The Next Willing Victim

Posted on 24 Feb 2021 @ 4:40am by Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley
Edited on on 01 Mar 2021 @ 4:38pm

1,351 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 03 Trouble in the Sticks UXSys 659842 (Incidentals) Phase 2
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Current

[ON]

- Engineering -

Dodd was just finishing up getting his office back in order after Winchester left with his new NEVS system installed. Winchester would be the only one on the ship that would get the uniform feature with his for now.

Dodd noticed that his PADD showed a message saying that Lieutenant JG Hawksley would be eligible for testing the new NEVS suit.

So Dodd got a unit ready to set up for Hawksley's personnel profile. After a few simple adjustments, the unit was ready and all Dodd had to do was the simple injection of the subdermal transponder and have Hawksley get the suit and know were to wear it on his flesh.

Hawksley was still confused. "N... E...V..." He ran through the acronym in his mind. As far as he knew, he had overheard he was to be suited up. If it was a standard EVA suit, he should have no problem in testing.

Entering the Tomcat's Main Engineering, he had spotted the powerful warp core, pulsating its blue antimatter reactions powering the engines he helped pilot. Leland paused, glancing at the sight. "Nice..." He muttered to himself.

Spotting Lieutenant Dodd near one of his work stations, Hawk had greeted the Chief Engineer. "Chief." He walked up. "I'm reporting for a..." He shook his head confused. "What's an NEV Sir?" He gave a sort confused look at Dodd.

"Hello, Lieutenant, I am glad you are here. The NEVS is short for Nanotech Environmental System or Suit." Dodd replied as he turned to see a rugged young man in command colors. "You are here to be issued a NEVS for testing purposes on the next mission since you will likely be shuttling any away team members to the nasty planet. It will involve you getting a subdermal transponder injected and you wearing these bracelets around your wrists."

Hawksley was perplexed. He cocked his head towards the devices that Dodd was holding in front of him.

"Wait, wait, wait... A mom-... Wait... What injected, and bracelets how?" Leland was extremely confused. "So, why do we have to use a N.E.V instead of a classic EVA?" Knowing the mission, there was quite complex issues at hand granted. But implanting a device and then specialized metallic rings.

"Ok. Humor me, Sir." He chuckled, shaking his head at all of this. "I understand I can pilot and usher the crew to and from and whatnot, but why this contraption?"

"I sense your apprehension to a new suit. However, this suit can be self-adapting and allows you to get encased in a nanotech environmental suit without having to stop and get dressed." Dodd replied. "You can be seated at your console and activate the suit without having to stop what you are doing and you will be safe in no time."

Dodd then added "You would be able to wear the device anywhere as the bracelets are not cumbersome and the nanotech is more flexible than the materials of the standard EV suits. The NEVS will adapt and repair itself if needed to keep the wearer protected as much as possible. The downfall is the nanotech can only last so long before it becomes stretched too thin and needs to be replaced."

Hawksley had nodded, taking in the information from the highly skilled Engineer. "Sir. That sounds... Well rather revolutionary. I think that would solve a lot of emergency issues be it onboard or during an away mission. Fascinating." Leland felt this would be something good to have.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hawk had asked, not liking to stand around while another worked.

"You can go ahead and put those bracelets on your wrists," Dodd stated as he motioned Hawksley to a pair of bracelets he already coded for him. "I will then need to speak to the bracelets with your name, rank, position title. This will finalize the personal settings and make that pair-bonded to you for use. The right bracelet will be your primary but both work in tandem."

Hawk had looked at the pair of the bracelets. They looked like metal titanium or some other alloy. He had clasped both of them around his wrists, the fit seeming comfortable. He made a mental note that the right wrist was his primary.

"I will need to inject a subdermal transponder into your right shoulder. This will allow the suit to help store data and send reports to the ship or shuttlecraft." Dodd added.

"Inject... A device. Ok." Leland then removed his outer jacket, as it seemed this would be best for the dermal placement of the device. Hawksley stood awaiting the injection.

"So to activate the NEVS you simple say 'Activate Suit' and the bracelets will activate the nanotech over your uniform, but if you have a chance to remove your jacket that would be better overall. The subdermal transponder will also act as a link to the communications network if you do remove your jacket. The Nanotech was designed for direct contact with flesh for the most optimal in performance but it will work over a standard duty uniform." Dodd directed.

"Good to know.." He had amused himself. "So... If I find myself in a harry situation, I can just jump into my NEV... And be on my semi-naked way." Hawk snorted.

"To recharge the devices, you merely need to place them in your replicator overnight and the ship's computer will charge them and allow any upgrades to be completed along with any downloading of data the nanotech may still have regarding the previous use of the technology," Dodd added.

"Question Dodd, Sir." He replied. "So this sub-dermal device. This will be in for the duration of my time on the Tomcat?" The question had seemed an obvious one.

"The device I am implanting will be in until it needs to come out. So it is yours until you die that is." Dodd replied.

"Do you have your own suit?" He questioned. "It would seem an Engineer would need one in case of Engineering containment issues, etc?"

"I do have my suit and I use it for many things and not just for away missions." Dodd replied, "I have used it for external inspections of the hull and it works great."

"Good, Good." He had felt a bit better hearing that Dodd had been testing and felt confident enough to have his own.

"So when do we put our superhero tech into action?" He had grunted, liking the idea of having a suit that had fitted to his entire body, and not some older EV suit. The feeling would be almost inhuman.

"I am sure you will enjoy the fit of the new NEVS over the old suits," Dodd commented. "You will be like a superhero to some degree in comparison to the old Earth comics."

"Good. Well if the recon is reliable from our prior mission briefing with the Colonel, then it will need to be a superhero." He had shuddered thinking of the parasites down on that planet.

"Will you be accompanying the away team?" Leland inquired.

"Unfortunately, I will be working on other aspects of this mission from the ship," Dodd replied. "This NEVS will be more secure from the parasites than a traditional EV suit and so you should be fine. Did you have any other questions?"

Hawk had shrugged. "Why not coat em all with bug spray?" He then had winked, chuckling...

"That's about it, Chief. I appreciate the good work. Wow." He had commended Lt. Dodd. He had never seen anything like it.

"I appreciate you doing this as I am confident that you will never want to go back to a standard EV suit again," Dodd replied. "You are free to get back to work or you can go test it on Holodeck Three to get a feel for it before you need it."

"I might just do that, after checking in with Helm. Thank you again Chief." Hawksley had saluted the good Officer.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant JG Leland Hawksley
Chief Helmsman

 

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