We've Got Rust

Posted on 06 Mar 2021 @ 12:20pm by Captain Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant JG Kemm & Lieutenant Commander Arjin Djinx & Lieutenant Zayna Ryler
Edited on on 17 Mar 2021 @ 1:51am

1,644 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Extinction
Location: Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 1100

Figuring sooner was better than later, Zayna had asked to meet up with Djinx about what she and Kemm had discovered. She would have loved to sit and study it, but this could spell bigger problems for the ship and the crew if there was more going on than met their eyes.

She'd asked Kemm to join her, hoping they could figure out what in the world was going on. Once she got to Djinx's office door, she let out a soft sigh and pressed the chime.

Kemm came up beside Ryler just as she pressed the chime. "Lieutenant," he greeted.

Arjin was expecting his department number two. So it wasn’t a surprise that at the appropriate time he heard the chime. “Enter”, was his response.

Nodding to Kemm upon hearing the response from the other side of the door, Zayna pressed the button to open up the office door. "Glad you weren't too busy. We've got news that needs to be heard."

"Commander," Kemm, the lanky Kelpien greeted upon entering the room. He was familiar with the Trill Science Chief, but Kemm hadn't remembered actually meeting the department head. "I'm Lieutenant Kemm, Systems Engineer. I was working down in the life support generator on the lower decks and tracing an issue we've been having the last few days. I came across something surprising and asked for Lieutenant Ryler to take a look."

The fact that Lieutenant Ryler was accompanied by an engineer and they both spoke of something surprising that needed to be heard was not of that nature to ease his unease. With the Black Hawk’s track records as of late, Arjin expected the worst. He took a look at the large Kelpian. A species he did not know that well, as with the Lieutenant himself.

“Sit down, please. And explain.”, he offered, nodding.

Taking the indicated seat, Ryler let out a soft sigh. "The short version is the issues are being caused by rust. And I wish I was joking." She sat forward and slid a PADD over to Djinx before sitting back again.

Lieutenant Kemm took the seat beside Ryler. "Commander, do you recall our experience in the Convergence Zone? Specifically the time in the nebula when the Black Hawk's crew was spread out across time?"

He wanted to say “Rust, are you kidding me.”, when the engineer brought up one of the many dangerous adventures out of the Black Hawk’s past. “Yes. I remember. Temporal mechanics. Always nasty and responsible for giving me headaches.”, he replied instead.

"Commander, I know the engineering crews of both this ship and the drydocks we've been in have given this ship a stem to stern walkthrough, but this rust was not here before. It takes at least ten years for oxidation like that to show up, and this ship has only been in service for a year and a half. Plus, the rust only occupies a portion of this bracing, not the full piece." Kemm stood up to hand the Trill Chief a padd. "My responsibilities only allow for me to make repairs. How this happened and why it happened are above my paygrade and skill set. And, if temporal mechanics are involved, the same mechanics of the time in that nebula, then we might be in for a bit of trouble."

“In how many places? Does it affect structural integrity? Can we fix it? You were working on life support. Is that affected?”, Arjin fired the questions that came in his head.

Kemm was unprepared for the barrage of questions. "It's too early to tell," he replied. "At this time, I don't know if we're limited to one bracing, if there's something else afoot. Which is why I first reached out to Lieutenant Ryler. We need to determine if we're still dealing with an active temporal anomaly."

"I haven't had much time to review what happened in the Convergence Zone, but based on the information Kemm provided to me that I've seen so far, this is likely a result of that. But," Zayna stated, "as he said, we don't know. Temporal mechanics are tricky. I think I have what I need but, this shouldn't still be an issue with how long ago that actually was. It should have cleared up in all the systems."

“Indeed it should have. We need to know as soon as possible to what extent the ship is affected by this. If we need to go back to base or if we can deal with this ourselves. Did you inform the Captain yet?”

Kemm shook his head. "I haven't informed him, much less Chief Engineer Parker." He then looked to Lieutenant Ryler to see if she had said anything to the Captain.

