Damned piece of machinery! Garek thought to himself. It had been four days since he was taken control of by the "Sirens" and two days since the Captain's briefing in the conference room. He was on his knees, staring at a bio-nueral gel pack junction inside the cloaking device. "Computer, what program is running right now?"
I don't remember having already done 30 simulations. Oh well. "Computer, what is the phase variance in the clocking manifold at the time of shutdown?"
"That's way to high. It should be at at least 13 to operate successfully. Listen to me! Now I'm talking to myself!" He sighed. "Computer, what time is it?"
Garek had been working on this project day in and day out for the past few days. He hadn't realized, however, that he had been here all night. Once Garek got started on a problem, he lost all sense of time. Now, if I remember correctly, I can adjust the variance at door three alpha on panel two.
He walked around to the other side of the device, and crouched down again. He opened a panel, and a simulated isolinear optical chip panel had blown out. Yet another problem.
"Computer, save note to program Charlie 26. Cloaking device shut down do to blown out isolinear Optical Chip panel blowout. Cause..." Garek fumbled around, and took out the panel. "Power feet beyond acceptable limits."
A pleasant distraction occurred when Valdago walked into the holodeck. "How's it coming Garek," John asked.
"Oh, hi, John," Garek said looking up. Garek stood holding the chip panel. "Not as good as I had hoped. I had adjusted the power output to compensate for the low cloaking output, only to blow out an ODN panel."
"That bad, huh?" John asked.
"Yep." Garek tossed the simulated piece of equipment on the floor, and picked up a PADD. "I'm almost at my wit's end with this thing." Garek put down some notes on the panel.
"I can see that." Valdago walked over, and looked over the device, sitting in the middle of the room. "Looks similar to a Klingon cloaking device."
"Yeah. That's the type I know of," Garek replied. He picked up his uniform jacket (NRPG: The jacket that goes over the gray T-shirt on the uniforms.) and slung it over his arm. "The thing is that power for the device is usually fed off of a warp core. Now, the warp core on a Bird of Prey and all other Klingon vessels is bigger then that on a runabout. The only way I can think of actually putting this thing in a runabout, is by putting in a bigger warp core..." Garek trailed off slowly.
"What is it?" John asked.
"I think I've solved a major piece of the puzzle," Garek said. "Come on, let's get a cup of coffee, and I'll tell you about it. Computer, save and end program."
The room turned into a black room, with a yellow grid running across the walls and floor. Both of the men left the holodeck."
Lazarus was overseeing the transformation of the lounge into a bar. A few ensigns were removing some panels here and there.
"Make sure to leave enough room for a kitchen!" Lazarus called out to the Lieutenant overseeing the project. Dweezle was behind the bar, wiping off the counter.
Garek and John entered the Lounge. "Hello Gentlemen," Dweezle said, walking over to them. What brings you around at this ungodly hour?"
"I was coming off the night shift," Valdago answered.
"I've been in the holodeck for...," Garek checked his chronometer, "...for about eight hours." He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes.
"Well, what can I do get you two?" Dweezle asked.
"Coffee," both John and Garek said in unison. They then looked at each other. "I'll have mine black," said Garek.
"Same," John added.
"Well, why don't you to find a seat somewhere and I'll be back with your drinks in a moment."
"Thanks, Dweezle." Garek sat down at the nearest table. John sat across from him.
"You were going to tell me about your 'big piece of the puzzle'." John stared at him.
"Oh, yes. Sorry." Garek put the PADD on the table that he had been carrying and started to look at some of the information. He then looked up at John. "Here's what I plan to propose to Captain Maruu. What I want to do is put together a new type of shuttle. It will have a bigger warp core then that of a runabout, and a larger sensor and weapons suite."
"You think the Captain will go for this?" John asked.
"I don't know," Garek replied. "However, it's the only feasible way I can get the type of power regulation and output I need, without blowing out a set of isolinear chips every time we cloak and uncloak."
"I see your point. However, I think there's also an ulterior motive behind your idea." John gave a confident smile.
"Well...yeah," Garek said. "I want to be able to soup up shuttles and build new vehicles like I did back home. This is the only way I think I'll get a chance out here."
"So, the cat is out of the bag," John said with a grin. "However, I can understand where you're coming from. There's a lot of things you can't do out here."
"This being one of them?" Garek asked.
"Right." Jhon sat back in his chair.
Dweezle came by with the mugs of coffee. "Here you are Lieutenants. I don't see why you'd want to drink coffee. I'd rather get some sleep if I were you." Dweezle placed the two mugs down in front of the two.
"Speaking of sleep, why exactly are you here so late? Wouldn't you be in bed?" John asked.
"Are you kidding?" Dweezle asked. "I'm having so much fun hanging around in the lounge. Besides, it's fun to watch Lazarus order those ensigns over there around." He grinned.
"I see your point." Garek smiled.
Dweezle returned the smile. "Enjoy your coffee gentlemen." He then headed back behind the bar.
It was now 0900 hours. Garek had gotten about five hours of sleep. He stepped off the turbolift, and onto the bridge. Place looks rather empty, Garek thought. Second string officers were manning Security, Ops, and Tactical. "Is the Captain in?" Garek asked the Ensign at Tactical.
"Yes, Sir," the Lieutenant replied. "He's in his Ready Room."
"Thank you." Garek walked over to the Ready Room door, and pressed the door chime.
"Come in," Maruu said from inside.
Garek walked in slowly, trying not to show the grogginess he was feeling.
"Ah, Lieutenant Loran. What can I do for you?" Maruu turned around in his chair face Garek, and put down a PADD on the table.
"I have the Engineering reports from yesterday, and the progress on the cloaking device for you."
Garek handed the PADDs over to the Captain.
Maruu glanced over the PADDs, and then thought for a moment. "You think that by building a new shuttle, you will be able to get enough power output to use a cloaking device."
"Yes, Sir. I've been running simulations with the type of power output from a normal runabout, and have kept hitting dead ends. By making up a new shuttle, I should be able to get the cloaking device to work."
Maruu sighed, and then looked over the PADD again. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, try to see if you can get the device to work, and try upgrading a type 8 shuttle instead."
"Yes, Captain," Garek replied. He was trying to force back a yawn.
"Lieutenant, is there something wrong?" Maruu asked.
"No, Sir, I'm just a little tired. I've been working since 0300 to try to get the device to work."
"Hmm. Why don't you go and get a few more hours of sleep. Then head back to work on the cloaking device. I'll assign Ensigns Ek'Ra and Galen as head engineers until you return from your project."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Garek nodded in agreement to the Capain's idea.
"Dismissed, Lieutenant."
Garek nodded, and left the Ready Room, heading back for his quarters.