The Abyss looks into You

[Gir Quee]

Lucerne Lab Shipyards, Hast

Gir walked through the corridors of the Ocean Tide, watching a motley crew of quarren, mon calamari, and droids work from the scaffolding deep within the vessel towards the outer edges of its frame. Gir watched a pair of welding droids zip past him to aid a trio of welders and a binary loadlifter in reinforcing a key truss near the forward section of the ship's keel. Blinding light erupted from the work site, causing Gir to instinctively shield his eyes with an outstretched hand. The light vanished several second later to reveal another lattice-like structure branching out from the ship's centerline. We get closer and closer, but not close enough...He felt a damp hand on his shoulder, which prompted Gir to slowly turn around to face a familiar mon calamari with mottled green and salmon-colored skin. His adopted brother hesitated as he withdrew his hand, looking from his datapad down to the ventral framework, and then up to Gir.

"Your eleventh day visit in a row," observed Salmakk, "you are not staying at Fairwind any more, are you?"

"It's not close enough," admitted Gir, "I've been staying on the shuttle."

The mon calamari winced, "A private island...all the luxury a common man could want, and you choose to live in a shuttle parked in industrial dockyard to be closer to your project."

"The other option is to move the shipyard just off the island, you know."

"Sometimes I wonder if we should make a small facility there, just to placate your interest."

"You don't really like me being here, while you work, is that it?"

Salmakk paused, "Gir, we spent our formative years together before you went gallivanting off to the Core Worlds and the Republic. Look where that's got you...I don't mean professionally...I mean as a whole person. I thought that maybe retirement from active military service would take out some of your workaholicism...and I thought I saw it for a few months..."

The mon calamari went silent for a long moment. Gir remembered in that moment Salmakk's practice of regularly scheduling vacations just to be with his wife. Yet the man had not encountered that person yet in his life, though he had experienced fleeting sparks of romance. He narrowed his eyes for a brief second. But that's not what this is about...no...not exactly...is it?

"You need balance in your life," said the mon calamari, "you need to get away from here, from the yards, from the Ocean Tide itself."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir briefly hesitated as another levitating droid zipped past them.

"I'm not sure if I can do that," said Gir, "I don't mean physically of course...but mentally. Many things have changed over the years, of course, but work has always been there. Aside from you and the rest of the circle, not much else has remained constant, maybe aside from our principles."

Salmakk hesitated, "I once went through your father...and I mean your father, not our father's documents on your family's old console."

Gir nodded, "Back when we were searching for clues about my parents?"

"Back then," affirmed Salmakk, "just before we graduated from secondary school. I thought maybe somewhere deep within there, we might find a clue or reference that our younger minds wouldn't have got before. When I did that, I found a philosophical treaty that your father was apparently interested in, one from one of the worlds that they frequently traded with."

"Ank Ki'shor?" guessed Gir, "Dad always seemed to be looking for edge into their society with all of their manufacturing potential..."

"He had one area of it highlighted," continued Gir's adopted brother, "it was 'If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you', which confused me back then. I thought it was maybe a code for something, since he bothered to highlight it. But now I'm not so sure. I think it was something that actually struck a cord with him, a lesson he didn't fully realize consciously until he read it. Gir, if you continue on this path, your legacy will be this company's rise. That may sound grand and all, but when they see holos of you once you've long passed...will they really see you for you were, or merely a cog in a machine who simply was the vehicle for the corporation's growth?"

Gir shifted from foot to foot as he briefly glanced downward.

"If I'm dead, I'm not sure if it matters."

"It matters to me," said Salmakk,crossing his arms, "and if you talked privately with other members of the Circle, they would agree with me."

"I'll take a break. An actual vacation, maybe even a sabbatical," said Gir, "once the Ocean Tide is done. I am thankful that you are all concerned about me, but the Ocean Tide concerns me most right now. With its completion and success, we will have a means to project power to protect Hast and those who share our ideals. I am not certain I could enjoy such a break without seeing it complete."

Salmakk grumbled, "That is a poor rationalization at best, but I will hold you to that thought. Once the Ocean Tide is launched, you are going on vacation, a real vacation, that lasts at least two standard weeks. Deal?"

Gir nodded, "Deal."

 

[Gir Quee]

"Let us get to work then," mused Salmakk, "I have taken your comments into consideration, though as always, implementation is the harder than simply dreaming it."

"Yes, but we know it is doable," mused Gir, "the Omega event revealed that the Mandalorians have reworked the Kandosii yet again, and we both have seen the Centurion-class Battle Cruiser."

