Lexie had woken up early just so she knew she was ready for her first shift. Despite being up most of the night she had managed to get a surprisingly, good amount of sleep. She was just in the process of putting up her hair, all while having an argument with Delta. "Arr, come on Lex, why can't I come with you?" The robot cried from her desk, sounding very much like a child. "Because you can't Delta." Muttered Lexie as she had about five hair pins between her teeth. "But you said I could upload myself onto your PADD so I could come to work with you." Delta moaned; Lexie sighed as she was trying to concentrate on her hair, she didn't want it to look a mess. "No, I said that I had to change a few of the settings first, which I haven't had the chance to do." She replied sternly, 'Dam it's like talking to a child!' Lexie thought to herself as she pushed the last hair pin into place to hold her bun up. "Aww, that's not fair!" Delta whined as he turned his back on his creator, Lexie felt kinda bad. She knew Delta just wanted to be with her since he worried about her all the time. She walked over to him and knelt in front of the desk, so she was eye level with the little robot. "I'm sorry Delta, please don't be mad with me. I promise, once my shift is over I'll make those changes on my PADD, that way you can come with me on my next shift. OK?" Lexie spoke sweetly, Delta took a few seconds to turn around. "Ok Lex and I'm sorry for yelling." She picked him up and gave him a little hug, "I forgive you Delta, I can never stay mad at you and I'm sorry for yelling too." She then placed him down again. "I best be off, stay out of sight and out of trouble until I come back." Lexie said as she picked up her PADD from the desk, "I will Lex, don't worry. Have a good first day and stay safe." "I will Delta." She replied as she walked over to the door and left to head towards Engineering.
It didn't take long for Lexie to arrive down in Engineering, she was immediately taken back by just how big it was, she knew it was going to be a big place but she never imagined it would be this gigantic. She then heard a friendly voice call out her name. "Lexie, over here lass." She turned to see Scotty waving to her, Lexie smiled as she quickly made her way over to him. "Reporting for duty Sir." She said cheerfully, "Good to see you happy Lexie, sleep well?" Scotty asked. "Yes I did thank you, so I'm ready to work." Scotty chuckled quietly to himself, "Good, you'll be working alongside myself and my good friends Keenser. That sound alright with you?" Lexie nodded quickly; she was looking forward to working with the Scotsman but she was also looking forward to meeting Scotty's friend from Delta Vega. She followed the Chief to another section of Engineering which was surprisingly quieter than where she had just been, they stopped next to a large tank just before Scotty yelled out to someone. "Keenser where are ya?" Lexie would have looked around to see if she could spot the other Engineer however since she had never met him before she didn't know what they looked like. She then heard something coming from above her, which made her look up and wasn't surprised at what she found, sat up high on a pipe was a small Engineer who wasn't human. Lexie guessed this was Keenser, based off what Scotty had told her last night about his habit of climbing up high.
"Umm, Scotty?" She muttered; Scotty turned around to see Lexie slowly point upwards. He followed her finger and discovered what she was pointing at. "Get down from there you wee beggar!" He shouted, the Engineer soon climbed down from his perch and stood in front of Scotty, whose face was slightly flushed with frustration. "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days man. Any way allow me to introduce you to one of our new Engineers." Scotty gestured for Keenser to turn round so he was facing Lexie, "This is Lieutenant Lexie Smith. Lass this is Ensign Keenser, one of my best Engineers and one of my closest friends." Both of the Engineers shook hands, or at least what Lexie assumed was his hand in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you Keenser. I'm looking forward to working with you." The Engineer just nodded, then spoke one single word. "Same." Scotty smiled from behind him, "Sadly the wee man here doesn't say much but I'm sure it won't take you long to start understanding him." Lexie knew that Scotty was right, she just hoped that it didn't take too long.