Zayna shook her head, "Not yet. We wanted to have your opinion on this before we went to the Captain. But I do believe he needs to be informed as well. If we have a bigger issue...who knows the impact it could have on the ship."

“I am no expert in temporal physics. But I know you are Lieutenant.”, he relayed. “And there is no better time than the present to involve the Captain.”

Arjin tapped his comm and contacted him immediately. =^= Commander Djinx to Captain Geisler. =^=

"Geisler here," came the Captain's voice over the intercom. "What can I do for you, Commander Djinx?"

=^= There is a problem Lieutenants Ryler an Kemm have discovered something that you would like to be informed off. Are you free to come over or can we? =^=

"I'll come down to you," replied the Captain. "I'll be there shortly. Geisler out."

Zayna rubbed the back of her neck. "Of all the things to come up, has to be rust," she stated quietly, looking between the other two.

A couple minutes later, the door chime sounded.

“Come in Captain.”, the Commander said, standing.

The doors parted, allowing the Captain to enter the room. A third seat was positioned near the desk, which Harvey immediately approached. As he did, he took note of the occupants of the room, from Commander Djinx to Lieutenant Ryler and Lieutenant Kemm. He knew all three officers well, and for the three of them to be together on something meant something worrisome was brewing. "What's the situation, Commander?"

“A case of rust, Captain. Something that shouldn’t be, but is. Lieutenant Kemm discovered it and asked Lieutenant Ryler to join him. They think it has something to do with the temporal problems the ship encountered in the Convergence zone nebula. I will let them explain the details.”

"I wasn't here with the whole Convergence Zone part, but just from what Lieutenant Kemm has shown me, Captain," Zayna said as she looked over to him, "The area with the rust should have been cleared up, but yet, we've got it. There is nothing in that area that would be causing the rust otherwise."

Harvey's eyes widened. He could never forget everything that happened in the Convergence Zone, especially the time in that nebula. "I don't quite understand. Rust?"

"Captain," Lieutenant Kemm explained, "Just a short time ago, I was performing some maintenance on the secondary hull's life support systems when I noticed a rusted support bracing. It usually takes at least ten years of oxidation for rust to start forming, yet this bracing looks like it's been rusting for five years. It wasn't there at the starbase."

"So you're saying that for everything we've been through, we might still be suffering from the effects of that nebula?" Harvey extrapolated. "How is it we've gone this far without seeing anything like this? Do we know how widespread this is?"

Zayna shook her head, "I haven't managed to run the whole ship through the correct sensor calibrations yet, though it is in progress. In that general area, though, it is just that one spot. Had Kemm not been doing maintenance, it likely wouldn't have been caught."

Harvey frowned, not appreciating this news. "How much longer are the calibrations going to take?" He asked. "And once they're calibrated, how long could it take to scan the ship?"

"Hopefully within the next two to three hours. The ship scan maybe an hour or two, depending on if it picks anything up."

“If there is any other project that keeps you busy and is also urgent, I can assign someone to take over on a short notice. So you can focus on this problem.”, Arjin offered.

Zayna shook her head, "Nothing important. I was just going over a few reports and the team schedule. I'll make this priority, Commander."

The Captain nodded as well. At this point, there was nothing he could do, and unless this event was going to prove to be catastrophic, there was no need to turn around and head back to a starbase. "Then all I can do for now is ask you all to keep me posted. As soon as you have a report, let me know. Is there anything else, Commander?"

“Not really Captain.”

"Anything that comes up I'll make sure everyone is informed, Captain." Zayna said in turn.

Captain Geisler rose to his feet. "In which case, carry on, everyone." He nodded to Commander Djinx before departing the office.

Arjin rose also to let the Captain depart.

“What can I do to help, Lieutenants?”, he asked the others.

Kemm shook his head. "I can't think of too at this moment much aside from assisting with the scans. Lieutenant Ryler?"

Ryler shook her head, "Just hoping this is an isolated incident. Once we find out more, we'll let you know."

“All right then. Keep me posted and we’ll take it from there.”

"Will do, Commander."

Arjin nodded as the two officers walked out of the room. Sighing inwardly about yet another problem to deal with.

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