Mona's Inferno

Posted on Wed Nov 6th, 2024 @ 10:56pm by Commander Craig Downey & Chief Petty Officer Mona Bendixon

2,081 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Boys of Summer
Location: USS Syracuse (mothballed in the fleetyards above Sagan Prime), Primary Hull, Deck 7
Timeline: MD2

ON

SIMs Beacon clutched loosely between her teeth, Mona tried her best to illuminate a tiny culvert where she wrenched on the innards of a computer circuit. She had one foot planted firmly on the deck, the other on the bulkhead in front of her to give her leverage. Bendixon strained, pulled with all her might and eventually the machinery gave way, sending her stumbling backward into the wall behind her, component in hand, the torch dropped and bouncing up the deck. Mona examined the mechanical item she'd collected and grinned, "Son of a bitch! Gotcha!"

"Why are we even doing this, Chief?" Wallis, a new junior technician asked, gathering up her tools and placing them meticulously inside their cases.

"Because," Mona began, retrieving her torch and affixing it to her wrist, "The Syracuse is a non-operational ship, and this particular non-operational ship is a treasure trove of spare parts."

"I see," Wallis replied flatly, placing a plasma torch into the toolbox. The young non-com then shot the Chief a curious look, "Chief, why is it we have the primary hull of a Galaxy Class in storage?"

Mona tossed the component she'd retrieved into a crate of bits and bobs on an anti-grav trolley, "There's a bit of a story to it."

"I've heard some rumours," Wallis replied, sitting two toolboxes on the trolley.

"Like what?" Mona laughed. "I wanna hear all about this. Hey, you got the checklist there? What are we getting next?"

"We need an EPS flow regulator for a basic replicator," Wallis replied, checking her PADD and tossing it back onto the trolley. "Crew quarters?"

"You bet," Mona nodded. She began to push the trolley down the corridor of the ship. "So, just how did the Syracuse get here, then?"

"Well, Petey Collins said down at the E-Club that the Syracuse was on a covert mission into Breen space and the saucer section warped back into the Sagan System completely empty and missing its stardrive section. And Harry Wang, well, he seems to think that the stardrive section is a cloaked defence drone that orbits Sagan Prime in secret ready for Breen attack. And Yap Pinkerton," Wallis scoffed, "Yap Pinkerton told me that the stardrive of the Syracuse was stolen for by Starfleet Commandos and Berlinghoff Rasmussen! Can you believe it? Stolen!"

"Who the hell is B-berlin Ras--?"

"You don't read history, do you?" Wallis interjected.

"I think we read different types of history, Crewman" Mona grimaced. She rounded another corner, leading them to an open turboshaft. The door was already open, a straight drop beyond if you weren't careful. "Okay, got your harness? We're climbing up to Deck 2."

Wallis clipped herself onto a makeshift achor rope as began to ascend the ladder that ran up the walls of the turboshaft. Mona pushed the anti-grav trolley into the shaft, the levitating platform and followed the young crewman up the shaft.

"What have you heard about the Syracuse, Chief?" Wallis strained, taking each rung carefully.

"Only that the ship was decommissioned because of a fault in its computer system," Mona replied, climbing the ladder with ease, slowed only by the advancement of the Crewman and the risk of getting too close to the young woman's... flattering... behind. "It couldn't be refit to accommodate the Starfleet tactical mainframe due to some experiment with positronic circuitry in the early 80s, of course all that business with the synths made the Syracuse a bit of a black sheep."

"Synths. Heh." Wallis smiled, still climbing, noting that the anti-grav trolley was ascending slightly faster than she was. "When I was a kid we had a synth as a home assistant, y'know, before the ban. His name was Harvey."

"Didn't you grow up on D'Vir?" Mona asked. "What was a synth doing out there?"

"My dad was a cybertronics engineer. He was working with some guy at Daystrom and they had a falling out. Long story short, it got ugly and dad took a hike. He brought Harvey with him to live with us. Of course, D'Vir being D'Vir, we had our fair share of problems with the local scumbags."

"That describes almost any member of the D'Vir Community," Mona laughed, "Present company excluded."

"Thanks," Wallis puffed. She stopped for a moment, hanging off the rung as she caught her breath and take a swig of water from a bottle on the trolley that was slowly ascending past her and out of reach again. She noticed Mona reach for the bottle and she dropped it down for the Chief to have a quick drink.

"So what happened to Harvey?" Mona asked, tossing the bottle upward onto the trolley once she was finished.

"One day, Harvey defended us from a home invader. That android didn't know his own strength. Literally put his arm through the Tarkalean's chest and obliterated the guy's heart. Well, we had a mob on our doorstep the next day claiming we murdered the greatest drug mule in the quadrant," Wallis recalled. "The mob tried to storm our house. Harvey held them back long enough for us to have a friend rescue us in a shuttle and get us out of there. I don't know what happened to him after that."

Mona was taken aback by the story. The look of surprise testament to that. "Jeez. Heroic Harvey."

"And yet I know what you're thinking, Chief; you've never heard of a synth who hadn't hurt someone."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Mona admitted. "Do you think he's still out there?"

"Nah," Willis shrugged, "He was probably torn limb from limb eventually and sold for his raw materials."

"Gotta buy those drugs somehow, huh?"

"That's right."

"Lets keep climbing, Crewman," Mona ordered. "Sooner we're up there, the sooner we can get home. Hey, I didn't catch your first name."

"Mia," Wallis replied, climbing now in an effort to catch up with that damned trolley.

