Work Smarter, Not Harder (Part 1 of 2)
Posted on 03 Sep 2023 @ 3:54pm by Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Edited on on 03 Sep 2023 @ 3:54pm
3,067 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 7, Main Engineering; Deck 2, Port Airlock
Timeline: MD 17, 0703 hrs
[ON]
Deck 7, Main Engineering
It was at the crack of dawn and Engineering Chief Naime felt like she'd had her head cracked open. But despite the hangover she was looking forward to this. Today was the day: repair day. As she entered main engineering and saw her team arrayed in front of her she felt that mix of satisfaction and pride. She shared a slightly pained glance with Hel, hopefully the excesses of last night weren't affecting her friend quite as much as they were herself.
She stepped up to the desk and placed down the repair documents she had been holding with a clatter before looking up at her bright eyed subordinates. Naime couldn't imagine that her own grey eyes were looking particularly bright this morning. But this was what they'd all been asking for for the last two weeks, a real chance to go over the cracks in this ship and fix them all up. "Andrews, what are you still doing here?" came her first question "You should be getting ready for your EVA with Vansen. Go, scram!"
"I'm going, just grabbing a few extra tools." Donald replied as he packed up one last handful of things he might be needing.
Naime glanced around the remaining engineers "Alright, the rest of us might not be going out for spacewalks but we've got a lot that needs doing." She picked up the first of her notes on the desk, the repair plan for the warp systems "Everything from the meeting yesterday still stands but just to review, our main focuses for today have to be the engine problems. The antimatter flow converter was all but destroyed in the battle. When our starboard nacelle was hit it caused a failure of the plasma injection systems. Resulting failures in the PTCs were what caused the catastrophic failure in the flow converter."
"That gives us three main priorities. One, we have to replace the flow converter completely, a new converter from Regula I is waiting in the main cargo bay. Two, we need to repair the plasma injection systems in the starboard nacelle, you might not believe it but this is still the easy part..." The chief rubbed her forehead with the palm, she'd kill for a coffee right now "Third thing is going to be the PTCs. Our failure analysis concluded that underlying defects in the system meant that the conduits were unable to take the strains that were put on them by the plasma injection failure." a sigh, and an wry smile "We will be going over the whole system, physical inspections on every inch of those conduits. Any micro-fractures you detect mean we are replacing that whole segment."
The chief put put her notes back on the desk "I hope you're ready for a long day. Any questions so far?"
Hel shook her head, her hair tied up and out of her face. She didn't even wear a clean uniform, it was just going to get dirty and grimy before they were done. Hard work, and she wasn't afraid of that.
"Yeah. Two things, actually. First, we were supposed to be on a shake-down run, but running through asteroid fields and then getting into a fight with a heavy cruiser. Second is that don't they have enough engineers here on base?" John indicated the group of them. "We've been electrocuted, fried, and burned trying to keep that ship going. We're all tired and now we have to do more work? It isn't right."
"This is what we're getting. We've shook her down quite thoroughly and now is our chance to fix the problems we managed to shake out of her. Maybe its not exactly the controlled environment you would have wished for but we were never going to get that. As for rest, we are not on shore leave, we can rest in the evening." The chief paused, carefully preparing her next words, the last thing she needed today was dissent, they needed to be a team. "We are this ship's engineers and we will fix her. Today there will be no Ferengi, no surprises, nobody telling us what they need the ship to do. For this day only we are the kings of Galileo and the only thing asked of us is that we can trust each other to do our jobs. Can your team count on you to do your job Mister Hollenday?"
John pointed a finger at the chief. "If we couldn't do what miracles we do, there wouldn't have been a ship to come back here. Hope someone higher up is reading that. So yeah, figure we can get back together." He blew out a breath letting his anger go. "Be nice if upstairs we'd get a little love."
Hel laughed, unable to stop it. "Oh please, as if we're ever going to be shown that sort of love..." she said, winking to John. "We do what we do with what we got, because we're the unsung heroes of Starfleet. And I want that printed on a tee shirt."
"Look they might not love us, but I'm always going to be singing your praises. Got a song brewing in my head right now about the ever heroic engineers of Galileo. It has a whole verse for you John." The chief was joking around but she could feel the anger coming off John, she really hoped this moment of levity could calm him down long enough for them all to get down to the work of the day "Now I can't change anyone else's mind but if you don't think I'm showing you enough love then I'm sure we can discuss that in over a drink."
"In the meantime," The chief continued quite forcefully "We have work to do. So if we'd like to get started then Hel and Hollenday start pulling out the old flow converter. Lucrete you're with me, we'll go and grab the new one." She clapped her hands together and her eyes landed on the eyes of the three assembled engineers in turn. "Let's get to work."
