smooth enough but always coarse when compared with the steady power of the warp drive.
"Aligned for solar system exit, sir," Yimasa said.
"Very well. Warp one, Mr. Sulu."
Kirk felt his chest strain at the sensation of the Enterprise 's sudden ignorance of gravitational bonds. She was now at the beck and call of a higher geometry, one which propelled her at just above the speed of light away from the tiny ochre planet of Yalbo, and away from her yellow star. Kirk briefly called up a virtual display of the outside view. The entire universe seemed compressed to a coruscating band of light, rotated and bent away from the direction of the view cameras. "Warp two and hold until Mr. Scott okays us for final warp sequencing," he said.
"Aye, Captain."
He switched the virtual display off. The forward screen now showed a computer simulated display of the stellar system and distant stars. When the Enterprise reached warp four, some of the closer stars themselves would appear to move on the display.
Kirk glanced at Mason, wondering if she was feeling what he felt. Like a tune in his bones, the warp drive sang, a beautiful siren pushing the ship faster in relation to status geometry—the home universe—yet retarding its speed in relation to the higher spaces they now traversed. The secret of the warp drive, in fact, was that it did not allow the Enterprise to reach an infinite speed in alien geometries, which would turn them all into a single tiny, very dead black hole.
"Welcome to warp drive, Mister Mason."
"Thank you, Captain. It's quite an experience." She wondered if she was going to be ill. And where was the science officer, the Vulcan? Wasn't he supposed to be on the bridge at a time like this? As if in psychic response, the elevator door opened and Spock stepped out, walking to his station at the computer console. Lieutenant Veblen followed, smiling at her in passing.
"At this speed, we'll exit your system in two hours," Kirk said. "I venture you've never traveled that fast before."
"I've never been off Yalbo until now. I'm just a country bumpkin, Captain." She was embarrassed by her own tone. "I hope to get sophisticated fast."
"Don't rush it, Mister Mason," Kirk said. "First experiences are to be savored."
"I'll savor them in my off-duty hours, Captain. And please call me Rowena."
"Certainly, Rowena. I see you've requested an interview with me in the ship's computer bay. Will 1600 hours be okay? If Scotty … Mr. Scott gets his refit done in time, we should be at warp maximum by then, and I can spare about fifteen minutes."
"I'll be there." She swallowed and decided she needed a place to sit down. Since there was no seat on the bridge not already taken, she returned to the elevator. As the doors closed, McCoy frowned and tapped his finger on the railing.
"Captain, Scott in engineering. We've finished the refit. She should take warp maximum without too many problems."
"What, no complete certainty?" Kirk asked.
"Nothing will go wrong that we won't be able to take care of," Scott said. "And if something does go wrong, you'll be the first to know. After us, Captain."
"Ready, Mr. Scott?"
"As we'll ever be."
"Good. Mr. Yimasa, final adjustment to bearings."
"Yes, sir. We'll exit the galactic arm in two hours ten seconds of ship's time. Catenary curve through four selected geometries as soon as we hit warp seven."
"Sequence us through warp five, Mr. Sulu."
"Sequencing."
The tune in his bones quickened its tempo.
"Three, Captain. Four. And … five."
"Sequence through warp eleven, Mr. Sulu. Mr. Yimasa, compute our entry point into Romulan neutral zone as soon as you can and put it on my console display."
"Warp six. Seven."
Kirk's eyes narrowed. "Eight," Sulu continued. "Nine. Ten. Maximum warp eleven, Captain."
Warp eleven was a special treat for James Kirk. The tune in his bones became a symphony. Secretly, he relished the thought of evading status geometry for seventeen days—even if the course did take
"Aligned for solar system exit, sir," Yimasa said.
"Very well. Warp one, Mr. Sulu."
Kirk felt his chest strain at the sensation of the Enterprise 's sudden ignorance of gravitational bonds. She was now at the beck and call of a higher geometry, one which propelled her at just above the speed of light away from the tiny ochre planet of Yalbo, and away from her yellow star. Kirk briefly called up a virtual display of the outside view. The entire universe seemed compressed to a coruscating band of light, rotated and bent away from the direction of the view cameras. "Warp two and hold until Mr. Scott okays us for final warp sequencing," he said.
"Aye, Captain."
He switched the virtual display off. The forward screen now showed a computer simulated display of the stellar system and distant stars. When the Enterprise reached warp four, some of the closer stars themselves would appear to move on the display.
Kirk glanced at Mason, wondering if she was feeling what he felt. Like a tune in his bones, the warp drive sang, a beautiful siren pushing the ship faster in relation to status geometry—the home universe—yet retarding its speed in relation to the higher spaces they now traversed. The secret of the warp drive, in fact, was that it did not allow the Enterprise to reach an infinite speed in alien geometries, which would turn them all into a single tiny, very dead black hole.
"Welcome to warp drive, Mister Mason."
"Thank you, Captain. It's quite an experience." She wondered if she was going to be ill. And where was the science officer, the Vulcan? Wasn't he supposed to be on the bridge at a time like this? As if in psychic response, the elevator door opened and Spock stepped out, walking to his station at the computer console. Lieutenant Veblen followed, smiling at her in passing.
"At this speed, we'll exit your system in two hours," Kirk said. "I venture you've never traveled that fast before."
"I've never been off Yalbo until now. I'm just a country bumpkin, Captain." She was embarrassed by her own tone. "I hope to get sophisticated fast."
"Don't rush it, Mister Mason," Kirk said. "First experiences are to be savored."
"I'll savor them in my off-duty hours, Captain. And please call me Rowena."
"Certainly, Rowena. I see you've requested an interview with me in the ship's computer bay. Will 1600 hours be okay? If Scotty … Mr. Scott gets his refit done in time, we should be at warp maximum by then, and I can spare about fifteen minutes."
"I'll be there." She swallowed and decided she needed a place to sit down. Since there was no seat on the bridge not already taken, she returned to the elevator. As the doors closed, McCoy frowned and tapped his finger on the railing.
"Captain, Scott in engineering. We've finished the refit. She should take warp maximum without too many problems."
"What, no complete certainty?" Kirk asked.
"Nothing will go wrong that we won't be able to take care of," Scott said. "And if something does go wrong, you'll be the first to know. After us, Captain."
"Ready, Mr. Scott?"
"As we'll ever be."
"Good. Mr. Yimasa, final adjustment to bearings."
"Yes, sir. We'll exit the galactic arm in two hours ten seconds of ship's time. Catenary curve through four selected geometries as soon as we hit warp seven."
"Sequence us through warp five, Mr. Sulu."
"Sequencing."
The tune in his bones quickened its tempo.
"Three, Captain. Four. And … five."
"Sequence through warp eleven, Mr. Sulu. Mr. Yimasa, compute our entry point into Romulan neutral zone as soon as you can and put it on my console display."
"Warp six. Seven."
Kirk's eyes narrowed. "Eight," Sulu continued. "Nine. Ten. Maximum warp eleven, Captain."
Warp eleven was a special treat for James Kirk. The tune in his bones became a symphony. Secretly, he relished the thought of evading status geometry for seventeen days—even if the course did take
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