S.M.I.D.G.E.N.
(Ship’s Modular Intelligence Data Gathering and Evaluation Node)

The newest addition to the arsenal of tools available to Starfleet Intelligence is the Ship’s Modular Intelligence Data Gathering and Evaluation Node (SMIDGEN). Designed by Commander Seabrook of Starfleet Intelligence and built by engineers at Montgomery Station, it is a radical departure from previous efforts to ensure that Starfleet and the United Federation Planets maintain their intelligence edge in a constantly changing environment.

SMIDGEN is a self-contained unit, which is placed into the hull of a Starfleet vessel during a routine shipyard availability period. The standard configuration is a 32' x 50' compartment, which includes the Chief Intelligence Officer’s office, SMIDGEN itself, and emergency living quarters. It is surrounded on all sides (including top and bottom) by free-flowing freshwater pressurized at 500 psi. This fresh water can also be utilized by the personnel manning SMIDGEN during emergency situations and is replenished by the use of a recycling system. In addition, all perimeters, which can be accessed from a corridor, have a secondary bulkhead constructed of a hardened, composite material 12-inches thick. Unauthorized entry, therefore, is virtually impossible.

Access to SMIDGEN is through one of two code-controlled air locks. Each air lock can, if necessary, be sealed by a force field generator. As a secondary safeguard, each air lock can be flooded with two different gases: one renders any occupant unconscious until the proper antidote is administered, the second is lethal to all known life forms.

Should the need arise, the intelligence team can live within SMIDGEN’s safe confines for up to six weeks, utilizing the integrated, emergency-living quarters; emergency life support; and battery backup systems which are within the protected area. The living quarters, although not as spacious as normal crew quarters, contain sleeping, eating, and sanitary facilities to accommodate the intelligence team’s needs.

The central feature of every SMIDGEN is a holographic projection table. This product of cutting-edge technology can project any desired image, whether generated from sensor input or customized by the console operator, as though it were a solid object. The ability to view an image from all sides provides tremendous advantages in data evaluation.

Five computer stations handle the data gathering and evaluation function: one dedicated to Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), one dedicated to Electronics Intelligence (ELINT), one dedicated to Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and one dedicated to Communications Intelligence (COMINT). The fifth station provides SMIDGEN with extensive, enhanced communications capabilities. Sensor input and holographic image generation are controlled by panels located around the base of the holographic projection table.

Constructed by Megalithic Memories of Vulcan, the main SMIDGEN computer is an optical data network, parallel processor which is primarily designed to handle the demands of intelligence gathering and interpretation. Micronanotechnology enables the computer and its backup systems to fit within a 4'x14.5' compartment within SMIDGEN, thus alleviating the need for external data pathways between the Central Processing Unit and the consoles. Inputs to the SMIDGEN computer include every system aboard the ship. In recent Beta tests, the SMIDGEN computer assumed all tasks of the test bed’s main computer system without capability degradation.

The normal complement of SMIDGEN is 10 officers: A Chief Intelligence Officer with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, an Assistant Intelligence Officer with the rank of Lieutenant, two COMINT specialists with the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade) (COMINT specialists also serve as SMIDGEN’s communications specialists), two HUMINT specialists with the rank of Ensign, two ELINT specialists with the rank of Ensign, and two SIGNET specialists with the rank of Ensign.

Meticulous planning went into every detail of SMIDGEN, making it a valuable and highly successful contributor to Starfleet Intelligence and the safety of the United Federation of Planets.