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LIEUTENANT KEEGAN Khaliban
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B'Elanna
watched the display in Astrometrics as an image of Voyager fired a
torpedo at a wireframe of the Quagaar homeworld. The torpedo struck near
the red mark of a fault line and exploded. Pressure, in the form of a
color gradient, dissipated from the impact point. B'Elanna reset the
simulation. She heard the door behind her open.
"You’re
early," she said.
"What?" the
wrong voice replied.
B'Elanna
turned. "Leslie? Why are you here?"
"I'm Voyager's
Chief Science Officer," the blond woman replied. "I thought the captain
might like my input."
"I'm sure if
she needed your input, she would contact you."
"Still, it
doesn't hurt to be ready," Leslie replied.
"If you say
so."
The door
opened again and Lisa Hununga and Tadao Nureek entered. Lisa made a
point of looking around the room.
"Lieutenant
Hununga?" B'Elanna said. "And Ensign Nureek. Why are you here?"
"I'm a
planetologist," Lisa said. "You are dealing with geology. You may need
my help."
"I have
diplomatic training," Tadao said.
The door slid
open again. Ensign John Barrows entered.
"Ensign
Barrows?" B'Elanna said. "Leslie, is the entire science department
coming to this presentation?"
"No," she
replied. "Just the four of us."
"But we are
recording it for the others," Tadao said.
"Why?"
B'Elanna asked.
"Phil's
presenting a paper," Barrows said. Lisa grunted and cuffed him across
the shoulder. He winced and said, "Sorry."
"Phil's papers
are that good?" B'Elanna asked.
Leslie
shrugged. "We don't know. He never wrote any."
"Really?
That's interesting."
"What's
interesting?" Phil asked, walking in.
"You,"
B'Elanna replied.
Phil looked at
the members of the science department. "Oh," he said. He walked to the
console. "Computer, access Keegan file: Seismic Reflection Simulation
and upload to this station."
"File loaded."
"Sounds
intriguing," B'Elanna said.
"It's just an
alternate plan," he replied. The people from the science department
laughed. Phil sighed at them.
"Yes,"
B'Elanna said, "Very intriguing." She tapped her comm. "Commander
Chakotay, we are ready in Astrometrics."
"Understood,"
he replied.
A few minutes
later, the captain, the commander and the Quagaar delegates walked into
Astrometrics smiling. The captain's eyes gave the science department
members a moment, then she introduced the delegates to B'Elanna and
Phil.
"Lieutenant Torres is Voyager's Chief Engineer. We will hear her
plan first. Lieutenant Keegan is the head of our Computer Core. I've
asked him to provide an alternate plan. I trust Lieutenant Torres
completely, but I'm interested in seeing what Lieutenant Keegan can do.
I've recently become aware of his interest in science, and I want to
help him develop it."
"A generous
action," the Fore Minister of the Quagaar High Council replied.
"Thank you,"
Captain Janeway said. "This is my Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant
Leslie Willis. She and the members of her department will help evaluate
Lieutenant Keegan's plan." She motioned B'Elanna to the main console.
B'Elanna proceeded with her
demonstration, explaining the effects of the torpedoes along the way.
"As you can see," she finished, pointing to the main screen in
Astrometrics, "Firing a photon torpedo with essentially a minimal load
will dissipate much of the trapped energy in your main faultline."
"Thank you,
Lieutenant," said the Fore Minister, his beak snapping softly. "How long
will this repair last?"
"We estimate
sixty-two years," B'Elanna replied. The Quagaar beaks snapped
positively.
The captain
called Phil forward. He looked at B'Elanna strangely as he walked to the
console, as if asking for her forgiveness. He tapped the console, and
the graphic changed to show hundreds of dots scattered along either side
of the faultline.
"It is
possible to continuously dissipate the energy of the faultline by
placing dilithium reflectors at these points," he began. "The reflectors
redistribute the trapped energy of the fault into the surrounding soil
and convert much of that energy into heat." He explained the design and
placement of the reflectors and showed the effect of the reflectors on
the soil. "Ambient temperature in the area would increase about five
degrees."
"Will this
prevent quakes?" the Fore Minister asked.
"No, you'll
have hundreds a day, so weak you'll never feel them," Keegan replied.
"Could this be
done on all of the faultlines?" the Mid-Aft Minister asked with a
hissing and a snap.
"No. The
reflectors would start to cancel each other out. This can only be done
on the six major faultlines. You'll still have quakes, but nothing like
you have now." The lieutenant tapped the console again, and the graphic
changed to show the final effect.
