Posted Sept. 18, 2021, 8:27 p.m. by Ensign Kovan ch'Sirhc (Engineering & Communications Officer) (Abigail G)
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: The Officers in the Lift
Posted by Ensign Kovan ch’Sirhc (Engineering & Communications Officer) in Side Sim: The Officers in the Lift
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: The Officers in the Lift
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Roman had been down in the Computer Sciences lab on Deck 12, helping with a problem. Passing Engineering, he was headed back up to Deck 9, to his office. Despite being the First Officer, he did most of his work in the Chief Science Officer’s office. He preferred it there. Mostly because it was next door to his own lab, the Biology lab. He pressed the button for the lift and stepped in.~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
The console beside Kovan cheerfully chirped to announce the arrival of a maintenance request on Deck 9. That chirp, like the trill of some small avian bird species was starting to grate on Kovan’s nerves. Whoever picked that sound to begin with? Chirp, chrip, chirp did the inventor even think of the engineers that would hear that high-pitched and shrill sound all shift? No doubt the sound was selected by a committee who patted themselves on the back for their good work in selecting a bright sound that they didn’t have to listen too.
Kovan answered the request and grabbed a diagnostic PaDD and a basic hyperspanner. He rushed to catch the lift before it closed, stepping in behind the commander. Kovan nodded to his superior officer, but didn’t try to fill the space with idle chat as the lift doors closed and began to move. Except he did speak, “That doesn’t. . .” He said that because he felt the faintest tremor run through the lift. Then that slightest tremor became a noticeable tremor chased by a metallic scream that put those annoying message chirps to shame. Kovan braced himself against the walls of the lift as it rocked back and forth to a slow and shuddering stop.
”. . . sound good.” Kovan finished his sentence. The lights of the lift flickered, but thankfully remained on.
Ensign ch’Sirhc (COMMO, ENGR)
Roman was glad that Kovan didn’t try to fill the space with idle chat. He wasn’t much a fan of idle chat. He gave a respectful nod back. He needed to get back up to the lab. He had work to do. Lab animals to feed. And then the lift began to shake. And then there was a metallic screech, and Roman leaned against the wall as the lift stopped, and rocked back and forth.
This was not good. He was thankfully not claustrophobic or anything, but he really didn’t have time to be stuck in a lift until Engineering could fix it. “Deck 9,” he said to the lift, but there was no response. “Let’s call Engineering, they can get it moving,” Roman said. He hoped anyway. The lift comm shouldn’t have been down just because the lift was, but who knew.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
“I am engineering.” Kovan said dryly, before adding, “I double tracked. There should be an access panel. . . Here it is.” Disguised as another panel lining the wall, it was easily removed to reveal several buttons, connection ports, and a circuit board. Kovan wasted no time linking the panel to his diagnostic PaDD, which automatically began its search for problems. “This will take a couple minutes, but it should tell us what went wrong.” Then what? Another several minutes stuck fixing the problem? That is if they could even resolve this from within the turbo lift itself. =^= Ensign ch’Sirc to engineering. Turbolift 13 has ceased operating.=^=
Stuck in a turbo lift. With no definitive time frame of when they could be freed. Great. Just great. It’s not the confined space of the turbo lift. It’s the fact that he’s stuck here with another person.
Ensign ch’Sirhc (COMMO, ENGR)
Roman shot Kovan a look, apparently unimpressed. “Unfortunately I won’t be much help. I am no mechanical engineer.” He said, resigning himself to standing out of the way. Roman was no fan of being trapped in such confined space for an indeterminate amount of time with another person either. And his mood was worsened when the comm returned nothing. It seemed because the turbolift was offline, so was the comm. It seemed the only thing getting power were the lights. “Isn’t there some way to push the doors open? Perhaps we’re close enough to a floor to get out?” He wondered, giving the doors a hopeful look.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
No reply on the comm. Lights on. “Turbo lifts are equipped with small power banks for situations like this. There’s enough power to maintain lights, life support, and communication. . .” Kovan fiddled with his diagnostic PaDD. Error after error flashed across the screen. Though he couldn’t say for certain, it seemed the turbo lift was indeed offline. “I suspect the lift slipped off the track. That would explain the shaking and. . . that sound. . .” All that moving about could have snapped key wiring or busted something, cutting off the comms.
“Sounds like you’ve got an idea? Something fixable, I hope?” To be honest, ‘slipped off the track’ did not sound fixable from inside the pod. But he could hope it would be that easy. If not, they could be here a while…
Kovan regarded the doors for a moment. “We could try.” He left his PaDD and hyperspanner on the floor and moved to the opposite side of the doorway. “If we each pull on a door we should be able to open it.” Kovan slipped the tips of his fingers into that slight gap between the doors, positioning his hands apart to give Roman room for his hands. “On your mark, sir.”
Ensign ch’Sirhc (COMMO, ENGR)
Roman positioned himself, slipping his fingers into the doors. “Three… two… one… Pull!” He said, and on ‘Pull’, he pulled hard on the door, trying to open it.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
On Roman’s mark Kovan pulled with all the strength he could muster. Between the two men working in tandem, the doors steadily opened. When it seemed they would be able to open the door, the metal scraped against the side of the track, creating another metallic groan. In all, it seemed they only opened the doors by twelve inches.
At that moment Kovan knew they were trapped. He could not fix this.
His diagnosis PaDD beeped twice from the floor. Kovan picked it up. The PaDD stated that the lift was offline and disconnected from the ship. “Sometimes I hate technology,” Kovan said, each word seeped in resignation. His little hyperspanner could perform minor repairs, but this was well beyond its capabilities. “The ship will have flagged the offline turbo lift and forwarded a report to engineering.” No doubt announcing itself with that irritating and shrill chirp.
Ensign ch’Sirhc (COMMO, ENGR)
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