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Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

[ Lt. RraHnam | Security Center | Deck 7 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @uytrereee
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[D04|0718] Call The Experts

April 22, 2381
07:18 hrs.
Stardate: 57663.94

Again and again, RraHnam had gone through the few shots of the attack on the brig. She looked at the available images from every angle she could. This also meant that she reenacted the fateful moments on the holodeck attached to the security center. She went through the footage frame by frame, reliving the deaths of good Starfleet officers by the dozen. She had been lucky to get surveillance footage at all, as the databases had suffered quite a bit due to the Klingon attack.

The images were gruesome to look at. So much suffering. The agony on the faces of the victims. The caitian woman felt pity for them. It was not a nice ending. Even though she didn't know the people personally, they deserved RraHnam to do her best to clarify the circumstances of their deaths, and that included finding out if the failure of security in the brig was due to sabotage, or if it was a chain of unfortunate circumstances.
"Computer, please remove all personnel from the recording."
"Affirmative."

The computer calculated for a moment, then all participants disappeared from the projection. Only the barren room remained visible. RraHnam walked through the copy of the real Brig, which could be found just a few rooms away. She noted that due to the attack, much of the quality of the footage had been lost and that some areas had been extrapolated by the computer to create a more holistic sense of space. Although the former professional athlete certainly appreciated that, the engineer in her wanted to get to the bottom of it all.
"Computer, please remove the extrapolation of the representation."
"Attention! This could affect the stability of the program being shown."
"I see," RraHnam muttered. "Computer, please implement my command."
"Acknowledged."

After another moment of silence, holes began to form all over the room. Some were only a few millimeters in size, while others ate up entire wall or floor panels. The result was a rendering of a brig that resembled a Swiss cheese. The real security footage had not seen nearly as much as the result of the extrapolated data tried to suggest. This left RraHnam to draw two conclusions for the time being: Either the ship's computer was much more capable of producing a nearly complete image from incomplete data, or someone was helping. Either way, RraHnam needed help and someone who knew her way around the ship. She didn't want to crawl into the bowels of the ship alone to look behind the walls for possible flaws or damage in the structure, and she needed a second opinion.
The security officer terminated the program and headed back to her terminal. It was early in the morning and the alpha shift had just begun. If she was lucky, she could still pick up an engineer to give her a hand before the day's assignments were distributed. RraHnam saved her data to an isolinear chip and headed to the chief engineer's office to ask him to assign someone to her investigation. She could have simply requested personnel through the usual communication channels, but she was reluctant to make her first impression that way. She was the new one on the ship, and as such, she had some convincing to do first.

RraHnam had learned a few things in her career as a security officer. Among them was that it was usually easier to make a request directly, or that it was much more fruitful to pursue a matter personally. That way, her presence could create some sense of urgency in her counterpart and expedite other matters. It also allowed her to get to know other members of the crew.

RraHnam put the chip in the inside pocket of her uniform jacket and logged out of her terminal. She left the security center and headed for the turbolift. After only a few moments, she entered deck 25 and stood in front of the door to main engineering. The door slid open to both sides with a hiss, revealing the ship's massive warp reactor. The familiar hum of the machinery reached her delicate hearing. She entered the engine room and was pleased to see that there was already some activity here. On silent cat-soles she walked towards the Chief Engineer's office and knocked on the open door.
"Excuse me, Chief Engineer Arnold? Do you have a moment for me? My name is RraHnam. I'm the ship's new Investigations Officer and I could need some help."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #1 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]

@Nero

Oh for the life of me, I can't believe how much reading there is with this job. Lieutenant Frank Arnold, Chief Engineer mentally griped as he stared at his desktop console and perused the status reports of the engineering surveys and repair status his crews had to work through.  At least I got the overnight reports done, but still, Flag Bridge wrecked, Main Bridge damaged, hull breaches, wrecked EPS conduits all over, point defence system smashed...... The big engineer took a sip of coffee to freshen his mind as he heard a knock at his office door and quirked and eyebrow. Did I lock the door, must have, usually keep it open. "Whatever it is. I didn't do it!" He yelled through the door.

Smiling as he'd cheared himself with his quip, the engineer pressed a couple of buttons on his desk and the door hissed open revealing his visitor, and his salt and pepper eyebrows knotted in speculation as the impressive figure of a grey white Caitan was at his door.  The engineer's mind filtered his way through the Engineering staff, and he couldn't pull up the face, and then he made his way through the Operations members, and once again drew a blank.  That left a good chance that she was from Security, and she had the telltales, mainly being somewhat stiff looking.  This was going to be interesting the Chief Engineer thought to himself as he smiled. "First off, whatever it is, I really didn't do it, and I'm sure there's a good properly filled out requisition around here for whatever it is. Next, you look like you have business in my domain of plasma conduits and bioneural gel packs, so have a seat."

