Inconvenient Reality

Posted on 21 Jan 2013 @ 2:30am by Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Crewman Aurangzeb Ameen

2,562 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 7, Deck 8, Landing Strut Control Alcoves
Timeline: MD 16: 2152 hours

[ON]

The Galileo's engineering section dipped into a subtle beehive of activity as the meeting for the section leaders released. He tentatively glanced over a shoulder at a few of the crewmen as they passed, reporting to their respective stations. Seated behind the damage control station, the tips of Aurangzeb's fingers manipulated the biometric interface, updating and modifying the repair schedule for the starboard inertial dampeners. At this point, the repair schedule consisted mostly of those items that were aesthetic in nature. With the assistance and combined efforts of those engineers, technicians and specialists from the Vega Colony, the Galileo had made significant headway in the repairs needed to ensure that ship returned to some semblance of normalcy after what it had been subjected to at the hands of the Klingon's.

Saving the work, Aurangzeb sent out a push notification of the updates to the damage control team conducting the repairs to the inertial dampeners. As the notification was dispatched, a graphical schematic of the Galileo appeared on the forefront of the console display. Green and yellow indicator dots slowly blinked at regular intervals where repairs were nearly completed and/or currently underway; beside each dot was a four digit code that specified which team had been dispatched to conduct repairs. A new dot, this one red in color however, had suddenly appeared atop the forward, port side landing strut.

Tapping the dot with a finger, the schematic enlarged significantly, providing comprehensive detail of the landing strut and its respective mechanical and power system. A small data stream appeared to the right of the display, slowly streaming sensory and diagnostic information vertically.

Studying the information for a moment, Aurangzeb soon realized that the indicator light was notifying them of a significant problem directly affecting the landing strut. He gently depressed his combadge to open a communications channel, "Crewman Ameen to Chief Peers." Should the Galileo meet its expected departure date and time, the Chief needed to be notified of the issue immediately.

"Here, Ameen. Talk to me," Lilou's voice filtered distractedly out of his combadge.

"I apologize for waking you, ma'am." He replied with a slow building confidence that beset the softer volume of his voice. "However, there's a... problem... with the forward, port side, landing strut. I was hoping you'd care to join me on deck eight?" He inquired politely, uploading all of the data provided by the computer to a data PADD that he'd extracted from a hidden storage compartment to the right of the console station. He withheld any of the specifics, electing rather to share these with the Chief when she reported on scene.

There was a moment of silence, then her voice came through again, "On my way to you."

Aurangzeb nodded, the gesture absent to the Chief, as the communications channel closed. Securing the console station, he retrieved his tool kit and departed the engineering cabin, en-route one deck below to the very bowels of the Galileo.

USSGalileo - Deck 8, Landing Strut Control Alcove

Lilou spun off the turbolift, hurrying down the corridor towards the pin drop Ameen showed up as on her PADD map. When she saw him, she waved tiredly. She'd thought they were done. She'd sent her final report in the hour before, assuring the Captain that, while some small final adjustments were being made, they would absolutely be finished in time for departure the following morning. The word 'problem' spoken in the tone that Ameen had did not have a savory ring to it. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid the problem is more severe than the diagnostical information led me to believe." Aurangzeb turned towards the Chief, worry wrinkling his forehead in uncertainty. "Initially, the computer was reporting a low pressure switch in the hydraulic system of the forward, port side landing strut." He sidled to the right of the console station so that the Chief could look at the same information. "However, after further investigation, it looks as if the lines feeding the hydraulic system have ruptured and their regulating systems are completely shot." He paused as he gestured to the schematic now showcasing the updated information. "We can't retract the strut." He summarized simply. This was not good, in the least. But now that the real problem had been properly diagnosed, it was simply a matter of conducting the necessary repairs; it would, however, be the timing that would cause a significant issue.

"How did that even happen?" Lilou muttered aloud to herself, expanding and zeroing in on the problem area on the screen. "We checked the struts after install. They've been shipshape for a week." She bit the inside of her cheek. "Right. Well, obviously we've got to resecure the lines, maybe replace them, and get the strut closing in. That's the easy part. But if this is some kind of sabotage... we need to figure out whether this is human error, installation screw up, or something else. Thoughts?"

