Lt. Cmdr. Roger Hartmann - "Hard Work Pays Off"

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Amanda Nordstrom

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May 20, 2022, 6:09:35 PM5/20/22
to USS Thor

((Main Engineering – Deck 11 – USS Oumuamua))

 

If one thing didn’t go wrong, another thing would.  That was just the life.  Maybe it was chaos theory, or the murphy theory or whatever theory, but it was just as true now and would be just as true for the next mission.  In the height of negotiations and communications with the enemy, the ship decided it had enough.

 

The Oumuamua was a fine vessel, state of the art, and certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it had also been rushed out of a refit.  That rush was seen in sparkling glory as the computer blared warnings at them that a cascade failure was imminent.  Toz and Richards had left to check out the biological components of the ship, but they weren’t done yet.  Multiple approaches were suggested and being taken simultaneously, including Kessler resynchronizing the plasma infuser relay.  

 

Hartmann: Do it.  We can also modulate the energy distribution manifold.  Corelli, how fast can we get her back to full power? 

 

They might have been talking, but that didn’t mean they weren’t working.  Three pairs of hands continued to fly over the consoles as other engineers set about to the physical tasks required to prevent the failures and systems overloading.  

 

Corelli: Response

 

Kessler: Relays are all set. ::looking up to Corelli and then to Hartmann::

 

That was all well and good, but Roger needed more information.

 

Hartmann: How long would that give us? 

 

Corelli: Response

 

Corelli was a crack engineer all right.  When one thing didn’t go right, he seemed to have an idea quick as a flash.  That was good.  That was very good. It would come in handy out there in the expanse of the galaxy when strange things happened where people least expected it. 

 

Kessler: Well, that should buy us enough time to complete the mission and out of here

 

Roger nodded.  That was all they needed.  Complete the mission, get to safety.  Then they could deal with more long term solutions.  

 

Hartmann:  Then that’s the plan.  Hopefully they’ll have the Commodore back and we can be out of here before it becomes a problem. 

 

Hopefully.  Hartmann wasn’t going to put all his eggs in that basket, but he wouldn’t have gotten as far as he had without at least a glimmer of hope.  Optimism was sometimes the only thing that kept people going.  Except pessimism.  Sometimes it could be motivating too, ironically enough.

 

A chirp from a console drew his attention along with the others, but it was Kessler who tapped the controls to pull up the meaning of it.  

 

Kessler: Sir ::looking up at Hartmann:: Three people just transported into sickbay from the battlecruiser and it does not look like our transporters were used.

 

Roger’s eyes narrowed. What tricks were they playing?  Or was it a trick?  Had V’Airu managed to diffuse the situation?

 

Hartmann: Can you confirm the passengers who arrived? 

 

Corelli: Response

 

Kessler: Confirmed, I am showing Kells, Brodie and Kel are now in sickbay.

  He had to admit, he was surprised.  When Greaves left with hte away team, he had no doubt they would find the Commodore, or die trying.  What he hadn’t expected was for them to use the Dominion’s own transporters.  Or had his first thought been correct, but it was the away team that had worked out negotiations?  How had he pulled that off?  Kessler grinned at the two of them, evidently quite happy about the return of their commanding officer.  He was right to be so, but Roger wouldn't feel good until they got the hell out of dodge.  

 

Hartmann: Well, that’s one issue solved.  Now let’s solve this one.

Corelli: Response

 

Kessler: Aye sir, back to the problem at hand.

 

True.  The commodore was returned, but where was the away team?  The logs had only specified *two* people.  That wasn’t their problem, that was V’Airu’s.  They had a different situation to tackle.  Corelli had continued to work and he and Kessler resumed their own attempts to pack everything in the box and keep it from rupturing by using metaphorical tape.  

 

Hartmann: Modulation halfway complete, should have results in a moment. 

 

Corelli: Response

 

Time was a funny thing. Sometimes it went slowly.  Sometimes quickly.  Sometimes both.  For Roger, it seemed to be the latter rather than the former too, too slow for his liking, but quicker than expected, things began to come together.  All around them was evidence to a shift in the mechanics of the ship.  The deep, throbbing hum that was always present in a vessel turned to it’s more normal pitch and lights that had but a moment before flashed angrily at them subsided.  

 

Kessler: ::leaning on the console:: OK, what did you just do?

 

Hartman: We, ensign.

 

Roger glanced over at the other officer and smirked. 

 

Hartmann: Give credit where credit is due, and don’t forget to take some for yourself when appropriate.  You’ve been working just as hard at this. 

 

Corelli/Kessler: Response

 

One by one the systems went from red to green.  The data slowed to a more normal pace, scrolling that everything was online and functioning properly.  Would their fixes last forever?  No.  But they did the trick for now, and hopefully it would get them where they needed to be. The computer chirped again and that time, Roger checked the logs.  

 

Hartmann: Excellent job, both of you.  Seems like the away team was just transported over to our ship.

 

And by the Dominion ship as well, not their own.  What had they missed?  He’d find out soon enough.

 

Corelli/Kessler: Response

 

Hartmann: All hands accounted for.  We’ll be underway soon I’m sure, but our jobs aren’t done yet.  Let’s make sure she stays steady for now. 

 

Corelli/Kessler: Response

 

Roger nodded and together the trio worked with the engineers to assure that nothing else decided to give up the ghost before they got into dock.  What exactly had happened though?  Roger was dying to find out, but he also knew  he had to wait.  He knew his priorities, but had a feeling a really interesting mission debriefing would be waiting for him. 

 

[End Scene for Hartmann]


-- -- 
Lt. Cmdr. Roger Hartmann
Acting First Officer
USS Oumuamua
M239008AD0
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