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Post by Brie on Dec 12, 2006 7:29:46 GMT -6
RPG Note: Since Charybdis modified his post and went back to bed, the whole Charybdis/Brie conversation never took place.
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Post by LucianG on Dec 28, 2006 7:24:32 GMT -6
Continued from 36--U
* **
Personal log, Urdea, Major, Fleet Security, Battlestar Callisto
....According to his file, Engineer Bostvin is relatively new to the Callisto, having come aboard during my recent absence. He's only recently received his papers as a full engineer, and as such, he's about as decisive as half-melted mushies. Of course, my experience with engineers is that they are among the most cautious people in the entire fleet, always wanting to make sure they're absolutely sure in their own minds of the answer before they give an unequivocal response on anything. Unfortunately, that sometimes takes longer than the time available, and you've got to force them to make their best guess....
* * *
Urdea stared intently back at Wheran, then answered, "I'm going to look at the evidence, and then we're going to reach a conclusion on what happened here. Now, if we're going to do that, give me the facts."
Wheran smiled and said, "Yes, Sir! It appears that the Colonel walked off the turbolift here, took a couple of steps, and then was hit, about here," he said pointing to the back of his head. The engineer can tell you more. Heh, you, Bost-buy, this is Major Urdea. Tell him what you told me about what happened here."
The young engineer, a short heavy set man with a thick pair of eyeglasses and rather rumpled clothing, stepped up and gave Urdea a surprisingly smart salute. "My name is Engineer Bostvin, Sir. Major Lucian sent me and a couple members of my team down to assist you in your investigation, and to repair the damage when you say it's okay. As far as what happened regarding Colonel Charybdis, Sir, I'm fairly confident we have a couple of pretty good ideas."
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Post by LucianG on Dec 31, 2006 7:36:24 GMT -6
Bostvin started to explain his theories on what might have happened.
“There are a great number of power and control cables that collect here in front of this turbolift since there is a power chase right next to it. These cables enter the chase and go up or down from this point. We have to know where each one of these are and what they do, or serve if you will, and we have to be able to repair them quickly in the event that they short out, overheat, or are out-and-out vaporized by Cylon attack or other means. Due to their location, they are pretty well protected, so the chance of that last one happening from an external source is pretty small, fortunately. However, the ship designers always had to keep this in mind. I haven’t been on the Callisto that long, but my understanding is that Commander Cain didn’t make too many changes from the standard design in this part of the ship. What he did, like what was done at some point on the Galactica, and I understand on the other battlestars, whether in their original—”
“Engineer Bostvin, I appreciate the tech and history lessons, but I’d appreciate it more if you could get to your point,” remarked Urdea.
“Sorry, Sir, I’ll cut to it. With so many power and control cables over a turbolift lobby, and particularly ones that might someday need to be accessed, they installed a soffit below the cables. Because of very condensed construction time using the Cylon ship dock and construction robots, and need for materials in other areas, Commander Cain left many areas of the ship ‘unfinished.’ Everything worked, but lots of things were roughed out rather than being complete. Corridor soffits were one of those things. He didn’t have them installed but where they were really needed, like right here in this area.”
Bostvin continued, “The soffit is supported by main beams and shorter infill joists. Because of the potential need for complete access, these were assembled with bolt and lock-nut connectors, so maintenance Techs or Engineers could take them down quickly if needed. Now, someone told us that ‘the beam broke,’ but Sir, beams don’t break unless they’re not made of the right material, they’re undersized, or the amount of load on them changes. We don’t see that any of those criteria are met, so we checked out all the soffit beams and joists around here. We suspect that this joist fell because some of the connector bolts came out.”
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Post by LucianG on Jan 1, 2007 7:48:18 GMT -6
“Suspect? Do you have any evidence that the bolts came out?” asked Urdea, hoping that they were finally getting somewhere.
“Yes, Sir, I think we do,” replied Bostvin. “We’re not sure, but it appears that all of the bolts were missing from this end, and that one was missing on the other end. That allowed this end of the joist to fall. With just one in the other end, the end didn’t fall, but it did allow it to rotate by damaging the clips just a bit. With that end pinned, it rotated so the free end came down and hit the Colonel. The joist is not that big, but it’s big enough that he was really lucky it didn’t kill him. If he’d been just a few centimeters further back, it would have.”
Wheran’s clenched his hands suddenly on the statement, and his face contorted into a grimace, as if in disappointment that a few centimeters could make such a difference.
* * *
Personal log, Urdea, Major, Fleet Security, Battlestar Callisto
Lieutenant Wheran had been standing next to Mr. Bostvin and me, listening to our interview with a somewhat pained, impatient expression. As we got further into our discussion, his impatience continued to increase, and he started shifting his weight from leg to leg in what soon became an exceedingly irritating fashion. And if looks could kill, Colonel Charybdis would probably have been on the way to the morgue due to Wheran’s expression when Mr. Bostvin talked about the difference a few centimeters had made. Mr. Bostvin, on the other hand, was looking more and more uncomfortable as I tried to pin him down to get at the truth. With Mr. Bostvin’s ambiguity approaching prevarication and Lieutenant Wheran’s impatient dance, I imagined for just a moment that it was like I was watching the entrance to the only working turboflush on the Callisto after particularly high fiber meal…and that Colonel Charybdis was inside taking his dear, sweet time….
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Post by LucianG on Jan 2, 2007 7:04:56 GMT -6
Urdea gave Wheran a frown, which, at least temporarily, corrected his body language. He then asked Bostvin, “So, you don’t suspect that the joist fell because the bolts came out, you know that was the case, correct?”
