Tomcat Upgrades - Explosion Aftermath

Posted on 02 Oct 2024 @ 2:45pm by Lieutenant Commander Paul Sharpe & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Staff Sergeant Lilliana Hawksley

2,754 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: Starbase 51
Timeline: Current

[ON]

- Somers/Sharpe's SB51 Quarters -

Paul had just finished his meal when he looked up at his wife "I am going to go see how Leland is, after saving my life it is the least I can do, Are you coming with or are you going to stay here?" he asked Alex.

"I will stay here with the kids, you go visit for the both of us" she responded.

Paul nodded, he pinned his Commbadge on the left of their quarters and headed to the nearest turbo lift, when he entered and the doors closed he gave the destination and the lift whisked him to the level the Hawksleys were on. The lift stopped and opened up onto a semi-busy habitat area, he exited the lift and turned right and headed to Leland's quarters and upon arriving he pressed the buzzer and waited for a response.

- Hawksley's Quarters - SB51 -

At just over six months pregnant Lilli was really starting to feel the strain on her back and muscles, especially after a reduced shift. Getting up from where she sat resting to answer the door she offered a warm smile when she saw Paul. “Commander Sharpe please come on in.”

Leland was a determined man. He was in his late 30s already with a spine fracture, albeit healing nicely. With a slight limp, he sat on the couch, watching the door anxiously. With a baby bump, Lilli struggled to get up from the sofa.

Leland stood up and rushed to her. “Careful, Lillie. It’s okay,” he said softly to his beautiful Imzadi.

“Commander Sharpe,” a stern but well-respected officer, Leland was happy to know. He learned a lot from his expertise. Sharpe's commanding presence emanated from him. “What can we do for you, Sir?”

"May I enter? I come to see how Leland is coping and to bring him up to date on why he sustained such injuries, well the reason for them anyway" Sharpe said.

They relax a little, though Leland still seems tense.

Lilli knew her husband only too well, he was putting on a brave face for all to see, including her but she knew he was struggling with his recovery. “Please feel free to make yourself at home.”

Paul entered far enough inside for the doors to close, and he found a seat opposite Leland "I am glad you are better, I also want to take this chance to thank you for what you have done for me, your deeds have been forwarded to Captain Somers and from what Alex has said they were acknowledged, so I do not know if you will get any awards for it, but I do know you have been elevated on a personal level in the Captain's eyes and especially my Wifes, let's just say having some highly placed friends is a good thing" he paused as he inhaled.

"Good news over, while this was also reported to the Captain who I am told was less than pleased, it also bears down on the recent Station-wide security lockdown that is currently in progress, *Looks at Lilli* You might want to sit down for this next part Lilli" Sharpe said, while he was not full strength he was in better shape than Leland.

Lilli took a seat as Sharpe suggested wondering what he was about to say. “There’s a lockdown? I didn’t know that.”

Leland was not someone who took praise well. He was happy to be recognized, but having words, nice words, endearing works that were so kind… It made him shy within. This was due to his growing up with his parents on Earth and the grit and tenacity value his parents instilled since he was a boy.

He blushed, something only really Lilli could see. He looked down at his hands, and he forced a semi-smile. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful when Commander Sharpe expressed his kindest, most sincere thank you.

“I… It felt automatic. I would have done it for anyone on my staff.” He acknowledged the Commander and turned to Lilli with a slightly uncomfortable smile.

“A lockdown.” Hawksley turned to Lilli. He was confused, then realized what the Commander was hinting at. Was Starfleet Security considering this as sabotage? “Dare I say the word I think we are all thinking, Sir?” Leland relaxed back in his seat, reaching forward and pouring a nice dry glass of synthahol for the Commander and Leland’s Imzadi.

*smiling Gravely* "Yes Leland, it was sabotage, there was some kind of explosive device near the warp core conduits to the nacelles, if the core was not offline and powered down there would be a lot more deaths and injuries, as it is we got lucky with only injuries, the resulting explosion that injured us sent a major feedback to where I was working and the area blew. Despite your heroic dive to save me, the explosion was powerful enough to cause you severe injury. You should see the repair bay where the Tomcat is docked, that took some damage the Exo Comps have repaired the outer and Inner hulls, but getting the cosmetic damage off the corridor walls is taking a little long" he paused as he sat back.

