Repairing The Ship

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11308.09)

 

John was in engineering, supervising the repair and replacement of a warp

coil that had somehow gone bad. He had been ordered to report aboard

Starbase 184 for a briefing on the ship's next mission, but, as he had been

about to board the turbolift, he got an urgent message from his friend

Steve Davis, whom he had left in control of engineering, about the damaged

coil. John immediately informed the captain, and Ja'Lale excused him from

the meeting to go fix the ship.

 

John's communicator beeped, and he opened it to find a text message from

the chief of engineering, Lieutenant Commander Eddie Freeman. The message

informed Randall that Freeman would be attending the meeting, and a wave

of relief went through the assistant chief engineer. He closed his communicator,

and refocused his attention on the repair crew's efforts.

 

The repair team extracted the damaged warp coil, and Davis handed it to John,

who stared at it in disbelief. A long, narrow crack ran down the entire length

of the spiral-shaped coil. 'How in the universe we made it here, I'll never know,'

thought John as he stared at the piece of equipment. He looked over, caught

Davis' eye, and the two men stared at each other grimly for a few seconds.

Davis knew how lucky they had been, also.

 

The repair crew took the new coil from the anti-grav sled, and began to maneuver

it into position for the installation. John placed the damaged coil onto the sled,

and nodded for the engineers to take it to Freeman's office. He watched the two

engineers take the sled away, then heard Davis' voice behind him. "Hey, Lieutenant,

care to give us a hand back here?" he said, and John turned. "Okay, Steve, be

there in a sec," he said, and walked back to the coil station, intending on rejoining

the repair crew.

 

As Randall started to walk towards them, the engineering doors swooshed open,

and in jogged Starfleet Marine Hunter "Kal" Matheson. John spotted him, and

walked toward him. "Hello, Kal; what's up?" he asked as he reached Matheson's

side. The Marine jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Hello, Lieutenant," he said.

"Thought you'd be on station. Something wrong? Need an assist?" Randall

grinned at him. "Normally, I would be," he said. "But we're in the process of

installing a new warp coil, it was kinda an emergency. Come over here, and I'll

show you the old one." With that, he led Matheson to the chief engineer's office,

and took him to the anti-grav sled containing the damaged warp coil.

 

Matheson nodded to some of the crew as they walked, and, during the walk, said,

"Not much on warp coils, but I can furnish manpower if you need it." As they arrived,

Randall said, "To be honest, Kal, with the coil in this bad of shape, I don't see

how we got here." He showed Matheson the damaged coil, and the Marine recoiled

a little at the sight. "Whoa," he said. "Even I could tell there's something wrong with

that, sir. Think I'm with you on that one." Randall nodded. "Yeah, I think the space

gods were watching over us, to be sure."

 

"So, what can I help you with?" asked the Marine. John thought for a few seconds,

then said, "Well, the repair team's got everything covered, pretty much; if you're

in the middle of a workout, don't let us get in the way." Just then, Davis' voice rang

out. "Hey, Lieutenant, could you come back here?!" Matheson said, "I can stand by,

LT. No problem with that, engineering was my last stop." John nodded, and clapped

the Marine on the shoulder. "Thanks," he said. He took Matheson over to the main

console, and indicated a panel to him. "I'll be right back," John said. "If you don't

mind, watch this panel here, okay?" Matheson nodded, and Randall turned toward

the back of engineering. "On the way, ensign!" he shouted, grinned at Matheson,

and strode back to the warp coil station.

 

He arrived at the station, and went up to Davis; the ensign showed him the problem,

and Randall saw it immediately. He nodded to the rest of the team, and issued orders.

The team went to work, and, a few minutes later, maneuvered the coil into place.

John studied it for a second, and turned to Davis. "Hm, something's not right," he

said. "It should fit better than that." About that time, he heard Matheson's voice.

"Lieutenant Randall!" shouted the Marine. "We got action in the core!" John moved

a little distance away, and could see the outline of the Marine's form at the main

console. "What's up, Kal?!" he shouted. "Got a light here, sir!" shouted the Marine.

"I'll let you diagnose!"

 

"Color?!" shouted back Randall. "Red as rubies on a bright day!" replied Matheson,

and John swore under his breath. "Thanks, Kal; keep watching, please!" he shouted

back, and went to rejoin the repair crew. "I knew that alignment wasn't right," he said

to Davis, who nodded. "All right, guys, let me in here a second," said Randall, and the

repair crew made room for him. The assistant chief engineer scanned the coil with

his eyes, and then pinpointed the problem. He backed out from the station, and looked

at the repair crew. "Okay, guys, what we need to do," he began, and described in

detail what he wanted. The repair crew nodded, and went back to work.

 

After a few minutes of remaneuvering, the coil suddenly snapped into place, and

Randall and Davis looked at each other, smiling. The repair crew finished securing the

coil in place, and John stepped to the panel, entering a series of equations. As he

finished inputting the numbers and symbols, there came a shout from the main console.

"We're spouting green, LT!" called out Matheson. The Marine raised a thumb, and John

saw it as he stepped away from the station. He returned the gesture, and shouted,

"Thanks, Kal! And thanks for your help!" The Marine waved, and shouted back, "Any

time, sir!" as he grabbed a towel he had brought with him. Randall waved back at him,

and stepped back to the warp coil station. "Okay, guys, let's wrap it up," he said, the

repair team acknowledged him, and John strode back to the main console, sitting

down at his station.

 

"Computer, run simulation on new warp coil," he said. "Working," replied the computer.

A few moments later, the computer said, "Warp coil is operating within normal parameters."

John said, "Acknowledged," and reached over to punch the 'comm. "Randall to Davis,

report," he said. "Green across the board here, Lieutenant," answered the ensign almost

immediately. "Roger that, good to hear, Steve," John replied. "Randall out." He sat back

in his chair, and mopped his brow. 'At least the ship will be ready when the captain returns,'

he thought, as his eyes watched the monitor in front of him for a few seconds. He then

changed programs, pulling up a diagnostic program, and began running it. A few minutes

later, he completed the diagnostics, and reached over to punch the 'comm. "Engineering

to bridge," he said. "Bridge here," answered a voice. "This is Lieutenant Randall. Let me

know when the captain is back aboard," John said. "Acknowledged," came the reply.

"Thank you, Randall out," said John.

 

He glanced at the chronometer, and thought, "The meeting should be adjourning about

now.' He wondered briefly what their next mission would be, then his monitor showed

a message from one of the ensigns on the engineering staff, requesting help at her

station. John answered it, got up, and went to help the ensign.

 

 

END LOG