Against No Odds

[Tachyon 0]

“Against No Odds”

Stardate 0509.23

A Joint Log by Lieutenant Cougar and Lieutenant (jg) Tandaris Admiran

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It seemed they had a problem.

 

The valve system Tobal Rywex had talked about was more antiquated than the Surma engineer had let on at first. As Tandaris looked at the backlit blueprint in the ancient control station, he scrunched up his face and sighed. Turning to his cat-like colleague, he said, "Looks like we'll need to open each valve manually: here, here, and here," he indicated each duct.

 

Cougar replied, "Looks like we're going to need to use muscle for this." Cougar smiled knowing that he could probably open a valve better than Tandaris.

 

Ignoring the jibe, Tandaris nodded and rolled up his sleeves. He picked up his engineering kit from the ground and together they exited the control station. It was but a short walk down a cramped corridor to the first valve. Dim chemical lighting provided the only illumination in this otherwise dark, dank area that had clearly seen better days. The walls on either side were paneled with windows to view the flow of water once the ducts were open. On the far side, an oxidizing circular wheel indicated what they had to do to open the valve separating the ducts from Reservoir 7.

 

"Shall we?" Tandaris indicated courteously, motioning to the wheel.

 

Cougar made a solid nod and grabbed a hold of one side of the valve. "Wanna grab the other side?"

 

Answering the solid nod with a more fluidic one, Tandaris gripped the other side. "On three. One . . . two . . . three!" He started rotating it clockwise. The effort required was more than he had expected, but slowly their combined force started to turn the wheel.

 

"There we go!" the feline-human hybrid shouted.

 

With a cantankerous creak, the under-used valves opened. Slowly at first, but with increasing rapidity, a trickle of water flowed into the auxiliary ducts. Soon a torrent was being conveyed toward the backup reservoirs.

 

Tandaris sighed. "One down."

 

They trekked toward the second valve, which was even more stubborn than the first. After several attempts, both in concert and separately, the wheel would not budge. It was fixed in its position, content with its lot in life. Tandaris put his hands on his hips. "What now?"

 

"Great, just great, what do you think about using a phaser?" Cougar quickly thought.

 

Tandaris knelt and peered beneath the rim of the wheel to get a better view of the situation. "Hmm. Looks like there's some corrosion here." He reached back for his engineering kit and produced a plasma torch. "A phaser may work, but precision tools are even better." He calibrated the torch and repaired the damage caused by time. Standing back up and replacing the torch in the kit, Tandaris gripped the valve again. "Let's give this one more try."

 

Cougar shook his head left to right, "So meticulous, oh wait, I am too." Cougar grabbed the wheel along with Tandaris. They turned the wheel clockwise again. The valve was easily turned.

 

With another loud whooshing noise, the reservoir emptied out into two more auxiliary ducts. Yet they were running out of time. If they didn't open the last valve in a few minutes, the entire reservoir would rupture and millions of precious litres of water would be lost. "One more!" Tandaris yelled.

 

They arrived at the third chamber with little difficulty. The third valve was undamaged but required a lot of effort to pull. Together, Tandaris and Cougar heaved and slowly it turned. . . .

 

The entire assembly let out an ominous sound and shuddered. At first, they had no clue what was happening, but when the wheel came away in Tandaris' and Cougar's hands, a panic-stricken revelation hit both of them. The wall, a few millimeters in front of them, began to buckle inward. . . .

 

Cougar yelled at the top of his lungs, "Oh crap!"

 

Equally vocal, Tandaris exclaimed, "Run!"

 

They ran with all the speed they could muster, pel-mel out of the chamber and down the corridor toward the utility vehicle. The wall bent inward with sickening lurches until its seams burst and water flooded into the chamber. By this time, Tandaris and Cougar had made it to the utility vehicle, but only with a few seconds to spare. Tandaris quickly inputted the coordinates back to the central control station. Cougar accompanied Tandaris through the corridor and impulsively closed the door.

 

Secured inside the miniature tank-like construct, the two engineers looked at each other and breathed with relief. As water filled the ancient control station, the utility vehicle speed away toward safety. "Next time," said Tandaris, "we get to stay behind."