~\\_               
          \\\\_             
          `\\\\\            -----------------------------------------
           |\\\\\           Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet (OOC)    
            \\\\\|__.-~~\   
         _--~         ~~/   Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"  
       /~         _-~~~'    Embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901   
      ('-//////-//          Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding 
       ////// }}-)          -----------------------------------------
     /////~                 Simulation Teaser                        
  _///~                     Stardate 240302.23                       
 `                          
 _______________________________________________________________________ 
/ Simulation Teaser                                                     |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 "It doesn't have a name?" Tebrun Lora Kor asked, looking up.

 "Not other than the project name," Todd Marshall replied, also looking
 up.  "Tuberider."

 The two men were standing in Xanadu's Fourth Chamber, nearly 300
 kilometers from the Third Chamber access tunnel.  Above them, the twin
 singularities were between the two men and the opposite wall of the
 cylinder.  On one of the singularities, hung like a bead on a string,
 was a ship.

 About the size of a small freighter or large transport, the ship was
 itself cylindrical in shape, open on either end to allow the
 singularity to pass through it from fore to aft.  A Bridge module was
 visible mounted on the side facing the two Admirals, as was a docking
 collar suitable for a Wraith and a smaller mount aft for a Spectre
 class fighter.  The other docking mounts were not visible from his
 perspective, but Lora Kor knew from reviewing the schematics that the
 ship was capable of docking three Wraiths and four Spectres along its
 outer hull.

 Within the interior surface of the cylinder, immediately around the
 singularity, were features not themselves very different from docking
 collars.  These interior collars, one set forward, one set aft, were
 able to "grip" the singularity.  They didn't actually touch the
 feature, but were able to "press" on it gravitationally along a
 forward or reverse axis.  Lora Kor knew from the frequent studies of
 the singularity that applying pressure to the feature would allow the
 ship to "ride" forward or backward on the singularity.

 As a result, the ship effectively had an unlimited range.  Her pilot
 need only apply pressure to the singularity and the ship would spring
 forward, accelerating more and more until the pressure was released or
 reversed.

 Other than this unusual feature, the ship's systems were essentially
 straight-forward, if primitive by 25th century standards.  She lacked
 any subspace or false matter capabilities; neither would function in
 the Fourth Chamber.  As a result, her computers were sub-light, her
 sensors based on laser imaging of a type not used by humans for nearly
 three centuries.  At least her weapons and shields were conventional. 
 Phasers and torpedo launchers were mounted, as were standard shield
 generators.  The latter, however, were of questionable utility since
 the shields would not operate for several dozen meters around the
 singularity.  As a result, there were sizeable gaps both fore and aft.

 The two Admirals looked up at the Tuberider, and though both men were
 thinking the same thing, neither of them said it.  The tests were too
 close... the object of the tests too close.

 A series of LIDAR beams had been fired down the Fourth Chamber,
 beginning more than a year prior.  Those fired along the singularity
 had never returned.  But one fired along an line six kilometers from
 the Chamber's center of rotation had returned, degraded only slightly
 by the very thin atmosphere at that "altitude."

 At that altitude, it had returned in only 433 minutes... a little over
 seven hours.

 Which meant that there was an object large enough to reflect the beam
 about 3.9 billion kilometers down the Chamber.

 Depending on who you asked, it was either an enormous distance... or
 insignificant to the point that people who knew the number sometimes
 looked over their shoulders... as if expecting to see something.

\_______________________________________________________________________ 
\ End Simulation Teaser                                                 |
 ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 

 Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone" Staff:
    Commanding, TG 85.3:       RADM Tebrun Lora Kor      (Jester)
    S-1, Group Adjutant:       Capt. Sieven Drexler      (Brad)
    S-2, Group Intelligence:   Capt. Jarod Bentall       (Alffred)
    S-3, Group Logistics:      Cmdr. Savant              (Savant)
    Commanding, M64 Ground:    Brig. Jeremy Ironside     (Fraser)

 U.S.S. Coronado Crew Roster:
    Commanding Officer:        Capt. William Daren       (Chris)
    Executive Officer:         Cmdr. Velorna Tal         (Aggie)
    Chief Flight Operations:   LCdr. Maiko D'Rall        (Farrell)
    Command Yeoman:            PO/1 Zachery Prentiss     (Prill)
    Battalion Commander:       LCol. Jacob Prescot       (Prescot)
    Flight Leader:             2Lt. Edward Somansky      (Somansky)
    Flight Leader:             2Lt. Amy Dillon           (AlexJenson)
    Watch Tactical Officer:    Lt. (JG) Derek Canterbury (Spuzzum)
    Chief Engineer:            Cmdr. Jack C. Farley      (CCC)
    Assistant Engineer:        LCdr. Aramis Skylooker    (LewisSharp)
    Assistant Engineer:        Ens. Brandon Gannsen      (Lefty)
    Chief Science Officer:     Lt. Anna Brooks           (Kari)
    Chief Medical Officer:     LCdr. Rachel Kennedy      (Santiago)

 On Extended Leave of Absence:
    None!

 Positions Available:
    Watch Tactical Officer:                              (---)
    Assistant Medical:                                   (---)

------
Jester

Rear Admiral Tebrun Lora Kor
Commanding, Defenders Task Group 85.3, "Whitestone"
embarked on U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/