New SGU Fics: StargateLand _ Favorite Things - Challenge # 01
Title: 3 Drabbles of my Favorite Stargate Universe Things
Author: kimmy4eytj
Rating: K+ (PG)
Content Flags: none
Genre: General
Pairing: none
Spoilers: S1E05 - Water, S2E19 - Blockade
Characters: Young, Johansen & Scott; Brody, Volker & Park; Wallace & Rush
Word Count: 1335/ 1165 / 408 = 2908
Summary: Self-sacrifice and hope, Teaminess and Companionship & Mentoring
Author's Notes: These drabbles relate to “Favorite Things” at StargateLand: Phase Six, Challenge # 01. They explain what I like about Stargate Universe.
Disclaimer: SG Universe is owned by MGM, not me, darn it. Since they denied us the pleasure of these characters' company, I'm using them entirely without profit for my own playtime. All comments to my LJ.
[][][] - Colonel Young, Tamara Johansen & Matt Scott - S1E05 - Water “Self-sacrifice and hope” (Word Count: 1335)
“Hey. How is he?” Young asked, walking into the infirmary and stopping alongside Matt Scott's bed. He followed TJ with his eyes, as she came around her desk to stand beside him.
“Doing okay,” she said. TJ slid her fingers over Scott's wrist to check his pulse. It was strong and steady. “I decided to keep him overnight for observation though. His carbon dioxide levels were incredibly high and oxygen too low.” She turned her head toward Young. “I had him on O2 earlier. Matt's body needs time to metastasize those concentrations. Until I'm certain he's fully recovered, I don't want him up.”
Young nodded, looking down at the sleeping young man. He had been incredibly impressed with Matt's courage, how he kept calm despite his desperate situation, knowing that Young had to leave him to die a cold death, hanging, alone in that crevasse.
“I'm just going to sit with him for a few minutes,” he said, thoughtfully. He looked up into TJ's face, searching, asking for her understanding.
She nodded, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “When you're finished, I want to take a look at you.”
“I'm fine.”
“Maybe. Still, I want to see for myself.” Her emphatic expression bid no arguing.
Reluctantly, he nodded agreement and TJ went back to her desk. Young pulled a stool to the bedside, and sat down heavily. He was tired. Physically, his body was still healing from the injuries he sustained when boarding Destiny. He noticed a dull ache had returned in his right leg. Absently, he rubbed at his thigh down to his knee trying to work the cramp away. He sighed deeply and hitched his intake as his ribs protested all their recent abuse. Pulling Scott up that rope had aggravated every bruise coloring his body.
Mentally, ever since arriving aboard Destiny, the incidents had been piling one on top of another, not allowing him time to rest properly. The loss of Senator Armstrong, all those people at Icarus who hadn't made it out, either to Destiny, or onto the Hammond, and now, Gorman. The air recycling problem, shortages of food, water and power had all pounded him down in such a short time, he really couldn't think clearly at the moment.
Matt stirred, drawing Young's attention. A raspy cough shook his chest. Young laid his hand on the man's shoulder. He watched Matt's face lose its tension, and that seemed to settle him back into deeper sleep. Young grinned, removed his hand, and dropped his head, staring sightless at his lap. He had asked much of this man since coming to Destiny. He had handled each new request, order, like a good soldier. Scott was still raw, fresh out of training. Young recognized himself in Scott's fresh-faced eagerness, wanting so hard to please, and do everything better and faster to please his commanding officer.
Scott had been correct on the planet. He had seen too many people under his command perish. He hated that part of his job. So many times fighting the Goa'uld, he had led his team into impossible situations, fighting Jaffa, death imminent, and yet, he had returned. Sometimes not in the same condition as when he left, but Air Force medical personnel had taken advantage of advanced knowledge, saving countless lives for the SGC. He agonized over every death under his command. There were times, no matter what you tried, where nothing could save a teammate. He detested that excuse, refused to even accept it, and chose to see it as his failure of imagination and skills to help that person.
