Mining for Fun and Wisdom, Part 1

Posted on 30 Sep 2015 @ 1:49am by Lieutenant JG Cyrin Xanth & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Lieutenant JG Tinaro Cyi & Lieutenant JG Lenaris Marika

2,249 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: Asteroid 6/0983 Saalm
Timeline: MD 05 - 1240 hrs

[ON]

Pacing the length of of the Pisa's cockpit compartment, Andreus Kohl's boots landed heavily on the deck. Ostensibly, that was because of the bulky white environmental suit he was wearing. Layers of cream- and crimson-coloured life supporting armour, not to mention the magnetic boots, gave him more than his usual heft. But, mostly, he was stomping out the impatience he felt. Once Kohl reached the aft of the compartment, he spun on his heel, and he marched forward again. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the shuttlebay, which was still sitting there, out beyond the forward viewport. As he passed behind Ensign Lenaris, he turned to her, and he asked, "Status, Ensign?"

Marika looked at the screen in confusion. None of these readings made sense to her. "Did I get hit on the head? What am I doing wrong?" She looked around at her fellow crewman, hoping a savior would form.

Cyrin puttered about in the back of the shuttle, checking over equipment and humming happily to himself without even seeming to realise it. For a scientist who liked to hid himself away in his lab all the time it was probably a bit strange he seemed so energetic. There were three reasons why he was thrilled about this though. First, Hotel 511 was his asteroid. He'd found it, analysed it, and put together his presentation for Commander Kohl that had won the Science Department's little competition. The Trill hadn't boasted about it, but it did feel good. The second was because he enjoyed any chance for EVA; Cyrin moved through it even better than he did in gravity, it was like a second home to him. The third was that he was actually glad to get out of his lab, to have enough work that he could just think about that, and nothing else. Thinking about other things was too much sometimes.

A little nervous, Wintrow entered the shuttle and headed for the pilot's seat. He'd flown shuttles before but the amount of time he'd had passengers, he'd count on half a hand. He slid into the seat and started his pre-flight checks. Hearing the question as he had walked in, he turned his head and shrugged. "I don't know ma'am," he answered, "have you tried rerunning your diagnostics?"

"Do you want me to have a look at your console?" RHeneas asked, approaching the woman, "I'm Rheneas, and I'm an engineer, though I minored in archaeology..."

"I believe so." Looking back at Wintrow and Rheneas, she smiled broadly at them both, grateful for their involvement. Gesturing at the console, she shrugged lightly and laughed. "If either of you nice gentlemen can show me the error of my way..." She let the phrase trail off, as if an answer to it was a promise of great rewards.

Rheneas grinned. "I'll set up a secondary console and cross reference and see if it comes up with similar results to yours. If it does, then it's definitely the readings and not your controls."

"Perhaps something within the ship is interfering?" Wintrow suggested carefully, his voice soft as if he was afraid to even offer his opinion. "Maybe you should try again once we clear the ship ma'am. Or it could even be the asteroid we landed on...can't it?"

"All very relevant possibilities. We should check into that." She beamed a smile of pure gratitude at both of them. "And please... ma'am is so... not me. Marika will do fine." She offered Wintrow a gentle and reassuring smile.

"That wouldn't be proper," the teenager protested in horror, "you outrank me...and you're commissioned..."

Grinning at the cadet with her best impression of evil. "I promise not to bite you until you ask." She winked at him and turned back to her console.

Horrified at the very idea, Wintrow just watched her. Then again, he had allowed the CMO to bite him, on at least two occasions and it hadn't been so bad. But that was different, wasn't it?

While the away team were debating the operational status of the shuttle's LCARS system, Lieutenant Commander Kohl had continued his pacing. His lips were pursed and his sapphire eyes were set in a determined expression. Kohl was pouring immense effort into appearing as if he were monitoring the away team's readiness to depart, and yet, in truth, he had lost his helmet. His eyes were scouring every inch of the transport vessel's interior in search for his misplaced helmet. So as not to let on, Kohl said, "Cadet Wintrow is right. You can address the problem while we're in flight." Kohl moved to stand behind the forward flight control consoles. "We're going to launch within the next two minutes," Kohl said. It wasn't a question. It wasn't an order. It came out of him as a statement of fact.

Tinaro entered the shuttle after performing an inspection of the engine relay systems and visual inspection of the exterior. "Cadet, I trust you finished the pre-flight checklist?" Ti said as he walked by and headed towards his seat.

"Almost sir," Wintrow replied dutifully as he continued with his check. He had indeed almost finished as he had continued to work while speaking with Merika.

"Everything we're bringing along is secured and accounted for, Commander," Cyrin said from the back of the shuttle and directed a smile Kohl's way. He started to get into an EVA suit then himself, out of the way of everyone else, putting pieces on quickly and expertly. He'd done this many times before.

Cyi nodded and ran through the checklist again. He was going to do it anyway, no matter what the Cadet had said, but wanted to make sure the Wintrow was on his toes. "Everyone take you seat as I begin the launch sequence." Tinaro stated to the cabin as whole. He had a firm belief that the pilot was in ultimately in command of the shuttle but knew that Starfleet did not agree with him on that particular measure. He looked to Kohl. Still it you had to follow protocol, at least it was to someone that handsome.

"Pre-launch check confirmed, Commander. I believe the Pisa is fit for flight and we are cleared for launch. Awaiting your order, Sir." Tinaro said formally. He shot a look to Wintrow to make sure the young Betazoid was paying attention.

