//------------------------------// // Breakdown // Story: Star Trek: Old Time // by Silent Ghost //------------------------------// ~~~>><<~~~ The clink of a combadge against the window echoed in the dimly-lit bridge. The solitary ray of sunlight illuminated a pair of floating bodies several meters apart, unmoving and unconscious, before plunging the bridge into darkness for several minutes as the ship spiraled. A choking fit erupted from the silence and darkness, followed by coughing before the bridge was illuminated again. The body of Captain Fylo stirred, groaning as he awoke from his deep sleep. "...Wha...ugh...my head..." he muttered, placing a hand over his visor as sunlight illuminated the room again. He pressed the side of the visor, the green one-way glass failing to initiate a HUD. Fylo pressed the side of his visor again, the circuitry exploding in a puff of smoke and sparks. He flinched as a spark contacted his skin. "Captain...is anyone there...." a voice faintly said, sounding familiar. "...Can anyone hear me...?" The captain groaned.  “ yes…” He said hoarsely before clearing his throat, “...Chief...Chief Gahul is that you?” “Captain, is that you?” the voice remarked. Fylo twisted to a side, eyes still sensitive to the bright sunlight.  “Yeah….yeah, it’s me.” he said hoarsely, “Wh-where are you…?” “I’m in the turbolift shaft,” the chief responded, “I’ve managed to open the doors but only a few inches. They won’t budge any further.” “Ask if he is alright.” Another voice echoed up the turbolift shaft. “Yes, yes I’m on it.” the chief responded, annoyed. “Captain, are you alright?” “Yes, don’t worry about me. I can’t say the same for Commander zh’Saro.” “What’s wrong with her?” The voice asked. “She might be unconscious, doc. I can’t reach her though…” he grunted, reaching over to the unconscious commander, "what happened to the gravity?" Gahul sighed loudly. "Gravity is offline, sir, along with every other system." "Even life support?" "Even life support." Fylo cursed under his breath, trying his best to inch closer to the Commander. Gahul yelped. "What are you-ow! Watch it, ok let me move." "Captain! Captain Fylo, it's me, Doctor Korl. Are you and the commander alright?" Korl yelled through the small opening. Fylo sighed. "I'm fine. Not too sure about Commander zh'Saro." "Can you feel a pulse?" The doctor asked. "I'd give you an answer if i could, doc, but.... " Fylo grunted, attempting to grab the commander, "she's just out of my reach." "Can you at least tell if she's still breathing?" He questioned. Fylo turned to focus on the commander's unconscious body, floating spread eagle and back arched backwards in a uncomfortable manner. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, a hint of steam rising from her mouth with every exhale. A bruise had formed on her forehead, a small stream of blood floated away from her face, her right antennae bent painfully sideways. Fylo turned his head. "She's breathing." A sigh of relief could be heard, " but i'm seeing a few cuts and bruises, maybe more internal damage." "Hold on captain," Gahul yelled, " we'll have these doors open in a second." Fylo sighed, his breathing becoming heavy. "That's... good." He said in a quieter tone. "Sir? " Doctor Korl yelled, "Sir, are you alright?" "I'm...okay....doc." The captain said through ragged breaths "I'm...okay..." A disgusting cough overcame him, droplets of blood escaped his mouth before his vision started fading. "Sir, just...hold on, we're on our way." Korl said calmly. "...okay..." The edges of his vision became engulfed in black, the darkness slowly moving inward towards the center. The blurry image of a spotted human filled the last of his vision before the darkness overcame. ~~~>> <<~~~ “Fleet’s reporting major casualties….” "They’re too powerful! They’ve gotten stronger…” “We’ve got an antimatter breach….” “All hands, abandon ship. Repeat, abandon ship….” “Why didn’t you detect them earlier….” “Total count is reaching over three thousand… “ “You could have saved them… “ “There was a point-three difference in the detection grid…” “Look at what you’ve done…” “The Dominion has landed on Earth…” “Wake up… “ Fylo gasped as he awoke, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Scanning the room, he found himself alone, the white walls of the medbay were close to blinding thanks to the overhead lighting. A flock of small holographic screens encircled his biobed, gathering information from the small pads under his undershirt. Fylo groaned, looking behind to confirm his suspicions. There, resting on a holographic mannequin, lay his coat and visor. He sighed, placing a hand over his eyes. "Doc..." No answer. "Doctor Toran Korl!" He tried again, louder. A Trill appeared from behind a wall, running a hand through his long, brown and greying hair