[sb118-khitomer] Lieutenant Charles Matthews - Neck Bone Connected To The Head Bone
Shakeel Hussein
((Phaser Control, Deck 8, USS Khitomer – approaching the Lagoon Nebula))
((Brief Timeskip))
((OOC – I do not have any “knack” of writing Engineering. I don’t know how y’all do it!))
There was a reason that Charlie wasn’t an Engineer. Actually, there were several reasons. Despite those, he was actually pretty good at taking things apart and putting them back together again. He always had been. As a child, people would say “he had the knack” and “you’ll work on engines one day, just like your mother”. Well, either that or in the sciences. It came as a surprise to many when he elected a Tac/Sec major, in fact it was a disappointment with his father, and even choosing Physics as a minor didn’t help, but there was method to his madness, even if the obstinate mind of his sperm donor couldn’t understand the reasons why. One of those reasons was exemplified by where he found himself now; hidden within the inner workings of Phaser Control, wrapped around lines and lines of conduits, almost cocooned in cooling lines and sensor arrays and trying to replace potentially failing gel packs out for more resilient counterparts. Despite the “knack”, it just wasn’t something he enjoyed, not enough for him to make a career out of it and forcing into the tightest of spaces within a starship just made the desire to do it even worse.
From overhead, Charles heard the mutterings of Lieutenant El’Heem break the silence.
El’Heem: ::sort of talking to himself but also to Richard:: Does that look like the main feed or auxillary?
Richard: That’s an auxiliary connection. The main feed is that one :: He points to one :: Color coordination is used, but it’s probably easier to look for the identifiers. Aux or main and the unique code is usually printed on the wire tubing. :: He ran a finger down one of the gray connecting wires until he found what he was looking for :: There, see that? That’s what you’re looking for to confirm main or auxiliary.
Lieutenant Matthews let out a slow, lingering sigh.
oO I can’t see what you’re looking at. Oo
Charles: ::mutters, sings to himself:: The toe bone connected to the… foot bone…
El’Heem: Okay, hold up. That cross-link isn’t isolated like the first two. It looks like you need to flip the secondary override before you touch the alignment node. Make sure you wait for the light or else we’ll trip the whole node again.
Struggling to move, Charlie lifted the focal adjustment spanner up towards the node.
Charles: …foot bone connected to the heel bone…
El’Heem: No, the top one.
Richard: ::Richard moved to look over Ras’ shoulder :: Yup, he’s right, here let me help with that.:: He held up his tricorder activating the little light option while starting a system scan on the area :: Let there be light, and I’ve got eyes on the node.
Charles: ::nods:: Mm-hmm. ::nibbles lower lip:: Thank you, gentlemen.
From his position within the ship, Charlie felt his ears pring as a combadge sounded out not too far away.
Semara: =/\= Semara to El'Heem? =/\=
El'Heem: ::handing PADD to Richard:: Here, take over. =/\= El’Heem here. =/\=
Semara: =/\= I only got a sec. I sent you a heap a' readin's from the nebula. I ain't the boss, but you might wanna drop whatever you're doin' and take a look. I wouldn't mind help, either. =/\=
With the volume of Ras and Amelia lowering, Charlie knew that the Kressari Officer had stepped away from his position, perhaps to talk to the woman a little more privately. Despite that, and despite the position he found himself in, he could still hear what was being said. Just about.
El'Heem: ::to Charles and Richard:: Sounds like we’re here and we’re not under attack. Good sign. =/\= You’ve got my attention, Lieutenant. Alright I’ll check in with you shortly.=/\=
Semara: =/\= Got it. Semara out. =/\=
Charles: “Not under attack” is good.
He shimmied around again as he continued to work.
Charles: The heel bone connected to… the ankle… bone…
El’Heem: We need to wrap this up quickly in case we need phasers. I need to look over this data for Semara.
Richard: What’s the word?
Without a clue about what Semara had sent to El’Heem, Lieutenant Matthews had no idea as to what the word might be; instead, he carried on working.
