VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
OLD FRIENDS, NEW BEGINNINGS - BOOK 6
(Sequel to A Ray of Hope)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
December 2008 (Revised 03/2010)
Previous disclaimers apply

Chapter 7 - DRASTIC MEASURES

Back at Mission Control, Connors, Edwards and Brennan along with several technicians from IS & T were frantically working to come up with a suitable plan to rescue their trapped colleagues. They knew all too well time was of the essence as the oxygen supply in their colleagues' transport bubble was rapidly running out.

One of the technicians from the IS & T department ran over to Connor's console.

"Miss Connors?" He asked.

"Yes. " Connors replied. "Have you found the problem?"

"Yes ma'am. We found the problem modules and we're ready to replace them."

"Well, what are you waiting for, go ahead and replace them." She said impatiently.

"There's just one problem, ma'am."

"What's that?" Connors asked.

"It's like this ma'am. In order to replace the failed memory modules, we will need to shut down the OCC."

"Wait a minute. I thought those modules were hot-swappable with the system up and running?" She asked, being puzzled by the news.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Those modules are not." The technician replied. "To replace them, the system has to be shutdown and powered off, so as not to damage the new modules."

"Are you sure?" Connors asked. "The guys in the vortex are running out of air. We don't have time for a full system shutdown and restart."

At that moment, Edwards and Brennan walked up and entered the conversation.

"Lindsey, what's wrong?" Brennan asked.

Connors shook her head in disgust. "The guys are running out of air and the only way to resolve the problem with the OCC is to shutdown the system, replace the failed modules and then restart."

At this point, Edwards shook his head and walked slowly away from the group. Once he reached the far side of the room, he stroked his chin with his hand and stared out the window.

"But that could take 20 minutes to accomplish a full system restart." Brennan said with some hesitation.

"You see my problem." Connors said.

Suddenly, Edwards, who had seemed uninterested in the situation, had an epiphany. He spun around to face his colleagues with his clenched fist in the air. "Wait a minute! Wait just a minute!" He shouted as he ran toward them.

"What! What!" Connors prodded. "You have an idea?"

"I sure do!" Edwards exclaimed with excitement. "A full system shutdown takes what…about 2 minutes at the max?"

"Yes, more or less." Connors said.

Edwards looked at the technician. "And how long would it take your guys to replace those failed modules?"

"I'd say at the most, 5 minutes max." The technician replied.

Connors chimed in. "David, shutting down the system and replacing the modules is not the problem. It's the time it takes to restart. That's the problem. Before we even finish restarting the system, our guys will be out of air and within minutes they'll be gone."

"What about doing a partial system restart?" Edwards asked.

Brennan, now confused, looked at her partner and replied. "Huh? Run that one by me one more time."

"What do you mean?" Connors asked. "Explain."

"As I see it, we don't need the entire system up and running to be able to rescue our trapped colleagues. We only need 2 or 3 key systems. You know, OCS, LTRAK and DMAT/REMAT. If we shutdown the system, replace the modules and do a partial restart with just those subsystems, the OCC should be back up in less than 10 minutes, tops."

"That's brilliant!" Connors exclaimed.

"Wow! Brilliant!" Brennan exclaimed as she winked at her partner. "I guess there is something between those ears after all.

"Are you certain it will work?" Connors asked.

"Well, Lindsey, There's no guarantees but it sure beats the alternative."

Connors sat there for a moment and pondered Edwards' proposal.

"Let's do it!" Connors said forcefully. "It will work…it must work for their sakes. You three get started. In the meantime, I'll inform our guys that we have a plan."

Edwards, Brennan and the technician from IS & T left the area to execute Edward's plan. In the meantime, Connors contacted Mallory to inform him of their plan.

"Shawn, this is Mission Control. Do you read?"

"Lindsey, I read you loud and clear." Mallory replied in a weak voice.

"Guys, I think we have a solution to your problem. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a solution just the same."

"Lindsey, who cares if it's perfect? If it gets us out of this mess, I don't care how perfect it is." Mallory said as he began to gasp for air.

"Shawn, what's wrong?" Connors asked. "Are you guys ok?"

"Lindsey we are running out of air. It's getting harder for us to breathe."

"Ok, you just listen and conserve your strength and your oxygen. In order to replace the damaged memory modules of the OCC, we need to shutdown the system and then restart it."

"Lindsey that option will take way too long." Mallory said as he gasped. "We don't have much time left."

"Mallory, please just listen." Connors urged.

"We are going to shutdown the system, replace the modules and then do a partial restart. Instead of doing a full restart, we are just going to restart the three key subsystems needed to get you guys out of there. We think this will work, but there are no guarantees."

"Lindsey, anything is…better… than being here." Mallory said with a sluggish tone. "Which systems… do you… have in mind?"

