Talking Shop

Posted on Tue Dec 17th, 2024 @ 11:28pm by Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Teresa Forrest

Mission: Shackles
Location: The Crash Site
1393 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

"Hey," a low, resonant voice sounded. The owner, a rather sizable and burly, broadshouldered lizardman wearing a comfy but dirt stained outfit, approached Burnie, his hands up in a disarming, hesitant gesture. "Can you understand me?" the man asked, keeping a respectful distance. He was speaking an alien language, but the universal translator did its work.

Burnie looked up at hearing someone there and offered a smile. Considering what they'd been through the various people here were remarkably friendly (well, after they got past the initial conflict, but as much as he hated Cassie getting shot he couldn't really blame them). "Yes, I can understand you," he replied amiably. "I'm Burnie, an engineer. I know the ship here looks hopeless, but I do enjoy a challenge," he said flashing a grin.

The grin seemed to take the lizardman aback for a moment, though not for long. "I am called Jonalouie Bucktail. I am a combustionsmith, that is, I design and build engines. Or, I did, when I was still at home on my own world," he spoke, a hint of sadness in his voice, though more than that, there was curiosity. "Am I to understand that an 'engineer' does similar, though obviously with very different technology?" Jonalouie motioned towards the bulk of the crashed ship.

Combustionsmith... the UT did some odd translating sometimes. But the meaning was at least pretty clear. "Pleased to meet you," Burnie replied, but refrained from offering a hand - he'd spent enough time with Liha to know that could be taken the wrong way by some species. "Yes, engineers design, build and fix ...well, nearly anything that can be made by applying scientific principles. That definitely includes engines," he said with a bright smile. "The kind this ship used are what I know best, but I studied combustion engines; they still have some uses where I'm from."

"Yeah, that's - ... This whole thing is completely beyond me," Jonalouie motioned at the crashed ship again. "Best technology I know is making a shaft rotate, which turns a propeller which pulls a winged craft along in air. But this? This went through space," he sounded enawed, as if the concept itself was mindblowing to him. "How can it do that? How can it fly without wings and go through space where there's no air to lift it?"

The engineer's brows rose at the question. Obviously Jonalouie's people had combustion engines, which meant they had fuel that, well, combusted (the thing he loved most about that old tech was that it was based on timed controlled explosions). Rockets weren't that much of a leap, though it had taken a few decades on earth to make useable ones. "Put enough thrust behind something, and you can make anything fly. No need for air to lift it." He shrugged. "Haven't you made rockets? Or, you know, missiles or cannon?

"Well, yes. We just haven't figured out how to make them safe enough for manned flight. Yet. But this ship moved without the use of rockets - no big fiery plume, no great roaring noise. Just a humm. Like this," the combustionsmith hummed at a pitch near enough to Orion impulse engines. "That's what seems like magic to me. Though, it's likely comfort cake for you - as the great sages of old always said, magic is just technology you don't understand yet. It's likely my ancestors would find my combustion engines magic, or the humble generator and lightbulb."

"You know, we have that saying too - that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Burnie replied. "From that standpoint, I guess warp engines would seem like it magic. Propulsion comes from gravimetric field displacement." He paused, realizing that if the reptilian's society was early industrial age that might sound like nonsense words not far removed from abracadabra. But how to explain warp fields in terms that he could comprehend... "Basically the engines distort space-time, creating a 'warp bubble', and propel the bubble and ship inside it forward."

"I like that saying," the lizardman admitted, folding his hands together before him as his tail twitched. "Let me think on what you said for a moment," he added, starting to pace a bit, mind working. Eventually he stopped though and spoke up again. "So, it's like - ... If you're in the water, and you - ... create a bubble of air, and you then get inside of, and then you --- push the bubble, with you inside it? Do I have the basic idea right?" Then what resembled a sheepish chuckle. "I realize this is like someone who only understands basic math trying to grasp advanced calculus. I'm just trying to visualize the basic idea."

"It's more that the way the bubble is generated creates the push, but yeah, I can't teach you warp mechanics without math well advanced of calculus. Which may be just as well," he added. The lizardman struck him as smart, and they were already debating Prime Directive issues; he felt like he should be honest about that. "If we can find a way to return you to your world, there's only so much you can know. History's taught us that jumping societies with tech they aren't ready for can be disastrous, so if you actually understood how to build one of these, we couldn't let you go back."

"Mm. That's your - ... First directive, right?" Jonalouie offered. "From which would follow that if I were to learn more than - ... appropriate, you would have to take me with you and integrate into your society," he rubbed the underside of his elongated, reptilian muzzle in contemplation. "Which is very tempting. There is a curse in knowing knowledge and technology exists that one can only dream of without the ability to achieve it. But - ... I think that I would very much like to go back home again, to my forge and my wife and kids. I suppose that curse of knowledge is something I will have to live with, while building my combustion engined racers."

Burnie nodded. He understood the temptation, but also the desire to return, especially to family. "Yes. Technically it only applies to Starfleet, which we are not, but I served in that long enough to have an appreciation for why the Directive is there. As I'm sure you can imagine, nearly any high energy propulsion system can also be made into a weapon, and I'm sure neither of us would want to be responsible for your world blowing itself to oblivion."

"Not to mention that the sudden introduction of an engine or power source that obsoletes my racing engines to such a degree would upset the political power balance to an extend I am hesitant to even consider," the lizardman quietly mused, not quite looking at Burnie nor the crashed ship. "Kings will send their spies, trying to steal the technology. Armies will march. Lands will burn. Any who possesses such technology to the exclusion of others can basically impose their will with impunity. I don't see a world where such a thing can lead to a positive outcome," A deep sigh, the twitch of his tail. "No, for the good of my people, I must not be allowed to learn how this works."

"Yeah, all of that..." Burnie sighed sadly. "But the first issue to deal with on this ship is structural. Honestly, I'm not sure we repair the superstructure well enough to make it spaceworthy. At least not in any reasonable timeframe. So, the real task is finding the computer core and trying to extract to navigation logs. Otherwise, we have no way to work out how to find the world to bring you home to."

"I'd offer assistance, but considering everything we've just discussed I'm not sure that is a wise idea," Jonalouie considered for a moment, looking at the ship again. "Though, one might argue that the technology herein is so advanced that I couldn't even begin to figure out how it works just by looking at it. I don't know what a 'computer' is, but I can offer a pair of strong hands, if those would be of aid."

"Then I'd say we're on fairly safe ground there," Burnie agreed with a smile. "And some muscle is probably exactly the kind of hand I could use."