LtCmdr Sky Blake, "Picking a side."

[Deliera Jay]

((Main Engineering))

Ekal: There *is* no way to save everyone with that kind of scenario. Trust me, that's my area of expertise. I've run through every potential possibility of that occurring - if the Veritas is evacuated, even *before* running into the Tholians, people on escape pods face the same possibility that the Artemis crew did when the Montreal went to pick them up.

Blake: Except this time there *is* no Montreal to come get us. ::She gave a frustrated huff.:: We reboot, we die. We evacuate, we die. We initiate conflict with the Tholians on our own terms-

Ekal:::quietly:: We die.

::Emerald eyes flickered to the vulcanoid, a warmth spreading across her chest as her heartbeat picked up.::

oO I won't let that happen. Oo

Zhou: What about the shields and warp engines? What kind of sabotage there are we looking at?

Ekal: Deactivation, primarily. Any number of catastrophes can occur when power is increased or lost to the warp core. Shields would be the same - the deflector dish, too.

Zhou: These three systems — shields, engines, and computer core — could be run independently of one another if we really needed to. Maybe that’s what we should try to do. Break up the functions so that we can contain the sabotage if we can’t eradicate.

Blake:::nodding to herself.:: Use the secondary computer systems or run them manually.

Ekal: Wait, you can do that?

Zhou: Response?

Blake: We'd have to comb through the secondary computer core, but it'd save us more time to do that than go through every area of this ship system by system.

Ekal: But the warp core-?

Zhou: Response?

Blake: We can do that by hand though, right? And worst case scenario, if warp was no longer an option *because* it's technically offline according to the computer, we could in theory book it out on impulse, right?

Zhou: Response?

::One of their new engineers took the time to step forward at that moment, glancing between the three gathered.::

Ukinix:  ::Nodding, smiling:: Commander Blake.  Mr. Ekal.

::As if being deliberately cocky, Jhalib Ekal flicked two fingers from his temple in a poor version of salute to him, eyes trailing down to the ragged state of what remained of the engineer's uniform. Blake wouldn't get a chance to address it, though, before the Ensign turned to Zhou.::

Ukinix: Hello, I’m Ensign Wil Ukinix, Engineering Officer.

Zhou: Response?

::Both Blake and somewhat surprisingly, Jhalib, choked on chuckles, having to hide their amusement either through a cough in Jhalib's case or by actually hiding her mouth (in Blake's case). Ukinix was taken aback by Zhou's response, his eyebrows raised and eyes blinking as he processed what Sky considered rather tame snark on Tai's part.::

Ukinix:  Um – OK then.

::Best not to let Tai toy with the poor man for too long.::

Blake: Have you got an update for us?

Ukinix: Teller’s still on the Artemis, I just got back from there.  He’s ummm - waiting for instructions from the captain. How’s the search algorithms coming along?

Ekal: Really great, actually.

Zhou: Response?

Ukinix: Uh huh.  Isolate each sub system individually  - and we can do that in primary as well, doesn’t have to be just secondary.  That way we can have multiple people working on them.  It just means that we may have to control those systems manually, there’ll be no communication between them.  Until they’re cleaned up.  It won’t be quick, but ::shrugging:: we gotta do it some time.

Ekal: I think I can speed up that process.

Blake: I thought you were a temporal mechanic. How do you know so much about Starfleet systems?

::He gave a minor rise of his shoulders, eyes glazing over a memory.::

Ekal: Just a girl I grew up with. ::Glancing at Blake.:: I'm not as skilled as she or the other engineers here, but these older systems are pretty easy to get the hang of when I've got a manual in front of me.

::That sounded familiar. She gave an amused huff, eyes flickering over to Zhou with a relieved expression - not because Ekal was capable of helping out, but because she herself no longer needed a PADD in front of her whenever she accessed a difficult console. She didn't miss those days.::

Zhou: Response?

Ukinix: Commander, can I have a quick word with you?

Blake: Sure. Tai, if I ask nicely, can you help get him started?

Zhou: Response?

::Blake stepped away, following Ukinix back a few paces. Finally when the other felt that they were sufficiently out of earshot, he spoke quietly and directly to her.::

Ukinix: Commander, I’m not sure if you’re aware yet, but while I was on the Artemis, Tholians set of the perimeter sensors and have scanned both ships.  That’s all I know right now.

::She blinked, idly wondering why this particular piece of data had to be kept from the two others - one of which actually *outranked* her and knew this ship like the back of his hand, and the other from the future whom had yet to put a foot wrong so far.::

Blake:::with her hands on her hips:: Not exactly the top secret information I was expecting, Ukinix, but alright.

Ukinix: How confident are you that the search algorithms found everything?

Blake: I never *will* be confident that the search algorithms find everything. But I trust that our new friend can at least keep us out of danger for now. But we can't expect him to be able to do everything on his own.

Ukinix: ::Nodding::  Understood.  I’ll get the engineering team started on the clean-up, then I’ll join you.

Blake: Alright.

::Sky gave their new engineer a long glance as they both turned away, eyebrows frowning just a little.::

Zhou: Response?

Blake: Not much, actually. Tholians scanning us, immenant danger; you know, the usual.

Zhou: Response?

Ekal: I was just saying to un- ::cough:: Zhou that we should acertain that the VDR hasn't been affected.

Ukinix: Is that necessary?  I think there’s no point isolating the voyage data recorder straight away.  If containing the sabotage to our systems succeeds, then recording the incorrect date and time that we *didn’t* blow up is not going to matter so much.

Zhou: Response?

Ekal: Honestly, there's not really a reason for us *not* to do it.

::Ukinix tightened his jaw a little.::

Ukinix: Well, um - so that our molecules don’t become a permanent feature of this part of the universe, maybe?

::Jhalib gave a frustrated frown, glancing between the officers, momentarily speechless by Ukinix's words. And Sky took the time to step in before an argument could ensue, patting the vulcanoid on the shoulder as she glanced back at Ukinix, making the executive decision.::

Blake: Easy, boys. Our primary and secondary systems take priority - Ekal, that means the data recorder can be isolated when we have the resources to spare. Wil's right - we don't have the time to worry about how your history is going to recount our deaths when we're trying to *prevent* that.

Ekal: Commander-

Zhou: Response?

Blake: Wil, we're on a deadline. All hands on deck, please. You included. Get to it.

Ukinix: Response?

::She glanced back to Zhou, pointing her finger at Jhalib's head of hair as she followed Ukinix.::

Blake: You. Handle that one.

Zhou: Response?

::Jhalib glanced back at Zhou before staring at nothing, giving an exasperated sigh as Blake and Ukinix walked away.::

::Before Ukinix could get too far away, Sky jogged to catch up to the strange accented brunette.::

Blake: Ukinix - can I talk to you about something?

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: Look, I know our situation with Ekal isn't ideal, and that he's . . . either crazy good at hiding insanity or is actually from the twenty fifth century. Either way, he's not a Starfleet officer, he's not part of the CCMS - but he *is* trying to help us. And I really do think his skills are of serious value to us right now.

Ukinix: Response?

Blake: My staff has been watching him since the second he stepped aboard and aside from being barely able to stand, he's been nothing but cooperative. If you or anyone else have objections to him being here, I will take him elsewhere and put him under a heavier guard than Makepeace and Zhou with a phaser hidden in his chair. But you need to *tell* me.

Ukinix: Response?

Tbc . . .

LtCmdr Sky Blake

Chief of Security

USS Veritas

C238803SB0