Until he was able to access the systems manually, Aurangzeb could only speculate. "I would think that, due to the low pressure switch, there must have been a slow leak that progressed to a full rupture... it's probably been this way since we originally launched, but only found now because of the landing gears first use. I'll know a bit more when I can squeeze in there and assess it personally." He stepped off to the side of the alcove and started to shed layers of clothing. The inner cavity of the landing strut control mechanisms was large enough to accommodate one person, but just barely. Aurangzeb had already checked and, although it would be a relatively tight squeeze, he'd be able to fit. "I've the feeling it's going to be a mess in there." He noted passively, extracting a tool belt from within his repair kit; he secured the garment to his waist and then around either thigh, tightening the straps so that it appeared almost seamless against the black slacks. Choosing carefully, Aurangzeb tucked several tools into the belt as well as a tricorder.

He walked over to the tube shaped access point that reached from floor to ceiling. Entering his access code into a small interface to the tubes right, a seam suddenly appeared down the middle of the tube and then slowly expanded as either thick panel parted significantly until completely recessed, exposing the restricted confines within. A bundle of thick black cords ran vertically down the tubule. They had a four inch diameter and were tightly packed. Along the length of each cord, every foot or so, there was a colored ring that identified the specific tubule. Coating nearly every square inch of the compartment was a thick, greenish-black goop that looked very similar to slime, yet smelled acrid and mechanical. "Well, I wasn't wrong about that." He joked sarcastically, stepping aside so that the Chief could see the mess within; even the illumination of the leading lights within were diminished substantially.

"Merciful spirits," Lilou grumbled, eyeing the internal devastation. "Better to know now than somewhere else, I guess." Her impulse, of course, was to wade into the muck herself, but Ameen was already suited up and she wasn't supposed to be the hands on every mucky mess anymore. Oversee. Gods, she hated the idea of that. "Keep your vidlink on and clear. I want to see what's going on in there." She tapped her combadge, "Peers to Engineering. I need eyes on the forward portside strut. And someone wake up Rothgra and send him to Parts. We'll need him in a bit." She looked at Ameen, "I can go in if you don't want to get dirty," she offered, almost hopefully.

Aruangzeb chuckled, smiling broadly back towards the Chief as he activated the vidlink; "We wouldn't want to tarnish that new gold pip." He joked, flicking a finger towards the newly minted Ensign and Chief Engineer. "Besides, your uniforms much too pressed and clean; you wouldn't want to deprive a young damage control specialist from having a bit of fun... would you?" He giggled, slipping into the sloppy alcove with a slurp. "Oh, this is gross." He said through a laugh, strangely reminded of a memory from his childhood when Dara helped him to make mud-pies in the family's expansive garden estate.

"No," Lilou muttered. But I want the fun too... she added silently.

Skillfully, he laced bare arms through the thick cord of tubules and used a bit of upper body strength to lift himself into the anterior portion of the tube, towards the control and distribution mechanism. There were a few instances when he slipped against the thick coating of lubricants, however he stayed relatively secure. Within moment, his entire body was coated in the slime, but he couldn't have been more happy.

With a bit of added effort, he was soon in position. At the top of the tube was an origination coupling control and distribution panel. Each tubule plugged into this panel, secured into place and regulated through a pressurized system to feed the landing strut hydraulic, lubricating and cooling fluids. It was a fast network that appeared to be nearly intact.

He tapped the combadge to open a channel to the chief, "I'm in position, ma'am." Within the tight confines of the tube, his voice seemed so very loud.

"So I see," she agreed, eyeing her PADD and the vidlink streaming through. "Looks like we lost a couple tubes in there, doesn't it? Can you see them, dislodged somewhere? Or did they rupture entirely?"

Aurangzeb visually and tactilely checked each tubule. He encased each tubule with both hands and slowly followed the length of each from their source connection to the distribution panel down about a foot or two down. "It feels as if each tubule is intact, but it looks as if we have a cracked gasket on tubules Alpha-1 and 3; this would explain the low pressure switch and the accumulation of... gunk." He reached up to confirm, "Yup, those look to the be source of the trouble... most likely the gaskets are from a defective batch, which means it'd be in our best interests to check the distribution panels in the other landing struts too." He reached up to the distribution panel and closed off the valves feeding both of the tubules before unlatching both tubules and unscrewing the couplings. Holding the metal pieces in the palm of his lube-coated hands, he confirmed the cracks. "Yeah, that's pretty bad. I'm surprised we didn't see any sign of the problem sooner."

