On Sun, 02 May 1999 21:41:49 GMT, smilodon@h2net.net (VanitySeven) writes to

USS Galileo <galileo@ucip.org>;:



Scene: Main engineering, deck eleven.



"All hands brace for impact," was the last communique Ta`ra

received

from the bridge. The railing skirting the warp core was not the safest

place to hold on, but at the time it was the only thing within her

reach. Next thing she remembered was being propelled through

engineering like a ragged doll as the USS Galileo slammed her belly on

this unknown class M planet. The sound of metal being grated from

underneath the surface echoed through the entire vessel. Ta`ra rolled

back and forth over the floor as the interior bucked and heaved like

an ancient ship caught in a perilous storm. Electric fusions exploded

with a bright flash. Control panels blazed like the flares of the sun,

and electronic circuits sparked intensely, celebrating this act of

destruction. Finally after a bloodcurdling journey -- what seemed to

take forever -- the crashed USS Galileo came to a halt. The danger

however, was not yet resolved.



The Warp drive that used to be her greatest friend now turned into a

behemoth of terror. The crash had damaged various critical operating

procedure consoles and management systems. Numerous warnings filled

the operational screens mixed with flickering static. A warp core

breach was imminent if not repaired soon. The antimatter containment

fields were unstable, and the magnetic restrictors blocked. Raw plasma

leaked from the EPS at several locations, and the ferocious emergency

systems tried to keep main engineering together. Under these dreadful

circumstances that was not an easy task. The continuous failure

signals screamed for attention and woke Ta`ra out of her unconscious

state of mind. The main engineering seemed to spin around in circles

as she opened her eyes. Unsteady and in pain she stood up and slowly

everything came back to her. Then she turned to look at her engines,

and what she saw shocked her terribly.



"Oh no! Look at my engines," she shouted. "Just look at

them." Then

she realized the dangerous state in which the engines were and tapped

her comm badge.

"Engineering to bridge. I need some assisting engineers down

here."

<Negative... CSciO here... man... ulties... dead...> shrieked the comm

badge in reply. She realized that she was on her own when it came down

to repairing the damage and bringing the most essential systems back

online. There wasn't much time left so she hurried herself to work,

armed with tricorder and electronic toolkit.



After rerouting the energy flow away from the damaged components she

started to compile and analyze the priority list. Only one out of the

three impulse engines was functioning reasonably, but did not appear

to be an immediate threat. The antimatter containment fields were a

totally different story. She could not dump the antimatter now they

had crashed on this planet, a fact she did not like. After repairing

some small components she was able to access the Warp drive control

system. The containment fields, and electronic magnetic locks were

directly linked through that system. Fluctuations in the energy flow

caused the fields to loose and gain stability. However, it would not

take long until the emergency power would drain all its reserves from

the generators. Another problem was the fact that she could not repair

the energy guide systems with plasma streaming through. Shutting down

the flow would fix that problem, but that would mean to shut down all

power.



"Computer. Status report," she ordered and the computer complied.

<Structural Integrity Shields down to fifty five percent, and holding.

Inertial Damping Shields down to thirty seven percent, and holding.

Structural Damage on Decks three, four, six, seven, eleven, twelve and

fifteen. Casualties reported on all decks>, and the list went on

stating the current state of the USS Galileo.=20

"This is not good. Not good at all. I expected some casualties, but

not so...," the knowledge she received from the computer slapped her

violent in the face. She also realized that if she did not act now,

then all would be lost. Including the entire ship.



"Computer, relay all power from non-essential systems to vital

systems," she ordered again.

<Power relaying grid initiated. Inducing overall performance

imminent.>

"Just do it, relay all power from secondary systems to primal

systems," she snapped back annoyed.

<Acknowledged.>

"Wonderful," she thought. "A computer with an attitude."



The next series of commands to the computer were to isolate the time

consuming problem solving process. According to Ta`ra's orders all

information was relayed on her display. It was quite obvious that the

circulant power control system would be difficult to solve, as all the

components interacted with each other on a real time basis.

"Sigh, this is driving me crazy. I can not deactivate component 'A'

because then component 'B' explodes. And if I don't repair component

'B' then component 'A' explodes. Crap," she shouted in frustration.

"What a mess," she said as she looked around. Her tricorder

registered

most of the failures which she could fix without shutting down power.

With expertise her fingers scurried over the many control panels as

different parts of engineering died and other parts came to life.

Warnings sounded harshly as she desperately tried to compensate.

=46inally she was able to create a direct energy route to the magnetic

controllers and antimatter containment tanks.

"That was close," she sighed heavily breathing and leaned onto the

Warp Drive control board catching her breath. This action gave her a

few hours extra, and she knew she would need every nano-second of it.

Wiring and cables needed desperate replacements, electronic circuits

adjusted or replaced, and above all she needed to get some main power

back online.



After going through the specs of the RCS thrusters and impulse

mechanics she was able to isolate the impulse reactor chambers.

Apparently the plasma injectors failed on two of the chambers, but the

matter guiding systems seemed to be working fine. Quickly she

consulted the necessary panels and was able to track down the failing

parts. Little beads of sweat rolled down her face as she struggled

with conductors, restrictors and capacitors of all types and sizes.

Optical fibers were totally melted away from crucial connections and

those too were soon returned to their original state.

"I want a raise," she screamed angrily into her comm badge. It was

more out of frustration, than that she actually wished for more. She

was surprised when she actually received a reply.

<#...!@#... here... If you ge.... us... alive... I consi..er.. it..,>

one of the crew members replied jokingly.

"On who's authority," Ta`ra replied giggling.

<Who... %$&*!@... eeds... auth..ity.,> the joker laughed back to

her.=20



Ta`ra just shook her head smiling and went back to work. It would not

be long before the impulse engines would be back online. She just

needed to be very careful and monitor everything closely. Engineering

had more controlled components per square inch than the bridge had per

square foot. The management control systems were back online, and

would be crucial in adjusting the fluctuating stream of matter.

Adjusting the reactant injectors was therefor not an easy task. Every

change she made was checked and checked again, until she was two

hundred percent certain that it would work. She worked as hard as she

possibly could manage and finally she was ready to reset the reactant

injector control systems. The reactor chambers were networked together

again and placed on standing by. Resetting the reactant injector

control systems would establish connection with all the impulse

engines, and if everything would work out they would be reported back

online again. She took a few breaths before pressing the button. A

small miscalculation could detonate the reactor chambers like a cold

fusion bomb. And with the supply of Deuterium they had, it would not

be a pretty sight.

The dim lit control panel glared up as she pressed the button. A

shivering waved through the entire ship as the reactor chambers fed

the EPS with refreshed raw energy. She also noticed when consulting

various displays that the raw energy output hit a higher scale than

before. With all the nerve wrecking adjustments she even optimized the

process with a higher efficiency than before.



"Engineering to bridge. We have main power source back online.

However, the Warp Drive is not available for at least 12 hours."

<Ta`ra, bridge here. Congratulations! You're a genius,> the crew

member replied.

"Not a genius, but getting there," she laughed back. Dach

out."



Sincerely submitted,

=3D/\=3D Cdt. Ta`ra Dach,

USS Galileo, CEO



Sincerely submitted,



=3D/\=3D Ens. Khan'ya Dun,Medical officer

OTC Trainee