Lt. JG Ollie Bergmen - Seconds from catastrophe
CPT Arianus
(( OOC: This group scene will serve as a contact achievement. Anyone not tagged is welcome to join in, too! ))
// Personal log
Olliver Kimmi Bergmen, 240208.05
The dark is generous.
Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from the truths of others.
The dark protects us from what we dare not know.
(( Bergmen’s quarters, deck 3, USS Artemis ))
His smiling face looked back at him from the holophoto, carefree and in embrace with two other crewmen. Years had passed, yet his resemblance hadn’t changed a bit since that photograph was taken. He looked at his reflection with a bittersweet smile and slid the picture into the shadows of forgetfulness, leaving the glow from the computer monitor as the only light escaping his dark quarters.
It was more than a week from the moment he was assigned as training supervisor for the Operations drill of new souls on USS Artemis. One long, never-ending week since he opened that file, trying to come up with an exercise that matches the assignment - Damage Control. No matter what training scenario he wrote, nothing was acceptable to him. Nothing was... correct.
It was the second day when he opened the file—the report he had never read. Well, he hadn't needed to read it then, and he didn't need to now. He was there, and he had seen it with his own eyes. His gaze shifted back to the holophoto on the table. They were there too.
He gazed ahead at the shadow looming over his desk. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't find his voice. Deep down, he understood they would never be able to forgive him; as their voices echoed relentlessly in his mind.
oO If you would be good enough, maybe we could still be alive too… Oo
His eyes shifted back to the screen, honing in on the report penned in the stiff, formal legal jargon of someone who had not been there when it happened—someone who came later, once it was safe; when it was time to evaluate the losses. Clean up the mess. Figure out who was responsible.
oO And find survivors, call them heroes, pin some commendations, and be done with it… Oo
His gaze rested on the holophoto. He brought it closer and gently stroked the hologram with the tip of his fingers.
oO They were heroes. Oo
// Personal log
Olliver Kimmi Bergmen, 240208.05
…Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night’s embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in the day’s harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it’s the day that is temporary.
Day is the illusion…
(( Bergmen’s quarters, deck 3, USS Artemis ))
He closed the report and looked out the window concealed beneath it—at the written plan of the damage control drill.
oO Will they succeed where I failed? Oo
Without reviewing it again, he sent the drill plan to Lieutenant Vailani. Was he right to make that drill in that way? Leave them face impossible choices? But there was no step back anymore. He should prepare a damage control drill that will strengthen them. Make them accept that sometimes there is no right choice, only a choice.
Ollie turned off the screen and let the starlight behind him serve as his light…
// Personal log
Olliver Kimmi Bergmen, 240208.05
…its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self.
With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.
(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 ))
(Day later)
Lieutenant Bergmen remembered the holodeck. It was a strange feeling to be back, particularly since this time he was stepping in not as an evaluator, but as someone being evaluated as well. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood facing the others, watching their faces, and with a slight nod, he let them know all were set.
Bergmen: Greetings, everyone. I’m Lieutenant Junior Grade Ollie Bergmen. Thank you for signing up for this training and traveling here on Deep Space 224; your participation is greatly appreciated.
Ollie watched their faces during the moment of silence. He had read their service records and knew what to expect from them. However, he also realized that in situations like the one they were about to face, there could be no true expectations. You could be an officer with the best evaluations or a complete disaster; it didn't matter. In life-and-death situations, people always reveal their true selves.
Bergmen: What we will drill this afternoon is something that I would not wish on anybody, yet it is a part of our duty as members of Starfleet. ::beat:: But if you do, you will want to be ready. As I will call you names, step onto your assigned markers, so we can begin. For Damage Control Team 1, which I will command, Ensigns Imril and Cole were chosen. ::beat:: Lieutenant Storm, you are the Duty Chief of DC Team 2. Your team members are Ensigns Tho’Bi, Meris, and Bancroft.
JG Bergmen paused for a moment until the officers split into teams and stood where they were supposed to be before he tapped his combadge twice. A holodeck activated into the standard damage control room, similar to those on the USS Artemis.
Frozen in time, the DC room was unusually quiet, and even the DC MSD screen didn't reveal what this exercise was meant to be about. Regardless of what lay ahead, the requirement for them to wear environmental undersuits instead of regular uniforms indicated that today's exercise was focused on damage control and suggested that they might indeed need these specialized suits.
Bergmen: We are in a faithful reconstruction of Artemis' Aft Damage Control Room on Deck 15. As some of you know… ::gaze at HCO and Engineering officers:: …this DC room is a backup to DC Room 15-Main. The ship will suffer failure, and your task is to stop whatever happens to become critical, and if needed, evacuate the deck to protect the crew present. This is where this exercise will begin. ::pauses for a moment:: You may have questions... I know. The answer is - this is an emergency drill. Act like that. Think about what you will do, and what has priority to do first.
Ollie stepped one step back and tapped his combadge.
Bergmen: Computer, start the simulation.
A DC room sprang to life, the soft hum of the system and the beeping of the MSD filled the room, a normal quiet day—all you had to do was grab your PADD and open a book. DC teams were important, yet that work was 99% boredom. But Ollie doubted they were there to be bored. His gaze immediately fixed on the MSD, waiting for what was to come. He didn't have to wait long. The ship's MSD suddenly outlined the engine room in red and began to flicker softly. After a second or two, the MSD moved closer to the engine room, highlighted the warp core, and displayed a message next to it: "Intermix chamber coolant leak". Just a heartbeat later, the lights and screen went out, only to reactivate moments later as emergency power kicked in. The automatic emergency shutdown of the core was effective, as the flashing warpcore on the MSD screen went dark a moment later. Bergmen didn't take his eyes off the MSD, grappling with what was about to happen. His voice flickered just a moment ahead of the wailing siren start.
Bergmen: Radiation alert! Suit up!
The MSD suddenly highlighted the engineering in bright red, marked with the radiation alarm symbol, along with the increasing number of emitted rads; while a pulsing siren pierced through the silence, filling the air with urgency.
Imril/Cole: Response
Without a moment's hesitation, Ollie rushed to the lockers containing the environmental suits and started to put one on. Just before he secured his helmet, he gazed at Lieutenant Storm.
Bergmen: Lieutenant, take the corridor right from the DC room exit, and start evacuation to the upper decks. My team takes the corridor to the left. Try to get to the Main Engineering; we need to patch the breach or manually eject the warpcore. Ok?
Storm: Response
Tho’Bi/Meris/Bancroft: Response
Bergmen nodded and put on his helmet. His gaze remained fixed on the MSD, where the pulsing red outline of Main Engineering flickered alongside the radiation symbol, now spilling out without any readings. This could only mean one thing: the sensors meant to measure it had already been burnt out.
Bergmen: =/\= Listen up, team. As we exit this room, turn into the corridor to the left, and anyone we meet, we send up or mark for intraship transport, ok? But our primary goal is to get to Main Engineering and try to solve the breach or eject the core. Understood? Let’s go! =/\=
Imril/Cole: Response
Storm/Tho’Bi/Meris/Bancroft: Response
TAG/TBC
–
Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1