Carpathia IV: Episode 14 - Meatloaf
Space, NCCS Shadowdancer
Having guided the Shadowdancer out of the nebula, Adell now hurried to sick bay to check on the injured, particularly the one who took the direct hit from the gas discharge. Sorchae's preliminary report was cautiously optimistic, but Adell wanted to see for himself. Walking through the doors of sick bay, Adell hoped for more good news. Inside, he found the nurses attending to the injured crew member and Sorchae and Artemis consulting with each other.
Sorchae: Ah, Captain. Do come in.
Adell quickly strode over to Sorchae and Artemis and joined the conversation.
Adell: How is he?
Sorchae: With the help of Artemis, we've been able to stabilize his airway so that he can breathe and we're draining fluid from his lungs. There's nothing we can do to save his left eye. The rest of the injuries will take time and work and he'll have to go off duty for several months, at least. Still, the prognosis is really better than it should be and Artemis was a big help. We should transfer him to a ship headed to Polaris Deep as soon as we have a chance.
Artemis shrugged nonchalantly.
Artemis: I didn't do much. Burns are a bit outside my ability and his eye was completely gone, so there was little I could do.
Sorchae: Regardless, you were a big help. As for the others, Lieutenant Sokari had some moderate skin and lung damage, which we were able to treat here. The others had very minor skin and lung damage, which we were able to treat on-site. We've given all the others an inhaler to use for several days and instructions to see us immediately if anything feels out of sorts.
Adell nodded and glanced at the surgery bay, wincing a bit at the sheer amount of equipment huddled around the bed.
Adell: The consolation here is that it could have been a lot worse. Thank you both very much for your efforts.
On the bridge of the Shadowdancer, a very different conversation was taking place. Aire was borrowing the ready room for an urgent matter of discipline. Aire leaned forward in the captain's chair with his arms folded on the desk looking straight across at a very deflated Teek, sitting on the other side.
Aire: When there is an incident, we have to look at three things, technological failures, systemic failures, and judgement errors. It's always good when we can eliminate judgement errors quickly, but that is not the case this time.
Teek squeezed his limbs together and looked down at the floor.
Teek: Yes, Commander.
Aire: Right now, we do not know if your hotdogging through the nebula contributed to the accident in engineering, but the fact remains that you were warned three times to slow down and stay on course. Your service aboard this ship has been excellent up to this point and I want to know why you ignored all those warnings.
The room went silent for an uncomfortably long time as Aire awaited Teek's response. Teek squirmed in his chair, looking for the right words, as if there were any right words in this case.
Teek: Well... I thought... I thought that if I went faster, we'd be able to finish the mission ahead of schedule.
Aire reached over to the computer terminal and scrolled through Teek's personnel file.
Aire: And to that end, you put the ship and her crew at risk. This is a very serious offence, Ensign. I'm going to have to put an official reprimand in your permanent record. It won't take many more like these to get you transferred to a significantly less prestigious assignment.
Aire tapped at his console, re-skimming Teek's school and service record to make sure he didn't miss anything. At the same time, he kept an eye on Teek out of the corner of his eye, monitoring his response. Teek's eyes darted around and his teeth slowly began to grit progressively harder.
Teek: Why do I get picked on all the time? Why am I the one who gets told off, to mind my station? We have a communications officer who can barely communicate and he gets coddled!
Aire turned away from his screen and back to Teek. This was the moment he was waiting for, the moment for Teek to bring up the subject that Aire wanted to discuss all along.
Aire: Kit does his duty just fine and goes above and beyond when the situation calls for it. Kit, however, is not your concern. There are three things you need to keep in mind. First, we are not in competition with each other. We work as a team, and this kind of one-upmanship has no place in our command structure. Second, if you feel you are being treated unfairly or you believe others are being treated poorly, you need to bring it up to your commanding officer, me, privately. Finally...
Aire turned his display toward teek and pointed to one of the notes in Teek's personnel file.
Aire: ...and most importantly, I see from the notes by Commander Azrael that this is not the first time you have publicly mocked or shown disdain for another crew member. You need to understand that belittling others is only part of the problem. You are also, in effect, publicly and openly questioning the decisions of the captain in his selection and treatment of the crew. These are matters that must be handled in private with the appropriate officer in charge, who is, in this case, me.
By now, the bluster from Teek's momentary outburst had already faded and he was back to squishing himself up in his chair, trying to look as small as possible.
Aire: You are an excellent pilot, which is why you were assigned to the Shadowdancer in the first place, but you're not at the academy anymore. There are no grades here. No competitions. We work together. Return to your station. Dismissed.
Teek: But...
