Lieutenant JG Ras El'Heem - Clever Girl Pt. 2
Ras El'Heem
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer, the Lagoon Nebula))
Ras aimed his light at Amelia as she took that battery from under the console and floated up towards the ceiling. It was the only light they had, and he was going to do his best to assist with pathfinding.
Hobart: Ensign Prix, Doctor El’Heem, get the Jefferies' Tube access open. We’re gonna need it in a minute.
El'Heem: Aye, sir.
He released the torch mid-air, still aimed at Amelia’s work and pushed off the tactical console, propelling himself towards the command chair where Hobart still clung.
Prix: Response
Semara: Lieutenant Zerva. Toolkit, pretty please? :: Holding her hands up for the catch. ::
As his trajectory approached the command chair, he twisted his torso and caught the corner of it, tempering his momentum to a very slow glide and causing him to rotate slowly to the panel just at the base of the seat. As he floated to the far side of the panel, he gripped the second of two latches to stop himself.
El'Heem: Ensign Prix, lift on your mark.
He waited for her to position herself then gripped the ring and braced his feet against the floor.
Prix: Response
He tugged upwards in tandem with her and freed the heavy hatch, letting it float freely.
Cain: Nice catch, Lieutenant
Hobart: Quickly people, I enjoy breathing.
Semara: :: Calling up. :: Just hold your horses!
Ras’s hand instinctively moved to cover his eyes from the harsh light.
Cain: ::grinning, voice bold:: Nice work, Lieutenant! Now we can see who’s panickin’. ::to Hobart, serious:: Sir, helm’s dead, but I’m checkin’ for manual overrides. If we can get a signal to Engineering, Michaels and T’Dara might have a shot at the core. ::to Amelia:: Semara, any chance that battery’s got enough juice for a comm pulse? We need to know what’s happenin’ downstairs.
Semara: Sure, we could transmit. But they'd also need power to receive and decode without the ship routin' calls.
Hobart: Commander Dewitt should be on top of things in Engineering. Trust him, Ensign. Let’s focus on our tasks here.
Semara: What about the shuttles?
Maybe the woman would have a career in engineering as well.
Hobart: ::strained, pulling:: Exactly, Lieutenant. ::gritted teeth:: Tell ‘em.
They were making quick work of their tasks as the minutes of air ticked by. He looked down at the hole in front of him and winced. He looked up and could almost feel the stale air in the bridge mixing with the fresh of the crack forming between the conference room doors.
Zerva: ::pulling hard, mussels flexing:: I’m trying sir. She’s being stubborn. ::tries pulling harder:: Ugh. I don’t know if she’ll open.
El’Heem: Shuttles, Lieutenant Semara?
Prix / Cain: Response
Semara: We're practically right on top a' the shuttle bay. Even if only one shuttle's workin', we could breathe - for one - and use its comms array to contact engineerin'. We got two runabouts and five shuttles down there. That's a lot a' air just a short Jefferies tube crawl away.
Zerva: ::pulling hard, mussels flexing:: I’m trying sir. She’s being stubborn. ::tries pulling harder:: Ugh. I don’t know if she’ll open.
Ras was starting to catch on to the plan, but his thoughts were interrupted by the conference doors completely opening.
Zerva: ::breathing heavy staring at the doors:: We’ll that was harder then I thought it would be.
Prix / Cain: Response
El’Heem: You almost make crawling through the Jeffries tube sound worth it.
Hobart: Most of the small craft are going to be stored in the under-deck hangar, Lieutenant. The elevator won’t have power to bring any up, but there should be a shuttle or two on the deck now. Your head’s in the right place, though. ::to Zerva:: Get the Captain’s door.
Zerva: ::nodding:: Yes sir. I’m on it.
El’Heem: ::rubbing his ridges:: Like a couple a’ generators.
Prix / Cain / Semara: Response
Zerva: Congratulations Lieutenant Semara. Sorry, I know now isn’t exactly the best time, but I didn’t get the chance to congratulate you on the promotion. It’s well earned.
Hobart: El’Heem, take Prix and Cain down to the shuttlebay. If the battery works, we’re not dealing with any kind of dampening field, and the shuttles will have power. We can use that to get environmental controls up on Deck 2. And, more importantly, we can route communications through the shuttles.
E’Heem: On it, sir. Prix, Cain, I’ll take the lead. Stay close.
Ras pushed off the floor and floated to the handheld light before snatching it as he sailed by, stopping himself with the tactical console it floated above. He turned back and looked to the captain.
Prix / Cain / Semara: Response
El’Heem: We’ll be quick. There’s won’t be any way for us to know if you all are running out of time.
Hobart: The three of us are going to sit tight. Once we have these doors open, we’ll take the battery into the conference room and wait. We can hopefully use it to activate the air circulators on the command deck instead of the lights in here.
He looked around the room at each officer and caught Amelia’s eye. There was a brief moment of hesitation as he contemplated the gravity (no pun intended) of the situation. He nodded to her before kicking off the console and returning to the hatch.
Prix / Cain / Semara: Response
Hobart: ::mild strain:: We won’t be able to communicate with you or anyone else on the ship until you get down there, so make sure you get there in one piece. Lieutenant Semara, pull the plug once they’re through the hatch.
Zerva: Good luck! ::pulling hard, gritting his teeth:: Oh come on you! Open before I kick yeah open. ::grumbles:: Probably break my foot trying.
El’Heem: We won’t let you down cap, will we ensign? ::Patting Cain on the shoulder then chuckling nervously:: claustrophobic belly crawl, here we come.
Ras put his head into the hole and shined the light around. A tight fit for most, and an even tighter fit for a dragon. He took a deep breath before popping his head back out.
Hobart / Prix / Cain / Semara: Response
Zerva: Yes sir, I’m trying sir ::particularly pulls a muscle pulling, his face turning red before it opens:: Gah! About time!
El’Heem: Ready?
Hobart / Prix / Cain / Semara: Response
Before waiting for a response, Ras placed the light between his teeth and dipped his head back in. Without gravity, your orientation shifted very fluidly. Suddenly, his being upside down, was now right side up and he hoisted himself into the tube. He pulled himself along, exposed conduits and pipes skated by as he floated, keeping his body as straight as possible. The light from the hatch connecting to the bridge faded away and when he reached the first junction he stopped and looked towards his feet, waiting for Prix or Cain to glide up to him.
Tags/TBC
Lieutenant JG Ras El’Heem
Medical Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
K240106RE3