Salmakk began to lead Gir backwards and into a more complete section of the craft.

"These examples show us that the concept of a heavily armed carrier is possible, but they do not explain how they accomplished the task. Miniaturization of components is my most likely guess, but they are other ways of potentially conserving space."

"Such as?"

The mon calamari considered the question briefly, "Designing parts to do not one function, but two. As a really basic example, have you seen combination sonic shower and toilets? They are a very efficient example of use of space by combining similar functional components of both systems and combining them into a single entity."

Gir winced. "Disgusting things..."

A bemused smile wrinkled across Salmakk's face, "Perhaps a more palpatable option would be housing various components in areas typically considered as dead space. For example, designing cabins to use the ceiling as storage or lofting space for bunks."

"Since that sounds pretty basic and practical, I am assuming that you are looking into this already?"

"The concept will be included," affirmed Salmakk, "albeit the interior design team hasn't selected a precise design out of the four basic cabin designs that they have come up with. I am beginning to think more and more that they will combine elements from several of the designs into a new design."

Gir slowly shook his head, "Achieving improved battle performance through interior design? These are things that I hardly would have expected to actually be factors when I first joined the company."

"By itself, this cabin design would lead to only a little improvement, but all of the minor efficiencies collectively add up to an appreciable difference. In many ways, that is the art of high performance engineering: getting all of the little details just right to get a certain effect. Have you ever heard of the Storm? It was an ancient Hapan starfighter flown by one of their crown princes way back around the time of the Galactic Empire."

Gir reached into his not inconsiderable memory of historical starships, "Some version of a Miy'til, wasn't it?"

"Exactly. A craft of exceptional performance in every way, which they accomplished through miniaturization and judicious use of modifying existing off the shelf technology."

"So where does this start for the Ocean Tide then?"

"With power."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir considered that thought for a brief second. Power technologies were so commonplace in Gir's life that he generally took them for granted, whether it was the energy cell in his electric shaver or the massive reactors that fueled most capital ships. That last thought immediately brought to mind the classic ventral bulges found on the old Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Reactors are so large that it makes sense to downsize them if at all possible, but I imagine that's an issue of energy efficiency and the cost of reactor technology...His thoughts on the subject came to an abrupt end as Salmakk turned a corridor and led Gir into a large open space. Unlike most of the ship, it appeared to be a fully enclosed room with a chalky white walls half covered in plastic and a blemished metal floor and ceiling. But for a room under construction, it was remarkably free of workers and droids: the only other occupants were a single woman wearing a white lab coat and an older man in stained utility overalls. Both of them appeared to be deeply drawn into working on their datapads, causing Salmakk to clear his throat as the pair approached.

"Doctor Noor," said the mon calamari, "this is President Quee....and Mantou, well...you know Gir better than most..."

The two looked up from their datapads. A warm and befuddled smile engendered itself across the atrisian's face; he quickly set down his pad to offer Gir a firm if somewhat handshake. Noor regarded him more coolly as she adjusted her thin-rimmed glassses. But at Gir's gaze, she offered him a thin-lipped if subdued smile. Gir offered out his hand towards her, which she hesitated to grasp for a moment. When she did grasp it, it was but for a fleeting second, as if to confirm that his offer for a handshake did exist.

"Doctor Noor is one of our newer hires," explained Salmakk, "she and Mantou here have been working finalizing a hypermatter reactor based on the Proton-8, and Mantou here is working with her on an molecularly bonding an Ardanium II coating to the internals to reduce the size of the shielding needed for it."

"Proton-8..." repeated Gir, "that's a high end Rendili product, isn't it?"

"It is," said Noor, showing a brief flash of warmth across her pale face, "not made in large numbers because the technology to run condensed hypermatter at such high and compact levels is prohibitively expensive."

"Our reactor will not likely be as efficient as the Proton-8," added Salmakk, "we're mostly utilizing the technology to optimize the energy we can produce in a given amount of space."

"That sounds like a hard enough task," said Gir.

Mantou bobbed his head up and down, "One not easily accomplished in a brushstroke, but doable with our time and efforts..."

 

[Gir Quee]

"That's true of many things that are worthwhile..."

Both Noor and Mantou's heads nodded in agreement. Go after something that is impossible to achieve, and you will never reach it by definition. Conversely, go after something that is too easy to accomplish, and what have is common and not noteworthy...A balancing act just like anything else in life. He turned his eyes to Salmakk, but the mon calamari's eyes were fixated on his datapad. That's his intense concentration look...