Today, he had saved one and lost one. While he hadn't been aboard to worry over Gorman, his loss didn't relieve him of the pain of failure. He knew more severe tests of his leadership were probable as long as they remained on Destiny. It was imperative that he get these people home. Back to Earth. None of them had expected this. His anger toward Dr Rush flared. Damn the man for dialing the ninth chevron and not Earth or any other address.
He shook his head angrily. He was impotent to the power restrictions of this ship. There wasn't enough power to dial Earth. Morale would swiftly become a problem. These people weren't trained for this kind of duty. Scientists and civilians would balk at the restrictions he would need to implement if their resources didn't improve. They needed real food. And hope.
“Hey,” TJ said, laying her hand on his shoulder. “Why don't you let me check you over, then get some sleep. You're exhausted.”
He looked up at her, and nodded. Sliding off the stool, he followed her to another exam table and hopped atop it.
“Please remove your jacket, Colonel.” TJ said, reaching for her blood pressure cuff.
Young slid out of his jacket and set it beside him. He watched silently as she placed the cuff around his left arm then pumped it up, listening with her stethoscope to the reading. Satisfied, she removed the cuff, then listened to his heart and lungs.
“How's the leg?”
“Fine.”
“You want to try again?” She gave him a skeptical look. “I saw you rubbing it earlier.”
He smiled. “All right, it aches. As do my ribs and my head is pounding.”
It was her turn to smile. “I expected as much based on what you needed to do to rescue Lieutenant Scott.” She reached into her pocket, then took his hand and placed two pills in his palm. “Take these. It should relieve enough of the ache to allow you to sleep.”
“TJ, I don't want to be knocked out.”
“You won't. These are just to help with the pain.” She handed him his jacket. “Try to take it easy tomorrow.”
He harrumphed and slid off the table, wincing slightly as his leg took his weight once again.
TJ noticed and raised an eyebrow.
He pulled on his jacket and limped out of the infirmary. As he made his way to his quarters, he wondered what he really wanted out of his life. He knew everyone aboard, except maybe, Rush, wanted to go home. Is that what he wanted? He had joined Stargate Command to explore space. Like every adventurer before him, the siren call of the unexplored pulled at him.
General O'Neill had given him Icarus after Young had turned down leadership of the ninth chevron team. It had been to important to pass up. He had thought he wanted to be home, to work on his marriage, to correct his mistake with TJ, to demonstrate to Emily that she was important, that he loved her, and that she should move back into their home. They had been drifting apart for years. Even though he still loved her, Emily had made decisions that took her in a different direction. And given Emily's reaction to his situation, he doubted that his marriage could be saved, even if he was at home. Was it fair to her to ask her to wait for him? Did he truly want to give up fifteen years of marriage?
He arrived at his quarters and closed the hatch behind him. He looked at the bed, then decided to sleep on the couch instead. He checked his watch. He had a meeting with Homeworld Command in a few short hours. He took a swig of water, from his canteen, swallowing the pain pills TJ had given him. He settled back putting his legs on the table. He signed and closed his eyes, willing his body to relax.
What did he want? He admitted that this command, being on Destiny, was a chance of a lifetime. He smirked, thinking of David Telford, and his anger at missing being aboard this ship. That Young had ended up with both commands, Icarus, and now, the ninth chevron destination and Destiny. So where did that leave him?
As he drifted into deeper sleep, his dreams told him the answers.
“You are so beautiful.”
[][][] - Dale Volker, Lisa Park & Adam Brody - After S2E19 - Blockade “Teaminess” (Word Count = 1165)
Lisa Park heard them shifting near her feet as they worked inside an open panel. They were in one of the multitudes of nameless, numberless rooms in Destiny. Lisa had asked Colonel Young to allow her to help with the repairs to the ship. If her mind was busy, she couldn't dwell on her sightless eyes.