Frank's big hand waved to a chair on the opposite side of the desk as he leaned his big frame back and fixed blue eyes on the newcomer.   "Absent any crimes, what can I do for you Lieutenant, and I'm sorry for butchering your name, RraaaHnnnam? and call me Chief Arnold, or Frank."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #2 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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RraHnam's ears perked up and her pupils dilated as Lieutenant Frank Arnold greeted her with banter. She had expected many reactions, but not sarcasm. The human male sat behind his desk and seemed stressed, and as far as RraHnam could remember, humans often tended to mask their stress with sarcastic statements. The Chief Engineer finally offered her a seat and calmed down. Apparently, he had realized that there was no danger from the security officer.

"Feel free to call me ‘Rra’, like the god of the sun of the ancient Egyptians on Earth, and no, I'm not here for that, Chief," she then began to explain, jokingly referring to his statement that no matter what it was, he wasn't to blame. "But I could use some help with my investigation."

The security officer fished the isolinear chip out of the inside pocket of her uniform jacket with a graceful movement. "I'm currently trying to catch up on the events in the brig that occurred during the Klingon attack. My primary concern is to determine how the attacker managed to enter the brig. I want to find out if he was able to enter it due to technical failure, or if someone helped him."
She explicitly avoided referring to this possible help as sabotage, since that often and quickly created rumors, and unfortunately those rumors persisted far too long and stubbornly to be quickly and easily countered.

She placed the chip on the table. "These are the recordings of said event. I've looked at them a few times now and compared them to the repairs that have already been made. Basically, my assessment stands, but before I give my report, I wanted to get a second opinion."

While she gave the human a chance to get a rough idea of the data and awaited his response, she fixed him with her gaze. Her tail swayed restlessly back and forth through the recess in the back of her chair, her whiskers twitching slightly. RraHnam didn't know where it was coming from, but she felt the tension spreading through her body. It was likely, however, that she did not yet know how to assess the human male. She could have requested an engineer through official channels, but then that would have been the first impression she made on these people, and the former professional athlete didn't want that. A personal request was easier to fulfill in many cases, as individuals felt more inclined to help someone who asked politely than to be coerced into working by a request. RraHnam hoped that she was assessing the individual correctly and that this tactic would get her far with the Chief Engineer. It would also help her make contacts aboard the ship or even make friends.

RraHnam shifted in her chair. Her eyes fixed on the bearded engineer. "And that's why I came here: Your help would be very valuable to me, Chief Arnold. If you could spare an engineer for me, we could take another look at the repairs in the brig together."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #3 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]

@Nero

Lieutenant Arnold arched a bushy eye brow at the pronunciation key the Cait used and he was going to make a joke about the security officer having relatives in ancient Egypt before he sat on on it and discarded it as the result of a fatigued mind.  Instead, he picked up his coffee mug and took a deep pull, savouring the rich roasted flavours.  As he listened to the security officer's explanation, he leaned forward and plucked the chip out of the proffered hand and stared at it for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh as his face became a mask.  Word spread on a ship, and finding the body of the previous Chief, his old boss from the Endeavour was not something that would sit easily, especially so soon after her death.  He'd held the memorial ceremony for the Engineering staff, but like all physical wounds, emotional ones also took time to heal.

As this train of thought reached its final station, big hands slid the chip into a slot on his desk and he called up the appropriate file and began comparing the information and seeing how it lined up.  He never actually knew what happened in the brig that day and the extrapolation still had a lot of holes.  As his lips tightened, he began to think out loud "Well, there was a murthering great battle happening at the time, so let's see how that stacks up time wise"  He was no trained investigator, but as an engineer, he couldn't be slouch with programming, and that didn't work, one could always tell the computer what one wanted till they got the right analysis package in place.  Tapping several buttons, he lined up sensor readings of the battle and the time chop for the brig.  Taking a moment to turn a lop sided smile on the Caitan "I'm sure I have several other things I ought to be doing, but I think I'm getting better at this delegating thing.  At least you didn't find me buried in a Jeffries tube somewhere welding or something.".  With that, he hit play and turned the desktop monitor to face the two of them in the office. 

The recording really wasn't great, especially as the Theurgy took hits, the recordings had a nasty habit of cutting out or snowing over.  It didn't take long to find the segment the security officer was concerned about as the ship took fire again just as Blue, Kile, and Ji were in the brig.  Next, the ship shook and chaos ensued.  It hurt far more than he'd anticipated and his eyes tightened and became coldly furious as Chief Ji had her neck snapped, then Kile, and Blue were shot by the panicky brig officer.  A massive finger slammed the stop button, and Frank sat there breathing hard as he glared at the computer for several seconds as he struggled to regain his centre. "Son of a bitch."


