posted
Another futile effort at making sense of warp velocities:
1. "There's a star system a little less than five light-years from here. No M-Class planets."
The above refers to Idran, the closest star to the wormhole, as determined upon wormhole exit by Dax in "Emissary"[DS9-1].
2. "Then they may know the speed of our runabouts. If they do, they probably have a faster ship to make their escape." "Major, survey all ships in dock with a high warp capability." later: "We've got eight ships in dock capable of warp five or more."
The above suggests that runabouts may be limited to less than warp five. On the other hand, Kira may've been considering lower-than-runabout speeds considering Sisko's "high warp" order.
3. "Maximum warp, engage. Time to Parada system?" "One hour, fourteen minutes."
The above dialog occurs in "Whispers"[DS9-2], wherein O'Brien (... er, sort of ...) tries to go back to the scene of the crime in the Gamma Quadrant.
4. Several times throughout the series it's made clear that runabouts aren't the fastest things in the galaxy.
Therefore:
Even if we assume that Parada is a planet in the Idran system, and assume that "a little less than five" = four, then the runabout's speed in "Whispers" was 28,410c.
Ah crap. Nevermind. That's only about 9.975 or so, depending on which examples of warp speed vs. real velocity one wishes to make use of.
(sigh)
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
That or Chief O'Brien tweaked the engines like any good Starfleet engineer.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
i'd think that a Runabout can make warp 6 on the TNG scale for cruising and mabye even 7 for a limited time in an emergency.
Not enough to outrun a Romulan, Myridorn or Dominion ship though.
I only think that warp 6 is likely because the crew had traveled all the way back to Earth (I think) and Cardassia was less than a day's journey away (The Wire).
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
1) Idran was the nearest *recognizable* star system, while several others were closer to the Gamma end but unknown to UFP databases during "Emissary".
2A) The Gamma end of the wormhole moves about at near-lightspeed, so by the time of "Whispers", Parada is closer than Idran.
2B) Either Idran or Parada moves about at near-lightspeed.
3) "Whispers" features a cut between the emergence of the runabout from the wormhole and the computer comment. Perhaps O'Brien has been traveling at less than maximum warp for a while before issuing the order?
4) Warp five is indeed a good deal faster than Okuda claims, and easily propels the runabout across more than five lightyears in 1 h 40 min.
quote:Originally posted by TSN: Eddies in the space-time continuum.
No I'm not!
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I have not read a single thing that contradicts the opinion that the "Star Trek: New Deep Space Nine" novels are magnificent. Yet.
Registered: Oct 1999
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