The Trouble with Shuttlepods
Posted on Fri Jun 10th, 2022 @ 1:14pm by Ensign Michael Sloan
Edited on on Fri Jun 10th, 2022 @ 3:10pm
Mission:
Mission 6 - Memory
Location: Launch Bay, Deck E
Timeline: Day 296, 09:00
1009 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure
Things had started to become routine for Michael in his new position as the Chief Engineer. A call to the shuttle pod bay was most definitely something different, something to take him out of the same old calculations and mixture ratios. With his repair kit in hand, Sloan stepped through the doors of the pod bay. “I heard there’s an issue with the shuttlepod,” he called out, hoping Samantha was nearby.
Samantha's head popped out of the side hatch of Shuttlepod One with her disheveled hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was tired and frustrated with the Shuttlepod. She had helped to basically rebuild it after the Vrav came very close to destroying the small shuttlepod. The Vrav--there was one species she hoped to never see again. "Hey! Yeah, Shuttlepod One's power grid keep failing and I can't figure out the reason why to save my life."
Placing the repair kit on a portable table just to the side of the shuttle kit, Michael ran his hand on the underbelly of the shuttlepod. It was not really going to help, but touching the small craft seemed to start up whatever part of his brain contained engineering details. Knowing better than to question months of work that did not fix the problem, Michael looked to Samantha and asked, "What kind of diagnostic programs have you ran on the shuttlepod? Does the power suddenly drop or is it more gradual?"
"I've just got through doing a level two diagnostic with no results," she sighed. "The power levels will be fine and then drop suddenly without warning. No alarms, warnings, or any indications of something wrong," she explained as she leaned against the hatch entrance of the shuttlepod.
“Mind if I pop the hood?” Michael replied, indicating the engine access as he used an old Earth expression. In his tool kit, he possessed a tool that would run a quick diagnostic report of the function of the powerhouse of the shuttlepod. He removed that device from its place and held it in his hands.
"Be my guest," she gestured as she watched Sloan move towards the shuttlepod and then start working on it. She hoped that he could identify the problem because the ship needed both shuttlepods to be operational. "So how is it going in Engineering? Fitting in ok with your post?" she asked, trying to make conversation, as well as to learn more about the man.
Having experience with the tear down of shuttlepods was certainly no comparison to fixing one in the real world, Michael quickly decided as he looked over the powerhouse of the shuttle. “So far everyone just kind of accepts me,” he replied. “Engineers are a funny sort, the job doesn’t come with the same level of trust but verify that the others have. So as long as I don’t blow up the ship in a dilithium mixture error, they don’t mind taking orders.” It was meant as a joke. Looking over to Samantha, Sloan asked, “How about you, enjoying my old job as XO?” It was a genuine question, not born from slight or jealousy.
"To be honest, not really. I was much happier when all I had to do was worry about flying. Now, I have the Captain as well as the crew to worry about on top of flying. You seemed to make it look easy." If they were back near Earth, she would certainly be the youngest XO in Starfleet history. Heck, who was she kidding, if they were back near Earth, she would had never become XO at her age.
"All we had to worry about when I was XO was a food crisis." Michael pointed out as he scanned the shuttle's insides. "You've had to deal with the UT going offline, the discovery of a future ship, the Captain getting captured, and a Romulan infiltrator being discovered," he compared the two. "You have had more to do." As he came to the power conduit that supplied the comm array, his scanner began to chirp slightly. "Interesting," Michael stated. "I think I found the problem," he added as he opened his tool kit.
"Actually, the captain had dealt with those loads more than I," she replied, annoyed that the Captain kept putting herself at risk. Sure, there was no order against the Captain going into dangerous situations at the moment but the ship would be in horrible shape--at least morale wise if something happened to the captain. "What do you have?" she questioned as she approached him.
"I never got to see this in practice, so to speak," Michael explained. "But, my job in the Empire was to reverse engineer and test foreign tech. Shuttlepods have a faulty connection with the power relay," he said, pointing at a junction in the cables. "The connector is made from a material that cannot handle the amount of power needed and will short out unexpectedly. It's an easy fix, but you have to know where to look."
"I see..." Sam replied thoughtfully as she watched Sloan work. It was an interesting issue but one she felt unsure of due to the reason he knew about the problem. "Well I'm glad you were here to discover it. I could kill the person who originally designed the shuttlepod."
"Not a problem," Michael smiled. "I'm glad at least one person is glad I was around, not reminding me what happens to traitors," he only half joked. At that moment, Sloan's communicator chirrped with a summons back to Engineering. Apparently there was an issue with one of the doors getting stuck. "As they say, duty calls," Michael added. Turning back as he began walking out the door as if remembering something, the Chief Engineer added, "Give it a test run and let me know if there are any issues. I don't want it to overload when we have a crew lost in space because of a bad connection." Satisfied, Sloan turned and made his way out of the shuttlepod bay.