"What is it?" asked Gir.

"A thought struck me," said the mon calamari, "one of the first thoughts you gave me when we were conceptualizing this project. I didn't think it was possible at the time because of the size of the reactors that we were considering at those times...but that has obviously changed."

The mon calamari's speech suddenly came to an abrupt stop. At glance at his skin told Gir that his adopted brother felt embarrassed. Perhaps because he's beginning to ramble? Salmakk briefly brought his lips closely together.

"Excuse me Doctor Noor and Mister Mantou...we will finish this discussion elsewhere so that you can get to work. Of course, I will send a summary of the points that I cover with Gir...President Quee."

Mantou offered an exaggerated shrug, a brief glance at Gir, and quickly delved back into his datapad. Noor seemed more perplexed at the abrupt halt, but upon seeing her colleague's reaction to it, she too turned her attention back to her immediate work. Salmakk waved him over once more, leading Gir out of the room and back into the unfinished corridors.

"The Supremacy-class Attack Ship," blubbered Salmakk, "you offered that as archetype for our basic hangar and service layout. I didn't think it possible at the time because of the main reactor's size."

"But with the new reactors, it is?"

"Yes, I think we can reconcile some of the elements that you were talking about now, particularly the rotating hangar rack idea, not only because the main generator is smaller, but because of the power tree design...the linking of several generators and reactors we will have enough power for the auxiliary support hangars to do that in several ports."

"But the main hangar will continue forward as planned?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Salmakk paused as if to seriously consider the thought. But Gir had been around him for so long that Gir knew from the mon calamari's lack of eye movement that he already had a concluded thought in his mind. It's not a matter of him telling me that it is...it isn't. He's thinking of how to break that to me in the most polite and productive way possible...

"Well...yes..." started Salmakk, "I think it may be possible to change certain elements of the design still."

"But the basic layout and design is set in stone," suggested Gir, "because construction in that area is far too accelerated gone to make a major design change."

Salmakk let a faint smile creep across his face, "Sometimes I forget how much you really know me."

A muted grin flickered across Gir's face, "I do appreciate your thoughtfulness in breaking it to me. I now that you know how important this project has become to me."

"A chance to possibly have our company be recognized as among the great shipwrights of the galaxy?" mused Salmakk, "I recognize that opportunity as well, though I am not so certain that it is best for the company...not in the long run. You may have grown used to being in the lime light during your tenure with the Republic, but we as a company have mostly remained working quietly in the shadows. We've transformed a lot already in a short time. I'm not certain how stable we would become if we suddenly grew in stature so quickly yet again."

Gir slowly nodded, "I hadn't fully considered that, I suppose."

"You're the captain of the company, brother," mused Salmakk, "ultimately it is your job to get us there, but I do hope that you consider the process of us reaching our destination."

"Why don't we go down to the main hangar?" said Gir, "you can show me what is really possible to change in the hangar details once we're there....and the walk down there will give us time to catch up. I imagine that aside from talking to me about corporate culture, that you'll want to tell me how little Kophuth is doing..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Their walk down the central spine of the ship was productive. After a few well-placed questions from Gir, Salmakk divulged the latest happenings of his household. Much of it, while arguably eventful to Salmakk, seemed almost so routine to Gir that he wondered why Salmakk bothered to mention it. Yet in retrospect, Gir realized that most parents cherished their child's first step, and even the wife's minor pay raise. He figured that sort of thing was almost like a soldier earning a medal or decoration of some sort. Gir tried his best to earnestly engage Salmakk in such talk, if only because he knew how much his family meant to his adopted brother. Yet try as he would, Gir couldn't help but notice his surroundings. As Salmakk droned on some stories, Gir found his thoughts considering the extra wide corridors in the basement that could be used to move large pieces of equipment, vehicles, or even prefabricated housing. Sometimes his eyes drifted around to view the glowing organoform circuitry before droids moved in to cover it with alabaster white paneling or metal plates. They entered a turbolift which began to glide down towards the hangar, which prompted an unusual amount of silence from the mon calamari engineer. An uneasy silence permeated the air.

"Gir," started Salmakk, "you should come visit the house when the day is done. Kophurth has barely seen her Uncle Gir."

The blonde man hesitated. It seemed natural to call Salmakk his brother after all the years. Gir could even grudgingly accept Salmakk's wife as his sister-in-law, yet for whatever reason, he felt uncomfortable as "uncle". Perhaps it was because of the changing expectations. Salmakk, and his wife by extension, hadn't seemed to have any expectations of him in the past, but the arrival of their child had changed many things about them. At first the changes seemed entirely internal, but now Gir was certain Kophurth's arrival had influenced their view of the outside world as well.