For Nero:
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Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #4 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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"I know these pictures are hard to look at, Lieutenant, and I'm sorry I forced you to do this." RraHnam remained silent until Lieutenant Arnold interrupted the playback with an abrupt hand gesture. She didn't know the relationships between the individual officers, but it was obvious that he must have known one, or more, of the recording. RraHnam sounded sincere as she continued. "But please believe me when I tell you that the crewman was trying to help Lieutenant Commander Tiran."

Again, the Caitian avoided mentioning the obvious. If the crewman hadn't accidentally hit her with his phaser, the Klingon would have killed the woman. It was an either-or situation. Doomed to die either way. RraHnam knew from the reports that the crewman had not survived the assault either.

"He missed the Klingon, was paralyzed from the shock of what happened, and was eventually killed by the attacker himself," RraHnam said in terse words, explaining the situation as it appeared on the screen. "You can assume, Lieutenant, that he tried to help and unfortunately failed." Her pupils had dilated, and her ears had dropped a bit. She could empathize with his situation and the grief of loss, not of Commander Tiran, but of her beloved mate M'repp and her young daughter L'Sap, made its way back to the surface.

A moment of melancholy passed before she regained her composure and spoke up again.
"But I am not here to show you these horrible pictures, Lieutenant Arnold. If you would please direct your attention to the section in Quadrant A4." She waited until he had zoomed in on the appropriate section of the image. "Do you see the bulkhead? I get the impression that it was stuck for some reason and that's why it didn't close."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #5 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

Outwardly, Lieutenant Frank Arnold appeared to be simply glaring at his monitor watching his former boss and friend, Blue Tiran collapse to the ground after being hit in the chest.  The rage seethed through his veins for though he didn't often show it, he was a man of passions.  Tempered by his many other facets, but still those passions existed. Unwittingly the big Chief echoed Blue's final thoughts. I hope you get to see Ranaan in the next life after this one, you two were made for each other,and you shouldn't be apart. Ever. Frank was not a crying man however, and he did not shed tears over this loss that already occurred.  Cold glacier eyes turned to the Cait as she spoke and his mind processed what she said.  When she moved to show him the affected section. He simply filed it away and swivelled back to the screen reversed to the where he'd hit the stop button and continued to watch as the intruder dismantled the shocked brig guard before making his escape.  He manipulated the controls again, zooming in on the intruder.  "Commander Akoni got him in the end."  The Chief let out an exhale before turning a grin on the security officer and leaning back in his chair as he rubbed the arm guards a few times before directing imposing, yet far less intense eyes on the Cait.   "I heard he got handed over to the Klingons, and he's in for a world of hurt." A large exhale.  "I don't mind admitting that I wish I was the one who was going to dismember him one piece at a time for what he did to us." Another sigh as the Chief leaned forward.  "But the Klingons have him and he's not getting out of this one easily.  So I'll have to content myself with that.  Besides, there's too much to do here for me to go stripping meat off my knuckles." 

Frank manipulated the camera controls for the section that Lieutenant RraHnam had showed earlier and his brows furrowed as he considered the bulkhead. tapping a few buttons to activate holographic mode, A wide blue screen popped up in between the two officers and his experienced fingers began pulling up schematics, and repair survey reports pertaining the the brig.   "Well. That's interesting."  The big engineer murmured to himself as he manipulated the controls and watched the video again in slower time.  "According to the repair report, there was a blown EPS junction further down the line that was linked to a local overload of the brig's systems.  But what caused that?" Chief Arnold's mind mulled the problem over as a thought struck him.   Using his new found security access as a department head, he called up the sensor logs of the battle and had the computer sync the two in time.  Hard blue eyes watched the replay as the side by side representation showed Theurgy under fire by House Mo'Kai ships. 

Chief Arnold paused momentarily to call up a power flow schematic of the ship with an emphasis on the brig area and resumed the playback.  As he'd expected, when the ship took a hit, the damage had sent a surge through the EPS conduits causing the schematic to go from green to red, then black showing the knocking out the brig's systems.  It seemed to take forever for the local backup to engage and the power schematic showed the local systems flashing yellow of local operation.  A few more manipulations of the playback and the engineer snorted.  "I'm amazed he had time to get out.  It wasn't that long before the backups kicked in."  The Chief Engineer leaned back in his chair and took a sip of coffee before turning back to RraHnam before sighing as another task was going to be added to the list.  "I think we're going to need to strip some of the brig systems for inspection. The delay between the primary and backup systems engaging was far too long and shouldn't have allowed that amount of time for the prisoner to get out."  Big fingers tapped the desk a couple of times before Chief Arnold continued.  "From an engineering perspective, it looks like mechanical failure due to battle damage.  What do you think Lieutenant, what other details are you going to need?"

