Helios Inspection

Posted on Mon Jun 1, 2015 @ 10:19am by Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis & Lieutenant Kivan Ta'Gas & Lieutenant Daniel Rivera

1,220 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Beholder
Location: USS Helios, Dyson Shipyards
Timeline: MD 2 - 1500 (BACK POST)

[ON]

It may have been presumptuous of Lyhse to take on herself the task of doing a spectra-scan of the Helios's hull. Some would have missed the effect of an ion storm. Lyhse felt it was due to the future safety of Helios. Several surprises were discovered.

She heard Rivera's voice over her comm. "Rivera to Sullivans. You got a few minutes to spare? A friend in Ops warned me that a couple of station officers are coming aboard to have a look at the Helios."

Lyhse responded, "Roger Lieutenant Rivera, will meet inside ten minutes EVA port seventeen."

Rivera sighed and pulled off the work jumper he was wearing over his uniform. He had been scrubbing plasma conduits. "Hurry along," he said to Lhyse. "I'm already on my way."


[Main Airlock]

Security Officer Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis stepped onboard the older vessel, followed by Ensign Kivan Ta'Gas. In Trellis' hand was a padd that contained the necessary paperwork that would give the Helios the necessary security authorization.

LT Trellis' job was to evaluate the safety and security protocols onboard the vessel to ensure that it meets current Starfleet regulations. There was no telling when the vessel might encounter some sort of emergency, environmental, or man-made threat.

He wasn't too thrilled on the idea of students being in charge of a fully operational vessel either.


[EVA Port 17]

Ensign Kivan kneeled down and removed the cover of a circuitry panel and began to evaluate the board. He was certain that the vessel was evaluated before it left. There had been a fair amount of of restoration work performed at Utopia Planitia. Just enough to get the ship underway and back within safety standards. Now it was up to the cadets to make use of the available drydock at DS5 and revive the aging vessel. Deep Space Five's Dyson Repair Yards was a facility that had everything they needed.

"Hi there," a voice behind him said in a friendly tone. It was Rivera, who extended his hand. "I'm Dan Rivera. Need a hand with anything?"

Ensign Kivan placed the cover on the ground gently and slowly rose to his feet. "Hello, I'm Ensign Kivan Ta'Gas, I'm here with Security to do an inspection of the Helios before it finally gets underway." The young man said as he outstretched his hand.

"No problem," Dan replied, "although the ship is nowhere near ready. So I hope you weren't expecting to see if fully operational. Do you have any questions I can answer?"

"Are you in charge of repairs and everything else?" Lieutenant Trellis inquired of the man.

"Commander Wyman has administrative control of the project but I'm the man on the scene, yes."

At that moment Lyhse Sullivans emerged quietly from the Inner door of EVA port 17; changed out of the EVA suit, decontaminated, in Yard overalls.

"This is Lieutenant Sullivans," Dan said, introducing her. "She's commanding the exterior refurbishment teams today."

Lt. Trellis nodded as he saw the female Engineering arrive. "I'm not too concerned about primary propulsion or weapons systems at this time." Lt. Trellis said as he began to walk down the corridor. Looking around he could see that the walls of the corridor were in various forms of construction. The panels of the wall alternated between being fully constructed and hollowed out, with panel circuitry still displayed.

"Today, Ensign Kivan and I are going to focus on the Helios current Communication Security protocols." He said.

"What can you tell me about the ship's capabilities regarding protecting transmissions sent and received?" The Trill asked as he looked at the two officers.

Lhyse had chosen the social convention of letting the senior officer speak first. A training vessel would benefit from a new communications upgrade.

Rivera started a slow stroll down the corridor, leading the others with him. "Well, the subspace transceiver is older-generation, about twenty years to be exact. Normally we would upgrade it to something current but since she's not to be coded for front-line operations, it's not a concern."

Lieutenant's ear's perked at the response. "Lieutenant Rivera, this vessel could be called into battle at any time with little notice." Trellis replied as he made a notation on his padd. "While this vessel would probably not be on the front-lines of any Borg attack, there is the chance that it could contain vital information that would need to be transmitted to other installations or vessels." He continued to comment.

"How long would it take to bring it up to appropriate standards?" Lieutenant Trellis asked.

Rivera frowned at the question. "Lieutenant, this vessel is being brought up to appropriate standards. She's to be designated as an Academy training vessel. We're rebuilding her to specs provided by Starfleet Training Command, which means the existing subspace transceiver will be refurbished. A decision on further upgrades will be made after she gets back to Earth." He traded a look with Sullivans then back at Trellis. "Do you know something that we don't?"

Ens. Kivan could detect the heightened level of tension in the air between the two senior officers.

"What I know, Lieutenant, is that we are the largest Starfleet installation in this region. If we were to fall under attack or if there was any other type of tactical situation, we would need every ship to be fully prepared to engage the situation. We cannot afford to be waylaid due to out-dated equipment just because Starfleet Training Command saw fit to give cadets a ship of their own to play with." The Trill responded directly.

"With that being said, how long will it take to upgrade the transceiver to current specifications?" Lieutenant Trellis asked.

Rivera eyed him for a moment then said, "We can do it in a day. Make the request, pull the existing unit out, find the replacement in DS5's stocks, then haul it over here to be installed." He sighed and added, "A day that I don't have to spare."

Lieutenant Trellis nodded as they continued down the hallway towards the interior of the vessel. "What other major conversions will be performed tot he vessel for the sake of the cadets?" Ens. Kivan chimed him, hoping to direct the conversation to something more fruitful. "From what I've read, it's been about 20 years since the ship was last in service, if the vessel will be used for training cadets, I'm sure the education material within the computer's database could use an overhaul." The ensign stated.

"Yes," Rivera nodded eagerly. Kivan's conciliatory tone was making him feel more at ease. "The computer core techs are working on uploading the academic programs. It will allow them to learn on the job." He nodded to the direction they were heading. "We've got eight spaces on this deck and another four below that will be converted into classroom space. Plus we're going to add two holodecks to the four existing ones. When it's done this will be one top-of-the-line teaching vessel. We just have to overcome a few headaches between now and then."

They came to a vertical Jeffries tube. Rivera motioned the others to follow. "This way." He grabbed the rungs and started down.

[TBC]

Lt. Dan Rivera
Dyson Team Leader

Lieutenant
Lyhse Sullivans

Lieutenant
Si'Lar Trellis
Security Operations Investigations

Ensign
Kivan Ta'Gas
Assistant Engineer

 

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