Many hands make light work

Posted on 14 Jan 2018 @ 8:05pm by Lieutenant Heather Fischer-Montoya & Lieutenant Marion Kent

1,439 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: M-14 New Beginings
Timeline: 1350

Heather had dropped of her purchases at her quarters, had lunch, met the Security Chief and the new CMO. It was shaping up to be a pretty busy first afternoon and it was just getting started. After lunch she had checked the roster and the ship still had no department head for Ops...so the duty fell to her for the time being.

Seeing that the ship was still functionimg on the stations power she left ops and head towards main engineering. However she checked on her targets location before getting too far. "Computer, locate Lt. Kent."

"Lieutenant Russell Kent is in Jeffery Tube 4271 , Port side main Power junction." The computer replied.

Pulling her PADD from her hip pocket she plotted her course to that area. She could have beamed there, but she used the opportunity to get to know her way around the ship.


[Jeffery Tube 4271 , Port side main Power junction]

Kent knelt in front of the Main Power Junction that basically powder the port Beta section under separation and carried one third the load under nominal power demands. This would be the power center of the Beta Module during separation and linked to Charlie and Alpha in normal operating mode. Here in lies the problem; with three cores functioning where a majority of ships had one; and in capitol ships of some classes two, the chance of problems was heightened. Engineers are trained to think logically and a crew that only 'snaps ships together' usually under pressure and time constraints, tend to go with the 'Basics of design' rule in that with modular parts they all work the same.

Kent shook his head; the larger class ships with two Cores are not really different from all other ship classes in their connections, a switch placed between the cores to transfer power needs and such. The two cores are like cylinders in an engine; as in motorcycles a single cylinder can give all the power needed. Twin cylinder engines can give double the power for large framed motorcycles, but only one design in all Motorcycle history had '3' cylinders. Despite decades of engineering and design attempts no one ever put a three cylinder motorcycle in production and the engines built by the designer slowly faded away as no replacement parts were available and machining new ones was a hobbyists chore.

The Phoenix was almost a three cylinder Motorcycle; modern design methods could replicate the three cylinder engine now of course and a full array of parts to support it. Thus is the present problem; the 'switch between cores is more complicated with this class of ship, they are more than switches but connectors meant to disengage under multi-attack mode' and there is the root of it. The Engineering team treated the core Main junctions like switches rather than connectors and as such a switch is stationary not separating. They basically wired the connections as a switchboard rather than independent connector system. It was only thirty three percent of the connections of the junction but time consuming to correct. Beta Junction was the one that got cross-wired as the crews were under pressure and it is a simple mistake actually.

With his full focus on the job his hands moved automatically like programmed work instructions; his head did not require to move to change his eye focus to each hand's actions, thus he could seem to stare ahead while his hands did the work thanks to the computer aided brain and ability to look at the whole picture than the small focus on humanoid sight focus.

Finally in the Jefferies tube Heather was climbing the ladder up, the next junction should be her destination and as she reached the junction she looked down the crawl space to see the engineer. "Making any progress?"

"Sixty Seven percent completed and progressing." HE said without really turning his head. "Be careful there is a few spots that are slippery from random gel leaks during repair, I had not expected guests Lieutenant." Kent had noted the pips on the collar in his far field of vision. "If I am correct this should put out most of those little fires unless they cross-wired things to 'fix' them."

"Well that's good news", she chimed happily. "My names Heather and until the Ops department head shows up I get to cover thing." She glance around as to not slip on any of the gel. "How soon do you think until we can cut over to internal power?"

"Please call me Russell." He did not take his eyes from the panel. "How good are you at Damage Control?" He asked. "But with a little added help here I could cut the repair time by at least forty percent and have us on Internal Power within the hour. Of course the full start up sequence for the engines will take a bit longer but cutting ties from the station would be easier if you could see fit to help me attach a few connections?" He smiled and turned his head to better meet her gaze and keep the job in his field of vision so his hands could continue but he paid Heather full attention.

Cocking her head to the side with a friendly smirk. "Oh fine. I suppose I could get my hands dirty." Making her way down the crawl space.

"Thank you for the help." He grinned. "I have the computer tag the connections and the small box there are the replicated parts. Simple Remove and replace type venture I assure you."

Glancing at the diagram with the various location within the junction that needed repair she grabbed a few new replacement components and began to rework the connections. "Well Russell, I bet when you got this assignment I bet you didn't think you'd have to be going around behind the construction crew fixed things right off the bat huh?"

"I am reminded of the old saying; 'if one wants something done right, do it yourself." Kent joked. " The 'yourself' meaning our crew of course. I look forward to getting us moving after this."

"You and me both. Being in Ops it kinda hard to manage power syems that aren't even turned on yet. I know I'll be a lot happier after we can cut the cord so to speak." Grabbing a few more replacements she scooted a little further down the crawl space to the last few connections to be adjusted.

"So what do you do when not cleaning up after construction crews?"

"I am an avid swimmer and like to read historical events." Kent mentioned in reply. "Having a past can be important." He continued his work without pause; almost as though his hands were working independent of his concentration on the conversation. "You could say I am a Bookworm of sorts, I have been known to paint a bit here and there to relax." He glanced over without slowing his working pace. "What about you, how do have fun aside from chasing down the Operations tasks?"

"Me, give me a warm beach, a good book, and a fruity drink and I'm in heaven. Mainly I enjoy lending a hand where I can. That's probably why I enjoy operations so much, its kind of the catch all job. There's the technical side to help keep thing running smoothly, then there is the administrative side to keep people running smoothly. After this I'm meeting with the Doctor to help her with her staffing."

Backing away and reinstalling the cover plate she turned back towards Russell. "So did the Captain get too frustrated when he found out about the power issues?"

"He was annoyed with the lack of results and offered to back me if I had to push things naturally." Kent was just beginning to get the system in front of him completed. "I am a friendly sort; I try to be a Nice guy until it is time not to be nice, then I... well, I generally avoid that side of myself as I am still learning it." He chuckled as his hand continued to perform the tasks. "The Yard crew were happy for the help so long as I kept most of it quiet and just helped solve the problem. That alone doubled the staff working the problems and really cut down the stuff I have to repair." HE completed his task and looked to the lady. "And I also get help from you and that is very much appreciated I assure you." He was just placing the panel back int place.


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Lt. Russel Kent
Chief Engineer

Lt. Heather Fischer-Montoya
Operations

 

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