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #6 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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RraHnam listened to his words carefully and agreed with them. She couldn't blame him, she had been in a similar situation a few years ago. Her paw unconsciously ran over the scar on her face. She stopped herself only when she felt the implanted fang, which was made of duratanium alloy. She thought of her inability to do anything that could have helped her partner and daughter. She felt that oppressively paralyzing fear grew inside her again. Unconsciously, she tensed her paws and let her claws fly out. She was about to lash out, but when the engineer explained that Commander Akoni could catch the Klingon in the end, the Caitian woman was able to snap out of her past. She shook her head and with it she was able to get rid of the dark thoughts.

The Chief Engineer also explained to her that he wished that he was the one to get his hands on the Klingon so he could break every bone in the body of the attacker one by one. However, he had to deal with the fact that the Klingons had him and he was there to suffer through them. RraHnam could not and would not blame him for these thoughts. In fact, she could absolutely understand them. Besides, she could badly arrest him for simple thoughts. For then the brig would overflow.

It took him a moment to turn away from the cruel images and follow RraHnam's request. He zoomed in on the image. The computer zoomed in on the bulkhead in question and Chief Arnold activated the holographic mode. It was amazing technology the Oneida lacked. To achieve something like that she had to use a holodeck. Integrated holographic projectors on every deck where something nice. It maybe become useful for her future work. She noted that feature and marked it down for further inspection later in time. The image transformed into a three-dimensional representation of the area in question. But for now, the engineer had the computer superimpose a schematic representation of the EPS grid's power flow and realized that the grid had failed in that area at the time of the attack, allowing the Klingon to escape.

She recognized something akin to frustration on his face as he leaned back in his chair and took a deep sip of coffee from his cup. RraHnam saw her investigative conclusion confirmed and agreed with his explanation. "Yes, I came to that conclusion as well, Chief. Thank you for that assessment." The Caitian straightened up again. "With that, I can complete my preliminary report." Then she looked the human in the eye and her own pupils narrowed to slits, for she knew that what she would say next would not be met with enthusiasm. "Nonetheless, Lieutenant, I need an official report on the repairs to the Brig's systems for my records. I know your department is running at full capacity right now, but I'd still like to ask you to give the repairs to the cell wing a higher priority."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #7 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

The Chief Engineer leaned back and steepled his hands over his torso as he considered the request.  Bushy brows furrowed in thought as the Investigation Officer made her request.  It wasn't unusual that everyone wanted a higher priority on their repairs or some adjustment.  Chief Arnold manipulated the holographic display for a moment, and selected the report on the repair and tossed it to the PADD the security woman was using and heard the ping of a received message.  The Chief Engineer mentally sighed at another hour or two gone as he'd taken on the analysis and would have to write up the report.  "Barring any unforseen interruptions, you'll have the report in your bin by the end of day tomorrow."  Frank told Rrahnam before he collapsed the whole display and brought up one for the various work crews that were running around the ship.  Frank had a very good idea of what needed fixing, and he was mainly confirming what he knew.

He used a big hand to pull the holographic display back down into his desk, closing the unit before leaning back in his chair.  "Now. I'm sorry Lieutenant RraHnam, but the current priority for the brig can't be changed.  Here are the issues that we're dealing with.  A good number of my people are in sickbay, on badly needed leave time, or god rest their souls, dead, so I'm sure it's understandable that we're short. Operations isn't in much better shape.  Next, although the brig systems are in need of overhaul, they're working fine for now, and are not showing the signs of wear and tear caution that necessitate replacement, so the brig is working as it should."  A meaty fist gently landed on table and three fingers popped out as he continued counting what was going on. "We've just finished the survey of all the damage the ship has taken, and priorities for major repairs go to the tactical, propulsive, and sensor systems.  Inspection and overhaul of the brig is not exactly a major job, but still substantial."

The big hand was withdrawn off the table and made it's over to the coffee cup that the Chief Engineer took a sip of.  "I hate to say it, but with the brig in operable condition despite what happened there, the soonest we're going to get to it will be the last week before we're scheduled to leave for the border."  Frank Arnold shrugged with a hint of being uncomfortable with having to pass the bad news.  "That could change depending on the state of repairs and when more people are returned to duty.  Unless Captain Ives or Commander Stark says otherwise, I'm not going to change the priorities."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #8 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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The Caitian woman nodded her thanks to the human male when he explained that the report should be available in a timely manner. That was good news and would certainly speed up her work. Then he began to justify why the repairs to the brig would not be given a higher priority and RraHnam was forced to listen to his monologue. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her ears focused on the human. She attentively followed the slightest movement of his body language, which made clear that the man was on the verge of bursting.