"OCS, LTRAK and DMAT/REMAT" Connors replied. "Can you think of anything else?"

There was silence for a moment before Mallory finally responded. "You will… need to start… CHRON…as well. If you don't… the system… will know…where we are in space… but not know…where we are in time. CHRON…works with LTRAK… uses CHRONlog… to determine…exact space/time coordinates…for each omni."

"Do you think it will work?" Connors asked.

"Yes", Mallory replied as he continued to gasp for air. "Go for it…Lindsey! It's…our only chance!"

"Will do! Once the system is back up, we'll divert you guys back here." Connors replied.

"No!... That…will…take…too much time…" Mallory argued. "Send…us …to our destination… We'll be…ok!"

"Are you sure?" Lindsey asked. "How are Bogg and Jeff holding up?"

"Yes…I'm sure…Lindsey. They are… unconscious… but…still alive."

"You hang in there. We'll have you guys out of there shortly." Connors reassured. "Mission Control out."

Connors quickly got on her Visiphone and contacted OCC operations.

"OCC operations, James, speaking."

"James, this is Lindsey in Mission Control. Has David Edwards got there yet?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll get him for you." James replied as he turned and yelled off into the distance. "Hey, David! It's Lindsey in Mission Control… Sounds urgent!"

After a few moments, Edwards appeared on her Visiphone screen.

"What is it, ma'am?" Edwards asked.

"I just informed Mallory of our plan. He seems to think it will work, but he said we'll need to restart CHRON as well."

"Oh my!" Edwards exclaimed. "He's right! I didn't even think of that."

"Well, now you know." Connors teased. "Now get back to work… and good luck."

"Good luck to us all!" Edwards replied before the screen went blank.

At this point, Connors took a deep, cleansing breath. After taking a sip of her coffee, she sat back in her chair and patiently began to wait.

Seven minutes had passed. All was going as predicted with Edward's plan. IS & T had finished replacing the damaged memory modules in the OCC and had initiated the partial system restart. Edwards, Brennan and several of the IS & T technicians were huddled around the OCC main console in the OCC Operations Center monitoring the situation as the system went through its abbreviated restart process. They held their breath as they waited for the first signs of their plan's success.

"Here it goes." One technician announced.

At this point the OCC console began to display messages showing the progress of the system restart.

"OCC SYSTEM RESTART IN PROGRESS…"

"Startup options: OCS, DMAT/REMAT, CHRON, LTRAK only

"OCS - Omni Control Supervisor started…"

"DMAT/REMAT system started…"

"Well, two systems down, two more to go" Brennan said as she looked at Edwards and smiled.

"LTRAK - Location Tracking started…"

"Cross your fingers, only one more to go." Edwards said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

After a few moments, the message they all were waiting for finally appeared on the screen.

"CHRON Start Up in Progress…

"CHRON - Auto-synchronizing with LTRAK"

"CHRON - Auto-synchronization with LTRAK complete..."

"OCC SYSTEM RESTART COMPLETE…"

"Looks like all is proceeding as planned. " Edwards said to Brennan.

"And now for the moment of truth…" Edwards whispered to himself as he stared at the OCC console. "C'mon…you intelligent hunk of metal, figure it out… Find the lost omni…You can do it."

While they continued to monitor the progress of the OCC, the system began to identify and correct the problems caused by the previous memory module errors.

"OCS - CHRON Directive C001 - Analyzing CHRONlog…"

"OCS - LTRAK Directive L001 - Omnichron Identification and Tracking Update in Progress"

"OCS - LTRAK has identified 112 Active Omnichrons in 111 Time Zones."

"OCS - LTRAK has identified 1 Active Omnichron stalled in transport mode."

"Omni ID: X731802 Space/Time Vector: 131223181412"

"OCS - Directive A000: Re-Initializing Omni ID: X731802"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802: Omni initialized and online"

Edwards upon seeing the response from the OCC, turned and threw a clenched fist into the air in celebration of what just occurred. "Yes! YES!" He yelled confidently.

After seeing these messages, the three began to celebrate their accomplishments; however, Bogg, Jeff and Mallory were not yet out of danger. Suddenly, the OCC console's claxon sounded.

"OCS - WARNING! Oxygen supply at critical level in transport bubble Omni ID: X731802"

"OCS - Directive O111: Reestablishing Transport Environment"

"This is not good." Brennan said as she bit her lip nervously.

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Transport Environment reestablished."

Brennan put her arm around Edwards and spoke in a soft, tone. "I only hope we got to them in time."

"OCS - Directive A381: Uploading vector coordinates to Omni ID: X731802"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Coordinates uploaded and locked."