“All right, this one is burned out. Do we have any spares?” Brody shifted from underneath the panel.
“Here, Dale,” Lisa said, holding out Dale's satchel. She was standing next to the power panel on the near wall. A power console stood in front of her.
Dale tried not to look at the white gauze patches over her burnt eyes as he took the proffered bag. “Thanks, Lisa.”
He rummaged inside the satchel. “Yeah, Brody, there are … two,” Volker said, dejectedly, holding up the last control fuses. He shrugged, then handed one to Brody.
Brody looked at the fuse in his hand, then back at Volker. “We really need to find where these Ancients stored the spare parts on this tub.”
“Yeah,” Dale agreed.
Lisa snorted.
Brody moved back into position and inserted the spare part. He yelled to Volker. “Okay, crank it up. Slow and easy.”
Lisa cocked her head listening carefully to their conversation. “Adam, you need to come out of there.”
Volker stood and walked over to stand beside Lisa. “Lisa's right, Brody. Come outta there.”
“If it starts sparking, I'm gonna pull this fuse. We can't afford to loose it.”
“Brody, that's too dangerous.”
“Yeah, Adam. That's not a good idea,” Lisa said, grabbing the edge of the console in front of her.
“We don't know what will happen when we power this panel.”
“We don't have any choice. Now, power this thing up. Slowly.” He cleared his throat. “Just... be ready to pull me out. Okay?”
“Yeah. But, I still think you're nuts.”
“Me, too,” Brody said, under his breath, but the others couldn't hear him.
“Adam, Destiny's core power systems have been stressed with all these drone attacks,” Lisa said. “Going through that Blue Giant may have given her a full charge, but these are incredibly old circuits. There could be another power surge, and you could get hurt. Or killed. We can't afford to have you incapacitated.”
“And until we find the Ancients stash of parts, these are all we have left. I can't make these. I barely know what these … fuses do. Therefore, we don't have a choice,” Adam said. “Power the panel.”
Volker pressed several buttons. He nodded, when the readings were at the levels he expected. “Okay, here we go.” Dale flicked a switch, and the console brightened, glowing golden orange, which in Ancient, was good to go. “Moving the power levels up.”
Destiny's normal whine of power initiation was a comforting tone to Lisa's hearing. She could tell as Dale continued moving the levels higher that the fuse must have been operating at normal load levels. She had always been sensitive to high pitches, so she knew she would recognize if something was going wrong in the circuit. After working closely with Destiny's systems for the past year, she knew what normal sounded like.
“We're at twenty percent,” Dale said, checking various indicators on the console, while he waited for Brody to okay the next increase.
“Go to fifty,” Adam said.
“Don't you think that's kinda fast, Adam?” Lisa asked.
“We need to know this fuse can handle sudden power loads. Fifty is still a relatively small draw.”
Dale furrowed his brow, and said, “Okay. Moving to fifty percent power.” He moved several dials on the console, keeping a close watch on the levels. “Passing thirty-five.”
If Lisa's eyes weren't already shut behind bandages, she would have shut them to sharpen her concentration. She cocked her head listening hard to Destiny's power up.
Dale looked at her, saw her concentration and smiled. “Anything, Lisa?”
“It sounds good, Dale.” She rested her hand over his forearm. She followed his movements across the board, her photographic memory producing a vision of how the console looked. She remembered doing these same types of tasks.
“Passing forty-five to stop at fifty percent.”
Brody used his small computer to check the power levels on either side of the fuse bank. “So far, so good,” he yelled.
“We should hold here for a few minutes. Let the fuse get used to the load before shifting upward.” Lisa said. “Remember the last time we tried this.”
“Yeah, it scared the crap outta me,” Dale said, thinking about their first encounter with the drones. They had hurriedly made repairs to the shield emitter relay panel only to have it spark in their faces with Rush standing there glaring disapprovingly.
They waited five minutes before continuing with the load test. Brody pronounced the levels were steady, so Dale set the next increase to seventy percent.
