And Then there Was This Humming Sound

Posted on Mon Dec 7th, 2020 @ 7:57pm by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Jasper Offermans

Mission: Mission 12 - Railway
Location: Mess hall
Timeline: MD 01 19:00
1069 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The door hissed to the mess hall and Jasper walked through still carrying a PaDD in his left hand but quickly affixed to his utility belt. There was a look of frustration on his face as he entered and looked around at what was being offered by the chef. His face broke into a smile as he saw his favorite, fried chicken just waiting for him on the buffet.

"Chef sure knows how to keep me happy," He said loud enough as he used the tongs to place three pieces on a plate even before he grabbed a tray.

He walked back over to where the trays were and took one placing the plate on it then returned to gather some potato salad and a biscquit. Offerman was grinning ear to ear as he took a slice of apple pie as well and then notice the Captain, "Captain," he said still smiling, "slumming it today? Or you just heard there was fried chicken up for grabs."

"I always eat here Jasper." The man responded with a roll of his eyes. The younger man always liked to say that and it just reminded him how Starfleet was. The Captain cut off from the crew below them and only going through Yeoman, Chief of the Boat or Executive Officer. He missed that chain of command sometimes when he got frustrated but this group of people were fantastic.

"Someday I'll get used to that," Jasper replied with a chuckle as he retrieved a tall glass of lemonade from the replicator. His time in Starfleet was a century ago but he still hadn't grasped the concept things had changed. Perhaps that was because he was still on the same ship or because he was basically doing the same job, even if he was in charge of it,

The Ops chief smiled and motioned towards a table. "Why don't you join me, Captian, you might be interested in something."

Gregnol looked at the table and then back to the operations officer and shrugged. What did he have to lose even if he just wanted to eat in peace? “I will be along in a moment.” He assured looking at the food options. It all looked yummy, the food looked better than it had in a long time. Did they have a new chef?

Jasper nodded. He was still smiling but kicking himself for being so outgoing. He did have something he needed to tell the man, hopefully, things weren't as bad as he thought. Walking over to the table he removed the items from his tray and then slid into his seat. His brow furrowed as he contemplated what that sound he heard meant.

Gregnol joined him not long after drinking a few gulps over his hot coffee before he even sat down and got his cutlery sorted out. He needed some caffeine it had already become a long day without meaning to be and he suspected it was not over yet.

After letting his boss get settled in Jasper gave him a smile, "I've been trying to chase down a humming I'm hearing between deck 8 and deck 13, was wondering if you had heard it."

"Deck 8 and deck 13 cannot say I have. Though there are lots of important things on those decks." He mused mentally listing off the things that were there. Evacuation Transporter, Airlock Complex, emergency Life Support, Observation Gallery, Fire-Control Sensor Array, Sensor Bay, and lots of torpedo things.

"Well," Jasper said with a nod as he scooped some potato salad onto a fork, "I've been trying to track the source down, so far it's remained a mystery but it sounds like a serious issue, "I hope it's not a coupler going bad."

The Captain listened carefully and frowned a little more than his usual expression. It would have been easy to miss if people did not know him but it was there. "Coupler?" Gregnol asked wanting a better explanation. Coupler could be anywhere for anything and he needed to know just how bad it could be.

"Well it sounds like a faulty auxiliary system bifurcated coupler," Jasper said tilting his head, "but that should have been replaced years ago and it would be on deck 19, not where I'm hearing the problem."

“Faulty auxiliary system bifurcated coupler? Sounds more Engineering than operations?” Gregnol said shovelling some food quickly into his mouth as he felt this might be a long conversation. He had to remember in 2246 Operations and Engineering were a lot more joined together and a lot of it overlapped. "What have Engineering said?

"True," Jasper replied with a grin, "but I heard that humming noise before, well, on the Mary Rose when she was a Starfleet vessel. I replaced one after things went, south, Not even sure we still have any but if there aren't any, my next guess is a coiling relay. If it a relay it's nothing serious.

"Log the issue with Burnie and the pair of you can track it down," Gregnol suggested quickly. It was sounding more and more like a job that required more than one person.

"I've already Logged it, though I've not directly spoken to Brunie yet," Jasper said with a grin as he landed back a little in his seat, "I'd rather not bother him, yet, because the schematics of the ship don't show we still have any of these couplers still on the ship. If that is the case, then we may have another issue, just an old ship feeling it's age."

"It is an engineering problem more than Operations. Speak directly and find it together." Reuben instructed simply in a voice that broached no room for movement. "The ship is old and is certainly showing its age." It was one of the never-ending thoughts that kept him awake at night sometimes. He was really worried than one more adventure and the ship would let them down.

"Sure thing Captain," Jasper replied giving the man a nod, "I started out looking for a break in the COM line and end up down another rabbit hole thinking it was probably more important."

Gregnol nodded. It was a logical route but he did not want the man out of his depth with a problem he could now cope with. Ships systems had changed drastically since 2246. “Just keep me inform.” He stated clearly. He just hoped Burnie would be able to keep it in check.