Posted by Fleet Captain Drudoc Andone (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim - Deck 44 - Hole Breach Findings For Science & Engineering
[snip]

As Caelian waited for the display to resolve his query, he frowned when it flickered and dimmed. Frustrated, he gave it what his father liked to call “the engineer’s encouragement”: a whack with the heel of his palm. The display squelched defeat before humming back to life showing him the results. Tracing the flow of systems with a finger, he nodded and turned back to his team. Once the asteroid was loaded and out of the way, Caelian crossed the hallway and assisted in the damage assessment.

“All right, well, it seems like deflectors are back up,” he noted, relieved. “Let’s hope it holds, eh?”

Jackson peered at him over the tattered plating where she was diagnosing life support for the section. “Isn’t it a little weird that we get launched who-knows-where, and somehow we don’t find ourselves blown apart by all the stuff floating in between?”

“Excluding the fact that we are dealing with paracausal beings,” L’Nel responded flatly, not looking up from his tricorder, “it could be explained most simply by our systems failing at the exact moment of our arrival.”

Jackson huffed a stray lock of blond hair from her face and muttered something very unflattering about Vulcan logic. She offered no rebuttal, however.

Caelian chuckled and busied himself with his own scans of the hull. His engineering mind turned up several ways that the asteroid could have come to rest inside the corridor of the Ark Angel, but like Jackson mentioned they conflicted with one another. If they had simply been moved then the ship shouldn’t have had the requisite velocity for such an impact; if the ship had traveled and the ship’s systems had suddenly failed at the moment of their arrival, why hadn’t they sustained more damage? After all, hitting a grain of space dust at superluminal speeds would have torn through the hull. He supposed the Ark Angel had arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that the asteroid had been the object traveling quickly. Looking at the amount of damage and the path it had tumbled, however… Perhaps it was as L’Nel suggested: the preternatural means somehow thumbed its nose at sound reason.

“Don’t overthink it, Weir,” Jackson whispered over his shoulder, startling him. He’d been so deep in thought that he hadn’t seen her move. She chuckled. “I’ve seen that look before. Good thing the chief’s not here, or you’d be degaussing the antimatter containment generator again.”

Caelian made a face and waved away the jibe. “Everything through this section is either stable or has been rerouted, so I guess the only thing left to do Is start physical repairs. I’ll go see about getting us the tools and materials while you two decide who’s going for a spacewalk.”

“Wait, what?,” Jackson balked.

“We can’t fix it all from in here, and I’m excused from all non-emergency zero-gee activities.” Caelian couldn’t help but crack a smile at her crestfallen expression. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“B-but…”

He waved over his shoulder as he headed for the turbolift. “I’m sure there’s a functioning replicator somewhere on this ship.”

“Weir!” he heard her whine as the turbolift door hissed shut. Caelian could only chuckle.

—Caelian Weir, Engineer—

Just as Weir entered the turbolift the Captain’s voice came over a ship wide comm, =/\= Attention all hands, this is Captain Andone speaking. As many of you are aware by now we had a rough ride and situations arise recently which were the result of a visiting Q entity. The recent oddities of holiday ‘cheer’ and ‘pranks’ were the result of this entity. I trust that within a few hours we all will have recovered fully from those events. If there are any problems to report do so to your section chief, department chief or the bridge as needed.. =/\= She began. She figured breaking things down into chunks for settling folks minds would be best to start.

Caelian frowned at the news. He didn’t have to be on the bridge to pick up on the stress in the captain’s voice. Thankfully there was resolve there, too. Folding his arms across his chest and watching the turbolift display his progress, he waited. It was all he could do, after all.

After a pause Drudoc continued. =/\= As you all are equally aware our ship was tossed dangerously about by this same Q entity. I can assure you all now that the damages despite at first seeming dire are far from that. Already secondary and primary systems are returning to online status and damages bypassed and relayed around. The minor hull breach on deck 44 was the worst of on our damage control lists and that has been secured and contained. What injuries we all sustained though minor, I can confirm we have had no more the serious injuries among the crew. For those of you with children and families you can all rest assured that we all have shared your tumbles and bruises, again we have weathered this transport by the Q well, for which I applaud you all..=/\= Drudoc continued.