"Off to a great start," Lilou muttered to herself. "All right, might as well check the rest and make sure there aren't any more gaskets in there about to blow. Then put a logimark on the two source panels and come back out. I'll have Thanis bring down some spare gaskets." She tapped her commbadge, switching channels, "Rothgra, go through our gaskets. Check them under a scope before you bring them and make sure they're not flawed. Willis?"

=^= "Do you know what time it is, Chief?" =^=

"Time for you to haul your ass to the office and start a system wide scan for connection clearances."

=^="We did all that this morning-"=^=

"Things have changed since this morning."

=^="...Chief, we're scheduled for departure in-"=^=

"Just do it, Willis." She took a breath, "Please. Now."

=^="Yes, sir."=^=

"And while you're at it, call everybody in. I need eyes on the starboard struts; they should check the connection points on the hydraulics and everything in between. You let me know if anything else is coming up weird. Hear me?"

=^="You got it, Chief." =^=

It was the first time he'd called her that. Lilou shut her eyes. "Please, do not let me break this ship," she whispered, then switched her comm back to Ameen, eyeing her PADD, "How are we looking?"

There was a high-pitched squeal from within the compartment as Aurangzeb slid down the thick cord of tubules. Appearing at the opening, he swung out his lithe body from within with ease. Bear feet slapped against the carpet. From the very top of his head to tip of each toe, he was coated in slime. "Wet." He replied to the Chief's question, opening one hand at the same time to produce the gaskets. "While I'm up there, we might as well replace the rubber seals in both flanges." He handed the damaged parts to the Chief so she could inspect them as well.

"Two gaskets and two seals, Rothgra," Lilou spoke to her commbadge, scowling at the parts and pushing the goo aside to see the imperfections more clearly. "They could have killed us. These are the original bloody gaskets they put in on Earth," she growled. What if they'd needed to make an emergency landing? Not to mention a run of the mill one? She bit her back teeth together and glared at the ceiling for a few seconds to keep from shouting. It wouldn't do any good, and anyway, it wasn't Ameen's fault that Starfleet had elected to have complete morons build their pretty new ship. "Right," she said as calmly as she could manage. "This was an excellent catch, Ameen. Well done. Willis is running a system wide clearance scan and I've got the others checking the starboard struts. When you're finished here, meet me at the next strut portside. Hate to have another faulty gasket blow just because we made the mistake of trusting the Engineering Corps. Thumbs wedged firmly up their-"

"Sir!" Thanis Rothgra exclaimed as he hurried towards them, bearing the requested items. "I found these. There were a lot that had microfractures... I put them in a green bin."

"Excellent," she muttered, handing the new gaskets and flange seals to Ameen. That was just what she wanted to hear; that her spare parts were structurally flawed. "You stay with Ameen. Do whatever he tells you. I'll check the next strut. Let me know if you need me."

Lilou stalked off down the corridor, looping her tool belt around her neck and stripping off her dress uniform as she walked. When she reached the round impression that marked the next primary strut, she entered her access code into the small interface and waited for the panel to shift and move aside. Behind this panel, the tube was just as cord-filled and confining as the first, but there didn't appear to be any leaks. At least not obviously. She dumped her uniform in a pile by the entry and slipped into the tube in only a pair of fit shorts, a tank top, her tool belt, and boots.

The flange connections were all secure and dry, but Lilou ran her tricorder over the gaskets anyway, double checking for inconsistencies in the readings. All clear. She was just stepping back out of the tube when Ameen checked in, then Watt, then Brauer. The repairs were done, the landing strut would recede, and the others were all being checked. Muttering to herself, Lilou grabbed her clothes and took off to oversee the last strut.

[OFF]

A magnificently written joint post featuring...

Ensign Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Galileo

&

Crewman Aurangzeb Ameen
Damage Control Specialist, USS Galileo

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