Paramount Global owns the Star Trek franchise. This is a piece of fan fiction based on Star Trek the Next Generation.
The leak
“Cabin temperature 172 degrees Kelvin.”
“This is fabulous.” Data remarked as he worked one side of the Engineering
station while Geordi worked the other side.
“What is fabulous?” Picard asked.
Geordi looked up, “Captain.”
“Who ever did this is either a complete genius or a complete mental.”
“Mental?” Picard repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“They knew just enough about the Enterprise to create a mess. We cannot just stop the flow of the coolant without damaging the warp drive reactor. The flow has to be reversed.”
“That would explain the degree difference in the ductwork.” Geordi thought out loud. “The pressure of two much coolant in an unsecured container is forcing it to go someplace else.
“Cabin temperature 165 degrees Kelvin.”
“Where is it going?” Picard asked.
Data didn’t answer right away.
“Don’t tell me another trip through the Jeffery’s tubes.” Geordi complained.
“No, using the information we collected from the ductwork. The degree difference leads to Deck 9 Room 3602.”
“That is beside me.” Picard looked disturbed.
“Is there anyone in that room?” Geordi asked.
“Westerfield.”
“How wonderful?” Data said dryly.
“We have a degree difference in temperature going to Westerfields quarters?” Geordi analyzed.
“The overflow has to go someplace.”
“What is the temperature in his quarters?” Picard asked.
“Cabin temperature 160 degrees Kelvin” The computer reported.
“285 degrees Kelvin.” Data answered Picard’s question.
“That’s 55 degrees Fahrenheit.” Picard converted the degrees allowed. “What temperature does he normally have his quarters at?”
“70 degrees Fahrenheit.” Data answered.
“This is like trying to chase a mouse through a piece of Swiss cheese.”
Data stopped what he was doing. “What kind of analogy is that?”
“Think about it.” Geordi smiled.
“I have.”
“The mouse is our coolant leak. We are chasing it through the holes in the
cheese, our ductwork back to Engineering.”
“Actually, that was almost funny.” Picard smiled.
“Thank you sir.”
“Cabin temperature 162 degrees Kelvin.” The computer reported.
“The temperature is rising. What did you do?” Picard asked.
“Used Limburger instead of Swiss.” Data answered.
Geordi snickered, he asked. “What are you doing?”
“The coolant has been let out of a radioactive environment. Through filtration it has been stripped of is radioactive isotopes. I found a filtration device in the aft tube leading from the containment unit. The device works through osmosis. The air is cleaned as it flows through the filter.” The device showed up on the Engineering console that Geordi and Data were working on. Picard walked over to take a look. “These bands,” he highlighted for Picard and Geordi, “have no function other than to hold the filter together. By ionizing these bands, it is pulling the air back into the containment unit.”
“Cabin temperature 164 degrees Kelvin.”
“The rise is going to be slower than the fall.”
“Who ever did this was not expecting the ships warning system to activate.”
“Do you have any suggestions about who?”
“It is too convenient that the overflow went to Westerfields quarters?” Data finally looked up from the console.
“I know how you feel about Westerfield. This is a serious charge.” Picard commented.
“Not a charge sir, merely a speculation.”
“Does he have the knowledge to have done this?” Geordi asked.
“Possibly.” Picard scratched his head. “His undergraduate work at the academy was in physics. I never knew him to practice the science.”
“One more nail in his golden coffin.” Data remarked.
“Data that is horrible to say.” Geordi was amazed at the lack of respect coming from his friend.
“Perhaps so but true. I was once told the truth is a hard pill to swallow.”
“Cabin temperature 169 degrees Kelvin.”
“What temperature was your cabin?” Picard asked.
“65 degrees Fahrenheit or 291 degrees Kelvin.”
“Cabin temperature 170 degrees Kelvin. Shall we go survey the damage?” They left Engineering.
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