Endeavoring Repairs

Posted on Thu Feb 16th, 2017 @ 7:18pm by Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros & Civilian Specialist Kaylyn Wolfe & Captain Alistar McKeon & Lieutenant Kev Walker & Lieutenant T'lon

1,467 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Transitions

Jera took a step back from the magnetic interlock and breathed a little easier as her feet were set firmly on the catwalk. Perching on the narrow support beam for over an hour while she welded the outer casing had almost unnerved her. Now that she had finished the entire job, she could understand why no one else wanted to do it. She had designated the majority of the Endeavour engineers to work on the critical systems with the engineers from the shipyards. Like any good engineer assigned to a starship, Jera didn't like the idea of shipyard engineers or engineers from anywhere else for that matter to work on her ship. Taking a deep breath, she released it and turned to Cadet Wolfe, who had been her assistant during the repairs. "Alright, lock the system down and we'll see if we can start a fuel line test," Jera said.


Kaylyn gave a nervous nod and tapped a command into the control panel nearby. The fortunate thing about having the Endeavour undergo repairs at the shipyard was the fact that the station could supply power to the ships critical systems until the warp core was brought online again. Basic power had been supplied throughout the ship, and after a very thorough cleaning the repair teams had started on repairs. For now, they had to check everything carefully. At least the fuel lines had been reinforced, because replacing them would have been a major pain. "Supply systems check as online and ready, ready for fuel line test," Kaylyn said.


Jera nodded and ran her hands through her hair once more to retie the ponytail that kept coming undone. She was seriously thinking about hacking it all off again. "Walker, what do we want to test first? Deuterium lines or the matter/antimatter and primary EPS conduits?"


Kev looked up from the console he had been rebuilding and frowned as he thought over how to best answer. His specialty was sub light drives, and the ship would most definitely need a sub light field test before a warp drive test, so he went with that as his answer. "We should check the sub light propulsion systems first, ma'am. We do have that impulse drive test coming up first, and the fusion reactors can supply enough power to bring us some independence from the shipyard. I'd call it progress if we could power our own lights."


"And hot water? I'd love to be able to take a shower in my own quarters and not have to walk half a mile each day just to get to where I'm sleeping," Kaylyn chimed in.


Jera smiled at the cadet's remark. She shared the thought behind the younger woman's complaint, and she had to admit that it would be nice to get rid of those power transfer cables that were connecting the ship to the station. "Alright, finish up what you're doing. I'll be right down and we'll test those injectors." Turning to Wolfe, she shrugged. "I guess you get to finish calibrating those interlock systems yourself."


"Hey, I finally get to do something by myself for once," Kaylyn said with a happy expression.


Jera rolled her eyes and started towards the ladder that connected the upper support level to the main engineering level. She could have taken the lift, but that was piled and filled with parts and tools and would probably be too much trouble to even mess with. As she climbed down and reached the main level, she turned and headed straight over towards where Walker was standing.


Kev finished setting the last console part in place and closed the access panel before looking up as Ros walked across the deck towards him. Glancing over his shoulder at T'lon who was helping with repairs, he sighed. "Hey, T'lon, here comes your favorite person on the whole bloody ship," he said.


T'lon looked up from reading a diagnostic on the power flow to the main control panel and noticed Lieutenant Ros walking towards them. Raising an eyebrow, he shook his head before returning his attention back to the padd in his hand. "That is not an accurate statement, Lieutenant Walker. I would remind you that it is unwise and illogical to make statements that you know are untrue as it can lead to serious misunderstandings," the Vulcan said.


"Yeah, you know you love her," Kev said as Ros arrived. Turning, he grinned. "Hey boss!"


"Don't you 'hey boss' me with that grin," Jera warned. "T'lon, what has he been saying behind my back?"


"That you are a woman of my affections and my favorite person on board this ship," T'lon replied.


Jera turned back towards Walker and laughed. "You're funny. I should assigned cleaning the warp nacelle manifolds to you next," she said.


"That's already being done, in fact the yard dogs are already rebuilding the warp nacelles," Kev said.


Alistar was surprised at just how much work had already been done as he walked through the corridors. The major structural work had already been done and work on the internal systems was being done at such a steady pace that even he was surprised. Enough of the internal support systems had been repaired and the ship was currently being powered off of the shipyard's power grid, but the Endeavour was looking better by the day. Going through the ship, he stopped and talked to the crew he knew on his way to engineering. Walking into the main engineering bay, he saw Ros, Walker, and T'lon standing around. "How come every time I come down to engineering you three are always standing here talking? Is that why nothing ever gets done?" he asked with a smile as he walked up.


"Oh, bite me, Captain," Jera said in her usual snappy tone. Even then, she couldn't help but offer her commanding officer a tiny hint of a smile. "We're almost ready to restart the warp core. The structural damage has been repaired and the engines are almost fully repaired. After that, it's a matter of repairing the primary and secondary support systems."


"Good. I'm afraid you'll have to take a step back and let the yard dogs wrap some of the work up without you staring over their shoulders like a hawk, though. Everyone is to report to conference room four on the station tomorrow at 0800. Since we're stuck in this timeline, we might as well get familiar with it," Alistar said.


"Are you serious? We're fucking stuck here?" Kev blurted out. Realizing that both his department head and commanding officer were both standing there, he froze and added "Sir," while hoping the captain would overlook the outburst.


"Walker!" Jera barked instantly, not sure just how to respond further. The lieutenant had never popped off like that before, and she was somewhat surprised by it.


"I'm afraid so," Alistar said, understanding completely where Walker was coming from. He wasn't too surprised that there was an outburst, but he was surprised that it hadn't come from Jera. "It's going to be a shock to everyone, so there will be a full briefing first thing in the morning. Try to keep it under wraps if possible."


"Well, we can certainly try, but that kind of news is going to get out fast and spread like fire on the wind," Jera said. "There's just no way we're stuck here."


"Believe it, Lieutenant. The highest chance of us getting back to our original timeline involves the ship and crew being pulled apart at the subatomic level. I'd like to keep all of my atoms firmly in place," Alistar said. "Tell you people to get some rest. The shipyard crew can handle things for a while."


"Is that an order?" Jera asked.


"It can be," Alistar replied in a tone that simply stated that the issue wasn't one she or anyone else wanted to test him on. "I expect everyone to be present for the classes when they start in the morning. Anyone who doesn't attend can turn in a formal resignation by the end of the day or face a formal dismissal hearing." With that, he turned and headed out of engineering.


Kev gulped as the captain walked out of engineering. He turned towards Lieutenant Ros. "Um, ma'am, I'm sorry I got out of line," he said. "I didn't know the captain could get that mean."


"Oh, that was nice," Jera said with a shrug. "It's going to be the general reaction from everyone. You weren't prepared for it. Just don't do it again."


"Yes ma'am," Kev said.


"I'm going to go take care of something. Finish up your shift and then get some rest. I have a feeling this week is going to be boring," Jera said before she followed the captain out of engineering.

 

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