"Let's go Hel." John jerked his thumb. "Faster done, faster off this boat."
Hel chuckled, shaking her head as she grabbed her toolkit. "I keep hearing people say that. But fast isn't always good, you know. The Warp Core doesn't like being worked on fast, she wants some loving..."
"Fine with me, we were almost sucking space, so I'll leave the EV stuff to the others. Let's take a look."
Deck 2, Port Side Airlock
Picking up the helmet for his EVA suit Donald flexed his neck "Second EVA in as many weeks," He remarked as he began to put the helmet on. "Shame it's not for pleasure this time eh Constantin."
Vansen chuckled at the words, checking his own suit to make sure there were no leaks. He looked at the panel on his arm, seeing the green there. But he also had the pack with him, which had a small repair kit. Because when you went out into the black, you had what you had and something most likely would go wrong. "You're not seeing the pleasure in it, Donald," he said lightly. "Any chance to walk amongst the stars is a moment for enjoyment. Even if we are showing our girl some tender loving care."
Donald's helmet sealed in with a click and he switched on the comm system. "When you Eva as much as I used to it loses some of its lustre, still a very interesting time though if you can keep the contents of your stomach down."
"Speak for yourself," Vansen said, holding his arms out in a shrug that could be seen even in the EVA suit. "I grew up in this, it's easier than standard gravity for me." And he never got tired of the view or the feeling. He moved to the side of the airlock, taking the safety line for now and attaching it. "Ready?"
Doing one last check of his suit and equipment Donald picked up the case and nodded slightly. =/\= Andrews to bridge, team one leaving airlock now.=/\=
=/\= Understood =/\= Came a response.
Vansen nodded and pressed the panel to open up the airlock. The warning of depressurising came, but with both of them ready it wasn't a problem. He smiled as they stepped out, outside of the ship, and he took a moment to enjoy the weightlessness. His aches, always in the background somewhere, disappeared and he let out a soft breath of relief.
After closing the airlocks external door back up Donald took in the view for himself, it wasn't often one found themselves walking on the hull of a starship. Tapping a button on his belt he activated his mag boots and secured himself to the deck. "Enough sightseeing, we've got a long walk, even on such a small ship."
Vansen sighed before doing the same, feeling his boots connect to the hull of the ship. "Not so long we can't take the time to enjoy it," he said, smiling as he started to walk. Donald knew the ship well, as did Constantine...at least at in theory. But being in space, where there was no up or down, could be confusing.
Their relatively slow pace eventually bought them to the edge of the ships hull. Donald paused by the edge looking down into the vast expanse of space. "I always hated this part." He told Constantin.
"Why?" Vansen asked as he moved to stand next to him, looking around for a moment, before looking ahead. At the stars. "It's just the black, Donald. Eternal, fleeting...bigger than any of us will ever be. It doesn't care about us. It just is. And it has the power to make you feel both magnificent and insignificant in the same breath."
"I mean going from the dorsal down the side of the ship, always turns my stomach a little when you go over the top." Donald explained. He kept recalling what the zero-g instructors said, keep your eyes focused on the hull infront of you.
Vansen laughed at that, unable to stop himself. "And here I was waxing lyrical at you," he said and went over the top without any hesitation. The shift didn't bother him, his brain wasn't used to the same restrictions as someone who had been brought up with a horizon.
John called on the comms. "You two jokers going to get work done. I want off this can, got plans on base."
"She can wait," Vansen said, playfully, as he walked across the hull of the ship. "Not sure that it would be appreciated everyone returning to the ship and we still have an extra window..."
Donald chuckled. "She's certainly waiting for isn't she John?" He deliberately didn't use Mimi's name but wouldn't be surprised if Constantin and most of the ship knew they were dating. He took a breath and followed him over onto the vertical facing of the ship.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm off to work on some of the inside stuff."
Vansen smiled as they approached the damage and he let out a whistle. "I'm amazed at the work done to keep her patched up this far," he admitted, turning his body to be able to look at Donald.
"Yeah they did a decent job patching it from the inside." Donald said as he caught up and took in the view of the hole from outside the ship, it looked even worse. "Andrews to bridge, activate forcefields in sections five-six and five-seven. Time to break out the plasma torches."
Vansen nodded, walking ahead before putting down the kit back. "How do you want to tackle this?" he asked, because he knew this was really Donald's show. Constantin was there because he was good at EVA and could hold a torch.
"We already prefabbed a hull plate to size." Donald began to explain. "Cut away the internal patch and all this torn metal, clean up the area around it and put the new plate in. Simple as that."
