Tired and Frustrated

[Asyle 0]

Savros and Abe had been at it for hours. After cutting off the hull clamps from the Klingon boarding pod, Abe had tugged it over to the shuttle bay using WorkBee #3, and then moved it into Cargo Bay 4 for analysis.

 

 

Savros had been busy during that time, studying the sensor data from when the Klingon's had attacked. He had come to the Cargo Bay to meet Abe, and had configured a console to display some data. He'd called out "Lt. Kas, can you see this?" Abe put down his tool kit, took his root beer, and went to the console. "Okay, Savros. Let me get a good look.....hmmm. You've got the shield harmonic wave pattern overlaid on the power demand chart. Yeah, so, what am I supposed to see? Every bridge officer knows those charts and how the waves decrease in amplitude everytime they are hit, building again as power re-energizes the generators." Abe takes a swig of his root beer, and looks at Savros with an inquisitive gaze.

 

 

“Observe the frequency readings. Although it is decreasing in amplitude, the wavelength expands. This suggests that energy is not being properly dissipated. Savros pointed to the shield pattern display and tapped his finger on the relevant data field. “Here. There appears to be a resetting of the shields during the regeneration cycle.” Abe noticed that Savros blinked in what he thought was a moment of sleepiness.

 

 

“Savros buddy, you know what this means? Our old shields never would have behaved this way. Some component is not working. I wonder if this has to do with one of the retrofit upgrades,” speculated Abe as he leaned over the console, exhausted, hands resting on either side of the display.

 

 

Raising his eyebrows and looking at Abe he said, “A logical hypothesis. Whatever the cause, the result no doubt allowed the Klingons to slip past our shields. How will we determine the source?”

 

 

Abe sat down, resting his tired head on his hands as he put his elbows on the console and stared at the shield and power patterns, his tired face reflecting his many hours of constant activity. “I just need a little nap. I’ll be better in a few minutes.”

 

 

Savros looked at his companion’s uncomfortable position, “That’s fine. I’ll be back in a moment.” He walked down into the corner of the cargo bay, and pulled a rolling sled for working under equipment. Carrying it over to the console, he placed it near Lt Kas. “Lieutenant,” he lightly tapped Abe’s shoulder.

 

 

“Just a few more minutes,” muttered Abe. “I’ll be better shortly.”

 

 

“I believe you will find this more comfortable.”

 

 

Abe looked up, then down at the rolling sled. “A man after my own heart,” he rolled himself off the console and climbed onto the sled. “Remember what I’ve taught you about diagnostics?”

 

 

Savros nodded, “Divide the problem in half to find out which half has the problem. Then, continuing subdividing until you have iso…iso…lated it.” Abe fell asleep.

 

 

Abe rubbed his eyes and opened them. How long had his nap taken, he was not certain. The lights had been dimmed and he heard the sounds of a tricorder working nearby. He sat up on the sled and noticed his back was sore. Working sleds were unquestionably not designed for sleep.

 

 

“I see you are awake. I trust you recovered some of your strength.” Abe stood up, and stretched out his back. He saw that his root beer, while now warm, still had a little fiz left in it. That meant his nap was about half an hour. “Yep. Good to go for a little while longer now. I think what woke me up was being worried about not telling the command staff we found a big problem. That, and I think I now know what the problem was. You didn’t find anything, did you Savros?”

 

 

“No, I have not. The Level 1 Diagnostic has not completed yet, either.”

 

 

“I don’t think it will either. The upgrades were on individual subsystems which have always worked well with each other. However, the computer code to run them now has more commands to execute. When the power system doesn’t receive it’s messages from the shield generators in the time it expects, it assumes that the capacitors have sufficient power. It did that in the old systems to keep them from overloading. Then, when the shield subsystem does send it’s message, the power system has to reset to provide the requested power. It would all pass the Diagnostic checks of the subsystems, but I bet no one tested them all together, and against the Klingon torpedo blasts that hit us. ”

 

 

Abe continued, “Computer, send the following report to Chief Cyiv, the Captain and First Officer. Mark it Immediate Action Required.

 

 

Lt Savros and I have made progress on finding out how the boarding pod was able to penetrate past our shields. We have uncovered and I have verified a potentially fatal problem with the ship’s shields. I recommend an immediate change from Shield mod Vista to Tiger, and to notify Star Fleet immediately of Vista’s apparent failure to support legacy power systems. End message and send.” The console beeped back in response, sending the messages to the command officers.

 

 

Abe looked at his root beer, and turned to Savros, “I’m about ready to drop dead, and from what I can tell, so are you. We’ve done our jobs, and it’s time someone else worked around here for a while. I’m sure Beta shift will be happy to have something to do besides fixing up the damage and painting.”

 

 

Abe gets up, looks at the Klingon pod, and turns back to Savros. “Let’s get out of here before someone decides that these two Lieutenant ‘Junior Grades’ don’t need any sleep.” What do you say Savors?”

 

 

“Indubitably” as the two officers walked out of the Cargo bay, headed for their quarters.