Charles: ::mutters, sings to himself:: Ankle bone connected to the… neck bone… Wait, that isn’t right…
El’Heem: I’m not entirely sure, yet. Richard come look over these numbers and tell me if you see the same timey-wimey shit I do. I don’t like the look of this.
oO Did he just say “timey-wimey”? Oo
Richard: :: Muttering to himself :: What in the Sean Cody? Why are there a bunch of mariners getting their injections like that? And why didn’t I go to the bridge for mine? That’s totally unfair.
Charles: Who the hell is Sean Cody?
Richard: Don’t judge me.
oO It’s kinda too late… Oo
Richard: Hmmm, this is what Semara sent us? For sure?
El’Heem: Response
Richard: No, nothing, it’s just. There’s nothing there to have created the new waves we’re seeing. And this isn’t old residual radiation, gods I wish it was, long range scanners are just showing like comets and stuff, see? I’m plugged into the bridge right now so we’re getting real time info.
From his position, Charles hadn’t the faintest about what was going on. It annoyed him. Interesting things were being said, and he was in a hole sorting out gel packs. It was important work, especially if they needed weapons at some point, but if he heard the words gel packs many more times, he was going to blast them all out of the airlock. Even if it would cripple the ship.
Charles: ::pauses his work:: What exactly is going on?
El’Heem: Response
Richard: But she did send us data clearly showing decayed isotopes that are noted to match with the records we have on our Sencha testing and what we recorded at DS33. It’s new, but not recent. I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say whoever it was is gone now? :: He frowned, remembering where they were :: Or hiding in the nebula.
Korras: I am detecting an object the size of a probe, but no concentration of Sencha radiation. Should I plot a course to it?
Ayemet: :turning to face Shayne: Something’s wrong.
Semara: Confirmed - object range one hundred kilometers, showin' numerous smaller objects around it. Combined mass roughly seventy percent of the probe's. Best guess - wreckage.
Shayne: Helmsman- change course. Intercept the object, one half impulse.
Richard: That was fast, we might have found what we’re looking for already. Do you think it’s another probe? One of ours that we just didn’t know was one of ours? Our own mission was so cloak and dagger last time. It’s got me in conspiracy theory mode.
Not that they could see it, but he frowned. Whatever was going on above him, nobody should be essentially hacking into what was going on with the Main Bridge. There may be one or two instances where it was needed but Charles was fairly certain that this wasn’t one of them.
Charles: Why can I hear the Bridge?
El’Heem: Response
Ayemet: Not a probe.
Richard: No, look at the readings, this second event is showing readings of waves that implies a more powerful emitter than what we had. See? ::He pointed to a section on the screen:: Which, now that I see those numbers, I’m worried if our precautions will be enough to defend against a possible attack.
Charles: Ensign. Why can I hear the Bridge?
El’Heem: Response
Hobart: Not ours, at least.
At this point, Charles had stopped. Not because he needed assistance, but because he was more interested in what he was hearing, even if he shouldn’t have heard any of it at all. Not in this way anyway.
Richard: Chronitons, Sencha radiation, I’m afraid we might have a case of –
Hobart: Time Travel.
Richard: What he said.
Charles: What did he say---?
El’Heem: Response
oO God. Should the ranking Tactical Officer be on the Bridge now? Instead of ruining the relays of Phaser Control? Oo
Richard: I’m going to monitor what’s happening. Engineering is finishing up storing away the loose packs. Finish up with the weapon systems quick. It looks like we might need them sooner than we’d like.
El’Heem: Response
Sliding out from where he was, Lieutenant Matthews gingerly got up off of the floor, dusting his legs off and stood up at full height with the other two Officers.
Charles: Did you hack the bloody Bridge, Ensign?
Richard / El’Heem: Responses
Charles: There are a million and one protocols in place, against doing things like that. ::sighs:: That being said, it isn’t the first time we’ve done something we all shouldn’t have. You probably should shut it off though.
Richard / El’Heem: Responses
He shook his head.
Charles: Oh. I’ve finished. The neck bone connected to the head bone.
Charles looked from Richard and Ras, then back to Richard again.
Charles: Never mind. ::pause:: If you Science dorks… oO Don’t mention the Physics! Oo …want to double check it all, you can fill me in about the findings from the Bridge.
Richard / El’Heem: Responses
TAGS/TBC
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Tactical Officer
USS Khitomer NCC-62400
A240012CM1