Facing Facts

Posted on Tue Oct 4th, 2022 @ 9:04am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Day 330 19:55
1260 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth looked around engineering and saw the tired faces of the engineers that were there, it had been hours since the engine had tried but they were no further forward in things at all with very limited power. Duncan raised a hand in wave before he carried on with the console that he was rewiring that had blown in the initial incident.

The Captain passed several crewmen that look like they were about to fall asleep sat on the floor trying to rearrange chips and pieces of equipment that Beth did not understand in the slightest but there were determinedly not moving. But none of them were who were the person she was looking for she came carrying two containers one holding soup and the other holding coffee that she was pretty sure that both were very much needed. She needed to know honestly what the status was without anyone else around.

“Coffee or soup first?” Beth said finally as she found Michael going over specifications alone in a corner of Engineering.

His uniform was dirty and displayed a scorch mark or two, which matched the sooty rest of him. "Soup," Michael replied, almost too far gone to given any outward sign of emotion. All of them looked like they had been in the trenches for a week, even if it had only been measured in hours. He motioned Beth to a more secluded side storage area of the room where they could talk without being heard.

Beth followed and handed over the soup. "SO truthfully how bad?" Beth asked taking in engineering from her location. Everything was a mess, she had not seen this much damage

The soup's taste felt almost as though it were a five-course meal in one of Earth's most luxurious hotels. But, that did not change the situation they found themselves in. "It's bad," he stated simply. Motioning with his hands to indicate the scorch marks with some kind of residue left by a smoky substance. "We kept the Warp Engine from exploding, but we had a massive fire and coolant leak which forced us to evacuate." Michael's eyes sort of moved straight ahead into a thousand-yard stare. "We won't know the prognosis fully for a few more hours."

"Okay.... is everyone okay?" Beth demanded quickly. She could see the damage easy enough but fire and coolant leak was enough to tell her that the situation was bad and they would not be moving anywhere for a while.

"No casualties," Sloan replied. "Burns, scrapes, other injuries you'd expect in a rushed evacuation. Most people are still working, but I sent a few up to Sickbay. Possible concussion, things like that," he continued. He was purposely leaving out the report of the warp engine. The full extent of the damage would not be known for some time.

Beth sighed. Another day, another drama but this time it was something a lot more dire than anything they had faced since the Vrav. The heart of their home was damaged, and something had caused it. “Well that’s a miracle.” She knew the damage from the bridge had been minor thanks to no one having been moving around.

Falling back on the old habit of rubbing his forehead where the Romulan ridges had previously been, Sloan shook his head slightly. "I wouldn't call it a miracle yet," he solemnly pointed out to the Captain. Pointing back toward the warp engine, he added, "Best case scenario, we are going to be stuck a few weeks. Worst case, we'll never get to warp again." He did not have to dive into the implications of the worst case scenario. It was something every person aboard the Atlantis knew and feared. "We just won't know until the diagnostics finish and it is safe to open up certain parts of the engine."

“I will call it that as no one died. Death has been a theme so far.” Beth answered back quietly and held out the thermal mug of coffee. “Worst case scenario I need to look for M class planet then.” Beth said quietly. It had always been in the back of her mind as well as other senior officers if the ship ever lost warp capacity there was no point in trying to get home that they would need to find a planet to at least try and make the best of it.

"If we can't make it back to warp, a Minshara Class planet could still make this a generational ship with no wiggle room for resources," Michael replied, still not seeing the so called miracle. If they got lucky and found a nearby system that fit their needs, the journey would still be measured in years. Was it better to survive a quick death only to suffer starvation or suffocation before the end? That was the weight that he was now carrying. If they could not resurrect the warp engine, the entire crew would be doomed to agony.

“What choice do we have Michael?” Beth demanded softly trying to not be unkind under pressure when she could already feel that he was under a pressure enough already.

"I did not say we shouldn't try," Michael replied, not really in the mood for words to be put in his mouth. He and his team were doing literally everything that they could do to make the ship move again. His team had not only taken the brunt of the explosion, they were taking on the lion's share of the work. He was simply managing expectations. Looking down at the finished coffee and soup, "Thank you for this, but I should get back to the team." His tone carried no hint of what he felt, and now was not the time to argue.

“I know you did not say that but I have to be four steps ahead and think of the what if’s and what nots. Price of leadership and have 70 lives to look after..” Beth commented truly for once sounding like a Captain should. Beth held out her hands to take the empty containers.

Handing over the empty containers, Sloan stood from where they were sitting. "Either way this ends, we're going to be out here longer than two or three Human lifetimes. If we can get moving, we will have to cut down on speed and duration of warp jumps. If we can't, the time between systems will increase dramatically. The journey to the next system could equal the original estimate home. Either way, we are a long way from whatever we as the crew want to call home." Wiping away some of the grime from his face with his sleeve, he added, "As your Chief Engineer, I can only give you the facts. What to do with those facts is up to you."

“Yes it is Ensign..” Beth said with a nod doing what she had always promised him if it came to it that she would be the greater good ahead of anything else. It was that weight that kept her awake some night but she had no choice to just keep moving forward with the choices that were made. “You know where I am if you need … anything.” She said as her way of farewell as she turned to leave.

Shaking his head at the odd interaction, Sloan followed in awkward silence as they entered into the main part of engineering. “What have you got for me?” He called out to Victoria as he slipped back into work mode. He had a job to do.