Ensign Jovenan – The best thing an ensign can do
Jovenan
((Shuttle Ector, Shuttlebay 2, USS Excalibur-A))
Jovenan: What was that?!
Lante: I don’t know
She tried peering through the shuttle windows. The unexpected, violent shake the shuttle had experienced had also been brief, yet she avoided raising from her seat, just in case it repeated. There was nothing outside, in the shuttlebay, that would be indicating the cause of the shuttle to rock, not anything she could spot. The only difference was that there were no people on the bay floor anymore, but the hangar doors were as open as they had been just a moment ago.
Lante: The bay doors are open and the shield is failing.
The cause of the shake could indeed be the shield failing for a moment and air rushing explosively out through the doors. The lack of crewmembers on the floor could be explained by them all evacuating in time, or worse, being thrown into space by the great force the airflow could cause. She checked the shuttle sensors.
Jovenan: The air pressure in the shuttlebay is low. I don’t think we can walk out of the shuttle.
Lante: We are safe for now, what can go wrong anyway, we end up with the shuttle ejected in space. You know how to fly, right Ma’am?
She knew how to fly a shuttle, just not particularly well. All officers had to pass the shuttle piloting course, so she could be expected to be able to do so, but she was also a science officer, not a shuttle pilot. She couldn’t be the best in everything. Not wanting to answer the question, she instead considered if they could indeed be ejected to space.
Jovenan: I don’t think we will get ejected. This type of shuttle weights almost two tonnes, it would require a lot of air to move us, not to mention counteracting the friction. Well, there’s the chance that the gravity plating of the shuttlebay also failed, then a small shake and a light breeze might be enough. But the gravity seems to be functioning just fine for now.
Lante: Response
Jovenan: Well, uh… Do you happen to know if we have a functioning transporter here? We could use that, but that could cause some alarm if we did that without permission. Now that we have some communications established, we could…
Nicholotti: =/\= Bridge to all hands, prepare to come under fire. Battlestations! =/\=
Jovenan was momentarily startled when the Captain’s voice echoed in the shuttle. Taken by surprise, she looked around to find the Commodore, before realizing how silly for her it had been. The voice was emitting from the internal communications. Not just the text format shuttle observing transceiver roundabout method Jovenan had discovered and used earlier, but proper communications line used by the ship under normal circumstance.
But then she stopped to ponder what the Captain had said, and the joy of the functional communications turned to worry. They were in a battle! Kawarda had been right about an incoming attack, and judging by the MacKenzie’s distress call, it was most likely the Klingon renegades assaulting them.
Jovenan: ::nervous:: A spaceship battle!? Oh God, oh God…
Lante: Response
Jovenan: Th- the Daisy, I think. If the shields and weapons are down, they might be able… to… uh…
Lante: Response
She tried her best to calm her nerves. She was the superior officer in this shuttle. It was her who had to give example to her troops – or troop, singular – and encourage them, not show nervousness and cowardice.
Jovenan: We could try to beam ourselves out. But, if everything is in such a poor state as we believe, even this shuttle might have better weapons and shields than Excalibur. But we can’t run into battle like that, not with the skills we two have.
Lante: Response
Jovenan: Our best option is… to ask. Let’s be honest, we aren’t exactly on the correct rank to decide about these things. ::small smile::
She turned to back to the communications console. Not wanting to occupy the commlink to the Captain during a battle where having constant contact with tactical, security, sickbay and engineering was vital, she opted to send a communiqué to the ops station on the bridge. Whoever was looking at that would surely be surprised finding a transmission coming from within the ship.
//
To: USS Excalibur
From: Shuttle Ector, Shuttlebay 2, USS Excalibur
Subject: Instructions?
Ens. Jovenan and Crwm Lante in shuttle Ector. Shuttlebay 2 decompressed. Requesting instructions.
//
She sent the request. Depending on how busy the bridge was, they might need to wait for the reply for quite a while. She turned again to Crewman Lante.
Jovenan: So… How’s things in security?
Lante: Response
TAG/TBC
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Ensign Jovenan
Science officer
USS Excalibur-A
E239911J11