RraHnam exhaled inaudibly. Such a lecture no longer upset her. Not since she had had to endure her mother's wretched speeches. As the only female of a litter of four, she was supposed to turn to the academic arts and not, like her brothers, to more martial pursuits. She had little success with it, as could be seen now. It took RraHnam a few tries before she got the hang of it. Then she realized that such confrontations could be met with calm and composure. At first, her efforts seemed like disinterest, which only upset her mother more. In time, however, she learned to listen to her carefully, to understand her arguments, and later to rebut them with arguments of her own. Since then, RraHnam got along better with her mother. Her lectures turned from mere monologues to heated arguments to interesting discussions with her daughter. It brought the two of them closer. Understanding each other's point of view. To develop something like empathy. RraHnam missed these conversations with her mother.

Here and now, the security officer let the human's talk sink in. She did not flinch and watched the human closely. In her time as Deputy Chief of Security aboard the Oneida, she had learned early on that different species reacted differently to reprimands. But RraHnam did not take this rebuke from the chief engineer as such, but rather as a sign of stress from the human. He had lost friends, probably good friends, in the attack on the Brig. RraHnam was sure that he too did not want something like that to happen again and thought she detected something like resignation in his voice.

She allowed him to get his frustration off his chest and a moment of silence spread between them. Only when this moment threatened to become uncomfortable did she raise her voice to no more than a loud whisper. "I understand, Lieutenant," she began. "It was not my intention to burden you further with my request. I just want to make sure that another incident like this doesn't happen again."

RraHnam wanted to let that stand as her final word. It usually helped to appeal to the conscience of her interlocutors. She was about to turn to leave when she became painfully aware of something else. She certainly hadn't made a friend with her performance, and she wanted to correct that.
"Lieutenant, as an apology, may I invite you to grab a bite later? After all, you've been very helpful in my investigation, and I'd like to know the people I'll be working with in the future."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #9 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

Frank's blue eyes blinked for a moment before they focused on the Caitan again.  It was bit of nasty habit of his to slip into Academy mode when he had to deliver long reasoning on a situation, and he'd done it once again.  The Chief Engineer shook his head in disbelief before turning the easy smile on the security officer.  "Sorry about that Lieutenant RraHnam.  Got a nasty habit of slipping into lecture mode as soon as the mood takes me.  Hazard of being a wind bag in life.  It's also not a burden that you asked.  At least you made it in person."  The Chief engineer shrugged as if dismissing the rabbit hole of a topic from his mind. "I also very much agree with your sentiment that I don't want anyone who is locked away in there getting out under any circumstances." 

"I'd definitely be happy to take you up on a meal at some point.  I'm starting to feel cooped up in Engineering all the time." The human scratched his beard for a moment as an idea struck him.   It was a bit of a throw back, but it didn't hurt to ask for a second opinion in his mind.  Chief Arnold righted himself and pulled up the holographic screen once more setting the system to mirror so RraHnam could see what he was doing.  "You're going to need to help me out with this, but most of our security systems have generally been dependant on the force fields we put in place." Big fingers tapped a few more buttons on the LCARS system and an engineering cross section of each cell 'door' was brought up and his hands stroked his beard once more.  "Technology comes in many forms, some current, some much older."  A few more button taps brought up a computer representation of the forcefield system going offline, then a few seconds later, a roll down security gate dropped across the open portal.

The Chief Engineer's lips pursed back and forth in thought.  "It's probably more Commander Akoni's call on whether we should do this, but usually there's a physical backup in case of emergencies or power loss.  We really should consider a solid physical door in case the area becomes decompressed too."  Blue eyes turned from the schematic and through the holographic display to Lieutenant RraHnam on the other side.  "What do you think of this?"



Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #10 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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The security officer with roots in engineering tilted her head to the side with interest. Her ears perked up and RraHnam's eyes fixed on the holographic screen. The human had piqued her interest. The human's outburst-like lesson was already forgotten. A fact that RraHnam welcomed. She didn't like it when someone held a grudge for a long time. It would only interfere with her work unnecessarily.

Interested, the woman settled back on the chair. She looked at the schematic images and quickly realized that the future was often in the past after all. The Chief Engineer's diagram showed a kind of drop gate that was to be used if the corresponding force field failed. It was thus intended to provide a physical redundancy to prevent the prisoner from escaping. RraHnam could follow the human's thought process. Preventing someone from escaping in this way was often effective, even if it couldn't always stop the prisoner, it was possible to at least prevent the prisoner until security personnel arrived. Independent gears were turning in her head, however. "Interesting..." she muttered.

RraHnam thought. The reaction time seemed too long. But that could have been set purely for demonstration purposes. The build height worried her. It would build very high on the cells, just as it would if they aligned it sideways or coming from below. Making them as a flap would not make sense, since the drop gate had to be protected from tampering or else it could be seen as pushing the prisoner in front of it. No matter what the design, it would mean a stay in space dock for several weeks. After all, any retrofit would mean massive rebuilding of the cells. No, there had to be another, an easier way to implement this safety feature.