“Okay, were good to move to eighty-five,” Brody said. “Levels are still good, with some small fluctuations on the input side.”
Lisa squeezed Dale's forearm in alarm. “Wait! Adam, I can hear the harmonics increasing. It's starting to rise above human hearing ability. It could be indicative of a building overload.”
Volker checked the console controls his hands flying pulling in additional data. “She may be right, Brody. Maybe we should power down and check these readings.”
“Those drones could find us at any time. We need this power relay working correctly to give us shield strength.”
“Yeah, but getting yourself killed and blowing this panel won't help us do that,” Volker said. “I'm reducing power levels for further testing.”
Brody sighed, shaking his head and muttered as he watched his handheld computer record the power levels as Volker reduced the power level. He disconnected his leads and worked himself out from under the panel. He sat looking up at Lisa and Dale, trying not to show his aggravation at this delay.
“Dale, what are the input levels before the relay?” Lisa asked.
“Elevated.”
“Adam, what did your handheld record as we decreased power?”
Brody pulled the data Lisa asked for and furrowed his brow. “There is a spike along the conduit.” He looked up at Lisa amazed. “How did you know?”
“I heard it building. If we had continued, this relay would have blown, taking you with it.” She smiled hugely, laughter in her voice. “I'm a little too fond of you, to let that happen. Let's analyze these readings and fix the problem. Besides, I'd have never heard the end of it, from Dr Rush, if I'd fried his favorite engineer.”
They all laughed.
Brody stood and walked over to Lisa, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I'm glad you're still with us, Lisa.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Dale. “We're a good team.”
Lisa hugged them quickly. “So team. Let's solve this before Rush comes down here to help us.”
They laughed and went back to work, eventually fixing the problem all due to teamwork and trust in each other.
[][][] - Eli Wallace and Nicholas Rush - Companionship & Mentoring (Word Count = 408)
“So are you ready to play a real game?” Rush asked, from across the Control Interface Room.
Eli looked up from his laptop. He looked around the room, but no one else was present. “Who? Me?”
“Do you see anyone else?” Rush said, mildly sarcastic. “No more brute force video games. It's time for you to learn strategy. And patience.” He held up his hand carved chess set.
Eli shook his head and held up his hand. “That's okay. I beat the computer at chess ages ago.”
Rush slid off his stool and strode over to Eli's console. “That was against a computer. They can be...” Rush squinted and quavered his hand. “let's say, unimaginative in their play. I'll teach you to recognize the unexpected.”
Eli smirked, “What. Is this the Rush master class of chess strategy? I'll pass.”
Rush looked down, gathering his thoughts and fighting his inherent caustic retort. “Eli, baby steps first. You're good at driving through a problem, finding a weakness and plowing it over. Child's play with your video games.”
“Hey, I was the one who solved the Dakara weapons problem. That's what enabled you to dial Destiny.”
“Yes, indeed you did. And congratulations, by the way. No, I want to teach you subtleties, to recognize the nuances of movement, ten to fifteen moves ahead. Chess will develop your visualization skills, your ability to see a problem developing before it affects your work. Your cognitive skills are sloppy, but improving. No more slacker.”
Eli harrumphed, “Thank you for that.”
Rush sighed, “Eli, I'm offering to make this an enjoyable, learning experience. What are you doing, right now, that can't be done by someone else?”
Eli looked down at his laptop and console. “Nothing.”
“Well, there you are, then. Plenty of time to learn something new.” Rush turned and walked away. “I'll expect you in the observation deck, in five minutes, for lesson number one.”
Eli sighed, and knew there was no way Rush would let this new bonding attempt lapse. He was like a dog guarding a bone. He'd practically issued a “man” challenge to Eli to prove his skills. He started shutting down his laptop and smiled. Rush thought he knew him well. Eli knew he had barely scratched the surface of his potential. He liked the idea that he would give Rush a surprise. He looked forward to raising his eyebrows. For now, that would be enough to make his day.
