Stardate:70618.2000
Title: To the Depths
Author: Lair Kellyn
Scene: Main Engineering
Time: Following "Adventures in Starship-sitting"
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A steady stream of people began to file into Main Engineering. Some yawned and straightened the uniform tunics they had hurried to throw on when the call came, waking them from sleep.
Some were in dressy civilian clothing, having come straight from Seven to obey the order to show up as they were. Within thirty seconds of arriving, they all had one thing on common; they were very busy people.
Lair Kellyn stood up on top of a step-ladder and addressed the assembly.
"I want six of you here at all times. If there are less than six people in this department at any time between now and when the last away team member comes home, somebody better be dead. Because if I find out that any of you went off-shift before we get our people back unless I sent you there myself, you will wish you were dead. Clear?"
Nods and groans went up around the room. The crew was quickly discovering that being led by Lair was a lot different than the calmer, logical and less-colorful management style of Salvek of Vulcan. She continued.
"The only way to bypass the burned out equipment quickly enough is for teams to get into the Jeffries tubes and start physically rewiring new power units to the transporter system. We don't have time to rip out the old ones entirely. It's going to look really, really ugly which goes against-" Kellyn visibly shuddered- "against every fiber of my being and every rule of my work ethic. But we have to settle for speed over elegance this time. We'll go back and clean up later. The tubes may look like they've been taken over by the tentacles of a sea serpent by the time we're done but by the Prophets, within two hours the transporters WILL be back on line. Questions?"
Ensign Xhian raised his hand gingerly.
"Ensign?"
"Would it not be more advisable to rethink the designs of the-"
"Ensign, you get a gold star for enthusiasm. Remind me to stick it to your forehead when we get back. But we have to redesign later. Fix now. Anyone else?"
"Team assignments, Commander?" Stratton asked nervously, praying with all his might that he wasn't going to draw the short straw and have to go into the tubes with the boss.
"They're noted on the main terminal- I left the screen up. You all know what you're supposed to do. Keep your com lines clear of unnecessary chatter and be prepared to give me reports every fifteen minutes on a rotating schedule. That means I should be hearing from somebody over the com every five minutes with some sort of really good news."
"Who will you be taking with you?" A voice asked at the back of the room, a face Kellyn couldn't make out.
"I'm taking our new friend Xhian here. Ensign, grab your tool kit, and mine. We're out of here." Kellyn hopped down from her perch and moved toward the door. Xhian retrieved the tools as instructed but paused as he went to hand her kit to her.
"Lt. Commander Lair, would you perhaps not like to take one of the officers with more seniority than I have?" Xhian began humbly, surprised by her choice when there were more experienced officers all around.
"I'm sure. You're my man. You're going to be my good luck charm." She moved out into the corridor with the Andorian/Borg hybrid on her heels.
"Good luck charm?"
"Yes," Kellyn said with a wry smile, thinking back to the time a decade ago when she was the newest engineer on this ship and she had been called upon to climb into a Jeffries tube with another man who was also very blue in complexion.
"I do well it seems when blue guys help me in the Jeffries' tubes." She pulled an access panel away from the wall and stopped cold. She shook head slightly and closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath before she prepared to climb in. "Let's go."
"Commander, are you quite all right?" Xhian asked. He was receiving detailed information on her physiology from his remaining Borg neurological implants. "Your respiration rate has increased. Your heartbeat is speeding up. You're perspiring."
"Thanks. What are you, Mr. Wizard?" She climbed up into the tube and reached back for her tools. Xhian climbed in behind her.
"I was just concerned. Your lungs."
"How do you know about my lungs?" Kellyn raised an eyebrow as she began climbing through the narrow space on hands and knees.
"It would be irresponsible of me not to read the personnel files of those who command me. I am aware of your physical limitations."
"Well, I try to view them more as challenges. So let's leave that alone for awhile." She continued to crawl.
"Your current symptoms are classic of anxiety or even a phobic attack." Xhian said thoughtfully. "I would not expect that from someone who has spent as much time in Jeffries tubes as you likely have."
"Well lately I'm not that good with confined spaces." Kellyn shuddered, thinking back to her time in the Io's escape pod.
She looked over the junction at which they found themselves and had a shiver run through her as she remembered the number and letter combination which identified this intersection of Jeffries tubes very clearly.
"Besides. I have a right to be nervous, being here. I died in this Jeffries tube once."
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Lt. Commander Lair Kellyn
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Independence NCC-90791