Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Cptn Corizon

Alignment

Throbbing hums of the lift told Lt. Commander Herkal Torbin that the tube she was crawling in was near the junction of a turbo lift. That was good, she surmised. Taking a deep breath, the Aquamarine-haired Morian continued to crawl along on all fours towards the junction she was in search of, stopping to wipe clean her brow.

 

“One of these days,” she said with a huff, mostly to herself and to any deities that might be listening. “They’re going to build a ship were the important parts aren’t kept in a long, narrow tube of a hallway in the middle of nowhere on the ship. Really they are.”

 

Knowing that such a complaint wasn't going to solve her current problem, she drudged on. Finally arriving at the location of the offending system, she slung her engineering kit off her shoulder and pressed her communications badge.

 

“Torbin to Engineering,” she said as she opened the kit and removed a screw driver.

 

Her commbadge chirped and she heard the voice of the chief engineer, Commander Kale Thomas’ thick ‘southern’ accent stream through. Why, it seemed, that half the engineers in the fleet came from that godforsaken, humidity ridden region of North America, she wasn’t sure.

 

“Good to hear ‘ya,” Thomas drawled. “I thought mahba you’d gone and gotten yerself lost.”

 

Curling her nose as her translator parsed the less than perfect standard her chief employed, she popped off the access panel that was obstructing her. “It’s a large ship, Kale,” she said without mirth. “Maybe they could put these damned things closer to… I don’t know… normal maintenance shafts?”

 

Thomas chuckled. “Naw,” he said. “That’d be too darned easy, dontch’a know.”

 

Humans. Torbin groused and removed the panel from her way and grabbed a spanner from her tool kit. “Just why exactly am I doing this anyway. Everything seems in alignment.”

 

“If ya’d look closer,” Torbin said in a gentle lecturing tone. “The phase coupling is about five microns out’a alignment.”

 

Her silver eyes narrowed as she glanced towards the part and ran a spanner over it. “Oh great goddess above,” she nearly shrieked. “Five. Five microns? You sent me on this wild damned goose chase for a phase coupling five microns out of alignment… when I get back there Kale… I am going to…”

 

“Now wait just one daggoned second,” Thomas said with haste. “It’s an important five microns.”

 

“Five. Microns. Five!”

 

“Yah, well, those five microns are sapping ten-percent power from the phaser array they’re hooked too.”

 

Had she been in the vicinity of him, Kale Thomas would have found himself missing several parts of his body he found essential, as would have the engineers who designed such a horrible system. “That’s stupid… who the hell designs a system that if one damned phase coupling is out of alignment that it saps that much power…”

 

“’At particular part?”

 

“Yes,” she glowered as if the phase coupling were Thomas and not a hunk of metal. “This piece of Thangorian crap!”

 

“Actually, it’s not Thangorian. That particular part of the system was designed by…I think mahbe them thar Caitians…”

 

She frowned and finished realigning the coupling. “Figures.”

 

It wasn’t that she had a dislike for anyone Caitian in particular, but her auto-immune system, on the other hand, had a legendary distaste for the feline creatures. So much so that if she got within ten feet of one the furred beasts and wasn’t in a hermetically sealed suit, she’d swell to the size of a mugato and turn the color of a Rigellian Swamp Beast.

 

“I get that you’re always trying to win efficiency awards,” she finally said as she returned the access panel to its position and screwed it back into place. “I really do. And I know we’re on convoy duty and crap, but really, sending me all the way here to fix a five micron alignment issue. Seriously? I am an expert in plasma relay systems. Couldn’t one of the non-coms do this?”

 

The seriousness of Thomas’ response caught her off guard. “Normally, yes. However, I wanted to make sure it was done up right.”

 

Her eyebrows perked as she replaced the parts in her kit, swung it back over her shoulder and headed down the tube. “It’s a pretty easy fix, Kale.”

 

“Yeah,” he retorted, still in a serious tone she couldn’t recall him having when the ship’s klaxons weren’t blaring at red alert. “However, let’s just say I don’t have none too good of a feeling about this whole little convoy mission.”

 

Chiding him, she continued back the way she’d come. “You’re being paranoid.”

 

“Am not!”

 

Considering if she should respond with the equally childish ‘are too,’ she opted for a more mature tone. “Listen Kale, I know everyone’s on edge with all these attacks. You’re the chief though, they all look to you for strength, so don’t go wigging out.”

 

Thomas’ next response caught her even more offguard. “Herk,” he said. “Would I be sending you off to fix somethin’ like that if I weren’t honest to god worried?”

 

“What has you so spooked?”

 

“When was the last time you saw a Rear Admiral tagging along for a milk-run?”

 

Pausing mid-crawl she shook the thought. “I am sure the Admiral has a perfectly reasonable reason for coming along. It is his ship afterall.”

 

“True ‘nuff,” Thomas retorted, though it was clear he wasn’t convinced. “Not to mention the fact we have a regular flotilla along side with us.”

 

“It is a convoy of dilthlium crystals, Kale.”

 

“Yeah, I get that. But you heard ‘bout what happened to the refinery at Revon IV, right?”

 

She wracked her brain for a response and came up empty. These days she preferred not to even turn on FNS or any of the other myriad of civilian news channels and the name didn’t ring any bells. “No, can’t say that I have. Enlighten me, Kale.”

 

“Whole damned squad of those blue skins sailed in out of one them damned portals…or wormhole things of theirs and blew the whole damned place straight to hell.”

 

The look on Torbin’s face soured. She’d read scattered reports of the…Soltans…attacks on a myriad of strategic targets in the months following their devastating attack on the Sol-system. She also remembered what those ships looked like too, and she also knew that Thomas had been lucky enough to have not been assigned to Excalibur when they’d participated in that battle, either.

 

“Listen Kale,” she said, regaining her composure. “I am sure the Admiral knows what he’s doing and wouldn't be putting us in danger if he knew something was wrong.”

 

“You sure about that? He’s one crafty dog.”

 

She shook her head. “Well, if they do attack. You can rest assured that the phasers on the port side will all be working at full efficiency,” she said, then added lowly, “for what good they’ll do us.”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
“Actually, it’s not Thangorian. That particular part of the system was designed by…I think mahbe them thar Caitians…”

 

She frowned and finished realigning the coupling. “Figures.”

 

Remind me to meet all the engineers if that ship ever comes near the 'Court...

 

Nice log other than that cheap shot. :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0