[Bridge]
So far the main power diagnostic was going more smoothly than Caelene had hoped, but she had the uneasy feeling that it wouldn't last. Or if they were able to complete it, it probably wouldn't tell them anything useful. What was going on with the ship?
"I'm still getting the same issue" Zex complained. She took in a small breath. Then released it. Her frustration was starting to grow.
Caelene frowned as she looked over in Zex's direction. Obviously the switch to aux power hadn't cleared the issues from the science systems...either that or they had shown back up rather quickly. "Thank you Ensign. I'm afraid we're not getting much closer to solving this mystery. I'll ask someone in Engineering to run some more diagnostics, but for now, keep an eye on your readouts, keep trying to run scans, and let me know if anything shows up or if something different is going wrong."
"Lieutenant, I've finished the diagnostic," Ensign Murphy (NPC) announced. He waited til he saw the Trill looking at him before continuing, "Nothing is being reported as wrong. Based on these results, I should be able to fly the ship on impulse or at least maneuver with the thrusters, but I can't..."
"Alright, thank you Ensign. If something changes, let me know." Although Caelene enjoyed puzzles, even challenging ones, she had to admit that this particular 'puzzle' was getting less and less enjoyable. Whatever was invading their systems wasn't even allowing them the chance to get a glimpse into it. She might have been able to find a reasonable course of action if she had even an inkling as to what it was, but trying something without that could be dangerous, even fatal.
=/\=Damage Control Team One to Bridge=/\=
What now? Caelene cringed inwardly. She tapped her comm badge to respond. =/\=Bridge here, go ahead.
=/\=Ma'am, um...well... We're now getting reports from all over the ship that the replicators will only make orange jell-o.
Orange jell-o? Caelene tried to think if she knew what that even was.
Ensign Murphy must have noticed the confused look on her face as he quietly said, "It's an Earth gelatin based flavored dessert, Lieutenant."
Caelene nodded her thanks at his explanation. =/\=Any luck finding out what's causing that, Damage Team? And you're sure it's all replicators?
=/\=Yes, Lieutenant...all of them. And we've torn apart replicators on several decks, ran diagnostics, checked programming and hardware. Nothing appears wrong. If there is something, it's hidden itself rather well. Oh, and we just spoke with Damage Control Team Two. Apparently some holographic Egyptians have been seen roaming the corridors.
=/\=Acknowledged regarding the replicators, but...holographic Egyptians? All holodeck and holographic programs should be completely shut down since we're running on auxiliary power. We need to get those shut down immediately before it starts affecting other systems. Keep me informed. Bridge out=/\= Caelene leaned back in her chair, her thoughts spinning wildly around in her head.
What in the universe was going on? Orange jell-o and holographic Egyptians? Not even Steve had shown back up after they were switched to auxiliary power. Or had he?
Caelene was running out of options. The most drastic one would be to completely shut down all systems on the ship and try to restart them. However, she strongly felt the need to avoid it...they hadn't been able to get main power back online and if they shut down all systems, they'd lose life support, gravity, controls...everything. And there was no guarantee they'd get them back. Besides that, they still didn't know what was happening on the station since communications still weren't working.
If nothing else, she probably wouldn't have to worry about being left in charge again - it seemed Caelene would go down in StarFleet history as the Chief Engineering Officer who'd let her ship slip into oblivion, one system at a time. If only there were a rock she could crawl under... Instead, she tried her best to not let her frustration and concern show - she didn't want to alarm the others more than they already were - and turned back to the diagnostics.
OFF: Tag ship people. Watch out for those pesky Egyptians and I hope you like orange jell-o