Ghost's in the Machine

Posted on 2025, Mon Apr 14th, @ 9:21am by Lieutenant Commander Jim Karry & Senior Chief Petty Officer Larry Lamontagne

3,132 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: E1 "Shadows of the Empire"
Location: Deck Four
Timeline: T-Pluss 11 hours after USS Voyager departure.

Jefferies Tube 4E

Larry walked up the hatch to enter the Jefferies tube. Not seeing the Chief Engineer, he pulled out a tricorder and began scanning. Pulling up his heads-up Holo display, he interfaced with the Computer. Beginning sensor system troubleshooting, he entered the level three diagnostics on the sensor information distribution system. Larry figured that the problem had to be in between the sensors and the bridge and other signal repeaters. The system was sending signals, they were just not making it anywhere.

Larry hit his comm badge, /=\Chief Engineer, Larry, I am not getting any results on my troubleshooting. It's like the signals are falling in a black hole, and not making it anywhere./=\


=/\=Larry, this is Karry. Sounds like you're dealing with a signal routing issue, possibly an interference or a malfunction in one of the relay junctions between the sensors and the bridge. Have you checked for any power fluctuations in the secondary conduits or the isolinear chips in the distribution relays? It's possible there’s a feedback loop causing the system to lose signal strength before it reaches its destination. If you're near the junctions, run a quick diagnostic on the power grid; if any of those systems are overloaded or have a short, it'll be harder for the signals to transmit properly.=/\=

=/\=I'm on my way to assist. Let me know if you need anything more specific before I get there. Karry out.=/\=

Larry, being the someone independent and stubborn type, assumed that ...well he smarter than the average fault or problem circuit. Trouble shooting was an assumption that one was an adult and one did not require supervision. But trouble shooting was a basic flow chart, if that flow chart was a one thousand page virtual diagram of a Four Dimensional complicated system of thousand of components that flowed together in a Complex mass of lines of signals and power distributional systems that more resembled a big pile of spaghetti than that of a simple flow chart! One had to have a computer interface over lay to translate the system for you... a matrix that some times worked against you. and that you had to build with certain assumptions... When you ASSUME something.... yea that was the mother of all evils.

Fifteen minuets later, Larry had first thought of a ground. Once he disproved that, then he thought maybe the signal was being detoured to a different route map. Then he ruled out over a hundred simple problems and a dozen complex problems. Fifteen minuets after that, he had drafted several Operations watch standers to help with the trouble shooting process. An Hour into the troubleshooting process, he was trying to rule out signal bleed through, or cross over. One should start troubleshoot with the simple stuff then work gradually to the more complex ideas. Not that applying Occam's Razor was a bad idea, but never rule out a complex solution, simply because it was complicated.

Larry updated the trouble call board in main Engineering with his status, normally this happened every fifteen minuets. Normally it did not take more that fifteen minuets to find a fault, but this was becoming a bigger project. Bigger projects were those that required more hands. Those were bad things to report.

"Sorry captain were gunna have to take half of the ship systems off line to troubleshoot..."

Yea that was never well received on the bridge. He didn't realize he had spoken out loud, until the Operations person's he had drafted to help trouble shoot started murmuring amongst them selves.

Larry hit his comm badge =/\=CEO, this is Larry. Still no luck finding the issue. Request Sending Petty Officer Davidson to the battle bridge to assist with trouble shooting, we need to test routing of data packets from multiple destinations and address's. =/\=

=/\= Chief Engineer Karry to Larry. I’ve received your message about the persistent issues you’re encountering. I will be sending Petty Officer Davidson to the battle bridge without delay to lend a hand with the troubleshooting process. Please ensure that you provide him with a comprehensive overview of the specific data packet routing parameters we need to test, including the various destinations and address configurations that you’ve outlined. It’s crucial that we capture any irregularities or anomalies that may manifest during the testing, as this information will be vital for diagnosing the root cause of the problem. I want to emphasize the importance of keeping me updated with your findings as you proceed. Together, we can work to resolve this situation swiftly and efficiently. Karry out. =/\=

Larry sighed, then told the now half dozen Operations watch standers, "Ok, each one of you design a message routing plan from a system nexus/hub, traveling through the Battle bridge, going through most major systems to here.

Use the [Report all locations protocol]. Yes the will double system traffic, and the system will handle it. Each one of you track your signal to and from the battle bridge to us. Route times are also important, use the system index to see what the normal time for you path is. If your signal is reported from locations other than the projected route, then the Simplex Repeater Node on the step before your un-authorized location is the problem, go there and reboot it. Larry's Tricorder was special, it was over powered, had options most science tech's would kill for, including a heads up display , then thousand times the sensitivity of normal tricorder's, enough memory and programming power that it could fly a shuttlecraft remotely. He had gotten in trouble when he tested that option out. Yes, it was so heavy, his right arm was stronger than his left. The friendly medical staff had said that there was no such thing. He was right handed, therefore his right arm was more developed that his left. So he had started using his left hand to hold it, just to prove the medical staff wrong. Larry started to program his tricorder to track all of the routes his team had, track all of the location pings as the bots that the his team was creating, passed through the various system locations. The system was smart and supposed to know the quickest route between point A and point B. It did that by passing test packets between systems every couple of minuets, so the Main Computer had a real time map of problems, and it could route data packets around problem areas, as it notified Main Engineering and the bridge of said problem areas. So technically the computer should have found and located the problem way before he got here. Just one more layer to this mystery.

