Them That Fix What Others Broke

Posted on 02 Apr 2018 @ 9:32pm by Lieutenant Reginald Hawthorn & Senior Chief Petty Officer Charles Stephens Jr.

1,690 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Crossing Over
Location: Main Engineering, Deck 19
Timeline: MD35 || 13.45 hours

"You sure you know how to use that gravity hoist? That's a four-ton coolant tank made of qazi-diamond, and you're hauling it around like its a trout on a fly fishing rod," Reggie muttered, keeping a safe distance from the main engine core as the damaged coolant tank was removed. "I mean, don't go getting me wrong I am all for job security, but damage control only works if we're getting shot at or something blows up. Reckon the Security Chief is the one who gets work if your the one who breaks it."

"Well my original idea to patch it in place didn't pan out. It was hard to get the right angle on things." Charles said as he concentrated on the job at hand. "This way with it uncoupled from the system I can set it down and make the repairs down here." He glanced at the Engineering chief. "As for my ability to handle the machine I have been doing this since you was still in school."

"And yet one of us is and the other is not the Chief," Reggie said, leaning against a console as he joined the small knot of Engineer's watching the spectacle of a massive broken coolant tank moving slightly up, tilting, rolling a little, and then settling as it was slowly teased from its mounting. "Though I am all for this being a teachable moment. A chance for them that taught the frilasaursa to fear the mighty engineering slide rule to pass on their hard fought for knowledge."

Charles wasn't sure if he was making up words to be funny or just mess with him. Either way he was his boss and they had to work together. As the tank came to rest on its side he motioned for a crewman who was waiting by to come in and start to cut a square piece out around where the fracture was. Charles walked over to Reggie. "So plan is we will cut a square piece out and we have replicated a new piece that we can fit in its place. As soon as he gets done they will bring the new piece in and I will secure it in place."

“This all goes side ways and you’ll have one hell of a jig saw puzzle to deal with,” Reggie said, tilting his head as with a clunk the broken containment tank came free and began to float into empty air. “Congrats Chief, it’s a tank. A beautiful broken son of a birch if ever I saw one. Huum. Maybe we should install an emergency shuttering system around the tank to keep this sort of thing from happening again when we ain’t got no power. Something nice and simple, electromagnet latch with a gravity derived deployment system?”

"Sounds fancy. I wouldn't have any idea where to start to design something like that but if you give me the blueprints I can fix it." Charles said as he got on the step ladder they had brought in. As he started to flash weld the new piece in place, he took his time. When he came to a corner he stopped and turned to his boss. "If we ever get out of this zone we will need a new tank but this should hold for now. How is the list of other repairs going?"

"Seem's we fix one thing, another things get's mussed. As a man with a mind to fixin' things, I'm tempted to call this the natural state of grace we should aspire to. 'cept one of those things thats broke is just a bit finicky," Reggie said, pursing his lips. "Antimatter Pod 5. During the power surge caused by our glorious Captains hand at playing Big Boy Engineer, Pod 5 blew a compensator. I've had a crew working on syphoning the anti lithium out of Pod 5 into 4 and 6, with an aim towards breaking it down and rebuilding it. 'cept, of course, it's not that great. Pod's getting a smidge greedy and it's holding onto 4 nanogram's of anti lithium, which as the pods magnetic bottle collaspses will take the keel out from under our feet."

Charles stopped short of finishing what he was going as he listened to the Engineer explain his concerns. "I mean being cut off from everything that seems like out only option is what you tried. So now we have to find a way to get the last bit out." Charles thought about it for a second and then decided finishing this job before he got to involved was best. He worked to finish sealing the piece in place. After coming off the ladder he walked over to Reggie taking off his protective gear. "Well i can come help take a look at things once we get this hoisted back in place."

“Nothing more would make my day. I’m loathe to toss it out the airlock and into the great vastly nothingness. Seems a waste is all,” Reggie shrugged. “Course i’m Less interested in blowing up the bottom of the ship that’s our responsibility to keep I one piece. Cap’n might make issue with of that outcome.”