After the two Engineers had gotten acquainted Scotty turned his attention to the tank behind him. Lexie turned to face it, "Is that one of the ships water tanks?" She questioned; Scotty nodded. "Aye it is, this particular one has a heating coil inside which allows for hot water across a section of the ship, however some of the crew in that section have been complaining that there ain't no hot water." Lexie knew just by the sound of Scotty's voice that there was more to it than a few crew complaints about no hot water, she knew it was something to do with the re-fit the Enterprise had been given. "I thought Star Fleet replaced all of the water tanks on the Enterprise during her re-fit?" She questioned; Scotty nodded. "That they did lass with flashy new ones, but like I told ya last night, it's as if the whole thing was done by Klingons. I feel kinda responsible for it, since I wasn't able to conduct the re-fit myself." Lexie placed a hand on the man's shoulder, "Don't blame yourself Scotty, this is all because Star Fleet wouldn't let you conduct the ships refit. If they had done, then this could have been avoided all together." Scotty turned and gave her a huge smile, "Thanks lass, now what do you say we take this baby apart and find out what's wrong?" Lexie nodded, Keenser then handed a PADD over to Scotty. "The tank has been emptied of water since this new design has the heating coil inside the tank itself, so we'll have to go inside to see what the problem is. That alright with you?" Lexie nodded. "Fine with me, let's get to work!" Scotty couldn't agree more. As he went off to grab his tool box, Lexie turned to face the water tank or as she saw it her first task.
When Scotty returned the two of them made their way up to the platform at the top of the water tank and upon reaching the top Scotty checked the control panel. "Right then, the water has been drained from the tank and the valves that feed in the water have been turned off." Scotty stated as he turned to face Lexie who was stood next to him, he smiled at her as he picked up two flashlights which sat on the panel. "We'll be needing these. Hold on to them for a sec lass." He said, Lexie reached out and grabbed a hold of both of the flashlights, while Scotty reached over to a hatch which was set on the side of the tank, with a loud clang Scotty pulled the hatch open. The sound of dripping water could be heard echoing from inside. "I'll go first." He stated as he leant over to pick up his tool box, then took his light back from Lexie who nodded. Scotty climbed down the ladder which went all the way down to the bottom of the tank, when he touched the ground he yelled up to Lexie. "Your turn now lass, I'll shine me light on the ladder so you know where ya placing ya feet." Lexie took a deep breath then began her descent into the empty tank, it was extremely dark inside which made it hard to see, however thanks to Scotty illuminating the ladder she made her way down with ease. When on the ground she turned her light on and turned to face Scotty who pointed at the huge heating coil which sat in the centre of the tank. "Let's just hope it's a small problem that's causing the issue, and not the fact that the whole bloody coil has gone to pot, since that's going to be a pain to replace." Scotty stated as he walked closer to it, Lexie followed him.
"I can imagine replacing something like this would be a nightmare. Is the coil currently on?" Lexie asked as she raised her hand up so it was next to the coil, "At the moment yes, otherwise it would be too cold to work in here, but it's on its lowest setting, why do you ask?" Scotty questioned as he knelt in front of a small panel, placing his tool box beside him and pressed a button on its side. This made the bottom of the box magnetize so if the artificial gravity failed it wouldn't become a hazard. "Because it's emitting heat, not a lot by any stretch of the imagination but it's still doing it. Which can mean only one thing." Lexie stated as she moved around to the other side away from her Chief, "Aye, I know what you're getting at lass, the coil itself is still able to provide heat, however it's not enough to heat the whole tank. Even on its current setting it should be able to heat the whole tank." Scotty replied as he removed a panel and placed it gently on the floor next to him.
Lexie raised her hand up against the coil again but noticed something strange. "Scotty, can you come here for a sec." Scotty looked up and smiled, "Sure lass." He got up and joined Lexie. "What is it?" He asked, "I think a few of the heating elements in the actual coil have either blown or they ain't getting enough power. Can you give me a boost so I can check the coil higher up?" She asked, Scotty nodded. He placed his flashlight into his pocket then crouched down beside her. "Get on my shoulders and I'll lift you up there." Lexie nodded as she carefully climbed onto Scotty's shoulders, when she was safely on Scotty stood up slowly to allow Lexie to check the higher part of the coil. Lexie held her hand up next to the coil once more and much like before it was giving off heat but not much. "It's the same as before, there is heat but nowhere near enough. So, it must be a lack of power to the coil itself." She announced, Scotty smiled. "Great find lass, you ready to come down now?" Lexie nodded, then Scotty gently lowered her down. "Let's take a look inside the panel at the circuitry." Scotty said as he pulled out his flashlight from his pocket and knelt back down to the open panel, this time Lexie joined him.
