Cold Open in Engineering MISSION START

Posted on Sat Oct 1st, 2022 @ 5:05am by Commander Benjamin Jamesson & Ensign Duncan McManus & Ensign Michael Sloan & Ensign Victoria Jemison & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Kiyara de Vos

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Main Engineering, Deck E
Timeline: Day 330 07:30, MD 00
1707 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

The newly implemented shift system certainly made life easier, however it did bring along a few complications. Among those was the morning meeting. It was a designed overlap between the third and first shift leaders. It was a simple meeting to go over anything that may have happened overnight, new procedures, and as a way to keep things consistent so the teams were not working over each other or neglecting important events. In their designated meeting area, which was just the standing area to the side of the warp engine. PADD in hand, Michael joined the gathering group that looked almost looked like a teaching hospital gathering the residents for morning rounds.

By now, engineering had become home for Michael. He had spent most of his career with a phase pistol at the ready, or was it in the bowels of a Romulan ship tearing apart technology? Either way, he felt like his work meant something and was becoming fulfilling. The dull hum of the engine was always a welcome sound, as well as the gentle pulsations in the deck as the warp engine generated and used more energy than any power plant constructed on Earth before this century. "How did the night go, anything we need to keep an eye on?" Michael asked Benjamin. He was expecting the usual, an uneventful rundown of various fluctuations or other anomalies but mostly a good report. The biggest concern was that the Atlantis had been at constant warp for more time than it had during the duration of their journey thus far.

Benjamin had been surprised to be put on the night shift and be given something to do other than doing something mundane and repetitive. He had not expected anything of the sort but Sloan had treated him as an equal which had made a load of difference to the man settling in in somewhere that was familiar but so different. The man realized he had been deep in thought for a moment and quickly threw on a look of thinking before shaking his head. “It was pretty quiet though I did not like the heat that was coming from the engines. I felt they were two hot places but apart from that nothing really.” It really had been pretty normal and slow but something about the hot spots did not sit well with him but he could not find any cause for it.

Taking note of the hot spots, Michael made a few notes on his PADD to have them checked. Perhaps they needed to adjust the coolant levels a bit to compensate. Looking to Victoria, Sloan said, "When we're done here, hop on the console to see what can be done." While young, he had been impressed by her talent as an engineer and had begun to give her more responsibilities. If they were going to survive out here for the duration, skills would need to be passed down as soon as possible. It was part of the reason he had allowed Benjamin to hit the ground running, knowledge of the ship and what made it go was limited to those in this room. Were there ever an emergency, the knowledge lost could be irreplaceable.

Turning toward McManus and Kiyara, Sloan asked, "Does anyone have anything else to add or questions?" It was part of his daily routine. He wanted everyone to feel as though they could ask any question or push forward any idea to better the ship. They needed creativity and his philosophy was that a dumb question was better than no question.

After all of the events with Smith Kiyara was just happy to be back in this room, talking about engineering issues. They were slated to work the day shift and had been scrolling through the reported issues list and took this time to organise them for the most efficient route of repairs. When the room turned quiet they looked up and realised the eyes of the other had landed on them. "I have quite an extensive list of minor maintenance that needs doing, nothing exciting really. No questions."

As if on cue with the last person speaking up, a panel on the side of the warp engine practically erupted. The casing blew into the ceiling as flames and smoke billowed from the opening. Alarm klaxons blared and emergency lighting flashed. Before anyone could react, the ship violently lurched as the warp bubble collapsed. Catching himself from falling, Michael rushed to grab a fire extinguisher. "Shut down the engine!" Sloan ordered as the engine attempted to keep the ship in warp but was only succeeding in increasing its own heat. He began spraying the fire retardant into the burst panel. They needed to avoid a coolant leak at all costs.

Benjamin took off to start the engine lockdown process with Kiyara in tow as Mcmanuse stayed behind to damage control what he could. He knew the process by heart even with the ship lurching violently around them as it tried to maintain warp. “Get that valve.” He yelled at the petty officer over the claxon.

