Commander Tomas Falt: A little help?

[Tomas Falt]

((Fuel Line Corridor, Deck 496, Igirni))

Presently the corridor they were traversing opened out into a wider gangway that ran alongside the largest engine Tomas had ever seen. He looked around, noting the fuel pipes from the corridor continuing along its length, with feeds dropping into the engine every 100 meters or so. Despite its size, it struck Tomas that he was looking at a simple thruster, albeit one scaled up sufficiently to generate enough force to move the enormous ship.

Lim: Oh my.

Braya: Ain’t that somethin’. 

Falt: If I was to guess, I'd say this thruster is longer than our ship. How many does the Igirni have?

Tomas couldn't whistle, but if he could, he would have done. That was a lot of thrust

Frinn: Many… but whether they still work, I wouldn’t know. We haven’t tried to land on a planet in my lifetime… so, as far as I know, most of them haven’t been used for 60 years.

Tanner: And you’d likely not need all of them at all times. Makes sense.

Lim: Mmm. Try and build for every scenario you can, just in case.

Falt: We detected liquid hydrogen traces in the pipes. I'm guessing that's the fuel? Superheated in the power plant and then vented out of the engines? I assume you use electromagnetic fields as part of the process?

Frinn: Correct… I might not know much, but that I do know.

Tanner: Presumably you were at full thrust in order to avoid the black hole. ::Phrased as a question.::

If Tomas had been close enough to Tanner, he'd have stamped on his foot before he'd got any further than bl… Unfortunately, the man had not been in range and so, to use an expression of his mother’s, the cat was now out of the bag...

Frinn: Black hole? You seem to have me at a disadvantage again…

Frinn's comment confirmed he had been right to be cautious. Whether they agreed with the decision or not, it was now clear the entire ship had not been aware of the black hole. Presumably to try and avoid a panic.

Lim: It's the reason why we’re here. The ship’s having issues escaping a black hole.

Braya: They really take ‘need to know basis’ serious ‘round ‘ere, huh?

Tomas decided to try and keep the situation calm, just in case.

Falt: Issue’s might be a strong word; the black hole isn't close enough to be a major concern just yet.

He was aware that could technically be seen as a lie, depending on how you classified a major concern. However, he also knew that a ship‑wide panic posed a far greater risk to the Igirni’s chances of survival than if he'd strictly spoken the truth.

However, the moment he finished talking the gangway below his feet shook suddenly and alarmingly, making him stumble. As if the universe was trying to call him out on his lie.

Tanner: ::Flicking around the group.:: Byproduct of our proximity?

Frinn: Don’t look at me… This is nothing new. Could be many things…

Lim: Maybe they're trying out something with the engines?

He cast a glance at their Voth companion, relieved he seemed to be taking things in his stride.

Falt: Indeed, we do have another team working to get things restarted with your engineers...

Tomas knew he was being economical with the truth once again. He could only hope the Voth wouldn't interpret that as subterfuge.

Frinn: Perhaps I should hand you over to one of our more experienced people.

Tanner: That’s ok, mostly just curious.

Frinn: Looks like the big shots are at the main levels, no doubt having one of their fancy meetings… so you are stuck with me for now. Feel free to have a look around, but again… don’t touch anything without asking.

Lim: ::Smiling:: Don’t worry, we won’t.

Braya: ::Clasping her wrist behind her back:: No touchin’. No problem.

Tomas found himself both curious and relieved at the fact Frinn seemed more concerned about them touching something than he did the revelation of a nearby black hole.

Falt: ::Giving Frinn a reassuring smile:: We won't do anything without permission.

Frinn: Response

Lim: How many people work down here?

Braya: Not near enough, by the looks o’ it. No offense, maintenance man. Just seems y’all could use more ‘ands down ‘ere.

Tomas raised an eyebrow, unsure what Braya was trying to achieve by making such a statement.

Frinn: Response

Lim: Do you all live nearby, or do you have to commute to the area?

