Reactor Repairs

Posted on Wed Dec 12th, 2018 @ 2:18pm by Colonel S'er'in'e
Edited on on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 @ 5:56am

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Reactor Section 17

The feline walked beside and slightly behind the Commander having been enlisted to help. With what however the Commander had been vague on but what didn't matter, help was asked of and he would provide it. He did however note that the Betazoid was taking them to the lower decks towards the reactor spaces. Why would they be needed there? They were not engineers but with everything going on they all needed to chip in. "What is the status of the Station Commander?"

"Holding up but power is fluctuating, the station is armoured and insulated but even that is not fully enough. When ever the station is hit by an ion strike, and given we are so large its not hard to miss us, even all that insulation isn't enough to fully absorb it." Leo turned a corner towards the very thick door leading to the reactor spaces. "One of the reactors on this level is fluctuating, its trying to put out more power to compensate for the losses at the receiving end. Its like a leaky hose, with all the holes in it the tap is turned more and more to keep pressure out the other end."

"I am a marine, Commander. Not an engineer." S'er'in'e stated, he was trained to destroy, kill, guard if need be but not repair.

Leo got the console outside the door where it was telling him what the problem was. There were several misalignment's that needed to be fixed. There was one haunting problem though, one that struck him to the core. The access door would need to be held open, if it closed then the Colonel would be sealed, trapped in there and slowly cooked alive until death by radiation exposure. "Ok, look here." Pointing to the display console mounted on the wall next to the door. "You need to pull the panels off here. Inside is a lever that you have to pull. That unlocks the magnetic constrictors, in the next panel is a wheel." Leo showed the technical diagram, making the lever and wheel flash. "Turn it until it goes green and then pull the level back into its starting position."

"How many of them do I need to do?" S'er'in'e asked.

"Four in all, 2 on the ground level, 1 on the first level, the last is on level 2." Leo spoke. "I will have to stay here and hold the door open, safety systems will try and close it behind you, if it does I don't need to tell you the outcome."

Now it became clear to S'er'in'e why he was going in, he lacked the technical knowledge to get around computer systems and he was not strong enough to hold a door of this size open. "What can I expect inside?"

"Its going to be hot inside, surfaces might burn to the touch on the 2nd level because of the power output and the cooling system is struggling, you might feel your skin tingle, fur might change colour. It's that or the reactor explodes." Leo explained, creating a sort of map on the wall mounted console for the Colonel.

S'er'in'e stripped off his tunic, if freedom of movement was required as well as speed then it would be a hindrance. He looked at the map. First left, round the walkway to the right, up the ladder, round, up the next to the 2nd level, next to it. "Ready."

Leo looked at the console before him, once again thrust into a situation that was more personal than most would ever know. "Here we go." Tapping the console, a siren sounded, the radiation alarm. "Work quickly, I can't keep this door open for long. I'll have the internal comm link to the room open."

S'er'in'e nodded, ready as he ever would be.

Another siren sounded as the door opened, radiation exposure. *** Warning, Radiation detected, 40 Rem and rising.***

S'er'in'e bolted in heading for the first panel, already he could feel the heat, a downside to a body covered in fur. Meanwhile Leo was outside battling safety features and systems to keep the door open that already sought to seal the Colonel in. Visions haunted him as this was exactly what happened last time, a nightmare from ages past haunted him even still. "How's it going in there?"

"The first is done, heading to the second now." S'er'in'e spoke.

***Warning, radiation exposure at 90 Rem and rising.***

The system safety's were trying to seal the door, Leo was doing everything he could to keep that from happening. As S'er'in'e reached the second panel and worked as quickly as he could he struggled with the panel.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"The panel will not release." S'er'in'e growled even as he used his claws to pull on its edges.

"Strike hard, bottom left corner." S'er'in'e did so, hard enough to be heard over the comm then the panel falling to the floor. "Without breaking it." The reply he got was a growl.

Leo knew that sometimes panels would stick especially if they have not been opened in some time. A trick he was taught at the UP Yards. On his console he could see the Colonel repair the second but then silence. "Colonel. What's wrong?"

"I'm going to have to leap up to the next level." S'er'in'e spoke looking up at the railing and ledge.

"What's wrong with the ladder?" Leo asked.

"You be my size and attempt to squeeze through the floor space." S'er'in'e spoke irritated at the Commander's missing the obvious.

"Oh, I see." Leo spoke, he'd forgotten that little detail when he sent him in. Through the comm channel to the room he could hear the Colonel exert himself. Internal cameras displayed the large feline lean low before bounding up. Mild disbelief at someone so large and understandably heavy could pull off such a feat.

***Warning, Radiation exposure at 150 Rem and rising.***

A green light appeared on wall console, the Colonel had just repaired the 3rd panel. Hearing him leap once again to the 2nd level Leo fought the system. Dread sank in when the door slowly started to close. Quick to halt it he knew now it was only a matter of time before hard coded safety measures closed the door. "Colonel you need to hurry, the door started to close because of the radiation, I've stopped it but I can't say I'll be able to again." Now Leo was beginning to worry, this is similar to what happened last time. He heard banging over the comm. "Whats wrong."

"The panel will not open." S'er'in'e spoke laboured, the metal hot against his hands and feet.

"There should be a kit, two bulkheads to the left on the wall." Leo answered as his fingers danced across the surface of the console.

***Warning, Radiation exposure at 190 Rem and rising. Lethal exposure in 4 minutes***

Which for Leo, that meant the Colonel had 2 and change. "You have 2 minutes Colonel, best I can do." His eyes began to water, his skin tingled, all signs of radiation exposure. He felt sick, felt himself heating up and could only wonder what the much larger feline was going through. "How's it going in there."

"It would go more smoothly without the interruptions." S'er'in'e snapped, frustrated and also suffering by the radiation. The panel came away and S'er'in'e effected the repairs as best he could. He'd have some stern words with the maintenance crews later for this. With the constrictor offlined he was able to turn the wheel, it too was stiff and difficult to turn requiring S'er'in'e to use one of the long handled tools to apply more torque.

***Warning, Radiation exposure at 240 Rem and rising. Lethal exposure in 3 minutes***

"Hurry, I can't keep this door open for much longer." Leo was running out of tricks, soon that door would close and there would be nothing he could do to stop it. Seconds felt like minutes as Leo did what he could, and even though there was some relief when the last panel turned green the Colonel still had to get out, and the climb had taken him almost 30 seconds combined.

S'er'in'e had not bothered putting the panels back in place, it would have taken too much time and that was a luxury they didn't have. He peered over the rail of the second floor, climbing down would take too long, it was not far, but it was that or die in here a slow death.

Leo was about to call out that the Colonel had to leave right now when he heard a loud thud on the floor. He saw the Colonel had landed much like felines do, on all fours, tail up, crouched position.

***Warning, Radiation exposure at 270 Rem and rising. Lethal exposure in 90 seconds. Reactor door override in effect.***

S'er'in'e bolted out of the reactor space running without righting himself until he'd bolted clear of the door almost running head long into the opposing bulkhead. Leo dis-guarded the console, nothing he could do with it now. He turned to see the large feline slowly right himself, the snow white fur now tinged with heavily with grey. The smell of burnt fur was rank. "We need to get to sickbay, quickly." Seeing the Colonel was having difficult breathing, even standing seemed a task. Leo moved to help as best he could.