Author: kimmy4eytj
Rating: K+ (PG)
Content Flags: none
Genre: General
Pairing: none
Spoilers: S1E05 - Water, S2E19 - Blockade
Characters: Young, Johansen & Scott; Brody, Volker & Park; Wallace & Rush
Word Count: 1335/ 1165 / 408 = 2908
Summary: Self-sacrifice and hope, Teaminess and Companionship & Mentoring
Author's Notes: These drabbles relate to “Favorite Things” at StargateLand: Phase Six, Challenge # 01. They explain what I like about Stargate Universe.
Disclaimer: SG Universe is owned by MGM, not me, darn it. Since they denied us the pleasure of these characters' company, I'm using them entirely without profit for my own playtime. All comments to my LJ.
[][][] - Colonel Young, Tamara Johansen & Matt Scott - S1E05 - Water “Self-sacrifice and hope” (Word Count: 1335)
“Hey. How is he?” Young asked, walking into the infirmary and stopping alongside Matt Scott's bed. He followed TJ with his eyes, as she came around her desk to stand beside him.
“Doing okay,” she said. TJ slid her fingers over Scott's wrist to check his pulse. It was strong and steady. “I decided to keep him overnight for observation though. His carbon dioxide levels were incredibly high and oxygen too low.” She turned her head toward Young. “I had him on O2 earlier. Matt's body needs time to metastasize those concentrations. Until I'm certain he's fully recovered, I don't want him up.”
Young nodded, looking down at the sleeping young man. He had been incredibly impressed with Matt's courage, how he kept calm despite his desperate situation, knowing that Young had to leave him to die a cold death, hanging, alone in that crevasse.
“I'm just going to sit with him for a few minutes,” he said, thoughtfully. He looked up into TJ's face, searching, asking for her understanding.
She nodded, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “When you're finished, I want to take a look at you.”
“I'm fine.”
“Maybe. Still, I want to see for myself.” Her emphatic expression bid no arguing.
Reluctantly, he nodded agreement and TJ went back to her desk. Young pulled a stool to the bedside, and sat down heavily. He was tired. Physically, his body was still healing from the injuries he sustained when boarding Destiny. He noticed a dull ache had returned in his right leg. Absently, he rubbed at his thigh down to his knee trying to work the cramp away. He sighed deeply and hitched his intake as his ribs protested all their recent abuse. Pulling Scott up that rope had aggravated every bruise coloring his body.
Mentally, ever since arriving aboard Destiny, the incidents had been piling one on top of another, not allowing him time to rest properly. The loss of Senator Armstrong, all those people at Icarus who hadn't made it out, either to Destiny, or onto the Hammond, and now, Gorman. The air recycling problem, shortages of food, water and power had all pounded him down in such a short time, he really couldn't think clearly at the moment.
Matt stirred, drawing Young's attention. A raspy cough shook his chest. Young laid his hand on the man's shoulder. He watched Matt's face lose its tension, and that seemed to settle him back into deeper sleep. Young grinned, removed his hand, and dropped his head, staring sightless at his lap. He had asked much of this man since coming to Destiny. He had handled each new request, order, like a good soldier. Scott was still raw, fresh out of training. Young recognized himself in Scott's fresh-faced eagerness, wanting so hard to please, and do everything better and faster to please his commanding officer.
Scott had been correct on the planet. He had seen too many people under his command perish. He hated that part of his job. So many times fighting the Goa'uld, he had led his team into impossible situations, fighting Jaffa, death imminent, and yet, he had returned. Sometimes not in the same condition as when he left, but Air Force medical personnel had taken advantage of advanced knowledge, saving countless lives for the SGC. He agonized over every death under his command. There were times, no matter what you tried, where nothing could save a teammate. He detested that excuse, refused to even accept it, and chose to see it as his failure of imagination and skills to help that person.
