Lieutenant Hallia Yellir - Tug of War
Ryan Fender
(( Oxeania Commercial District, Tharazad Continent – Betazed))
Silveira: Do we need to get inside first?
MacKenzie: If we hope to find out whether she flies, I don’t see an alternative.
Yellir: Yes— we’ll need to get inside first. Without a tricorder there isn’t much I can do out here.
She began glancing through the empty slots in the hull. There was so little guarantee that this thing even had enough power to breach the stratosphere that she could feel her stomach sink with every little missing part she noticed. Starships, even shuttles, were big and complex machines where so many things could go wrong. This was no exception.
The only shuttles Hallia had seen that could function on minimal and or missing components were of Klingon-make and the dreaded, coffin-like
Type-2. But the mere fact that they were under-engineered proved to be far more of a boon than anything.
Kel: My money is on fly yes, inertial dampeners no.
Silveira: Well you're the honorary locksmith Ensign, think you can give it a crack?
MacKenzie: Without doing
anything that will further damage the structural integrity…
Yellir: That would be appreciated, magnetic seals are very finicky when damaged.
A strong mix of anxiety and enjoyment fueled her search as she tried to look for a door on this, or at least a possible point of entry that wasn’t some hole on the side. She felt around the hull, feeling for gaps in the plating, tapping away with her fingers to look for some kind of hollowed resonance in the structure.
Kel: Tear open one door and
suddenly you’re the expert.
Silveira: Looks like we have some work cut out for us. Lady Luck was on our side. Or perhaps our time sharing friend… So, shall we begin?
MacKenzie: Hallia, if you can pinpoint where the door might be, we can see what Kel can do about getting it open for us. Vitor, keep an eye out and make sure we’re still alone…
Kel: Why don’t we see if we can jimmy it open before I try the lock pick again.
Hallia seemed almost worried about damaging or scratching at the paint job before realizing the current active pursuit from the Jem’hadar that had been guarding this place. She used her nails as a measuring tool, testing depths in the metals where the hull would naturally rise and fall.
Silveira: Yes Captain.
Yellir: Already on it— so far no luck.
MacKenzie: You said there’s a hole we can squeeze in?
She pointed to the ringed section that encircled the primary hull.
Yellir: Three holes down from the top, about at your waist sir. It looked hollowed enough for us to find a way in.
If Hallia were an owl, her neck would’ve twisted a nearly full circle. Two large slams filled the space, echoing with the deafening chime of heavy metal. The doors had fallen from the hinges.
MacKenzie: There’s no way that’s going unnoticed – we’ve got to get on that ship. Hopefully we can figure out how it works, or maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll be able to hide there undetected.
Kel: Alright well we definitely aren’t going to want what happened to those doors happening on the ship. Can we find that panel lieutenant, I’d rather not break out another lock pick.
Mackenzie: Response
Silveira: Dammit, we got their attention.
Kel: Captain, Lieutenant, I think I’ve found something here! Something we could pry open maybe?
Hallia moved over towards Ensign Kel.
Yellir: Oh thank goodness! We’re going to have to pry it. We can’t open it from here. But you need to be careful.
Mackenzie: Response
Glances shot from her view of the ship to the open doorway, she could practically feel the blood pumping in her eardrums, keeping pace with the march of the Jem’hadar. Hallia’s chest rose and fell as she frantically analyzed the spot where Kel mentioned.
Silveira: Whatever you're doing, do it fast.
Yellir: Fast and careful, leveraging this is going to be tough.
There was no reason to believe that opening this door would at all be easy—
Mackenzie/Kel: Response
Silveira: There’s four Dominion Soldier's coming our way. We are outgunned and outmatched.
Yellir: How long do we have?
Mackenzie/Kel: Response
It wasn’t long before ‘Sil made his way back to the rest of the group.
Silveira: We got a few minutes, 5, 10 tops before they get here.
Yellir: Now or never. We need to try and get a grip on this thing.
Mackenzie/Kel: Response
Hallia pulled the sharpened shard of metal into her hand before jamming it into the top of the doorway. She pushed and pried, desperately looking for some kind of purchase within the airtight nook. She squeezed her eyes shut, almost preemptively mourning the pristine deep burgundy colour of the vessel.
She grunted as she helped pull this thing open.
Yellir: I-I think… we’re making progress.
Silveira/Mackenzie/Kel: Response
The more she tried to leverage the shard of metal, the Yelikan felt a sharp pain, and then a numbness in her hand as she pressed the insides of her fingers and the natural creases of her palm against the shard. Worse yet, the Jem’hadar were still getting closer and they were no shorter on time than now.
But they pulled and pried, hearing the vessel creak and groan in response. She counted her stars that this vessel wasn’t currently powered on— otherwise someone would’ve lost more than just a finger if it snapped shut.
As they heaved, a gap began to form just wide enough for people to begin filing inside. The gap began to very slowly grow, and the Yelikan could practically feel her muscles give out the more she pulled. Once she let go of the metal shard she noticed a sensation of something dripping down her arm. Weirdly enough, this thing didn’t seem as much to be fighting back to keep itself closed. It seemed to stay open once pulled.
Yellir: Inside!
Silveira/Mackenzie/Kel: Response
TAG/TBC
_____________________
Lieutenant Hallia Yellir
Chief Engineer
USS Artemis-A
G239409EK0