We Are Going On A Fuel Hunt And We Aren't Scared

Posted on Thu Jun 3rd, 2021 @ 3:39pm by Ensign Duncan McManus & Lieutenant Narv bim Huffill & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton & Ensign Michael Sloan & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Annikafiore Szerda

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Engineering Section; Caelestis
Timeline: Day 163 0930
1738 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

As the team set foot into what was agreed to be the engineering section, Petty Officer Jenkins let out a whistle as her eyes scanned over a large metallic vertical cylinder in the middle of the room that went up three decks, cast a bluish color by the lights at the top middle and bottom. Flanked around it on each deck were several smaller cylinders that glowed yellow from the reactions occurring within. Several stations could be seen a various spots around the compartment. "I've never quite seen anything like this," the engineering crewman mentioned in awe.

Lugging an equipment kit over her shoulder, Petty Officer Annikafiore Szerda trudged behind Jenkins. Even after a day of exploring this ship, Szerda was still moving awkwardly in her environmental suit. On stilted steps, Szerda veered off to admire one of the yellow cylinders, arcs of energy swirling within. She raised a hand scanner to assess the kind of power that was being generated or simply harnessed through the cylinder. Wide-eyed, Szerda remarked, "And here I thought the engineering deck aboard Atlantis was big..."

Duncan had been following slowly behind and stopped dead as he took it all in. There were no words to describe what he was seeing, he span around trying to take it all in but it was impossible to take it all at once. "Well, I never..." He muttered to himself dropping his equipment to the floor. "This is amazing. It is like every sci-fi film I have every seen joined together." He wanted to cry at how happy it made him to see something like that but stopped himself. He was an officer and he did not want to lose respect with everyone for crying over something so silly even if it made his soul happy.

Jenkins approached the central core, her gaze going up towards the top. "I wonder what speed this ship can do. Do you think it could get us home faster?" she asked optimistically.

A highly intrigued Chloe looked around the section she and the team had just entered. Approaching the large, glowing cylinder in the middle of the chamber, Chloe also removed her scanner and began to scan it. This enormous warp core looked nothing like any other she'd ever seen before, and it was clear from the initial scans the sheer amount of energy it was capable of producing was far, far beyond the warp reactor installed on the NX-class starship.

"I wouldn't mind finding that out myself, the amount of energy this thing is putting out is absolutely astonishing. Something on this scale will need a lot of fuel, too..." Chloe commented, her gaze alternating between the warp core to her scanner every few seconds or so.

"So, we just need to locate the fuel then," Jenkins said as she looked around the large engineering section. "Easier said than done. Whoever built this ship never did anything small apparently."

"Think about what we're going through to keep Atlantis going," Victoria remarked from her position admiring the warp core. "This thing would practically eat dilithium," she added, " I wouldn't want to run into another Vrav over crystals."

"I am thinking of just how creepy this place is." Duncan hated the fact he agreed with Victoria but he did, no matter how much he hated the logical side of his brain. The Atlantis was their home no matter how cramped and disagreeable she was and they needed to feed her before it was too late. “This ship has far too many unknowns for me to feel comfortable sleeping here.” He added gruffly in support of finding the fuel and carrying on with their journey.

Jenkins shrugged as she began to look about the large area. "Yeah but if this ship can even get us home in half the time, I say screw the Atlantis. She spotted what appeared to be a control area on the second level. "Looks like there is a control center up there," she pointed.

"We won't get anywhere speculating," the young engineer stated before Jenkins pointed out the control center. Victoria looked over toward Duncan, then back to Jenkins as the woman pointed. "We'll at least answer some of our questions. Let's check it out," Victoria chimed, lifting her scanner as she stepped toward the brains of the new ship.

Chloe looked at Victoria, and then the control area which she'd pointed out on the next level up. The fact the warp core was level with the deck seemed like a novelty to Chloe, with the control panel of the NX-class warp core being accessed by a raised platform. Although a very sound engine in her opinion, Chloe thought the general access to Henry Archer's engine was dreadful.

"We're not abandoning Atlantis, but we should probably go and check that panel out and see what we can find out," Chloe said.

