Messages

Thought I could tough it out but unfortunately, I need to step away to have a reassessment of where I'm at. It's been a blast.

Character(s) affected: Lennox Ainsley
Assigned ship(s): Discovery

[Bridge - USS Burke]

Franklin stood and paced for a moment before facing his crew and the away team, having clearly come to a decision.

"As much as I'd love to stand here and winge about what we don't have, there isn't time for that, so we are going to have to concentrate on what we do have. What we do have is a lifeline in the form of a ship far more advanced than ours.

"This ionic bubble looks like it will give us some time and that's time I intend to make the most out of. Douglas, as head of security, work with Lieutenant Said here and start beaming over everyone not deemed essential, but start with those in sickbay first as they need the most help soonest.

"Stacy, what is the bare bones minimum you need for engineering?"

"Ten sir." The engineer replied without hesitation.

"And how many will you need Pfizer?"

"I'd prefer to have all of them, but I can make do with six."

"Six will have to do. Okay people, tempus fugit. You know your tasks. Make it happen."

There were a chorus of "Aye Sirs" as the crew of the Burke set out to their assigned tasks with Ross leading Ainsley to engineering and Pfizer taking T'Lara to the science lab. Douglas' expression was still skeptical, but he nodded to Nira and the second away team headed out to assist with the evacuation, while the two medics were escorted to sickbay.

As those with jobs to perform departed to do those tasks, that left Franklin and Tekin on the bridge. Along with three other officers.

"Where are my manners? Captain Tekin, this is Ensign Kiet Atcharaporn, communications and Lieutenant jg Carol Lynn DuPries, helm. As it's just the four of us at the moment. I suppose its time for you to tell me about this time. You said the Romulan sun went nova, what else have we missed?"

[Bridge > Engineering - USS Burke]

'Bout time they finally got into the meat of things. Lennox nodded with a crisp 'aye cap'n' of his own as he proceeded to follow Stacy down to engineering. It was a strange phenomenon, leaving a lot of space for questions and perhaps not the right qualifications to answer them. Best leave them to the scientist among the crews. He also was left to wonder how different their technology was compared to theirs when it came to the engineering side of things.

["Aye Sir, good ta hear from you. Cadbury is working through every sensor spectrum known ta the Federation ta try and figure out what's going on. So far, all's he's confirmed is that the Burke's superstructure is slowly losin' cohesion from severe metal fatigue. He says these symptoms are consistent with severe radiation bombardment or accelerated agin', but he's found no detectable radiation ta account for what is happenin'."]

[Bridge - USS Burke]

Franklin pinched the bridge of his nose and looked tired as he replied.

"Thank you for the offer of help at least. This is clearly a situation outside of my experience and help is what I and my crew need. I'll have Lieutenant Pfizer, my science officer get with yours and see if they can figure out what's behind this loss of cohesion."

As Tekin spoke, Franklin looked surprised and shook his head.

"Clearly you came up through sciences. An ionic inverse field, I've never even heard of that technology, and you can emit one through your deflector dish? Technology seems to have advanced a bit since we've been gone."

As Tekin continued, Franklin looked even more overwhelmed.

"So, not only are you telling me your ship has three sickbays, it sounds like it can take on 145 additional crew without so much as blinking."

However, when it came to evacuating the Burke, Franklin shook his head.

"Okay, I have no reason to doubt anything you've told me so far, but while I can accept transporting over my injured, and perhaps even reducing the crew to a skeleton staff, but we're not at the abandon ship stage yet Captain."

He pivoted his chair to speak to his communications officer.

"Atcharaporn, get Pfizer and Ross up here. Begin coordinating with Doctor Chatham regarding transferring the casualties and the department heads on who they feel they absolutely need to stay to help stop this deterioration. We might not be able, to do so, but I'll be damned before I give up without trying."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

Ian sighed in relieve when he heard from the captain as it meant he was okay and, based on the tone of his voice, that Said hadn't had to storm the Burke's bridge.

"Aye Sir, good ta hear from you. Cadbury is working through every sensor spectrum known ta the Federation ta try and figure out what's going on. So far, all's he's confirmed is that the Burke's superstructure is slowly losin' cohesion from severe metal fatigue. He says these symptoms are consistent with severe radiation bombardment or accelerated agin', but he's found no detectable radiation ta account for what is happenin'."