"I do not know the full security details, but the explosives used had a Mirror Universe signature to them, and what I have heard is that there are some Terran scouts in the Sector, this proves those suspicions. With the Mira Sector being so far from the core territories and sparsely patrolled by Starfleet, it would make sense to try to take out one of the more powerful combat-orientated ships in the Sector, luckily the damage to the Tomcat initiated a thorough security check of all docked ships, the Nebula class we still have here used in the last mission also had such devices planted, the presence of the Terran Agent in our reality is alarming" Sharpe said.

“Terran agents... more or less duplicates of us from the mirror verse?” Lilli gave Sharpe a concerned look before she gave a more confident look. “These Terrans can’t hide from a Betazoid, not unless they’re damn good at covering their emotions.”

"Oh Lilli, let me tell you this, if the agents are around they will keep clear of Betazoids, if not then they will be highly trained to avoid detection, they will know that Telepathic or Empathic abilities are forbidden to be used outside of duty matters within Starfleet, still the only true way to detect them is by DNA test and that would mean Medical is involved" Sharpe responded to Lilli.

Hawksley couldn’t help but grunt his disapproval of Lilliana being in harm's way. He still didn’t know if she was being asked for her Betazoid telepathic abilities or just conversation.

“Are you asking Lilli to scope some stations with other Betazoids?” Leland’s face went from neutral to a more concerned and disapproving glance at Commander Sharpe and then Lilli.

Lilli looked at Sharpe curiously, she didn’t somehow think that he’d put her in harm's way. “I don’t think Commander Sharpe would do that Imzadi, but knowing what I now know I’ll be more alert around the ship and station.”

Looking at Leland "No Leland I am not, I want her to steer clear of any potential encounters, I am only bringing you both up to date on this as some of us got hurt by the explosion" Paul said then looked at Lilli "I am making this an order Staff Sergeant Hawksley, you are to remain uninvolved in this matter, understood?" Sharpe said.

"I am relieved to hear that, Sir." Leland looked to Lilli and then their baby. Her bump was showing.

"I am making good progress. My physio doctors state that I may be able to return to the lab on a temporary basis." Leland showed Commander Sharpe his report of the physio work.

"The Doctors state that the more I work around things, the faster my full recovery, Sir." Leland was on a heartstring. He loved his job, his career, and Engineering, but he felt he missed it terribly.

“As long as you take it easy” Lilli gave he husband a knowing look. “Short shifts, no overtime, and no overdoing it. If you did you’d set your recovery back a lot.”

Sharpe stood up ready to depart, but...

Leland grinned at Lilli a bit. “You are a hard negotiator; I’ll tell you that.” He loved that about his Wife, that she cared. “You have my assurance, my Imzadi.” He held her hand and remembered he was in front of his superior.

“Commander. Please sit for a moment. I have more questions. How far back has the Tomcat been set?” Leland queried.

Sitting back down and sighing "We were lucky the warp core was powered down and the engineering room running off power from the Starbase, but the damage to the warp core casing and the power lines running from it up the pylons and into the nacelles, the ExoComps have managed to sort the nacelles power connections out so it is just the power lines leading to the core and the core itself. But that is mild compared to the computer and its systems, that is a job that I have to do and it will not be easy as that damage is extensive, so we will have some work cut out for us" Sharpe paused.

"IF you are anything like me Leland you are getting ansty sitting around here waiting to be given the all-clear to start normal duty again, so as you have access and can work from your quarters why don't you look over that emergency holographic power supply we were working on, it took some damage to it, as did the drop Pod housings, those were superficial, but if troops are to be launched from them, I want to make sure it was only superficial, also you might want to look at the after damage action reports on the warp core so do you think you are up to that much Lieutenant?" Sharpe asked.

“Leland already had his engineering padd out at his side, pulling up the work and attention orders building up for the Tomcat. It was daunting having to re-set from this situation. However, Leland was competent and well-versed in his time management skills.

“I can handle that, no problem.” Hawksley had offered a slight smile. “I can’t believe the damage. I… The work we have done. Whoever is responsible. They need to be caught before we fix all of this. Whomever they are, they could strike again.” He had other questions, but he didn’t ask since it was beside the task at hand. Why? Why attack the Tomcat from the alternate universe?