The pair made their ascent and found themselves an intact replicator in the officers quarters, the only one that was easy to access on the ship. It was a synch to pull the parts they needed, Mona showing Wallis how to safely isolate and discharge the energy from the system before playing with any components. Wallis paid careful attention, of course, but something was bothering her.

"Chief?"

"Mmm?"

"Are replicator parts in high demand out here?"

"Sure," Mona shrugged, removing layers of components as she hunted for the bit they needed. "Lots of older ships getting around needing these bits and pieces. We can't replicate them, and fabricating or adapting newer parts is a waste of time. Besides, what's not fun about crawling around in a ship that really should be out exploring the stars rather than rotting away?"

"I guess."

"Mia," Mona pulled herself away from her work for a moment and looked down her nose at the technician, "You aren't afraid of ghosts are you?"

"What? No!" Wallis laughed.

"Good, good," Mona nodded. Having collected all the components she needed from the replicator, she took a step back, her foot rolling out from under her until the Chief caught her balance again. "Whoa!"

"What is it?"

"You didn't drop your laser welder did you?" Mona asked, looking down at the pen-like device underfoot.

"Nope," Wallis replied, grabbing her own welder and showing it to Mona before putting it down. She jogged forward and grabbed it and squirrelled it away with the rest of the day's booty. "Score, though."

"Yeah," Mona agreed uneasily. The Chief placed the replicator parts she needed in the crate of odds and ends and dusted her hands off, "Well, I think that's everything we need."

"Off to the shuttlebay, then," Mia said. "First stop, Sarajevo!"

|USS Sarajevo, Passenger Quarters
|Subsequently

"Mmm, listen, ladies, is there any chance we could hurry this up?" asked Commander Craig Downey, wringing his hands and pacing about as he watched- okay, supervised- the Chief and her apprentice disassembling his replicator. "I could really do with a cup of coffee and a spiced Flaxian badger Casserole. I trust you understand?"

"Oh, I do, sir. We're moving as fast as we can. Why don't you go to the galley, sir?" Mona suggested, not taking her eyes from her work. "Wallis. Hyperspanner, thanks."

Downey quietly bristled at the suggestion and continued to pace. He moved toward the porthole that looked out over the fleetyard above Sagan Prime and began to chew his nails. The last time he'd seen the planet from orbit, the space around it was largely empty, now it was like a beehive crossed with a home owned by someone desperate to win a neighbourhood Christmas light competition. He turned away and went to his computer, his communiques to the base commander down at Santiago Bay had still gone unanswered. He hit redial.

A young blonde woman appeared on the screen. She didn't look overly impressed to see him. Or maybe she was just tired, "Office of Colonel Aeyers, Santiago Bay Facility. This is Petty Officer Davis."

"It's Commander Craig Downey again, Petty Officer," In the reflection of his screen, he saw Chief Bendixon peer over her shoulder at the screen. The Commander shot a scowl back, not that the woman across the room would've seen it, and you could bet your best and brightest that Davis had seen it and couldn't work out what was happening. "Is the Colonel there?"

"I'm sorry, sir, he still hasn't arrived-"

"Does anyone on that base of yours work?" Downey huffed. "I tell ya, when I was the base commander I would've--"

"Commander, I'll get him to call you back. Or, perhaps we can schedule a meeting for later today?" Davis suggested.

"That," He began with a shout, though he restrained himself a little, "That will have to do."

"Does 1400 hours suit?" Davis asked.

"It'll have to," Downey harrumphed. "You just remind him I have something very important I need to discuss."

"He is aware, sir," Davis reassured the Commander.

"Good," Downey nodded.

"Bye for now, sir. Davis out."

The screen flashed with the Santiago Bay Facility logo and the terminal went black a moment later. In the reflection, which he had of course monitored closely, he noted that the technicians were reassembling his replicator, pressing the last panel covers back into place as the food slot sprung to life.

"All yours, Commander," Mia smiled. "Enjoy your coffee and... casserole."

"Yes, yes," Downey nodded, his lips pursed as he hurried toward the dispenser to place his order before Bendixon and Wallis had even finished packing their tools away. "Computer, one coffee, white and weak. And a casserole, Flaxian badger, tepid and extra saucy."

Mona rolled her eyes at Mia as she gestured toward the door with a swish of her thumb.

"God I love a saucy casseroooooooooooooaaaaaahhhh!"

A jet of orange flame washing the ceiling of the quarters with a blanket of fire. Mona swung around to see the Commander drop to the floor, the two technicians doing the same as furniture went up in flames, the room combusting as embers moved about like angry bees. With the doors refusing to open and the fire suppression system failing, Mia began cutting the doors with her plasma torch. Mona rushed into the flames meanwhile, keeping low and assisting Downey as they dodged burning flakes that drifted through the air like autumn leaves.

"What the hell is this?" Downey demanded over the roar of the makeshift crematorium, choking as acrid smoke filled his lungs as she followed Bendixon's lead to their exit. "The roof! The roof is on fire! I've never seen anything like it!"

"We can get the arson squad onto this later, right now we gotta move!" Mona shouted as Mia kicked out the cut sections of the doors, the trio ducking through and out into the corridor. Downey ran, of course, crying something about going to get a coffee and raise the alarm. Meanwhile Mia made her exit, though caught her foot in the door, tripping and dropping to her knees.

Mona went to help her up, another stream of flame gushing from the doorway and washing over them as the ship went to emergency alert. Feeling her own clothes start to burn, Mona frantically dragged Wallis from the flames, which were making their presence known in the corridor. The young crewman barked as smoke stung her windpipe and lungs, being heaved up the corridor by her Chief.

Then all the world went quiet. A flash. Then darkness.

OFF

 

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