round 13 Ensign Choi Ji-hu - Interruption

[+ Saveron]

(( Constitution Upper Decks ))

 

::Ji-hu was keeping an eye on his partitioned terminal while coordinating a repair team who were fixing a security office near Promenade-07. Apparently a small mob of Hinji were roaming the level, indiscriminately vandalizing any Starfleet property. Starbase security was in pursuit, but security and engineering were stretched thin, so when the area was clear he sent in a small team of Constitution engineers with a couple of security officers. The ensign had just pushed through requested schematics for a heavy duty door repair when there was a ping from Sindri’s coordinates.::

::He rushed over to the terminal and noticed that a section of Nightshade’s habitat lighting had been turned off, he smiled, but then noticed something else. A small energy fluctuation from the same location. A notification that hadn’t gone to Starfleet, but to someone else.::

Choi: ::muttering:: What the…

::His communicator trilled and his hand reached up automatically while his eyes stayed on the readout.::

Wynter: =/\= Wynter to Ensign Choi. =/\=

Choi: =/\= Choi here, do you n-n-need something Lieutenant? =/\=

Wynter: =/\= Yes, we found a piece of hardware that might have been used in the Nightshade sabotage. We need it analyzed. =/\=

Choi: =/\= Understood, Lieutenant Wynter. I can p-pick it up at the transporter on Deck 2 and take it to M-Main Engineering for analysis. =/\=

::Ji-hu waved over an on-duty ensign, who approached to take over his operations.::

Wynter: =/\= Good, I'll mark it for transport with my tricorder. Energize when you are ready. =/\=

Choi: =/\= Aye aye, Lieutenant. I’ll let you know if I find anything. Choi out. =/\=

::Ji-hu advised the ensign to put in the call to the transporter on Deck 2, and to not under any circumstances touch his partitioned console. He nodded at Lieutenant McLaren as he made his way to the turbolift.::

::The Bolian crewman had just finished transporting the device when Ji-hu arrived, and the young ensign walked over and picked it up. His hands were a little sweaty… nerves… and the device slipped out of his palm and landed with a thud on the deck floor. The Bolian gave him a dubious glance, but he shrugged, retrieving it, before heading back to the turbolift, mortified.::

Choi: Main Engineering.

::He studied the device as the lift hummed to life, shooting through the Constitution’s decks. It was an electronics modification component with a small interface and a button, a small cylinder that fit comfortably in Ji-hu’s hand. The cylinder was standard when engineers had to add electronic systems without pulling something completely apart, although this one showed some singeing from shoddy application. Amateurs. Ji-hu couldn’t bring himself to believe this had anything to do with sabotage. If anything it was probably a stopgap modification to regulate power fluctuations in the grid.::

(( Constitution Main Engineering ))

::Main Engineering was staffed by a skeleton crew, given the mass exodus to aid efforts on the Starbase. Ji-hu flipped the device in the air nonchalantly as he walked over to an analysis station just off the main chamber—dropping it once more. He whistled to himself as he placed the component into the analysis port, which slid a protective field into place as he walked over to the information output console.::

Choi: Computer, run a full analysis on the component.

::He listened as the computer began to run through a series of rapid systems, analyzing the component… but something was wrong, there was a high-pitched whining and then a small “thrum.” Then, suddenly, the analysis port was on fire.::

::Ji-hu’s jaw dropped just before the fire suppression system kicked in.::

::Moments later, the dripping wet ensign was in Main Engineering as two other officers charged into the lab to salvage what was left of the waterlogged port.::

Choi: C-c-c-computer… analysis…

Computer: Inconclusive. Before a full analysis could be completed the device discharged a high yield EM pulse when a remote current was established as part of the analysis protocol, which created a voltage surge due to magnetic induction.

::Ji-hu’s face paled.::

Choi: So why didn’t the device go off before Wynter found it?

Computer: Unknown. The circuit may have been left intentionally disconnected.

Choi: … so when power was disconnected from habitat lighting the new circuit would go live, electrocuting the engineer and blowing the system! WYNTER AND SINDRI!

::Ji-hu began to smash his communicator and desperately call for the two officers, but there was no response.::

Computer: Please be advised: There are currently reports of random communicator disruption from the Starbase.

oO Am I too late then?! Has Sindri already set off a EM pulse at another sabotaged panel?! Oo

::Without thinking, Ji-hu found himself pounding towards the Main Engineering transporters. A bored looking crewman, a young human woman, went wide eyed as the soaked ensign crashed into the transporter chamber.::

Choi: GET ME AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN TO LIEUTENANT SINDRI’S LAST KNOWN LOCATION MAYBE NEAR A POWER PANEL IN THE MAINTENANCE TUNNEL ENERGIZE NOW!

::He stood gasping for air as she punched in a few coordinates. She apologized, there seemed to be some sort of disruption that was scrambling her signal, but if she could focus the transporter's parameters…::

(( Starbase 104 - Nightshade Service Tunnel ))

::He felt the creeping tingling as the world went to a blinding darkness, and then he could feel the cool air of a tunnel, and see a distant light as someone was moving through it.::

Choi: ::gasping for breath:: SINDRI DON’T TOUCH THE PANEL EM PULSE SABOTAGE STOP!


*****

Ensign Choi Ji-hu
Engineering Officer
USS Constitution-B
C239402CJ0