“I will begin differential analysis and initiate a level one holographic power supply program diagnostic. We have to ensure that anything damaged was damaged for a reason and cannot be trusted at this point. I will go to virtual manual visualization of every component and coding before we ever re-test the power supply.” Hawksley shifted his weight on his back, sitting on the couch visibly still in discomfort.

“Then I can take a look at the drop pod assembly facia exteriors on level one diagnostics. The di-hyrium methylidene texoxide laminates may have microfractures beyond the physics level. This can be disastrous decades into service if not caught now.” The Engineer breathed outward, satisfied, happy that the Commander trusted Leland to deliver.

“We will fix this. She will get going soon enough.” He affirmed in a solid, ridged facial structured neutral gaze at Sharpe and then to Lilli.

“What about Lieutenant Kildare?” Lilli looked at Sharpe curiously. “If memory serves Lamia used to be Chief Ops Officer, she’s qualified in all those areas she could help with your computer systems if she’s available.”

Lieutenant Kildare as far as I am aware is only a Counsellor and she joined the Tomcat as one, I do not have access to her file to see if she has any other skills" Paul said "but Security is looking into this and the engineering bays are now only open to key personnel and Security, but Security suspects that the saboteurs will likely have engineering training, but all other docked ships now have heightened security around them. Sadly this is a big station so it will take time" he added.

Lilli nodded. “We’re all going to have to keep our wits about us from here on in” She looked at Leland. “Just be careful, I don’t want you getting injured again.”

“It will not happen again.” Hawksley gave a slow nod to his Wife.

In response "Relax Lilli, Leland can return to work when the doctors declare him fit, but for now, the theoretical work I have suggested should help elevate any excess boredom, also if the mind has something to work on it usually helps. You should have seen Alex's reaction when I mentioned returning to the task of the Tomcat, if looks could kill I would be sitting here dead" Sharpe said.

Lilli couldn’t help but grin at that one. “Well we do worry, we worry a whole lot!” She looked at Leland. “But that doesn’t mean I’d stop you doing what you need to do.”

Leland looked at Commander Sharpe. He chuckled at his remarks over Alex. He then decided that now would be an appropriate time to share what he had been working on with the physio team. Leland slowly, steadily, got up from the couch on which he was seated with Lilli and firmly planted his bare feet on the room carpeting, extending out his shoulders, all the while slowly breathing in.

“I will grind these terrorists to pulp against a bulkhead.” He growled, some PTSD still behind his eyes. Letting himself slowly bend to sit back down, he winced. “It’s getting…” He breathed. “A lot better.” He felt the concern and now had orders. “I will begin your assigned tasks starting tomorrow.” Hawksley was grateful to Sharpe and his calming nature to Lilli.

*A small smile plays across his lips* "Down boy, Security is dealing with that, you need to get better, the computer simulations are something that can be done from your quarters, perhaps you can find a way to decrease the chances of another sabotage attempt on the Tomcat!" Sharpe said looking at Leland.

Leland breathed outward from his nostrils. His forehead still showed strained lines of disapproval. He disliked how this all turned out. He should have been much more careful. However, they were on a Starbase. How could that have happened? Security was always heightened with that many starships in berth.

“I understand, Sir.” Leland forced a slight smile. As fake as it could be, it showed he was working with what he had to do to get back to where he wanted. He looked to Lilli. They would be having a baby soon, taking up most of his time as well.

Paul was very observant and did not miss the falsetto smile given by Leland "You have my eternal thanks for saving my life at the cost of possibly losing your own, your heroism has been noted and the Captain informed" he said and stood, "now I shall leave you both in peace" he added then looked at Lilli.

"Look after yourself Lilli and that bairn you have *looks at Leland* you take care of Leland, I have to be going" Sharpe finished.

“You as well, Sir. We both thank you for the nice visit. We are appreciative.” Leland spoke truthfully from his heart. He looked at Lilli, his lovely Wife, and smiled, relaxed. “We will be well.”

“That we will” Lilli smiled warmly then looked towards Sharpe. “Thank you, and take care, Sir.”

Giving them one of his rare unshielded smiles "You too, see on the other side Leland" Paul said and left the Hawksleys to their own business, with that done, he returned to his wife.

[OFF]

 

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