"You're just going to walk in there?" Narv bim Huffill asked. He didn't bother masking his feelings on the subject to spare someone's feelings. In typical Tellarite style, he laid it out plainly, "That's not very bright. Haven't you ever heard of traps? Security measures?" He gestured to a nearby support pillar that stood between them and some of the more interesting equipment. "There could be canisters of acetylene and oxygen with a laser trigger rigged to explode just on the other side of that."

Duncan conceded that the Tellarite had a point but what choice did they have put to carry on and find the fuel. "What choice do we have?" Duncan wondered softly. He knew he was careful and trusted the other engineers to be careful and avoid explosion where and if possible but every second they wasted the less chance of keeping the Atlantis running.

"McManus is right, we don't have a choice. We need the fuel. Jenkins, you're with me - everyone else, keep having a look around down here and see what you can find. Let me know if there's anything you think we could put to good use" Chloe instructed, looking at each member of the team in turn.

Duncan did not like being right but time was of the essence. “Would it make any difference if I went first?” He demanded essentially putting himself forward for guinea pig. “Alleviate fears?”

Jenkins shrugged. "Works for me. Of course if you die, I'm taking your bunk," she joked.

"At least try not to die," chimed in Petty Officer Szerda in a bright timbre. She had continued her examination of the strange alien equipment. By studying the read-out on her hand-scanner, she still couldn't quite determine the purpose or the function of the towering cylinder. For all she knew, it could provide electroplasma for the impulse engines, or it could play a role in the matter/antimatter reactions. Or it was cycling out radioactive waste. She was sure it was one of the three. To clarify her earlier statement, Szerda called out to the adventurous team, "A particularly explosive death could ignite any deuterium you recover. ...Would be a terrible waste."

"I don't like this," Victoria said mostly to herself. She let her hand slide over a nearby control panel as she held up her scanner. Her readings did not give much of a hint to what the commands said or where the panel's wiring led. "Status control device, or auto-destruct," she shrugged to herself. Looking to the two brave souls who were about to risk everything, she said, "Be careful, though if Jenkins gets your bunk can I have your scanner? It's always been better than mine."

Duncan just held up his thumbs at both of the enlisted crewmembers as they offered advice and what would happen if he failed. It was typical of engineers and the man found it comforting as he pressed the door release and the door opened very slowly. He stepped inside and disappeared from sight but there were no explosions, no noise other than the machinery around them for a moment before Duncan's voice could be heard. "I think we have hit the jackpot." He called back.

Standing next to Lieutenant Atkinson, Narv gestured toward the door and asked, "Isn't this the part of your novels where he dies or gets dismembered or something?"

Chloe stood, her arms folded as best as they could be in a Starfleet issue environmental suit, unimpressed McManus had gone ahead instead of doing as she'd asked him to. But what was done was done and time was of the essence. Chloe had to admit was pretty hard to criticise Duncan's eagerness.

"Probably" Chloe replied, before moving towards the nearest console and attempting to work out what it was they were working with.

Jenkins stood on the lower platform when the sound of a door opening nearby echoed throughout the department. "What the hell was that?" she asked, looking around before spotting light now peering down an adjacent corridor. "Looks like there's a door that opened down here...." The sound of machinery stopped her mid sentence and then movement. "What the hell..." she began, shining her suit's lights down the corridor to see a hover sledge gliding along above the deck, carrying several canisters towards the main room where everyone was located.

McManus looked back as he heard silence and exclamations. "What is going on?" He demanded looking back through the door to see what was going on.

"Um, there appears to be automated hover sledges with containers on them headed this way," Jenkins replied as the first hover sledge entered the compartment.

McManus took a few steps back towards the group to see what they were seeing. “Well, could someone maybe stop it so we can focus on the fuel?” He wondered. What was it with this ship and automation? Give him the Atlantis any day of the week and knowing for the most part what was going to happen.

"Yeah..." Jenkins began as the sledges came to a halt nearby on their own. She stepped closer and looked at the containers. Seeing the containers full of what appeared to be deuterium, Jenkins stepped back. "No need to focus on the fuel...it's right here."

Duncan looked around nowhere near impressed. He did not like how easy that was to find some fuel. It was like someone had left it there to stop them from looking any further. It only made him want to look more.