Damage Control

Posted on Mon Jun 15th, 2020 @ 9:01pm by Ensign Duncan McManus & Lieutenant Commander Lukas Carter & Ensign Victoria Jemison

Mission: Mission 3 - 100
Location: Deck C- Engineering Lab
Timeline: Day 29, Month 2, Year 0 08:00
1038 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Duncan could not say that he was happy about this meeting but it was a meeting that had to happen now that they had somewhere to hide and do some much-needed repairs on the outside of the ship. He did not like the thought of going outside the vessel when they were on the run but to survive they needed to be able to repair the hull breach that was around deck F to allow the science labs to be unsealed and used again and to make some modifications to vulnerable areas of the ship that had been hit in the last firefight.

Duncan did not realise that he would be the first to the meeting and sat idly in the Engineering lab waiting for everyone to turn up. This was so far from what he what used to but so familiar in the same respect. It was a ship and the ship was in trouble it just did not have his family onboard. It was hard to admit that he missed them suddenly when he had done everything in his power to escape them.

Livingston walked into the engineering lab and found a seat. He nodded to McManus as he sat. The repair to the ship now was paramount. Trouble is, how do we repair it, short of finding a repair yard? It's going to require many people, working outside on the ship.

"Forgive my tardiness," Lukas announced, stepping into the lab. "Too many places to be and not enough time in the day." He took a seat at the table in the middle of the room and set his nearly empty tumbler of coffee on the edge of the large screen inlaid into its surface.

"Sorry for being late, that shell... or whatever it was... didn't like our power conduits," Victoria added. Her uniform and face had a few smudges of grime and her usually neat auburn hair was slightly disheveled. She grabbed an open seat as she looked at the rest of those gathered.

Duncan smiled at the people who joined him waiting in the Engineering lab. He hated being the first to arrive or the one left alone with the senior officer having to make small talk. He hated small talk as it was nonsense. " Seems to be a lot of it going around." The man commented waiting for the Chief Engineer to start talking about the damage and what they were needed for.

"Let's keep this brief," Carter said. He pulled up a schematic of the Atlantis on the computer panel in front of him. Red markings highlighted damaged sections across the ship. "Damage to the saucer section is most severe on B and C Deck," He said, pointing to the diagram. "And we have damage along the port engine pylon. Both sections will require EVA work to manage the repairs."

Being that she was one of the only ones who enjoyed EVA training, Victoria lifted her hand a bit as she said, "I'll volunteer for either of the EVA assignments. I specialized in EVA repairs at the Academy."

Duncan glanced to his left surprised that someone other than him was as quick with the request to go play outside. The man had been doing it since he was big enough to fit in one of the only suits his family had. He lazily followed suit putting his hand up but said nothing for the moment.

"Maybe we can outfit one of the shuttle pods with mechanical arms to assist in the repair," Livingston suggested.

"That would be helpful, though they aren't known to have the deft touch needed to do the mechanical work," Victoria pointed out. She looked toward Ben and added, "It would be more than helpful to get a different viewing angle to see the damage that we'd miss on foot. And, the scanners would be nice."

"It's the pilots, ensign, not the shuttle pods that have the soft touch," replied Ben,

"Either way it would be helpful Sir. They will allow us to be able to manoeuvre a little more than normal." Duncan commented on a shrug at his fellow Ensigns as a few crewmen nodded in agreement with him. "I would appreciate being able to see the damage around the cargo bay and be 100 percent sure the science lab is fixed."

"I can have a pod ready in an hour....two hours if you want the arms installed." Ben replied.

"Try with the arms," Lukas said. "We're going to need heavy lifting sooner rather than later from the work pods. We have to be prepared to refit the ship in the field without the assistance of any yard facilities."

Ben stood. "I'll get right to work." And headed to the door.

"I do not believe this is over Ensign," Duncan muttered looking at the Chief Engineer to be sure but there was so much to discuss it would take a bit longer for sure. Duncan had a list of things that were needing to go through other than the repair to the ship. People were eager to get on but being eager sometimes led to sloppy work and Duncan as someone who prided himself on doing a job once and doing it well, he would not allow it.

In his haste to get started on the modifications on the pod, he didn't realize that they wanted him to wait, so he returned to his seat and sat down. "I apologize."

Lukas narrowed his eyes and looked from Ensign Livingston to Ensign McManus. "Is there something I should be aware of between the two of you?" Carter asked. He set his datapad down and waited for an answer.

Ben looked at Lukas. "Not that I am aware of sir, In my eagerness to get started, I was wrong in trying to leave before the meeting was over."

"Not Sir but we do not need eagerness. We need to plan this properly. We do not want to be like the Columbia and we do not have a dry dock to repair anything." Mcmanus said quickly before he returned to looking at the PADD he had with him on the list of things that were to be done.

TRUNCATED