After another second or so pause she continued. =/\= Now you all may be wondering why the Q have taken an interest in us. From our brief interaction with them on the bridge here it would seem the Continuum at large is in a heated debate to wonder how we among this fine ship and crew. Would react to various ‘extremes’. To this end we can only surmise that in some form the Q are watching us even now. Debating as they wish to see what we will do next. To this point brings me to the more difficult news for us all. That being where we now are. After confirmation with the astrological science departments it is my duty to confirm to everyone that we are currently quite far from known space. We are currently projected to be deep within what would be considered the Alpha quadrant of the GN-z11 galaxy..=/\= Drudoc said. Pacing a bit now to look at the crew about the bridge one by one, giving a look and presence of someone sharing the troubles and feelings they all no doubt were going through right now.

He couldn’t help but blink in confusion. There was more speculation than concrete fact regarding the Q Continuum. His mother had lectured on them briefly during one of her exhibits on Arkanis III, speculated that native worship might have been a direct result of their paracausal influence. Other Starfleet accounts had painted them as anything from mischievous to malicious, and never benevolent. Suddenly he felt like a worm beneath a microscanner, a thing to be poked and proded for reasons beyond his understanding. And they were how far from Federations space?! Was the turbolift getting smaller?

“Computer, halt turbolift,” he gasped. He staggered out as soon as the doors whispered open, slid past a pair of bewildered crew members. By the time he managed to regain his composure, he found himself leaning against the wall for support. Get ahold of yourself, Cael!

=/\= I know what many of you are feeling right now, digesting just how far that is. The idea of insurmountable hurdles we face before us now. I tell you now that I share your feelings, your thoughts of home, your family, friends, and loved ones. This is an extreme none of us could possibly have contemplated in our life times. But....=/\= Drudoc paused by Fayth letting a hand lightly rest on her shoulder a moment to center and ground her in the this time. =/\= but know that all of us, from myself, down to every civilian on this ship’s skills will be tapped and used to our fullest potential in the times ahead. Whether our way home lies with solving this ‘debate’ the Continuum has placed before us, or we figure out our own means. No matter what comes next I know all of you will face these challenges ahead with the highest strength, courage, valor, and service I have come to expect from all of you..=/\= She went on.

It was a mild relief that the captain had such faith in the crew, and to him to some degree. Perhaps if she could convince his knees that they had the strength to press on he could get the hull repairs complete. Jackson and L’Nel would be waiting for him to get back with the parts. Somehow that helped. Purpose. He took a breath, and then another. Where was he again? After checking with a nearby display, he plotted his route back to the supply locker.

Turning to round the railing at the aft end of the bridge she continued her speech. =/\= Know that already our science department has detected we are not alone in this region of space we find ourselves! There will be people, cultures, and more that we will meet and expand our knowledge too in the coming days no doubt. Yes, some could be trouble for us, but equally so we can find friends, or technology to help our situation. Regardless though, we have each other, and there is no finer ship and crew I would rather face this situation with then that which I am with now. The end of this trial may not be in sight yet, but it will be resolved and when it is know that we will face it together. I want all department and section heads to file status reports 3 hours from now by 1200 hours today. The Continuum has presented us this test of our character and will everyone, and I mean to show we will not break under the pressures now given to us. Now everyone take a breath, and let’s get to work getting this ship and her fine crew back home! Andone out! =/\= She stated.

It didn’t take Caelian long to requisition and replicate the hull plating his team would need to fix the breach. That the transporters were still down for non-emergency use made him grind his teeth a bit, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t adapt to. He firmly pushed the overwhelming problem of being on a wounded ship in distant space from his mind and focused on the task at hand. First, the breach. Then the next problem. And then the next, and so on until we’re home.

Caelian had to force out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding until his heart hammered against his chest. “You can do this, Cael. Reliable, not remarkable.”
—Caelian Weir, Engineer—