ENS Chevalier - Vacuum Cleaner Robot
CPT Arianus
((Holodeck 3
- Deck 3, USS Artemis-A))
Yellir:
Computer— begin program.
Elysium
came to life, just like that. Background music came to their ears,
altogether with muffled discussions and loud laughter somewhere from
above their heads. Jaseb even saw Damien behind the bar, he was just
cleaning glasses and he listened to the story told by some Andorian
in yellow uniform. Everything was as it should be.
Except
this should be a damage control exercise. Something will happen.
Something bad, something quick...
And then it happened.
Everyone could feel it, as the deck plates vibrated slightly, but
unpleasantly. And, as you took a breath, you could hear it too. Metal
was ripping from the hull, squeezing and crunching in its serenade of
pain, a serenade every engineer had nightmares about. The hull was shattered, Red Alert
screamed through the corridors altogether with the people who were
trying to reach their stations.
Captain’s Voice: =/\= We’re
under attack. Everyone, to your stations. =/\=
Yellir:
You all know what you need to do.
Jaseb
looked around Elysium, trying to get his bearings in the
ever-worsening situation. Some already reached the door out the
lounge.
Crewman
#1: It’s stuck!
Jaseb's
eyes, altogether with everyone in the room, looked at that single
voice of the crewman who was trying to open the door out. To no success,
no avail. Jaseb looked around, that was not the way out, but the
people spilled from one side of the lounge to the other, the bodies
of the civilian and the Starfleet member, the sea of uniforms and
clothes colors, changed almost
without order or meaning. Plan, they needed a plan. His eyes caught
sight of Ensign Sadar and Braga, moving through the bodies of
holograms. He tried to get through to them, call them to unite and
finally do something meaningful...
Chevalier: Ensign Sadar!
Braga! Here!
…they did not hear him, as they also tried to
push through the cacophony of sounds, voices and bodies. Jaseb
finally got a glance at the place they were trying to reach. Of course,
the emergency
equipment lockers...
Ensign
Sadar and Braga finally reached their intended location, and another
ensign already – and literally – tore open one of the boxes' access panels. Jaseb finally picked up with them, and it was at that
moment, when he saw lieutenant Yellir with the group too.
Braga:
Lieutenant, a hull breach has opened in the corridor outside the
lounge. The safeties have triggered to keep us locked in here.
Yellir:
Probably to keep us isolated. The magnetic seal has been activated on
the surrounding doors to limit the vacuum exposure.
Lieutenant
stood where she was, a statue of authority who should be giving orders, but if she did, this exercise would lose its meaning.
They were alone, they needed to find the solution.
Sadar:
C-Can’t we override it?
Chevalier:
Technically...yes... but then we would ventilate our air and possibly
widen the crack and damage the hull even more, if the containment
field did not cover the breach yet.
Verrena:
Can we tell if the containment field that’s supposed to cover the
breach has triggered yet?
Braga
was already holding his tricoder, silent for a moment, as he read the
readings.
Braga: It hasn’t. ::pause:: What do we do then? We
need to get that breach sealed.
Sadar:
I found-
Jaseb
turned to follow the voice and saw Ensign Sadar behind the bar, but
just then Ensign Braga poke him, so Jaseb gave them his attention.
Braga:
Do we have any species here that can deal with a vacuum?
Verrena:
I don’t know. And I don’t think we have magboots available
without heading a deck up.
Chevalier:
No, not me, I still need air to breathe - don't
think about it. But
on the other topic, we don't need magboots. If we find a rope and
we attach ourselves to something firmly anchored, it should be
enough.
The
Yelikan stayed silent as they continued their brainstorming.
Gazki:
::clicking:: We could attempt-
Sadar:
Umm!
The
group, including
Jaseb,
fell quiet as Gila walked closer,
holding
the first-aid kit.
Sadar:
I have rebreathers. It’s a limited oxygen supply, since they’re
usually intended for temporary reprieve until a patient can be
brought to Sickbay, but if we can find out how far away the hull
breach is, it might be enough to get a repair team close enough.
Braga:
That’s great. What about the vacuum though? Everyone’s still
going to get sucked through the door when the two opposing pressures
try to level out.
Chevalier:
We
could use our own uniforms. If we find some sealant, we can wrap the
uniforms and seal them around the exposed parts of those who will go
out. It won't be perfect, but it will give them another minute or two
to the five minutes limit, which we should theoretically, as
warm-blooded beings, be able to withstand within the thermal effects
of the vacuum.
Gazki:
::to Yellir:: Chief, is it possible for us to make a containment warp
field pre-emptively on this side of the door? That way, the repair
team should be able to exit safely without endangering the crew
remaining in here, yes?
oO That sounds reasonable and helpful.
Jaseb smiled.
Yellir:
We’d need to manually trigger the forcefield emitters by feeding
power through them— we can re-route the EPS conduits in this room
to do so. Gazki and Chevalier, get to work on diverting power, I want
that containment field ready to go as soon as we can.
Chevalier:
Aye,
ma'am. On my way.
Sadar:
Response?
Yellir:
Ensign Sadar— focus on fitting the team with those rebreathers. We
won’t have enough power to generate an atmosphere, and stand ready
to begin treating symptoms of hypoxia and vacuum exposure.
Sadar:
Response?
Chevalier: Come
Gazki, the access panel should be there. ::points to the bar::
Jaseb
with ensign Gazki headed for the bar, and jumped over the bar counter
to get to one of the several power distributors in the lounge. Gazki
opened the panel, while Jaseb scanned the distributor
currents.
Chevalier: If I remember correctly, Elysium should
have separated distribution between food and drink replicators. Take
energy just from the drink replicators, as we may need to reprogram
food replicators later to replicate something else useful. And we can use
the energy from the entertainment system as well, as we will not need it
now.
Gazki: If you say so...
Gazki began rearranging
the control chips in the panel and redirecting the energy to the EPS manifolds, enabling the creation of the needed containment field.
Gazki: Okay, we have it. It will
be close to the power input margin needed, more than I would like, but it should be
enough.
Jaseb nodded to Gazki and turned to lieutenant Yellir
and Ensign's group.
Chevalier: Lieutenant, we are ready to
feed the emitters. Just tell us when we should turn them
on!
Yellir/Sadar: Response
TAG / TBC
--