Damage Assessment

Posted on 02 Jun 2009 @ 11:03am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

1,919 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Day 2 - before, during and after the Mission Briefing

ON:

CJ stepped off the turbolift, steeling himself a bit as he made his way across the corridor towards Main Engineering. He'd been loathe to set foot anywhere near the Engineering Staff or the Chief, but after his departure once they returned to DS5, he felt it might be safe again. He had compiled some sensor data from the fight and wanted to propose some modifications to whoever was overseeing their repairs.

He stepped through the door's into Engineering and looked around for the Officer in Charge, avoiding a few mutinous stares from some of the other Engineering Staff who knew who he was.

"Just whose bright idea was this. What a god forsaken mess. You've got to be kiddin' me. I canna' repair this. Not with ou' some kinda damned miracle." John exclaimed, as he walked over to one of the enlisted men by him.

"We're gonna need a whole new phase inducer. This one is completely shot. Nae to mention the fact that the coils in the starboard nacelle are completely fused. Who was drivin this bucket o' bolts. They ought to be reassigned to an oil frigate, back on Earth.

He heard a couple of snickers from behind him. He wheeled about to yell at them for stalling their duties, as he saw a newcomer to the mess that was engineering. "I've seen abou' every person that has nothin' to do with engineerin, down here tryin' to disturb me and mine. Now wha' is it I can do for ye......Lieutenant?" He asked, still holding his proto laser, in his left hand. He was losing patience with newcomers, and they seemed to be coming in more and more, as his patience wore down.

"I'm Lieutenant DeHavilland." CJ replied, "The 'driver' of this tub." he continued, holding out the data PaDD to him. "I came down to see if I could lend a hand as well as make some modifications so that next time we get into a scrap, we don't come apart at the seams." he said.

"Uh....huh." John said, taking the PaDD from him, without taking his eyes off of him.

"Then perhaps you can tell me.....Who did this?" He asked, opening his arms, as if to encompass the whole ship. "He's got my job safely secured, for at least the next few months." he pointed out, as he waited for the man's response.

"You're talking to him." DeHavilland replied, "The alternative, of course, would be the Romulan's standing here and us in a cloud of debris out there." he added. "It's not my fault Starfleet assembled a brand-new ship that can barely handle the basic tactical maneuvers, let alone the more advanced."

"How de' we know it isn't the operator. Even the great Captain Sulu nearly crashed the flagship of the federation, on his first flight. I didn't read any of his reports blamin' the Enterprises newly refitted engines." He said, as he walked back to the warp core.

"Never seen so much damage on a starship before. What did yah do? Ram them? T'would explain her condition." He said, as he went back to work with the laser. Mending crucial circuits back together.

"They had us pretty well outgunned." CJ replied, "I had to keep us pretty damn close to their ship in order to stay out of the line of fire." he continued, "Required some hard stress turns." he finished, his arms folded now. "Listen, I've looked at the data, I think if we make some minor modifications we can enhance the Freedom's maneuverability at least enough that a firefight like this won't cripple us." he said.

"Well, so long as the operator finds it necessary...If you can convince some of the crew, then sure. As you can clearly see, I'm a lil' tied up at the moment. Though, from the way I hear it, you're goin ta' have a rough time convincing them to help." He said with a chuckle, as he shook his head, and went back to his work for a few moments. He was a little curious to see the man's reaction. He was sure the man had saved the lives of the crew, but the damage the ship took, made John hurt, just thinking about it.

"Its not a matter of convincing them to help." CJ replied, "Orders are orders. Still, though, I'm a pilot, not an Engineer which is why I came down here. If you'd just take 2 minutes to glance through the PaDD I just gave you, I can get out of your hair. I'll get the orders straight from Da'nal if I have to." he added.

John looked over at the man. Now he was getting frustrated. "I hear what yer sayin, and the last I checked, I have a little more rank then you." He said slowly. "Just for yer information, I've seen the plans you've made before, on the panel over there. Seems you weren't the only one to take these upgrades into consideration. Though to be blunt. I canna' help yah withou' an operational engine to test it. There was more then just engine damage. There are major stress fractures in the secondary hull, and the SIF is so fragile, it's a miracle you guys even made it back. Now if I can have another day, I'll be able to start work on your idea Lieutenant. And you can take that to the Commander and Chief of the Starfleet herself, fer all I care." He said, so frustrated he wasn't even able to keep working at the moment.

CJ nodded and smirked at the man. He may have gotten under his skin, but he liked an Officer that wasn't afraid to put someone in their place when needed.

