Fighting to Survive

Admiral Devore and Captain Taybar were standing outside the briefing room where the top brass from Starfleet was sitting. Over the past three weeks, both had been fighting hard to keep the quantum slipstream project alive and have the salvaged drive from the Leviathan-A 'transplanted' into another vessel.

The doors opened and they both stepped inside and took their seats. They looked around the room and saw so many engineers, from Captains to Admirals. At the head of the table, was an old Vulcan Admiral, an engineer of some note. But he was also a strong opponent of the quantum slipstream project. It was the Admiral's and Aki's job to convince him that the project was still viable.

"Admiral Devore." The Engineer stated. "I believe you wish to put forward your case in person."

"That is correct Admiral." Devore replied. "As the first person to Captain the prototype for the quantum slipstream drive, I think I have both a unique and detailed perspective of the matter."

"Then let us hear it." The Admiral replied.

The Admiral rose from his seat and walked across the room to the controls of the large viewscreen in the room. He pressed a few buttons and the image of an old Excelsior class vessel appeared on the screen.

"Gentlemen, Ladies." Devore started. "Here we have Starfleet's great experiment…The USS Excelsior, commissioned in 2284 and Starfleet's first foray into trans-warp propulsion. What happened to it ?, the project was shelved and deemed a failure, an unnecessary drain on valuable resources."

Devore looked across at the Admiral, who wasn't looking very pleased. Devore knew only too well that the Admiral had been an Ensign during the time of the transwarp project and served had on the Excelsior.

"So for eighty years, we continued to develop and improve our existing technologies, getting every closer to the warp ten barrier." Devore continued. "Then the Borg came, with their transwarp vessels and so we were later to discover, transwarp conduits. We salvaged all the Borg material we could find and started to understand why the Excelsior had failed. We started to learn how to create transwarp conduits and travel at trans-warp speed, in theory. In 2372, Lieutenant Tom Paris of the USS Voyager piloted the first Starfleet vessel to actually break the transwarp barrier without the aid of Borg or any other alien technology. Then in 2378, the USS Voyager returned from the Delta quadrant and came back with information on numerous aliens and their technologies, including the Borg. Using this information, Starfleet could finally put theory into practise."

"And now we have a growing fleet of vessels capable of transwarp speeds and we've started to explore the far reaches of our own quadrant and beyond." The Vulcan Admiral commented.

"That is true Admiral, but we're still only scratching the surface of transwarp." Devore continued. "We can't match any of the aliens Voyager encountered for speed, we're still only learning to walk, whilst the others are running at a sprint."

"But we've getting there." The Admiral said. "And we'll catch up one day."

"I'm sure we will, but Voyager brought back far more than just data." Devore stated. "They also brought back a prototype quantum slipstream drive, something that until then had only been dreamed of by the scientists and Engineers at Starfleet R & D. They also brought back data from both the encounter with Arturis and their own attempts at using quantum slipstream propulsion. Four years later, the USS Leviathan was selected to be the test-bed for the new drive and after only six months exploring the Beta quadrant beyond the Klingon and Romulan empires, we found another race using slipstream. A year later, the USS Leviathan-A was launched, using information obtained from the Catatonians to create a new and improved drive."

"Which now lies in pieces on the edge of the Alpha quadrant." The Admiral remarked. "Thanks to Captain Taybar."

Aki looked at the Admiral. *What did he have against quantum slipstream propulsion ?* She thought.

"But the drive itself is still intact and enroute back to Earth as we speak." Devore said. "In a month, it will be back and we can place it into a new space frame and continue the project."

"Two ships have already been used." The Admiral replied. "Both now destroyed, I believe you rammed the first Leviathan into a Barien battleship, didn't you Admiral."

"In order to save the universe." Devore replied. "And stop the renegade Beard."

"I knew Admiral Beard for many years." The Vulcan Admiral announced. "He was a fine man and an asset to the Federation."

Now it came out, the reason why this Admiral was so anti, it wasn't slipstream propulsion at all, it was Devore he disliked. Aki looked at Devore whose face was beginning to flush red with rage. She quickly realised that if she didn't do something, thing could go sour. She stood up and walked over to where Devore was standing.

"Admiral Devore, if I my take over." She said. "The merits or flaws in Admiral Beard are not what we are here to discuss are they Admiral. We are here to decided whether to allow the quantum slipstream project to continue, a project that has only been in existence for five years. It took Starfleet over two centuries to reach a point where they were even considering transwarp and nearly three centuries before that desire became a reality. In the three years this project has been active, the two vessels have covered nearly forty thousand light years. If the USS Voyager had been equipped with the quantum slipstream drive when it was first lost, it would have been back home in under five years. Transwarp maybe our next step in getting us from one place to another, moving us from a walking pace to a run, but slipstream propulsion is what will make us into sprinters. This project and the other technologies that are coming from it are the future, a future that will leap us ahead of those who have been running for years. One day we will be able to travel from one side of this galaxy to the other in months, maybe days. With this technology we can re-establish contact with races Voyager encountered in the Delta quadrant. We need to see beyond tomorrow and the next week, into the next century, the next millennium."

The Admiral had sat listening to the Captain, the passion of her speech seemed to have moved him.

"Admiral Devore." He said. "You have a fine officer there and one who seems as committed to this project as you are. Whilst it goes against my own judgement, you both have a point. The project will continue, as soon as you can identify a suitable vessel to use."

"Admiral, we already think we have." Devore announced. "Space frame eighty-four seven, designated to be the USS Tolken."

"The Tolken isn't that a Meteor class vessel ?" The Admiral stated. "It's only half complete and we have so few Meteor class vessel in service."

"Admiral, the Meteor class is ideal for this project." Aki added. "The fact that it has two separate power cores will eliminate one of the biggest drawbacks that we encountered with the Leviathan's."

"We also know that the vessel hasn't been fitted with its primary warp core yet, so it will be easy to install the slipstream drive." Devore stated. "This is what this project needs, the technology has been proven to be complex and sometime unpredictable, but it has proved reliable and it does give us speed. What we need now is the vessel to match it to and I think the Meteor class is just the ticket."

"I'll look into it." The Admiral said. "If what you say is reasonable and can be achieved in a short space of time, then I'll approve it."

"Thank you Admiral." Devore stated. "I'd like Captain Taybar to be placed in charge of the refit and retain her captaincy of the ship when it's launched. She's the only one apart from myself who's has any experience with this technology."

"Captain Taybar is still I believe under investigation for the loss of her last ship." The Admiral remarked. "I'll agree placing her in charge of the refit, but who Captain's this new ship will need to be decided at a later date."

"That would be fine." Devore stated. "And I'll oversee that the project is properly managed."

"I'm sure you will." The Admiral said.

Admiral Devore left the Padd he had carried with him, which contained all the details about the re-fit with the Admiral before he left the room with Aki.

"We did it." Aki remarked. "We've managed to keep the project alive."

"No Captain, you did it. I was ready to punch that Admiral's head off his Vulcan shoulders, Beard was bad, bad for the Federation, bad for Starfleet and bad for the entire universe. You stepped in and saved the project."

"Admiral Devore, when you first assigned me to the Leviathan-A, you put a trust in me to look after your ship and your crew." Aki stated. "I was just repaying that compliment and trying to save our ship and our crew, I just hope all this has been worth it."