that ended in a ponytail. His uniform similar to zh'Saro’s, the right sleeve blue instead of red the only difference. "Oh why did he have to take my visor off, without it I am nothing. O woe is me." He said, adding to his performance an exasperated sigh. Fylo rolled his eyes under his hand. "Korl, I'm serious, I don't like anyone taking off my visor." Korl chuckled. "You know it's necessary." He said, taking a small device from a band that wrapped around and under his right shoulder and leaned on the adjacent biobed. "Whether they be different or not, I have to make sure that hit to the head didn't cause any damage." Fylo sighed, swinging his legs off the biobed. "I already said I'm fine, doc." The doctor hummed. "That's not what the tricorder had to say. A fairly severe skull fracture,  three broken ribs,  and fluid was filling your lungs." He smirked. “But no, don’t listen to your doctor.”   Fylo pouted. "You win this time." "I thought so." The doctor smiled, "Now...your eyes?" He motioned, stepping closer to the captain. The captain sighed, removing the hand from over his eyes. Doctor korl held Fylo's face gingerly, holding the rod-like device a few inches above his eye with the other hand. "How long was i unconscious?" The captain said after a long silence. "Close to sixteen hours. Almost..." he whispered, holding the device over the other eye. "There. Not so bad, now was it?" The doctor chuckled, walking over to a console. Hector sighed,  reaching over and taking his coat and visor off the holographic mannequin. Throwing the coat over his shoulder, he fastened the buttons and reattached the multiple devices attached to the coat. Gingerly placing the visor over his eyes, he pressed the small earpiece on the side only to have nothing happen. Fylo grunted. “Doc.” “Hmm?” Doctor Korl replied. “My devices aren’t working. what’s going on?” “Chief Gahul gave me a quick brief on the situation. In short, the ship is ‘dead in the water’, so to speak.” “What happened to the core?” Fylo questioned. The doctor sighed. “The core, it’s-” “The singularity core is non-operational, Captain.” Another voice chimed in. Hector turned, seeing that it was his golden-furred Caitian engineering chief, Rias Gahul standing the circular doorway. “Chief, what’s going on?” He questioned, continuing to fumble with the device on his wrist. The chief held his hands behind his back, tail held high and swished side to side calmly. “Sir, we lost containment of the singularity core. When the shielding gave out, the singularity fizzled away. Luckily the constrictor rings didn't suffer any damage." Fylo scratched his chin, "What about antimatter containment?" "Non-operational, but it appears the antimatter was ejected beforehand. " “How is the medbay receiving power, then?” The captain asked. “That,” Gahul chuckled, “was a bit of ingenuity in itself, and the luck to find a few shielded energy cells.” He smirked, pointing to an open hatch at the far end of the medbay. A silver power rod lay connected by cables to circuitry inside the hatch. “That will only last for so long, unfortunately.” Gahul added. “I’d have to guess they have two, maybe four hours of power left. Until I can find more that haven’t been drained, conserving energy is a must. Doctor...” Doctor Korl raised his hands in defeat. “I know, I know…” He said, turning to the console. The overheads light dimmed, leaving the lighting above each biobed the same intensity. “Thank you.” The chief nodded. “...can’t be expected to work in complete darkness…” The doctor grumbled, returning to his office behind the wall. "What about other systems?" The Captain questioned, "Better yet, what's going on?" He said, pointing his the device on his wrist. The Caitian shrugged. "Sir, I can't explain it, but all devices that weren't shielded during our...unwarranted jump, were just...drained." "...Drained?" Fylo raised an eyebrow. "I can't explain it, sir, it's like all the energy was just....sucked out of every system. All systems are still operational, they're just..." He shrugged, ears falling flat against his head. Fylo leaned on the biobed, placing a hand to his chin. "What about a dampening field, is there any indication?" "There is some indication, but without sensors I can't be sure." The Trill poked his head out from the corner. "What if you modified a medical tricorder?" He chimed, "I'm sure there's one that wasn't completely drained."   