The JHC Drive

[Zeppy]

Jack Denton, Joel and George are standing around a table in the Graf Zeppelin’s lab; a large piece of machinery sits on the table. It has a cylinder on one end, the cylinder leads into four curved claws that all flex out and then towards the centre of the device again. On the inside of each claw is a veritable forest of miniscule, spiked super conducting pylons; the sheer number of them boggles the mind.

While Joel moves forward to examine the device up close Jack turns to George, “it’s good to see our brainchild complete at last isn’t it George?” Jack asks, his new bionic eyes shine with a faint blueish-white glow.
George smiles and nods, still looking at the device on the table, “not that it matters yet”, he replies, “there’s no way the we could power it… well we could power it actually, but we would all die in the process.”

Jack nods with understanding but Joel whips his head around to look at George, “wait! What do you mean we would all die? What’s the point of this thing if we die trying to use it?”

George turns to Joel and begins to explain, his voice takes on a practiced tone, he has likely had to explain this many times, “the Daam K’Vosh designs are very efficient; we were able to use a single nuclear generator to create a relatively stable Jump Hole which is a remarkable feat in itself.”

“The problem with the JHCs however was that they subjected the surrounding area to powerful gravitational fluctuations when activated”, says Jack.

“The drive is designed to open a Jump Hole so close to the Graf Zeppelin that we fall through it”, George says while gesturing at the device on the table, “we can make the Jump Hole easily enough, but if we do not have the energy needed to contain the gravitational fluctuations to the area inside the claws…”

Understanding dawns on Joel’s face, “then we get ripped to shreds in an instant”, he finishes for them.

Jack nods, “the Graf Zeppelin’s core is not capable of even a fraction of the power we would need, I doubt even a battleship’s core could supply the power needed during the initial stages.”

“How do we use this thing then?”, Joel asks

“The Daam K’Vosh devices in the Privas cluster each contain 20 crystals, each one acts as a kind of battery, we think that they act as a failsafe in case the main power core is disabled”, George explains, “each crystal can store an extremely large amount of energy, enough to keep the DGM’s online for a very long time…”

“And just enough to shield us we think”, finishes Jack.

Joel arches an eyebrow, “you think”, he states flatly.

George seems to miss Joel’s look altogether, “if our estimates are correct, a fully charged Daam K’Vosh battery crystal from the DGMs should be able to contain the fluctuations for around three seconds.”

“That doesn’t leave much room for error,” Joel interjects

“Well yes but once the gravitational shielding is activated it will take less power to keep it operational, we can then divert power from the Graf Zeppelin’s core to the JHC drive. That should extend our grace period by another three seconds at least,” explains George.

“So what you are saying is, if we want to use this thing we will have to divert power from almost every system on the ship and,” Joel pauses, “risk instantaneous destruction.”

“We will need to run tests on the crystal to be sure but we should have plenty of time to open the Jump Hole, pass through it and still be in one piece,” Jack states dryly.

Joel sighs in defeat, “I suppose you want this installed?”

Jack nods and hands Joel a datapad, “here are the changes you will need to make to the core and bow of the ship, while your team works on that, George and I are taking the shuttle to Privas.

George nods, “Though I’m not looking forward to it, it’s a long trip to Gallia, especially so in a cramped freighter”.

Joel starts to reach for his comm unit, “it will be ready by the time you get back”.

Jack nods, “most appreciated Joel”.

Jack and George turn and begin to walk out but George turns and grins, still walking backwards, “careful not to prick yourself on the super conductors Joel, not only will it sting but you might stuff my calibrations up”.

Joel gives George a stony look, George grins and Jack smiles to himself while the other two can’t see.

---

Reseach into the Kansas sector

Research into the Privas Planetary Cluster

Research into Alien "Trade Lanes"

A new ship, Jack Denton's time on Freeport 11

The JHC Drive

An Unscheduled Vacation of Sorts

The above are meant to be read in order, if you jump in at "A new ship" you are going to be lost.

RP feedback thread