Putting Heads Together

Posted on 09 Dec 2024 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant JG Lisald Vaat & Lieutenant Liala Ziyal

2,111 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Stranded
Location: Bridge, then Primary Communications Array

ON

Lisald, dejected and completely confused at the chewing out he had just gotten, obeyed his Captain and approached his Chief of Science. Lisald's eyes were down, shoulders forward, feet all but dragging on the deck. "Reporting as ordered," he said, his tone low, and quiet. It was all he could muster at this point.

Usually a chipper and upbeat person Liala could help but smile lightly at her assistant chief. Even now letting heads drop was a dangerous game and one she didn't feel like playing. Having just arrived on the bridge and speaking briefly with the captain she found they were in much dire straits than first thought. Lieutenant Lisad looked especially down, maybe he had lost people on the bridge he knew well but still she would ask. "Everything alright Lieutenant? I know we've not had any chance to get to know each other but I'd like you to know you can still talk to me and I'll try to help?"

Lisald attempted a half-hearted smile, but could not seem to make his face do anything. "Yeah, I know," he stated. He would like to talk to her, but with the Captain only a few feet away, it was not feasible. If it had been normal operations, with reports coming in, conversations happening, the normal hum of the air circulators and routine hustle and bustle around the bridge, maybe he could have talked to her, but with the Bridge so quiet right now, there simply was no way without being overheard. He felt if he said something, the Captain would bounce off every flat surface he could find, and Lieutenant Ziyal would be collateral damage. Lisald was not willing to accept that. "Perhaps another time." He then pivoted the conversation. "I wish we had some sort of communication going with the rest of the ship. This quietness is disturbing."

Sensing his reluctance Liala didn't want to press whatever was bothering him. This wasn't the time or place given who was present and their current situation. "Yeah, I agree... although the feelings swirling around the ship are more unsettling to me." she admitted with her empathetic sense feeling somewhat overpowering at the moment. "Do we have portable subspace communicators on board?" she asked. "Please tell me they weren't in the science pod?" she added rhetorically.

Lisald nodded his head. "They were. Regulation 1047.8.8 states that all the emergency communications equipment is stored on Sub-Deck B, storage locker o Alpha." He laughed once, more in irony than in humor. "The only reason I know that is because I just inventoried the storage lockers on that deck a few days ago. I do not believe Starfleet ever considered a whole pod being destroyed."

"Do we know the extent of the damage to deck 5?" Liala countered. "If we can reach the primary communications array, perhaps we can repurpose it for internal use, enabling our comm badges." She bit her lip as she pondered, a subconscious habit when deep in thought or concentration.

Shaking his head in the negative, Lisald said, "No, we don't. However, since you came up from that way, and Commander Stovek went out that way," he said pointing to the fore hatch and aft hatch, respectively, "And Lieutenant Seitha came up through there," the Bajoran stated, pointing to the partially open, and vacant, turbolift shaft "It is reasonable to say that access to deck 5 is open. But the extent of damage? There is no way knowing. Ma'am," he began, "If we go there, what would we do without any power?" Lisald then clapped his mouth shut and put his hand over his mouth, eyes wide in surprise. "Sorry, Lieutenant, that was uncalled for," he apologized. "Maybe we could find some portable power generators nearby to get diagnostics of the system, or maybe even get it working, if only briefly. I bet Captain Bane," he said, thumbing over his shoulder in the general direction of the Captain, "Would appreciate even a few minutes of conversation with other parts of the ship."

"That was my thinking, Lieutenant." Liala affirmed, nodding towards her science station. She habitually stashed a spare power pack underneath it. It wasn't standard Starfleet protocol, but her penchant for preparedness compelled her to keep a small emergency kit there, filled with various items. Dipping her hand in and sifting through the contents, she retrieved the energy pack. "I believe this will provide us with just enough power to conduct a diagnostic and figure out our next steps," she said, pausing to glance at Lisald. "If you're up for a little trip?" she asked.

Lisalds whole demeanor perked up. "Oh, absolutely! Let's do this!" He was anxious to get off the bridge, and to do some good.

"Great!" Liala exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Take this and meet me at the jeffries tube entrance. I'll inform the captain about our little excursion," she said, handing him the compact pack she had prepared, particularly the small power pack she had uncovered.

The conversation with Captain Bane was brisk, a 'let's try this and see what happens' sort of discussion. With the ship in dire straits, Captain Bane seemed relieved to consider any available options.

In no time at all, Lisald and Liala found themselves on deck 5, scrutinising the communications array. "Are you familiar with engineering or power distribution?" she inquired, hoping not to exacerbate the situation. "I've completed some engineering extension courses..."

Lisald looked at his boss, the left side of his mouth arching upwards. "Heh, same. When I was the Chief of Operations, I was working on educating myself, but didn't get too far into it before I came back to the Sciences. I know enough to be dangerous, I think." He looked to the communications array junction, then scanned it. "Uh, what do you think," he said, tilting the tricorder over to Lieutenant Ziyal.

"Sounds like you'd know more than me." Liala chuckled. "It looks like the junction overloaded here." she pointed to some rather ugly looking scorch marks. "If we bypass that and hook up our little power pack then maybe we can get this functioning again?" she ended up asking it instead of sounding confident that the idea would work.