Vansen nodded and smiled as he took the plasma torch. "I'll start over here then," he said, and started, watching his own word with a quiet intensity. There was something special about doing this, being part of shaping the very look of the ship. Another scar for her, he supposed.
"Alright, just make sure you're magged on good, don't want you flying off into space when the atmosphere starts coming out." Donald started to walk off to the opposite side to Constantin.
"Don't worry, Andrews," Vansen chuckled as he finished setting up, taking a deeper breath as he worked. "This, I got..." he started to cut, crouched down as much as he could in the EVA suit. He felt comfortable here...more than inside the ship. Shame about the whole needing to breathe too.
"I know you do." Donald remarked, it was why he'd specifically asked for Constantin to help with this even though he wasn't engineering. "Lets get cutting."
Vansen smiled inside his helmet, turning on the plasma torch. "And when we get back, we're having a drink. Not sure what type, but we're having a drink. Even if it is tea."
"Going to have to be tea," Donald said before he chuckled slightly. "Tee total Tarin still hasn't released all the alcohol she confiscated when we headed out, if there's even any left after that diplomatic dinner they had with the Klingons."
Vansen laughed, unable to stop it. "Nesh really did cook up something from what I heard..." he said as he worked, thinking. "I know we had a rough time, but I'm a little bit happy I missed that banquet."
"Not that we would have been invited if we were still onboard anyway." Donald said then paused as he lined his plasma torch up on a new cut. "The officer types get all the fun diplomatic dinners, we just get to clean up the mess afterwards."
"It's the way it is," Vansen said, the barest of smiles tugging at his lips at the strangeness of it all. "Might be an enlightened universe, but there's always a boot on someone's back keeping them down in their place." It was something his father had always said. He supposed it was why they had just left, to travel by themselves.
Donald chuckled slightly as he continued cutting. "Well let's hope when we finally get an officer of our own that's not one of those high and mighty know it all types."
"Engineers can't be like that. Unless they're actually designers in disguise," Vansen said with a smile as he worked. "You'd be more likely to get someone who doesn't know not to stare at you work."
"Probably." Donald said as he stood up from his last cut. "I'm done here, will get the new plate on the way while you finish up.
"Go'it," Vansen muttered, focused on what he was doing, so he didn't even bother to construct the words properly. He was almost done, with a steady hand. He finally nodded, pleased with his work.
"Andrews to Engineering, we're ready for the new plate transport." Donald announced. A few moments later a bright light against the darkness of space as a vast hull plate rematerialized only a few feet away from him, he reached up and grabbed the magnetized hand holds and deftly moved it closer.
Vansen had secured the plasma torch before he reached to grab as well, to assist Donald in getting it in place. "You going to sign it?" he asked, with a small grin. "Put your tag on the plate?"
"Been a while since I had the chance to tag anything, always sneaked one in somewhere on every ship we built at Avondale. If you ever get the chance to view the USS Everson up close, check out her port nacelle covers end cap." Donald said as he unclipped his plasma torch.
"I put my mark on my parents' ship," Vansen said as he did the same with his, shifting to start the welding portion of the job. "Not had the chance since then."
"Well, we'll leave a nice mark on this one." Donald held the hull plate against the hull as Constantin started the first securing welds. "Let's just hope Captain pain in the arse doesn't come out and do a personal inspection of the hull."
Vansen smiled at that, doing his work as he considered it. "If she does, she'll find good work and my sign. And she can guess what it means then or ask me." He sort of didn't move in the circles the Captain did, except covering for Ensign Mimi on the bridge now and then. All he knew was that she was the one who decided when they ran and how far they ran.
"Doubt she's ever done anything fun in her life." Donald mused as he walked over to the other side of the patch now it had been partially secured in place. "Never sat around a campfire singing songs with her friends."
"Neither have I," Vansen finally said before he bit his lip, thinking about it. "Wouldn't know any songs to sing."
"Thought you would have all kinds of songs growing up where you did." Donald said admittedly surprised at it. "Songs about space maidens, sirens, getting up to shenanigans at port. Unbelievable stories about space gribbly's."
"Was just me and my parents most of the time, on the ship," Vansen admitted before he shrugged. "Music was...not there. It was extra computer space we didn't need."
"That's a shame," Donald said shaking his head slightly inside his suit. "music and singing can lighten terrible loads, keep you motivated and can be a lot of fun especially of you change the lyrics to something raunchy or obscene." He moved around the hull plate continuing the welding. "I'll have to teach you some shanties."
To Be Continued...
[OFF]
--
CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]
PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]
PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]
PO3 Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]
PO3 John Hollenday
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]
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