Daniel Ryan scanned the main laboratory one last time, assuring himself that all was in order. To his surprise, he saw a light spilling from beneath a door down the hall. Frowning, he walked towards it--noone was supposed to be up here. The deck was to be sealed off momentarily to conserve energy.
The light was coming from hydroponics and suddenly Daniel knew what he would find. Through the large window, he saw Ariada D'all in the center of the bay with a sunflower plant in her hands, evidently deep in thought.
Gently, so as not to startle her, he tapped on the glass to draw her attention. Ariada glanced in his direction and offered a sorrowful smile as he stepped in.
He flushed, feeling the color flood his cheeks, as always when he found himself in her presence. Clearing his throat, he attempted to eye her reprovingly but did not succeed. "Why are you stll here? The science section was supposed to be evacuated an hour ago."
"I'm sorry." I didn't realize what time it was." She sighed and placed the sunflower plant on a nearby stand. "I wish we didnt have to do this." she said wistfully. "They'll die."
"Captain's orders, Ariada. He needs to shut down as many decks as possible to conserve power. We'll replace everything at the next starbase."
"I know." Ariada lingered a moment longer. "I still wish we could take them with us."
Daniel privately agreed with her but irt would have been impossible to bring them all. Teh few decks that would remain operational would soon be filled with displaced crew members. They needed every square inch of space and plants werent high on the Captain's priority list. He had already had to deal with several angry section heads who were furiouis about abandoning experiments which would not survive without life support, and he was sure there was more to come.
As it was, things didnt look very promising. Engineering had failed to divert power to the engines and the mysterious energy drain continued, unchecked. The Captain would have no choice but to switch to bak up power within 30 minutes or all systems, including life support, would collapse. And then it was only a matter of time before emergency power failed as well---unless engineering could discover and fix teh source of thier troubles.
Glancing at his chronometer, he said, gently, "We need to leave now, Ariada."
The Deltan smiled again, sadly, understanding in her luminous grey eyes. Daniel felt the heat rise to his face again.
"I know we do." she repeated, and followed him out of the hydroponics bay, casting one last glance behind her.
***********
Mark prowled the length of the corridor, ignoring the fleeting shapes of crew members who seemed to melt in and out of the shadows as they passed. The lights were dim but he had long since become accustomed to the semi darkness. What concerneed him was the occasional but increasingly frequent flicker that warned him thier emergency power stores had a finite lifespan. And there was still no answer, no explanation to thier dilemma.
He had visited engineering so many times, hovering ineffectually as they worked, that he had been virtually thrown out by the scowling chief engineer. She had made it clear that he was nothing but a nuisance and that she would inform him when she had something to report. Until then, he was persona non grata.
Banned from main engineering, he had taken to roaming the decks, defusing tempers and keeping order amongst the frightened crewmen. He was also keeping a careful watch on the integrity of the life support systems. Captain Becker had expressly ordered use of the escape pods if the system's power began to fluctuate.
Up ahead, Mark could see Lieutenant Commander Turek standing in the shadows, scrutinizing a group of security personnel who had evidently been drafted as engineers. They were in a Jeffries tube, its hatch opened wide to the corridor, bickering in hushed murmers over the single toolkit they all shared.
Mark approached silently, but the Vulcan somehow sensed his presence. he nodded but did not speak as Mark stepped up next to him and joined his silent vigil. They remained this way for quite some time, listening to the murmer of soft voices from the moving shadows, and to the distinct hum of emergencly likes.
Not looking at the security officer, Mark asked, "Is everything in order?"
Turek's face appeared sallow bathed inthe dim yellow light as he turned to Mark. "I have reveiwed the evacuation protocols with my staff."
"Good. Let's just hope we dont have to put them into effect."
"Agreed." Turek said gravely, and the two lapsed into silence once more.
********
Rhianna glared at the readout on her tricorder, suppressing the urge to dash it to the ground and watch it shatter. The small measure of satisfaction she would gain would be short lived....and she'd be one tricorder short.
