[snip]

OOC: Small retitling of the thread!

NL Reginald Green flicked the comms switch and leaned over the console. He didn’t need to but habit was habit. [o] Bridge, this is Engineering. Green here. I’ll assign two. [c] “Old 20th Century mechanisms?” he muttered in clipped British murmuring. “That’s precise.”

“Serinde!” he called out, his tone sounding formal even in that single word.

El was bent over the screen calibrating the micro-lathe for precision work to do an ‘extra’ set of bolts for the warp couplings units. They were precise bolts and, given the stock, was not totally necessary in her opinion. But she has been given such jobs since the incident on the last mission. Straightening up, she said, “Almost got it, Lt”

“Bridge needs two for an away team. No idea of what it is but the Skipper wants someone good with pre-war machinery. You’ve done some of that?”

“Some back home, yes.” She was not about to say that she had cut her teeth on old things as that was all that was available for the most part growing up. But that being said, it was not a study as much as a play with her father.

“You know any of the others that has that?” he asked, his tone evidently hopeful.

“I’d say Petty Officer Aeled Clarke, sir. He says he has worked on old vehicles before.” Well, in truth on movie night Aeled waxed poetic on this or that vehicle that he saw. But, barring that, she didn’t know who the best at it might be.

“Collect him and get to the shuttle pod pronto. Skipper wants you there in .. 8 minutes. Repair kits. Lean toward more mechanics than electronics.” Green turned away.

El had a sense of resentment at the dismissal and was about to say something but was stopped with a look from Bekele. She took a breath and nodded. He nodded too, once, then turned to his task of coaching Rick with something. El grabbed two kits and shouldered them. Aeled was on Beta shift so would likely be in his quarters which was on her way. What ‘was’ this mission? What out here was needed a fix? Had they encountered an old ship? She had heard of some going out but being lost and never found. Was this one of them? Or was there another world that .. what? They had just gotten out of warp not long ago.

“Aelef!” she called in the galley where she found him. “We gotta go! Planetside.” She paused to look out at the world. It looked lovely. A different world. But no ship. No station. Nothing obvious. “Maybe you’ll get to look under the hood of something old. Or old for us.” The squat hairy figure gulped down his coffee. El imagined him as a small troll of old.

“Seriously. Off world? Me? What is it? ” he asked.

“Not a clue. Captain just specified about 20th Century ‘mechanisms’, whatever that is.” She tossed him the kit bag.as they made the short distance to the shuttle pod, making it with two minutes to spare. El pondered whether they needed to dress for any ‘weather’. The two came into the small bay and saw the Captain and a couple of others packing the pod. Entering the Captain could likely just catch El saying, “At least by looking at the world we won’t have anyone shooting at us.”

“Wait, what?” Aelef said, shooting a look at El who said that so off the cuff. Dark eyes looked at her from under bushy brows. “You mean ..?”

“Easy there,” El said. “I had a glance at the planet. Looks peaceful.” She gave a small shrug. “Not saying that there might not be carnivorous plants there.” … the conversation died down with them moving to the side.

“Engineering reporting, Captain,” El said.

El, Eng, plus NE’s, including PO Aelef

As El and Aelef would enter the launch bay, they would find three NEs hastily preparing pod 1 for launch. “..What do you think they found?” One NE asked.

”..I heard they found ancient ruins of something!” One of the other NEs answered tightening down a service panel.

”..I heard we found an ancient alien probe sending out a call for help..” the third said.

”..Nah you’re all wrong!” a fourth NE that was in the launch bay control room going over system diagnostics said from behind El and Aelef, “..NE Lisa up on the bridge says we picked up a old Earth radio signal, seems it was or is from one of those old late 20th century early 21st century space shuttles.....Columbia I think she said? Also said they even found the damn thing crashed on the planet! Signs was its been there since back in 2003 and somehow the crew maybe even survived and built that whole thing, though obviously they’re all long dead by now..” he said.

”..Wow one of those old things? My great grandfather was a historian of old Earth space flight, from pictures he showed me and the track record they all had in failures its a wonder we even got into space back then as we did! Still if I recall right that shuttle was lost with all hands in 2003 and its remains recovered shortly there after! So how did it wind up mostly intact on this planet with the crew??” the first proposed after securing emergency provisions in the pod.

GM CockRoach