After taking one last look around the compartment, Kohl settled into the seat of an available workstation. Kohl's eyes lingered on the three Science officers: Lenaris, Nicholas, and Xanth. He couldn't help himself; he tended to worry about the teal-collars first and foremost. Then, he swept a hand in the direction of the forward viewport, as he said, "Take us out."

Tinaro nodded. "Wintrow, Inform the Galileo of our departure. Set or check in time for arrival at 6/0983 Saalm and for every half hour there after at minimum." Tinaro's hand moved with practiced motion over the controls. The Pisa rose off the shuttle bay floor and moved towards the opening bay doors. Tinaro was deliberate in his movements and moved slower than he usually would to insure the cadet could see every move and adjustment he made.

The boy nodded. "Galileo this is shuttlecraft Pisa, clearing the ship and setting contact intervals at every thirty minutes," he spoke softly, yet clearly. Obviously, he was in his element doing this and his face was a mask of concentration.

The largest of Galileo's support craft, Pisa slowly and methodically exited her mother ship's hangar and began her short voyage towards the nearest dilithium or deuterium deposit on the asteroid designated as 6/0983 Saalm. Priority of resources fell to whichever came in range first, really, since the Nova-class was in desperate need of both after suffering several severe starship malfunctions.

Hull repairs needed to be conducted which meant deuterium ore needed to be mined and refined via the ship's replicators, and the warp core's dilithium chamber had been breached resulting in fractured crystals that also required replacements.

The crew of the mining team now had a huge task ahead of them and not much time to waste. Their mission was clear, and needed to be accomplished regardless of the pending obstacles them might encounter.

Inside Pisa's cabin, Kohl's demeanor had softened immensely as soon as they had floated out beyond Galileo's spaceframe. Preparing to leave, getting ready for the journey, had stricken Kohl with an uneasy intensity. Now that they were in motion --despite still having the entire mission ahead of them-- Kohl was able to breathe. His body wasn't so tense, even if he wasn't exactly relaxed.

As soon as Pisa had leveled off, and was entirely exerting its own artificial gravity aboard ship, Kohl was out of his chair and back on his own feet. ...Perhaps not all of the tension had been released. He crossed the compartment and he crouched beside where Marika was sitting. In an undertone, he asked her, "How's that console looking now, Ensign?"

Marika looked at her console with confusion. "Either I've forgotten all I've learned at the academy, or there is something strange with this console." She laughed lightly to herself.

"It'll come back to you," Kohl said softly. Looking around the transport vessel once again, Kohl moved to stand in the middle of the compartment. "Have any of you first-hand experience with mining?" Kohl asked aloud. His timbre was informal, as if they were gathered around the observation lounge table emptying a pot of tea. He turned his head to make eye-contact with every member of the team in turn. "I can't decide on the efficacy of shaped explosives versus phaser drills. I favour the charges myself, but Admiral Saalm is convinced we'll blow our hands off if we use them."

"I don't have any experience with mining," Jared replied, "but I do have some experience with explosives. Maybe i can help."

Kohl stared back at Jared with something of a befuddled expression. "I'm going to need that kind of help. These hands of mine have never known the touch of an explosive device," Kohl said. "Perhaps you can provide our in-flight entertainment, and tell us all what use a linguist has with explosives...?" ...But there was no immediate response to his question.

Ti had seen dilithium mines before, as a child when his mother was negotiating some mining rights with the Ferengi, but Tinaro did not volunteer that information. Instead he made an observation. "I believe the explosive method would be more beneficial. Phaser drilling leaves a certain amount of residual displacement on dilithium crystals. The crystals near the drilling site could be compromised. Since time is a factor I believe explosives would be our best option." Ti said though he didn't look up from monitoring the shuttles flight.

Stalking his way into the cockpit, Kohl said, "That's been my thinking as well." --And he sounded entirely vindicated by Ti's similar thought-wavelength-- "...On the other hand, once we've blown our way to a vein of deuterium ore or dilithium crystal, the phaser drills may be our only option for the delicate work of digging away thinner layers of rock. We may even have to pull out the hand-held phaser bores."

"If you include archeological digs, then yes I do," Rheneas answered, "but if you literally mean mining operations then no. But I do have plenty experience with digging and digging up things..."

Looking to Rheneas, Kohl shook his head emphatically. "I do not in any way consider mining to be the only valuable expertise here," Kohl remarked. "Your archaeological experience is going to be instrumental in advising the team on how to proceed, especially if we run into complications. I'd say dilithium crystals need to be treated as precious as any delicate artifacts."

Excited already, Rheneas grinned brightly. "Oh yes," he agreed happily, "yes yes they should be treated as something precious. I have all the equipment I need with me...chisels, brushes...everything."

"Well, now," Kohl said, a little awkwardly, "I'm not sure we'll have the time to treat them that preciously."

"I don't have mining experience, Commander," Cyrin offered from his seat in the back. "But I can manage getting the equipment where it needs to go out there; I am used to moving things around in zero-gee." The Trill would be useful for that at least, and handling scanners out there but not for any direct mining operations. He would stay silent on that.

Kohl shared a smile with Cyrin. They'd practically first met in zero-G. "You move with the grace of a cosmozoan out there," Kohl said, showing his agreement with a slow nod. "We'll need you to take the lead in crossing the expanse of rock."

Listening to the others opinions on the subject Marika simply nodded with a smile. They had pretty much brought up the main advantages and disadvantages.

--

[OFF]

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Lenaris Marika
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

PO2 Rheneasa Malachy
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Lieutenant Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Ensign Cyrin Xanth
Astrophysicist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Tinaro Cyi
Asst. Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed

Comments (1)