Gritting her teeth, she released her death grip on the defenseless object and tossed it aside. Staring at the dimly lit console before her, she willed herself to see a pattern, a clue---anything that might intimate at the source of thier troubles. As always, no brilliant flash of inspiration hit her and she turned away , rummaging impatiently through her tool kit.
Frowning when she could not locate the desired tool, she glanced at the engineers around her,too distracted to note their attempts to avoid eye contact,. They had attempted to give thier supervisor a wide berth. Not one to be described as pleasant or cheerful on a good day, the CEO was clearly miserable, and was trying her hardest to make everyone else feel the same. Her gaze fell on Lira Toket.
"Ensign Lira. " she called. "Do you have a spare polymer transducer?"
At the younger woman's nod, she beckoned for her to approach with her toolkit.
Lira came, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and set the toolkit at her feet. Before she could slink away, Rhianna was ordering her to assist her with another level one diagnostic.
"But Ari just did one." she protested. "Two hours ago."
"Maybe Lieutenant JG Denyri missed something." Rhianna pointedly stressed the use of his rank. She disliked Lira's casual attitude. "We'll do it again."
Wordlessly, but with reproach in her eyes, Lira knelt on the ground next to Rhianna and opened her toolkit. As she reached for an access panel beneath the console, the screen flickered and dimmed to black.
"Damn." Rhianna slammed her fist against the side of the console, cracking the casing. But the offending screen remained blank. Lira blinked at Rhianna's surprising strength, but wisely said nothing.
Angrily, Rhianna snatched the tricorder she had disregarded earlier and ran it over the console. Frowning, she glanced at the screen, moving it laterally inch by inch, until it pointed directly at Lira.
"Ensign." she said slowly. "You're....emanating."
"What?"
"You're giving off radiation. Low levels of omicron particles." She moved the tricorder up and down, stopping with it aimed levelly at the Bajoran's chest. "They're particularly prevalent here."
Lira stared at her superior with amazement for a moment. Then, quite suddenly, understanding dawned in her eyes.
She reached within her tunic and pulled out a glittering black stone which dangled from her neck on a silver chain.
"You mean this?"
As if in response, Rhianna's tricorder readings escalated rapidly, and the screen went blank. Both women looked down at the stone at the same time, then at the darkened console.
"Where did you get that...thing?" Rhianna demanded.
"Aurel III. In the marketplace. They were everywhere."
Rhianna's expression did not change. NOr did she question how Lira had obtained the stone when she was supposed to have been working.
"Do you have any more?"
"No." Lira vigorously shook her head. "but some of the other members of the away team bought jewelery too.:"
Rhianna clasped the black stone thoughtfully in her hand. It felt cool and smooth to the touch. There was no outward indication that it was radioactive.
She let go of it suddenly and stood up, her expression set in a look of determination. "Come with me. We're going to the Captain."
***********
V
"Omicron radiation is harmless to most lifeforms. However, with constant bombardment, even at low levels, it can cause multiple short circuits minute enough to be undetectable. Although it is admittedly rare, it is possible for such short circuits to manifest themselves as power drains and fluctuations."
Colin listened to Rhianna's explanation with interest, but he found it difficult to believe the assortment of baubles and trinkets on the table before him were teh cause of all thier troubles.
"A few black stones could knock out the power supply to a whole ship?" he asked skeptically.
Naeve nodded. "It can happen, Sir. The original stimulus doesnt have to be significant--all you need is enough omicron particles overloading the system to instigate a series of short circuits. It becomes a domino effect."
Rhianna shot a surprised but grateful glance at Naeve fokr adding credence to her theory.
Mark had been listening intently to the exchange and interjected, " Governor Jiin mentioned the colony had been having a lot of mysterious mechanical problems. That's why she asked for our engineers to lend a hand. Perhaps there's a connection."