The
Aft-Central Minister stepped forward. "Isn't that dilithium scheduled to
go to you?"
Keegan waved
at the screen. "You need only two thirds for this line, and you have
more than enough in the ground for the rest."
"We will
accept additional food and medical supplies as well as some technical
components in place of the dilithium," the captain said. The Aft-Central
Minister nodded.
"It seems your
insight was correct," the Fore-Minister said to Captain Janeway. The
Fore Minister snapped graciously at the captain, Chakotay and the two
lieutenants. "We thank you for what you have done," he said. "Captain
Janeway, I offer you this hand carved bone that I extracted from my own
grandfather. He will be honored to know you have it."
She smiled and
took the carved leg bone. "On behalf of the Federation, I accept."
Commander
Chakotay stepped forward. "We have a state dinner prepared for you. If
you will please follow me."
The captain
watched them leave, promising to join them in a moment. "Have you
considered transferring to the Science Department?" she asked Keegan.
"We'd love to
have him back," Leslie Willis said.
"Back?"
Janeway said to Keegan.
"I felt I was
needed in Engineering, Captain," he replied.
"Why did you
leave Engineering?"
"You had no
one in the Computer Core. I knew I could do the job."
"B'Elanna,"
the captain said to her Chief Engineer. "What do you think of Lieutenant
Keegan's plan?"
"It's a
geologist's answer," she replied.
"A scientist's
answer," the captain said. "Specific to the task."
"Yes,"
B'Elanna said.
The captain
smiled. "As opposed to an engineer's plan which is quick and dirty."
"Yes, sir,"
B'Elanna said.
"Did he do
work like this for you?" Janeway said to Lieutenant Willis.
"No," she
said. "He never presented a paper."
"Very
interesting," the captain said. "And thank you for coming. Please, join
the dinner. Mister Keegan, may I speak with you?"
Kathryn
examined the simulation. She watched the stress waves bounce against
each other along the fault and the simple fractal they created.
"Cochrane's Unclaimed Thesis?" she asked.
"Just a
hobby."
"What do you
think of it?"
He shrugged.
"It needs work."
Janeway almost
choked on that. "I know some scientists that say it's his best paper."
"First of all,
it's not his. Second, his paper on sub-space harmonics is much better."
"But the
Unclaimed Thesis gave Cochrane, and all Starfleet vessels, their power
core."
"It's an
anti-matter reactor. Scientists thought of that in the twentieth
century. Someone would have built the reactor eventually. The thesis
just gave them a head start. But Cochrane didn't understand reactors. He
understood sub-space and how to manipulate it. He was a theoretician,
not an engineer."
"That's almost
blasphemy on a Federation Starship."
"You can flog
me if you like."
"I'll take
that under advisement. Shall we go to the party?" She waved in the
direction of the door.
"Certainly,
Captain."
"And, Mister
Keegan--"
"I will keep
my opinions to myself."
"Thank you."
* * *
While the
captain and Chakotay negotiated a new deal with the Quagaar Center
Minister of Economics, the other ministers spoke amiably with the
officers about some of the sights Voyager had seen. The Center-Fore
Minister of War spoke with Mr. Tuvok about battles the crew had
survived. The Mid-Aft Minister of Science and the Center-Aft Minister of
Geology spoke with Lieutenant Keegan about his plan. Lieutenant Keegan
answered well and threw back five glasses of synthehol. He winced when
he swallowed and asked for another glass.
"Someone
mentioned you're interested in power systems," the Mid-Aft Minister
said.
"It's a
hobby," the lieutenant said and swallowed another glass.
"I have much
interest in these things," the minister said. "Is the fuel ratio always
one-to-one?"
"No." He drank
another glass and coughed through his teeth. "If we start the engines
cold, we release a large amount of normal matter into the reactor and
feed in a trickle of anti-matter. This allows a slow steady build up of
energy." He swallowed another glass. "But, if we need a sudden burst of
energy, we can open some stored magnetic bottles. The extra normal
matter gives the released anti-matter something to react with."
"Is this
dangerous?"
"It hasn't
been dangerous for decades."
The minister
clacked and nodded. "Most interesting."
"Perhaps you
should speak with our Chief Engineer, B'Elanna Torres. She knows much
more about the warp core than I do. B'Elanna? Could you come here?"
"Yes,
Lieutenant?" B'Elanna said.
"The Mid-Aft
Minister is interested in the reactor core. Perhaps you could discuss it
with him?"
"'Her,'
Lieutenant," the minister said.