Lexie then noticed something strange, Scotty's hands was shaking slightly. "Are you alright Scotty? You cold?" She asked concernedly, she wouldn't be surprised if he was cold, it was quite chilly in the tank, Scotty looked over at her with a small smile on his face. "I'm alright Lexie, I just don't like being inside this tank, even without all the water." He answered. "You claustrophobic?" She questioned but Scotty shook his head quickly. "Not at all lass, I once had a bad experience inside a water tank. It happened when I first beamed aboard the Enterprise, instead of beaming onto the deck of Engineering, I materialised inside a full water tank and almost drowned but thanks to the Captain that didn't happen." Lexie smiled softly, "That must have been…" She was about to finish her sentence when she heard a noise which sent a shiver down her spine. It sounded like rushing water. "Scotty, do you hear that?" She asked quickly, Scotty stopped working and listened closely. His face was soon a wash with fear. Suddenly the hatch which they had entered through slammed shut, the two Engineers leapt up. "What the hell?" Scotty yelled, just then water began to rush into the tank. "The valves have been turned on!" Yelled Lexie. They looked at each other and it was clear that both of them were scared out of their minds.
The water was already up to just a few inches below their knees. "Quick Lexie, up the ladder! The higher up the better!" Scotty cried; Lexie didn't need to be told twice. She waded through the water, which was freezing, when she reached the ladder she scrambled up but stopped to make sure that Scotty was alright. "Scotty!" She yelled back when she noticed that her Commander hadn't moved, "Keep climbing lass, I'll be right behind you! Get to the hatch and start banging on it as hard as you can, maybe Keenser will hear it!" He cried back; Lexie was reluctant to climb any higher until she knew that Scotty was in the process of climbing as well, but she didn't wish to disobey him. She began climbing once again and soon reached the hatch, as order by Scotty she began to bang on the door as hard as she could, to hopefully make as much noise as possible, in the vain hope someone would hear it. Scotty glanced up, relieved that Lexie was at the top and decided that he should probably follow suit since the water had now past his knees and was rising fast. But when he tried to move he realised that he couldn't, Scotty shone his light down at his feet, since the water was crystal clear he immediately saw the problem. When he had jumped to his feet he had unintentionally placed a foot in his tool box which had become stuck and the box itself was still magnetize to the floor. 'Just my bloody luck!' Scotty thought to himself as he pulled on his leg, desperately trying to free his foot, almost drowning once in his life was enough, he didn't particularly want to experience it again.
Lexie was still banging on the hatch but stopped to check on Scotty, her heart sank when she saw that he was still stood next to the coil but she could tell even from that hight that something was wrong. "Scotty! What's wrong?" She yelled, her voice echoing around the tank. Scotty looked up at her, "My bloody foot's stuck in my dam tool box which is still magnetize to the floor!" He yelled back; Lexie felt her heart sink even lower. She quickly began to race back down the ladder, much to Scotty's surprise. "What you coming back down for?" He questioned as his teeth chattered, he was bloody freezing, it felt like he was back on Delta Vega which he wasn't very pleased about. "I'm coming to help you of course, I ain't going to leave ya to drown." Lexie answered as she jumped back into the water, which was now up to her chest, the temperature of the water gave her body a good shock, if for some reason she wasn't awake she sure was now.
Lexie could see Scotty shivering violently; she too was shivering as well but didn't seem to notice. "Hold on Scotty." She said softly, Scotty tried to answer but the only sound that came out from his mouth was the chattering of his teeth. Lexie took a deep breath then dive beneath the surface and swam to the tool box; she began to pull on Scotty's foot trying to free it. She pulled and pulled knowing that Scotty's head could soon be underwater. Finally, Scotty's foot slipped out from the tool box, he coughed as he was able to lift his mouth out of the water. Lexie then swam back to the surface and gasped for air. Scotty was happy to have his foot free but was even happier to see his colleague again. "Thanks lass." Scotty said slowly, "You're welcome." She answered. Trying not to open her mouth too much since the water was now up to their chins. "What now?" Lexie asked trying not to sound scared, "There's no point in climbing back up to the hatch, if no one heard you banging its highly doubtful they ever will. We'll have to just float." Scotty replied. Suddenly he felt something in his pocket, he reached in and pulled out his communicator. "Will it still work?" Questioned Lexie, Scotty nodded slowly. "Star Fleet made them water proof. So, it bloody should work lass. I hope." Scotty quickly flicked it open to call anyone he could get a hold of for help.