Today, he had saved one and lost one. While he hadn't been aboard to worry over Gorman, his loss didn't relieve him of the pain of failure. He knew more severe tests of his leadership were probable as long as they remained on Destiny. It was imperative that he get these people home. Back to Earth. None of them had expected this. His anger toward Dr Rush flared. Damn the man for dialing the ninth chevron and not Earth or any other address.
He shook his head angrily. He was impotent to the power restrictions of this ship. There wasn't enough power to dial Earth. Morale would swiftly become a problem. These people weren't trained for this kind of duty. Scientists and civilians would balk at the restrictions he would need to implement if their resources didn't improve. They needed real food. And hope.
“Hey,” TJ said, laying her hand on his shoulder. “Why don't you let me check you over, then get some sleep. You're exhausted.”
He looked up at her, and nodded. Sliding off the stool, he followed her to another exam table and hopped atop it.
“Please remove your jacket, Colonel.” TJ said, reaching for her blood pressure cuff.
Young slid out of his jacket and set it beside him. He watched silently as she placed the cuff around his left arm then pumped it up, listening with her stethoscope to the reading. Satisfied, she removed the cuff, then listened to his heart and lungs.
“How's the leg?”
“Fine.”
“You want to try again?” She gave him a skeptical look. “I saw you rubbing it earlier.”
He smiled. “All right, it aches. As do my ribs and my head is pounding.”
It was her turn to smile. “I expected as much based on what you needed to do to rescue Lieutenant Scott.” She reached into her pocket, then took his hand and placed two pills in his palm. “Take these. It should relieve enough of the ache to allow you to sleep.”
“TJ, I don't want to be knocked out.”
“You won't. These are just to help with the pain.” She handed him his jacket. “Try to take it easy tomorrow.”
He harrumphed and slid off the table, wincing slightly as his leg took his weight once again.
TJ noticed and raised an eyebrow.
He pulled on his jacket and limped out of the infirmary. As he made his way to his quarters, he wondered what he really wanted out of his life. He knew everyone aboard, except maybe, Rush, wanted to go home. Is that what he wanted? He had joined Stargate Command to explore space. Like every adventurer before him, the siren call of the unexplored pulled at him.
General O'Neill had given him Icarus after Young had turned down leadership of the ninth chevron team. It had been to important to pass up. He had thought he wanted to be home, to work on his marriage, to correct his mistake with TJ, to demonstrate to Emily that she was important, that he loved her, and that she should move back into their home. They had been drifting apart for years. Even though he still loved her, Emily had made decisions that took her in a different direction. And given Emily's reaction to his situation, he doubted that his marriage could be saved, even if he was at home. Was it fair to her to ask her to wait for him? Did he truly want to give up fifteen years of marriage?
He arrived at his quarters and closed the hatch behind him. He looked at the bed, then decided to sleep on the couch instead. He checked his watch. He had a meeting with Homeworld Command in a few short hours. He took a swig of water, from his canteen, swallowing the pain pills TJ had given him. He settled back putting his legs on the table. He signed and closed his eyes, willing his body to relax.
What did he want? He admitted that this command, being on Destiny, was a chance of a lifetime. He smirked, thinking of David Telford, and his anger at missing being aboard this ship. That Young had ended up with both commands, Icarus, and now, the ninth chevron destination and Destiny. So where did that leave him?
As he drifted into deeper sleep, his dreams told him the answers.
“You are so beautiful.”
[][][] - Dale Volker, Lisa Park & Adam Brody - After S2E19 - Blockade “Teaminess” (Word Count = 1165)
Lisa Park heard them shifting near her feet as they worked inside an open panel. They were in one of the multitudes of nameless, numberless rooms in Destiny. Lisa had asked Colonel Young to allow her to help with the repairs to the ship. If her mind was busy, she couldn't dwell on her sightless eyes.
“All right, this one is burned out. Do we have any spares?” Brody shifted from underneath the panel.
