"So you want to have an engine that exceeds the parameters I have made for this one?" I asked it slowly as I looked around at the scientists and Loril-ee. The small antwyn's wings were fluttering almost violently as she clasped her hands in front of her chest and bared her sharp teeth at me. We had barely made it into the science-y building, I still wasn't sure of the exact name, before the scientists had descended on me.
Apparently they had spent most of the night studying everything to do with everything with my small engine I made for them. They told me they still had no clue how it worked but that it did. They were able to explain a bit more about the polarity. I was essentially, slowly negating the polarity of one pole of the magnet using an electric current but they weren't able to tell me exactly why. Which I couldn't fault them for. I knew I had been messing with magnetic polarities but I hadn't been sure. So they knew more than I did when I made it.
"Yes, with a stronger engine we will be better able to understand the power it creates and the manipulation of the magnetic polarities." Kai-el-tee said it quickly, his blue wings fluttering just as quickly as Loril-ee's.
"From there we can rate just how effective it is at long term space travel and how fast we would be able to create transport from the other planets. " Hallee-tie's words were said quickly and I rubbed at my forehead. They were really putting it all out there with trying to get me to understand but I did. I understood it quite well.
"If your engines and your journey was correct, we could reduce the length of our space flights from years down to months or even weeks!" Bof'jag sounded more than excited as he boomed the words out and I looked at them all.
"I can't just do that with an engine." I said it carefully as I could. I knew why they wanted to study it more, why they wanted an engine with more power but I felt uneasy, like I had when Nasa wanted one and I hadn't done it for them and I wouldn't do it here. "With more power it becomes exceedingly dangerous. If you let the engine go even for a moment, it could punch a hole through a planet and won't stop moving. I have no clue why it doesn't stop just that it doesn't and wont." I explained it as carefully as I could, I could see them all deflate and even Hallee-tie's ilithari seemed to deflate and stick closer to her head.
"We can build you your own ship that you can study but I won't build you a singular engine. I don't even build singular engines anymore. Especially without the appropriate fail safes." It was just safer that way but they did seem to perk up but they still looked disheartened. I understood why but I wanted them to understand how dangerous a loose, singular engine with the power output of one of the ones on my ship could do. "I don't build those anymore, not since I realized what they can do." The scenarios of me accidentally blasting a hole through a planet were ones that kept me up at night when I first realized how fast and powerful the engines could be. I wasn't going to risk potentially hurting a life bearing planet to appease curiosity.
"We were hoping to study the engine up close before we built a ship for it. It would help us design the outer hull with he appropriate size and shape." Kai-el-tee's wings practically drooped and I felt bad but I was dead serious. I wouldn't build a singular engine without the fail safes I could introduce with a ship set up.
"We need to know just how much thrust and power an engine can produce before we build a ship for it. We want to maximise size of ship of the power output we get. We don't want to waste a small ship on an engine than can move a freighter." Loril-ee's tone let me know just how disappointed she was, even if her wings hadn't went limp. It was in every bit of her tiny body, it oozed disappointment but I was used to that reaction. I wasn't about to give them an over sized bullet that would keep going when they didn't understand how dangerous it could be.
"I just want to see how fast it can go." Bof'jag muttered it out and I pressed my hands to my hips. I understood what they were saying. I got it. Nasa had built a ship using mine as a reference. Six engines, the smoother design, small but not too small. But I could understand them not wanting to waste resources on a ship that wasn't matching the power output.
"Okay. How much of your equipment to test an engine can be taken out of the lab?" I looked them over and the j'ygnt scientist I hadn't met prior but was introduced as Duntella raised her hand.
"Nearly all of it. We created some handheld devices as well as attachment devices last night to better suit testing the engines due to how they move." At her low and rumbling explanation I nodded slowly. That made sense. They would need to have portable equipment to test an engine that moves.
"You want an engine but don't want to build a ship. Which is okay. However I will not build you a free standing engine without appropriate fail safes." I said it evenly before I smiled. "So that means we go to my ship and we can test out those engines. It's already built and it has all the fail safes. I feel better because you aren't playing around with a planet demolisher you don't understand, you don't have to build a ship and get to do all your testing. It's a win win." I nodded firmly at that and they all looked at me intently.
"We could... you could take us out into space?" Loril-ee's upward inflection let me know she was asking a question and I gave a slightly hesitant nod before I shrugged.
"Well yah. I don't think it's safe to test it around here. You guys have space travel and I'm less likely to cause a crash if we are outside of your air space. Less ships to run into." I stuck my hands in to deep pockets of the pants I had borrowed from Mare-aidee. The clothes were a bit big on me but they were suitable. She just had giant pockets in her pants. I couldn't get enough of them. I could smuggle so many things in them.
"We could go to space... in your ship?" Hallee-tie's question was asked slowly as she looked around at the rest of the scientists and I nodded.