"The idea is not bad in principle, Lieutenant Arnold," RraHnam began to voice her thoughts after a moment. "But I think a conversion along these lines would be very costly. I think to keep the expense down, the function should be reversed." RraHnam was about to reach for the controls, but then thought better of it. "May I?" she asked, and only when the human engineer agreed she continued. With a few flicks of her wrist, she arranged the order of the security systems the other way around. "Here, if we put the 'gate' as the first safety, we can put the force field as an additional safety."

The former professional athlete manipulated the displayed hologram to her liking, eliminating virtually every type of mechanism. "I think using a secondary power circuit with sufficiently powerful capacitors would greatly reduce the amount of work needed to convert it and would be able to supply the force fields with sufficient power. Perhaps this could even avoid an extended stay in space dock?"

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #11 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

Lieutenant Frank Arnold looked at the system that was being proposed and thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. "The force field systems are integrated into the bulkheads and walls of the brig complex.  They were designed from the very inception of the the brig to be the primary method of incarceration of a prisoner in the cell.  Force fields were chosen as well since it would allow unrestricted observation of a detainee without allowing them the ability to reach through the portal to potentially take anyone on the ship hostage. "   Turning to face the Caitan, Frank folded his hands on the desk.  "If we're to switch the primary method of physical separation, we're looking at a complete redesign and rebuild of the brig systems and that would entail an extension of time in dock."

Blue eyes stared at the schematic once more for a moment as his eyes narrowed in thought.  "You are on to something with the capacitor though. "  Big hands tapped away at the console as additional design elements took shape.  "The security gate can be rolled up into a compartment that can be anchored to the ceiling and the capacitor can kick in after let's say a second or two loss of power in the primary force fields. We could also add reinforcing collapsible poles to the outer edges like the flex batons security uses, except they would be duranium or tritanium." A small smile formed as ideas continued to flow.  "We polarize the whole gate setup for additional strength, and the capacitor can also power the electromagnets on the walls to hold the gate in place."

The engineer leaned back in his chair as a satisfied smile grew on his face.  "A great benefit that comes with being over Qo'nos is that we have access over to the second greatest repository of industrial replicator technology outside the Federation, which I am shamelessly putting to use to have the ship repaired.  In essence, we have unlimited material resources only limited by what technical information we have, labour, and what the Klingons don't have a need to know on.  As much as I'd like to start restocking quantum torpedoes from our own production, we don't have the industrial replicator necessary for the zero point detonation assembly on the ship, and that bit of technology was never shared with the Klingons."  Chief Arnold shrugged his indifference at this problem since it wasn't something he couldn't solve.  "So the main limiting factor here is work hours required to install a system.  This isn't pretty, but it has the benefit of being simple to setup and should hold till either the force field backups kick in or additional security shows up to contain the breakout."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #12 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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She listened to the engineer's explanations and quickly realized that she had probably said something wrong or misunderstood. Of course, the Caitian knew about the design of the brig and the implementation of the force field mechanisms. She knew they were the primary solution and didn't really want to change anything. After all, they were reliable if there was no damage, but that could also be said of any other security method.

That one wanted to always observe a prisoner, she could understand, if not quite understand. After all, a society with such high moral values as the United Federation Planets should allow a prisoner some privacy. Yes, the design of the brig was such that the prisoners could be always observed but the same effect could also be achieved with armored doors and walls of transparent aluminum. Only accessibility would change quite a bit but that could be covered by remotely controlled doors.

"I'm less worried about a hostage situation, Chief," RraHnam echoed another of the chief engineer's concerns. They were not unjustified, since it could not be ruled out that a prisoner could reach through openings in the obstructed walls or doors. But a similar risk existed whenever the force field had to be lowered so that someone could step through. RraHnam concluded her consideration of this with a joke, hoping it wouldn't fall victim to translation. "That's what we have the stun setting on our phasers for, but I get what you mean, Lieutenant."

Then another idea seemed to occur to the human. A rolling gate that could be installed in a container on the ceiling in front of the cell, as well as telescoping poles that could be magnetically held in place and polarized. RraHnam nodded in affirmation. The whole thing sounded tempting and, at first, not very costly and easier to install. It would also be a retrofit that would take up little space since it would be mounted in a location that would not otherwise be used. Yes, RraHnam liked the idea. "Do we have the capacity to do such a retrofit?" she wanted to know.

