Solitary Vigil

Posted on Sat Apr 26th, 2025 @ 12:17pm by Ensign Garabed "Garo" Hakobyan
Edited on on Sat Apr 26th, 2025 @ 12:37pm

Mission: Season 6: Echoes of the Zynari
Location: Transporter Room 1, Deck 2, USS Elysium
Timeline: MD3, 1540 hours
1118 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The console threw another error.

Garo squinted at the transporter console as if it had just personally insulted his mother.

"Sure. Just completely burn-out the transition coil. That's fine. Absolutely normal," he muttered, tapping the side of his display. It responded by flickering smugly--or so Garo thought.

Why do these things happen when I'm on duty? Why not when that T'Lani ensign is here? Or, better yet, when Engineering decides to run diagnostic on the transporters. That'd be the universe playing jazz.

The room itself was otherwise empty, which suited Garo. Less people to witness his pending mental breakdown. He leaned over the console, initiating a level-three diagnostic while gently massaging the bridge of his nose with a thumb. A surge of power had suddenly and inexplicably blown-out the phase transition coil of one unit. There had been no errors. No warnings. Whole system froze like tatik's preserves during a Yerevan blackout.

Okay, let's play this out. Worse case scenario? Emergency is declared and Commodore Lalor-Richardson requests--no, demands--I beam someone aboard and they come out looking like an Andorian street artist painted the transporter pad. Best case? The system glitches continue and I become babysitter until the end of shift.

He tapped his combadge.

"Hakobyan to Ops. I have a transporter glitch that's--how do I put this--ominously quiet. Like, maybe-don't-stand-on-the-pad-unless-you-want-to-meet-your-clone quiet."

There was a perplexed pause before the voice on the other end responded. [Uh, understood. Engineering is stretched at the moment. We'll reroute transporter function through Deck 6 and 12, Ensign.]

Garo nodded to no one in particular. "No rush." He waited to ensure the other operations officer had ended the communication and, after a moment, added quietly, "Just don't use this transporter unless you want to cosplay as Schrodinger's crewmember."

What is happening across the ship? Replicators producing unique meals, doors going crazy, fire suppression systems drenching people. This whole galaxy is like a fever dream. I'm twenty-six. I shouldn't have this many stress lines.

The diagnostic beeped, bringing Garo out of his head. No errors. No anomalies. Nothing.

"That's even worse," he said aloud. "Ghost in machine doesn't want to be found." He checked the output of the diagnostic to see if there were any variations from the baseline. There were none. He tapped the console again, bringing up the various components of the emitter array. Still, nothing jumped off the console screen.

Maybe I should have gone into planetary sciences. Or archaeology. No one expects perfect transporter function in a dirt pit on Bajor.

Garo decided this would likely be the most boring transporter room shift he had ever stood watch for. He was essentially standing at his post--but his post was a non-functioning transporter. If the transporter doesn't work, then how can it be a transporter room?

The comm opened, bringing Hakobyan out of his neurosis.

[Engineering to Transporter Room One,] came the voice of a young woman.

"Transporter Room One here. Go ahead," responded Garo.

[Please bring the transporter offline for the time being. We'll dispatch a team as soon as we can.]

"Understood," replied Garo, his fingers flying over the console as he began the shutdown sequence. The lights on the transporter pad dimmed slightly--the only indication the system was not in a usable state.

The silence of the transporter room seemed eerie to Garo. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the deck as if willing the shift to end quicker.

The moments dragged on and turned to minutes. Eventually, twenty of them had passed before Garo decided it was time to perform a physical inspection of the energy coils.

Stepping out from behind the console, he gently stretched his calves mid-stride as he crossed to an alcove where most of the 'guts' of the transporter were housed. He punched-in an access code on a tiny console and a chunky-looking cylinder slid out of its housing with a satisfying hiss.

Garo grabbed the cylinder with both hands, setting the object down on the deck. Kneeling, he turned it over and examined the interior--it was one of the energy coils and from visual inspection, it appeared to be in a near-perfect state.

If it's not the emitter array or the energy coils, then it must be an adjacent system. Just like how Aunt Zara's lasagna always tastes better the next day--some things just need little time and mystery to reveal true potential. Or true malfunction, in this case.

He thought about Earth for a long moment and how when he first arrived on the Elysium he couldn't imagine how much he would miss home. The pangs of homesickness had started shortly after their arrival in Circinus and it felt like a hollow pain deep in his chest. For that reason, he willed himself not to think about it.

Garo wondered how big the apricot tree in the garden would be now--and if his father was remembering to care for it. He also thought about the neighbours in his section of Eighth Street. The Boghossians across the street. Mister Bedrosian and his cat a few doors down. His thoughts drifted to Bella Yachatourian and how her dark hair had smelled of peaches and quince the day he left for this assignment.

He swallowed hard, willing the images to go away. Garo couldn't be bothered by thoughts of Davtashen right now--not while the Elysium's systems were on the fritz.

He stood up, popping the cylinder back into its housing with an audible click. Now he wondered which adjacent system might be creating the issues. Or was he just chasing ghosts like the rest of Operations and Engineering?

The comm opened again.

[Bridge to Transporter Room One,] came a voice, sounding quite vexed.

"Ensign Hakobyan here," replied Garo. "Go ahead."

[Ensign, did you just... beam a dining room set onto the bridge?]

Garo raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Um, no," he answered. "Transporter here has been offline for nearly an hour. I'm waiting on repair team from Engineering."

There was a long pause before the voice on the other end added, [Alright. Bridge out.]

It's getting serious now. Seriously absurd.

The comm opened again, bringing Garo out of his thought cycle.

[Ensign Hakobyan, please report to Holodeck Ten. We have a problem.]

Garo took a deep breath and responded, "On my way." While he was happy that his shift in the transporter room was now ended, he wondered what sort of trouble required his presence near Marine Country. Either way, he reminded himself, there's always another adventure when it comes to starship operations.