Aire shot a dagger-gaze at Teek, which cowed him instantly. Aire leaned forward and spoke impeccably clearly.
Aire: Ensign, the next words out of your mouth had better be "Yes, Commander," or I can facilitate your transfer to another ship immediately. Now, return to your station. Dismissed.
Without hesitation, Teek answered Aire as instructed.
Teek: Yes, Commander.
Teek rose from his chair and slinked away back to the main bridge. Aire remained seated, mulling over Captain Amaranth's words from earlier, encouraging him to keep an eye on Teek.
Quenya was still shaken by the incident in engineering, particularly the brief glance she got of the crew member's burned face, which disturbingly resembled Minnie's failed meatloaf in a way. Shaking her head as though her unpleasant thoughts would fly away like sand, Quenya wanted to make sure she was in the right mind for the meeting. Minnie called a consultation about gassed-up compartment in engineering and invited Quenya.
The excitement of her first engineering staff meeting made it a little easier to wrest the dark images from her head. Quenya's mind raced furiously over how she should behave during the meeting. She decided early that she should endeavor to keep her mouth shut unless spoken to directly. It would take effort, for this was not her usual style, but what could she offer that the others couldn't? No, surely Minnie invited her to give her an opportunity to learn and observe.
Quenya arrived at the meeting in the main engineering room where several officers and crew milled around the central computer console in the middle of the room, quietly comparing notes with each other. Possibly noticing that Quenya looked a little lost and nervous, Lieutenant Sokari approached her.
Ramei: Hi, Quenya. How are you holding up?
Quenya smiled at the attention from the deputy chief engineer and clutched her tablet tightly to her chest.
Quenya: I'll be fine, I think.
Ramei leaned in close and whispered into Quenya's ear.
Ramei: The ship has plenty of on-board counselling services. There's no shame in using them. I do, from time to time.
Quenya: Thanks. I might do that.
Ramei stood up straight again and smiled.
Ramei: That's good! That will keep for now, though. We've got a compartment full of nebula farts to clear out first.
Quenya giggled just as Minnie strode purposefully into the room, causing everyone to immediately go silent and gather around the center console. Quenya, not quite sure where to go, squeezed in a spot next to Ramei.
Minnie: I've consulted with Nalma and we've found that there are small pockets of highly abrasive gasses in the nebula that our long-range scans did not detect. The lining of the pipe was burned away quickly and, once that happened, it ruptured easily. Right now, our concern is removing the gas. Using the ventilation system would likely burn away protective linings in those systems too. Options on the table.
Unsurprisingly, Ramei was the first to speak up.
Ramei: Since the compartment runs along the outer hull, we could drill a hole into the ship and blow out the gas that way.
Minnie curled her lip a bit, as though she'd already had this thought.
Minnie: It's an extreme solution and it could do unintended damage. I'd like to keep that option as a last resort.
Ramei: Another option we came up with is to attach suction to some canisters to remove the gas.
Minnie: Unfortunately, any low-pressure solution is going to leave some of the gas behind, and we can't risk even a tiny portion of that.
Ramei: Indeed, we haven't been able to solve that part.
Minnie sighed and tapped her fingers on the console.
Minnie: Does anyone have an idea to at least temporarily reinforce the high-pressure pipe? We'd need a material that can withstand the effects of the gas.
To her own horror, Quenya blurted out what she was thinking before she could stop herself.
Quenya: We could try your meatloaf.
The entire room went dead silent except for the sound of Quenya suddenly slapping her hand to her mouth. Everyone else in the room stared at her, wide-eyed, while Minnie shifted her weight onto one leg and made several faces. First on eyebrow raised, then the other, and then her eyes narrowed. Quenya took a step back, still covering her mouth, and wondered what fate awaited her now.
Minnie slowly strode around the console, sending her subordinates skittering backward, dragging her fingers across the display as she went. She stopped in front of Quenya and folded her arms across her chest, looking down on her for several painful, silent seconds.
Minnie: Cadet, I am the chief engineer of a starship. Do you know what that means?
Still with her hand covering her mouth, Quenya shook her head. Minnie leaned forward, as though telling her a secret, but still spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Minnie: It means that I can think of at least 20 places on this ship where I could hide a body and nobody would ever find it.
Minnie slowly rounded the console back to her original position and stroked her fingernails.
Minnie: Now, like I said, options for the high-pressure pipe.
Quenya spent the rest of the meeting completely frozen. She heard little of what was said from then on and she didn't take any notes. At the end, Minnie left and it took Ramei patting her on the shoulder to shake her out of her stupor.
Ramei: You are the bravest woman I've ever met.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
Jenova87
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
All city pictures from SimCity 4
