Tinkered Toiling Through The Tubes

Posted on Wed May 28th, 2025 @ 1:36pm by Chief Petty Officer Chloe Delacroix & Lieutenant Karane Inda

855 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X01: Bound for Cold Frontier
Location: Access Conduit
Timeline: (Before Fiddle Faddle)

Cid was whistling an aimless tune as she braced her legs between the rails of the ladder inside of the access tube she was working in. Below her the sound of people walking by added percussion to her song and gave her a rhythm in her work. She had both arms elbow deep in a maintenance hatch when she heard someone clear their throat from below.

"And you are?" A grumpy voice asked simply.

"Oh! Sorry! Hang on and look out below!" Cid said as she held onto the rails and loosened her grip. Artificial gravity took hold, and she slid down fast, giving back into a backwards roll and coming up on her feet, bouncing onto her feet slightly and straightening her toolbelt. She smiled ear-to-ear as she looked up at the other engineer. "Oh hey! I saw you at the on-boarding briefing! You're our CEO, right?"

She held out her hand. "Damage Control Specialist Chief Petty Officer Chloe Ilaria Delacroix, but call me 'Cid', it's easier, " she said, grinning. "I'm your new Miss Fix-it."

"Uh huh." Karane responded. She glanced up the tube for a brief moment. "So, exactly what were you doing?".

Cid held out her hand a moment more, then shrugged and hooked her thumbs on her tool belt. "Full visual MAP inspection, Ma'am," Cid said. "First thing we learn at U.P. is you can't get somewhere to fix things if you don't know where they are. So I'm going through every maintenance hatch, access port, and power junction until I know the ship, literally, inside out."

Karane raised an eyebrow. "So, you're looking at the systems and learning where everything is?" She asked in slight bewilderment. "Is this your first time on a Constitution Class?"

"Yes!" Cid said, excitedly, her eyes wide and grin back in place. "I've crawled through some spare parts back at U.P., but this is my first time in an operational one, and I am definitely not dumb enough to think that the models are the same as a real, working ship, especially when I'm sure you guys have made repairs and patches and stuff already. I'm about halfway through, and I'm making pretty good time. With a little luck, I'll be done before bed. Hopefully repair teams will keep up that pace when we go through simulations."

"Well," Karane said. "What have you learned?"

Cid reached into her coveralls and pulled out her tablet. She pulled up the schematics she'd been constructing. "So far I've found twelve spots that differ from the design specs and I've made notations in the computer. Eighteen spots where jerry-rigging changed the circuit configuration and I've made notes for them, and started some work on which ones could be made more efficient with a little work. I also am working on redesigning the saucer section's Damage Response Sweep Order based on what I've seen with the primary access ports and with the corridor design. With crew running around, what the designers thought was most efficient really isn't. Just walking it, I bumped into a half dozen people each deck. If we were in an emergency, repair teams would be slowed down constantly. My new path that goes in between corridors and the tubes will increase response time by fifteen percent, minimum. I've also got some thoughts on some tinkering we could do with some of the turbolift systems to increase their efficiency in an emergency and get teams deck-to-deck faster. Oh and those at the bottom are just some pet projects I've had on my back burner, they aren't related to this." She gestured to the long list of tinkering ideas she had.

Karane stood there perfectly still blinking in surprise. It was almost as if she was speechless, but alas she found words. "Has anyone ever told you that there's a thing about being too enthusiastic?" She asked a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Seriously, take a chill pill. It's nice to see you 'enjoying' your job, but this comes across as... scary..."

Cid frowned, looking like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry," she said. "I kinda can't help it..." She cleared her throat, then managed to put on a smile. "Well, at least you can't say I'll slack off," she said, putting some brightness in her voice. She looked up and her brown eyes got a bit bigger as she said, "could I maybe just survey one more deck?" sounding like a child asking for five more minutes of playtime. "Oh! Plus, I need to design a new security lock for the phaser maintenance hatch," she said, excitedly. "I spoke with the Chief of Security and he gave it a go so long as you sign off on the repair."

Karane groaned. "Fine... Just make sure you log the repair properly and ask me before you touch any major systems."

Cid snapped off a quick salute. "Aye, Ma'am," she said, grinning. "Worry not, my paperwork is immaculate! I'll see you later!" She tucked her tablet back into her coverall pouch and with a jump she was back up the ladder and hard at work.

 

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