"Fair enough." CJ replied, rolling up his uniform sleeves. "I'm the son of Engineer's, and minored in Engineering at the Academy. I may not be an expert, but I know my way about. Where do you need me?" he asked, cocking his head to the side the man's expression. "Hey, I put this tub in this state, least I can do is give a hand getting her back." he smirked.

John hadn't expected that one. He looked at the man in surprise for a moment. "You can give me a hand with this, the core is badly damaged. I estimate at least another six hours before I can get it back online." He said, looking at the man.

CJ nodded and moved closer. "Let's do it."

[6 1/2 Hours later]

It had been a long day. Mostly meetings with the crew. He had found out that his Helmsman was actually helping the stations repair crew, probably so they wouldn't kill him. When he finally arrived where the Lt. DeHavilland was working all he heard was laughing. Puzzled Da`nal stuck his head into the area. "Having fun are we gentlemen?"

"Sure thing." John called out. He turned around to see who had asked the question. He saw the ships Captain standing before him. "Good evening, Commander. It seems you came just in time. We were just about to fire up the core." He said, with a smile of success.

"So Repairs are complete?"

"Everythin' is in order, sir. Thanks to the help from yer helmsman." John replied, smiling to the other man. Over the course of fixing the core, he had gotten to know the man a little better, and decided he preformed a miracle bringing the crew home. He had a tough job piloting this vessel home. Even though John was upset over the damage that had accrued, even he didn't see any other way that the man could have preformed his miracle.

"Even had time to tweak a few things." CJ added.

"All systems are installed this time? Granted we left in a hurry last time." Referring to the Freedom's rushed departure.

"Just waiting on a few bits and ends, Captain. I received word about an hour ago, tha' the warp engines are back online. That was the major worry. We thought we might have had to order new struts, and possibly even nacelles, but everythin' worked out fine." He said, with a smile of success. He was pleased with the work his team had managed to perform in less then a month's time. He was already looking forward to the next project.

"Excellent and almost a day ahead of schedule.

"We try to please, sir." John responded, as he smiled again. He was full of pride at his teams accomplishment. "Start wrappin' it up, men. It's time te start headin back te base. A small team of three men, can wrap the rest up here. We need to get ready for the Rhodesia, she's due in in a week." He said, as he walked over to his own supply case, and put his trusted laser back in it's spot. "If you give us another day, we should have the last few parts installed, in just enough time fer yah to let the paint dry, Captain." He said, as he fastened his case closed.

Da`nal watched his closely. He was in need of an Chief Engineer. "I think I can get you that day Lieutenant." Looking to both officers. "Well done."

"Thank yah, sir." John said, as he stood up. "I'll see be seein' yah tomorrow, then. Oh, and thank you, for all yer help today Lieutenant. Could nae of don it so quickly, without yah." He said, turning his attention to the helmsman.

"No problem." CJ replied, smirking, "It's the least I could do." he added.

"Good to see that you are will to at least help fix what you brake. I hope you don't plan on making habit of flying my ship apart."

CJ smirked, "Hopefully we've made that a little bit harder to do." he replied.

"Very good. Foward any modification made to me. Tomorrow we'll finalize everything and hopefully by the end of the day the paint will be dry because we will be heading out."

"No need to worry about tha' Captain. Just leave everythin' to me, and she'll be yours by 1900 hours, tomorrow." John said, with a smile of confidence. It was four hours over his time frame he actually intended to finish everything.

"Well that'll work out just fine as our orders don't require us to leave until 2300."

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'm going to head back to my quarters... got a date with a pillow and I don't want to keep her waiting any longer." CJ joked.

A smile turned the corner of Da`nal's mouth at his Helmsman's comment. He nodded to CJ who headed off to turn in for the night, yawning as he turned away.

"I've got to be getting back to base, Captain. I have to report our progress here, to my C.O., as well as my schedule for the vessel that's comin' in next week. No rest for the wicked." He said with a smile, before he grabbed his gear, and headed to the transporter room, with the rest of his team.

Da`nal watched the officer head off to complete his duties. Turning to leave himself, he raised a padd and opened a new file as he headed to the bridge.

[File Heading]

To: Commander Davies - Deep Space 5

Status - Urgent

Subject - Transfer Request

OFF:

Commander Da`nal
Commanding Officer
USS Freedom

Lieutenant JG Curtiss "CJ" DeHavilland
Chief Flight Controller
USS Freedom

Lieutenant John McPherson
Chief Engineer
U.S.S. Freedom

 

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