The usual thrum of the warp core was absent.

The silence was almost jarring as Captain Reyas stepped through the doors of the Bellerophon’s main engineering. No pulse. No soft vibrations. Just the overlapping clatter of tools, the low murmur of voices, and the occasional snap of overloaded circuits. Without the warp core online, the heart of the ship felt strangely still, like a giant holding its breath. It was a discomforting stillness, broken only by the hiss of plasma vents and the static hum of temporary power relays.

Commander Jirani walked at her side, eyes sharp as they surveyed the tightly packed engineering deck. The Bajoran first officer had been restless since the beginning of the retrofits, her innate pragmatism tested by the unpredictable pace of experimental tech. Crew members were everywhere — perched on ladders, crammed into access hatches, clustered around consoles filled with schematics of the quantum slipstream drive. Someone barked orders from a side corridor; another tech nearly lost grip of a crate filled with delicate isolinear chips, catching it just before it hit the floor.

As Reyas watched Jirani scan the room, she couldn’t help but notice the deep lines of worry etched across her first officer’s face. Jirani had always prided herself on her pragmatism, but the constant setbacks were beginning to crack that calm facade. Reyas cleared her throat and said, “I know this isn’t how you like to work, Edeena. We’ll get it done. We always do.”

Jirani met her gaze, a flicker of gratitude in her sharp eyes before she turned back to the chaos, muttering under her breath, “We’d better, Captain. I’d prefer to get out of our shelter of nearby collapsing and forming stars.”

At the center of the commotion stood Lieutenant Commander Jayshon, buried elbow-deep in a half-disassembled console. Sweat trickled down his Tamarian temple, his expression a mixture of focus and frustration. Nearby, Lieutenant Mai tapped rapidly at a control interface, her uniform marked with soot and stress. A discarded hyper spanner rolled across the deck underfoot.

Reyas cleared her throat. “Report, Commander.”

Jayshon grunted, straightening up. “Temba, his arms wide. Picard, in the trap. Darmok, with delay upon delay.” ​​He stood silent momentarily before adding in a quieter tone, “Temba, his soul heavy with defeat.”

Mai looked over her shoulder quickly, stepping in before Reyas had to decode it. “What he means is we’re behind, Captain. Nearly every department is throwing resources into getting the quantum slipstream engine installed, but we’re hitting snags. Power coupling instability, matrix phase shifts, calibration misalignments — you name it.”

“Shaka, when the walls fell!” Jayshon muttered, dropping his tool with a clank.

Reyas arched a brow. “I’m sensing some frustration.”

Mai half-smiled. “Understandably. We’re all working around the clock, but I don’t think we will make Commander Gray’s timetable for the test flight unless he can spare a few more hands.”

“You’ve got some help coming in,” Reyas said. “Cadets from the Astra. Captain Niro is sending a group of eager cadets over. They’re bright, motivated, and used to tight deadlines. Use and abuse them, Lieutenant.”

Jayshon’s posture lifted slightly. “Temba, his arms wide.”

“And,” Mai added, hesitating, “we’ve already had to dip into our deuterium reserves to keep the project moving. If we can’t top up soon, we will be looking at entering grey mode by this evening with the amount of replicator energy we need. Life support’s fine, but comfort settings and non-essential systems may need to be suspended.”

Jirani’s brow creased immediately. “That’s a risk I’d prefer we avoid. The Themis and Constitution won’t be back for several days, assuming their trade talks with the Rakosans even work and they can secure a stock of deuterium for us.”

Before anyone could reply, the engineering doors slid open again. In stepped Chambers, dirt-smeared and sweating, followed closely by Jonarom, whose usually pristine appearance was marred by similar streaks of grime. Their arrival drew a few glances from other crew; engineers respected hard work, and these two had clearly been in the thick of it. 

“Ryan,” Reyas said, noting their condition, “you look like you lost a fight with a plasma torch.”

He smirked. “Not far off, Captain.”

Jonarom exhaled and stepped forward with a PADD in his hands. “In between our short break, Ryan and I just completed a full scan of the planet we plan to land the Bellerophon on to finish with the external upgrades. There are rich deuterium pockets in several deep caverns. Enough to last us a month, at least.”

Chambers nodded. “We’d like to take the aeroshuttle down ahead of the ship. A small team could perform a fast landing and extract what we need without disrupting the quantum slipstream project too much. We’ll lose precious time if we wait for the Bellerophon to land first.”

Reyas glanced at Jayshon, who looked torn.

“Zinda, his face black, his eyes red.” He paused, then clarified. “Too many hands lost. Delays multiply.”

“I’ll lead the team,” Jirani said immediately, noticing the discomfort that their chief engineer was having if Chambers and Jonarom left the ship. “Kurnath, Corben, and Hilgan will go with me. None of them are critical to the core upgrades. I’ll coordinate the extractions personally and minimise the time lost.”

Reyas nodded. “Good idea. Move fast and keep the mission focused. I want you back before nightfall on the surface.”

Jirani turned, already tapping her combadge to assemble the team as she left engineering briskly, her presence disappearing behind the heavy sliding doors.

Reyas looked back to the remaining group. “What can I do to help?”

Jonarom smiled tiredly. “Captain, if you don’t mind helping me and Ryan. We could use another mind to finalise the calculations on the chroniton integrator. It’s the last hurdle before we can even think about testing the system. We’ve recalibrated three times, but the temporal harmonics keep destabilising. No disrespect, ma’am, but your El-Aurian brain may get it quicker than us.”

She stepped beside him, tugging up her sleeves. “Then let’s get it done. I didn’t survive almost five decades of Starfleet service and imprisonment with rogue Changelings just to let a chroniton hiccup stall us.”

Chambers chuckled. “Now that’s the spirit, captain!”