LtJg Lera Michaels - Cold As The Ninth Circle
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steve...@yahoo.com
Jun 24, 2026, 9:50:17 PMJun 24
to USS Khitomer – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG
((Inside the bulkhead, USS Khitomer))
As Lera wiggled her way between the inner bulkhead and the stress outer hull plate, she wondered, just for a moment, whether Sheliak ships had a similar space. Surely they must have insulation to prevent excessive heat loss. Insulation featured prominently in Lera's thoughts at the moment. With the filaments piercing the outer hull plates and entering the normal interior spaces, the insulation had been damaged as well. And now, her Vulcan physiology, so well adapted through millennia for desert climates, was starting to betray her. The environmental controls on her suit had been damaged and the cold was beginning to creep throughout her body. What was it Father Sergio had told his congregation in Marathon? The ninth circle of hell is so cold because that is where Satan is and without love there is no warmth? Some superstitious nonsense like that. Regardless, Lera was getting uncomfortably cold.
Lera adjusted the music player, cleared the filaments from another section of the plate, and immediately sealed the hole. She moved a meter to her left and repeated the process. This time, however, the music seemed less effective. She glanced at the controls on her suit. The air pressure was continuing to drop though not at a dangerously fast rate.
oO Lower air pressure translates into reduced sound transmission and that in turn means it is less effective filament calming. Oo
Lera frowned. What had they done to Uncle Charlie when his hearing failed? He had not been eligible for a cochlear implant so they did some sort of titanium implant in his skull and the sound was transmitted through the bone. It had been a great loss for her uncle. Music had always been an important part of his life and while he could hear after the operation, the tones and frequencies were wrong. The music that had comforted him for so long was lost forever.
oO Perhaps... Oo
Lera turned the music player over and pressed the speaker directly against metal of the hull. The effect was gratifying with filaments relaxing much faster than they had before. Unfortunately that also meant there were more holes and faster pressure drop.
Michaels: =/\= Michaels to van der Waals. The music is more effective when applied directly to the metal. =/\=
van der Waals: =/\= Got it, Ma'am. =/\=
Michaels: =/\= We are going to require a forcefield here on this plate. Standby until I am out of here. =/\=
((brief time skip))
Lera crawled out of the interstitial space and removed the helmet of her environmental suit. The damage control team was waiting for her. Clearly, their work in this sector had been completed. She moved to the console to check the status of the other sectors and damage control teams. She released a breath and nodded.
Michaels: Well done, people. Take a moment to relax. We maybe needed elsewhere. :: Lera tapped her communicator.:: =/\= Michaels to Dewitt. Damage control team Alpha is finished in this sector. =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Response =/\=
The ship rocked. Lera glanced quickly at her team members. Although a few looked shaky, everyone was steady.
Michaels: =/\= Are we under fire, sir? Is there more damage we need to repair? =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Response =/\=
Michaels: =/\= Understood, sir. Michaels out. =/\=
The hatch opened and the Velithari "Technological" Vidya entered and bowed to Lera. Lera returned the gesture.
Michaels: I am pleased to see you again, Vidya.
Vidya: Response
Michaels: I had a thought a short time ago that I would like to discuss with you. If that would be permitted. Jorogumo must come in contact with a huge number of filaments in the nebula. Why do the filaments not affect Jorogumo? There must be some mechanism, biological or mechanical, construction material... something that tells the filaments to leave Jorogumo alone. I found that the affect of our music on the filaments was superior if we applied the music directly to the hull. ::beat:: Do the filaments sense your ship's vibrations and "know" in some way to leave Jorogumo alone?
Vidya: Response
Tags/TBC
——— ○● ———
LtJg Lera Michaels
Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2
As Lera wiggled her way between the inner bulkhead and the stress outer hull plate, she wondered, just for a moment, whether Sheliak ships had a similar space. Surely they must have insulation to prevent excessive heat loss. Insulation featured prominently in Lera's thoughts at the moment. With the filaments piercing the outer hull plates and entering the normal interior spaces, the insulation had been damaged as well. And now, her Vulcan physiology, so well adapted through millennia for desert climates, was starting to betray her. The environmental controls on her suit had been damaged and the cold was beginning to creep throughout her body. What was it Father Sergio had told his congregation in Marathon? The ninth circle of hell is so cold because that is where Satan is and without love there is no warmth? Some superstitious nonsense like that. Regardless, Lera was getting uncomfortably cold.
Lera adjusted the music player, cleared the filaments from another section of the plate, and immediately sealed the hole. She moved a meter to her left and repeated the process. This time, however, the music seemed less effective. She glanced at the controls on her suit. The air pressure was continuing to drop though not at a dangerously fast rate.
oO Lower air pressure translates into reduced sound transmission and that in turn means it is less effective filament calming. Oo
Lera frowned. What had they done to Uncle Charlie when his hearing failed? He had not been eligible for a cochlear implant so they did some sort of titanium implant in his skull and the sound was transmitted through the bone. It had been a great loss for her uncle. Music had always been an important part of his life and while he could hear after the operation, the tones and frequencies were wrong. The music that had comforted him for so long was lost forever.
oO Perhaps... Oo
Lera turned the music player over and pressed the speaker directly against metal of the hull. The effect was gratifying with filaments relaxing much faster than they had before. Unfortunately that also meant there were more holes and faster pressure drop.
Michaels: =/\= Michaels to van der Waals. The music is more effective when applied directly to the metal. =/\=
van der Waals: =/\= Got it, Ma'am. =/\=
Michaels: =/\= We are going to require a forcefield here on this plate. Standby until I am out of here. =/\=
((brief time skip))
Lera crawled out of the interstitial space and removed the helmet of her environmental suit. The damage control team was waiting for her. Clearly, their work in this sector had been completed. She moved to the console to check the status of the other sectors and damage control teams. She released a breath and nodded.
Michaels: Well done, people. Take a moment to relax. We maybe needed elsewhere. :: Lera tapped her communicator.:: =/\= Michaels to Dewitt. Damage control team Alpha is finished in this sector. =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Response =/\=
The ship rocked. Lera glanced quickly at her team members. Although a few looked shaky, everyone was steady.
Michaels: =/\= Are we under fire, sir? Is there more damage we need to repair? =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Response =/\=
Michaels: =/\= Understood, sir. Michaels out. =/\=
The hatch opened and the Velithari "Technological" Vidya entered and bowed to Lera. Lera returned the gesture.
Michaels: I am pleased to see you again, Vidya.
Vidya: Response
Michaels: I had a thought a short time ago that I would like to discuss with you. If that would be permitted. Jorogumo must come in contact with a huge number of filaments in the nebula. Why do the filaments not affect Jorogumo? There must be some mechanism, biological or mechanical, construction material... something that tells the filaments to leave Jorogumo alone. I found that the affect of our music on the filaments was superior if we applied the music directly to the hull. ::beat:: Do the filaments sense your ship's vibrations and "know" in some way to leave Jorogumo alone?
Vidya: Response
Tags/TBC
——— ○● ———
LtJg Lera Michaels
Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2
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