[Bridge - USS Burke]

Lennox had had half a mind wanting the conversation to speed up, that they could get over the introductions - but he simply needed to wait and watch for what was going down next. Their comms were returned to them, and the crew of the Burke seemed a lot more willing to cooperate after the initial confusion had washed over them. However, it was in time to wash from one problem to the next. "Cap'n?" Lennox waited for Tekin to give him the go ahead to speak (if he did), even so, this was time senstive and he needed to push on. "Cannae we inquire te the state of the Burke's warp core? Eliminate the possible candidates fer radiation...bombardment?"

["Apologies, cap'n."]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Burke]

It was like stepping through time, and in a sense it was.  Even with the panicked hustle and confusion, the sounds of a bridge filled the air.  Unfortunately, he could see why the crew was paranoid.  The ship was blind, deaf, and mute, as well as crippled.

Nevir stood at a respectable attention with his hands behind his back, a form typical of Starfleet training, answering only after the one who was clearly the Captain answered... must be Franklin.  Before he could say anything, the engineer he brought had to speak.

"Ainsley!  You will follow proper protocol while on an away team, that's an order!" he said, turning giving an equally sharp glare as the other Captain.

"You must be Captain Franklin.  I am Captain Tekin Nevir, of the Federation Starship USS Discovery, NCC-78393-B.  Our ships collided after you emerged from a subspace rift, and I came over here to see if we could render assistance. I have medical and engineering personnel with me." he stated, ignoring as his commbadge chirped with Ian's message.

"That's just a communication from my ship.  I can ignore it for now.  You're crew seems to have gone through an ordeal, I can't blame them for being a bit jumpy."

[Bridge - USS Burke]

Lennox immediately shut his mouth, his stance jumping to attention. "Apologies, cap'n." He replied as he stood back to watch as the two captains conducted their business. His eyes narrowed at the chirp from the captain's commbadge.

But to prevent himself from further reprimand, the Scotsman remained silent.

["Looks like ye are in need of an extra hand on board, cap'n. Petty Officer Lennox Ainsley, USS Discovery, engineerin'."]

[Corridor outside Shuttlebay --> Bridge USS Burke]

Douglas was so surprised by the commbadge that he hesitated just long enough for Tekin to finish replying before he reached out and snatched the commbadges off Lennox, T'Lara, and Tekin.

"Tricky little whatever you are. I should..."

The turbolift doors opened before Douglas could finish what he was about to say and instead shoved the away team onto the bridge, to find a dignified older man, thick-set but fit, wearing a gold shirt with two-and-a-half stripes on each sleeve attempting to restore order to the Bridge.

Ainsley recognized that the bridge was not terribly different from that of the original Constitution class, though this one seems to trend somewhere between Pike and Kirk. Rather than the sleek, multifunction panels prevalent aboard modern starships, Burke makes do with buttons, switches, and knobs.

Several panels have been torn open either by damage or by repair crews, and the main viewer is filled with static. The Engineering, Communications, and Helm stations station are manned, but the Navigation, Science, and other stations are not.

The man the away team assumed was Captain Franklin was holding an old boxy communicator in one hand and an-old style PADD in the other and was busy checking data on one while giving orders on the other. As the away team entered, he was saying something about, "Never mind the primary, just rewire the secondary directly into the feed and let's go from there."

He swivel kicked his chair around to view the intruders, swivel away and then did a double-take. He then eyed each of the new arrivals carefully before asking, "What's all this?"

[Bridge - USS Burke]

Lennox took a long hard look at what he had seen on the bridge. Some stations had been manned, the other lot had not. The fact that Douglas had taken away their only means and methods of communication that would allow them to relay their findings back to the Discovery had Lennox acutely aware that they would have to figure out the comms station should they be allowed to.

Something about the primary, and something about the secondary.

The Scotsman cleared his throat, trying to seem less imposing on the fact that they were being held as hostages on a ship they had come to help. He wasn't one to hide his displeasure about their treatment this far. He glanced over at Tekin and T'Lara, wondering which one was going to speak up next. Nor was he about to back down from the glare that had been sent his direction. "Looks like ye are in need of an extra hand on board, cap'n. Petty Officer Lennox Ainsley, USS Discovery, engineerin'." He said, eyes briefly flickering away to look at the torn panel in the wall.

[[Corridor outside Shuttlebay - USS Burke]]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Corridor outside Shuttlebay - USS Burke]

Torra glanced over towards the Scot engineer, her hands still raised non-threateningly.