Kiyara was already sprinting to the indicated valve. It was nothing like the emergency drills. The heat of the core erupting was immediately repressive, beating down on them. The second they touched the valve the sound and smell of singing flesh filled the room. They gritted their teeth and with their full weight were able to pull it in the closed position. When they pulled their hand back the pain radiated across their entire lower arm, but this was far from done. They slid under the warp core and used their good hand to start removing an access panel.

Having put out the fire, Sloan more or less jumped from the access platform and quickly made his way to the main console. In the current state, the engine could do very little for the ship. Right now, the only thing that mattered was limiting the damage. With Kiyara and Benjamin sliding under the warp core to do their work, Sloan could begin the process of emergency shutdown on his end. He called over to Victoria, "Empty the coolant pipes! Begin emergency shutdown procedures." They did not have much time if they wanted to have any kind of hope of getting the ship warp-capable ever again.

"On it," called out Victoria. Under normal circumstances, she would have been a low level nobody. But, out here she had been able to prove herself to be capable of more responsibility and held more of a role than someone almost a year out of the academy would have. But, they were now faced with a situation that could doom all of them to terrible deaths. Were they closer to home, there would be some hope for rescue. But not here. At the console, she only hoped that the engine had not crossed the threshold of what could be saved. She began tapping at commands to begin the process of shutting systems down so the danger of secondary critical failures would become less.

McManus was already dealing with the fire compression equipment as another console sparked trying to limit the spread of the fire as he watched Jamesson work. It was like deja vu for the man that he shook himself out off. "Kiyara be careful," Benjamin said quickly using their first name to keep her attention on what they were doing instead of their arm.

It was at that moment that the real horror show began. The event that Michael feared the most happened when the coolant tanks on either side of the warp engine ruptured, leaking deadly gas into Main Engineering. Immediately rushing to the main console, he called out an order that he never wanted to give, "Evacuate Engineering! Now! I'm initiating complete shutdown of the engine." Even at his maximum volume, his voice only just carried over the alarm klaxons and the rush of the coolant gases as they escaped their confinement. His fingers danced over the main console as the warp engine powered down. With the engine off, the Chief Engineer moved to the task of evacuating his crew.

Benjamin did it hear the voice but he saw the signs and grabbed Kiyara from under where they had been attempting to stop from anything getting worse. “Move.” He advised putting them in front of him as he put his sleeve over his mouth and joined Sloan.

Suddenly Kiyara felt two hands on their hips and got pulled out from under the engine. When she wanted to protest they heard the blaring alarms and saw everyone rushing for the exit. It was clear some sort of evac order was called but they hadn't noticed. They'd have to thank Benjamin when things calmed down. Once they made their way out of the main engineering room the fatigue and pain overcame them and they slumped against the far wall, letting out a breath that felt like they had held it for the last fifteen minutes and cradling their burnt hand.

Shaking her head in frustration at the situation as she set the heavy doors to close, Victoria rushed to join the group as they began the evacuation of Engineering. Tears began to run down her cheek as the sum of all of her fears seemed to be coming true in front of her. Home never felt so far away.

Pausing at the slowly closing doors, Michael motioned for his group to continue through the doors. He looked around the engineering room to look for anyone who had been left behind. The quick moving cloud of coolant gas made the task difficult. "Is everyone accounted for?" he called back to Benjamin.

Benjamin nodded as he bent over and wheezed as he finished counting everyone. “Yes ensign.” The man said shaking the dizziness away as the door sealed. “Everyone is here and intact.” An evacuation did not always end like that.

“Good work,” Michael said as the doors sealed behind him. Calculating in his head, the Chief Engineer ordered, “We have an hour before the coolant is vented out enough for us to safely enter. When we get back, it’s our job to assess the damage and get us flying again.”