LtCmdr Connor Dewitt - Just keep swimming

[Tim]

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

Dewitt: Alright… Inertial Dampeners are a new priority. ::beat:: What percentage of the masses have we removed?

Vidya: ::checks the offenses Valeris mentioned:: With the addition of the torpedo bays now cleared, approximately two thirds, or sixty six percent of the entire Khit-o-more vessel is freed. Just over fifty percent. Half the vessel.

Two thirds. Or half. Connor took those numbers and tried to make sense of them. In any case, more than half was good news. They were past the worst. Though they were not far enough to relax.

Valeris: Oh yeah, torpedo bays are cleared, sir.

A small smile slipped onto Connor’s lips. He had assumed that part already, but it was good to hear it.

Michaels: I recommend a full stop to allow us more time to increase power generation and prepare a more permanent solution to the holes.

Valeris: I wouldn’t recommend that. Keeping moving is our best option to keep us out of the line of fire of that Lattice ship, and get us into a position to defend the cloud.

Vidya: I concur with Michaels. I recommend moving any non essential power to the inertial dampers and shields as a precaution as we remove the masses from the dampeners. It would ensure the dampers are less likely to go offline.

Connor listened to the advice his officers gave.

Valeris: We would want to be careful with sending more power to the dampeners. We don’t want to throw us all on our heads with an overcorrection. ::Beat:: I just advise some caution.

The first officer took a breath. Three opinions. But he could not follow all of them.

Dewitt: I hear all of your. ::beat:: For all we know, full stop is not on the table. The bridge needs us moving, and Lieutenant Semara was clear about what she has planned for the few minutes we have. We don’t have the time to stop and sort things out, although the engineer’s in us might want to.

He turned to Vidya. He wanted her to know he had heard her, too.

Dewitt: ::to Vidya:: Your point stands, Ma’am. We will divert some power. ::to Michaels:: Lieutenant, give me a list of what we can pull from without breaking anything we will need today. Whatever buys us a couple of percent on the dampeners.

Michaels: Response

Connor listened to Michaels answer and caught himself playing with the ring on his finger. It was the first time since what felt like ages that he allowed his brain to briefly think about Ayemet.

Vidya: This is your vessel true First Officer. It is for you to decide which areas should divert power.

Dewitt: Thanks for trusting us with this, Ma’am. Lieutenant Michaels. Run the list.

Michaels: Response

While his officers worked on their consoles, Connor watched the dampener readout climb. Slowly.

Vidya: Dampeners are stable and… ::computer bleeps:: One of the masses is proving most difficult to remove from the dampeners. ::to everyone:: Assistance would be wise.

Valeris: ::Looking over the sensor feeds:: Looks like the filaments are catching on to what we are doing.

The ship shuddered. Connor caught the railing on the console next to him without thinking about it. The lullaby was still playing through the speakers. Somehow it sounded thinner now and he looked forward to the moment that they could shut it off.

Dewitt: They’re adapting. Mr Valeris, let’s try to calm them down. Slow the process. If you need a second pair of hands, tell Lieutenant Michaels what to do.

Michaels: Response

Valeris: It looks like this particular cluster is attempting to reflect the transporter beam. Compensating.

Connor stepped up to a console and tapped a few buttons to get the available sensor readings. There was no way they were going to lose this fight.

Dewitt: Compensate however you need to, Commander. ::to Michaels:: Reroute power to increase resolution and buffer coherence time. We need those inertial dampeners.

Vidya/Michaels: Response

The ship shuddered a second time and the lullaby seemed to skip half a second. Connor took a deep breath. Sometimes in engineering it took duct tape and a lot of hope to make things work. This was one of those times. At least it felt like it for Connor.

Valeris: Almost….there….

Connor did not say anything. He had been on the wrong end of that expression before. And he knew that this was not a time to say anything to pull Valeris’ attention away from the matter at hand.

Vidya/Michaels: Response

The ship shuddered again.

Valeris: Got it! ::beat:: And almost half of that Dampener. Dammit.

A short exhale. Half a dampener was more than Connor felt comfortable with, but it was less than he had feared.

Dewitt: Good work, Commander. This should make the right smoother and the masses less… agitated.

Vidya/Michaels: Response

He turned back to the engineering display with the overview of the masses. They were at about sixty percent removed. That still left a third of the ship threaded through with filaments and by now they had to start working towards the masses that had penetrated the outer hull.

Part of him was glad it was someone else’s job to patch all those holes. Not only the ones in the outer hull, but the masses had left the entire ship like a piece of Swiss cheese.

Dewitt: Alright, we’re not done. Mr Valeris, set the warp core free next. There are still a few masses remaining in supplemental systems. Then everything else, masses connected to the hull next.

Valeris/Michaels/Vidya: Response

Connor looked at the readout again. They were going to need damage control parties. A lot. He took a deep breath and turned to Michaels.

Dewitt: Lieutenant, you’ve said it yourself. The masses in the outer hull are going to be a challenge. I want you to coordinate damage control parties. Take any personnel you need, engineering and operations, to get those outer hull holes fixed up as soon as beaming the masses out rips them open.

Valeris/Michaels/Vidya: Response

TAG/TBC

LtCmdr Connor Dewitt
First Officer
USS Khitomer
A239901CD3