=U.S.S. Descartes (science vessel)=
=Main Bridge=
=On the edge of the Columbia system=
Right now, the Columbia system was the most secure piece of real estate in the entire known galaxy.
Trevor Wright looked over the data for perhaps the final time. He wanted to make certain that everything was in order. In a few minutes, the TechEx, the one he developed all of those years ago, would be sent to a spot near the fourth planet of the system.
It would be transported on an old Valiant-class starship, one of many that was handed over to Wright as a delivery ship. Unlike the Detector, which was to be manned by a skeletal crew, these Valiants would be controlled remotely from a ship stationed on the outside of the system just as this test device was controlled remotely from the Descartes.
Both the Valiants and control ships would be cloaked.
"The function of the device is simple," Wright had explained to Admiral Leland Jefferson, who was overseeing the test for starfleet. "When the TechEx is activated, it will fire a burst that will fry any and all energy-related technologies within a Sol-like star system permanently. It will go down to as deep as 100 kilometers, so caves and mines will not protect anything. After that, with the help of a tachyon field, any ships attempting to enter that system will find their ships power quickly drained, those those effects will be temporary. That is until the field dissipates."
"How long will the tachyon field last?" Jefferson asked.
"With the work of Commander Rodgers these past couple of weeks, we have managed to get the time down to four months."
"Why the tachyon field in the first place?" Jefferson asked.
"That's half of the usefulness of the weapon. Without it, the weapon itself would be a complete waste of time. We need a star system to be without any sort of power for a certain length of time. Without it, the Rommies could easily resupply these systems with working weapon platforms, replicators and such."
"It sends a very powerful message to the Romulans," Jefferson thought out loud.
Wright nodded, "I can convert one of these weapons without the tachyon emitters, but it was made very clear to me that they stay. The good thing is that we have gotten the casualty rate down to 15 to 35 percent. It determines how much food stuffs the Romulans have stored. These days, with replicators, emergency rations are all that most planets have on hand. Even farms will be affected since old-fashioned hand tools are rarely used on most so-called advanced worlds."
Jefferson shook his head. He had only learned about this weapon a month or so ago from Janeway. She wanted him here to make certain everything went off without a hitch.
The cloaked Valiant-class ship, at one time called the Joust, made its way into the Columbia system. Jefferson had assigned Commander T'Jal of the Corps of Engineers to oversee preparing the system for the tests. A little over 250 old, outdated ships were scattered throughout the system. Many of which had been acquired from ship graveyards throughout the Federation. Only a handful had been taken from each graveyard in order to avoid suspicion. Target practice was the excuse given since it was common to use these relics for that purpose, even more so since the beginning of the war.
The oldest was a Daedalus-class ship that Jefferson had thought should have been a museum piece instead of a target ship. The old girl had served during the first Earth-Romulan war, so it seemed fitting that she would serve again, in her own way, in this latest conflict with the Rommies.
Among these ships were sensors spread throughout the system sending back readings.
On three of the planets in the system, various everyday devices were placed and activated. Even very powerful generators were in place in deep bunkers.
Everything was a ready as they could make it.
As the Joust and the device approached their final destination, Rick walked up to where Wright, Jefferson and a handful of other starfleet officials and bridge crew stood.
"How long?" Rick asked.
"Five minutes," Wright said.
Rick just stared out of the viewscreen. They wouldn't actually see anything, but Rick didn't care. The calmness of space helped him to relax.
Wright turned to face Rick.
"Commander ... Rick ... I know you oppose this weapon, but I still want to thank you for your help. It was invaluable."
Rick took a deep breath, but didn't move. He was considering resigning from starfleet because of this, but he didn't want Jefferson to overhear it. Despite the lives they may have saved with their recent adjustments, Rick still felt a little sick to his stomach and it wouldn't go away.
Wright went back to his station looking over the readings, deciding to allow Rick this time to himself. In fact, Rick had been quiet during the entire journey from the Janus system ... eerily quiet.
[T-minus one-minute until activation]
The voice of the computer seemed as cold as Rick at the moment, Wright observed.
"Everything checks out," Wright said.
Rick finally walked over to his station.
"I confirm," Rick said. "All systems go."
[T-minus 45 seconds until activation]
"Still no detection of the Valiant by outside sensors," Rick said.
[T-minus 30 seconds until activation]
"All is good. Preparing final sequence," Wright said.
[T-minus 20 seconds until activation]
"Initiating final sequence," Wright said.
[T-minus 15 seconds until activation]
"Sequence engaged. Everything is out of our hands now," Wright said.
[... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...]
There was nothing dramatic. No earth-shattering kaboom or anything like that. Sensors simply went out microseconds after sending readings back to the Descartes. Everything within the Columbia system was going exactly how Wright had expected. Even when the tachyon field edged ever-so closely to the Descartes, Wright was not concerned. After about 20 minutes, the tachyon field had reached its limit.
"So," Jefferson finally said impatently.
"Just give me a few more minutes, admiral," Wright said.
Wright looked over the readings. It would take months to fully digest and study the data, but Wright saw enough to make his initial diagnosis.
"The test weapon has been successfully deployed."
Jefferson solemnly nodded, "May our children forgive us."
Wright simply agreed even though he and Jefferson were both old enough to have great grandchildren. Meanwhile, Rick quietly walked off the bridge to the privacy of his quarters.
Commander Rick Rodgers
Chief Engineering Officer
Starbase UNITY
temporary assignment
Deputy Developmental and Operations Coordinator
Project Los Alamos
and
Dr. Trevor Wright (npc by Rick)
Head of Development and Operations
Project Los Alamos
and
Rear Admiral Leland Jefferson (npc by Rick)
Deputy Commanding Officer
Joint Defense Command
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