Bridge Duty Escalates: Part 1

Posted on Sat Nov 11th, 2023 @ 8:41am by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Ensign Sar & Commander Chalan Kendri & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Commander Jason Elliot & Ensign Dramin
Edited on on Sat Nov 11th, 2023 @ 8:50am

2,084 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: MD: C15

Consistent operations on the planet's surface, as well as a myriad of tasks needing attention aboard the ship left a hodgepodge of officers manning the bridge early in Alpha shift.

For many, it was an important chance to gain practical bridge experience. The ship was in orbit of Campor III, both objects bathed within the system's golden star. Ryhl stood in the center of the bridge between the helm and ops stations.

He often watched traffic flowing to and from the planet. Campor III was remote in relation to Federation space, but appeared to be a regional trading hub.

Nothing seemed to stand out of the ordinary. He turned to look over the expansive bridge. A transparent dome gave a view of the stars above, a distant blue star was most prominently in view. A ring of aged wood from Bajor framed the dome-shaped porthole like a running board.

Ryhl had spent so much time on the bridge that he was familiar with every nook and cranny. He moved towards the science station where Lieutenant Commander Lyngstad sat.

"Good morning, Commander", Ryhl said as he approached her with a smile. "You know.. I want to talk to you about that basketball tournament. What rules were you thinking? We should get this started as soon as we can find some downtime. I know emotions are really tense with everything that's been happening. The crew will need a release."

From his nearby station at Security, Zeke's ears perked as he waited for Johanna's answer. It was interesting to hear the Captain talk about basketball. Security had already been practicing.

Johanna broke into a big smile as she turned to the Captain. "Standard three on three half court would work, Captain. Full court 5 on 5 can be quite tiring if you aren't used to it. We can play with three point lines, standard 22 feet is good for our level of competition. We can police our own fouls. No dunking, though I don't know any crew members tall enough and athletic enough to do so. All the other standard rules should apply. 24 second shot clock is good as well. First team to 21 wins."

"I will need to research some of these Brok'tan and Kas smiled at his old mentor, "I trust you have heightened security. Give up suspicious circumstances of the fighter's crash." myself", Ryhl said with a slight laugh.. "24 seconds?" Basketball reminded Ryhl of a few humans he met at the Academy. They taught him a more relaxed form of the game based on style and fun. "That's going to be difficult for me." His wide grin revealed his hidden excitement. "But you've got it! 24 seconds, 3 on 3, 21 to victory... Full court?"

"Full court 3 on 3, that's pretty wide open. Lots of room to drive to the hoop. I'm up for it. Games shouldn't be too long, only being to 21." Johanna was anxious to show off her skills.

Zeke listened to the debate on which rules to go with and smiled. Twenty-four seconds sounded intense. He could see that getting heated. "Sounds fun," he said looking over at the Captain and Commander.

Ensigns Sar and Sarah stood together near a large three dimensional panel attached to the long rear wall of the bridge. Both junior officers had been pulled for a project set to improve power distribution and management across the ship.

A large grid showed power flow across the ship. Each officer took turns maximizing specific areas of focus, before zooming back out to the larger view. The task required them to flip electro-plasma system relays in order to increase overall efficiency.

"It appears the Columbia's EPS flow bunches up and slows down as it travels through more technologically populated areas of the ship. This is especially true around the ship's shield generators, power cores and even main engineering itself."

"Together, we should be able to redistribute these pathways throughout the frame of the ship using auxiliary relays. Such work is outside of my field of expertise. I shall study your work in this endeavor," the Vulcan said, feeling a deep inner calm with her presence.

Sarah stood next to Sar in front of a large view screen of the ship's EPS system. "I will show you," she said. "Don't worry. I wouldn't expect you to know. Your expertise is with the internal working of the machines. Mine is their systems," she said. She pressed a few buttons. "It's quite simple, really. Where it slows down are areas of massive use, such as the Bridge, the Warp Core, data center, and Mess Hall." She pointed to each area in turn. "And then, of course, the science labs-what do they DO that requires so much energy? And Medical." She said, making a flourish with her fingers. "What we are trying to do is see where the energy could be more concentrated as it flows through the ship, to see if it can maximized by changing any internal or external structures," she smiled at the Vulcan. "YOU will need to tell me when I am routing power through a tube you have in use for something else, like the recycling or sewage systems," she said.

Sar felt a level of comfort with Sarah, his telepathic connection to her building even as they worked. "Indeed. Changes to the structural pathways might re-route this energy in a more efficient manner." Although he avoided most emotions in the human sense, he still experienced basic conditions. He had been finding these feeling attached to Sarah much more difficult to restrain through meditation.

Sar became distracted from the panel, turning to Sarah with thoughts of her well-being. As a Vulcan, he did not realize they were thoughts of warmth caused by the growing telepathic connection formed between a Vulcan and their partner.

"I believe I can fashion a set of relay array switchbacks. These should propel energy in a back and forth manner between each station. In essence, the energy would no longer be stagnant... Making switching between systems noticeably more fluid."