A quiet hiss sounded in the direction of the door. The central device at the center of the glass door spun quickly before stopping, the glass splitting into two and disappeared into the walls, the dark abyss of the hallway dimly light by cerulean bioluminescence. A lone engineering officer, Bolian, judging from her pale blue skin and and single ridge atop her head. Her graceful gliding a few inches above the floor ended when she entered the medbay, gravity pulling her down much to her surprise. "I got ya." Gahul acted, grabbing the ensign's shoulders before she fell on her face. "T-Thank you, sir." The bolian replied, righting herself before fixing her uniform. "Do you have any news, ensign?" He sighed. The ensign stood straight, crossing her arms behind her back. "The engineering teams have unlocked bulkheads three through forty-one. We've managed to rescue over 200 personnel, no casualties yet, sir." "Wait wait wait..." The Captain interrupted, pushing himself off the biobed, "What about the bulkheads?" Gahul groaned as he rubbed his neck. "Sorry sir, I forgot to mention. There’s too many problems to mention all." "Now would be a good time to start mentioning." He said, crossing his arms. "Just before the time jump, Gazelle seems to have activated the bulkheads. I'm not doubting her action, but there is a limited supply of oxygen between bulkheads, and since it was the night shift..." "A lot of personnel in their quarters." Fylo finished. "Exactly." "Hmm....Thank you, ensign, you're free to resume your work." Fylo regarded, waving off the ensign. The ensign saluted. "Thank you, sir." She relaxed, her gait turning into a soft glide above the floor as she floated down the dark hallway. "Well," Fylo said, looking in the direction of Korl’s office."If it's any difference to you doctor, I'm not staying any longer, they could use the help.." The Trill returned from behind the wall.. "You'll get no argument from me, your wounds should be fully healed by now.” He said, walking towards a door on the far side of the room. “Just….don’t pull anything.” He added, looking at the Caitian. “Hmph,” The Chief scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I still need a tricorder.” “Oh!” The Doctor snapped his fingers, reaching into the room as the doors slid open, the limp body of Commander zh’Saro on the central biobed, her body covered by opaque holographic screens. “Here, catch.” He warned, opening the lid before closing it and throwing the flattened cube to the Chief. The Caitian clamped his hands shut around the tricorder. "Would you mind if I use your office?" The Caitian pointed. "Not at all." He replied, gesturing. The chief nodded, walking toward the office with purpose in his step, tail swinging with every step. "Wait, what happened to Commander zh'Saro?" The captain blurted, making his way towards the door. Doctor Korl stepped in his path, placing a hand to the captain's chest. "She will be fine, I promise. There was some damage to her neural pathways, I'm going to repair them." Fylo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "How long will it take?" He asked. "About an hour, I promise." The doctor reassured. The captain nodded absentmindedly, "Okay..." He said, stopping to face the doctor. "If you need me, I'll be helping the engineering teams..." "I'll contact you first if anything happens." The captain nodded at the doctor's statement, the medbay doors opening and gravity releasing its grip on the captain as he floated down the hallway, the bioluminescent ribs of the hallway dimly lighting the corridor. ~~~><~~~ "Power cell is connected, no dimensional bulging detected. We're clear." The ensign assured, fiddling with the glass circuitry inside the panel. "Releasing locks..." He said, the sound of pneumatics hissing filled the corridor. The silver door hissed, the engineering personnel shining their flashlights into the hallway as the door rose. "Help!" All attention focused on the voice, a bruised blue arm reached out from the space under the bulkhead. As the door opened further, the arm turned into an injured andorian officer, uniform in tatters and burned, cuts bled through the fabric, leaving dark stains. His face speckled with cauterized burns, blood ran down the side of his cheek and neck. "Medical team." Hector ordered, a group of officers rushed over to the injured officer. "Looks like plasma burns." An officer determined, feeling for a pulse on the Andorian's neck. "Pulse is stable, but need to get him to the medbay, quick." "Th...plasma le-leak...." The officer's raspy voice was barely above a whisper. "O-others...." he said as he was hoisted on a gurney and carried away. "What did he say?" The medical officer stood. "Something about plasma leaks," Hector responded, watching the andorian being carried. "with any luck there's not too many in his condition. Enter carefully and check the quarters." "Yes, sir." The officer nodded. "All officers, we're entering." He said, wrapping his scarf over his mouth. "Keep an eye out for plasma plumes from damaged conduits, search all quarters for personnel and yell if you find an injured officer. Most importantly, watch out for dimensional bulging. Is that clear?" "Yes sir." The