"I will stop by," decided Gir.

Salmakk considered pressing the issue, but just as he was about to open his mouth, the doors slid open to reveal the Unity-class Carrier's main hangar deck. Many starships had a singular hangar bay, which often times appeared to be a large room set aside to carry some smaller craft as almost an afterthought to the ship's other functions. But the Unity-class was different. Rather than simply proportion off a set amount of space for the hangar, the ship was designed ground up around the power system and its ability to carry smaller craft.

 

[Gir Quee]

"Most of the layout is set in stone as per our experience with the Deliverance-class," said Salmakk as he stepped into the room, "though there are some noticeable differences.

Gir followed behind him. While the area was still needed many of its final fittings, Gir could see the Deliverance's influence even in the frame structure, mostly through its use of automated shuttle car tracks that ran through the armored bulkheads. Because they carried munitions, fuel, and other noxious chemicals from bunkers deep within the ship, Gir guessed that the tubes would eventually encased in a similar armor to mitigate damage to the cars in the case of a hull breach: it wouldn't do for the entire ship to be lost in fiery explosion because of a flaming shuttle cart returning to the munitions bunker. He blinked as one of the capsule like carts zipped down from deep within the ship to the hangar lobby before turning to enter one of the hangars.

"We're using the shuttle cart system to help move materials," explained Salmakk, "it's faster, and it gives us more droids and people to work on other areas of the ship."

"It certainly makes sense," agreed Gir, "I can't change your mind about the pressor catapults?"

"Your favorite feature of the Deliverance," recalled Salmakk, "aside from the upper hangar deck where the alert squadrons will be stationed, we remain convinced that their loss is better made up for by the increased compatibility with more numerous types of starships, especially in its role as colony vessel. Ah...but we did incorporate one of your other ideas. Let me show you that, and how that has inspired another change in the hangar design."

 

[Gir Quee]

Salmakk wove in and through the horde of workers and droids that fervishly assembled the hangar facilities. The central hangar lobby was exceptionally long and relatively narrow. Outside of a long narrow strip that ran the length of the room were sunken rectangular depressions before the entrance to each actual hangr. Judging by their multiple holo-projectors and furniture, Gir recognized them as the ready rooms where pilots and their flight crews would receive their briefings before hustling out to their craft. But perhaps just as importantly, the rooms would function as a break room for the deck crew and the droids who slaved away at keeping the small craft functional. Gir scrutinized one of them more closely, noting several built-in lockers. That one is nearly ready for service, except that it doesn't have a wall between it and the central corridor. Gir briefly wondered why before he saw a handful of binary loadlifters walk in unison through the room while carrying a large pipe-like object. Of course...the wall isn't up to make the ogoing construction in the hangar more easily. He noted that several workers appeared to be reclining in the built-in seats of one of the rooms. I suppose they also make good break rooms for the workers as well. But his thoughts on that otherwise frequently overlooked design detail came to an end as Salmakk led him through one of the ready rooms and through a blast door into one of the hangars.

It seemed almost unremarkable to him at first aside from a few faint traces of mon calamari aesthetics and a complete absence of workers. Gir guessed that the rectangular room could house a typical squadron's worth of starfighters. His eyes continued to wander throughthe room, looking for any sign of something unusual that would cause Salmakk to bring him in. His eyes finally settled on a tubular structure that subtly bulged from within the ceiling. Gir gestured at it.

"Fire suppression equipment?"

Salmakk let a smile slowly crease his face, "Yes, but not only that. We also have the guidance tractor beams in there to help land damaged craft and recover extravehicular objects."

"Like that one person who jumps out of the magcon field?" snorted Gir.

"Well...yes...I suppose that could be the case, but if the blast doors are closed..." started Salmakk, who briefly paused and shook his head, "You were making fun of me."

"A little," admitted Gir with a small shrug, "I suppose you're probably right that every once and while, something floats out that really shouldn't."

"Do you notice anything else?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir turned his eyes away from Salmakk as he scrutinized the room once more. It really should be easy to notice something obvious in a room as large and empty as this. He looked at the parts lockers built into the sides of the hangar walls, but even that inspection of relatively design busy section revealed nothing new to him. Another glance at the ceiling revealed nothing unusual to his eyes except a possible orange stain from a leak above them. But upon closer inspection Gir recognized it as concentrated metal preservative that simply hadn't been adequately scrubbed before the plate had been fitted to the ship's framework. Gir's gaze briefly wandered past the hangar's launch doors to see the murky depths of Hast's ocean beyond the shipyard's hydrostatic bubble. His head slowly swiveled back to Salmakk.

