Ensign Jaran Jira - You Can Never Go Home Again
Jira Jaran
((Karnack Engineering - Deck 4 - USS Karnack))
((Four standard days later))
They'd made it back to the Karnack. They'd even been allowed to rest and let their leg recover. The danger point was over, and they were back to roaming about under the own power, albeit with a limp. That would need to be seen to once they were back in a real sickbay.
Fuzzball followed along with every step, too. They had gone from seeming like just a normal part of Callis to being very alien aboard a Starfleet vessel, but it was still nice to have the little creature. It never left their side, but it would look out the windows occasionally, a little longer than one would expect.
Jira wondered about the propriety of Fuzzball being in main engineering while the crew met, but no one seemed to mind as it curled up under a console behind them.
MacKenzie: A semi-functioning warp core is a good place to start. What should we prioritize first?
Munro: Getting the shield emitters to mimic the properties of a Faraday Cage long enough to get us out of the system is going to be no mean feat. Especially since we have no operational systems. But I think we can do it - if we can figure out a way to replicate the Faraday Cage effectively. Brexis, Bergmen, Breys, we'll need your help getting this set up.
Brexis: ::Nodding.:: I’ll do what I can.
Bergmen/Breys: Response
MacKenzie: Even if we did get it set up, we need other functional systems to actually make us space-faring.
Munro: That's true. Even if the shield emitters work, we won't get far with the Karnack in this state.
Jovenan: Force fields and inner bulkheads can keep some of the pressure in, but we should try to close some of the breaches. The less we have to rely on force fields, the more we can use power in other systems. And the less we have to fear about them failing.
Vitor smiled and nodded.
Brexis shifted back and forth between her left and right foot.
Silveira: I concur.
Munro: Agreed. Bring Storm and Bancroft with you, and get those holes fixed. But be careful, the Things are still out here, and as it gets dark, they'll get more daring.
MacKenzie: Some of the upper decks should provide relative security from the creatures - I haven't seen them climb yet.
K'Wara: We won’t get very far with Main Engineering in this state, either, Sirs. While the warp core is stable, it’s hardly safe for use at the moment.
Munro: In its current state the warp core power distribution would likely cause a cascade failure. We're more likely to blow up the ship and this corner of the planet than get off this planet. Tamio, work with Imril to find a workaround, I don't think I need to tell you how important it is :: pauses :: Cole and Jaran, you're temporarily reassigned as technicians :: smiles :: Congratulations.
Cole: ::nodded:: Grandpa Dorian, would be so proud.
People were starting to pair off and do their reunions. Jira was mostly just glad to be around people, so they sat and petted Fuzzball until the rest of their team was ready.
To be honest, they were a little nervous about this assignment. Engineering was the worst. They just could not make themselves understanding anything past the most basic aspects of it. Hopefully they'd be closely guided and that it would be kind guidance. Jira listened as K'Wara, an actual engineer, began speaking.
K’Wara: Imril, do we have an estimate on how much of Main Engineering is functional beyond the warpcore?
Imril: There’s no way to be absolutely sure what’s working or how well until we get the Faraday effect around the whole room, but…
Imril pointed towards the Master Systems Display at the far end of the room, opposite the warp core. A dead black screen stood where a light-up cross-section of the ship should have been.
Imril: … Telling by the carbon scoring around its edges, the MSD won’t be active. In fact, it will probably be an impediment to our efforts. I was dealing with power-grid blowouts at the front of the ship, near the deflector array, when the evac order came. I’m guessing that they worked their way back here as far as the MSD. We’ll have to lock the whole system down and bypass it to keep the grid failure from dominoing any further. That’s just a conservative estimate, mind. We’ll know more after we get full power back.
K’Wara: ... We’re going to have to be conservative for now. ::looks around:: The only working consoles that I can see are the ones on the nacelle access. ::considers:: Natasha, if we use your security codes to trigger the quarantine forcefield around Engineering, do you think we can alter that to be more Maelstrom-resistant?
Cole: ::thinking:: That could work, similar to layering shields. I like it, but my work around won’t be elegant.
Imril nodded.
K’Wara: It’ll have to do. We just need it to work long enough for us to make more permanent fixes. ::to Jaran:: I know you’re hurt, Doctor, but there’s quite a lot of work to do. You’re up for it, I hope?
Jaran: Hey, don't let the limp fool you; I'm fit for duty. My engineering knowledge, however...
K’Wara: ::grins:: All right then. ::to everyone:: We’re on a time crunch. The other teams’ efforts depend entirely on us being able to get proper power running through the Karnack, and this is where we start. Let’s get to it.
Cole moved over to the consoles by nacelle access and plugged her security codes.
Cole: ::to herself:: get it together, Nat.
Cole seemed tense, and Jira at least knew that trying to get an engine like this started was potentially dangerous work. Especially if you didn't know the status of everything involved.
Imril: Before we activate the core, I’ll need to inspect the dilithium crystals. Make sure nothing got damaged in the crash, replace anything that was. There’s a manual release mechanism, so I can get started on that now. Care to help me, Doctor? Think of it like opening up a patient for exploratory surgery, but with convenient pull tabs.
Jaran: Aye, sir. I think I can do that.