group of officers replied in unison. Fylo nodded, excusing himself between the group. “I lead.” he said, lowering his body and stepped in cautiously, the group of officers following suit. ~~~><~~~ “Everyone out!” Fylo yelled. “Come on, hurry!” Officers sprinted past the captain, some trying to keep up while running with the the additional weight of an injured officer. Several officers were escorted away by gurney, all of them bloody and cauterized messes, indistinguishable from one another aside from the career colors on their uniform. The last of the officers ran past the captain, Captain Fylo following the last of the officers. “Close it!” The bolian science officer rapidly fiddled with the isolinear circuitry, jamming the fiber optic cables into the power cell’s outlet. The silver bulkhead hissed, lowering with a dramatic slowness. “Come on…” The Bolian cursed under her breath, cautiously watching the hallway. As she watched, the farthest visible point of the hallway began to bulge and warp like an ill-focused magnifying glass, edging closer and closer to the officers. “Hurry it up, ensign.” The captain said. “I’m trying, sir.” The captain anxiously looked around. “Go, ensign...go.” He said, gently pushing the bolian aside. “Captain, i haven’t finished.” She said, resisting. “Ensign, go. I’ll take care of this.” He said, anger in his voice. The ensign nodded, moving away from the panel and handing the captain the pen-like device. She ran down the dark hall before the gravity began to wear thin, stopping and turned to watch the captain from the dark. Fylo knelt before the panel, gingerly running the device over the isolinear circuitry. “Come on, release….” he said, turning to see the bulging space much closer than before and edging closer still. “Dammit, c’mon….” he cursed. The warping space was nearing too close for comfort, the silver bulkhead halfway down. Fylo growled, increasing his pace.. The Bolian nudged forward, wanting to help  but too scared to move. Warping space only inches from the bulkhead, now three-fourths of the way down. Fylo, in a last minute attempt ripped the cable from the panel, sticking it into the columns of isolinear chips. The bulkhead hissed once more, the floor cracking under the immense force as it slammed down. A moment of silence passed before a loud sigh echoed through the hallway. The Bolian quietly stepped out of the darkness, finding the captain leaning on the wall as he fixed his charred gloves. The captain glanced at the ensign. “These were getting old anyways.” He chuckled, removing the gloves and stuffing them into a pocket. “The dark matter bricks will only hold the dimensional bulging for so long.” he said, walking over and ran his hand over the smooth bulkhead. "You know I told you to go, ensign." The ensign bowed her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry sir, I just..." Fylo raised a hand at her apology.  "What matters is everyone made it.” The Bolian relaxed, nodding in agreement. ”Have you had any contact with the chief lately?” He said after a few seconds of silence. “Any progress about the whole energy situation?” The Bolian once again nodded, “Not since i was assigned to rescuing crew members, sir.“ She said, running her hand over the smooth curvature of the hall. The corridor’s bioluminescent ribs faded in brightness as the lights switched on. The circular hallways a striking white with grey matted floors, a pattern of curving gold X’s lined the walls with an array of screens on each side. “I guess that answers that.” Fylo said, peering down the hallway. “Engineering to Ensign Ro.” The ensign’s combadge chirped. “Ro here.” the ensign replied. “Report back to main engineering.” The voice ordered with direct swiftness. The ensign promptly nodded, “On my way.” she said, walking away quickly. Fylo nodded, watching the ensign as she rounded a corner. Turning to face the silver bulkhead as his combadge chirped. “Fylo here.”   “Captain, “ Gahul’s voice answered, “I’m sure you’ve already noticed the lights.” Fylo swiped his hand over one of the screens, a holographic screen filled with the words DATA FAILURE floated in mid-air. “I have, chief, I’m assuming there’s no bad news then?” “Uhh…” Fylo could imagine Gahul rubbing his neck. “Not...exactly.” “I figured.” He swiped away the holographic screen, turning and paced down the hallway. “What are we dealing with?” Gahul growled lowly. “Well…main computer’s offline, external and internal sensors offline, turbolifts offline, uhh…auxiliary computer’s online, that’s good....every major system offline, though...replicators offline...communications work, at least...” Fylo stopped him. “I think I get it, chief. I’m also taking a guess this isn’t main power?” He rounded a corner, nodding as a pair of officers passed him. “That would also be correct. We’ve