"I don't see anything unusual."

"It's not particularly obvious," said Salmakk, sweeping a webbed hand across the floor in front of him, "because they're underneath the floor."

Gir looked down to see a diamond-shaped marking outlined in red in front of the mon calamari. As he looked around, Gir could see that there were several other identical markings almost equally spaced around the hangar deck's. A closer inspection revealed the markings were actually access hatches something below. Given their size, his mind immediately jumped to a concept that he had proposed to Salmakk months ago. It was such a little detail that he had long forgotten about it until now.

"Gravitational field disruptor?" guessed Gir, "there's one underneath each of these hatches, isn't there?"

Salmakk nodded, "Our hangar design crew thought about your idea for a while. Your idea to use them to help lock down and secure the craft while in transit was solid, and unlike arresting cables or maglock feet, their ability to hold a ship down isn't partially dependent on the ship or its condition as well."

"A plus is you're recovering damaged vessels," mused Gir, "but that's an incremental improvement at best."

"Series of incremental improvements lead to notable advantages with time," said Salmakk, "or even into entirely different ideas."

"That sounds only slightly vague and cryptic."

"Perhaps," admitted Salmakk, "but I showed this to you now so you can see how we applied your idea differently in the upper hangars."

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir nodded in acknowledgement as Salmakk led him out of hangar bay towards the central hangar corridor. Salmakk started talking about other members of the inner circle which formed the nucleus of the company's leadership council, yet despite how interested he normally was in their lives, he could not keep his mind focused on them. He found his mind wandering to the different potential applications of gravitational technology that could be to a hangar. The most salient question in his mind was what features could be applied to the upper hangars which couldn't be applied to the lower hangars. The lower hangars appeared to be pretty traditional in most aspects, but the upper hangar deck was unusual in its sole entry and exit point. Gir guessed it had something to do with that, but he couldn't quite figure what they were exactly. A short turbolift ride from the lobby took them up to the upper hangar.

The doors opened to reveal a central corridor that at first seemed very similar to the lower hangar deck, though it was substantially shorter. Yet Gir could almost instantly see some major differences, notably in the series of massive freight turbolifts in the lobby. From his knowledge of the design schematics, he knew that those turbolifts would be used to transfer unusually large loads such as ground vehicles and cargo containers that could not be easily moved in standard personnel turbolifts. Salmakk had barely led him into the lobby when the mon calamari engineer came to an abrupt halt. He turned to point to what at first appears to be a pair of exceptionally large freight lifts.

"Those are the vertical starship elevators," said the mon calamari, "that lead to the deep maintenance areas of the carrier."

Gir nodded in understanding. One of Gir's primary concerns with the Unity-class had been ensuring that it was exceptionally durable in order to survive the harsh environments sometimes encountered in Wild Space and the Unknown Regions. This necessitated an exceptionally strong starship structure that prevented the use of the large classic hangars throughout the ship. That was perhaps the primary reason why the main hangars were on the bottom: if they were somehow compromised, the entire ship wouldn't be vulnerable. But that bottom deck wasn't solely capable of carrying all of the ship's needed craft and providing a space to perform more detailed maintenance and repair work; it functioned merely as a holding place for starships to launch, land, refuel, and rearm. That necessitated a method of moving the ships from the hangar bay to other areas of the ship with more space to perform routine maintenance and extensive repairs, hence the elevators that could move ships from the cramped bottom areas to the expansive work bays near the center of the ship.

"What if," started Salmakk, "the elevator didn't merely stop at the work bays, but continued upwards to the dorsal side of the ship to launch them as well? It clearly would not be a fast way to launch multiple ships..."

 

[Gir Quee]

"But it would be protected, allowing ships to launch in hazardous environments without any major risks to the ship itself," said Gir, "that would certainly be useful in certain exploration situations."

"Or even for use where traffic volume isn't a concern," commented Salmakk, "such as routine personnel transfers."

"Was this the idea that you were referring to with the Supremacy when we were with Doctor Noor and Mantou?"

Salmakk nodded in affirmation. Gir only vaguely remembered referencing the extensive lift systems on the ancient warship during the initial drawing phase. He knew that they had somewhat morphed that concept into the deep work bays for extensive maintenance, though he couldn't recall the exact reason for them previously moving away the exact concept used in the Supremacy. Gir delved into his consciousness to try find that reason and how it was related to the ship's power supply. But for the life of him, he could not. That particularly surprised him since he had obsessively poured over the design schematics and details of the ship for weeks now.

