Swift Repairs

Posted on Tue Jun 15th, 2021 @ 2:38am by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Before Combat Drill

ON:

Kla'ren walked into main engineering after the situation in the wormhole. At least it wasn't a temporal headache like the one they had on the Liberty just a few days prior. He strolled over to the Ensign that was in charge of engineering while Thriss was on the bridge.

"Ensign, how are we looking?" the Chief Engineer asked.

"We have begun the needed repairs to the Sunfire, and her systems." the young officer replied.

"Good. Ensign, can you see if there is any more available personnel to assist with damage control. I don't want to keep us stranded in the Gamma Quadrant for too long."

"Aye sir, anything else?"

"Not at the moment. Keep me posted." Kla'ren answered as the Ensign walked out of engineering.

Soon after, Thriss went to one of the control panels near the core, to diagnose the extent of damage that was done to the warp core.

Moments later Savar called down from the bridge. "Status of repairs Mr. Kla'ren?"

"The repairs are underway, and the appropriate personnel has been dispatched for damage control, sir." Thriss replied over the comms. "I am also pinpointing the extent of the damage to the warp core at this time."

"Very good Mr. Kla'ren. Please keep the bridge apprised of the progress of the repairs." Savar replied with Vulcan calmness.

"Aye Commander. Is there anything else?"

"Not at this time Mr. Kla'ren." Came the reply from the bridge.

"Acknowledged. Engineering out." Kla'ren said as he continued to examine the warp core.

Her patch working for the time being, and another bruise added to her collection, Bonnie moved out of the computer core and into Engineering where she could give a report to her superiors. So far there were pros and cons to the new ship.

Noticing Bonnie walking into Main Engineering, Kla'ren walked up to her. "Good work on the patch Lieutenant. Is there anything else that needs my attention?"

"Thanks." She beamed. "It will hold so long as the data rate remains relatively constant. If one or the other gets overworked I'm afraid we could see weird things." She hesitated only briefly before asking, "Any idea how long before we are in close proximity to a communications relay in order to get the full update?"

"To my knowledge, there was some sort of relay station a few light-years away from the wormhole however, as far as I know, it was destroyed, or at least disabled during the war. However, it has also been a while since Federation starships actually came to explore the Gamma Quadrant, so it could have been repaired or replaced, but I am unsure."

She nodded, "Permission to attempt contact, um, sir?" She knew it would be a shot in the dark to make contact and get a good enough signal to achieve the updates the ship needed. Without them, however, things could get much worse before they got better.

"Given our current situation, we are technically sitting ducks. If we need reinforcements or need up-to-date information, we will need to make contact with the relay station to then make contact with Federation Space." Kla'ren thought for a moment. "It is alright with me, though I'd like to get approval from the Captain first, primarily because we are in a questionable area of space."

"Okay," she turned on her heel to leave and then spun around again as another idea struck. "Um, there was one other thing. Maybe it's nothing, but I saw a subdirectory that sounded important. You might want to have look, you know, when you have a moment."

"What was it called?" he asked.

"Um, Transwarp 2.0." Her hands animated as she spoke, "Maybe, I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the Excelsior's Great Traswarp experiment? I didn't look. It seemed important though."

This took Kla'ren by surprise. Besides the usage of transwarp conduits, transwarp drives hadn't been in use since the Great Experiment in the late 23rd century. The prototype of the drive failed on the Excelsior, hence why there hadn't' been too many ships with technology like that since the Excelsior. "Was there any information regarding this 'Transwarp 2.0?"

"Like I said, I didn't look. I thought it best you take a look." She watched as Dean entered Engineering.

He thought for a moment. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll take a look at it once repairs are finished"

Dean had heard the call from the Bridge to Engineering. Giving a little bit of thought. Hmm.....he could, that might help a little bit. Calling for a replacement at the moment and heading to the Turbolift. Of course without asking. Going to the Engineering storage, because why would they not have a surplus of Dilithium crystals if they knew where they were going. It would be needed. Just logging one out and literally just picking it up by hand. Coming into Main Engineering with it. "Want this somewhere to swap out, so the other can be repaired?" Looking to Kla'ren and Bonnie.

