[Act III] LtCmdr Jovenan – There’s plenty of scrap metal, since the entire ship is made of it
Jovenan
((Engineering, Deck 4, USS Karnack, Callis I))
((Four standard days later))
More than week in a cave. The other teams had confirmed that: trapped in the deep dark of the Waterfall Cavern, with nothing but the rudimentary water clock to keep time, Jovenan and her team had lost the sense of time. She had estimated four days or so, but the true length of the period between the crash and the discovery of the Garden Cave had been about a full week instead. They had then spent a few days in the lush garden and the adjoined Faraday Room, but the mood was very different. At least, Jovenan felt differently. They were no longer waiting for their deaths or their rescue, helplessly confined to their waterlogged camp, fearing whether it would be the predators, starvation or madness that got them first.
They had hope. And they had friends. For some, more than friends.
Jovenan hadn’t been able to fully contain her emotions seeing Vitor materialise in their Faraday Room; she hadn’t seen her boyfriend in a long time and had feared that he might have died, so their unexpected and almost inexplicable reunion had made her lose her professional demeanour for a moment. Although the lack of privacy in the Garden Cave and the presence of their colleagues hadn’t given them as much opportunity for talk and hugs and kisses as she would have wanted, at least she didn’t have to sob herself to sleep any more now that he was near her again.
And she was happy to see the others as well, Commander Munro, Imril, Jaran, even her newest subordinate, Ensign Breys. Sharing the plentiful food and water of the Garden Cave between them, Jovenan had stopped worrying about the safety of their newly-found resources very quickly, as she now had an entirely different threat to their health to concern her with. The Callisian transportation system had had its effect on Commander Munro’s team, and after K’Wara had found the Karnack, none of them had been spared from its corrupting force. That way they had reached Captain MacKenzie and the rest of their surviving crewmates.
Although the visible physical effects of travelling through it once had been… not the end of the world, Jovenan felt it strongly. It was like an itch, or the moment before sneezing prolonged. The symptoms must have been largely psychological, her mind concerning itself too much with something that was out of her bounds for fixing, misinterpreting minor sensations, exaggerating, making up stuff. She didn’t want to complain or draw attention to herself, since gathered now to the engineering section of the Karnack, they were officers again, part of Starfleet again. Besides, Vitor and the others had gone through it twice, and they were standing there too, stronger and more valiant than she could.
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.
Her two superiors were in full command mode again. The escape from the planet on the ship that was already going to be scrapped before it ever touched the ground was a daring plan, but from what Jovenan had gathered, not an impossible one. If they were lucky, there would have been a ship waiting for them just out of the Maelstrom’s effect, but they had to prepare for the case that they had to limp a portion of that journey or sit there waiting – or die trying.
Bergmen/Brexis/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.
That was true, as the hole that let in the light demonstrated. The Karnack was little but a wreck with a warp core strapped into it. Before they would need to concern themselves with the feasibility of the interstellar travel, leaving the atmosphere was going to be a challenge. They couldn’t go anywhere with a ship that was going to leak air like a sieve.
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.
Silveira: Response
Munro: Agreed. Bring Storm, Bancroft and Syn 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.
Jovenan nodded, having received her orders. The other teams had also encountered the predators during their stay, and now they were referring to them as the Things or the Dark Things – although she wasn’t sure if she found the name appropriate. The unpleasant implications surrounding the species aside, they were still very much a threat to the Starfleet team.
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.
Jaran: Response
Once everyone had been assigned into a team, they took just a moment to prepare themselves for the tasks and find their teams. Based on the amount of chatter that engulfed the room, Jovenan sensed that some also took the opportunity to reunite with their friends and say hi – or goodbye. Jovenan wasn’t going to interrupt them, but she was also very much aware of the time constraint. The night was going to fall eventually, and they wanted to either be off the ground or hiding in somewhere safe by the time the Dark Things came knocking.
((OOC: Not including the tags from the reunion here, as Jovenan isn’t listening. Feel free to have a brief conversation with someone, even if you weren’t tagged.))
((Corridor
near engineering, Deck 4, USS Karnack))
They didn’t have to look for the first hole in the hull for long. It was a marvel of Starfleet engineering that the ship hadn’t crumbled or flattened more by the impact with the ground. Something, however, had torn a hole to the side of the corridor, letting the light come through. Jovenan tilted her head so that she could see through it. If they had a box or something else to step onto, they might be just barely be able to squeeze through the breach and walk on the external hull. Due to the flat shape of the Saber class, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, either. However, they’d also need to somehow get to the ruptures on the bottom of the ship.
She turned to the rest of her team. Vitor and Bancroft – the two human men among in their beards – were very familiar to her by now, and while she hadn’t had much opportunity to meet the others yet, she was certain that they were highly capable in their jobs.
Jovenan: So, any ideas how we do this?
Silveira/Storm/Bancroft/Syn: Response
Jovenan: We might not have much usable material around here unless we start ripping the bulkheads apart. There shouldn’t be any shuttlecraft here, and we have already scattered many of the escape pods around the planet.
Silveira/Storm/Bancroft/Syn: Response
Jovenan peeked through the rupture again. There was still plenty of light, but the sun would set eventually. The team working on the exterior of the ship were in all likelihood going to be the first ones among them to encounter the Dark Things. Even if they moved more in the night, as other teams had said, there was no absolute guarantee that they wouldn’t make an exception for an easy meal – or that they weren’t already in.
Jovenan: We discovered that the, um, Dark Things don’t like cold water, but I’m not sure how that would be useful against them here. Did anyone else happen to figure out how to keep them away or fight them?
Silveira/Storm/Bancroft/Syn: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11