Down Periscope
Posted on Thu Oct 6th, 2022 @ 5:21am by Chief Petty Officer Xeres & Lieutenant Elen Diari & Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi
Edited on on Thu Oct 6th, 2022 @ 5:44am
1,107 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: Shuttle Maintenance - Deck 10 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 1300 hrs
Xeres smiled broadly to the Lieutenants as they arrived. It was indeed a rare treat to have officers down his way, and even rarer to be asked to assist in a large scale project such as this one. "Lieutenants Diari and sh'Zoarhi welcome welcome. This is indeed an exciting project. Where would you like to get started?"
"Honestly, Xer, I want to sit down for about five minutes, and just work things out on paper first, before we start stripping out and modifying a shuttle. No point in tearing in, and damaging bits we might need later. All my plans were based on type sixers not type eights." El explained looking over at the craft.
"Very well Lieutenant we can use the little office that I have. It is not much but it is my little corner of the Shuttle Bay. It does have a small holographic projector that could help with the redesigns." Xeres responded as he motioned toward a small circular area that was all glass.
" Has anyone had to modify a type eight before?" Thex inquired. " Some of the work may have already been done for us."
"Yeah, there's a pretty decent type 8 aquashuttle mod, need to connect back to the Big Server at Starfleet engineering to get it, picked up sixer as I didn't think we'd get new shuttles- to be honest, thought we'd get to borrow the >Hudson from the Class O boys, but as usual, they haven't returned my calls." Elen answered.
"If I may be so bold I feel the big problem is going to be the refit on the Serenity. The Delta Flyer Class was designed for medium range exploration and atmospheric flight. I do not believe it can hold the water seals. Especially around the viewports." Xeres spoke up as he punched up the schematics for the Delta Flyer Class. His friendship with Captain Malbrooke has caused him to get a little over zealous and this was one of those times.
"What about the other one?" Thex said looking over at the Rosevelt. " Can she be modified?"
"Delta's always have weak windows. We can replicate thicker ones, and have a nice homebrew sealant we could use. They're based on class sixes, use the same spaceframe, so easy to do. Yeah, The Roosevelt, that's the one I have to go play with the server to find the plans, Should take about an hour to get the plans, and send the parts to the big replicator." Elen answered. "Thex, could you have a look for any software updates for Structural Integrity Fields please ?"
"Would be happy to Lieutenant. I should have that in about fifteen minutes. With the amount of personal that Major Tremble's mission plan outlays for I would suggest making the upgrades to the Serenity's windows. It has the space for all the personnel needed for that mission." Xeres replied already setting to his task on his computer that was on his desk.
" Will do." Thex replied as she walked over to the computer and brought up the ship's database of software related to Structural Integrity Fields.
Xeres thought for a moment. "Lieutenant Diari would it be prudent to perhaps create dive suits. If they have to leave the vessel they could transport into open water if they have suits standing by."
"I think the normal white environmental suits will be OK down to a certain depth. " Elen answered, thinking about it "Myra, could you check that?" She continued, then slapped her forehead "Sorry Thex, my mistake. Wrong quadrant. Was thinking of my old Ops manager."
" It's okay." Thex called as she brought up the suit date. " They have an improved version designed for working in a gas giant. Should I grab that?" the andorian inquired.
Xeres placed an engineering kit between Thex and Elen. "Here is the kit for the retrofits. I have taken the liberty of putting the Roosevelt and Serenity online in maintenance mode. This way the ships systems will react as if they are on mission. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"A pot of strong coffee would be in order." Thex jokingly replied. They had a lot of work to do.
"None for me thanks. If I have any more I'll be seeing the framework." El answered " Just wondering what adhesive to use to use on the mods. 77 or 70. Seventy-seven's permanent, and would work at deeper depths, but seventy's removable if we wanted to convert the shuttles back later without totally scrapping them."
As a Bolian Xeres was always eager to please, so he was already preparing a coffee tray, not realizing that Thex had made a joke. "I would say the 70 should suffice. The water that they are going to be in is not ocean depths. Besides if the spring a leak they can surface like an old fashioned submarine. Can they not?"
" They should, but it is an ocean. You should always be prepared for things to go wrong." Thex said remembering the lessons from her youth.
"Yes quite so, quite so." Xeres took note of the lesson. "I believe that another thing that we should look at is the exhaust systems. If my understanding is correct they will not work while submerged, and the engines have to it somewhere."
El was looking through her paperwork on the padd "We're good for up to four kilometres down, I'll get some carbon fibre tape, that'll give us an extra kay if needed. It'll also strengthen the windows on the Serenity. Exhaust systems are easy, got some hex packing left over in storage, just cut it to the size of the exhaust port, shove it in, and it'll dissipate the exhaust while not letting water in. Dad uses it a lot on his boat for insulation." She sniffed the air " Is that Myrmidian blend, Xeres ? Gives me an idea."
"Indeed it is..." Xeres smiled as he laid out the try. He was proud that someone noticed his play on words given the current situation.
"Know an old engineer who drank litres of the stuff, used to use this green repair fabric on everything. It's like duranium when dry. I'll see if he put it in the replicator database. Should really strengthen things." El reminisced.
A Joint Post By
Chief Petty Officer Xeres
Shuttlebay Manager, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Elen Diari
Duct Tape Maiden, USS Pioneer
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