Anamoly Continued

"Aye, aye commander," she responded. Winking at Ben she said, "Well, I have to get back to the bridge." She started down the jefferies tube, "And you'd better get back to your post. I'll make sure some help gets sent your way, so you can get things patched up. Now that we've got the power back up, you have the unenviable job of making sure it stays up. You and I are the only ones you can even begin to understand the wiring, so you can be sure that if something goes wrong, you'll be hearing from me." They had reached engineering, and Ben was nervously eyeing the Jem'hadar bodies. She felt bad leaving the poor kid alone here like this, but there was nothing for it. For lack of something more reassuring to say, she gave him another friendly clap on the back, "Good luck, ensign. And remember what I said about shooting." She grinned, then turned quickly to the door. As she hurried through the corridors she decided that as soon as all this was over, she was hauling the young ensign down to Ten Forward and buying him a stiff drink.

The voice was a little crackly on the comm. "Very well Lieutenant, get back up here and take the helm, set a course for the captain and may I hope it isn't to late,"

A half hour and a few strings of carefully chosen expletives later, she stood and triumphantly brushed off her hands above an incredible tangle of wires and cables. "That should do it," she said. She smiled at the ensign, who continued to wear the look of someone resigned to his fate, in this case working with a crazy person. "Now we just need to transfer the power over," her fingers danced briefly over the keys, "and voila." Ben stared in joy and disbelief as the backup system came online. She laughed, double-checked the screen, and tapped her comm badge, "Commander, warp power is back online."

He looked at her and grinned. "Psh I wasn't worried!! I was just...you know....mildly concerned" He started to do what she instructed and crossed his fingers in his mind and began to do his work.

She laughed and shook her head, "You must not be familiar with the term. It comes from Earth. People would steal cars by connecting the power directly to the starter without using a key. In this case we'll be doing exactly what you said, connecting the backup system directly to the power core, but instead of using the fused relay system, we'll use this extra cable to form a new connection, probably using the relays from this system here," she pointed to the adjacent panel. "These just control the lights. It will create a mess of wires, but then we'll be able to redirect power through the auxiliary systems until we can replace these power cells." He continued to look dubious. "It sounds complicated, but trust me, it'll work. We used to have to make makeshift solutions to problems like this at my dad's shop all the time. He never had the right parts. So take this," she handed him a hypospanner, "and reconfigure this power cell to feed this relay here, and I'll start rewiring the lights. And don't look so worried ensign. I promise not to blow up the ship."

He looked at her as if she was nuts. "With all due respect, Lieutenant, If we choose to hotwire the ship we could end up blowing ourselves up!!" He looked afraid. "However if we cross the anedine relays," He pointed the damaged relays "to the power core we should be able to have some warp power but we need to replace these power cells as soon as possible"

She had been opening the wall panel when he pushed her down. Cringing at the sound of the phaser, she searched frantically for a Jem'hadar but saw nothing. Questioningly, she turned to Benjamin; when she saw his sheepish face, she understood. She was about to reprimand him when she realized that the poor kid was about to cry. So, she did the only thing she could do...she started laughing. He looked confused, so she added with a friendly slap on the back, "Jesus, Ben. You're the most thorough guard I've ever had." He gave a tentative chuckle, and she figured that was the best she was going to get. "That being said, I would still prefer it not happen again. Always know what you are shooting at before you hit the trigger. Now," she turned to the open panel, "what have we here?" As if on cue, the commander's voice came over the comm, requesting a status report as well as causing Ben to jump. Smiling and shaking her head, she responded, "The power's down for the core, ma'am. The backup connectors are fused. But I think with some makeshift wiring, Ensign Johnson and I should have it back up and running in half an hour." She turned to Ben, grinning and holding out the kit's extra wires, "So, when was the last time you hot-wired a starship?"

He stopped for a minute. "My name is Benjamin, Benjamin Johnson." He continued on behind her and handed her a repair kit. "What should we fix first... Lieutenant get Down!!" He fired but there wasn't anything there

She jumped at the sound of his voice; she was obviously still a bit on the edgy side. I wonder if I'll ever get used to this, she thought, though somehow I'm not sure that would be a good thing. Aloud she answered tersely, "Yes we have, but the ship is badly damaged, and the captain has been captured." Crawling past him, she shoved her phaser into his hands, "Here. Cover me. We have to repair the back-up power for the core." He moved hesitantly behind her. Late as usual, the image of his frightened eyes and trembling hands finally fully formed in her mind. "You're such an ass," she muttered to herself. She turned around with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "We'll be alright," she said kindly. "What's your name?"

He sat in the jefferies tube clutching his knees to his chin. He had never been so afraid in his life. After all he was just an engineer not a combat officer. Suddenly he saw Lt. Pilot and said. "Lieutenant!! I was not expecting you. Have we retaken the ship?"

After carefully checking the rest of engineering for Jem'hadar (and killing the last of the wounded ones), she headed for the main console, glancing around frequently. Immediately, she recognized the problem: the core's power was down. She closed her eyes, trying to remember her classes back at the academy. It seemed as though there should be a backup system. Making a few quick checks, she discovered the problem. One of the connections was fused on the port nacel (sp?). With a sigh (and still holding her phaser), she grabbed a kit and headed for the jefferies tube.