Moments Before Disaster

Posted on Fri Jun 28th, 2024 @ 11:51am by Chief Comms Rivek & Nollel Livaam (*) & Curtis Vaan

Mission: Shackles
Location: Deck 8 - Communication's Bay
Timeline: May 2393
1436 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Rivek had been working on the ship's data encryption systems. She was an old ship, so some of the security checks felt more like hot-wiring than programming. The external comms were updated. A clever folk with a knack for hacking no longer could access Rosie's cargo manifest. Instead, said person would end up with a computer virus so vicious, they would have to replace their whole system.

Internal comms was the last on Rivek's "To-Do List." It was less vital since the only people who could access these systems were crew mates. He decided it was best to work in some encryption in the case that someone snooped too much. Or, Rivek hoped would never happen, an intruder came aboard.

He held a conduit in his hand. This artery was the main power to the internal comms system. If he let go and let the conduit separate, the whole communications system could go offline. He needed a hyperspanner to finalize the connection, but his was in his toolbox just out of reach. He stretched one hand to try and grab it while the other kept the circuit complete. His fingers barely touched the edge of the toolbox, he wasn't able to get a grip on it.

"Well I am not exactly sure about...Oh let me help Rivek." Nollel came into the compartment with her companion in tow and saw the man trying to reach out for the tool kit. She stepped forward and pushed it towards the man just as he toppled forward to grab it. "Oops. You okay?" She wondered crouching to offer a hand to help him up.

Rivek took the other's hand, getting back to his feet. "Thank you!" The conduit he was working on gave a spark, and the lights in the area flashed off and on. "Shit." He grabbed the hyperspanner and closed the circuit. The lights dimmed, giving a hiss. "I fried the conduit. I'll have to reroute, but I'll need the system to reboot right as I do, or our internal comms system could shut down. How handy are you with computer subroutines?"

Nollel tugged the man to his feet and looked around the compartment and sighed. “Me? Goodness no. Curtis, you are up.” Nollel sighed as she moved to grab a fire extinguisher just in case. It was certainly something she was going to work on but she was there to keep the logistics running.

The younger human flipped out a PADD from his back pocket. "Subroutines? Pah, I laugh in the face of subroutines. They bow to my superior..." Curtis trailed off as he stared at the state of the mess in front of him. "Oh. That's not supposed to...and that's really bad...uh...give me a sec here." He started poking at his PADD, a frown deepening on his face.

"Alright, we're going to have to do a level 2 reboot," Rivek explained. "That should give me enough time to reroute the conduit before it restarts." Rivek held the hyperspanner in his hand. He started moving all the pieces in place so he can start the task without getting everything in order. "On my mark." He gave a nod. "Now!"

Curtis furiously tapped commands and input as Rivek worked. "The entire subsystem is a hundred years old and wired up like a Christmas tree; backups and workarounds all over it. Just give me a sec!" He protested, unusually flustered.

Rivek attempted to give Curtis more time. "That's why I left this one for last," he said, "It seemed to be the most jury-rigged." He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he tried to make another pathway for the conduit. His hydrospanner buzzed. The heat from it was nearly impalpable, even for a Vulcan. Finally, the tool gave way and shut down just before he could finish the repair. He stepped away, and the panel buzzed and hissed, but otherwise remained lifeless.

Nollel looked between the pair worried but said nothing. Neither of them needed her to say anything but she did back up a step just as the console sparked and exploded with something force. "Well, that...." She pressed the extinguisher hard to activate it. "is the end of those subroutines." She sighed waving her hand in front of her to clear the air.

"I guess a blank slate might have been the better option anyway." He pulled out a tricorder and scanned the panel. He furrowed his brows. "That's odd. Although the main conduit is broken, there's a small channel that it's feeding through." He approached a working console, "Let me get a diagno..."

The screen of the console blacked out. When it returned, it started playing a video:

"Rivek's personal log stardate... I don't know. Federation stardates never made sense in my mind.

Rivek tried to dismiss the log, but it kept playing. His ears perked as he heard the voices of other personal logs being played throughout the corridor. "Uh oh."

Curtis' eyes bulged even wider. "No...no, turn that off right now..." he exclaimed.

"...you know, I can't decide whether I think Liha or Kali is more hot in that 'tie you up and torture you' sort of way..." Curtis' voice echoed over a few others.

"TURN IT OFF NOW!" The young Risan shouted, searching for something to physically hit the conduit with.

"Whoa..." Nollel yelled grabbing back the extinguisher to avoid it being used as a weapon towards the ship or Rivek.

Rivek slid himself in front of the conduit. "Wait!" He said, holding his hand up. "If we take it down now, it could completely collapse the ship's internal data framework. Comms, shields, propulsion... Just about everything relies on that to keep it going." He put up his other hand. "Might I add life-support?"

Nollel indicated that the Risan needed to back up a little. "You cannot do it." She said pointedly.

"There must be some way of stopping this unmitigated nightmare of a thing happening," Curtis exclaimed, desperately this time.

Rivek took a deep breath to hopefully calm down the other. "We can't shut down the system until this internal comms subroutine is fully operational again. It should only take a few hours." He looked up and did the calculations okay. "Of course, if we want to do it right, it could take a couple of days." All internal comms terminals seemed to be affected. Various crewmember's logs were now out in the open.

Fortunately... or unfortunately for Rivek, having his whole life sent out to the world was something he had dealt with before. "I know it's embarrassing, but embarrassment is a temporary feeling. It's harder to bounce back from subzero temperatures and asphyxiation."

Nollel indicated that he had a point as she heard her own voice float through the air. "I do not even know if anyone on this ship likes me. They know me as the bomber who blew up..." Nollel looked at the floor. "That was 2 years ago." She said not looking up at the floor.

"Good grief, there are probably years and years of personal logs in the backup database..." Curtis exclaimed. "If all this stuff gets out I think I'd prefer subzero temperatures and asphyxiation!"

"Fine, fine," said Rivek as he raised his hands. "I'll shut down the system." One of his hands grabbed his toolkit while the other rested on his chin. He squinted at the panel and spoke aloud to himself, trying to think clearly over the cacophony of personal logs. "Maybe I can get some additional auxiliary power if I temporarily shut down replicators. Maybe environmental lighting." He started to work on the panel. He typed up some sort of code to resource energy from one system to life support. The most important thing was to restore the systems without causing more damage.

As if the computer had heard the compromise, the compartment suddenly went dark, plunging Nollel into near-total darkness. Only the faint, blinking lights of the control panel provided any illumination. Despite the blackout, Nollel could still hear the ship's logs being broadcast throughout the vessel. In the distance, the hum of machinery and the faint chatter of the crew echoed through the corridors, creating an eerie symphony of sound that only heightened Nollel's sense of unease that private information was now out there. She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the oppressive darkness and the growing frustration. It was just going to be one of those days for sure, she thought, when everything that could go wrong, would go wrong.