"Why are you guys being weird? We go in my ship, we go out of your air space, we fly around for a bit and then come back. It's not a big deal." I didn't get why they were asking me the same question again and again. I explained why, it was safer and the easiest way we could. "I mean we would have to take turns. My ship isn't that big, so we won't all be able to cram in there but I could take groups up. I don't mind." I shrugged again and rocked back and forth on me feet as they looked at me and then between each other.
"First!" Bof'jag shouted it before he dashed out the door and I watched as the rest started shouting and arguing about who was going to go on the first trip and I burst into laughter as I watched them scramble around, trying to gather things.
"I would like to go." At'kat'vo gave a decisive click and I fought down my laughter as I looked over at him. I wasn't sure when he had arrived but the fact everyone was scrambling was just far too amusing for me to pay attention to those details.
"Sure. We would need to see how many I could realistically take but I don't see why you couldn't come up. I don't mind taking several trips." I honestly didn't. True I was a little sick and tired of sitting in my ship and being an astronaut but I figured it was a sacrifice I was willing to make if it made them that excited.
Mare-aidee burst into the room, her arms full. "You are going up!" She seemed almost breathless and her skin glittered as her eyes glowed brightly. "I need to put in a communications relay in your ship so we can keep in contact and I wish to go up as well!"
At the excitement I laughed again, unable to help myself. "You and everyone else. But I agree, having the ability to communicate with the surface is important." I hadn't had any ability to communicate with anyone since I got out of range of the satellites to earth. Even then the message would take weeks or months to reach them. "We can prep the ship for our little trip. We will make it so everyone gets to have a turn and the scientists can study the engines." It wasn't anything that was going to hurt me. My ass and hips might scream at me for sitting down again but I figured it would be fine as long as I could take a break between each trip.
I watched as she nodded enthusiastically and ran from the room. I shook my head as the door swirled closed before looking at At'kat'vo. "We should see who all wants to go for a trip." I let out a small sigh as he nodded before waving those creepy fingers in my direction. I had a feeling the list would be extensive.
....
It turned out everyone.
Everyone wanted to go to space with my ship. Which I should have been expecting but with the seven ambassadors and then the six scientists, it was going to be a mess to sort out. We had all gone to the space port and once I had opened up my ship I determined we could only have three extra people in the ship at once, excluding me. I had another flight chair, then an extra emergency chair, and then someone could sit on the floor if they wanted. I tried to say only two but when I did the math that was six trips and if we averaged nearly an hour per trip it was six hours in the ship. Which I wasn't too keen on doing, max of four hours seemed more doable.
Plus the scientists had said they wanted to sit by where the engines were so they could take their readings and see what was going on with all their equipment so that helped me decide that someone could sit on the floor. It would take up the hallway which meant no one else could really come in. Realistically I could probably have fit ten people in the ship, including in my little loading bay but that was everyone standing and no one able to really move or see what was going on. Which was no fun when you wanted to see how a space ship worked.
"And you are okay with me just attaching the communication relay on your dash?" Mare-aidee asked it from where she was fiddling with the device and I nodded as I adjusted my small table, folding it up.
"We can incorporate it into the design after. It will take too much time to pull the dash off and put it into the controls and wire in a new button. On the dash is fine. Just make sure it will work through the magnetic shielding." We had tried once and all we received was ear splitting static so Mare-aidee and some of the scientists had been working on how to get through the magnetic bubble my ship was in.
"It will work. It might be a bit distorted but it will work for now. At least now we know we need to work on the resonance between the two ends to work with the magnetic shielding rather than ramming through it." At the words I nodded before I looked at Boj'jag and Kai-el-tee.
"This is the only engine you can realistically monitor without interfering with the cock pit." I grabbed the ring inset into the floor and lifted. The metal panel lifted smoothly on its hinges, showing the rather sleek looking case holding the computer chips, magnet, and wires. I reached down and opened the case to show the inner workings of the engine. "Please don't mess with the wire harnesses or connectors. I have five other engines but it's better to not mess around with any of that just to keep it going."
Kai-el-tee waved me off slightly, staring intently at the engine. "This looks much more sophisticated compared the engine you built for us." He shifted on his feet, his wings fluttering.
"Well yah. The one I made you I put together in like an hour out of old parts and a small battery. This one runs on an entire system." I pointed to the battery case. "We have an entire electrical system set up with alternators for the battery packs to keep them charged and to run my fun things like music and power to lights and the kitchen and what not." I shrugged slightly. "We made a good chunk of the hull out of new pliable solar panels to gather enough latent energy so that the alternators will always start when we start off. It draws a current from the solar power banks to turn on and then keeps the battery packs charged before the solar banks get refilled when I face a star."