"My apologies.
I will leave you in B'Elanna's hands while I refill my drink."
Lieutenant
Keegan walked toward the bar, and in the general direction of the door.
He passed Tuvok and the War Minister as he did.
"You say this
is called Tri-D chess?"
"Yes,
Minister," the Vulcan responded.
"Lieutenant
Keegan, do you play?"
The lieutenant
said something that sounded to Tuvok like the word "Shit." The security
chief believed he was mistaken.
Tuvok turned
to the minister. "I taught Lieutenant Keegan myself five years ago."
"Lieutenant,"
the War Minister said, "Would you honor us with a game?"
The lieutenant
looked down at his feet and took a slow breath. He looked up and said,
"I would be happy to, Minister."
Captain
Janeway walked over to them. "Did I hear something about a game?"
"Yes,
Captain," Tuvok said. "The War Minister has asked to see a game, and
Lieutenant Keegan has offered to play."
"Interesting,"
the captain said. "Who will be your opponent, Lieutenant?"
"I will,
Captain," Seven of Nine said. "I have studied the game, but I have not
yet had a chance to test my skills."
"I'm sure
you'll go easy on her, won't you, Lieutenant?" Janeway said.
"No, Captain,"
he replied in a defeated voice. "I'm going to dig her a grave and throw
her in."
"Yes,
Lieutenant," the captain said, smiling. "I'm sure you will."
Lieutenant
Paris leaned over to Tuvok. "I wish the Quagaar were a betting people."
"You wish to
take advantage of our guests?"
"No reason I
can't have fun too."
"Betting is
inappropriate at a state dinner."
"Vulcans have
no sense of fun."
Seven moved
her first piece cautiously. Keegan stared at the board a moment and
moved a piece. Seven felt her way among the pieces and moved again. Phil
closed his eyes in contemplation, opened them and moved. Seven paused at
the new move, waited, thought and finally moved. Phil moved again
without hesitating. Seven returned, and the two began moving pieces
without pausing.
After thirty
moves, Tom Paris said, "Who's winning?"
"Seven," Tuvok
replied. "I believe they are reproducing the Vimmtir-T'Mel match of
twenty-two-oh-six. Seven will win on the forty-seventh move." Phil
inclined his head toward Tuvok, as if he had heard the exchange.
"How much of
the game have you studied, Annika?" Phil asked.
Seven blinked
at her name. "All of the major matches."
"When was
this?" he said, holding a rook.
"Four months
ago," she said.
"That's not
enough," he said. He placed the rook.
"I have an
eidetic memory," she replied while lifting a bishop up a level.
"So do I.
That's not what I meant." He sacrificed a pawn.
"I didn't know
that," Tom whispered.
"Nor did I,"
Tuvok replied.
"Someone had
to create those games, Annika. Reading them is not enough."
"I am aware of
that, Mister Keegan," she said. She took his bishop with her knight.
"Have you read
Vimmtir's description of this match, Annika?" he asked casually and
moved his rook.
"No,
Lieutenant." She moved again.
"She called it
her worst mistake," he said and moved another piece.
"Vimmtir won,"
Seven replied and moved.
"That was
T'Mel's mistake," Phil said. He watched Seven for a time before moving
his piece. Seven watched the board as if unable to take a piece.
"What
happened?" Tom whispered.
"Mister Keegan
moved his knight when he should have moved his bishop."
"What does
that mean for the game?"
"I am
unfamiliar with the current board configuration."
Seven moved
cautiously again. Lieutenant Keegan followed without hesitation. After
twelve moves, he called checkmate in a tired voice.
"Congratulations, Lieutenant," Seven said.
"Thank you.
You played well."
"Mister
Keegan," the captain said, "I had no idea."
"Yes, I know.
The party seems to be breaking up. You'll excuse me please."
"Yes, of
course. Are you all right?"
"I've been
better." He walked away before she could respond.
"Phil," Tom
said, "Very nice. I wanted to bet against you."
"I know. Do
you know where I can get some real alcohol?"
"Neelix has
some, I think. I didn't know you drank."
"Neelix you
say? Thanks." He walked towards the galley. He spoke with the Talaxian
briefly, took a bottle and left.
"Is Mister
Keegan all right?" the Fore-Minister asked.
"Yes," Captain
Janeway said, "I'm sure he's fine."
"A very
interesting game," the Fore-Minister said. "Captain?"
"I'm sorry,
Fore-Minister. Yes, an interesting game. He plays very well." She
watched the door. "Much better than I expected."
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