"What kept us from doing that before then?"

"We originally had a reactor in the distributed power chain positioned directly above the lifts," said Salmakk, "but that was when we were planning on using old reactor technology. When we found that the Darius project was feasible, we completely forgot about further developing the Supremacy's concept."

"So what's there now?" asked Gir, but the answer quickly came to his mind, "it's storage, isn't it?"

"Yes, which we can probably move elsewhere, maybe between the two engine pods with a little rearrangement."

 

[Gir Quee]

The image in Gir's mind quickly turned the ship's stern, which looked vaguely like the engine nacelles of the classic Y-wing starfighter. While the cylindrical protrusions were almost entirely engines, the space in between the two was mostly empty in order to better allow the same engines to better radiate excess heat off while remaining heavily armored on their outward facings where they would be most vulnerable to attack. Gir knew that there was likely some fudge room that could be done there so that engines would continued to have enough surface area to effectively bleed off heat, but he quickly decided that further thoughts on the matter would likely be of little use: Gir knew not enough about thermodynamic theories and applications to make but the most rudimentary design decisions in a very basic design. And the Unity was an exceedingly complex design.

"That is probably the most spontaneous thought I've had in a while," said Salmakk, "but I suppose it isn't spontaneaity if I'm merely recalling an idea of your's."

"But I wouldn't have been able to act on it," said Gir, "if that becomes a possibility, it becomes a possibility only because of your memory of an e-doc I sent you months ago. Considering how many of those have been exchanged recently, I would almost consider that to be a miracle that this came to mind."

While Salmakk didn't say anything to that response, Gir could tell from the mon calamari's posture that the words had brought him some satisfaction. That in turn brought Gir some measure of happiness, particularly given how their relationship had become strained at points. Salmakk continued forward, causing Gir to quickly stride up to walk alongside him. the two said nothing for several minutes before Salmakk took out his code cylinder and plugged it into the data-socket. A yellow light on the console began to steadily blink, causing Salmakk to turn his eyes on the Directorate officer once more.

"Sorry Gir, the security systems have been slow to get online..."

 

[Gir Quee]

"Understandable," said Gir, pausing for a second, "if the ships power system isn't online, how we do have power? Are we currently drawing it from the yards themselves?"

Salmakk nodded, "Yes. It's really not an ideal solution, but with the focus on getting a product to the market in the quickest amount of time, it was the most viable option."

"I understand."

The light on console turned green, causing the doors to slide open to reveal the second deck's main hangar bay. It was an exceedingly long and narrow hangar that Gir guessed could probably house several dozen snubfighters comfortably on either side of the main aisle. Gir's eyes wandered among the metal deck and ceiling, noting many of the same features that he had seen on the hangar bays below them. Just in front of the bow doors through which the starfighters would egress in and out of their carrier, Gir could see a several staggered rows of raised rectangular plates on the floor. It took Gir all but a second to realize that they were part of the Unity's catapult pressor system. Yet Gir could not see any other obvious change int he system, which made him curious about Salmakk's apparent improvement on his use of gravitational field disruptors. Of course, that might be subtle change if it's in the floor again...

"So what's this improvement or offshooting idea of your's?"

"In a way, it's more of a hybrid between your idea of gravitational field disruptors to secure the craft, and much older use of electromagnetic fields to slow down craft entering the hangar supposedly pioneered by the Naboo."

"The gravitational disruptors generate a force which slow down the craft upon entry?"

"Exactly. The field hits them right as they pass into through the bow doors," said Salmakk, pointing one of the concealed tractor beam projector ounted to the ceiling, "and then the tractor beam projectors can take over and auto-park the ships. It's the sort of thing that could be used to enable hot landings or those who have no idea how to fly land their craft on the Unity."

"Probably pretty useful for wounded pilots and battle-damaged craft as well," agreed Gir, "but again, I see that as an incremental improvement."

"And I'll repeat it again. Sequential incremental changes lead to tangible improvements," said Salmakk, pausing for a brief second, "you're looking at the big picture. But I am not necessarily, not with all design decisions. This feature could save a pilot's life one day. That's not a minor incremental change to that pilot. It's something that could save his life or limb."

