Damned creatures Garek thought to himself. He looked behind himself to see a Jem'Hadar, with a rifle, watching him. Just as Garek looked him in the eye, the Jem'Hadar looked away. Garek shook his head and went back to work.
Sitting down, he pulled out a PADD containing the technical information needed in building the drive. There was just enough tridanium to encase the warp core, and nearly enough to finish the inner lacing of the warp nacelles. This would work almost perfectly. Just then, a panel started blinking and an alarm went off. It indicated that there was a failure in the starboard nacelle. Good 'ol Ek'Ra, he thought to himself. Garek hit his com badge. "Captain Maruu! We're having a dropout of the starboard nacelle. Repeat, a dropout of the starboard nacelle!"
Captain Maruu stood up from his chair on the bridge. "Copy that, Garek. Ensign Fredericson, drop from warp immediately!"
The ensign nodded his head, and the ship dropped from warp.
"Lieutenant, what happened?"
[The warp nacelle appears to have had a structural fallout near the bussard ramscoop. We'll have to go out and repair it in space suits.]
Maruu sighed, putting on a fairly good show to throw off the Vorta. "Understood. Begin repairs immediately."
"Aye, Sir," Garek replied. He tapped his badge. "Ensign Ek'Ra, assemble your team and get to work."
"Aye, Sir! Beta team, let's go!" Ek'Ra and his followers made their way out of Engineering. Other engineers took their spots.
Garek referred back to his PADD. Phase One in progress. Phase Two in five days.
Lieutenant Benton sat in his security office looking at Commander K'Lara. K'Lara had been put in a brig cell. Benton, and his team were able to stop her from reaching the captain and put her in a cell for her own good.
"May I ask exactly why you are running around ranting and raving?" Benton kept himself cool.
"You saw what happened!" she yelled back. "That son of targ killed my husband! He deserves to die!"
Not wanting to butcher the point that Lataro had "broken" orders so to say, or to state a truth which had been concealed in order to throw off the Dominion, he changed the subject. "I really don't want to keep you here, Commander. However, if you continue to be a threat to the captain, I will. I have considered moving you to solitary confinement in your quarters. I have to talk with Lieutenant Loran. Perhaps when I get back you'll have had a change in heart."
K'Lara gave him an evil glare, then looked down at the floor. Benton rose and called over an ensign to watch K'Lara. He then made his way to Engineering.
Benton made his way to Engineering, passing up what he saw as an absurd amount of Jem'Hadar in the hallways. We're not allies. They're holding us hostage, he thought to himself. As the giant doors to Engineering opened, he heard Lieutenant Loran barking orders to a group of ensigns.
"No, no, no! This one goes there, that one goes there." He moved a few crystal alignment positioners over, to their proper bearings. "Make sure to check the duranium casing. It doesn't seem up to par."
The ensign caught the hidden meaning behind Garek's words. "Aye, Sir. Right away." The ensign then returned to work, pulling out a tricorder. "Lieutenant Benton, welcome to Engineering. Please, step into my office."
"Of course." The two lieutenants made their way to the small section designated as the Chief Engineer's office. Another Jem'Hadar trooper stood just inside the door.
Garek cleared his throat, waiting for the Jem'Hadar to acknowledge him to move. It did nothing, standing still in it's position. It looked at Garek. "Get out!" Garek commanded.
The Jem'Hadar gave him and evil look, and headed out. Garek pressed a button, and a door closed, sealing the entrance. He pressed another button that fogged out the window that displayed the warp core.
"Neat little function. I don't remember that being a standard onboard starships." Benton watched as the room became completely private.
"I put it in to get a little privacy once in awhile. You should know what it's like being hounded after because of problems and such." Garek sat down on a stool and offered Benton a seat on another.
"Thank you." Benton sat. "I've never really had that problem, but I know what you're talking about. So, what have we accomplished so far?"
"We're working on the starboard nacelle now. A 'structural fallout failure' is keeping us from going to warp." Garek smiled. "That way, we'll have one warp nacelle fully laced with tridanium. The port nacelle will be 95% percent laced, and the warp core will be fully laced. We're working on the warp core now. It's 70% complete. Now that we're out of warp, we're finishing repairs."
Benton took the PADD that Garek had handed him and began looking it over. "The arrangements seem to be going well. However, I'd like to look this PADD over to see if we can make any changes to make the core more efficient. We'll need the extra energy for structural integrity."
"Sure," Garek said. "One more thing. I've been running some tests on the dilithium crystal that we have now, and it won't be able to handle the pressures of transwarp flight. Can you relay a message to the captain that we'll have to go pick up another new set of crystals. I don't want to send a com transmission with those 'things' onboard."
"Of course." Benton rose. "Keep me informed, Mr. Loran."
"Sure thing, Mr. Benton." They both grinned, and Garek deactivated the privacy measures. The panel shot down from the arc over the entranceway rose, and the glass defogged. The two men then went back to work.