LtCmdr Connor Dewitt - Contact

[Tim]

((Deck 12, near Main Engineering, USS Khitomer))

C. Dewitt: ::whispering:: The nursery…. ::louder, looking at T’Dara:: It’s the nebula. If we don’t suffocate, something will rip the ship apart. Let’s get to work.

T’Dara: We must prepare them sequentially. First will be the antimatter flow regulator.

The Vulcan did not wait for an answer or an order. Connor did not know if it was a statement on her part nor did he care at this point. As the Vulcan moved towards the supply locker, Connor made his way to a console to retrieve the necessary tool kits. The replacement of the packs would not be a huge problem. They were plug and play components. The difficult part was to get access to the packs in the dim lighting around engineering.

And as if on cue, after the replacement of the first few units, emergency lights came up. Slowly, gravity ramped up in main engineering and Connor oriented his feet towards the floor. After a couple of seconds they touched the familiar ground and a thin smile went over Connor’s lips. He hated zero-g environments, even if it was only for half an hour. Connor opened his tricorder and scanned the critical systems in the room.

Lights and gravity were working. Life support operated on minimum energy - at least for the time being. His tricorder could not tell him if the remainder of the ship was experiencing the same relief, but he was sure that critical rooms like the bridge and sickbay were supplied with energy. Local systems would be able to take over once energy reached those systems. But communication between the systems as well as processing heavy operations would still be impossible without working gel packs.

T’Dara: Commander, there is some kind of energy discharge taking place in the nebula.

Connor looked over to T’Dara.

Dewitt: Elaborate.

Connor heard a sigh from the Vulcan. Again, he did not know what that meant, nor did he care at this point. He installed another gel pack and fixed it into position as the Vulcan replied.

T’Dara: The probe should still obey its commands, even with power- unless…

The Chief Engineer pulled his head from the hatch he was working in and looked directly at the Vulcan Engineer. His brain did not have the capacity to follow her thoughts while working on critiical systems unless she was explicitly telling him. His voice made clear that he did not have the patience to ask a third time.

Dewitt: Unless what… Commander?

T’Dara: Unless the probe has bioneural components as well. Specifically in its standby sequencing.

He wanted to scream at her and bite into the bulkhead in front of him.

Dewitt: Why in the heavens didn’t you te…

She was lucky that Mrs. Croix made an entrance in precisely that moment forcing Connor to be more constructive rather than destructive. Both, T’Dara and Connor must have looked at her with a mixture of surprise and the look parents have when their children walk in on them fighting.

Croix: Yes I’ve returned from nursemaiding with the torches. I also helped ::waving her hand dismissively:: Ensign Michaels and some other woman… Lacy? Get the backup generators online.

Dewitt: ::grinding teeth:: And your contribution is noted - I’ll have Ensign Michaels mention it in her report.

Apparently his constructive attitude had died with his understanding of an inactive probe.

T’Dara: Response

Croix: ::waving her hand dismissively again:: That’s not what matters, what matters is this.

Mrs Croix presented a gel pack as if it is was the proof of her contribution. It looked even worse than those Connor had retrieved. For a short moment, he wondered why, but that was not the point for the moment. With a deep breath, he tried to get all the emotion to leave his body and clear his mind.

Dewitt: Thank you, Mrs. Croix. Unfortunately, a new situation has arisen that might have more urgency than the gel packs aboard this vessel. The probe might still be active.

T’Dara / Croix: Response

Dewitt: According to my tricorder we have minimal life support, gravity and emergency lights. All other systems seem to fluctuate. If we’re lucky communications will come online shortly - part of those systems work without gel packs. We need to figure out a way to shut down the probe.

T’Dara / Croix: Response

Dewitt: Well, do what you can while swapping the remaining five packs to restart the core. ::directly looking at Croix:: You’re part of this now… Please assist Commander T’Dara while I try to assess the situation of all systems.

And as he finished and handed his tools to Mrs Croix, his communicator chirped.

Ohnari: =/\= Sickbay to Commander Dewitt =/\=

Another smile went over his lips. This time a more genuine one that come from his heart.

C.Dewitt: =/\= It’s good to hear your voice, Talia… Have you received the pack? Any insights? =/\=

Ohnari: =/\= My preliminary guess? With that overload, the Sencha wave compromised the biological component of the cells, I am assuming acute radiation uh...well not exactly sickness, considering it's biological matter cells but...yeah. That's my hypothesis so far, as far as that helps.

C. Dewitt: =/\= Can you …. heal it?=/\=

The choice of words felt wrong. But so would have felt a series of other words. Before Talia could answer, Ensign Matthews addressed the Chief Engineer.

R. Matthews: =/\= Commander, I’m going to stick up here, if that’s okay? =/\=

C. Dewitt: =/\= If you find something meaningful to do, go ahead. =/\=

R. Matthews: =/\= Just in case medical needs assistance with the mechanical aspect of the bio neural circuitry. I sent Lieutenant Croix your way with another pack per T’Dara’s request. You should get that shortly =/\=

C. Dewitt: =/\= Understood. If Chief Ohnari does not have an immediate task for you, secure sickbay systems and make sure they can operate independently. Dewitt out. =/\=

Connor closed the comms. If they worked, they had more important calls to make. He tapped his communicator while looking at T’Dara and Mrs Croix. working on the remaining warp core gel packs.

C.Dewitt: =/\= Dewitt to bridge. =/\=

He waited for an answer, almost holding his breath, while walking to the main console in the center of Engineering to get an overview of the ship’s systems if the computer allowed for that. While he did so, he tapped his combadge again

C.Dewitt: =/\= Dewitt to Hobart. Come in. =/\=

Bridge: =/\= Response =/\=

After another second or two, he heard a familiar voice. He did not know which of the two calls had made its way towards the bridge, nor did he care. The most important part was that a connection has been established. He put his tricorder on the console in front of him to monitor energy levels and tried to access the systems.

C.Dewitt: =/\= Ensign Michaels has restored emergency power. Bio-neural gel packs are impacted and prevent most of the computer functions from working properly. I cannot get a reading from internal sensors, but my guess is that critical locations are supplied while other parts of the ship might still be without power. =/\=

Bridge: =/\= Response =/\=

C.Dewitt: =/\= I don’t know for how long this will hold. Without the proper systems, we are just feeding juice to an unregulated system. With every switch flicked or subsystem activated, this could be over. =/\=

Bridge: =/\= Response =/\=

C.Dewitt: =/\= There’s more…. ::pause:: Commander T’Dara said that the probe might still be active. If she’s right it might fire at any time… =/\=

Bridge: =/\= Response =/\=

TAG/TBC

LtCmdr Connor Dewitt
Chief Engineer & Second Officer
USS Khitomer
A239901CD3