Repair crew Days 4-8

Posted on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 @ 5:13am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronson Mitchell & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Ensign Kitiuas Thenis & Lieutenant Thomas Haldeman & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: Sunfire

The team were tired, they'd worked brutally long hours the last 4 days, pausing only to eat and sleep. They had made remarkable progress though, and there was a feeling in the air that things may just be starting to go their way.

Tom was working steadily on the Ops power grid. So far, He had mostly avoided any power loopbacks and getting too badly burned or shocked as the work slowly progressed on the distribution of power to the various Sunfire systems was steadying up and becoming constant. It wasn't without some sacrifices though. His back hurt from being under the Ops station as well as other bridge stations to link and reestablish power flow. His hands had begun to cramp from working in the tight, cramp confines but he had dogged stubbornness and he was going to complete his task.

Bonnie had inhaled Kit's scent that morning of Day four and decided working on the replicators and reproducing the formula to suppress her pheromones' was probably the best idea for everyone involved. They spent the day in close quarters, this time without the fire protective suits to stifle her smell. By the end of the day, all Bonnie could smell when she closed her eyes was Kit's sweet aroma of Lilacs, Cinnamon etc.

The crew passed the next few days in a settled routine of long work days and broken sleep at night. The close quarters had everyone on edge and on one another's nerves. For Bonnie, her frustration was a lack of progress for her original goal. While lofty and ideal to see the Sunfire fly again of her own power, things just weren't going as planned. The amount of red ink on her digital PADD was a testament to the color of blood as it bled from ones failures.

Mornings consisted of coffee and food with basic conversation to start the day, then for the most part everyone went there separate ways or paired up on a project. In the evening they would meet back up and have dinner but as the days went, the conversation became less and less. As did the dinosaur threat. The mood, above all else, was thick, like an unspoken understanding. Everyone understood, even Ronson with his upbeat and positive attitude seemed to be feeling defeated by day eight.

Kit was sore as hell, and was losing total sensation in her right arm and shoulder. If things continued much longer she would have to break down and have the others help her. Between Lieutenant Durnell, whom Kit suspected was having issues with her; either because of her pheromones, she liked her or some combination of those; had managed to get at least one replicator to work. This helped to lessen her pheromones some. She had found it strange that her pheromones did not drive Bonnie nuts with a headache, which was one of the reasons she suspected her of liking women as well as men. Kitiuas did not mind, she was raised as an Orion and had experience with both sexes, plus Lieutenant Durnell was very attractive.

Ronson dragged himself out of bed on the morning of the eighth day. Bone weary, cranky, and just wanting to be back in space where they belonged. He didn't want to spoil the mood that morning, and so kept to himself and didn't say anything. Simply pouring coffee, attempting a lame excuse for a smile, shoveling his food down his neck and getting on with the next task. Surely it had to get better.

Kit noticed that Chief Ronson was getting in his cranky and moody mode; and one thing she had learned was to never, ever let the Chiefs get cranky, so she went and got a two shot glass of Romulan Ale and handed it to him. “Rough night Chief?” she inquired. She hide the fact that she barely used her right arm anymore from him.

"Rough night, rough day, rough week" Ronson's usual bright and happy attitude was well and truly missing as he accepted the Ale and downed it in one shot. He stared out the window at the bright sunlight outside and wished for the cold blackness of space. At least they would be going somewhere instead of being stuck in one place.

"Tell me about it." Bonnie said as she walked into the room and flopped down into her now usual seat. For a brief moment she closed her eyes allowing the smells in the room to invade her brain. That was until the scent, no the memory of lilac pervaded and she instantly pictured Kit's face. This forced her to sit upright and grumble some more. "Two hours, what I wouldn't give for two hours of good sleep."

"I'll take your watch tonight, that should give you a solid 4-6 hours, and I can replicate you a mild sedative to help you sleep" Ronson offered, ever willing to put aside his own misery to help someone else.

Tom walked in on the discussion. He was tired like the rest of them. "What are we talking about?" He inquired.

"Providing Lieutenant Durnell some extra sleep time tonight. The Chief and I are offering to extend our watches to allow her brain some better clarity." replied Kit with an exhausted smile. There was a painful throbbing in her shoulder and arm.

Ronson looked over at Kit, who seemed a bit worse for wear herself. "Perhaps you need a break as well Kit. "Perhaps we could spare the power for an automatic sensor sweeps for tonight" he suggested, knowing that everyone was tired.

Ronson was so damn giving of himself that he didn't realize how it was effecting his own mental state. Bonnie could see it though. They were all going stir crazy. "It's okay Ronnie, I'll manage. We've gotten a lot of the major systems back online and we're getting close to attempting a manual take off. If we can just hold out for a few more," she yawned uncontrollably. "days, we'll be fine and flying again."

"How long can we keep pushing? We need a break." Ronson replied, looking around the team. "We've achieved a lot but we're exhausted. Taking one night off to get decent sleep will only increase our productivity and efficiency" he appealed to the rational side of his friends, if they had any left.

She was sympathetic, truly. She was also beginning to question why she was the one pushing so hard. Was it her goal list or Ronson's enthusiasm or perhaps her own internal desire to see this project through to completion. They were so close to firing the thrusters and breaking free. The computer CORE was still a mess but with manual controls in place they could at least attempt flight. Bonnie just nodded and lowered her eyes. There was nothing more to say as they all knew and understood. He was right.

"Just one night, trust me, we'll all feel better for it" Ronson rested his case and waited for the team to decide what they wanted to do. They were all operating on broken sleep and working 18 hours a day.

"Kit, you need to rest that arm. Ronson you stat here and watch her. Make sure she rests. Bonnie, you're out on your feet, you and Thriss. So you both rest. "I'm going to the bridge. some connections I want to check and make sure their reliable. I won't be long, I promise." Tom finished.

Kit sighed, “Very well, I’ll rest up some then get back to work.” she said, and suddenly yawned. “Also, I don’t need a ‘babysitter’, I promise to behave.”

"I agree you don't need a babysitter and Ronson isn't. However he is there to help you if you should need it." Tom replied as he turned to go back to the bridge.

"Besides there is coffee to be had" Ronson quipped, trying to shove his foul mood out an airlock and keep the mood light. ""Grab some kip Bon while you can"

Bonnie had just watched the back and forth interaction from behind the safety of her cup. It mildly amused her that Tom and Ronson were so caring and mildly controlling, much like her Papa used to be. To her, they were all in this together, same boat, same number of oars. But she wasn't going to argue. Besides, this gave her a much needed break.

They each got their breakfast and milled about before going their separate ways. Tom spent his time that morning on the bridge, again. After an hour Thriss looked like a man in need of something to do. That was the nature of an engineer afterall, always busy, always tinkering, and good with their hands. The morning passed into the afternoon and by lunch Bonnie was bored of standing around and so began a light lunch prep for everyone.

"Why don't we head to the bridge and just check everything is working that we've already fixed? It won't take long as we have a great view from up there" Ronson suggested, seeing that his fellow repairers we're starting to struggle with the inactivity.

Kit laughed “Great view and a hell of a reminder of were we are and what is left to do. Won’t be long till we will have to ask the Captain to spot us a spell.” She then stood and grimaced slightly. “Lead the way. I want to see if I can get the science station operational, and perhaps the sensors to kick start.”

They hadn't been in the bridge very long when a burst of static and a crackled voice emerged from the communications panel.

TBC