By LT. Commander Lair Kellyn
80201.20
Following Between the Lines
80201.20
Following Between the Lines
--=Engineering, USS Alchemy,(in its bay aboard Serendipity)=--
"I still don't like it." Lair Kellyn quietly confided in Rada Dengar, as he handed her tools from her kit one by one, and they tried together to dislodge a particularly stubborn power transfer conduit that had been fused into place when the Alchemy's trans-warp drive blew.
"I don't understand why they're sending us, when the Sera hasn't even had a proper shake down yet. Aren't they worried about risking the prototype by putting it in such close proximity to such a volatile situation?"
Rada reserved comment, not sure if it was his place to agree with her or not, and so just settled on half nodding, half shaking his head, and handing her another clamp.
Once they had the hydraulic clamps in place, they could wrench the assembly free, clean out the remaining charred bits beneath, and then get to work putting in a new component.
"Over all the shape Alchemy is in is remarkable," she continued, quite capable of sustaining a conversation by herself when the other participant preferred to take full advantage of their right to remain silent.
"She won't be jumping to trans-warp anytime soon but the standard warp drive is on line and she is space worthy thanks to the hard work you've all put in," She nodded to Rada, as well as Avery Breaux who was walking past, clearly absorbed in the tasks that he'd taken on.
"I just don't understand why they didn't," Lair stopped. Several young crewmen were now working nearby and she didn't want them to hear one of the senior staff questioning the Captain's decision to accept the mission instead of fighting Admiral Vox on it.
"Anyway." She affixed another clamp and then rose from the floor, assuming a kneeling position. "Ready Rada? I'm about to activate the clamps," She flipped a switch on each, and then nodded to him.
Rada grabbed the two closest to him, and Kellyn the two nearest her. "On three."
"Actually on three? Or on the beat after three?" Rada asked.
He had found that people had different ways of counting down, and he didn't want Lair to injure herself pulling alone if he got it wrong. Likewise, he didn't want to get injured either, should she be the one who started pulling after he'd already yanked on the clamps.
"On three." Kellyn replied slowly, raising an eyebrow as if asking what other possible way you'd do it.
"One, two, three."
Both engineers pulled, and after a moment, the assembly broke free and they held it between them. They set it down into a recycling bin next to Kellyn, and she assessed it sadly.
"Pathetic."
They each stared at it a moment, then at each other, in their own way observing a moment of silence for the poor, incinerated machinery.
"Okay. Now, we need to get some polarizing. . ." Lair stopped when she saw Keiran O'Sullivan from security approaching, tricorder in hand, a serious expression upon his face.
He was followed by three more security officers, and finally by Salvek, whose expression was neutral, as she would expect it to be. He also was scanning.
"Hello boys, anything I can. . .do for. . .?" She watched them press on, ignoring her and continuing to scan.
"I'll be right back. Keep working on that assembly please." She instructed Dengar, and then she fell into step behind Salvek.
"Pardon me, Commander? Can I ask why whatever you're doing is more important than," she waited until the security detail had moved on and the two of them were alone. "Than saying hello to your wife?"
"I am sorry, Kellyn. I am busy."
Kellyn folded her arms. "I can see that," she grumbled. "I wanted to know what with? Should we evacuate the area if-"
Salvek held a finger to his lips, and then signed to her.
[[Both ships have been wired for sound.]]
Kellyn's expression turned sour. She gestured toward his tricorder with her eyes, and he relinquished it to her.
She had spent more time in Alchemy's main engineering department than he had, and she would likely, given her history growing up in a family so involved in the Bajoran resistance, have a good idea where she would have wanted to plant a device here- any devise, that might cause trouble.
Sure enough, merely seconds into her search she found the first unwelcome addition to the ship's equipment.
Within fifteen minutes, O'Sullivan and his security team along with Kellyn herself had gone over every inch of the area and found three so-called bugs; two in the main open room of engineering proper, and one in Lair's office.
Once O'Sullivan had disabled them, Lair fumed aloud.
"Those are unlike any audio surveillance devices that I've ever seen."
"Indeed." Salvek offered her no more information, and so Kellyn did not bother to ask if he knew who had planted them.
Salvek took his tricorder back from her. "Do you think, Commander Lair, that the Alchemy will be flight-worthy by the time we are within range of Beta-626?"
"Well, yeah, but, hey," Kellyn put her hands on her hips. "The Captain isn't still considering sending Alchemy out there ahead of the Sera? Not when we have perfectly good shuttle craft. . .and the aerowing. . ."
"The decision has been made that it would be better to risk fewer lives aboard the Alchemy and keep the Serendipity at a greater distance from the danger." Salvek replied. "However the Captain is not convinced that either a shuttle or the aerowing Polaris could withstand the forces they may be subjected to."
"Commander," Lair was careful about her tone and her choice of words considering all the people coming and going around them. "I thought that logic dictated that Alchemy is Starfleet's prime mission for the Serendipity, and therefore protecting her came before anything else."
"I have made your objections known to the Captain, and she remarked that you should consider them noted." Salvek replied. "As yet we are unsure if we even can launch Alchemy near the star. It may already be too unstable for any ship to approach as closely as Starfleet had hoped."
"Well, I'm still objecting!" Kellyn repeated, as she returned to her work. "Alchemy is just starting to turn the corner. I don't want her to round that corner only to smash directly into a brick wall."
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Lt. Commander Lair Kellyn
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012