Five hours later…

Jolie looked down at the Ops console on the empty bridge. Most of the crew had been relieved with orders to be either in sickbay or their racks. Jolie on the other hand could not be bothered with either. Granted she had taken a piece of the bridge into the side of her leg, but she had had it patched and bandaged hours ago. The pain was still her companion but that was the least of her problems.

Carolyn had been a woman of her word and had worked nearly tirelessly since their escape and the ship was running at cruising speed. However, there was still plenty of work to be done. 

“Bridge to Engineering, Carolyn. The operations console is still showing that the starboard nacelle is running hot. Any word on what may be causing it?” Jolie asked over the intercom

Engineering

Crawford secured the EPS conduit and reconnected the power chips as the unit lit up and the computer informed her that the power systems were running at 85%.  She mumbled something about the size of this ship and shoved it up the computer’s backside but was interrupted by the beep from her combadge. 

=^=“Bridge to Engineering, Carolyn. The operations console is still showing that the starboard nacelle is running hot. Any word on what may be causing it?=^=

Carolyn ambled to a console in engineering, her body feeling all the hours, the work, and the stress of being Chief Engineer continuing to slowly build.  They were the miracle workers, the saving grace, and the ones that got it done – she had heard it all throughout the academy and her father had even warned her there was no greater challenge than being an engineer, or better yet – chief.  The ship was yours to care for, put back together, and keep from flying apart.  She was feeling much of that but had resorted to coffee to keep her going.  She downed the dregs from her cup and slapped it into the replicator.  A steaming cup of coffee soon appeared and she stalked back to a console, her eyes focusing on the problem, “It’s the EPS conduit up there.  It’s putting out an uneven power distribution which is affecting the stabilization of the nacelle.  Give me,” she glanced at her chrono, “…ten minutes and I’ll get it working come hell or high water.  Crawford out.”

She lumbered off, grabbing a kit and a tool belt as she went.

Starboard Nacelle – Jefferies Tube – EPS Control

“Goddamn…who designed this crap?”  She growled to herself, mostly.  They were lucky she was short and simple, otherwise, they’d have had to drop out of warp and do something very delicate work.  As it was it wasn’t a great feeling hearing the thundering of the warp nacelle so close, but as they said, ‘needs must’ or something like that.  She scooted down the tube and found the EPS control.  There were two on each side of the nacelles for a total of 4 – designed to spread out the power so that if one blew, there was a second that could take the load for a short while until someone had to either repair or replace the damage.  She took out her tricorder and scanned, “Great.  A short and a blown conduit.”  She found herself relying on her academy training in tight spaces as she controlled her breathing and kept her eyes focused on the tasks at hand.  She needed to replace the energizers within the EPS conduit and then she would need to repair the short from there.

She shimmied out of the tube and snagged the energizer replacements and hustled back up the hole.  It took her five minutes to pull out the old, and then replace it with the new.  Credit where it was due – her recent academy testing had put her through disassembling and assembling everything and anything she would ever touch.  Before she reactivated it, she pulled the Electromagnetic Synthemometer off her belt and scanned the housing.  A beep and she traded it for a tricorder.  It took another minute to isolate the short and another to replace the chip.  She did one more scan and sighed, “God I hope this works.”  She tapped in the commands to reactive the EPS conduit.  A moment later it lit up without shorting out.  Crawford closed it up and slid down and out of the tube and made her way back to engineering, glancing at her PADD. The readings were returning to normal.  “Finally”, she muttered.  She returned to engineering and tapped her combadge, “Crawford to bridge – the nacelle is returning to normal operating temperatures.  I’ve put a monitor on it so if it goes sideways again, I’ll take another swing at it.

“Good job Carolyn,” Ethan responded. “I hear you got banged up. Aimee’s on her way to look at you.”

Jolie was about to open her mouth to congratulate the chief when she heard Ethan. She looked over at him and nodded. Ethan simply smirked and settled into his chair.

Jolie had left the bridge after Ethan had shown back up. She took to her quarters as she need the rest. It had been hell for them, narrowly escaping being blown out of the stars and now running for Klingon Space. Who knows what else was waiting for them. But for now, Jolie knew that she needed her rest before something else terrifying happened.

Engineering

Crawford stood tapping at the console, her headache quietly thumping in the background of her mind.  She was thankful Talon was sending the team medic down.  She could use a check or two to make sure she wasn’t too broken.

Aimee entered engineering.   He had her medical kit slung over her shoulder. “A little birdie told me you injured yourself recently.”

Carolyn stepped away from the console and revealed the injury, “I would say it looks worse than it is…but I’d be lying.”

Aimee opened her medical tricorder and scanned the injured location.  “You’re assessment would be correct,  though there is a hairline fracture of the underlying bone. It would most likely heal on its own but would be painful until it did. Let’s see if we can’t fix that shall we?”

Crawford sat down in a chair and felt the weight slowly release as she took a chance to breathe.  “For being my first assignment, this ship sure is getting me to learn a lot in a short amount of time.”  She closed her eyes as Aimee went to work.

“Nothing like getting thrown head first into the deep end,” Aimee commented

The CEO felt the healing and with it followed the relief at the decreasing of the pain.  “That…is helping.”

“It should,” Aimee teased. “I’m done. Take it easy for a few days, and call me if anything changes.” The doctor patted Carolyn on the shoulder.  “You did good.  I’ll be seeing you around.” With that Aimee walked out of engineering heading back to sickbay. 

GCIRS Balnag –

Tomarah sighed looking at the report.   They had underestimated the human known as Talon… again.  And they hadn’t expected the human resistance either.  Approaching her Commander she handed the PADD to Sukitha.  “Our damage report Commodore,” Tomarah said simply.  “Also the human ship is of unknown design,  but contains vastly more sophisticated components than that of the UEC.”

Sukitha sighed, “Any survivors from the UEC?” she asked as she looked over the damage report. One of the energizers had been damaged beyond repair, but she knew that was only a minor setback. The cloak on the other hand was irreparable. She looked up at Tomarah, from the report, “When can a replacement cloak be found and installed?”

“Plenty of survivors,” Tomorah boasted. “I was about to order their execution unless you wish to interrogate any of them.  As for the cloak… that’s more of a where than when.  There’s a trading post near Mellstoxx III, or we can return to Rator III. Either way, the solution is not easy. I could put out some feelers to some merchant ships around and see if we can cobble together enough parts to repair it.  Those torpedoes the human ship had… I have never seen anything like them. I suggest we get science and tactical working on ways to reinforce the shields against them.”

Sukitha sat there in silence as Tomarah gave her report and reply. Her thoughts were completely focused on the UEC’s feeble attempt to help the unknown ship that had given them a black eye. It wasn’t until Tomarah stated that there were survivors that Sukitha returned her attention to the present. She turned her attention to her second. “Any Officers?” She asked as she suddenly remembered that Ethan had family within the UEC.

“Several,” Tomarah gloated. “They did not know the power of the Empire.”

Sukitha nodded to her Seconds, comment.

“I will bring their leader to you and execute the rest,” Tomarah responded.

“Before you do, make sure that they are a Captain,” she said as she watched Tomarah walk away. She then yelled after her. “Bring me their XO as well.”

She had an idea to make the Captain’s, Executive Officer an example to try and pry the Captain’s tongue open. I always worked in the past and she suspected it would work again.

Tomarah smirked, “Yes Commodore.”