Before responding Kla'ren looked at his PADD, containing some of the damage to the warp core. On the PADD it showed that multiple crystals needed to be repaired. "This will come in handy Lieutenant. However, we may need more of the crystals, since there is a decent amount of them that need to be repaired."

Dean motioned with an elbow, "Well where would like me to put it. As well, should I go get more then?"

"Yes, that would be appreciated. In terms of the one that you have right now, there is a slot near the warp core, which houses some of the crystals that are in good shape and bad shape. Replace it with one of the ones in need of repair. Please bring the bad one back to me so I can examine it."

"I believe I can do that chief.. .however. If I'm holding this..actually, never mind. Lapse in brain function." Dean took it over, and since he had permission. Set it down carefully. Put in his code and pulled the housing tray out. Making a bit of a face, "That's half black burnt. That's not good." Since the core was still off, disconnecting the damaged one. Setting it aside, and replacing it with the new crystals.

Bringing that burnt-out crystal over and setting it aside in a spot that it wouldn't hinder anyone. Moving to go get more.

Instead of just carrying them one by one. Dean went ahead and got a hover lift to just put them on. Not that he couldn't, but this would save time.

"Um. Can I help you out with that, or something?" Bonnie asked Dean.

"Yes, please if you would. I know I'm all augmented and stuff, but I have a focus, and this is not one of them. You two have this, so I'll hold them and you hook them up?" Dean shrugged a little.

Bonnie giggled and then rolled the words 'all augmented and stuff' around in her head. It was amusing to think about which parts of Mr. House were 'augmented'. Which made her giggle further. She tried to focus knowing working with the crystals was a delicate operation, but every time she caught a glimpse of Dean focusing on his work, the words flitted through her mind and she giggled further.

While he was helping getting those moved for the crystals to get hooked up and he could move to the next, Dean did hear that. Heard it again. Then a third time. He finally had to ask and look, "What are you giggling about in fits?"

She froze, "Um, nothing really. Just a joke I heard recently keeps replaying in my head. Sorry." She bit her lip in an effort to stifle her giggles.

"Why do I not completely believe that, but do at the same time?"

All she could do was shrug her shoulders and play innocent while hiding her smile. Instead she tried looking around, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Bridge to Engineering, how are the repairs coming along?" The Captain inquired from the relative quietness of the bridge..that quietness would not last long.

"I think that's for one of you two."

Worried she might have to give a report, Bonnie looked to Lt. Kla'ren.

"Some of our Dilithium crystals were damaged during our hiccup in the wormhole. We are currently in the process of repairing them, and replacing the damaged ones with crystals that are not damaged. Other than that, the ship-wide repairs are nearly done" Kla'ren reported. "In fact, I should have that report on your desk within the early hour."

"Excellent work, well done to you and your team Chief" the captain smiled from the bridge.

"Thank you Captain. Kla'ren out" the Andorian said as he cut off from the line.

Then, Thriss looked towards Bonnie. "Lieutenant, is it possible if you could send me the data on the Transwarp 2.0 subdirectory? I'd like to include it in my report as well."

Still holding a crystal in one hand and a spanner in the other, she nodded, "Can do." Then returned to the work she felt Dean was somehow pushing off onto her. If she wanted to do someone else's work, she could have stayed in the computer core and dealt with Lt. Aster.

"Does that still have to be directly linked to the deflector dish?" Dean tilted his head, turning to reach for another crystal cluster."

"The Transwarp?" Thriss asked curiously.

Dean pointed to himself, "Me? yes, the Transwarp. I'm not just a pretty face you know," smirking.

Bonnie paused for a moment at this, stifled a giggle and then returned to her work thinking, 'pretty boy's all augmented and stuff.' She almost snickered out loud.