 

[Gir Quee]

GIr's facial muscles tensed up and he felt a flush of color rise in his cheeks. He wasn't sure whether it was shame, anger, or some mixture of the two that he felt, but he knew he did not like the feeling. He held himself in check for a brief second. Did he just attack my design philosophy? His face softened. Maybe...but it may be a valid point...perhaps that is something that I need to not take personally, but a viewpoint I should consider in the future...He shook the thought away from his head. As his attention turned back to Salmakk, he could see that the mon calamari's posture had become more rigid. He can feel the tension that I'm feeling. Gir quickly moved to cover his displeasure with a faint if somewhat forced smile.

"Sorry, I think I'm just a little tired."

"I rubbed you the wrong way," observed Salmakk, "I apologize for that."

Gir glanced at his wrist chrono, "It's nearing lunch time. Where do the workers go to eat around here?"

"You're not going to eat out of your shuttle's auto-chef?"

"You may have a point in that I need to get out more," conceded Gir, "perhaps I've become too invested in this ship's outcome that I see everything about it as being personal. I think a change of scenery might help."

Salmakk bobbed his head up and down rhythmically which Gir took to be a sign of approval.

"Most workers bring their food from home," said the mon calamari, "but the more adventurous workers eat in the one cafeteria that's completed onboard the ship. That's actually turned into a bit of side project between Azira and Lucerne Biological Systems; they're trying to make an autochef that is a bit more efficient in its energy use but one that can also preserve and maintain foodstuff supplies longer; the sort of thing that would be good for long-term exploration and colonization efforts."

Gir raised an eyebrow, "Have you tried it yet?"

"Not yet, but there's a first time for everything."

 

[Gir Quee]

The two brothers waded through a deluge of workers and droids as they navigated through the skeletal-like ship's corridors. The more they walked, the more impressed Gir grew with their progress. While the Ocean Tide still far from complete, they had made remarkable progress in a matter of weeks. Perhaps I was little too anxious about Salmakk implementing a concurrent design and engineering approach to this all...Gir guessed that they had travel several hundred meters away from the passed through a pair of sliding doors and into a small mess hall. Few of the tables seemed be fully occupied by the eating workers, and Gir and Salmakk had little difficulty claiming one of the rectangular, sheet metal tables for their own use. Gir exaggeratedly looked around the table's surface.

"What? No menus?"

Salmakk regarded him quietly for second before he slowly shook his head, "I forget sometimes that you think you're funny."

Gir flashed a knowing smile, "But seriously, is there a menu?"

Gir heard a familar chuckle emanate from behind him. He cocked his head around to see a bothan female wearing one of the Lab's gray, work jumpsuits. Based on that lone, she could have been confused for one of the many trades workers on the Ocean Tide. Yet unlike their uniforms, her jumpsuit looked like it had just been removed from is packaging. Azira slinked over to sit across from them.

"We don't have something as fancy as a menu yet," said the bothan, "we just serve whatever recipe we're trying to perfect. Today, that's fishcakes and slaw."

"Doesn't sound bad."

The bothan nodded, "They haven't turned out too bad yet, but I think there are some changes that need to be made to the mixing process to make the ingredients a little more finely grained."

She stood up for a second and flashed the gesture for "three" with her hands before sitting back down.

"I guess I'll take my lunch break with you gentlemen. So what have you shown him, Salmakk?"

 

[Gir Quee]

"Mostly the hangar facilities," said Salmakk, "though we've seen other bits and pieces of the Tide as we just happened to be walking around."

Azira nodded, "I suppose that makes sense, especially since our initial requirements focused heavily on its ability to deploy small craft...most of their other systems a bit more nascent in their design stages."

"Mantou and Noor told me that we'll have the first operational reactors by the end of the week."

Azira's fur rippled, "The side-chain reactors, I'm guessing?"

Salmakk merely nodded, causing Azira to probe a bit further.

"Did they ever figure out the issue with the cooling systems for the main reactor?"

"Working on that now," said the mon calamari, "but they seem to be close. I think they're working in an emergency override that deactivates the engines and then vents the excess reactor heat through the engines's heat exchangers."

"I guess they would be close enough to do that if the thermal conductors are robust enough to handle the transfer."

Azira turned her eyes back to Gir, "Sorry, it's just one of those things that's been on my mind."

Gir nodded, "Understandable."

Azira's specialty was with electronics and programming, which was partially dependent on power. While the ship's biocomputers were not reliant on traditional power sources, not every component of the Tide used those computers. Until the power supply was pretty steady, she would not be able to fully complete the integration the Lab's biocomputers with the vessel's more traditional technologies. Gir picked a speck of dust from his tunic and tossed it aside to spiral towards the deck.

