Freeing the Nostromo

Posted on Fri Mar 22nd, 2024 @ 1:35pm by Ensign Kash th'Kaasniik & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Artifact or Artifiction
Location: Serenity's Docking Ring
Timeline: MD 3, 0800 Hours

Taylon waited for the others to arrive as he finished off his tea, and tossed it in the recycler. There were several littered throughout the ship, and luckily, one was close to the docking ring. Now that the power was on, they seemed to work just like the ones on Astrea. He had arrived early because he had stepped off the Bridge to use the restroom.

Shelly entered her shuttle and looked around and was not happy. She looked at Taylon and asked, "Oy, Taylon, who made this frakking mess? It only seems that you and I are the only ones that do not make a mess." Shelly was not going to stand for this at all.

Taylon smiled lightly, "Indeed, ma'am. Likely the Delta shift people," he said. "I will ask Commander Lorut to remind department heads to remind their teams to clean up after themselves. Let me give you a hand cleaning up," he said, working to sweep some items off a table into his arms to be recycled. "There's no replicators on this ship-it's that old, so we'll need to transport all of this back to the Astrea," he said. "What do you need help with?" He asked. He placed the pile of junk in a corner to save for transport when he could.

Meanwhile, Commander Winters was still in engineering trying to regulate power fluctuations in what appeared to be the main power core. He then realized he left a piece of equipment back on the shuttle.

=/\=Nash to Nostromo. I left my calibration scanner back aboard the shuttle. I’m going to come back and grab it. How’s everything going on your end?=/\=

Shelly, being very irritated , replied, "Not so good, Nash. It appears that someone made a mess of my Shuttlecraft and I am pissed off at whoever it was. Things need to be kept clean here. Anyway, feel free to get your calibration scanner before it winds up being lost in this Rubbish. Damn, this is a load of Bollocks." Then, Shelly abruptly closed the comm channel.

Taylon shrugged. "Maybe you should go clean up while I get the transporters ready to receive a beam of this junk back to the Astrea," he said. "I can call Maintenance," he said. He tapped his comms to make those calls. Once finished, he raidoed over to Commander Winters.

Shelly grabbed the litter and she needed adjustments made to her shuttle. To her, this was ridiculous.

=/\=Sir. Am I correct in my assumption that there are no replicators, and therefore, no recyclers, on this vessel?=/\= He wanted to confirm his hunch.

=/\=You’d be mostly correct. Not all the power systems have been restored, but we don’t even know if these people used recyclers or replicators. I’m on my way to you, so we can dig into that later when I see you. Nash out. =/\=

Shelly tapped her comm badge and said, "I want adjustments made to my shuttle so things can be recycled immediately. I do not tolerate rubbish in my shuttle at all. Period!"

Nash fumbled his way back to the airlock and climbed back aboard Nostromo.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll grab my scanner and then be on my way. I’m surprised you’re still docked. Shelly, Taylon….you could have left us and come back. We still have a lot of work to do here. Getting the ship operational has been quite ……challenging. Is there something going on you’re not telling me?”

Shelly replied, "Me, too. We are still stuck with that frakking airlock. I am glad you are back, Nash. So, let's get my Nostromo unstuck and get the hell out of here."

Taylon nodded. "I needed to finish up with some switches, but I am ready to go now," he said. "Lt. Mundy needed that done ASAP," he explained. "We have to transport some extra stuff that your people left behind to the Astrea or the Nostromo," he said, indicating the piles of leftover screws, metal, and etc. "And they need to do a better job of keeping things cleaned," he said. "What do you need from Ops, sir?" He asked Nash.

“Nothing from Ops, really. Just need my scanner. You said we’re stuck in the docking port?”

"Yes, sir," he replied. He climbed into the back of the shuttle.

Nash opened his tricorder and scanned the seal near the airlock.

“That’s interesting. I’m reading magnetic resonance traces. Very strong magnetic field. Shelly, get ready to fire up the thrusters. I have an idea. Kind of crazy, but it just might work. Taylon, I could use your help. Open the panel for the shield generators.”

Shelly got things ready to fire up the thrusters and said, "You two be careful back there. And, Nash, just say the word and once I get things going, there is no turning back."

Shelly said, "Then do so! But, if it does not work, then, we will be shit out of luck. And, I will have to do something drastic like just getting us the hell out of here and I will insist you erect a force-field. I am not leaving my shuttle here no matter what." Shelly was being as nice as possible saying what she said. Then, she asked, "Is there something else you want me to do, Nash?"

Taylon chuckled. "So far, Sir, all the crystals have had the correct effects," he said. "Atmosphere is good for launch, nothing ahead seems amiss," he said. "On your orders. We can always come back," he said.

Shelly was relieved somewhat by what Taylon had said. It reduced about of stress that she was under. Shelly hated being under stress big time.

Taylon glanced at his console. "Sir, atmosphere is good. If we're going to try, we should do it soon," he said.

“Alright, folks, we are going to reverse the polarity of the shield matrix. That should repel us away from the airlock and get us free. Shelly, once we’re clear, half thrusters-just to be on the safe side. Then full impulse until we’re out of transporter range of Serenity, whatever that might be. Hopefully not more than 5000 kilometers. Taylon? Shelly? Now or never.”

Shelly replied, "Okay. Sounds good to me. I am ready." Shelly had her fingers ready at the right, precise moment when given the all clear.

Ensign th'Kaasnik was just inside the docking ring, the airlock around him closed, wearling an E.V. suit, and his boots locked to the metal plating on the floor. Since they were also working with potential magnetic resonance, Nash had also insisted he tether himself to the airlock door as a precaution.

He reached out to the crew inside over comms, "Kaas to Nostromo, something is going on with the docking ring, it's not fully in the open position, but it's definitely been activated as some sort of response to the polarity reversal. I'm checking to see if there are any energy readings nearby that might indicate a control panel connected to the rings."

"Go ahead and try thrusters," Kash added. "I got you on this end." He stood by the now exposed panel, the rings beginning to give. He braced himself in case there were issues with the docking ring not closing. No one knew if people were meant to be on this side of the wall.

Shelly tried the thrusters without any problems at her end. According to the reading in front of her, things appeared to be good. She also made sure to hear everything else as well in case she needed to make any adjustments.

The airlock on the docking ring obeyed, and Kash was thankful to find he wasn't in need of the EV suit or tether. He tapped his comm badge. "All good in here too. Airlock secure. Will be clearing this station and reporting back to control. Take her home, Lieutenant."

Shelly grinned slightly and said, "With pleasure!" Then, Shelly increased speed back to the Astrea. During the brief short trip back, she had no clue as to what would happen next. Then, she got clearance to land in the Shuttlebay and was so happy to hear Andrea's voice. After landing, Shelly jokingly said, "Alright people, please, remove your airplane seatbelts for we have back on board the Astrea." She then opened the rear door.


*END*

Lt(JG) Shelly Godfrey Guevera
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Astrea

Commander Nash Winters
Chief Engineer
USS Astrea

Lieutenant J.G. Taylon Janes
Operations Officer
USS Astrea

Ensign Kash th'Kaasnik
Support Pilot
USS Astrea

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