are used is that they 'talk' to the ship's computer faster, allowing for quick and efficient navigation in known sectors of the Galaxy. Now when said beacons are not available due to malfunction or what not, the navigator can still fix position and go to warp, the process is much slower though, requiring a ship to drop from warp every hour to realign and make adjustments. The Pioneer Pathway is an attempt to fix the problem, allowing the ship's computer to continuously make updates while the ship is in warp, thus no longer requiring a drop from warp to fix position when a subspace beacon system is not available. The main issue is identifying the Pulsar signature while in warp." Lilith paused, she knew the Vulcan's had been working on the issue also, but they had made a breakthrough discovery, based on an old and almost forgotten Earth scientist, Kip Stephen Thorne, works. She wasn't ready to divulge such information yet.

“I might be a genetic specialist but I am aware of that Ensign. All Vulcans entering the exchange program were briefed on shared potential interests.” The Vulcan said sounding for a moment bored before he put his PADD down to give her his full attention properly. “The Vulcan science council have considered that for awhile but it is deemed impossible on the ships and the systems that we have.” Darru pointed out quietly.

Lilith licked her lips "I meant no disrespect sir. I do believe I have solved that issue. I have programmed the computer to look for multi-institution gravitational waves based of Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observations. I basically made small changes to quantum nondemolition gravity-wave detectors; thus reducing the thermal noise generated by the thermal agitation of the charge carriers inside an electrical conductor at equilibrium, which happens regardless of any applied voltage. Sir, every test I have run while we are in warp has planned out and kept track of the pulsars." She then handed over her PaDD to Lieutenant Darru so he could review her findings and work. "I was just getting ready to collect the latest compilation of data. If it pans out, I believe I have cracked the issue; it of course will need some minor refinements, but we should be able to maintain warp for longer periods of time."

“And have any of these calculations took in the fact the engines are not able to maintain warp for longer periods due to safety or spoken to the engineers?” The Vulcan wondered. He took the PADD but this did anwser the question of where computer resources were going compared to the work that was meant to be happening.

Lilith sighed inwardly, she responded. “No I have not yet spoken to the engineers or navigation. I was making sure my work was correct. Yes, I have had the fact that current engine output for warp, as well as emergency warp and such. The program is designed to accommodate various warp speeds and for future developments in warp speed. As for computer resources being used, I know that it would appear to be a waste, only time those resources are used is when we are at warp and the science computers are at minimum usage. Idle computer time.” Lilith always felt like she was in primary school when she had to deal with Vulcans, one reason she went out of her way to avoid Lieutenant Darru, even though he was her department head. Being a genetic specialist, he was not a specialist in Space Science or for that matter the Computational Mathematics and Data Science needed for what she was working on, even if he was a Vulcan. She thought, no more like perceived which was most likely wrong, that he was irked at her for the usage of computer down time and the fact a human cracked the issue. ~Boy I am really going to have to work on my bias toward him and Vulcans in general. thought Lilith.

Darru pursed his lips together. He had joined the vessel to learn more about humans, having always been fascinated by them but moments like this, despite their struggles and the fact he was likely going to be the only one alive when they made it back to Earth Starfleet or any allies that they might have left, people still felt like they needed to hide things. "Talk to Engineering, and then we can discuss this again as a department." He said simply.

TRANCATED