Post #318: Look After Your Ship and Your Ship Will Look After You

Posted on Fri Jun 19th, 2026 @ 10:08pm by Chief Petty Officer Rhyth Baines & Niamh Fernley & Harry Fernley & Lucy Fernley

380 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Obsidian Station
Timeline: current

"And what is that?" Rhyth asked pointing at a component within the engine of a runabout.
"Well it's not the dilithium matrix." Niamh said
"That would be because the dilithium matrix is above the the warp core over there." Rhyth said "Harry what was it?"
"The Impulse regulator." Harry said
"Correct." Rhyth said
"What's with the pop quiz anyway?" Lucy asked
"Well if you're going to be the curious trio that I know you to be." Rhyth said "By which I mean if you're going to hang around while I'm working then you may as well learn something while we wait for an academy to get up and running. And in your big sister's case that means if she's going to be flying ships she'd better understand how that all works."
"Why?" Niamh asked
"Look after your ship and your ship will look after you." Rhyth said
"I'll remember that." Niamh said

"Good." Rhyth said "Harry hand me that hydrospanner."
"So what's actually wrong with this runabout?" Harry asked
"Nothing really." Rhyth said "But every so often we give every shuttle, runabout and ship a once over not to mention the base. It's mostly to evaluate the wear and tear, and we end up doing stuff like this, just tightening the connections and swapping out the bio neural gel packs. You see how I'm doing that?"
"Yes." Lucy said
"First you uncouple the pack, carefully remove it and then place the new one, do remember to check that you insert it the right way up otherwise you'll create a power feedback problem that could short out a lot of the systems." Rhyth said "Then turn on the power and check the readings from the pack before tightening the connections and moving onto the next one."
"I see." Harry said
"It's a simple process but also quite an important one." Rhyth said "So... you see those six runabouts over there?"
"Yes." Niamh said somewhat expecting what was coming as she turned to see the six runabouts.
"Two runabouts each, swap out the gel packs." Rhyth said "And I'll be checking your work."

"This feels like school." Niamh said
"That's because it is." Rhyth said

*********

Chief Petty Officer Rhyth Baines
Engineering Officer/Transporter Specialist
Starbase Obsidian

Niamh Fernley

Harry Fernley

Lucy Fernley

 

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