===Main Engineering=== Sean had been checking the systems for the last 10 minutes, grumbling to himself. It was the first time in his career that *every* single subroutine of every single program of every single section of the ship was working at peak efficiency. Something was wrong. Dangerously wrong. And where was the General? If the Chief Engineer of a Starship requested to drop out of Warp, than any stubborn, stone headed Commanding Officer should learn to listen and act. Sean needed to know what was going on. And he needed it quick. And, as any first year cadet knew, no priority level diagnosis could be run, unless they were standing still in space. The General would have to cope with the delay. Keylor walked though the main doors of the small engineering section. He looked at the insipid pulsing of the warp core as the chimera speed in to harms way and the Spinward Marsh. Main engineering seemed a bit understaffed at the moment. This was probably due to the high number of accidents that had occurred installing and fine tuning the prototypes. It was not hard to spot the chief engineer looking over a console. Keylor wondered why the Chief had called him down to main engineering. He figured it had to do with some other 'bad' effect of the prototypes and the chief's objection to having them on board. "Lieutenant Mctaggert." He said as he approached form behind. Sean didn=B4t even bother to turn around. "General, we need to stop the ship. We have a situation here that needs our full attention." {STOP THE SHIP!!!} he though. Stopping beside Sean, Keylor looked over his shoulder at the console. "By the prophets why lieutenant? We are desperately trying to make up time." He responded calmly. "Well, Sir, to put it in an understandable way, we have a perfectly working ship in our hands. I dare say we could outrun a Sovereign class as it is, right now. You will agree with me that it needs immediate clarification." replied Sean, finally facing Keylor with a stern look. He could feel the weight of staying awake long beyond his threshold and was craving for stimulants to keep him up and running. {How is this a problem} Keylor thought at the news from Sean. "Lieutenant. How is this a problem? After all since I have been on this ship we have not caught a break with the ships systems. Chief engineer after chief engineer has had to baby this ship to get it right from day one. At last we have a ship with out major problems." Sean looked at the General as if a madman was standing next to him. "General" he started slowly. "We've been having problems with *every* system on this ship since I took over. Since we=B4ve built in the scrap piles provided by Bragg. Nothing has been going as it should have. Suddenly, we have efficiency readings of 100%. A hundred percent, that=B4s perfect, Sir. Nothing, and I mean Nothing can work a hundred percent. It's only theoretically possible, but not physically. There should be, even in optimum conditions, a decrease in the efficiency due to time, material imperfections, etc." Sean took deep breath. "I don't need to point out that my conclusion is, we are having a major problem here. Either with the computer, with the sensors or something. I can=B4t take it upon me to continue this travel without making sure, Sir. I just can=B4t." he concluded. Keylor looked at the strange expression on Sean's face. "Ok so other than the systems being at full efficiency, What else strikes you odd?" he asked wondering why the CEO seemed a little odd. Sean snorted. The General did not or didn't want to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. "Sir, isn't that enough to worry about? What do you expect? Borg nanoprobes in your sonic shower?" he retorted in a sharper tone he actually intended. Keylor wrinkled his brow at the response form the engineer. {Ok this is getting old this man needs to lighten up.} He thought. Keeping his composer Keylor responded. "No not nano probes." He said sarcastically. His thoughts then turned to the recent return of Nick Quayle. {Why did he choose nano probes? Doe he suspect some thing ?} he thought. "Lieutenant. Unless you can tell me that the ship is in most definite danger, a warp core breach, life support is failing, something along those lines. I just cant stop the ship because everything is running 'fine'." He said mocking the last word in his sentence. Sean's face turned red. This goddamn CO had no idea what he was talking about. "I would prefer not to reach that kind of problem level, and for that I need to know what is going on. You are *not* listening here, General." he uttered between clenched teeth. Keylor sighed, "Lieutenant we need to keep heading to the Marsh at best possible speed. We are already a day behind schedule. Cant you just watch things closely and keep her going until we reach the marsh. Once we get there we will need to scan the area for the GOTT and we can drop out of warp then." Sean sighed. "Are you sure we *are* going to make it to the march?" he replied quizzically and turned back to the console, rubbing his eyes. He longed for the stimulants in his drawer, he really needed them to deal with this petulant burocrat. "Well the prophets willing we will. Keep looking at the systems, figure out why the readings are as they are and report back to me once you have something concrete. Give me something concrete and I will stop the ship cold! He said in a firm tone. " We should be at the edge of the marsh in a few days, and we can drop out of warp then and you can perform high level diagnostics then. I promise you I will give you 12 hours to perform level 1 diagnostics then." He said trying to be reassuring. Keylor then Slapped Sean on the back, "But If the prophets are not with us, I have you. I know you can keep the ship together and keep things running long enough." He smiled noticing the circles forming under Sean's eyes. Keylor was starting to wonder if Sean was suffering from the straing of everything that had happened recently. Sean nodded, but didn't bother to reply. Suddenly, he felt very tired. 'Why do I bother' he thought bitterly. 'This lady can be torn apart, all he cares is his stupid mission.' He finally straightened and turned towards the ensign next to him. "Ensign, find Quayle, have him report to my office." he muttered. "Or better yet, tell him to get a team together and check the computer cores. I wanna make sure we have no problems there, at least" he added derogatory. "as much as we can assure with the Generals so called *help from the prophets*." The ensign almost choked and went pale. Sean realized too late that Keylor was still standing behind him. He turned around and faced him, too stubborn to be embarrassed. Keylor frowned. {Surely this man has been working too hard.} Keylor placed a firm hand on Sean's shoulder. "Lieutenant. We can do with out the sarcasm." He said firmly but quietly. "Why don't you go to your office, sit down, have a coffee and relax for a few while your team is being assembled." He said as Sean turned to face Keylor. "Just keep her running for a day or so more, it is all I ask." Sean felt tempted to take the hand of his shoulder and shove it up the Generals stomach. "I got a ship to take care of, thank you, General, I'll have my coffee in a more suitable moment. Meanwhile, if you excuse me, I have some sensors to check." he replied in an aggressive tone and grabbed a toolkit. "Ensign, get Rodgers of his ass too. I want him to keep me updated from here. Notify me" he glanced at Keylor. "and the General, about any changes in the systems. Axa, come with me, we'll start with the internals and work our way outwards." with that, he strode out of Main Engineering. Keylor watched as Sean walked away from him . He was not sure what was wrong with Sean. But some thing was definitely right with him. As Sean went about his business in main engineering, Keylro headed out the door and to the nearest turbo lift. ===End Log=== Bgen Bretam Keylor Captain & Lt Sean McTaggert DCEO