Finished with his programming, he activated the program, watched as program displays the ships layout showing major systems in a wire diagram using the holo-protector. Larry set the tricorder on the floor and stepped back to make the image bigger. Using the hands free option, he pulled on the image to get it as big as the intersection of the two corridors would allow. The Operations types were not expecting this, and were gawking like kids with a new toy.

About a minuet later, after he had cajoled, poked, prodded and had gotten as far as raising his voice; the operations tech had finished there programming. Larry up loaded there programs to his tricorder and copied Petty Officer Davidson at the battle bridge. He had used his comm-badge to transfer the data to the battle bridge due to the lack of non-corrupt pathways.

After several minuets Davidson reported he was ready. Larry told the dozen people to activate there programs. Larry watched as the red dotted lines started from the various points and tried to get to the Sensor suite at his location. Each time it arrived, could not be delivered to this location, it bounced. The computer generated the same packet of information and used one of a thousand alternate pathways to try to get to its destination. With in a millisecond there were waves of red swatches that soon covered the entire ship. But then something strange happened, the waves petered down to a single message, and then stopped.

Larry drafted a memo to the Chief Engineer, sending the visual result and there test parameters. Saying He wanted to send this to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, that this problem was one for the record book, and they need help trouble shooting.

This was just way to much information to send over the comms system via voice.

=/\= Karry to Larry, we got a problem..=/\=

Before he could finish, the shrill wail of alarms shredded the tense silence, a cacophony that rattled the crew's nerves and underscored the gravity of the situation. The haunting sound was abruptly accompanied by a thunderous explosion, a concussive blast that reverberated through the ship, rattling consoles and sending papers flying. Lights flickered ominously, casting chaotic shadows across the bridge as crew members were jolted from their positions, struggling to regain their balance amid the turmoil that erupted around them.

Larry had played Nova ball in his younger years, not that he was old, but he was not 18 anymore. Nova ball is full contact zero-gee sport loosely based around a cross between volley ball, racket ball and Football (aka Soccer to those that liked the rugby version of football). This was the only thing that kept him from being bounced around the Jefferies tube like a supper ball. When the first change in gravity occurred, the sensor systems automatically activated the emergency stabilizers and pegged the inertial dampers to 200% emergency power. This had a minor side effect of placing the the life support at a lower dim the lights and lower active air changing to minimum. This pre-programmed emergency response kept the crew from being red smears on the bulkheads. This also kept the impact and sudden lost of velocity of the ship and therefore the inertial velocity from being transferred to the crew. Well one percent is better than 1000 meters per second to anything not wielded to the frame of the starship... The computer and all the kings horses could not remove all of the change in velocity and it sometimes made a whiplash effect that Yo-Yoed the crew three to four times before stabilizing. The worse the impact the worse the Yo-Yo'ing. Based on the physics of that Yo-Yo, it was bad. He was of Scottish descent, and his genes had blessed him with a somewhat barrel chest, and being in Engineering meant he was always moving, lifting, pulling, pushing, and or beating heavy objects into there assigned position. When the Starship was under way, he always tried to impress on his underlings that you always kept one hand for the man or women and one hand for the ship. Always keep one had free to snag a dropped tool, your self, or loose objects if the ship his a gravity anomaly or surge, or other bump in space. You did not get a guaranteed smooth flight.

This philosophy of his kept three out of four of his engineers some what safe, or reduced the injuries that they would have otherwise have taken. The unlucky forth happened to be hauling a heavy crate of engineering parts and had no free hands to grab a handhold or railing. The unlucky crewmember impacted the Jefferies tube several times, and the Crate hit him far more than the inside of the Jefferies tube. When the first Disruption hit, Larry had his tricorder in his left hand and was pointing a direction to one of the Operation type's for them to proceed to the next programing checkpoint. His reflexes had his right hand trying to grab the railing in the Jefferies tube, but it took him three tries to get it right. His right arm felt like it was out of the joint at the shoulder, but his feet hurt worse from flapping around like a ping pong ball. He immediately looked around for injuries. three of the Operation's type's were against the far bulkhead and unconscious, His engineer carrying the crate was unconscious and blood was coming from his mouth and pooling on the deck beneath and behind him.

Larry tried to run towards the injured Tech, but his feet didn't seam to want to work right. Larry impacted his nose as he tried to turn his head, but only partly succeeded. His nose was yelling at him and his eyes were blurry. He knew that he nose was misaligned due to the high threshold of pain messages getting to his brain. but some were from his right arm, and some were from his ankles.