Thriss chuckled. "True. However, minus the use of Transwarp conduits, the use of this technology hasn't been around since the Excelsior prototype, and it has been nearly 100 years since it was tested, so I honestly wouldn't know, despite being an engineer. That being said, based on how deflectors, and previous experimental drives, I would think that it does. I will know for sure once I get a proper look at the data about this 'Transwarp 2.0'"

"History and the tech data does mention the Borg having it. More than once. Voyager also gave us data, as well as a race they ran into, had one that was completely stable." Giving a little shrug. "I like reading up on stuff. Which also begs the question... you're our Chief Engineer...shouldn't you know more about it than I do?"

"I do know a decent amount about Voyager's data, as well as the Borg having it. But excluding Voyager, this is pretty much the first I have heard of Federation starships having a Transwarp drive in recent years, besides the usage of conduits. But also, some of Voyager's attempts at faster than warp were rather chaotic from what I have heard from the stuff that isn't classified to a command level. And as for the Borg, their ships are drastically different from our own. But based on Voyager's usage, I'd say yes, it does require the deflector. However, Intrepids are different from Akiras. Again, once I look at the subdirectory, after these repairs, I can give a better answer."

There was a hmm...given for a moment, "May I?" Motioning to one of the consoles. Once he got that crystal settled so Bonnie could do her thing with hooking it up. Just because Dean could memorize things, didn't mean he could do the practical physical work like Bonnie and Kla'ren could. Not with certain things anyway.

As Kla'ren put in another crystal, he looked towards Dean. "Go for it."

Bonnie glared briefly at the back of Deans's head, pretty boy can't do the physical work huh? She shook it off and then went back to her knitting and stitching.

"Thank you." Dean moved over and tapped along here and there for a moment, pulling up the data from the Enterprise. "There, that. That should be it right?"

"Yes, that should be it," Thriss said as he looked at the Enterprise's data.

Now with the spanner in her mouth, Bonnie shook her head, "'he 'iles not 'assifie'." She mumbled through clenched teeth.

When they stared at her with dumbfounded looks upon their faces she spit the spanner into her free hand and stepped back from her now completed work, or rather Deans unfinished work. "I said, the files were not classified. I just didn't open them because they seemed above my pay grade." She moved over to the terminal where Dean and Thriss were sitting, nudged her way in front of Dean and quickly access the files on the Transwarp 2.0 subdirectory in the ship's main computer. "There, boys, read away." She then stepped back and allowed them to gaggle over the new toy.

Dean was actually standing, leaned over the console. Bonnie shoving her way in front of him, both hands grabbed her waist just a split second. Letting go and stepping back, holding his hand up. "Sorry."

She hadn't even noticed his touch, not until he apologized. She would have quipped back at him but Thriss was there and he was focused. Best not to make an ass out of herself in front of the boss. Instead, she waited stuck her tongue out in a childish manner, and then flipped her hair off her shoulder. It was a move her mother used to do that drove her papa crazy, he said.

Thriss downloaded most of the data onto his PADD, primarily because he wanted to include it in his report, and because he wanted to use it for some nighttime reading. "Alright, that should be most of the data. Now, if you will excuse me, I will be in my office."

Thriss walked into his office and ordered coffee from the replicator. He then set his PADD on his desk. Soon after he began to write the engineering report, which would be rather lengthy, primarily because of the Transwarp 2.0.

Dean gave a little glance at Bonnie, and saw that flip of hair. If she wasn't going to do it, he was. A little snarky curl of his lip and then sticking his tongue out at her. Moving back to the housing. "Alright, show me what connects to where."

Letting a small giggle snicker a bit out, Bonnie took a moment and composed herself. Then for the next 20 minutes she showed Lt. House what connected the where and how to use the tool properly. When done they fired up the core which began humming like a well-tuned machine. Then Dean got the call to return to the bridge.

As he walked away, Bonnie let slip out, "See ya, pretty boy."

Dean smiled lightly once they got done. "See... pretty boy can learn new things." Giving a glance at the call to get back up there. "Uh oh... Pretty sure more things going down..." Turning to head for the Turbolift. "I heard that Sassy stuff!"