He decided to stay quiet as the team made small talk with Frinn. It was a useful tactic, as it gave him a chance to look around without the Voth paying him too much attention.

Frinn: Response

Braya: Sounds downright irritatin’. An’ no doctors down ‘ere, neither? Seems dangerous work, to ‘ave no medical on standby.

Lieutenant Braya was clearly working some kind of angle in the hopes of getting the Voth to trust her, or at least say something he otherwise wouldn't. It wasn't the way Tomas would have approached things, but he was happy to play along for a bit.

Falt: That's not how things are on our ship. We have short shifts, free food, and good medical care.

Lim / Frinn: Response

Braya: Them upstairs keepin’ ya’ out o’ the loop regardin’ this black ‘ole business. That normal ‘round ‘ere? Everythin’… privileged?

Tanner: Order and structure isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Tomas wasn't sure if Lieutenant Tanner's comment was a conscious decision to play good cop to Braya's bad cop, but it could prove to be a useful tactic regardless.

Falt: It's not, as long as no one gets completely left out of the loop!

Lim / Frinn: Response

Braya: ::Softer:: Just sounds t’me like some Voth ‘round ‘ere are… a little more equal than others.

Tomas noticed Tanner look at him, perhaps wordlessly looking for guidance or acknowledgement. He decided to continue playing along, trying to keep his answers based in truth to avoid suspicion.

Falt: It's not for us to judge their society, Lieutenant. We should just consider ourselves lucky ours is as open a society as it is...

Lim / Frinn: Response

Tanner: Is there anyone that could be more helpful?

Braya / Lim / Frinn: Response

Falt: ::Keeping to the character:: I'm sure they'd send more people to help if they could!

Tanner: Commander, I can’t see any way we can help in this area. ::Glancing around pointedly.:: Should we continue further in?

Tomas looked around. The Lieutenant had a point. So far all they'd really done was walk along an access gangway running alongside an enormous thruster. They were going to need to do more to make any headway.

Falt: Agreed. ::Turning to Frinn:: Is there anywhere we can see a schematic of this engine? It would probably be more useful to us than simply looking at the engine cladding!

Braya / Lim / Frinn: Response

Tanner: ::Looking up further ahead at some marks on the wall.:: You sure we can’t touch anything?

Braya / Lim / Frinn: Response

Tomas hadn't really expected a different answer just because Lieutenant Tanner had asked nicely; he had to concede it was worth a shot though...

Falt: What about scans? ::Holding up his tricorder:: Our devices are quite efficient and non-invasive. If we can compare our results to those schematics, it would be even better!

Braya / Tanner / Lim / Frinn: Response

They set out again, hopefully in the direction of the schematics this time. Tomas moved to the head of the group to take some scans, but had only just initiated the first pass when the ship lurched once more, making the gangway beneath his feet sway concerningly.

Falt: ::Looking back at the others:: You mentioned lurches like this are not uncommon?

Braya / Tanner / Lim / Frinn: Response

Falt: ::Jokingly:: Well, I hope someone checked the supports on this gangway recently!

At which point Tomas felt the ship lurch again, a fraction of a second before he heard the sound of metal shearing as a bolt somewhere underneath him gave way. Suddenly unattached at one end, the section of gangway he stood on pitched downward and he started to fall. 

Acting entirely on instinct, Tomas managed to pivot his body and jammed the fingers of his left hand into the steel mesh of the dangling gangway. His handhold was just strong enough to stop his fall, but his momentum made him swing, and he yelped in pain as the sharp metal of the gangway mesh tore into his fingers. 

Dropping his tricorder, he just was able to grab the dangling gangway with his right hand and take some of his weight off his wounded left hand. He looked up at the others as they all heard the tricorder hit something solid far below.

Falt: ::trying to keep his voice calm:: A little help?

Braya / Tanner / Lim / Frinn: Response

TAG / TBC

Commander Tomas Falt                          

Strategic Operations Officer

USS Eagle-A

J239807TF2

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