From:		Jorith
Date:		22 November 1995 01:25
To:		U.S.S. Lafayette (BBS)
Subject:		RE: Main Engineering

<Lt. Cmdr. Kindle - Computer Core>

Chandy made room for Swanberg as he got a closer look at the box. With the three of them packed in the small crawl space, it made things hard to work with any efficiency.

"Chief, we're ready to start the tests on the lower core."

Chandy tapped her comm badge. "Okay, I'm on my way. I think we have already found the problem, but we'll continue with the test." As she started to inch her way past Swanberg, she said, "I'll leave you two to puzzle this thing out. Like the saying goes - three's a crowd - especially in a crawl space like this. Keep me updated on any developments." With a smile, Chandy left them and headed down farther into the computer core.

	*	*	*

"This is Kindle. Is everyone in place? Okay, on my mark . . . mark one."

	*	*	*

Several hours later, all the checks on the core were completed. "That does it chief, looks like it's clean. See ya back up top?"

"Yeah, I'll be up in a few, Kindle out." Chandy's eyes were burning and her whole body was exhausted. "Just going to close my eyes and relax for a sec. Then I'll head back up..."

	*	*	*

[occ: Castillon and Swanberg, I'm kinda jumping ahead in the timeline a bit, but don't feel rushed about figuring out the box-thingy. Take as much time as you need - or until the Capt. says otherwise ;) ]

The night duty engineer looked over the console. "Is everyone clear of the core now?"

"Where's the chief?"

"She looked and sounded pretty tired. She has probably already gone to her quarters - afterall, she has to get up early tomarrow, we don't."

"Okay. Shutting down the lights in the computer core now."

Darkness fell over the computer core. The only sounds were the humming of the machinery and the gentle breathing of the chief engineer as she slept peacefully, curled up in a ball, at the very bottom of the computer core.

[occ: And don't anyone get any ideas about waking her up either! ;) Let's just get ourselves to Starbase 336 <G>]