Lt Vylaa zh'Tisav: Scapegoat?
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Andrew B
Dec 1, 2025, 6:50:55 PM (4 days ago) Dec 1
to Gorkon IC
((Jefferies Tube coming out of Main Engineering, USS Gorkon))
There where few things worse than a leaking protein reclamation line. Or grosser. Vylaa glanced at the conduit, then back at the goop on the blade of her knife. Given the mess, and how much it had spread, this had been going for a bit.
zh’Tisav: It looks like it’s just a small leak that’s been been going for a while. Any bigger and the automatic alarms would have warned us. That torch should do to seal the damage, but we’ll need to scrape it clean first or all you’ll end up doing is burning proteins.
Gnaxac: I c-c-can see it the active leak - pass me d-d-down a cloth and I can wipe it, then quickly s-s-seal it.
The Andorian pulled a pale blue disposable shop rag from a dispenser in Gnaxac’s toolkit.
zh’Tisav: Here.
Gnaxac: Once that’s d-d-done, then we have to j-j-just clean everything… ::he grinned wickedly:: or g-g-get Ops down here.
zh’Tisav: Yeah, that’d go over brilliantly. I can almost hear what the Coffee Queen would say to that request.
Gnaxac: G-g-good point; life wouldn’t be worth l-l-living.
The leak had left a pool of wet, sloppy goop below the conduit. It would be a major headache to scoop up and clear away. Especially bent up in the crawlspace like they were.
zh’Tisav: I think we can simplify this. Let’s isolate this tube and vent it out an airlock. It’ll flash freeze and turn to dust. Then we can just vacuum it up.
The Ferengi nodded, his tenuous upside-down in the equipment panel hiding most of the movement.
Gnaxac: G-g-g-good idea.
zh’Tisav: It’s less work for us and beats scooping it into buckets. And saves the power from beaming it away. How about it?
Gnaxac: Works for me! P-p-pull me up!
zh’Tisav: Okay, hold onto your lobes.
The zhen grabbed the tiny Ferengi’s legs by the knees and pulled him out, barely noticing his weight as she did so. She set Gnaxac down on the floor of the Jefferies Tube where he quickly gave a thumbs up to show he was alright. Not for the first time Vylaa felt slight jealousy at her crewmates ability to stand almost fully upright in the tubes, but then reminded herself she didn’t need a stool to reach high shelves.
Gnaxac: T-t-ta! Let’s g-g-get out of here, and we can vent it.
zh’Tisav: We can do that from the last junction, come on.
They crawled, that is, Vylaa crawled, back to a point where three horizontal tubes met a vertical one at a tiny, cube-shaped junction. Gnaxac was able to take a slightly cramped stroll.
The Andorian perched on the small lip surrounding the vertical climb, a leg dangling over the edge and waited for Gnaxac to get clear. When he was clear she activated the junctions control panel. She punched in a few commands and the emergency hatch behind them slid shut.
zh’Tisav: This should do it. ::She scooched to the side.:: But double check I please. The last thing we want to do is accidentally vent half the ship.
Gnaxac: Response
zh’Tisav: Go ahead and run it. ::Her antenna curled toward each other and her eyes twinkled playfully.:: That way I can blame you if it goes wrong.
Gnaxac: response
There where few things worse than a leaking protein reclamation line. Or grosser. Vylaa glanced at the conduit, then back at the goop on the blade of her knife. Given the mess, and how much it had spread, this had been going for a bit.
zh’Tisav: It looks like it’s just a small leak that’s been been going for a while. Any bigger and the automatic alarms would have warned us. That torch should do to seal the damage, but we’ll need to scrape it clean first or all you’ll end up doing is burning proteins.
Gnaxac: I c-c-can see it the active leak - pass me d-d-down a cloth and I can wipe it, then quickly s-s-seal it.
The Andorian pulled a pale blue disposable shop rag from a dispenser in Gnaxac’s toolkit.
zh’Tisav: Here.
Gnaxac: Once that’s d-d-done, then we have to j-j-just clean everything… ::he grinned wickedly:: or g-g-get Ops down here.
zh’Tisav: Yeah, that’d go over brilliantly. I can almost hear what the Coffee Queen would say to that request.
Gnaxac: G-g-good point; life wouldn’t be worth l-l-living.
The leak had left a pool of wet, sloppy goop below the conduit. It would be a major headache to scoop up and clear away. Especially bent up in the crawlspace like they were.
zh’Tisav: I think we can simplify this. Let’s isolate this tube and vent it out an airlock. It’ll flash freeze and turn to dust. Then we can just vacuum it up.
The Ferengi nodded, his tenuous upside-down in the equipment panel hiding most of the movement.
Gnaxac: G-g-g-good idea.
zh’Tisav: It’s less work for us and beats scooping it into buckets. And saves the power from beaming it away. How about it?
Gnaxac: Works for me! P-p-pull me up!
zh’Tisav: Okay, hold onto your lobes.
The zhen grabbed the tiny Ferengi’s legs by the knees and pulled him out, barely noticing his weight as she did so. She set Gnaxac down on the floor of the Jefferies Tube where he quickly gave a thumbs up to show he was alright. Not for the first time Vylaa felt slight jealousy at her crewmates ability to stand almost fully upright in the tubes, but then reminded herself she didn’t need a stool to reach high shelves.
Gnaxac: T-t-ta! Let’s g-g-get out of here, and we can vent it.
zh’Tisav: We can do that from the last junction, come on.
They crawled, that is, Vylaa crawled, back to a point where three horizontal tubes met a vertical one at a tiny, cube-shaped junction. Gnaxac was able to take a slightly cramped stroll.
The Andorian perched on the small lip surrounding the vertical climb, a leg dangling over the edge and waited for Gnaxac to get clear. When he was clear she activated the junctions control panel. She punched in a few commands and the emergency hatch behind them slid shut.
zh’Tisav: This should do it. ::She scooched to the side.:: But double check I please. The last thing we want to do is accidentally vent half the ship.
Gnaxac: Response
zh’Tisav: Go ahead and run it. ::Her antenna curled toward each other and her eyes twinkled playfully.:: That way I can blame you if it goes wrong.
Gnaxac: response
Lt Vylaa zh'Tisav
Engineering Specialist
USS Gorkon
C238601TB0
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