Ring Around the Sky - Allyn Gibson [19]
“How long until the system fails?” asked Gold.
Gomez shrugged. “We can have an answer for you in a few days. If I had to take a guess, we have some time, perhaps even a few years.” She took out her padd and passed it across the desk to Gold. “Pattie’s preliminary report hasn’t been able to pinpoint an exact time.”
“There may not be an exact time,” added Tev. “There are too many factors in play.”
“What about the Kharzh’ullans? I thought they were building a new elevator casing.”
Tev nodded. “They are. Unfortunately, fixing the hole the Jem’Hadar made in the elevator shaft would be the beginning of the cure, not the end, as the stress fractures themselves also need to be repaired.”
“What about welding the fractures back together? I thought the Kharzh’ullans were building a new skin for the elevator shaft.”
Gomez shook her head. “It wouldn’t be as strong if those areas were simply torn out and replaced.”
“To keep the structure stable while replacing the stressed areas, we would need to use structural integrity fields to hold the elevator in place,” said Tev. “More importantly, what the Kharzh’ullans are building will not be as strong or as stable as the original shell.”
“Which would exacerbate the problem,” Gold said.
Gomez nodded. “The Furies built the elevator shells of solid diamond.”
“Diamond?” repeated Gold.
“Diamond has one of the highest natural tensile strengths,” said Tev.
“I thought tungsten was harder,” said Gold.
“It is,” said Gomez. “But diamond is easier to find. Or fashion, if the Furies used molecular engineering.”
Gold drummed his fingers on his desk. “Tev brought up how the Ring holds itself up. If the Ring were repaired first, wouldn’t that be enough to hold the elevator in place?”
Gomez scratched at her nose in thought as she considered the idea. “We’d have to run a simulation, but I don’t think that would work. There are two problems I see. First, the Kharzh’ullans aren’t even ready to rebuild the Ring; they focused on building the new casing to repair the elevator as that was the more obvious threat. Second, while the Ring itself orbits at a geosynchronous altitude and has an angular momentum to remain in place at that altitude, the elevators move at a greater angular speed than they should at all altitudes because they’re held in place by the anchoring effects of the base and the Ring. The damaged elevator, because of the stress fractures, would fly apart and rain debris down onto the planet.”
Gold took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “It sounds to me that you’re both saying this is a problem we simply cannot repair. If Captain Scott wants recommendations, what do you suggest?”
Gomez looked to Tev and frowned. “If we can’t repair the elevator, I don’t see that we have any choice but evacuation. The Ring will fall to the surface, and that will render Kharzh’ulla uninhabitable for generations.”
“I don’t like that option, Gomez.”
Gomez shook her head. “I don’t either, sir. But looking at what we’re facing, I don’t see any other option.” She looked to Tev. He sat impassively, biting his lower lip. “We could make the attempt to repair the gash, but there’s no guarantee it would work. Judging by Pattie’s findings, I doubt that it would.”
Gold looked to Tev and to Gomez. They had presented their findings, and there was nothing more to say. “Very well,” he said, “I’ll send a preliminary report to Starfleet requesting the evacuation of Kharzh’ulla IV. Dismissed.”
Gomez nodded and stood. She stepped to the threshold and stopped. Tev continued to sit, as if lost in thought. “Tev?” she said.
Tev looked up at Gomez. “What if there’s another way?”
“What’ve you got, Tev?” asked Gold.
“Our problem is that the elevator will collapse. Nothing we do can stop that.” Tev paused. “What if that’s the solution? Allow the elevator to collapse, but a controlled collapse.”
“And the Ring?” said Gomez.
Tev shook his head. “Irrelevant. At a geosynchronous orbit it will stay in place, and it will hold the elevators up. But the damaged elevator, if we detach it from the