Field Promotions

[Brian]

Albert now moves to: Sifting through the Ashes.

"Understood," Hale replies, opening the connection.

[Brian]

<Finn> What's up?
<Kieran> You're working on the port airlock, right?
<Finn> Roight.  Pretty much got the manuals fixed.
<Kieran> Alright. There are some things you should be aware of.  First, keep track of that crowbar and don't handle it with your gloves off, I want the doctor in quarantine to check who last used it.
<Kieran> Second, the maintenance bot inside that airlock you're fixing reports fixing a blown pressure seal.  I don't think that's correct, can you check that bot for tampering quickly?
<Finn> Uh, sure.  Can't make no promises about the crowbar -- I already fixed that plate.  Didn't handle it barehanded, but 's a rough job, right.  
<Finn> As for the bot... I'll look at, but that ain't my specialty.  
<Kieran> Well, just tell me if anyone hit it or similar.
<Kieran> Third, the starboard airlock has been sealed from the outside, once you're done with the communications array, could you unseal it?
<Finn> Easy nuff.  By the way, looks like somebody tried to block off th' workshop, for what it's worth.
<Kieran> Any signs of a fight?  No, wait, with that much dust . . . was it accessible?
<Finn> Yeah.  Buncha pipes dumped in fronta the door.  Easy nuff ta move, just took time.  Nuffin' too botched up.  Somebody'd been buildin' somefing in there, but couldn't figure out what it was from a quick looksee.
<Kieran> I . . . see.  If you find anything else strange, let me know.  Fourth, Hale reported something - possibly some debris - on the outside hull near the comm array.  Once you're done repairing the array, ask him if he can guide you to it and check it out.  I'm checking the recirculators; someone in the first crew was . . . tampering.
<Finn> Wot bleedin' fun.  Awright.  Hale started defrostin' the next bunch yet?
<Kieran> They're in quarantine for the next several hours yet.
<Kieran> Anything more you want to know?
<Finn> I'm finkin' that I want to get those maintenance bots Hale was talkin' about up and runnin' first, get them to take a look outside before I go walkin' myself.  Startin' to sound like too much wrong outside to play this hand blind, ya know?
<Kieran> Understandable.  The one in the airlock you're working on; once you've freed it, send it out to look around.
<Finn> If it ain't busted like everfing else.
<Kieran> Diagnostics say it's perfectly fine, it just can't leave.  The dust dispensers don't extend inside the airlocks.
<Finn> Other than this pressure leak thing?
<Kieran> I think it's memory was tampered with.  Sensors inside the airlock and on the bot claim the airlock is pressurized and not leaking, and diagnostics point the bot to be fine - it's the memory that I think was tampered with.  It shouldn't have been in there in the first place, as far as I can tell.
<Finn> If someone futzed wif it's memory, ain't tellin' what else they futzed with.  Still, wotcha gonna do, roight?  I'll work on it.
<Kieran> Right.  I don't think we're in any immediate danger, but keep an eye out nonetheless.  Also, Hale tells me that there are two pressure suits unaccounted for.
<Finn> Mighta left 'em a few light-years back.
<Kieran> I know, but if they were outside the ship they should still be tethered there; Hale tells me that's not the case.
<Kieran> Keep me appraised of anything else strange you discover.
<Finn> Same for you, eh?
<Kieran> Agreed.  We'll get all five of us together later and compare notes once we've dealt with the urgent problems.
<Kieran> Abernase out.
*Finn chuckles.
<Finn> Later.

[Rezantis]

Kieran takes a few more minutes to finish checking the bridge refiltrator, then  . . .

"Hale, can you please open a communication channel to Erik?"

[Brian]