"However, my experience is with propulsion systems. I will need your assistance designing and installing each array." They would have to work together to plan the locations of each station.

Sarah nodded, and smiled. She liked the fact that they were growing closer. "I know. And I don't know the external hulls, so that's why we're working together, I think," she said. "In a way, it IS propulsion. Just...we're pushing power and energy, not vehicles," she said.

"Indeed," the Vulcan replied. "The same theory applies to the phase distribution." He took a step closer, turning slightly to view the panel from closer to her perspective.

Sarah nodded. "MMhm, exactly. Where do you think is the best place to start? Path of least resistance or most?" She asked.

"One must always go with the flow, choosing the path which facilitates the most movement."

"Indeed," Sarah replied. "Alright, let's start making a schematic here, then we can replicate the materials and you can install them. I'll have to turn power off to non-essential things later but...well. People will just have to live with it for a bit." She sighed. She hated being the one to do that-it made people upset when their personal replicators didn't work, or if the recycler in the public refreshers weren't on. But it beat the hell out of fires starting.

Kendri stood near Lt. Soros' station at Ops, watching the Ensign's work from the lower level of the Bridge. It was difficult to see precisely what they were doing from where she stood, but it was an efficient way to work on such a wide scale project. "That's quite the project they are working on. Do you know what kind of outcomes we are anticipating?" she asked the Operations Chief.

"Well" Rachel said, taking a last look at the results of some sensor scans before looking up at her XO "I've looked through the reports and a ship this size with this much power makes me almost think of a small starbase. Since I was on Starbase 12 I went back and looked at some schematics and operations manuals for how they handle their power transfers. I have a few ideas but don't have the time to fine tune them, but I think those 2 could. I think once we go through and re check what the tolerances are of our conduits, we could go and adjust the power phase frequencies over them depending on the demand and type of power. If it works like I think it should, it will be slightly out of spec and will slightly reduce the lifespan of those sections of conduit, however I think it'll work."

"Interesting," Kendri said nodding. "I'll be interested to see what the results are. I'm glad to see you bringing ideas to the table already. And delegating. You're off to a great start, Lieutenant."

"Thank you Commander." In truth, not being able to working it was killing her but she was way too busy not to have delegated it. She did have to learn to trust her people as well. And while she had no idea as to the experience that Kendri may or may not have had within engineering, she didn't want to chance not having a thorough plan before considering a full presentation.

"How are things going for you? I know you and the Captain have been quite busy."

"As well as can be expected. Our intelligence had word that there would be problems here several weeks before arrival, so we've been preparing," Kendri said. "It is strange that the Ferengi thought we knew about their viral outbreak, but we never received any transmission that mentioned it until one of their ships hailed us shortly after arrival. I can't help but wonder if there is anyone else we are missing."

"Perhaps someone else gave them that impression then? That word had been sent?" Rachel added. It was the only thing that made any possible sense to her.

Ryhl approached the Ops station, looking over the helm and large center scanner console. A look of intensity over the mission's discussion rested in his eyes, yet a slight half smile rested on his lips. He was proud of how the Columbia reacted.

"Some of us are starting to think word didn't make it to Starfleet," said Ryhl. "One could always say that it’s just a matter of distance, with how remote this system is... Things are likely more complicated than that when Ferengi are involved. What do you think is going on with the situation, X.O.?"

"The way everything else is playing out here, I wouldn't be surprised if their transmission was intercepted so that we wouldn't receive it," Kendri responded looking at the Captain. "Which then begs the question, how many others? The Ferengi are just bold enough to approach and ask again, there is no lost pride if they can make up for it by compensating us," she added. "The Romulans and the Klingons, however... Well they each have their own cultural scruples that may be preventing them from reaching out if they feel they've been slighted."

"Hmm.. Interception." Ryhl scratched his chin, looking up for a second at the viewscreen in thought. "Such signal interference might be the reason we hadn't heard the situation on the surface was so troubling. We should speak to colonial leaders and crosscheck with Starfleet about which messages have gotten out and when. I'll try to set up a meeting between us and the provincial government. As you say.. The Romulans and Klingons don't always see eye to eye. I'm sure they each have their concerns."

"Good idea. Let me know if I can assist," Kendri offered.

"By the way, Lieutenant... I enjoyed your ideas on system efficiency," Ryhl said as his cerulean smile unfurled warmly. His antennae twisted outwards, lifting up to scan curiously. "Adjusting the power phase frequencies, hmm? Sounds like a good idea. I'd like you to work with Ensign bet Ira and Ensign Sar on this later. It sounds like they're planning to install some hardware."

Rachel turned to look over at the Captain "Aye Sir. I'll have everything together and we'll get it done." She was looking forward to implementing some of her ideas, without breaking anything of course.

"I have the utmost faith in you and the team," Ryhl replied. "I look forward to following your progress." With a nod to Kendri and Rachel, Ryhl stepped back towards the outer pathway of the bridge.

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