"Yeah he might throw us in escape pods and leave us here when they figure away out of the Zone." Charles said with a chuckle as the two men watched as the repaired tank was lowered into place.

"Heard of a worse way to spend an afternoon. Reckon floating about in one of them pods would be downright meditative. Centre the mind. Remind me to tell you about the time I took an escape pod to warp, look on that Coasties face when they laid tractors on me," Reggie chuckled. "Moral of that story is pack more than a light lunch when working on a pet theory about micro-sized warp bubbles."

Charles looked at his new boss. "Well I will leave all the experiments up to you. I will just fix what you break." he grinned as he heard the tank lock back into place. "Looks like we are ready to bring the coolant tank back online." he told his boss as he walked over to the pool table and started to type in some commands.

Reggie brought two fingers to his lips and let out a loud ear-splitting whistle that didn't so much as demand attention as claim it under Manifest Destiny.

"Alright y'all! Everyone get behind the safety demarkation line! First sign the tanks losing integrity the forcefields are coming up, and I ain't interested in losing folks!" Reggie walked over to the dashed line painted across the deck plating, ushering and in one case handling one of the more obsessive souls to safety. Reggie made a slow walk around the tank, trusting the Cheif's works but knowing the buck stopped with him. It was a good patch, the sealant material connecting the patch and the tank having cured itself to the point of being indistinguishable.

"Alright Chief, fill'er up. Pump it up to 130% capacity. If the tank can hold that pressure for an hour it'll last us a lifetime. And if it it fails in a second, well we'll just need to get creative."

Charles watched as Reggie got everyone to safety and after the command he took in a deep breath. His hands slide across the console and there was a hum in the room as the coolant started to release into the tank. "50....75...100..125..130 percent, Sir."

For a moment nothing seemed to happen...and then the creaking started. It began as a low subsonic groan that wormed into the teeth, rattling fillings and the things fancy Starfleet medicine used instead of fillings. Then it wound up the scale, becoming a rattling chiming like a mad bell. Then there was the glacial groaning, as though within the tank some massive million ton slab of ice were slowly settling onto its haunches to pounce. it was the sound of something hungry and menacing from the dawn of time, peering out from an ice-shrouded cave at all the warm things that hurried about.

It was the sound of a few hundred thousand gallons of reactor coolant pressing up against the bars of its cage and raking claws against it.

"Easy..." Reggie said, holding out a hand as though to hold back the roiling green coolant that now filled the tank. "That's expected, tanks gotten used to not holding back that which fills it. We're just hearing the molecular compression. Qazi-diamond is the hardest transparent material out there next to transparent aluminium. It'll hold just fine."

After fixing something it was always the wait to see if it worked or not that was the toughest thing to do. He liked the confidence Reggie had. Charles was not as sure.

Without taking his eyes off the tank, he pointed a finger at Stephens.

"I want one of your Damage Control teams here kitted out for hazardous material work. Hardshell EVA suits rated for high pressure. Call it an ounce of prevention," Reggie said, turning to walk to the pool table. "And no one crosses the line unless ships about to come apart at the seams. That tank goes the field going up to protect the ship will slice'em in two."

He reached out and deftly tapped his fingers over the controls. A timer flickered to life in the corner: 58.47, 58.46.

"A long hour ahead," he said and slapped Stephens on the back. "Damn fine patchwork if I say so myself."

"I will keep two behind suited up just in case," Charles said still listening and the moaning and groaning of the tank slowed some. He looked at the clock and swore it wasn't ticking down fast enough.

"Well...I've spent exactly," Reggie leaned over and looked at the timer. "A square minute marvelling in how awesome the engineering department of this ship is. That's enough back-slapping, work to do. Gotta go see a room about a leaky pressure seal. Seems folk get a smidge twitterpated if the air their breathing is heading out a micro breach. You keep on keeping on, reckon we've got lists that need filling."

 

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