11/22/21:
Don't search the wikis for warp "skip" drive, as it's not on there. Andre will explain as we go along!

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11/29/21 01:40 AM
Swiftbow: The stool is a rare piece? Huh... I just looked it up on BrickLink and I got both the sets it's shown as coming in when I was a kid. Convenient! But we have probably a dozen of them or so.
11/29/21 01:19 AM
BrickVoid: LEGO elements such as the 3940 are quite rare. It's interesting to see them being used to this day. It's kind of a testament to their usefulness. :D
11/29/21 01:14 AM
BrickVoid: Who would have thought that the stuff of science fiction would one day become fact? I reckon they never imagined any of this could eventually become reality.
11/28/21 03:20 PM
Oldarmourer: I was thinking it was more from Enterprise or Voyager, I can almost see it but it's just not gelling...
11/28/21 01:46 AM
Swiftbow: Interestingly, in a rare crossover with actual science, a soliton wave is a REAL phenomenom that could potentially be used for real warp drives.
11/28/21 01:23 AM
Swiftbow: You're thinking of the TNG episode with the Soliton Wave, which was a new way to induce a warp field. But they were unable to stabilize it, and it nearly destroyed a planet.
11/27/21 08:26 PM
Oldarmourer: offer him a crate of genuine non-replicated root beer...then give him the diet dtuff since that wasn't specified ;)
11/27/21 08:23 PM
Oldarmourer: Wasn't there something like a warp 'surfing' technique is one of the series or a movie ? I vaguely remember it but I forget which one...
11/22/21 07:32 PM
BrickVoid: They'll need to make a few alterations to them to ensure the Ferengi hasn't equipped them with some kind of anti-theft device. Ferengi are notoriously hard to separate from cargo they're carryng to a prospective buyer. :D
11/22/21 05:42 PM
Swiftbow: We discussed this a bit in editing... the intent with the italics was, yes, low voices. And the ellipsis lead-in in panel 4 was meant to indicate that Boson had been continuing to talk while Andre was extrapolating.
11/22/21 05:08 AM
Pyradonis: Are they just whispering where the text in the speech bubbles is in italics? That seems a pretty long discussion to be whispered right in front of someone else... At first I imagined that maybe they turned their Universal Translators off so the Ferengi couldn't understand them, but now I'm remembering DS9 showed that Ferengi use their own UTs implanted into their ears...

Transcript
Panel 1
DaiMon Boson: It should be noted, of course, that I am a trader, and not a citizen of the Federation.
    Certain laws and regulations do not--
Science Officer Burns: Mr. Boson... the items in your cargo hold are proprietary Starfleet designs.
Lieutenant Commander Natashia Staratt: Among other questions, we will need to know WHERE you obtained them.

Panel 2:
Boson (aside): Proprietary? Come now... didn't your Federation abolish such concepts only a few years ago?
    That alone should resolve the entire matter, don't you think?
    No?
Andre Peters: Hang on... Did you say Falcon class?
Burns: Yes.
Andre: And you scanned them closely? They're actually functional?
Burns: Yes. So what?
Andre: So what?!

Panel 3:
Andre: Commander, we have to get those ships.
Natashia: I don't think we can, Andre.
    Legally, we have to arrest him and impound his cargo.
Andre: You don't understand! The Falcon class was a terminated Starfleet R&D project.
    Command shut it down after 8 years for cost overruns and for being too militaristic.
    Also, there might have been a conflict with the Treaty of Algeron.
    But those fighters were supposed to have an experimental warp "skip" drive, advanced phaser cannons, and close-range ballistic mass accelerators!
    Anyway, the point is: I've tried to get ahold of plans or a prototype for years! They don't exist.

Panel 4:
Boson: ... perhaps if I explained that I was not intimately familiar with the origins of the cargo in question, but merely attempting to complete the order of a very motivated buyer, who--
Natashia: Mr. Boson... if you'll stop making terrible excuses, perhaps we can move on to our counter offer.
    Rather than letting a Federation Court take several years to resolve this case, I propose that you instead transfer those ships to OUR cargo hold.
    We will note in the log that we found them in salvage recovery from an unknown vessel...
    ... the discovery of which will be separated entirely from the matter of the warp core purchase.

Panel 5:
Natashia: With a sizeable discount for ourselves, of course.
Boson: I like you, Commander Staratt.
    You think like a Ferengi.