Flight Of The Phoenix [Part 6]

Posted on Wed Nov 29th, 2023 @ 2:47am by Ensign Hanna-Justina Marseille 'Desert Eagle' & Lieutenant JG Masamune Busujima 'Lost Boy' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse'
Edited on on Sat Dec 2nd, 2023 @ 8:50pm

1,535 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard
Location: Endeavour (NX-05)- Main Engineering, Deck D

Previously On Star Trek: Tokyo...

Still laughing Fubuki left the battery room followed shortly thereafter by Rin, and with Nozomi taking up the rear. "Have fun in the engine room!" She called.

"Looking forward to it!" Saeko called back before shifting her gaze back to Masamune and cracking a wry smirk. "Aren't we, Lieutenant?"

"Whoop-dee-f**king-doo," Masamune sighed.

And now... the continuation!

---

Masamune forced the door to open to the engine room of the Endeavour. The room's air seemed stale and obviously it had been sealed for a long time. "Wow, it smells strange in here!" he exclaimed as he led the way in. The emergency lights in the room had illuminated the area. He could make out the large warp five reactor sat in the middle of the cramped room.

"I never thought I'd get to see one of these." He said.

"The legendary Warp 5 Reactor," Hanna gasped, her eyes glazed over in excitement. "Quite possibly one of the most pivotal engines in the entirety of human history; for the first time in our existence, we could cover 130 billion miles in just under an hour. The distance spanning between Earth and Vulcan was shortened to just under a month; the distance between Earth and Andoria, just three weeks; the distance between Earth and Alpha Centauri, just over eight days."

"With how long this thing's been sitting, I doubt it's going to get us anywhere useful in a week," Saeko lamented.

"No doubt," Masamune replied. "We should probably check the antimatter injectors. If at least one of them is intact we should have a good chance of geting this old girl operational again." He suggested. He wasn't going to admit it, but this was actually rather exciting for him. It was a definite change in the daily grind and routine.

Hanna and Saeko proceeded to help Masamune over to a large panel that was situated just parallel to the main core; its function was clearly denoted by the words "Antimatter Injectors" painted on the panel itself in bold, yellow letters. Propping Masamune up against the bulkhead, the two pilots proceeded to feel around until Hanna managed to locate something that felt like a release latch. With a sharp tug, the panel slid down, revealing an assembly of five large, tube-like injectors.

"I think these look ok?" Masamune said as he turned and looked at the others. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe we should inspect the line nodes?" Saeko suggested.

Masamune nodded. "Sure. Now, there should be a master console or something like that around here. If I remember correctly, old ships like these had a sort of 'main console' in their engine room."

"It would appear that making a virtue out of ignorance is something of a specialty of yours, Mister Busujima?" Hanna ridiculed, directing their attention to a large computer terminal on the catwalk directly above them.

"Great; how exactly are we supposed to get him up there?" Saeko pointed out.

Masamune narrowed his eyes at Hanna's comment. "Well, how about the ladder..." he said pointing to the ladder on the otherside of the catwalk. "Wouldn't that be the most Logical option huh?" He couldn't help but smirk at sounding a bit like Warrant Officer Roromiya.

"With your ankle?" Saeko reminded him.

"I'll hop... or something..." Masamune said. He didn't want to look weak in front of the others. "Unless you want to go up there?"

"Perhaps it would be in our best interests if I were to go first?" Hanna offered without bothering to ask Masamune or Saeko for their opinion. "We'll then help Mister Busujima up onto the catwalk, and Miss Busujima can take up the rear?"

"I mean, sure, not like we bothered to take a vote or anything like that," Saeko grumbled as they helped Masamune over to the ladder.

After handing Masamune off to Saeko, Hanna proceeded to carefully scale the ladder- putting her full weight on each step to ensure that it was structurally sound after sitting for what must've been some 230-odd years- and after getting herself situated on the catwalk, she got down on her hands and knees and offered her outstretched hand.

"If your butt lands on my face, you're a dead man," Saeko warned as she helped Masamune up onto the ladder.

Masamune rolled his eyes. "You'd like it anyways!" he mocked as he pulled himself up onto the catwalk.

"You underestimate me," Saeko retorted as she proceeded to join up with her colleagues.

Finally after a little struggle the three pilots were stood on the catwalk that was attached to the warp reactor. Masamune studied the controls as he leant against the curved console. "This looks like the injector control assembly..." he said pointing to two of the sliders. "And this is the matter injectors." he said pointing to other sliders.

"Ah, look" he said pointing to a master switch. "This console was turned off before the crew left." he explained. He flicked the master switch. The console flickered and eventually came to life. "They don't build them like they used to!" he smiled.

"So, what do you make of it?" Hanna asked.

Masamune scratched his head as he thought and studied the readings that had come up on the screen. "Well... If I remember my classes on warp theory correctly... I think we should have at least something to get this reactor online. But I can't tell how intact the infastructure is. It'll be risky..."

"What I wouldn't give for Charles Tucker right now..." Saeko lamented. "Right; so, looks like we're going to have to wing it?"

Masamune nodded simply. "Looks like it." There was no real way of telling what would happen without the proper equipment or an extensive examination of the ships systems. That would of course take time, and that was precious in such an environment.

"Well, here goes nothing!" Masamune said as he initated the reactivation sequence. The warp reactor began to hum, as purple and blue hues started to eminate from the grills on the front. A few sparks shot out from various smaller consoles and vents along the room.

"Its ok, looks like some dust..." Masamune said. "She's not had anything powered up for over two hundred years. There's bound to be some problem!" he assured them. He watched with the others as the warp reactor slowly came online.

"I'm reading power." Masamune said with a smile. The console in front of them began to beep. He quickly turned his attention to it. He then began to work the controls like he had been working there for years, the beeping finally stopped. "Containment fields are.... surprisingly stable. We have a limited antimatter and matter on board. But enough to at least power the thrusters and impulse engines."

"We did it!" Saeko cheered, excitedly ruffling Masamune's shoulder. "We've got power!"

"Yes, but not for very long. A few days at least." Masamune same. "We're basically running on fumes here."

"A few days is all we need," Hanna ascertained. "If we can get just a few more of the vital systems up and running- ventral thrusters, polarized hull plating, impulse engines- perhaps we can fly this thing back to the Tokyo?"

"Thats the idea..." Masamune replied. "Looks like the impulse engines need some work. But that shouldn't take too long..." he said as he read from the status display. "Looks like sand has gotten into them. But thats to be expected, they might just need a good blow out."

"Perhaps if we reroute some of the leftover plasma through the impulse vents, we could try and discharge some of the sand that's accumulated in there?" Saeko recommended.

Masamune shook his head. "That would just burn the sand. We want it to be clear, not turned to glass." he said as he examined the schematic of the engines on the screen. "However, if we go and realign the plasma conduits in that area, we could give the engines a short impulse burst. Not strong enough to move us, but strong enough to blow anything out." He suggested.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Saeko nodded. "Fancy we procure ourselves a couple of toolkits and get to work?"

"I think its best if I stay here and monitor." Masamune suggested, he also indicated to his ankle. "Saves me running around on this ankle..."

Saeko glanced over at Hanna, her lips curling into a smirk. "Sounds to me like someone's going to have to start doing their end of the work around here, eh, Marseille?"

Hanna glared daggers at the two of them.

"Enough." Masamune said. "Look, we need to work together to get out of this situation. Its not every day we find an old Starship in the middle of the desert. Don't screw this up guys. We need those plasma conduits to be aligned, the sooner the better!"

"True that," Saeko nodded, before turning her attention over to Hanna. "Come on, we'd best be getting to work."

To be continued...

 

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