Lieutenant Drex - Miracle on demand

[Drex Drex]

((Engineering shack, The USS Eagle Outpost))


When Kettick called for him to report to the Engineering shack, Drex put aside what he was working on and went straight away. A few days had passed since their discussion about refining the dilithium the Remmilian had traded in the market, and he had assumed the chief engineer had finally decided to begin the first controlled tests.
But he did not expect to find Doctor Lim and Ensign Braya already inside.
Drex paused in the entrance, one brow lifting in quiet surprise. Whatever this meeting was, it clearly wasn’t just about dilithium refinement, unless Kettick anticipated an incident severe enough to require both medical backup and someone ready to sprint to the nearest hospital.
He stepped further in, offering each of them a small, polite smile and a brief nod in greeting before approaching the worktable where they had gathered. A crate not far from the table tempted him to sit. Fatigue had been gathering behind his ribs like slow, dry sand, but he stayed standing. The longer the days stretched, the stronger his body whispered for hibernation, and yet the idea of surrendering to deep sleep on this planet felt reckless at best, fatal at worst.
So Drex remained upright, hands loosely clasped behind his back, doing his best to appear alert.
He hoped Kettick would keep this short, or at least interesting enough to keep his brain from drifting toward the warmth of unconsciousness.

Kettick: Thank you all for coming. As you have no doubt heard through the scuttlebutt, the Captain has put into motion a plan to get us off this planet, and hopefully back to our time. The science behind it does elude me, but fortunately our orders are of a more pragmatic nature.

He paused, looking around the worktable that had been cleared of its usual assortment of blueprints in preparation for their move, the insectoid let his eyes roam over the assembled officers.

Kettick: :: In his usual monotone :: Now, who had "stealing a Klingon relic from a museum to go backwards in time" on their bingo card?

Drex blinked once, slowly. Of all the possibilities he had mentally prepared for, that was definitely not on his list.

Drex: We are considering stealing a Klingon relic? From a museum?

The Denobulan looked between the three of them, trying to determine if this was an elaborate joke, or if Kettick genuinely meant what he had just said.

Drex: If this is the Captain’s call, I will follow it. But I need to be clear: I am not enthusiastic about theft.

Braya/Lim: Response

Kettick: A Klingon Bird-of-prey, specifically. And a rather famous one.

He turned his attention towards the resident Acamarian and former pirate.

Kettick: Ensign Braya, I suspect that between the two of us, we will have no trouble upholding the glorious example of our Starfleet forebears and stealing the HMS Bounty... again. Any insight on the way we should go about hijacking a 23rd century Bird?

Braya/Any: Response

The Remmilian nodded.

Kettick: Two other teams will cover us, one by disabling the security systems of the museum, and the other by causing a distraction. The XO will also bring us the ship's cloaking system, that has been removed and transferred to the Enterprise for whatever reason. I will work on re-installing it, but I welcome your expertise if you are familiar with the system. :: He turned towards the Betazoid in the room :: Doctor Lim, we will use the ship to evacuate everybody, but we have a number of injured in various states, and we do not know how the trip back in time will affect them. Do you believe we can repurpose the stasis fields used to protect the museum pieces on display onboard to help with their conditions?

Lim/Any: Response

Kettick: Good, please take point on that front. Lieutenant Drex, your help would also be appreciated. Furthermore, you will have to coordinate with Ensign Braya to set up a flight plan that has us slingshot around the local star on the right trajectory to warp us back in time. A typical Wednesday, I believe.

Drex listened in silence, letting Kettick outline the plan. The words stealing the Bounty should not have been possible in any logical timeline, yet here they were talking about breaking into a museum, powering up a 23rd century Bird-of-Prey, and flinging themselves around a star to go back in time.
He could already list the ways this could go wrong: museum security, unstable systems, injured crew in transit, the cloaking reinstall, the slingshot calculations. Even without hibernation pressure tugging at him, this was the kind of operation where a single misstep could get people killed  or lost forever.
He took a slow breath, forcing himself to stay focused.

Drex: I’m not thrilled about stealing a historical vessel, but orders are orders. When we’re supposed to move and how much time we’ll have to achieve the theft?

Lim/Kettick/Braya: Response

The time given dissolved any hope of a leisurely check-list.
Drex tried to sharpen his focus. He was not an astrophysicist, but he had read Captain Kirk’s reports in the academy out of curiosity, the same way a mechanic reads a poet. Those notes about a gravity slingshot came back in fragments: aim close, steal angular momentum, ditch excess mass, and keep the burn short and precise.
Drex: I can draft the math from Kirk’s parameters and historical vector models, but I want to be honest. This is not my strongest domain. I can approximate.I can get us into the correct corridor, but we will need to cross-check every angle before we lock in final numbers. 

Lim/Kettick/Braya: Response

The science officer swallowed, then nodded once more firmly, committing himself despite the coil of unease still sitting beneath his stomach.

Drex: I’ll begin roughing out the initial slingshot vector while we move. Once we reach the Bounty, Braya, I’ll need you for secondary verification and course correction modeling. :: Then under his breath :: A miracle, we need a miracle.


Lim/Kettick/Braya: Response


TAGS / TBC

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Lieutenant Drex

Science Officer

USS Eagle

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