"I agree. During my time with the colony, I observed that a black stones were used to decorate homes and buildings as well as worn as personal adornments. It was quite pervasive." Turek added.
"But if your theroy is correct, wouldnt the colony's entire mechanical and electronics systems have failed by now?" Colin objected, still doubtful.
"Not necessarily." Rhianna persisted. "the stones on Aurel III were exposed to the atmosphere, a significant portion of which is nitrogen. THat element can cause a chemical reaction that can negate or lessen the effects of omicron radiation. If only occasional short circuits occurred, their diagnostic tools wouldnt be able to detect a cause." She paused to gauge his reaction, and continued. "Prometheus is a closed system, each subsystem completely interlinked. It would be quite simple for the omicron radiation to spread and cause complete failure.
"What's your suggestion, Lieutenant? I assume you're going somewhere with this."
"Yes I am." Rhianna said coolly.
" First we isolate these, "she pointed at the stones on the table. "in a dampening fieldso that they cant cause any further damage. Then we use the little energy we have in reserve to create a keritonic pulse across the ship's systems. That should react with and neutralize the effects of the omicron radiation, kickstarting the computer core. From there, we can manually restart each subsystem and shift back from reserve power."
"You think you can do this in less than an hour?"
"I do."
Colin made his decision immediately. "Very well. Exec, have all personnel waiting outside thier escape pods. If we dont have power within 45 minutes, you have my permission to abandon ship." he stopped and looked significantly at Rhianna. "That includes you, Lieutenant. 45 minutes. Then you evacuate as well. Is that clear?"
"Very, sir."
"Good. Lieutenant JG Ryan, set up a dampening field around these...rocks. Lieutenant Jorrell, you may begin. The rest of you, please make your way to your respective pods."
"I'll go with her." Naeve volunteered.
Colin nodded. "Very well. Good luck, both of you." It was only a theory, but Colin wasn't giving up his first command without a fight.
*********
Naeve swiped impatiently at teh bead of perspiration that trickled down the side of her face. It was hot--the first sign environmental control was destabilizing, and she glanced at her chronometer. 15 minutes. That was all the time left to them before they were due to return to the escape pods.
Rhianna caught the furtive gesture. "Dont worry." she said, wiping a streak of grease from her cheek with the back of her hand. "We wont have to abandon ship. This will work."
She pulled herself to her feet and stepped back from the console she had been working on. "I'm ready. "she ordered.
Naeve nodded and keyed a sequence into the tricorder she held. It generated a thin beam of white light which flashed as it struck the console. The two women waited, scarcely breathing, thier eyes riveted on the darkened row of console screens.
Nothing happened.
Rhianna's shoulders sagged in defeat. "I--I was so sure." she managed.
"You tried. That's what matters." Naeve placed her hand on Rhianna's shoulder in a gesture of comfort. She felt the other woman stiffen, but she did not pull away.
"Let's go." Naeve said gently.
Rhianna vigorously shook her head. "No. You go." she said flatly. "There are still a few minutes left. I'm going to keep trying."
"No you're not, Lieutenant." Naeve allowed her hand to fall away. "That's an order."
Rhianna looked as if she might protest, defiance in her eyes. Before she could respond, the console beside her lit up. Everywhere, displays and computer screens blinked back to life, flashing green as Prometheus' computer core stirred from its slumber.
For the first time since Rhianna had come aboard Prometheus, she smiled. And for the first time in a long time, she meant it.
*********
Colin sighed with evident relief as the lights in the corridor suddenly brightened. In teh moments that it took for his pupils to adjust to the increased illumination, he could feel the hum of the main generators restarting. His commbadge, utterly useless seconds before, now buzzed to life.
<< Sevril to Captain Becker. >>
"Good news I presume?"
<< Absolutely. >>
Colin could almost hear the grin in her voice.
"Good."
He turned to Turek and Mark, who stood on either side of him, and said, casually, "It appears we'll all be surving aboard Prometheus a little longer."
* And maybe things will work out after all. *
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