managed to replenish the shielding on a few cells and jump start the auxiliary fusion reactors, but main’s power’s been tricky. A few decks have been given priority and receive limited power, like the one you’re on until the cells are fully charged.” Fylo rounded another corner, stopping in front of a rounded doorway and pressed the touchpad off to the side. “I see...chief, you said turbolifts are offline, correct?” “I did, sir.” Hector pursed his lips. “alright then…” Scanning the corridor, he knelt down and removed the panel cover. “So, chief…” he continued as he crawled through the jeffries tube, “what about Gazelle?” “Like I said, sir, main computer’s offline.” “Right…” he said absentmindedly, reaching an intersection. “Uhh….left.” he muttered, crawling left. “Sir?” “Nothing, it’s nothing. What about the subspace generators? I don't want to run into any more dimensional bulges.” “Those were first priority, next to releasing the bulkheads. Auxiliary computer was the first system to come back online, really sped up releasing the bulkheads.” “Any other crew injured?” he said, standing in a small hub that connected multiple jeffries tubes. Pulling a lever, the floor hatch opened with a whisper of sound, gripping the rails tight and climbed downward. “Korl says nothing major, thank the spirits.” Gahul chuckled. “Doc’s getting a triage center set up in The Atrium.” “Sounds fair.” He responded, reaching another jeffries hub and   “Now, if I’m correct, this should be…” The Trill officer felt the ground shift under his left foot, noticing the panel to be rising. Moving to a side and bumping into the officer next to him, the panel splitting in half and opening much to another officer’s surprise. “Damn capacitors….” The captain’s head peeped out from the opening, “Always shorting out….oh.” Noticing the circle of engineering officers looking down at him. “It seems I’ve interrupted something.” “Who the hell is down there?!” Another officer plowed through the group. “We’re on a tight schedule and can’t afford….Captain Fylo…” The female officer stopped, looking at the captain with embarrassment. “Oh dear, I’m sorry sir, If i had known it was you…” Fylo cut her off. “At ease lieutenant. Now help me up.” He extended an arm. The lieutenant grabbed the captain’s hand tightly and pulled. Stepping out of the opening, Fylo dusted off his coat and patted the lieutenant's shoulder. “Thank you, lieutenant. Now, would you happen to know where I can find the chief?” The lieutenant pointed to a general direction. “Chief Gahul should be working on the mag regulators.” The captain nodded, “Thank you, lieutenant.” he replied, proceeding towards a door at the far end of the circular room. “Wait...sir.” The lieutenant stopped him, “One question...what were you doing in the jeffries tubes?” “Had to take a detour.” He leaned in close to the lieutenant's ear, “I do suggest making the turbolifts a higher priority, though.” he whispered. “Yes sir.” The officer replied. Captain Fylo nodded, noticing the group of officers still looking at him. “Carry on.” He said, placing his hands behind his back and walked towards his objective. The officers and lieutenant returning to their original spot around the circular console. The layout of Main Engineering was a large and circular area, the lower portion of the room covered by a high ceiling rising into a more open area around the center like a layered cake. The walls a slightly greyed white, panes of glass showed the large wires and circuitry that ran underneath the floor, walls, and ceiling. The upper part of the room contained an immense antenna array which pointed downwards towards the center of the room, the longest spire only several meters above the center area. A ring-shaped platform connected by a bridge floated above a large hole in the center of the room, an array of white consoles and holograms encircled a set of three silver rings inside the large hole of the rounded balcony. Boarding a large lift, Captain Fylo passed several smaller decks full of wiring, consoles, and circuitry, the one-way glass across each corridor showing how high the lift was taking him. Reaching the upper level and exiting the lift, the glass beneath his feet showing the large antenna array. The room dimly lit, warning lights flashed on all consoles. Stepping out of the lift, Fylo stopped short as he noticed a silver metal splotched on the floor. The sounds of commotion becoming obvious as he passed through a set of glass doors. “I need an extra isolinear circuit and data cube!” The chief’s voice echoed in the small rotunda of a room. Officers ran between consoles and panelling, their voices being slightly drowned by the wailing klaxon. The large glass cylinder in the center spanned the room’s two decks, the silver conical ends firmly mounted into