"OCS - Directive V101: Time Vortex Stabilization started for Omni ID X731802"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Time Vortex Stabilized"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Transport in progress"

"Destination: Earth, Dodge City Kansas, USA September 18, 1878 21:22 CST"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Arrival at local space/time coordinates"

"OCS - Directive Z031: Open Transport Bubble portal"

"OCS - REMAT Directive R001 - Rematerialization in progress"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Rematerialization complete"

"OCS - Response from Omni ID X731802 - Transport complete."

As the celebration continued, Edwards ran over to the closest Visiphone and contacted Connors with a status update.

"Lindsey, this is David. The plan was a success. The OCC confirmed their arrival at Dodge City just moments ago."

"Let me contact them and see if they are ok." Connors replied anxiously

She leaned over and after pushing a few keys on her console, began to speak into the microphone.

"Voyager Mallory, this is Mission Control… How do you read?"

For a moment there was silence. Anxious to determine if her friends were ok, out of desperation, she started yelling into the microphone.

-------------------

In Dodge City, it was late evening. On the horizon, a full moon was beaming its reddish hue over the vastness of the plains as a lone coyote in the distance called out for his mate. The town was dark and quiet. The only signs of activity were the seemingly animated shadows being cast by the soft, flickering glow of the oil lanterns, which were gracing the façades of each building.

In a darkened alley between the general store and the Bank of Dodge, Bogg, Jeff and Mallory had fallen through the time portal and landed onto some burlap bags filled with grain. As they struggled to regain consciousness from the lack of oxygen, the concerned voice of their colleague pierced the silence.

"Voyager Mallory, this is Lindsey at Mission Control… How do you read? Are you guys ok?"

Still, there was silence. As Connors began to get up from her chair to get some help, a familiar voice, though weak, came across the speaker.

"Mission…Control… This is Mallory… We've arrived…at our destination. We've got…a red light on…the omni…and…we're…ok…"

Connors quickly sat back down and started blurting out questions to her colleague without pause.

"Shawn, are you alright? How's Bogg and Jeff? Is anyone hurt?"

"Lindsey, please calm down before you do yourself a mischief. We are all a bit shaken up, a little bit low on oxygen, but we are otherwise ok." Mallory replied.

"Do you want me to send someone there to help you?" Connors asked.

"No. We're fine. Phineas and Jeff are now on their feet, trying to shake off the effects. I think at this time, the three of us just need a good nights' rest. We should be ok in the morning.

"I see by your coordinates, you three are in Dodge City, Kansas. Are you gonna be ok there?" Connors asked.

"Yes, we'll be fine." Mallory acknowledged. "That's where we were headed when the problem occurred."

"Ok, then. Can I speak to Phineas?" Connors asked.

"Yea, sure. Hold on." Mallory replied as he handed his omni to Bogg.

"Lindsey?" Bogg asked.

Connors, whose hands were now trembling after being shook up by the incident, began to speak. "Phineas…Are you ok? I was so worried about you three."

"Shawn, Jeff and I are just fine… A bit light-headed at the moment, but fine none-the-less." Bogg said as Jeff slowly walked up with his hand on his forehead and stood beside him.

"Bogg?" Jeff asked.

"Yea kid."

"Is this how you feel when you get a hangover?"

Bogg chuckled. "Lindsey, did you get that. The kid thinks he's drunk."

Lindsey sat back in her chair and laughed.

"Jeff, this is Lindsey. To answer your question, No. This is not how it feels after you get drunk… That feeling, my friend is much worse than what you're experiencing now."

"Well, kiddo" Bogg said with a smile. "There you have it. Just remember this if you ever get the urge to partake of any libations."

"Oh, believe me, I won't forget it." Jeff said as he began to lose his balance. "I feel like someone has hit me in the head with a Louisville Slugger."

Without warning, Jeff began to lose his balance from the lack of oxygen.

"Whoa, there." Bogg shouted as he grabbed his partner. "I think we need to get you to bed."

Bogg handed the omni back to Mallory, picked up Jeff in his arms and headed down the street toward the Dodge House.

"Lindsey, it's Shawn again. We're going to turn in for the night and get some sleep, ok? We'll talk to you guys again in the morning. And one more thing… Our thanks to you and the guys for getting us out of this mess. I believe I can speak for Phineas and Jeff, you all did an excellent job."

"Thank you Shawn. That's what we are all here for." Connors replied. "Is there anything you want me to tell Roz?"

"No, Lindsey. No, wait! Yes. Just tell her we had a small problem and everything's ok now. There's no sense giving her all the details. The worst is over and all that will do is upset her." Mallory said. "Give her my love and tell her I'll be back soon."

"Will do Shawn." Lindsey acknowledged. "You three get a good night's rest. You deserve it after all this."

"Thank you, we most certainly will. Mallory out."