Engineering

“So I am very honored to take over Commander Deem’s position even under these rough situations,” Cezs spoke in high spirits. The tellarite was quite proud of the fact that she made the step-up to become a Chief Engineer of Tokyo. She looked at Ko with a neutral expression.

Having her arms crossed over each other, Ko couldn’t see if Cezs was truly happy about the new appointment, the facial expressions of a tellarite she knew were either angry, a little angry, or neutral. Thought the day she would see a tellarite smile would freak her out. “Glad to hear that, Lieutenant; I hope you will enjoy it as long as you serve our wonderful ship. Talented people like yourself are hard to catch, after all.”

“Now, now, Captain, flattering will not get you far with me; I am a hardworking woman, and my achievements speak chapters.” Cezs pauses for a second. “But…I do appreciate the gesture” Giving a brief nod to her Captain.

Ko would have a hard time complimenting or even reading these people. “Right, let’s get to work. What is the status of the Tokyo?” She wanted to know her ship’s condition after all, besides congratulating her new chief engineer. 

Giving a firm nod to the statement of returning to work, she turned to the engineer, placing her hands at each side. “She is purring like a kitten, as Commander Deem would say. There are some minor issues with the plasma folds on deck five. No worries, I have an engineering team going at it right away.” Cezs was not fooling around, and her new appointment would not be wasted on her watch.

“Good; anything else I should know regarding the ship? Why is it not able to travel on warp just yet?” Ko looked a bit puzzled at Cezs.

Scratching behind her ear, “Well, there is that….” Cezs shrugged and honestly hoped that the question didn’t pop up. “With the events that had happened to the ship recently, we discovered we pulled too much on her engines. So we are doing a bypass right now to the left nacelle. It will take some time to get her in line with specifications.” Cezs was not proud of it, but this was something Yozria was also working on. 

Letting out a sigh of light frustration, “How much time before we can jump again?” Ko asked directly.

“Give or take eight hours if we stay within the safety protocols. If you want it faster, it can be done in five hours, but the risk will rise, and potential plasma burns are present,” Cezs explained carefully. 

Dealing with Ibrix was the last thing Ko wanted to do right now. She gave a soft nod toward Cezs and turned around, leaving the engineering. “Get it done, Chief. I want this ship back on course. We also got our deadlines to meet,” Ko spoke while leaving.

Walking into the hallway, Cezs followed her Captain. “I will do my utmost best to get the ship back in shape that you remember her to be.” She felt like a person fresh out of the academy that needed to prove her skills to her superior officer. 

“Chill, Lieutenant,” Ko stopped and turned to her. “You begin to sound like a Ferengi trying to sell something. Focus on the job at hand, and we will be good to go.” She moved to resume her walk as she felt intense pressure on her head, forcing her to her knee. At the same time, her surroundings change rapidly, as if she gets warped into a different area. 

She was breathing, her eyes were hurting, and she had an instant headache as she had one hand leaning on her forehead. When her blurry vision cleared up, she saw the green glow; she could feel the warmth in her face as sweat dripped down her head. Time slowed down as she saw, to her own horror, Borg drones right in front of her, working on their given task. Then one turned, and it was a Towalr but with Borg implants. Towalr eyes meet that of Ko, and with a blink, it is gone. 

Ko found herself leaning against the wall on ground level, breathing heavily. “CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN, CAN YOU HEAR ME!” The voice of Cezs screamed as the tellarite checked Ko’s pulse. “Emergency medical transportation, Captain Yoon-Jung needs help!” Without a notice, Ko felt she was transported away and blackout.

Sickbay

Opening her eyes, Ko found herself on a biobed and grabbed to her head with the headache that pierced her. “Fuck….” She mutters in pain and tries to breathe slowly. Then she felt a small pinch in her neck and looked at her side, seeing Viamame putting a medical injector in her neck.

“That will help with the pain,” Viamame spoke with a  shrug. “What happened?” 

Laying her head back on the pillow, Ko shrugged. “I was….seeing a hallway…..the same as on the Borg Sphere.” It sounded like madness, but it was the second time this happened to her.

Letting out a deep breath as Viamame checked Ko’s vitals, “Your brain activity has been all over the place. But it has been calming down for the recent few minutes.” She was showing concern over the well-being of her Captain “I had Yozria check on you every hour now.” 

“How long have I been out?” Ko asked, surprised at the statement.

“About four to five hours now, you gave our new Chief Engineer almost a heart attack. She felt somewhat responsible for this. I talked her out of that silly idea, as she couldn’t prevent this seizure.” Viamame had to give the diagnosis a name, even though she was unsure about it herself.

 Ko didn’t know what to make of it all “What did you tell our new First Officer” 

“To focus on her job and let me do mine,” Viamame smiled a bit. “But she is worried about your health, so am I. Does this relate to Commander Towalr? Is he truly trying to reach out to you….? I mean, I removed all nanos out of you, so this should not be possible.” Viamame was confused about the whole ordeal. 

“I don’t know….” Ko briefly replied, thinking about it, “But he stated basically the same….help me.” She looked at Viamame.

Viamame looked back at Ko and shrugged. “Well, take a rest, and we will figure this out….” She put a blanket back over Ko and walked back to her own office. Wondering what to make out of this all.