I shifted on my feet as I straightened my back, looking down at the antwyn, "From there we have extensive wiring for the electrical systems, the shielding, the rerouting if an engine suffers a critical failure and shuts off, the connections of the throttles, and everything else that you might need to run a space RV for a person. These engines are made to work in a rathe large system and took months to build properly." I shrugged once more. "So yah they look a bit more sophisticated." I understood why he said it but still, these engine and my retrofitted ship had taken months to get up to Nasa scientist specs. It was going to look more sophisticated than what I had first built in a garage.
"And you know where everything is?" Bof'jag looked at me and I nodded.
"The entire floor comes up so I can check out wire harnesses and relay for the electrical systems and the computer components. We made sure I knew exactly where everything was and how it worked before they let me leave earth. That way if something broke, I could find it and fix it without much difficulty." I looked up at him and gave a small smile. "It's not nearly as fancy as I am sure some of your ships are but it's a pretty good start for a species that barely has space flight." I could only imagine what their ships looked like and how different they were in comparison.
"This is actually a bit better than some ships that run in the same size range. A lot of the systems can only be access from the exterior of the ships, meaning there are significant space walks that are needed in case something happens. Here it looks like you can just pull up the floor where you need to check. No need to get into a space suit and risk a dangerous space walk to try and fix an engine." Kai-el-tee's wings fluttered a bit more and I smirked. That definitely was a plus, I had to admit. Not that I couldn't do a space walk. My shielding withstood extreme temp and radiation but I didn't particularly like the thought of getting out of my ship and hanging around in space without someone else inside to get me back inside if something happened.
"Built for ease of access." I chuckled a bit before shifted away from the open engine compartment. "Are you finishing up, Mare-aidee?"I looked at the ilthi and she was busy tapping on a hologram screen but she nodded.
"We have connection to the outside relay and to the space ports as well as any other frequency we need. It will be a bit distorted but we will work on it while you are taking the from space and back." She gave me a smile and I nodded at her before I looked around.
"Okay. So who is coming up first?" I had listened to them arguing then entire trip to the space port and then even while we were setting up on the landing pad. Everyone was arguing because they all wanted to go first but no one wanted to back down.
"I called first, first, so obviously me." Bof'jag snorted slightly as he was crouched beside Kai-el-tee, hooking up some of their equipment to the engine.
"That does not mean anything!" The antwyn sounded offended and I snorted back a laugh.
"I think the fighting will continue until we have a definitive and fair way to group everyone." Mare-aidee said it evenly and I nodded. I looked around before I gave a small sigh.
"I say we draw numbers. Four trips, four numbers. One through four. You pull a number and that is what trip you go on, no arguing." I said it evenly before nodding. That was fair, it held no favouritism, and no one could complain about what numbers they pulled.
"Oh! We have a similar program we can use." Mare-aidee pulled out her circular disk before she tapped on it rapidly. "It will assign a number to everyone randomly."
I nodded at that before I looked at the two scientists. "Does that sound fair?" Randomly chosen numbers assigned to everyone was more than fair. Everyone got an equal chance to be first.
"I called first." Bof'jag muttered it and Kai-el-tee flapped his wings in an almost agitated fashion.
"We are not children, Bof'jag." The words were chastising and I fought back a smirk at how irritated the grog looked wit the antwyn. Kai-el-tee turned to me. "That is the most fair and we accept."
"Are you guys done hooking up your devices?" I gestured to the engine compartment and Bof'jag nodded.
"Most of what we will use are handheld and will scan rather than hook straight to the engine systems so we are done." He grumbled it out and I could almost hear a distinct pout to his voice that made me want to laugh. The more I hung around the Grog the more I realized they were like big kids half the time.
"Alright, now scoot." I shooed them with my hand and everyone looked at me in confusion. "Vamoose, scoot." I waved my hands and they just blinked and I grinned. "It means let's go, out, need to leave." I watched as Bof'jag rolled his eyes while Mare-aidee and Kai-el-tee nodded quickly. Everyone filled out in front of me and I followed behind them almost lazily. The sun was nice and warm as I came down the back ramp and I looked at the collected group of aliens who wanted to go on a space trip with me and I smiled. "Okay, we are randomizing what trip everyone gets to go on." I gestured to Mare-aidee and she lifted her disk.
"Random number, one through four. That will be the trip number you will be on." She called it out before coming over to me. "I need to be joined in. Press this symbol to scan and then press this one to assign the random number." She pointed the two symbols out and I nodded. She quickly moved to the line of scientists and once she was stopped I pressed the first symbol. It took what looked to be a quick scan of everyone.
"Press it?" I looked at Mare-aidee and she nodded hastily. "I pressed it and various but matching symbols went in front of everyone. Some groaned and I watched as Gal'rug let out an excited shout before he quickly ran towards me.
"I got first!" He looked so excited that I chuckled.