"I'm afraid not but maybe one of these kind gentlemen can guide us?" She slowly nodded towards the two red-shirts even as more arrived this time with old-school phasers.

Torra dipped her head obligingly, hunching her shoulders ever so slightly to seem less intimidating because of her height and waited on the Captain to answer for them.

Torra slowly held out her own med-kit towards the guards.   "I have training as a medic as well.  I'd like to help, if I may?"

Torra set down her med-kit and let the guards remove all her other equipment.   Still waiting on the answer of if she would be allowed to go to Sickbay with Horg.

[Corridor outside Shuttlebay - USS Burke]

Lennox raised his hands, realising that they were slowly being surrounded by red shirts who were not taking well to their intrusion on to their ship. He wasn't going to say anything to inflame the situation, allowing for their captain to speak on their behalf as he looked around at the others, whilst his gear was being removed from them except those who were of medical branch.

He hoped the interaction would end up going smoothly, and they all wouldn't be thrown into the Brig. Perhaps he could make use of himself as an engineer should the moment arise from him to speak in front of the captain.

[[Shuttlecraft]]

[Main Shuttlebay - USS Discovery]

"I know some of you may still be shaken up, but we have a duty to our fellow crewman.  Torra, you and Ainsley will make your way to main engineering, and bring a med-kit with you.  T'Lara, Horg, you two will accompany me to the Bridge.  Be careful and cautious, its clear that this ship has spent decades in a subspace rift.  Disorientation will only be the start of what you can expect for survivors.  Keep in contact.  Let's head out." he said, opening the door.  He waiting for everyone to exit the shuttle before closing it, and pulling out a tricorder.

"Avoid turbolifts, use shafts.  Good luck." he said, leading his team out of the shuttlebay, and towards the bridge.

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
and
NPC Crewman Horg
[Shuttlecraft]

Torra new most of what the Captain reported out but only because she'd been on the Bridge.  His briefing to the others she found was clear and detailed.   She nodded her head in acknowledgement and waited in somewhat nervous anticipation for the shuttle to dock after the Captain managed to override the older ship's security.

Because of her nervous stomach, Torra was learning to come to work prepared.  From her duty belt she pulled out a carrot stick and discreetly crunched on it to help prevent stomach pains later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Shuttlebay - USS Burke]

Hearing about the contaminants and knowing most security anti-boarding protocols from her time on Challenger as Security Torra recommended at least the carry of re-breathers if not the immediate wearing of full breathing masks.

As the Captain issued orders Torra listened.  Her orders were to head to engineering with Ainsley... and to bring the med-kit.  Torra smiled softly to herself. Once a field medic, always a field medic.  She shared a glance with Crewman Horg, feeling a kinship with the Tellerite medical crewman.  That was her a just over a year ago.

Torra went to the Shuttles storage area and grab up a med-kit not just for herself but one for Kitaa as well.  "Good luck, Kitaa." she offered gently then followed Ainsley out of the Shuttlebay.  She hoped he knew his way around the old style ship if not they'd have to find themselves a working wall console to get a ship schematic.

Kitaa accepted the med-kit from the Grazerite officer and then exited the shuttle to follow the Captain.

Torra attempted to diffuse the aggressive situation by raising her hands non-threateningly but let the Captain speak for the Away Team.

[Shuttlebay - USS Burke]

Lennox nodded at his orders, stunned at what the Borg cube had brought out. The Burke that had been missing for over 90 years. If only the rest of Starfleet could see it now. "Aye, sir." The Scotsman swore under his breath, as he clamped down on what nerves that were bubbling under the surface as he looked over at Torra and gave a nod (whether it was supposed to be reassuring or not was left for another time). "A'righ', let's get this party started then...."

He stepped out of the shuttlecraft and stopped, turning to look at Torra. "You don't happen to know your way around this place do you?" He gave a slight half-smile, looking around for a wall console. If they were going to avoid the turbolifts, it was going to make for a very interesting way down to engineering.

Active character:

Lennox Ainsley - engineering - Petty Officer

[[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

No sooner had the Away Team beamed over than Torra mirrored the transporter controls to a window screen on her console so she could keep track of the away team herself as she worked on trying to clean up the scans more.

She noticed a slight 2% increase in the shielding.  She smiled gently, knowing that the engineering crew were working hard to encourage every last possible ounce of power... and she appreciated it.  She sent a brief, quiet message down to the bowels of the ship while the tension on the bridge built waiting for Commander Galloway to report in what they found.

