Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Agreed. Proceed.”
    “Thanks for the approval Lieutenant,” Sprite replied.
    “Can you do it?”
    “The problem is, a shield's natural inclination is to form a
bubble Admiral. A sphere. Force fields are much like soap bubbles.”
    “I know the analogy. I'm wondering if it is possible.”
    “By reshaping the field emissions... I think the minimum needed
would be three. It wouldn't be two dimensional, but...”
    After a moment an image of the Admiral formed on his HUD. Then the
avatar raised his right arm. Three nodes, two in his forearm arm and one in his
bicep just below his shoulder joint came to life. Proteus projected lines
indicating field interactions. They looked like magnetic field lines. At first
the AI projected a sphere, cutting the Admiral up. Irons opened his mouth to
object but the AI moved past it. It methodically worked through the problem,
working to alter the shaping and strength variables in the sim.
    “I can work on this in my free time. Part of the problem is the
interactions but I think the formation of a triangle is key,” Proteus said.
    “I can help with the simulation,” Sprite said. “After all, we know
it is possible. Force fields are used in boat bays and security all the time,”
she said, glancing at Defender.
    “That is true. But a field uses nodes along the perimeter
Commander,” Proteus replied.
    “It is also two dimensional,” Phoenix replied. The AI sounded
distracted however.
    “Busy?” The Admiral asked.
    “A bit. A tangled patch I'd rather have you dealing with sir,” the
AI said, sounding like he was struggling.
    “On my way,” Irons said, finishing the cleanup of the galley. He
looked around, noting one of the cubs snoring softly on the ultrasonic laundry
appliance. It was Goldie, she loved the rumble and warmth the device put out.
“I think he likes the vibrations. Or he thinks his purring helps,” he said,
shaking his head.
    “She. You keep getting the gender mixed,” Sprite replied absently.
The cub flexed her paws, toes spreading; then a yawn of needle teeth. The cubs
were filling out slowly. They wouldn't get any bigger than a house cat. They
were of course lean, and small. As genetically engineered pets they had been
designed for slow maturation to maximize their cute and cuddly time.
    “Whatever,” Irons said, headed to the bridge.
    <----*----*----*---->
    “So anything?” the Admiral asked when he finished another
marathon session of piloting. He was getting seriously twitchy about those, and
knowing that, he was starting to become reluctant to pilot the ship. He
wondered briefly if he was developing a mental complex.
    “Some Admiral. First some background,” Proteus replied as the Admiral
fixed himself a sandwich and petted the cubs. Blaze of course had to take that
as a challenge and pounced on his hand. He wrestled with her briefly before
soothing her with a cheek rub.
    “Let's keep it light, I'm not in the mood for a full blown
science lecture at this point,” the Admiral said.
    “Understood. Now, exploring the two dimensional field
applications led me to research. Which pointed out that the fields aren't
really two dimensional at all, they are three.”
    “Oh?”
    “It's like the Magnetic Monopole Admiral, nature likes balance. A
monopole is theoretically possible, but incredibly difficult if not impossible
to replicate in the real world.”
    “Off track Proteus, you lost me,” the Admiral said, pausing in
his bite. “KISS.”
    “Keep It Simple. I thought I was,” Proteus replied.
    “Your analogy drifted. I'm still waiting for you to connect the
dots and make this relevant.”
    “Understood. For the record I was getting there,” Proteus
replied. The Admiral nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. “What I was trying
to get to is that the nodes in a two dimension field are actually projecting a
three dimensional field, just flattened.”
    “Okay...”
    The AI projected a simple airlock field arrangement. He watched
the field