The Bajoran scrunched his already-lined nose up, thinking through the problem. "Yes," he said, nodding. "I think that would work. Maybe tap the bypass pathway in that junction over there, and reroute it around this burned out one." Lisald then pivoted. "Lieutenant, do you think we are going to make it out of this alive?" Vaat had to be strong for the lower deckers he had encountered earlier, but now he could let some of his fear come out and talk about it, especially now that nobody else was around. Most importantly, the Captain.

Liala appreciated that her and Lisald's thinking aligned; it simplified life and boosted their teamwork efficiency. "Let's start then," she declared, initiating their movement.

He posed the question, the very one she had pondered and the crew had quietly feared since the incident. "I believe we will," she responded, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What has occurred is beyond belief. Our small vessel, now vulnerable and damaged, reveals the precariousness of space life. I may not yet fully know the crew, but there's a palpable sense of resolve aboard, as best as my empathy sense can tell me. We're uniting, seeking survival strategies, and once we restore communications, our chances to return home will only improve," she continued, her voice steady. Pausing, Liala considered her next words. Despite her fatigue, she chose to speak them. "I survived the Borg ravaging my home, Vaat. I refuse to die here."

The junior science officer drew strength from his superior officer. "I had no idea, truly," he said. He cupped her hand under his on his shoulder. "Yes, we will get through this. Thank you for that." He inhaled deeply through his nose, then let it out in a huff through his mouth, symbolically pushing away the doubts and fears he was feeling. "Where would you like me? Over there working on that junction, or over here calibrating and adjusting?" It was going to take teamwork to get this system working again, and he was excited to be a part of the team.

"I'll take the junction." Liala replied. "You have more of a background in operations than I so hopefully that'll come in handy when recalibrating the power and I'll focus on diverting it to where it needs to go. How's that sound?" she asked.

Lisald smiled. "Sounds perfect, Lieutenant." Vaat stepped away from his boss and took up station at the terminal on the bulkhead. It wasn't as nice as the ones in the corridors, but it did its job a lot better than those, since this was a dedicated piece of hardware and software. He logged into the system and maneuvered to the right program, having some difficulty with it. The computer core was still barely operating, so he had to navigate around until he was able to access the system he needed. "Ok, ready when you are," he said, raising his voice some so she could hear him down the tubes.

Liala took up her position by the junction and began a physical reroute. The burnt out hardware in place would definitely need replaced once they were rescued or managed to get some kind of help. She truly believed they would make it out of this and move forward. It would take time and she knew there had been great loss of life but doing this, regaining some form of communication would work wonders on the crew's morale and help them function better. "Good to go!" she yelled back to him and waited for the junction to hopefully light up in their favour.

The Bajoran tapped a few commands and watched, hoping against hope that what they were doing would work. After a moment of waiting, Lisald slumped his shoulders forward. It didn't work, and he knew why. "There isn't enough power with the auxilary power unit working at partial capacity to get this system running, Lieutenant. Even if we attached batteries to it, it would only work for minutes, I think."

Just as the words left his mouth, several things happened. First, a power surge ran through the conduits, lighting up all the lights and indicators for the communications systems. Second, everything powered back on. Third, several systems around, below and above both Lieutenant Ziyal and Lieutenant Lisald, causing both of them to yelp and scream in surprise. "What did you do," Lisald asked her, eyes wide in surprise. It appeared main power had just come back online. Lisald looked from his panel back to his boss. "I think if you activate the servos, and add in a piggyback protection subroutine, we could have comms back with our commbadges!"

The lights coming on definitely gave Liala a start! "I didn't do anything! I just rerouted the power conduit!" she laughed nervously but also gratefully. Moving her hands across the junction once again and then pushing a few of the controls on the above console she paused and looked at Lisald. Taking a deep breath she pressed the badge on her chest.

=/\= Lieutenant Ziyal to Captain Bane, can you hear me sir? =/\= she asked in hope.

The excited voice of Captain Bane greeted both Ziyal and Lisald. Lisald looked to Ziyal in surprise and in good humor at the tone of his voice, until the news had dropped. =/\=I hear you, Lieutenant. Whatever you did, outstanding work. I need you to get to the Bridge though. It looks like we may have to defend the ship. Get here as quickly as you can. Bane out. =/\= An instant later on both Lisald and Ziyal's commbadges came the Captain's voice. =/\=Attention all hands. Red alert. Arm yourselves if you can. Defend the ship. This is not a drill.=/\=

"What the...." Lisald said before being interrupted by his boss.

An attack? Surely not! Fear rose up in Liala. They were in no shape to be adrift let alone survive an attack. She feared that all the hard work they had done to get the ship to this stage would surely fall apart in minutes to come.

"Lisald, come with me. With the bridge crew as stretched as it is we might need you. We have to be quick!" she indicated him to follow as she began to move quickly towards the jeffries tube they had come through.


OFF

A JP by

Lieutenant Liala Ziyal
Chief Science Officer
USS Cygnus

and

Lieutenant (jg) Lisald Vaat
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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