Quicker By Tube

Posted on Wed Apr 15th, 2026 @ 11:05pm by Ensign Syaro Kirimi & Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil

1,438 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Jeffries Tube, USS Tokyo

Tuhjer paused, bracing himself on his hands and knees as he crawled through the dimly lit Jeffries Tube. I spend so much time in here, I might as well move my quarters in. He mused. It wasn’t entirely a complaint. The narrow passageways offered a kind of quiet he couldn’t find elsewhere, just the steady hum of the ship’s power systems, a low vibration that helped him focus.

Focus was something he needed. Three lifetimes’ worth of memories pressed at the edges of his mind, and he’d never been trained to carry that weight. The tubes, at least, didn’t ask anything of him.

He reached the junction he’d been aiming for and turned toward the access panel. Settling cross‑legged on the cold metal floor, he opened the panel and initiated a diagnostic scan. The soft, rhythmic pulse of the scanner echoed down the corridor, fading into the ship’s ever-present thrum.

The access hatch directly next to him slowly opened. Before he knew it, a blonde-haired, short woman appeared headfirst. She collided with him as she tried to dart into the tube at speed.

"Oof..." she said as her arms gave way, causing her to faceplant the bottom of the tube, her arms outstretched.

Regaining his composure after the collision, Tuhjer was concerned for the woman.

"Are you ok? That looked rather painful." He exclaimed, reaching out to help her up, watching carefully so she didn't hit her head on the roof of the tube.

Slowly, the petite woman took his hand and was soon sitting in a cross-legged position. She rubbed her noticeably red nose with a hand. "Thanks. I... wasn't expecting anyone to be here.." she explained. "Oh, I'm so sorry for literally running into you!"

"Not a problem. I wasn't expecting to see anyone else in here either. I am usually on my own doing these diagnostics. I'm Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, you're the new engineer." The woman replied, giving him a small smile. "Ensign Syaro Kirima. I've been acting as the Chief Engineer for a few weeks. Its a bit of a handful. Only in position, though, still an Ensign," she said with a slight giggle.

"That's right, I haven't been aboard very long. Still getting familiar with the ship and crew. Nice to meet you, Ensign." His scanned bleeped, notifying him that the diagnostic was completed with the results available. He glanced at the display. "Hmm," he tapped an interface inside the panel. A small keypad extended downward from it. He tapped in a series of commands from his scanner. A short warning tone sounded.

"As I thought. I need a new secondary flow controller here. Luckily, this can still run on the Primary, but ideally, both need to be available." He turned to Syaro. "I need to visit an engineering replicator to make the part. Care to come along?" He asked.

"Actually, I have one here..." Syaro said, pointing to the engineering crate that was sitting on the other side of the open hatch. "I was actually going to come and do this repair. It seems you beat me to it. Give me a hand getting it in, this thing isn't exactly light."

"That's great. Of course," he replied. He helped her carry the crate into the Jeffries tube. "This is heavy. What else is in here? The part we need weighs a few grams at most." He added, opening the crate to find a flow controller.

"A few other things. There's a plasma conduit in the next section to completely replace. I was going there after doing this. I didn't want to trek all the way back to Engineering just to pick up more parts." Syaro explained as she clicked open the box and removed the lid. Inside was several other small boxes, one with the parts for the complete plasma conduit replacement and some smaller others. She reached in and pulled out the flow controller.

"Here you go." she said with a smile as she held it out to her.

He takes the part. "Fantastic," he uttered, turning back towards the open panel. Tapping the keypad again, he put the primary flow control into isolated mode so that the secondary controller could be removed without giving him a nasty shock. Once the current was removed, he briefly examined it.

"Interesting, the housing at the input end has weakened and cracked. That is not normal. A metallurgical analysis will tell us more. I suspect a defect in the metal that wasn't picked up during manufacture. " He put the old part to one side, fitted the new flow controller and reengaged the normal mode for the flow system. A green light illuminated on the interface. He tapped the keypad, which slid back up behind the interface. "Job done"

He turned to Syaro. "Would you like some help with your job? " he smiled.

"Sure. Oh and it could have been damaged in our last battle. We did take a lot of heavy fire from the Heralds. Its possible smaller problems like this were missed." Syaro explained.

"Oh yes, I hadn't considered that. Where is the conduit you were heading to? Does it happen to be the one I noticed humming at an odd pitch yesterday as I crawled passed it this morning? Just around the corner from here. "

"Wait, how sensitive are your ears? Its that something that Trills can do?" Syaro asked curiously.

"Some Trill have sensitive hearing but it's not common. I happen to be one of the few who have slightly better than average hearing. As well as a benefit, it can also be a curse."

"Noisy neighbours?" Syaro smirked.

"Overly amorous noisy neighbours." He winked.

Syaro let out a laugh. "Oh I bet. It seems that being at war makes people a little crazy. To... you know... before going into battle and all." she said red coming to flush into her cheeks.

" I guess so. I haven't had a partner for sometime. Not since I was an Ensign like yourself. "

Syaro blushed a bit more. "Well, I haven't had a partner since... well ever." she let out a small laugh. "But, there's more to life than that right?"

" Absolutely. There's plenty more to life than having a partner and even if you have one, still having time to yourself is good for you."

"So anyways," Syaro said as she crawled out of the tube and gestured for him to push the crate towards her. "How are you finding things here on the Tokyo? I know it's not your 'normal' type of ship."

He pushed the crate towards her. "Normal is a strange word. It's so subjective. My normal isn't the same as anyone else's, and yes, this ship is definitely not your normal type. I am getting used to things, which is actually beneficial for me. Focusing on my new assignment is helping me to better ground myself in terms of being joined, without any training to speak of." Tuhjer commented.

"Well, I've only been on board a couple of months. But the amount of advanced technology this ship has can be overwhelming. Have you had a chance to meet any of the crew yet?" Syaro asked as she grabbed one of the handles and helped move the crate out of the tube and onto the floor.

"I have, kind of, kept to myself to be honest, other than the compulsory meetings with senior officers. My role aboard the Tokoyo isn't the one I was offered and turned down. I am merely an engineer for the time being. "

"You know, you could be qualified to be the Chief Engineer. Why didn't you take that? I know I'm technically acting chief, but I don't feel like it." Syaro asked with a smile.

"I was offered it, but I honestly don't feel I am ready. I may well be qualified, but you need both qualifications and the self-confidence to match before you take on the role of a Departmental Head. "

"Self-confidence..." Syaro said slowly. "Maybe I can help with that. How about we try being friends?" She asked with a smile. "I'm a pretty outgoing person at times..."

Tuhjer smiled. " I'd like that. That would help I think."

"I'd like that too. How about we get to that plasma conduit. I could use a friend to give me a hand." she asked.

" Absolutely." Tuhjer replied. He studied her face for a few moments and thought, she is pretty...

END

Posting by:

Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil
Engineering Officer
USS Tokyo

Ensign Syaro Kirimi
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

RSS Feed