Cole continued working quietly while Jira was led to a small room near the warp core. Imril handed a wrench and a magnifier to them while keeping one of each for themself.
This was a scalpel in the age of microsurgery. They understood.
Jaran: Ok, this is field medicine. I think I'm getting it.
K’Wara: Could I get one of those too, Imril? The field emitter by the Main Doors need replacing.
Cole: Good news ::beat:: and a bit of bad news. Good news, I can access the emergency quarantine protocols and it should work, but it’s going to take a minute to get working, and to do it we’re going to bleed just under seven percent of our already limited power.
Imril: ::Speaking to Cole:: If you need to juggle power allotments around to make it work, just be sure not to steal any of that power back from the structural integrity field emitters. We’re going to need them. In fact, if you could slide an extra percent or two into the emitters, it would be appreciated.
Jaran: You just tell me where to point this scalpel. I mean, wrench. I've at least seen dilithium before.
K’Wara: Make it take ten minutes if you need to, just lower that power bleed as much as you possibly can, Natasha. We don’t know how many holes the Hull Team will have trouble fixing, and we need all the power we can get.
Imril: ::Speaking to the K’Wara:: I’m familiar with the methods Professor O’Brien used to keep the original Defiant from tearing itself apart under similar concerns of power output versus hull stability. Enacting them is near the top of my list after we’ve got Main Engineering up and running.
K’Wara: Good. ::gestures to the core:: I leave that to you two. ::looks towards Cole:: Give me a generous estimate, I don’t mind if you highball it. What’s the best case for the power bleed?
Cole:
Imril moved to the warp core. They stopped to pick up a PADD on the ground along the way, then opened the dilithium chamber.
Imril: ::Speaking to Jaran:: First thing we’re going to do is rotate these handles 180 degrees around. They’ll click when they’re in position, and then we slide them out as far as they will go. The dilithium matrix will slide out with them.
Jaran: Sounds simple enough. It's been a few years since this simulation, but I think I can get it.
K'Wara went about her business while JIra listened intently.
Cole: Response
The unremarkable crystal mass slid out, and Imril carefully pulled one crystal free of its housing.
Imril: ::Speaking to Jaran:: I need you to go over each of the crystals for any visual flaws. Cracks. Chips. Discoloration. Cloudiness. So on. I can scan for micro-fractures later, after the ship is powered for our immediate purposes. That will only be an issue when we go to warp. You get started on looking them over, and I’m going to make sure there’s no misalignments in the chamber itself.
Jira was glad to be given a manageable task like this, and they carefully examined each crystal with the eye of a surgeon. It might take a little while, but they'd get through them all.
K’Wara: Good news - the emitters up here all seem intact, so once we’ve got power up and running, Deck 3 is good for the forcefield. How’s the state of the dilithium looking, Imril, Doctor Jaran?
They'd had some time, but not enough, while K'Wara had been working. The call brought them back to the present.
Jaran: I've gotten through about half of the crystals by now. We seem good to my untrained eye, but there are still a lot of them to look at.
Imril/Cole: Response
A howl echoed. They knew that howl. Fuzzball hissed from their temporary den, but this time Jira didn't need that to know that a Dark Thing was nearby.
K’Wara: It’ll have to do. Curtain call’s coming real fast. Natasha, finalize preparations for the forcefield. The rest of us will run interference if we notice any funny business in the power delivery.
Jira returned the crystal they'd been examining back to its housing.
Jaran: I'll let you do the honours, Lieutenant.
Imril/Cole: Response
Sounds were all around them. Jira had no idea what was normal anymore, so they ignored everything but the others' voices.
K’Wara: Ready? ::brief pause:: Let’s turn the lights on.
Jira stepped back from the warp core. If something went wrong, it probably didn't really matter where they were standing in Main Engineering, but they felt better not standing right next to the most dangerous element.
Jaran: So we just... flip the switch, then?
Imril/K’Wara/Cole: Response
Jira braced themself for whatever was about to happen. They braced a little longer. Then a little longer. The only thing that was changing was how loud the howls were, though.
Jaran: Umm. Is it... it is on?
Imril/K’Wara/Cole: Response
Jira was sweating. They grabbed a heavy spanner nearby in case they needed to defend themself and the others.
A thud and a screech as something put its claws to the bulkheads nearby. Were they in the ship? The howls sounded like they were on top of them. Jira moved to be next to main doors of engineering, in case they were breeched.
Jaran: Not to be a doomsayer, but I think we're about to have company. A little help?
Imril/K’Wara/Cole: Response
A wall of consoles next to Jira erupted in a shower of sparks, showering the immediate area with more debris. The acrid ozone smell almost felt comfortable, Jira realised, as they realised it was at least not the smell of the alien planet.
Then a thrumming hum filled the room. Jira didn't even notice it at first. But it was there. The heartbeat of the starship. The heartbeat of the Federation, in a way. That was the sound of home.
That made the squealing screech of claws jabbing through the main doors and beginning to force them open even more jarring. The new pulsing light from the warp core meeting the corrupted claws of this hell planet was obscene. The two should never have met. But here they were. And they were about to be a whole lot closer.
Jaran: ::screams:: They're in!
Imril/K’Wara/Cole: Response
TAGS/TBC