Part of Starbase Bravo: Frontier Day

Goodwill in Galakail Minor, Part 4: Getting Down to Work

Galakail Minor
April 2401
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Joshua looked through the PADD provided by Prefect Adelbai, “When I asked how we could help, I didn’t think they meant rebuilding their entire colony.” He scratched his head, “I mean, look at some of this stuff.” Joshua handed the PADD to Dawa.

She scrolled through the exceedingly long list and started reading the items out loud. “Let’s see, water line repair? Pretty standard. Freshwater contamination monitoring? Some of the stuff they’re asking us to screen for isn’t part of the standard protocol Starfleet gave us, but fine, whatever. Vaccination updates? Again, standard, but– I’m no doctor, but this list seems unusually long. Replicator upgrades at their municipal supply depot…”

She kept scrolling. And scrolling. “Rather extensive updates. Some of this looks like they think we have magic wands instead of tricorders. Or, say, a full starship crew instead of three cadets. It looks like this colony was struggling long before the Lost Fleet attacked. I wonder if local raiding parties or the Kzinti have something to do with that. I’m really glad the Higgs made those updates to the defense system, or we’d have an even bigger mess on our hands.”

Dawa handed the PADD back to Josh. “Well, this is your mission, Dr. Bryant,” she said with a grin. “Where do you want us to start?”

Rubbing his eyes, Joshua took the PADD back from Dawa. “I think we need to divide and conquer. Let’s hit the critical systems first. Cadet Kinos, head to the Infirmary and handle the vaccination updates and health screenings. I can set up the contamination monitoring, it’s similar to the system Ingnaus had.” He handed the PADD to Jabir, “Cadet Tior, does the aqueduct system look like something you and Cadet Zoff can team up on?”

Taking the pad from Joshua and looking at the intense plans for the aqueduct system he looked up at Joshua and the Dawa then back at the PADD. “Yeah, I say we should be able to do this.” With this, he transferred the specs of the aqueduct system to his PADD and handed the other one back to Joshua. He nodded his head at Zoff, handed her the PADD and they walked off towards the aqueduct system looking over the plans.

Watching Tior and Zoff walking off, Tolria looked at Joshua and Dawa, “I guess that’s my cue. Time to go update some vaccination records,” she said with an eye roll.

“The work isn’t always sexy, Cadet Kinos. The slow days help you appreciate the crises,” Joshua replied.

Joshua turned to Dawa, “So that leaves you and me. Did you pack your galoshes?” He asked with a smirk.

Dawa sighed, but the good-natured smile didn’t leave her face. “You know it. Starfleet standard issue!”


The galoshes came up past her knees and did indeed have the Starfleet arrowhead insignia stamped on either side of the rims, but they did nothing against the slow, constant drip of water from the levels above. Dawa held one hand up to her brow to at least keep it out of her eyes, while the other grasped the strap of the toolkit hanging off her shoulder.

I’m not sure what you’ll find in there,” came a voice over their comms channel. “Many of the clean-up organisms we use for bioremediation were killed in the most recent attack, and the rest are being overwhelmed by who-knows-what kind of contamination now.”

Dawa lifted one of her feet and glanced at the sludge that covered her boot as if she could tell just by looking. “Well,” she said, her voice echoing off the interior of the tank, “I can help the locals get their scanners back up and running, but hell if I know how to fix this bio-soup. It’s kind of like agriculture though, right? Just on a tiny level?”

“I think,” Joshua said, lifting his boot through the sludge, “Gross… Anyway, I think the scanners could give us a better idea of what we’re working with.” He tapped the button to broadcast on the comms channel. “Can you send me the biological information of the organisms used in here? Include the biothermal and radiologic profiles.

He took a couple of test tubes from a pouch on his belt, “I have an idea.” He submerged the tubes in the muck, emerging with them filled with sludge. Joshua wiped them down with his gloves and held them up to the light. “It almost looks petroleum-based. That could be a reversion to their base state or a chemical reaction maybe. Fascinating,” he placed them in his pouch and continued scanning.


Tior and Zoff found a workbench outside just down the hill from the aqueduct system going over the plans and working out between them what could be the possible problem, apart from the few fallen rocks scattered around the aqueduct’s control system.

A few moments later the two came up with a plan on how to possibly combat the water problem, so they made their way up to the control system. Upon arrival they saw the aqueduct control system buried in a few big boulders, too heavy to remove them by hand. They set their phasers to setting 4 and fired them at the boulders.

A few seconds passed and they could see all of the aqueduct control system. Luckily the control panel was almost in one piece, but there were a few minor damaged parts. Upon arriving at the control panel the two engineers went to fix what had been broken. But things were about to hit the roof big time.

“Zoff pass me the micro spanner please while you recalibrate the sensor board on top,” said Tior. A short while went by then Zoff turned to the supply case to grab the power calibrator and sort out the power flow. As she reached the case, she lost balance and fell behind between two boulders. Upon landing, Zoff bumped into what she thought was just another rock only to find out it was an undetonated torpedo.

“Tior you need to run, there’s an undetonated torpedo here. It looks to be of Breen design and I can hear a low humming noise. I think I reactivated it when I fell,” said Zoff. Tior stood and turned to see what Zoff was talking about and saw a broken design torpedo behind her with flashing lights getting faster and a humming noise getting louder.  Tior headed over to see if he could do anything and realized he had no time. He grabbed Zoff’s hand to try to pull her away to safety but just as he had her hand and started to pull her away, Tior and Zoff heard an explosion behind them as they were sent flying down the hill back towards the compound.

Comments

  • Ha! This post felt like the personification of Starfleeters learning that no good deed goes unpunished. Each character demonstrated their unique ways of pushing through these unfavourable tasks with their brands of sly or sardonic humour. Dawa's trudge through the mud was such a visceral experience, it brought the discomfort right to the surface. Joshua showed up as the reliable expert in the chair, guiding the field agent through treacherous territory, and intriguing insights about bioremediation. I feel like I learned something new. Tior got to be the hero of the hour, though, saving Zoff from an undetonated torpedo! Exciting times!

    August 14, 2023
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