Larry crawled the few meters to the injured crewman, and he heard multiple announcements over the ships intercom. Before he had fell, his memory recall of what little he had seen during the impact event told him that the Operations crew had appeared like they took far more damage, as they were caught un-prepared. Larry's eyes were still blurry, but he saw shapes coming over to grab the crate that was laying on the fallen Engineer. Larry told his crewmembers, "Stop, don't touch him. You could hurt him more. Check the operation techs and perform first aide as required."

Feeling a Rapid pulse, he knew the tech with the crate on his lap was in trouble. Larry he hit his com badge as he tried to feel a pulse of the of the Engineer holding the crate. /=\ Computer, Larry, is the Intership transportation system still online?" /=\

The computer replied [The Intership-transportation system is online, but injured crewmembers will have priority routing]

/=\Computer, Larry, I have triaged this crewmember as Priority Red-One, emergency transport both the crewman and the container that he is impaled on, to Sickbay./=\

Less than a second later the room dissolved into the transporter whine and bright lights. The computer must have decided he was going along for the ride, because a second later they materialized in medical receiving. Larry yelled, " 22 year old male, with thorax and hip impact damage during gravity event. Pulse weak and rapid, lost conscious during his multiple collisions with deck and railing. Blood coming from mouth indicates possible internal damage to lungs. Possible crush damage to thorax, hips, legs and pelvis due to 25 kg crate hitting crewmember multiple times at high velocity..."

Larry watched as the trauma team rushed over and started scanning the injured Engineer with their medical tricorders. Larry just laid his head back and tried to get the nerve impulses that were trying to over whelm his brain to stop yelling. A Female medical person was soon standing over him, yelling as her medical Tricorder was displaying information, "Male, 25 year old, concussion, dislocated right shoulder, multiple joint injuries to feet, ankles and knee's. Triage bed 4A!"

He was not so gently picked up by two med techs, deposited on a gurney, and moved out of the way for more incoming wounded crewmembers. After he was quickly moved to a medical bed, the noises increased and were quite annoying. A hypo spray hit him on his neck, then shoulder and soon the pain began to decrease. A Female with a mask on proceeded to shine a bright light in both of his eyes while waving a medical tricorder around his head. He heard a trilling sound and his right knee started to feel a lot better. Soon the left was not yelling to loud either. Another hypo spray in his neck and the dull throbbing went away, and the nurse or med tech that had such big neon blue eyes said, " You were lucky, no intracranial hemorrhage, no sub-cranial hematoma, no clots or long turn bruising. We got to you in time.

Larry looked up into his guardian angel's eyes and decided, "You should be will bribed, how about we have dinner some time?" Larry's brain heard what his mouth had just said, and gasped, turned beet red and started to stammer an apology," So Sorry," Larry stammered, "I'm not sure why I said that!" The pretty nurse grinned, and said, "I have you on some descent medication. You should be all fixed in ten minuets. After the doctor gives the OK, you can go back to Engineering. You will just have to re-ask me tomorrow!" She quickly left his field of view. Larry tried to crane his head up to view the display, only to have a medical technician yell, "Quit that, I am trying to knit your joints back together!"

Soon his right ankle was better. After a few moments, his left ankle was feeling no pain. He felt his knees with both hands, they were tender but tingly all over due to the medication and advance medical machine's doing there work with the wonder of modern technology.

Next thing he knew, a hypo hit his shoulder as the Doctor said, "Out of the bed, Mr. Lazy bones, I have other patients that need a bed. No swinging from the chandeliers, full contact ... ummm rugby. Your record shows that you have more than your fair share of injuries from that... make sure you eats lots of green's and veggies. Now off with you!"

The doctor grabbed his nose with both hands, yanked, and then Larry both felt and heard a crunch. The doctor told something to the med tech, turned, and left. Larry quickly got out of bed, carefully testing his stability before trying to walk. The med tech walked behind him till he got to the halfway out side medical. Larry turned to say thanks, but the med tech had already left him alone.

Larry went to gram his tricorder, realized it was still in Jefferies tube 4a, and headed to main Engineering. He would have to retrieve it later. Fortunately, he was only a deck, a skip and a jump from Main Engineering. Larry ran to the right, glad to have use of his legs. Using the Jefferies tube, he slid down to the upper Engineering Access. He would normally yell at his people for that, but well he would yell at his self later.

Walking into Main Engineering was walking to to chaos. The normally cool and calm work space had people running everywhere. Some were trying to keep the shields up. A couple of his best were manually tweeking the warp core, it looks seconds away from being unbalanced. Main power was 34%, and people were bringing all the emergency generators up to max. Several looks at the POOL( what was a holographic table that showed the ships systems and what was wrong, had a dozen red flashing system alerts, and there was at least two hull breaches. One warp nacelle showed critical damage, the other was in the green.

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