"Danjar-Addams to Engineer.  Thank you for your efforts... it makes a difference!"

[Main Engineering]

Lennox had been under the panel, surrounded by various wires and tubing as he attempted to reroute the power. Surely, it was never this difficult when he had done it last? Perhaps it was to do with the fact that they were near a Borg cube that had the Scotsman on high alert and readying the ship to do what was necessary when it came to their defenses. He jerked upwards, hitting his head off another panel with an undignified grunt. One he was pretty sure that he heard another crewman laughing about.

"Oi, stays between ye and I, a'righ'?" Lennox called out from where he was located.

"Sure, Len. Whatever you say."

Lennox had heard the call from Danjar-Addams.  Not a problem, jus' tryin' to get somethin' better than a measly two-percent....ye know a way t'at doesn't include bein' wrapped around in tubin'? 

[" Gonnae try gettin' more power rerouted through the Magnetospheric shielding compensators - might buy us two percent or we get lucky an' find a jump in shielding. Which - jus' work in our favor wit' this cube should anythin' kick off now. Why don't you take a look at t'at couplin'....ov'r there?"]

[Main upper engineering]

Lennox had been trying to keep an ear to the ground - as it was said, noticing that Lt. Quinn was frantically attempting to reroute power and increasing shielding of the Discovery. The Scotsman glanced up at Quinn's voice, noting that there was ever the hint of embarrassment seeping in. His head had snapped up just as the red alert had sounded, but had cut off just as abruptly as it began.

"Looks like we've stumbled across a Borg cube...."

One of the engineers muttered, part-impressed, part-scared.

It hadn't been too long after, when Quinn had gone along with the away team and Lennox was surrounded by other engineers. " Gonnae try gettin' more power rerouted through the Magnetospheric shielding compensators - might buy us two percent or we get lucky an' find a jump in shielding. Which - jus' work in our favor wit' this cube should anythin' kick off now. Why don't you take a look at t'at couplin'....ov'r there?"

[USS Discovery - Main engineering]

Lennox had pushed his feet off the console, careful not to press anything as he did so. It was a calmer few days after their previous mission where it had become rather clear that they had been stuck in a temporal loop of sorts; where he had been killed several times over before the rest of the crew had managed to return them to their proper timeline. Turned out that they had been gone for almost ten weeks. Not that returning to some sense of normalcy didn't help, but it certainly was jarring at the very least for the Scotsman.

He should have just taken some time off and away from staring at the warp core and all her parts but Lenn didn't work like that. Rest wasn't something he wanted. The Scotsman did his last few checks on the PADD as he got up, pacing in no particular order. They must have dropped out of warp, judging by the change in volume given off by the core itself.

Welcome on board!

[Deck 12- Upper Main engineering]

Lennox had watched the musician leave, before returning to his work. However, despite his best efforts, another wave of deja vu had hit him. He grimaced, biting back the urge to say anything to anyone else - but on a preemptive glance around the room, Lennox could tell that others were feeling the same way. The Scotsman huffed, running a hand through his hair as he brought out the hyper spanner and continued working on his checks.

I should be present this month.

["Just give me a notification if yer comin' down next time, aye? Saves ye from all this hassle from someone who isn't me next time."]

[Engineering - Domen Kyo]

No problem at all, Kyo said, returning the smile. I know civilians aren't technically allowed down here, and I definitely make sure it doesn't happen often. Generally only if one or the other of us forgets something or if I need to come pick up Alieth, our pet? The last he asked since he wasn't sure how much the Vulcan three-horn was outside his mate's office for the other engineers to see.

Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Ainsley. I'll clear out of here so you can get back to work.

[Deck 12 - Main engineering]

Lennox nodded, glad that the understanding that civilians weren't supposed to venture down to the depths but seeing as there was a connection to Saya, perhaps exceptions could be made. "Just give me a notification if yer comin' down next time, aye? Saves ye from all this hassle from someone who isn't me next time." The Scotsman said. "But its all good wit' me, lad, all good."

He hadn't even known that there was a pet roaming around; maybe it was because he had been too busy to notice or maybe he was slipping in his observational skills. "If t'ats all yer needin', it's been good meetin' ye, Mr. Kyo."

Though he had been trying to place the face and the name, it had taken him a while. "Yer the musician, righ'? Did I recall t'at correctly?"