Fuel Economy

Posted on Wed Sep 3rd, 2025 @ 7:24pm by Captain Lukas Fredricks & Lieutenant Faith Hawkins

1,066 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: R&R
Location: Chief Engineer's Office.

A second attempt at a return to duty beckoned for Faith, the first attempt resulting in an extended stay in sickbay. It transpired a localised fault in the power grid was to blame for the explosion which ended up in Faith falling to the floor below. A few colleagues had helped her piece together the mystery, giving Faith the peace of mind she'd sought.

It was late morning, and Faith had decided to visit to her office for a change of scene. This time with Meredith, Beatrice in tow. The former was playing some educational games on her PADD, while Beatrice was perched carefully, securely on Faith's knee. She played with a teething toy while Faith read the latest reports from engineering on her console. Her deputy, Lieutenant Hennessey, had maintained the very high standards Faith expected from her department. It reassured the chief engineer she'd chosen her second-in-command wisely.

Fredricks was wandering around Engineering trying to find his Chief Engineer. He wanted to check in on her after she'd gone through her own injury journey recently. As he walked passed the Chief Engineer's office he noticed she was in there with her children. He tapped on the glass and smiled before pointing towards the door asking for permission to enter.

The gentle knocking on the glass caught Faith's attention. It was the Captain. Marking her place in the report she was reading, she gestured for Lukas to enter with her free hand. His visit was well timed, as Faith had something she wished to discuss with him.

Lukas smiled before walking to the door and entering. "Sorry to disturb you." He said glancing at both children in the office. "Just wanted to find out how you were getting on?"

"You haven't disturbed us Captain." replied Faith, gesturing to one of the empty seats in front of her desk. "Actually..." a pause. "I've been hoping to talk to you about something I have in mind." Faith then used her free hand to bring up a file on her console. Meredith briefly looked up at Lukas, waved, then returned to her game.

Lukas gave the child a warm smile as he took the offered seat. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"So." said Faith, adjusting the position of her console. "I've been thinking about ways we can use a little less fuel." she continued, pressing a button on the console. "At warp speed, we can spool down the impulse drives. The surplus electro-plasma created in the fusion reactors can be shunted from there into the warp core, via the ship's EPS network. It can be converted into warp plasma in the warp core." a pause, to watch the short visual demonstration she'd put together to illustrate her idea. "Obviously, fuel savings will be greater when we're at warp for longer periods. But as the saying goes: every little helps."

Lukas nodded slowly as he watch the presentation. "I like the idea, we'll be crossing a lot of Cardassian space in the coming months i expect so having a little extra in the tank would be good. Have you run simulations with calculations?"

With the visual demonstration coming to an end, Faith brought up the results of the simulations she had ran. A lot of variables had been factored in. All of them had shown a worthwhile fuel saving. "Here." she said. "As it shows, the longer we travel at warp, the greater the saving. I'm confident in achieving an average reduction in fuel consumption of between twelve and fifteen percent." continued Faith, pausing as Beatrice enthusiastically shook her teething toy. "The only thing we'll have to do down here is a few software upgrades to make it all work. I've made a start, but I will need to bring in some outside help to assist with the fine tuning." concluded Faith, hoping she'd presented her proposal well enough for it to be considered. While there wasn't any structural work required, introducing significant software changes had its risks.

Lukas studied the results. He wasn't an engineer by trade but he liked what he was seeing. He glance over at the Engineers youngest that she was holding and gave her a cheeky little wink. "Looks sound to me. Get started. Contact Commander Nog on the Station, he'll probably be able to spare some people for you."

"A few extra hands would be useful." began Faith, adjusting Beatrice's position on her knee. "But, I need someone in particular to help with the software aspect of the modifications. She has the specific skillset we need to make it happen." With her free hand, she slid a PADD across the desk to Lukas. "Lieutenant Cleminson, Starfleet Corps of Engineering. She's agreed to a temporary transfer, and her CO has said he can spare her for a little while. If you could sign it off, I'd be really grateful." she concluded. Obviously, having Genie around would have its advantages on a personal level too. But the one thing the reunited couple were good at was keeping their home, work lives completely separate. Faith had no doubt they'd be able to do the same this time, too.

"How quickly can she get here?" Lukas asked, wonder where the Lieutenant was station and how remote Deep Space Nine was.

Faith replied. "As luck would have it, she's already at DS9." She hoped to pass on the good news to her partner later, when they reconvened at Matthew's quarters for dinner.

"Have at it then, Lieutenant." Lukas smiled. He was always happy to let his crew use their knowledge and experience to make things better aboard ship.

As yet, Faith hadn't announced her reunion with Genie to her friends, colleagues. They'd agreed for now, they'd only tell immediate family. Then again, Faith had an idea Jerrod would likely put two and two together and get the right answer. "Thank you Captain." replied Faith, pleased that at least for now, she and Genie would be together in person. Faith intended to make the most of it, personally and professionally. But, once her girlfriend's temporary assignment ended, some big decisions would need to be made. "I'll devise a schedule for the work and send it up to you for review. With Lieutenant Cleminson's help, it shouldn't take more than four or five days."

"Excellent. Keep we apprised of you progress." Lukas replied with a smile.

 

RSS Feed