"As did I!" Hallee-tie called it out and the k'gtar scientist I hadn't quite remembered the name for also called out that he was first as well. They all came over and I looked at the insectoid alien.
"Really sorry, but I forgot your name." I felt a little sheepish and he just bowed his head.
"I am Il'tig'vat'tok'oh." At the name I nodded. That was probably why I didn't remember it because it was a mouthful. "You can call me Il'tig if it is easier to remember." He clicked his mandibles together and I nodded.
"Will do, Il'tig." I gestured to the ship. "Please, feel free to get on." At my words he bowed his head, those multifaceted eyes glinting before he waved those creepy long spider legs fingers and moved up the ramp. I turned back to everyone else. "Okay. The ship doesn't have a lot of air movement around it when it moves. But just stay back when we start to go up. Just as a safety measure." I watched as they all nodded.
Mare-aidee waved her hand. "I will be on the comm to check in with you. I want to see the range the comm gets before it fades out." At the words I nodded before turning around and heading up into the ship. I moved into the cock pit. Gal'rug had already sat himself in the much too small co-pilot chair and Hallee-tie was hovering around the back of my chair. Il'tig was next to the engine compartment, tapping on one of the scanners. I moved around everyone and sat in my chair. I quickly buckled myself in.
"Do we need to do that?" Halle-tie asked it quickly and I shook my head.
"No. I just do it out of habit." The magnetic shields reduced nearly all the g-force. Even crashing didn't phase me. Scared the crap out of me when I would obliterate an asteroid cause it got in the way but the shielding meant the momentum never transferred. I reached out and flicked on several switches before pressing the start button. The engines came to life with a faint hum and I reached over and pressed down the hatch button. The ramp slid up before the hydraulics engaged and pulled the ramp back into the ship, sealing us in. "Alright, hatch is closed, we are sealed in. Engaging shielding." I flicked another switch and there was a tiny flicker of distortion to the windshield before it disappeared.
"Engaging engines and disengaging landing gear." I flicked another two switches and could feel the slight shift as the landing gear started to pull back in. I could feel the slight clunk they gave as they slid into place. "Gal'rug, do you want to do the honours?" I gestured to the comm relay and he nodded quickly.
"What is your ship name?" He looked so excited I was surprised he wasn't vibrating in that absurdly small seat. I wouldn't have bee surprised if he had only one butt cheek on it.
"EM-Alpha-Six." I watched as he brought up the comm interface, tapping on the hologram buttons.
"Space port Gal'ren Eight, this is Ambassador Gal'Rug one EM-Alpha-Six, small black alien cruiser. Alerting you to take off." He said it firmly and I pulled the steering system down so I could grab the joysticks comfortably.
"Noted. We are clearing all air travel from your vicinity. You are good to go in six tiks." The voice did sound a bit distorted, low and then high and quiet and then louder but it was understandable.
The comm flashed green and I looked at Gal'rug. "When it stays lit, you are clear for take off." He pointed to where it flashed again and I waited and it flashed four more times before it went green and stayed green.
"Alright. Here we go." I pushed forward on the left joystick and we slowly started to ascend. I wanted to ensure we were well out of anyone's way before I really made it go.
"You can barely tell we are flying. I feel no force on my chitin." Il'tig clicked as he said it and I nodded.
"The shielding minimizes the g-force you feel. Not sure how, just that it does." I pushed forward a bit more and we rose even faster. "Gal'rug, let me know when we reach well above the local flight range." I nodded at him as I looked around, making sure no one was around or above me as I held the yoke.
"You should be out of flight range in three, two, one." He counted down and I let the joystick go to rest in place and we came to a stop. Everyone looked at me and I grinned.
"You want me to cut this thing loose?" I looked at Gal'rug and he grinned wide, his tusks showing even more and I glanced back at Hallee-tie and she was nodding so vigorously that her ilithari were nearly bouncing.
"I would like to see that." Il'tig clicked firmly and I grinned and grabbed the left joystick, shoving forward as I grabbed the right joystick and pulled back a fraction. We surged forward and up rather than straight up. And the planet was below us in nearly a blink.
Gal'rug let out a whoop as the stars nearly streaked by us. "By the tusks! This is magnificent!" He grabbed the dash and laughed loudly as I pushed forward as far as the joystick would let me go. He screen was filled with lines of light and Hallee-tie let loose an excited cry.
"This is amazing!" Her voice was high and excited and I grinned as I turned my head back to look out the windshield. I pulled back on the left joystick and shoved the other to the side, causing us to come to a flipping stop before I shoved forward again and we were streaking back to the planet. The grey blue planet growing quickly in the window shield.
"Let's have some fun with it." I said it easily and Gal'rug cheered me on and the other scientists followed suit and I smiled and once again pulled on the joystick and sent us into a spin.
They hadn't seen anything yet.