Chief Arnold introduced her to the benefits of the largest source of industrial replicator technology beyond Federation borders. He used the Klingon industrial replicators shamelessly, by his own admission. RraHnam laughed briefly and her pupils dilated. Almost infinite possibilities opened. Limited only by knowledge, which was not to be shared with the Klingons. The human explained to her that it was not a nice solution, but it could be implemented quickly and simply. The only factor that mattered now was time. The ship's engineers and mechanics were working virtually around the clock, and as Chief Arnold had already noted, the brig was back in an operational state, so any non-safety-critical modifications would be delayed.

"Yes, access to the Klingon technology is probably worth its weight in gold right now, as humans are used to say. Tapping into their resources saves us dangerous supply flights. I assume you’ll be stuffing the freight rooms to the roof, Chief?" she teased, picking up on the human's statement about shamelessly exploiting the replicators. She thought for a moment and then continued speaking in an expectantly cheerful tone of voice to change the subject to a rather harmless topic, "Then while you're using those replicators for that idea," she pointed to the holographic roll-up doors outside the cells. "Would you do me a small, personal favor then?"

RraHnam held her paws about thirty centimeters apart in front of her and indicated a smaller object. "Do you like sports, Chief Arnold? I, for once, would like to have a real Vra'shan in my paws again."

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #13 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

Chief Arnold nodded at the correction and accepted that there had been a misunderstanding and quickly dismissed it from his mind as the two mustard shirts agreed on how the system was supposed to work.  At the mention of the stun setting on the phasers, blue eyes narrowed very intensely then being loosened to speculatively regard the Caitan before he let out a humorous snort.  He'd treat it as a joke despite having felt the flash of anger as the comment hit a little to close to home at this point.  His mind worked through the emotion of the situation seeing it as a bit too soon, but he figured RraHnam hadn't meant it maliciously and he quickly let the feeling go.  It wouldn't do anyone any good for him to lose his temper right then and there, and justice had been carried out.

The question on whether the ship had the capacity to do the refit was a pertinent one. "Barely. I think."  Frank didn't like giving less than definitive answers before pulling up the estimated release roster from sickbay and filtering out the Engineering and Operations crews.   "Barely. I think. " He repeated before explaining. "Azrin Ryn, my propulsion specialists and soon to be deputy engineer is going to be released tomorrow from sickbay.  She knows the engine systems better than most of the crew we have at the moment, so I'm hoping she'll have an impact out of proportion than one body usually generates."  One large hand stroked his glorious beard for a moment as he considered some other possibilities.  "If we made it straightforward enough, maybe we can hand this one to Operations to install.  Would definitely have to send an engineer to okay the work afterwards."

Frank blinked at the unusual request and laughed. "Lieutenant, you must like creating everything by hand."   The engineer teased as he typed in the item to see what it was before sending the specifications to the industrial replicator.  "Considering what we're producing at the moment, the Vra'shan isn't even a blip, so very happy to produce one for you.  I replicated a note to go with it.  The replicator is on the port side of the Master Situation Table as you were coming in from the turbolift.  If anyone else finds it, they'll leave it on the table in the labs for you to collect it." A big hand waved in the direction of the Caitan's gift.  "I hope to see how you use one of those things in a match soon."

With that taken care of, the Chief Engineer leaned back in his chair. "For sports, I can watch just about anything, except golf.  I'd rather watch a sloppy weld solidify than watch that.  My preferred sport is boxing.  Pugilism if you want the older term.  Used to be a pretty good one in my Academy days before the Engineering bug really kicked in."   A stray thought entered his mind.  It was an odd ask, but it didn't hurt to ask. "Say, I was joking about you creating everything by hand, but if you're free at some point, I have wood workshop on the holodeck would you be interested in joining me?"

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #14 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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Chief Arnold's statements were understandable and RraHnam hoped that his future right-hand Azrin Ryn really had such a big impact on the repair work. Freeing up personnel resources was anything but easy now and certain work had unfortunately fallen behind schedule as a result. RraHnam welcomed the suggestion to possibly hand over the retrofit work to Operations. The fact that the work would then have to be accepted by an engineer was then no longer a problem. Assigning a single engineer to do the sign-off would be much easier than taking enough personnel away from other, more important work.
"If that helps you, Chief, I'll be happy to agree to sign off on the work myself," RraHnam explained with a smile. "After all, similar things are part of my job description."

The athlete in her rejoiced. Excitement spread through her, and her pupils dilated. She nodded to the human engineer as she received the gift. "Thank you very much, chief. Vra'shan is one of the most popular sports on Cait."

She laughed at his comment regarding golf. RraHnam could relate. Not directly because of that sport, but she too knew a sport or two that she herself found more than boring. "I feel the same way about Jubat. Watching someone balance finger-sized blocks of wood on top of each other..." She made a snide gesture, then learned that boxing was the engineer's hobby. He admitted that he must have been pretty good in Academy days, and a nostalgic smile appeared on RraHnam's face as she thought of the successes of her career. It would be nice to play again, she thought, and caught herself in surprise when Chief Arnold invited her to a woodworking workshop. RraHnam looked the man in the eye. Her pupils had contracted again, and ears perked up. For a moment she was silent. But then she thought better of it. "Wood isn't exactly my material, Chief, but I'll be happy to take a look at it if you're willing to play in a round of Vra'shan sometime. Holograms get tedious in the long run."