<Eric> After a moment of delay, Eric's voice sounds over the bridge's speakers, sounding somewhat irritable.  "This is S`on-D`urth, Abernase.  What can I do for you?"
<Kieran> "Ah, Ezekiel told me you found some . . . contraptions . . . in the workshop.  Any ideas as to what they are?"
<Eric> "Oh.  Well, I haven't really worried about those as much as Newton and Einstein, but from what I can tell they look like portable short-range jamming devices for standard radio."
<Kieran> "I . . . see.  Thanks.  I'll leave you to the bots, but please let me know immediately if you find any signs of tampering with Eidolon systems.  One lunatic tampered with the oxygen refiltrators, and while Hale doesn't think there's anything else similar, I'm taking that with a grain of salt until we're sure."
<Eric> ". . . tampered how?"
<Kieran> "Someone installed a remote killswitch.  Hale removed it from all the refiltrators except the one in quarantine.  They're fine now, I've been checking them all myself before I go and deal with the one in quarantine."  Kieran pauses, "Once we get the critical problems dealt with we need to get the five of us together and compare notes."
<Eric> "Wait--  Why did Hale leave the one in quarantine?  The bots should have been able to get in even while we were frozen, and it's on a separate atmospheric system.  Also, do you know who placed them?"
<Kieran> "I . . . didn't even think to ask . . . of course the bots could get in there.  Stupid! " Kieran berates himself angrily, and calms himself just as quickly "I don't know who placed them, but I do know that Captain Landys was in possession of the trigger."
<Eric> There's a long moment of silence before Eric speaks again.  "Okay.  Well, from what Hale's been telling me, all of this theoretically happened in a short window of time.  But ... Hale, how is Mez Landy's skill at assembling and installing those devices rated on her bio?"
<Hale> Hale almost instantly volunteers: "Kim is not rated to work with the complex electronics of the killswitches."
<Kieran> "There's been far too many strange things we've found for only one person to have been responsible.  It seems like . . . well, almost like a mutiny - or close to one."
<Eric> "I've been suspecting the same," Eric says after contemplating this.  "However . . . Hale, how long would the installation of those devices take?"
<Hale> Hale considers this a moment longer and then offers, "The entire process would take approximately four hours and fifteen minutes, assuming absolute competence and the most optimal possible route."
<Eric> "Not taking into account production time."
<Kieran> "The problem is that chunks of Hale's memory pertaining to the first crew is either sealed or damaged. Kelly's looking into that now.  Hale, list who had the competence to install them within an eight hour window, and then tell me why you didn't remove the killswitch in the quarantine refiltrator."
<Hale> "Julie Briggs-Hearth and Dragon Hodges Meyer are the only crew with that recorded competence.  The quarantine room was sealed at all times.  The rod logic records indicate that it was not breached during the integrated systems operand control lapse."
<Kieran> "We don't really have the information to guess which of them, either," Kieran sighs, "I'm going to head to quarantine to remove that killswitch, then I'll work out what else I need to do.  Once you get the bots working and Ezekiel fixes the comms array, we'll have time to work this mess out."
<Hale> "Negative," Hale interrupts.  "There is no killswitch in the quarantine room.  The doors have not been opened from the time we left Heaven's orbit to the time that you were released."
<Hale> "Additionally, there are crew in the quarantine room being evaluated currently; it would breach health protocol to allow entrance at this time."
<Eric> Eric grunts.  "Thanks for clarifying that, Hale," he says somewhat sourly.
<Hale> "You're welcome."
<Kieran> "But-" Kieran cuts himself off irritably, "Right.  Well in THAT case I'll get on to checking the engines.  Good luck with the bots."
<Eric> "Providence will see us through," Eric says gravely.  "Is there aught else, Abernase?"
<Kieran> "No, that's all I had to say.  Abernase out."

[Rezantis]

Kieran, for he meantime, decides to check the engines and adjust them - given the inefficiencies earlier, it's probably not a bad idea to do this . . . wouldn't do for it to drop any further while they're trying to decelerate.

[Brian]

The engines take a while to fully examine.  The efficiency decrease isn't due to missuse, it looks like, as much as neglect.  With only two working 'bots, Hale wasn't yet prepared to risk one of them on EVA to make sure that all of the external components were in good condition.  The internal components are in working condition, but it would be ideal if the engines could be shut off for an hour or so, and the control modules were swapped out with freshly primed and retuned modules.

Finding a window to work on the engines will take some time, but the modules will take a few hours to prepare and optimize anyway.  By Kieran's calculations the engine can be brought up to 91% efficiency by that alone.  More will require an EVA inspection and shutdown of the engine.

[Rezantis]

Kieran gets to work optimizing the modules then.   No point shutting down the engine while they're trying to decellerate, but since this can be done in the meantime . . .

[Brian]

The module itself is easily retrieved from a locker.  There's a few backups, too.  It looks like a flat green board, one side lined with small capacitors, the other with large flat chips.  This is then connected to a terminal, and given updated instructions which it will (once installed) pass on to the engine's systems.

[Brian]

After applying what tweaks can be done manually, and then further optimizing the loopback/report and auto-correction systems for the engine, Kieran realizes that a few hours have passed already.  Hadn't the captain mentioned getting everyone together to share notes?

[Rezantis]

"Hale," Kieran leans back, having checked and rechecked his work enough by now that even he's getting sick of looking at it, "How are Finn's and Eric's repair work going - and where's the Captain?"

[Brian]

"Crewman Finn has replaced the manual override, and is now currently completing repairs to the damaged control panel," Hale reports.  "Crewman Eric appears to have encountered some difficulty repairing the final repair bot.  Currently, the captain is on the bridge."

[Rezantis]

"What's the difficulty with the final bot?"

[Brian]

"Unknown," Hale says.  "Crewman Eric insists that the actuators were not designed to operate within an atmosphere, as they have all become clogged with more dust than anticipated.  However, this does not adhere to design specifications, and defies the blue-prints and schematics of the repair bot's original manufacture."

[Rezantis]

"Curious," notes Kieran, "Who designed the bots in the first place?"

[Brian]

"The bots were designed and assembled on Corvalis before being sent to Heaven for futher enhancements and integration," Hale replies.