“Here, Dale,” Lisa said, holding out Dale's satchel. She was standing next to the power panel on the near wall. A power console stood in front of her.
Dale tried not to look at the white gauze patches over her burnt eyes as he took the proffered bag. “Thanks, Lisa.”
He rummaged inside the satchel. “Yeah, Brody, there are … two,” Volker said, dejectedly, holding up the last control fuses. He shrugged, then handed one to Brody.
Brody looked at the fuse in his hand, then back at Volker. “We really need to find where these Ancients stored the spare parts on this tub.”
“Yeah,” Dale agreed.
Lisa snorted.
Brody moved back into position and inserted the spare part. He yelled to Volker. “Okay, crank it up. Slow and easy.”
Lisa cocked her head listening carefully to their conversation. “Adam, you need to come out of there.”
Volker stood and walked over to stand beside Lisa. “Lisa's right, Brody. Come outta there.”
“If it starts sparking, I'm gonna pull this fuse. We can't afford to loose it.”
“Brody, that's too dangerous.”
“Yeah, Adam. That's not a good idea,” Lisa said, grabbing the edge of the console in front of her.
“We don't know what will happen when we power this panel.”
“We don't have any choice. Now, power this thing up. Slowly.” He cleared his throat. “Just... be ready to pull me out. Okay?”
“Yeah. But, I still think you're nuts.”
“Me, too,” Brody said, under his breath, but the others couldn't hear him.
“Adam, Destiny's core power systems have been stressed with all these drone attacks,” Lisa said. “Going through that Blue Giant may have given her a full charge, but these are incredibly old circuits. There could be another power surge, and you could get hurt. Or killed. We can't afford to have you incapacitated.”
“And until we find the Ancients stash of parts, these are all we have left. I can't make these. I barely know what these … fuses do. Therefore, we don't have a choice,” Adam said. “Power the panel.”
Volker pressed several buttons. He nodded, when the readings were at the levels he expected. “Okay, here we go.” Dale flicked a switch, and the console brightened, glowing golden orange, which in Ancient, was good to go. “Moving the power levels up.”
Destiny's normal whine of power initiation was a comforting tone to Lisa's hearing. She could tell as Dale continued moving the levels higher that the fuse must have been operating at normal load levels. She had always been sensitive to high pitches, so she knew she would recognize if something was going wrong in the circuit. After working closely with Destiny's systems for the past year, she knew what normal sounded like.
“We're at twenty percent,” Dale said, checking various indicators on the console, while he waited for Brody to okay the next increase.
“Go to fifty,” Adam said.
“Don't you think that's kinda fast, Adam?” Lisa asked.
“We need to know this fuse can handle sudden power loads. Fifty is still a relatively small draw.”
Dale furrowed his brow, and said, “Okay. Moving to fifty percent power.” He moved several dials on the console, keeping a close watch on the levels. “Passing thirty-five.”
If Lisa's eyes weren't already shut behind bandages, she would have shut them to sharpen her concentration. She cocked her head listening hard to Destiny's power up.
Dale looked at her, saw her concentration and smiled. “Anything, Lisa?”
“It sounds good, Dale.” She rested her hand over his forearm. She followed his movements across the board, her photographic memory producing a vision of how the console looked. She remembered doing these same types of tasks.
“Passing forty-five to stop at fifty percent.”
Brody used his small computer to check the power levels on either side of the fuse bank. “So far, so good,” he yelled.
“We should hold here for a few minutes. Let the fuse get used to the load before shifting upward.” Lisa said. “Remember the last time we tried this.”
“Yeah, it scared the crap outta me,” Dale said, thinking about their first encounter with the drones. They had hurriedly made repairs to the shield emitter relay panel only to have it spark in their faces with Rush standing there glaring disapprovingly.
They waited five minutes before continuing with the load test. Brody pronounced the levels were steady, so Dale set the next increase to seventy percent.