Invitations were exchanged and the Vra'shan was replicated. So, there was not much in the way of a game. RraHnam was intrigued what was up with the wood workshop and she looked forward to playing a game or two again.

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #15 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]   @Nero

The Chief Engineer raised a finger to his lips as he considered the request to play a game of Vra'shan and nodded.  The two had agreed to an exchange of interests, and he was curious as to why the Caitan had requested something so specific to be replicated.  Mentally shrugging it away, Frank nodded his head in agreement on more than one thing.  "I do find the idea interesting and I'll be happy to attend, though some of the games that I've Caitan play may be a bit much for a less agile species."  Frank smiled as he laid out the fact that Caits were generally stronger and more agile than humans, so anything they considered fun, could be very intensive. "If you don't mind, I'll need an explanation of what this game is to start.  I may just end up standing in the middle gawking like a tourist while everyone else is moving around me."  A brain storm swirled through the engineer's head for a moment. 

Frank tapped a query into the computer and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration till he had the parameters properly set.  "Here we go, there are a few Caitan on the ship, the two that stick out are an Ensign L'Nari, a diplomatic attache, and hmmmm, and Ensign K'ren, a fighter pilot."  The Engineer paused for a second as he mind processed the information. "K'ren is probably the more interesting one since pilots tend to need better reflexes than average."  The Chief Engineer turned smiling eyes on RraHnam.  "Maybe they'll also be interested in playing as well and I'd be interested to see how all of you play together when you don't have to worry about a doddering novice to worry about." Chief Arnold explained as he shrugged passed the topic.

"Now, that Jubat sounds a lot like a party game on Earth called Jenga.  If can be an interesting party game, but mostly when someone pulls a block out from an area that appears ridiculous, or someone makes move that they have no right to make and it works anyway.  He shook his head as a memory floated to the surface that one his security classmates from the Academy had pulled that had sent a Vulcan player into fits since it was 'illogical'. "Anyway, that's a game that's more fun usually when everyone is a little drunk.  Lowers the risk threshold so people will pull idiot moves for a good laugh.

The looked at the chronometer on the desk and sat there for a moment before looking back at RraHnam.  "Sorry, wool gathering.  Was there anything else that you needed my help with?"

Re: Day 04 [0718 hrs.] - Call The Experts

Reply #16 –
[ Lt. RraHnam | Main Engineering | Deck 25 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @RyeTanker 
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RraHnam was pleased that the Chief Engineer agreed to at least watch a Vra'shan play. He questioned whether he was perhaps a bit too lacking in agility for catian sports, which RraHnam also acknowledged as a possibility. "But it takes strength and a certain amount of tactical understanding as well," she began her explanation. "If you like, you could see Vra'shan as a cross between the two Earthly games of Flag Football and Capture the Flag. Except that we have a ball called 'Vra'shan' with a flag attached to it and it can only be played by certain players with dedicated roles. I'll be happy to send you a brief description of it sometime."

She watched as the human searched his computer for other caitian crew members and was not surprised to find several on the Theurgy at once. The ship was damn big and had close to a thousand crew on board. So, it was not surprising if RraHnam would meet others of her species. She thanked him for this information. RraHnam thought about approaching the other caitians. She liked to invite them to a friendly game or two as well. "Never underestimate an alert mind," RraHnam said. "Caitians often work in intellectual professions. That doesn't mean they're easy opponents."

Chief Arnold steered the conversation toward Jubat and an earthly version called Jenga. He explained that the earthly version is often played as a party game and that alcohol is usually involved there. RraHnam wrinkled her nose. Alcohol was known to lower the inhibitions of many species, but for herself it was highly toxic and could send her to the premature grave with just a small amount. For this reason, RraHnam disliked mixed parties. One small mistake would quickly spell the end for her, and that's why it was impossible for her to relax at such events. Admittedly, the likelihood of that has decreased tremendously in the last decades, after most alcoholic drinks were replaced by their synthohol counterparts. Nonetheless, she still had to be careful. There was always the occasional guest who brought something from their 'private stashes'.

Finally, it was time for them to move on. Chief Arnold waved away his last thoughts and asked RraHnam if she needed anything else. The security officer shook her head. "No, thank you, Chief. I think I have consumed more than enough of your time already," she held up her PADD. "I have everything I need." And with a friendly sideways glance towards the industrial replicator containing her real Vra'shan, she added "and a little more. Thank you, Lieutenant. I look forward to attending your workshop."

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