Potential Problem
Posted on Sun Apr 20th, 2025 @ 10:38am by Captain Michael Murphy & Lieutenant Commander Steve Ryan & Lieutenant Aubrie Fox & Lieutenant Kestra Ral & Ensign Leela
1,471 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Maintaining the Status Quo
Location: Janus VI Orbit
ON:
=================================
There hadn't been any excitement since the Klingons left Janus VI about 24 hours ago. There hadn't been any word back from Starfleet Command yet, but that came as no surprise with the time it took to send messages back and forth. Passive scans were being run in the hopes of detecting any cloaked Klingons before they were ready to show themselves.
An overhead page broke the silence. "Captain, please report to Engineering." It was definitely the voice of Lieutenant Mitchell, the acting Chief Engineering Officer, and he sounded stressed.
Murphy stood up and headed for Engineering.
Before long, another overhead page was heard, "All senior officers please report to Engineering."
The request took Steve off guard. He was getting some well deserved off time and engineering was not exactly one of his favorite relaxing places in board.
"I'm sure it's Deb's fault" he muttered while clearing the corridor and reaching the entrance of the engineering department.
Aubrie looked around. "Odd, But okay, Bad feeling in the gut, But lets go see what's happening"
Steve was among the first to show up. He hurried there, not even the time to fix his uniform. His turtleneck showed unbuttoned and he seemed in a hurry.
"Sir" he saluted the Captain, to then scan the area for Deb's face as he waited for updates on the reason for which his nap had been cut short
Aubrie walked in ready to see what the reason all senior officers were called to the Engineering for.
Kestra had just fallen asleep when she was called to Engineering of all places. Walking in she looked around it was the first time she had been in engineering and it was bigger then she had thought it would be. "Sir you needed me?"
Murphy looked concerned, but Mitchell looked panicked.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," Murphy said. "It seems we have a broken piece of equipment. The problem is, no one can tell me what it does." He gestured towards the item.
"Now, do any of you know anything about this?" Murphy asked. "I'm afraid I've just always known it to be there. I couldn't even tell you what it's called."
"You..." the XO started but stopped abruptly shaking his head in disbelief "How come the Chief Engineer doesn't know what he has in his kingdom?" he asked rhetorically "Have you ran some tests on it?" he asked
Kestra frowned at the equipment that needed all of them here to look at it. “it’s broken? How do you know it’s broken if you don’t know what it does.” She asked. Oh she should have just gotten a coffee before dealing with anything. “did you turn it on? " she asked curiously.
Mitchell shook his head. "Trust me, I know when it's broken. I'm good at what I do."
Murphy squinted towards Mitchell, "But you just said you don't know what it does."
Mitchell gulped. "We're running full ship diagnostics, but so far there seems to be no change to any systems without it working."
“Since our chief is currently uncertain about the nature of the issue at hand, I propose that we assign one Security Officer per shift for the time being,” Aubrie stated, her tone steady as she addressed both the Captain and Chief. “This way, we can ensure that there is a visible presence to monitor any developments and maintain a sense of security while we work to uncover the details of the situation.”
"Approved," Murphy said. He never had a problem leaning on the side of caution. "Maybe if Starfleet sends another vessel this way to deal with the mine, one of their Engineers will be able to help."
Aubrie nodded. =/\= Fox to Leela, Report to engineering, Security watch=/\=. A slight beep sounded and then Leela's voice came through.
=/\= On my way=/\= Leela replied.
Aubrie turned back to the captain. Waiting for any other orders.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Murphy.
Kestra frowned, “no changes in ship systems? So it doesn’t react directly with the ship. It is broken but you don’t know when that happen or how? Or how long?” Kestra was ticking off a list. “hmmmm perhaps is helps in moving heavily equipment. Shouldn’t there be a list of supplies and equipment that would give you an idea of what it did do?” She asked curiously. She had one for her department.
Mitchell shrugged, and offered her a PADD, "I have that list here, and it doesn't seem to be on it."
Steve was visibly more and more shocked from the conversation.
"Do we at least know since when this thing" he pointed at it "is in our engineering and since when we have it non functioning?" He asked "maybe someone either on this ship or who was in this ship, saw it being installed" he offered
Kestra raised her hands to ward off the PADD being handed to her. That sounded like a rabbit hole to her and she didn’t know much about engineering equipment. Equipment in her science department yeah. She could even fix most of them.
“Sir it’s my first time in this engineering department. I have never noticed one on a Starbase before.” She knelt down by the equipment scanning with her tricorder “It does seem to be made of standard Starfleet material.”
The material didn’t appear to be dangerous but she could feel how upset everyone was about the unknown equipment. If the XO correction CO now didn’t know? She gave a mental shrug. He Had been on the ship far longer then she had.
Mitchell retracted the PADD when no one accepted it. “It’s been here since before I got here, I know that for sure. And it was working yesterday. It emits a low hum usually. Sir, maybe we should head for the nearest Starbase and have their Engineers check it out?”
Murphy thought for a moment. “Leaving the mines unprotected is a huge risk. But we may not have a choice.” He looked to his team for their thoughts.
Leela entered the dimly lit room, her posture straight and her eyes scanning the surroundings with an air of determination. "Reporting as ordered," she declared, her voice steady and clear, resonating off the stone walls.
Aubrie, standing nearby, regarded her with a nod of acknowledgment. Her expression was calm but focused, reflecting the seriousness of their mission. With a subtle gesture, she pointed to the ornate, glass-encased object resting on a pedestal in the center of the room—the artifact glinted under the soft light, its surface adorned with intricate carvings. "Please stand here and guard this object," Aubrie instructed, her tone firm yet authoritative. "Remain vigilant and alert until you receive further instructions."
A comm station on the wall nearby chirped. Murphy walked over and answered it, “Murphy here.”
=/\= Bridge here. A Constellation class Federation starship just arrived. They’re requesting permission to transport directly to Engineering to assist. =/\=
Murphy hesitated a moment before answering. “Alright, permission granted.”
Within moments, four transport beams brought Starfleet officers into Engineering. Three of them immediately got to work on the device, while the fourth one addressed the group from the Montana.
“I apologize for the inconvenience. We normally would have been here to help you a lot quicker, but you’re a little more remote than we would have liked.”
Before he was even finished talking, the machine came to life and the new arrivals formed up behind the speaker.
“It’s probably better if you don’t ask any questions. Mea extraordinaria,” he said, as four transport beams took the group away.
Steve definitely looked startled. The happening was beyond any Starfleet regulation and he couldn't make any head or tail of the situation. He looked helplessly at the captain for a lead.
“I suppose for starters we keep discussion about what’s happened here today limited to those of us who are already aware,” Murphy said. “And maybe also let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. Engineering emergency solved.”
Steve nodded silently still puzzled by the situation.
Kestra frowned. The people that beamed over? All of them she hadn’t been able to read them. It was like they hadn’t been there at all. Yet obviously they had been. She blinked a few times as thoughts raced round in her overly active brain. When the Captain told them not to talk about it she gave a nod. It was all to odd.
----------------
Michael Murphy
Captain, USS Montana
And
Lt. Cmdr. Steve Ryan
XO USS Montana
And
LT. Kestra Ral
CSO
USS Montana
And
Lt. Aubrie fox
Chief Security Officer
USS Montana
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