“I hate it out here, it’s dark and cold. This suit is too restricting, and the mag boots keep stressing my calf muscles…” The Male engineer complained.
“You need to do more Zero-G training, get used to it. Calibrate your suit right, and you don’t even feel the cold.” His female counterpart retorted with a smirk he could not see, but knew was there.
The two were walking along the Port Star Drive section of the Hull, the vastness of space towards an access node, the last one on their checklist.
“Last time I messed with the temperature controls on one of these things, I sweat off 10 pounds in 5 minutes. Took the suit off, and you thought I was deep-sea diving.” He continued to gripe, a tool briefcase in his hand. He would complain about it too, had it not been weightless in the vacuum of space, the only thing holding it to him was his own hand, and a tether that was attached to his belt.
“Well, last one, and we can get you back on the ship. I’ll make you a Spicy Orange Juice, it has a pinch of natural Hajjlaran!” the woman hailed as she kneeled down at the access panel.
Getting the panel off was easy, but the mag-lock was proving more than the woman could handle as she struggled against its seal. “Ugh, you try.”
The man took her position at the panel and reached down with his dominant hand, determined to impress her with his natural prowess. But it was clear on his initial pull that the mag-lock was not going to budge. He repositioned himself and braced his legs to make another attempt, but the Mag-lock only shifted slightly in place.
Letting go and softly falling backwards, the man related. “We could always use a phaser.”
“And risk permanently demagnetizing the seal? I don’t think the new Chief would like that very much.” His companion remarked.
-“Sounds like y’all could use a hand”-
A new voice echoed over their comms. Causing the two to scramble to look for the source.
Another Exo-Suit appeared floating down from the saucer section, its thrusters slowing its descent as the mag boots clicked and locked onto the hull plating. The two Engineers were weary, as they thought they were the only two on a space walk at this time, but the man was in a Dragon Exo-suit.
“Sorry to drop in, I’m with security, was checking the dorsal phaser strips when I heard you threaten to shoot that mag lock, figured I’d lend a hand, or a phaser if needed.” The man stated in a cheerful tone.
The male engineer’s face flushed, thankfully hidden behind the UV screen of his suit’s visor. “Yeah, appreciate it. Think were looking at a possible contact weld somewhere along the shaft of the mag lock.”
“Got two spanners and a sonic oscillator?” the security officer asked.
“Yeah!” The male engineer acknowledged, setting his tool kit down, mag locking it to the hull before opening the lid. Inside, he pulled out two wrench-like tools and what appeared to be a tuning fork attached to a mini tricorder.
The security officer took the two spanners, looping his own tether between the handle of the mag lock before affixing each end to one of the spanners. He handed one handle to the Male engineer and motioned for him to give the other engineer the oscillator. “Ok, on three were going to both pull up, while we do, use the oscillator on the maglock drum to help vibrate it loose. With any luck, it should pop out.”
With everyone in place, the Security Officer and Male Engineer braced their feet, and using both hands on the spanners like a dumbbell curl, they lifted with both arms and legs. As the two strained against the stuck apparatus, the other engineer focused the sonic oscillator on the short exposed surface of the mag-lock drum; everyone could feel the reverberating pulses under their feet as it echoed across the hull, and bit…by…bit…the mag lock finally relented, sliding up to its full glory!
—————–
The Airlock hissed as the air pressure returned to the chamber, though it was not nearly as loud as the three inside who were still laughing and cheering from their earlier success. After re-coating the mag drum, the Security officer escorted the engineers back to their original entryway near engineering.
The male engineer was the first to eagerly remove his helmet, “Yeah, it’s a good thing you got there when you did, because I was this close to requisitioning a phaser and taking the day to replace the whole conduit.” He spoke as sweat dripped out of his helmet. It was apparent from the purple markings across his face that this man was a member of the Wadi. “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes my grannie used to say.”
“Ignore him, he’s just mad he got roped into this duty from a lost bet.” The woman spoke, her helmet too coming off, highlighting the deepened orbital sockets and sharp teeth of the Xahean race.
The security officer had also removed his helmet, revealing the short brown hair, clean-shaven face, and black irises of a Betazoid. Michael zoned out for a bit as the helmet came off, taking in the sights and sounds of the USS Dragon. The placard on the wall indicated they were on Deck 12, not too far off from Engineering, one of the Port Storage facilities that housed several workbees. The hum of the lights, the metallic accent décor, and the rush of hundreds of minds of the crewmen onboard nearly washed away his concentration before being snapped back to reality.
“Yo, Sec. You good?” The Wadi Engineer asked, a confused look on his face.
“Yeah, sorry. It’s just, this is my first time onboard.” Michael answered without thinking.
The Xahean had already started to remove her upper exosuit, revealing the Engineering yellow uniform underneath, quick to pick up on his slip of words. “Your first time? How did you get that Dragon exosuit?”
There was once again an air of tension between the two Engineers as they watched Michael with close interest now, as he too started to remove his exosuit. “Oh, it’s a hazing thing with security, I guess. I got the suit beamed over to me on the station, and had to spacewalk out of the station, and HALO Jump from there onto the Dragon’s hull and make the rounds on the Phaser Strips.” He spoke with practiced determination.
In truth, he was beamed over the Exo Suit, and he DID jump from the station to the Ship, so it wasn’t that much of a lie. He could detect an elevated sense of disbelief from the two and was worried his cover was already going to be blown, until the Wadi spoke up.
“I told you those guys in Sec-U were crazy.” He stated to his companion, before clasping his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Brother, you have fun with that mess. I need to take a damn shower before I get back to the Core.” He patted Michael on the shoulder two more times as he walked away, turning around to his companion, “You got the case?”
The Xahean woman, an ensign Michael could now tell from her uniform, picked up the engineering tool kit and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let the Chief know you DIDN’T blow a hole in the hull!”
“THANKS!” the man shouted from down the hall, before turning down another corridor.
Michael had fully removed his Exosuit, wearing only black duty pants and an unranked black undershirt. “Oh wow, you really are fresh, aren’t you?” The Ensign spoke, a slight tease in her words.
“That’s one way of putting it. Mind if I tag along to Engineering? Haven’t gotten my bearings quite yet, and not all that eager to check in. Hear this thing’s got a massive Core.” Michael remarked.
The Xahean smiled and tossed the engineering tool kit to Michael. “Sure, but you get to carry my luggage!” She mocked. As the two headed down the corridor towards the turbolift, she continued. “Class 9 Warp Drive makes us roughly the fastest thing in the fleet. Our Cruise IS our Max, and we can push it to the limit even further in emergencies.”
Michael held a smile on his face as he dutifully carried the toolkit, listening to the ensign rattle off the specs of his new starship.
[To be Continued]