"Don't let my presence here stop you," said the man, "I'm just here to observe."

 

[Gir Quee]

Azira and Salmakk continued to talk about more fine details of the electrical systems, but the jargon was too esoteric for him to understand most of their conversation. Just as he thought that he had deciphered some bit of it, a squat serving droid rolled over to them with their plates in hand. A trio of spindly arms quickly placed the food on the table before the droid scurried away without a word.

"Friendly service I see," said Gir, picking up a fork.

Azira's eyes glinted with amusement as she picked up her own fork, "I see that your sense of humor hasn't changed."

"No," said Salmakk, "his really hasn't."

Gir broke a piece of the biscuit-like dish with his fork, "It may change later on if you're lucky enough...Speaking of which, I heard you were working on one of the communication's dishes the other day. Apparently you revealed a humorous side yourself."

Azira's fur rippled as she took her first bite of lunch, "I suppose it was some colorful language. Really, I should have expected that level of frustration. We've never tried to make a command and control platform as complicated as this vessel is. It is almost tempting to blatantly adapt that technology from the Acclamator or some other proven design."

"Why don't we?" asked Gir.

"Because that is what we did, in a sense," explained Salmakk, "except that we adapted the flight control architecture from the Venator-class while the ground control computer architecture from the Acclamator. We thought that by using the similar technologies from the same manufacturer that it wouldn't be too hard to combine the systems."

"Weren't we wrong on that..."

Salmakk nodded, "But it's done for now."

"For now?"

"We should really test it all once we get the Ocean Tide in orbit," said Azira, "do practical testing to see how it works in practical situations rather just through diagnostic tests."

"Makes sense."

 

[Gir Quee]

"That is the one fault of using a concurrent engineering and construction approach," mused Salmakk, "people tend to be more invested in their parts of the project, and while they should be communicating with others about how their products interact, there is room for people to also subtly push their own agenda in ways that are not easy to catch until the project is complete."

"There is always a cost for everything."

Salmakk gave Gir a long, hard look that made Gir think Salmakk was thinking about Gir's obsession with the project. It's not that I don't know the risk for becoming invested in the project, or the costs that it could have on my future...it's just that's what I choose. The cost is acceptable. But the more he thought about that, the more Gir wondered if he really had a reason to dive so head on into it except by the inertia of his frequent workaholicism. Azira's eyes darted between the two brothers before she focused on eating her food, but Gir noticed. So she's aware of it too. He shook the introspective thoughts from his head. I've got to change the subject before this gets more uncomfortable...

"Any other interesting things going on?"

"Gai is putting the finishing touches on the first proton beam cannon," said Azira, "it should be interesting to see it in action."

"We can't possibly fire it down here, can we?"

"Theoretically we could," said Salmakk, "but there are many more compelling reasons not to introduce a bunch of radiation into the seas or around your industrial facilities."

"So it's being produced and installed blindly?"

"Yes and no."

 

[Gir Quee]

"Since they are so close to the centerline of the vessel," said Salmakk, "they have to be installed very early on in the construction phase before the rest of the ship is built around them. Based on our construction schedule, this means that the port proton beam must be in place three days from now, but the starboard cannon needs to be fitted in two weeks from now.."

"So the port proton beam cannon will be fitted in without testing while the starboard one will be tested, adjusted, and then installed."

"Right," said Salmakk, "if any changes need to be made, they can modify the cannon that is already installed. His scale model of the weapon worked well, and the computer testing models didn't show any problems, so we shouldn't be seeing any major changes that need to be made. Minor changes then shouldn't be much of issue."

"I see," said Gir.

But they're taking another risk if there is some factor that the computer simulation didn't incorporate, or if there is a problem with scaling. Gir guessed that either possibility was not terribly likely given how mature the technology was, yet he felt that he couldn't full discount it's potential impact on the design if it failed. They'll have to inspect the port cannon several times over even before they fire it...which I guess means that we're pushing back some of the work right now to be taken care of later. But at least by then, the ship will be mobile. If something comes up, we'll at least be able to move it to a different location to complete her, nor will we be introducing a bunch of radiation to our homeworld. He considered Gai's involvement with the project. While somewhat eccentric, Gai's products had become progressively more and more reliable since he had started working with the company. That fact made him realize that he hadn't seen Gai in months. Strange. It seemed like I used to see him all the time...but I haven't seen him at any of the circle meetings over the last few months either.

"How is Gai doing these days, anyways?"