the floor and ceiling. A small crack on the glass leaked silver fluid onto the floor, hissing as it touched the floor and solidified within seconds with a cloud of steam rising from the glob. “I need an exocomp on that crack!” Gahul barked, “Someone shut down the rotor!” “I’m on it!” The captain responded, running to a console a the base of the tipler cylinder. The golden furred Caitian peered over the railing. “Captain?” The chief covered his face as a shower of sparks rained over him. “I need an extinguisher!” He yelled, an officer running over and doused the flame in a cloud of carbon. “Chief, I’m detecting residual temporal energy within the cylinder. I can’t stop the meltdown!” The Caitian leaned over the railing. “Evacuate the area! I repeat, evacuate!” Officers looked at the chief before collecting materials and exiting the room. More cracks began to form on the glass as the silver liquid spun faster, beginning to glow a solid white. Gahul vaulted over the railing, safely landing on all fours with feline expertise. “Captain, we need to leave.” He declared, placing a hand on the captain’s shoulder “Shunting power to force field generators…” He muttered, “Bulkheads activated, anyone left?” The captain said, typing away on the console. “We’re all that’s left.” “Then run, I’ll be right behind you.” He ordered, making final computations on the console. The chief ran towards the doorway, ducking under the bulkhead and watched the captain slide as the bulkhead closed behind him. A faint roar echoed from behind the thick bulkhead, the sound of metal striking the walls echoed in the small room, lights flickering and gravity wearing thin for several seconds. “I think there was more residual energy than we thought.” The captain mentioned. “Hot jumps like that will cause this sort of stuff to happen.” The chief added, “But better than dying without having a chance to fight back.” “Hm.” Fylo grunted, not adding to the conversation and instead walked over to a console. “Temporal energy is subsiding. A lot faster than I expected.” “What?” His brows furrowed. “The energy is dissipating into the air, might be that dampening field. I can’t get any further readings than that, but I can unseal the bulkheads.” Gahul studied the information on the monitor. “These reading seem familiar…very familiar energy type.” “Speaking of which, what happened to the tricorder the doc gave you?” The chief waved it off. “Wasn’t sensitive enough, and ran out of energy within twenty minutes.” His focus still on the monitor, “Looks safe enough, go ahead and raise the bulkheads….sir.” He added at the last second. Fylo chuckled. “Raising bulkheads.” he typed, the silvers doors rising into the ceiling. The view beyond the glass walls was a pitch blackness. Arcs of electricity and sparking wires provided brief illumination, revealing the destroyed tipler cylinder room. Metal debris stood embedded and partially fused into the walls and floor, liquid metal ran like red hot magma down the shattered glass container and onto the floor. “This is going to take more than a few nano-clusters to repair.” Gahul said, mesmerized at the damage. “If there is anything to repair.” The captain responded. A low growl emanated from the chief. “Temperature is over one thousand kelvin, ventilation fans have activated but it’s going to be a short while before the room cools to workable levels.” The captain sighed, rising from the seat. “...Sir?” Gahul stared at the captain as he walked over to the lift. “I want round-the-clock engineering teams, focus on main power and prioritize from there.” His voice stern, leaning on the lift’s rail. “I want a report in two hour’s time and i want someone to find out where the hell we are!” The sound of the Fylo’s fist hitting the wall of the lift echoed. The caitian nodded with a neutral expression. “...Sir?” “...I’m sorry, chief.” He breathed, “A lot went wrong in so little time.” His hands wrapped around the railing, as if to strangle the metal. “Yes, it did.” Gahul board the opposite side of the lift. “But you can count on your crew.” The lift began to descend, stopping at main engineering. The captain was the first to exit the lift, stopping mid-stride and faced his engineering chief. “I know I can count on my crew. I picked them, after all.” He chuckled, smiling genuinely. “Keep me informed on restoring main power, is there anyone working on the main computer?” “No, not yet sir.” The caitian nodded. “Assign them to other tasks. I can handle restoring Gazelle.” Gahul looked taken aback. “Are...are you sure, captain?” He stepped off the lift, addressing his concern. “Yes, I’m sure.” He replied. Patting the chief’s shoulder, he smiled reassuringly. The chief could only smile at this, unsure what else to do and watched as the captain exited main engineering with concern.