Collective Hindsight (Book 1) - Aaron Rosenberg [14]
“How about fused?” Pattie suggested, checking her own tricorder. “Take a look—its chemical bonds are similar to glass, and these people are all about using heat. What if they found a way to make glass out of oil?”
Duffy slapped his forehead. “That’s it! Glass is good for holding heat anyway, especially if you’re using something like volcanic glass. They took an oil with high heat-retention properties, and then subjected it to such intense heat it fused into a glass. All the retention of the original oil, plus the added retention of glass itself, in an easy-to-use form. Nice job, Pattie.”
She wriggled her antennae. “Just trying to look at it from their perspective.”
Now that they knew how the containment grid worked, it was easier to trace the energy conduits and figure out the rest of the system.
“Solar energy is distributed throughout the ship,” Duffy reported over his communicator. “They use it for warmth, for light, and to power all their systems.”
“So this ship literally runs on starlight?” That was Stevens, finishing the last of the cleanup.
“You got it. The panels on the collection array absorb heat and light, and transfer that thermal energy to the containment system. It’s designed to retain those elements for long periods, and the heat is then bled off as necessary.”
“That matches what we just heard from Dr. Tydoan,” Fabian said. “The crew members definitely died from sudden heat—roughly five hundred degrees Celsius. That’s more than enough to turn any of us to ash, but they apparently had a higher tolerance for heat—the doc guesses they came from a world much closer to their sun. But actual plasma from the sun would be ten times hotter than that, so they weren’t actually scooping up bits of suns, or capturing solar flares. They used the passive heat and light instead—much less energy, but a lot safer.”
“What is the engine’s status?” Salek asked. Pattie glanced at Duffy, who nodded for her to answer.
“Looks like we can have it up and running in another hour, sir. Not for long-range travel, maybe, but certainly enough to get it to the nearest Federation system.”
“Good. The Bynars have confirmed that the controls are also near restoration, so that we can direct the ship from the bridge. By the time you have the engines back online, we may also be able to program in a flight path. We will—”
“Gold to away team,” the captain’s voice interrupted. “Salek, get your people out of there! The outpost’s long-range scanners have picked up Cardassian energy traces. It’s got to be their patrol ship, coming back early.”
“They may have seen that energy spike,” Pattie pointed out. “And now they’re coming to check it out.”
“Whatever the reason, we need to get out of here,” Gold replied. “I want all of you to beam back now.”
“I strongly recommend against that course of action, Captain,” Salek replied, and Pattie stared at Duffy, who looked back at her in shock. “If we leave now, this ship will fall into the hands of the Cardassians. Not only can they try to adapt its technology for their own military efforts, but the computer registered the presence of the outpost. In addition, a detailed active scan by the Cardassians might reveal the outpost on its own. We cannot risk that.”
They could hear Gold sigh over the link. “Damn. You’re right, we can’t let the Cardassians find it. But we can’t fight them off, either.”
Fabian chimed in. “Actually, maybe we can.”
Chapter
4
“Stevens, report.”
Fabian hit his suit’s communicator to respond to Salek. “I’ve got the weapons array online.” It had been simple enough, really. He’d mistaken the ship’s exterior vents for guns, because they were clearly designed both to swivel about and to release bursts of energy. All he’d had to do was install a targeting system on the