“Okay, were good to move to eighty-five,” Brody said. “Levels are still good, with some small fluctuations on the input side.”
Lisa squeezed Dale's forearm in alarm. “Wait! Adam, I can hear the harmonics increasing. It's starting to rise above human hearing ability. It could be indicative of a building overload.”
Volker checked the console controls his hands flying pulling in additional data. “She may be right, Brody. Maybe we should power down and check these readings.”
“Those drones could find us at any time. We need this power relay working correctly to give us shield strength.”
“Yeah, but getting yourself killed and blowing this panel won't help us do that,” Volker said. “I'm reducing power levels for further testing.”
Brody sighed, shaking his head and muttered as he watched his handheld computer record the power levels as Volker reduced the power level. He disconnected his leads and worked himself out from under the panel. He sat looking up at Lisa and Dale, trying not to show his aggravation at this delay.
“Dale, what are the input levels before the relay?” Lisa asked.
“Elevated.”
“Adam, what did your handheld record as we decreased power?”
Brody pulled the data Lisa asked for and furrowed his brow. “There is a spike along the conduit.” He looked up at Lisa amazed. “How did you know?”
“I heard it building. If we had continued, this relay would have blown, taking you with it.” She smiled hugely, laughter in her voice. “I'm a little too fond of you, to let that happen. Let's analyze these readings and fix the problem. Besides, I'd have never heard the end of it, from Dr Rush, if I'd fried his favorite engineer.”
They all laughed.
Brody stood and walked over to Lisa, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I'm glad you're still with us, Lisa.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Dale. “We're a good team.”
Lisa hugged them quickly. “So team. Let's solve this before Rush comes down here to help us.”
They laughed and went back to work, eventually fixing the problem all due to teamwork and trust in each other.
[][][] - Eli Wallace and Nicholas Rush - Companionship & Mentoring (Word Count = 408)
“So are you ready to play a real game?” Rush asked, from across the Control Interface Room.
Eli looked up from his laptop. He looked around the room, but no one else was present. “Who? Me?”
“Do you see anyone else?” Rush said, mildly sarcastic. “No more brute force video games. It's time for you to learn strategy. And patience.” He held up his hand carved chess set.
Eli shook his head and held up his hand. “That's okay. I beat the computer at chess ages ago.”
Rush slid off his stool and strode over to Eli's console. “That was against a computer. They can be...” Rush squinted and quavered his hand. “let's say, unimaginative in their play. I'll teach you to recognize the unexpected.”
Eli smirked, “What. Is this the Rush master class of chess strategy? I'll pass.”
Rush looked down, gathering his thoughts and fighting his inherent caustic retort. “Eli, baby steps first. You're good at driving through a problem, finding a weakness and plowing it over. Child's play with your video games.”
“Hey, I was the one who solved the Dakara weapons problem. That's what enabled you to dial Destiny.”
“Yes, indeed you did. And congratulations, by the way. No, I want to teach you subtleties, to recognize the nuances of movement, ten to fifteen moves ahead. Chess will develop your visualization skills, your ability to see a problem developing before it affects your work. Your cognitive skills are sloppy, but improving. No more slacker.”
Eli harrumphed, “Thank you for that.”
Rush sighed, “Eli, I'm offering to make this an enjoyable, learning experience. What are you doing, right now, that can't be done by someone else?”
Eli looked down at his laptop and console. “Nothing.”
“Well, there you are, then. Plenty of time to learn something new.” Rush turned and walked away. “I'll expect you in the observation deck, in five minutes, for lesson number one.”
Eli sighed, and knew there was no way Rush would let this new bonding attempt lapse. He was like a dog guarding a bone. He'd practically issued a “man” challenge to Eli to prove his skills. He started shutting down his laptop and smiled. Rush thought he knew him well. Eli knew he had barely scratched the surface of his potential. He liked the idea that he would give Rush a surprise. He looked forward to raising his eyebrows. For now, that would be enough to make his day.