[BACKSIM] Ensign Kivik: Time to Shine (Part 2)
Keegan Flick-Parker
((A few hours later - Transporter Room - USS Veritas))
Kivik jogged down the hall to the transporter room as quick as ne could travel without breaking into a run. The Engineering team had assembled everything in the transporter room already, but the junior science officer had to review to nir subsurface scan and mark off duranium alloy deposits so that the crew could avoid them. With the information loaded into nir PADD, ne was ready to join Ensign Thorne and head down to the surface.
As the doors opened, ne saw Thorne already standing by the transporter platform - ready to go.
Thorne: Probably a mess down there, Ensign. Ready to get dirty?
Kivik: ::Panting a little:: As ready as I’ll ever be. No mud will stop ::panting:: me!
Thorne: The storm probably turned everything into a muddy mess!
Kivik: Whatever we’re going through, Reade and Wong and the other trapped miners will be going through worse. I think we’re both up for it, don’t you?
Thorne: Well then. Let's get down there, shall we?
Kivik: Right with you.
Ensign Thorne took the PADD prepared by Ukinix from the transporter chief and the pair of Ensigns stepped onto the transporter.
Thorne: ::showing the PADD to Ensign Kivik:: I got it! Give the order, Ensign.
Kivik: ::Turning to the transporter:: Crewman Queens - time to shine.
Queens nodded and activated the transport. Kivik noted a slightly unusual note to the hum of the transporters as the light flared around nem - a necessary modulation to the frequency to account for the typhoon conditions on the surface.
Before ne had time to really think about it - they were there in a flash. Kivik instantly felt the mud beneath nir boots, which began soaking into nir trouser leg. Undeterred, ne pulled out nir tricorder and set to work immediately.
Thorne: ::sighing:: OK. Let's get started!
Kivik: Right - it’ll be just like assembling that novelty model Algorian Mammoth Ensign Finsen gave me. Let’s see those instructions.
((Twelve minutes later – Level 1 of the mine))
Kivik and Thorne had worked hard - and quickly - assembling the beacon according to the directions. While neither of them were trained Engineers, the assembly guide was clear and the work went smoothly for the most part, aside from one near drop in the mud. Commander Ukinix had arrived on site to oversee the final touches.
Ukinix: I think that’s the last component for the beacon?
Thorne: ::shrugging: Sorry sir, No idea.
Kivik: ::Reviewing the instructions:: I believe you’re right Commander. Once we lock this manifold connector that should ::completing the task:: do it. Ready to go, Commander.
Ukinix: Fire it up!
The beacon came to life with a whir, one system switching on after another, each stage providing a colourful, dull light to light up the cave they were in.
Thorne: ::smiling and tracking the beacon with her flashlight:: Hey! It works!
Kivik: Nice work, Ensign! And good catch earlier. You really saved it when I nearly dropped the subspace attenuator.
Commander Ukinix made his way over to the small console screen on the beacon, and inspected the diagnostic readout.
Ukinix: Apparently we have an uplink connection to the Veritas. ::Picking up radio:: =/\= Ukinix to Blake. We’re ready for the first extraction of rock. =/\=
Blake: =/\= Response =/\=
Ukinix: I’m not sure how long it will be before-
The very loud sound of the transporter followed by cracking rock echoed throughout Level 1 of the mine structure. Ukinix and Thorne both covered their ears. The sound was impressively loud - louder than Kivik had expected, but the sound did not bother nir.
Thorne: Wha...wha...what's that!
Kivik: Nothing to worry about, Ensign. The volume of rock shifting is creating shockwaves - nowhere near as powerful as the tremor that caused the collapse. However, since it is happening near the surface rather than deep underground, it is far more… ::searching:: theatrical.
Ukinix: Four metres done, about seventeen hundred and fifty to go. ::Wiggling finger in ear:: Did you guys bring ear plugs by any chance?
Thorne: It certainly is loud!
Kivik: A quirk of J’naii evolution, Commander - our inner ears are very resilient. But as we continue digging deeper, the volume of the shockwave will decrease as it is absorbed by more and more surrounding rock.
Thorne/Ukinix: Response?
Kivik began rubbing nir hands together.
Kivik: Now - what say we get down there?