Engineers Being Engineers

Posted on Fri Jul 22nd, 2016 @ 4:10pm by Lieutenant JG Annie Dixon & Ensign Jared Murphy & Petty Officer 1st Class Jemek Lanum & Petty Officer 1st Class Athorias Th'zivis

936 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shadow Dance
Location: Engineering

ON:

Ensign Annie Dixon scurried along a Jefferies tube between decks 42 and 41, a PADD gripped tightly in one hand. While the warp core and engines were operational, engineering was still chasing down little bugs introduced by the cosmic string entity. Right now, her task was to troubleshoot a phase variance in the antimatter flow. It wasn't a major problem, but if left alone for an extended period, it could add to the wear and tear of the antimatter injector assembly. That would cause either an early replacement, or if they didn't catch it in time, an eventual failure of the system.

She was pretty sure it was a misalignment of at least one of the magnetic couplers that contained the antimatter flow, but she hadn't found it yet. She had to perform a systematic check of every coupler from the injector to the storage pods, which was proving to be... annoying. Because of the volatility of antimatter, much of the mechanism was behind bulkheads and various ODN and EPS conduits. She referred to her PADD and matched an access panel inventory number. Nodding to herself, she laid the PADD on the deck grating and pulled a tool from her breast pocket to remove the access hatch. She popped it off and frowned at the rat's nest within. "Oh wonderful," she commented to herself before climbing into the chaos.

Engrossed in her work, she didn't hear the approach of another officer down the same jeffries tube. Ensign Jared Murphy was chasing bugs of his own. He was tracking a failed ODN relay that routed data from the ventral sensor array. Noticing the female rear end of a fellow engineer sticking out of an access hatch, he couldn't help but grin to himself. "No, no, don't come out on my account," he commented.

Annie was surprised enough to jerk within the tangle of conduit, knocking her head on one. "Ow," she complained before pulling herself out. One hand rubbed her head, the other punched Jared in the arm.

He laughed, "Sorry Annie. You know I can't help but open my big mouth."

"Hrmph."

Jared checked his PADD for a moment and then leaned against the bulkhead. "So, what do you think of our new CEO?"

"The Vulcan?" she asked rhetorically before shrugging. "She's fine, I guess." Her eyes focused on the corner where the bulkhead met the floor grating. A hand rubbed her arm, not from any injury but out of nervousness.

"Seems a bit severe, of course I've never had the pleasure of working with a Vulcan."

She shrugged again, "You get used to it." She had to admit she preferred it. She always knew where she stood with a Vulcan, and they tended to leave her alone with her work. That is, assuming they didn't think she was incompetent and needed micromanaging.

"I'm sure." He paused before picking up his PADD again, "Well, I have this ODN issue to chase down. Enjoy your antimatter flow regulators."

"Mhm," she commented. She checked her own PADD and noted a slight improvement in the antimatter flow. There was still work to be done, but at least this magnetic coupler was corrected. Her eyes strayed to Jared as he continued down the Jefferies tube. Her face colored slightly before she shook her head and returned to work. She buttoned up the hatch she had been previously within and referred to her PADD for the next magnetic coupler to adjust.

[Main Engineering]

PO1 Jemek Lanum swore aloud at the non-responsive terminal. He was about to punch it when PO1 Athorias Th'zivis appeared around the corner with a repaired EPS manifold. "Is that wise?" the Andorian asked of the Klingon/Trill hybrid.

"Bah," was all Jemek said in reply before actually punching the interface. It took a couple blows, but the unit actually came on. "See? It's fine."

Athorias cringed through the violence, his antennae bending disapprovingly. "There's a bad connection in there you'll have to repair for that to be permanent you know."

"It's working now," Jemek said as he ran a diagnostic.

"Yes, but it might not in five minutes." As if on cue, the terminal failed again.

Jemek swore and punched it again, as if the violence would convince the terminal to remain fixed.

"I keep telling you, you have to find the bad connection."

"I have too much to do. No time to chase bugs." Jemek replied.

"Ugh, just step aside, brute," Athorias complained whist shouldering his way to the terminal in question. He swiftly opened the service panel and began scanning the internals of the device, systematically checking every ODN and EPS connection.

Jemek simply stood to the side, his arms crossed in annoyance.

"Ah, there it is." Athorias found the problem, an unseated ODN connector. He pushed it home and finished his scan to be sure. "A simple fix, but of course you wouldn't be able to figure that out. Percussive maintenance to the rescue." He commented throughout closing the service panel and powering up the terminal. He didn't get a chance to step away before Jemek shoved him aside.

"Punching things does work," Jemek said simply. Though his eyes flicked to the Andorian. "But not always," he admitted. He ran his diagnostic and satisfied with the result, began the work he was supposed to be doing in the first place before the terminal died on him.

Athorias smirked and pushed the grav sled containing his EPS manifold towards his destination. "Just remember not to cause even more damage."

OFF:

Ens Annie Dixon
Engineer

Ens Jared Murphy
Engineer

PO1 Jemek Lanum
Engineer

PO1 Athorias Th'zivis
Engineer

 

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