“Well, yes, Sir, I guess you could choose to say that.”
“I so choose, Mr. Bostvin. Now, my question is, how did the bolts come out?”
“That’s what we’re really not sure about, Sir. We don’t know if they fell out, like you said, or if someone pushed them out.”
“Ah, HA!” exclaimed Wheran. “We found a ladder in the maintenance closet just down the corridor. Now, the Colonel has been known to hang around in maintenance closets with THAT Warrior Captain Amy, so I'm sure he’s intimately familiar with their contents. He’d know that there was a ladder and tool kit in there. I’d bet anything that he ran down the corridor, grabbed the ladder and tool kit, slid those ceiling panels over to access the bolts, undid them so they fell, put the ladder and tool kit back away while dreaming of another dalliance with some girl, and then ran back and faked his injury in time to be discovered and wheeled off to the Med Lab."
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Post by LucianG on Jan 3, 2007 6:51:15 GMT -6
Personal log, Urdea, Major, Fleet Security, Battlestar Callisto
Dealing with Lieutenant Wheran is sometimes like pulling teeth. You spend a lot of time and energy with it hurting like hades, and then when you’re finally successful, it keeps on hurting for a long time afterward as a reminder that the whole ugly mess could likely have been avoided in the first place (memo to self: make appointment to check my dental implants). He’s an excellent investigator—he is a lieutenant in my command after all—but his bigotry against those of the Warrior Corps (or whatever other unfortunate group he’s decided to assail for that particular period of time) often hampers his effectiveness and makes dealing with him EXTREMELY difficult. When he can put aside his bigotry, he can also be surprisingly good at solving cases…even if only by accident.
* * *
Urdea turned to Bostvin and said, “Mr. Bostvin, I want your team to get that joist back in place, assembled the way it’s supposed to be, with all the ceiling panels back in place. I want you to make one change, though. The bottom lock nuts on the bottom bolts at each end are only going to be half-way engaged. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” said Bostvin. “Since we’re concerned that the vibrations from the turbolift might be responsible for removing the bolts, we’re going to add an additional lock washer on each bolt.”
“That’s fine, Mr. Bostvin, but don’t add that lock washer on the two bottom bolts,” ordered Urdea. “When you’re done, Lieutenant Wheran is to assist you in putting away the ladder and the tools.”
Wheran frowned at Urdea, who gave him a curt nod, then added, “Now, hop to it. It’s getting late, and I’m getting hungry.” And, he thought to himself in disappointment, my would-be dinner date is now halfway across the Fleet from here….
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Post by LucianG on Jan 4, 2007 6:16:23 GMT -6
A bit later, as Urdea finished yet another conversation via his comm unit, Engineer Bostvin reported, “Major Urdea, everything’s back in place, including the ladder and tools with your lieutenant’s assistance. We replaced the bent clips, installed the bolts with lock washers and locknuts, and put the ceiling panels back in place. As you directed, we only engaged the bottom locknut on each connection half way, Sir, with no lock washer, but I’m going to have to report that as a deficiency in the repair, along with an order to have the vibration attenuator on the turbolift door checked out further, since I still think it could be the cause of the problem. With your permission, Sir, we’re taking off.”
“No, not just yet, Mr. Bostvin. We’re not quite done,” Urdea said. He turned to Lieutenant Wheran, who was red with exertion, anger, or both after his trip to the janitor’s closet with the engineers, and said, “Lieutenant Wheran, now it’s time to solve this case. You are to go to the janitor’s closet, bring the ladder and tools, remove the ceiling panels, remove the bottom bolt on both ends of the joist, then put the ladder and tools away. You’re to do this as quickly as you can. Ready—”
“WHOA!” cried Wheran. “I think I see where you’re going with this, Major, but it’s not a fair test! I’m not familiar with the janitor’s closet like he is. I’m not the right person to do this!”
Urdea smiled and replied, “Wheran, you’re just the right person to do it. Earlier, you said Colonel Charybdis was ‘intimately familiar’ with janitor’s closets, but I’m guessing that it’s much more likely he was being intimate with something other than ladders and tool kits while in that closet or closets. You JUST saw where the ladder and tool kit are when you helped put them away, so you’d probably have about the same degree of familiarity with their locations as he would have had. And besides, since you think the Colonel did this on purpose, I’m willing to bet that you’ll be willing to exert the energy to prove it. Now, get ready. Three, two, one, GO!”
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Post by LucianG on Jan 4, 2007 11:13:50 GMT -6
Wheran, faced with a timer, suddenly responded quite aggressively to the challenge to prove the Colonel’s guilt. He sprinted down the corridor as the Major’s chrono silently started clicking off the microns.
Some moments later, Wheran was rushing back down the corridor, carrying the tool kit and the ladder, which banged off the corridor wall at least twice between the janitor’s closet and the turbolift. Two people emerging from the turbolift abruptly stepped to the side to avoid being hit, and then paused to watch the action as the Fleet Security lieutenant placed the ladder and ran up the steps.
He had trouble removing the first panel, which finally fell to the floor with a loud clatter. The second followed moments later, after he moved the ladder, with another crash. This drew another person from down the corridor toward the Med Lab. Then, he started trying to remove the nut with the manual wrench he had found in the toolkit, but he didn’t have it adjusted to the right size, and it slipped off after the first turn. This led to another loud clang as it bounced off the deck, and, moments later, yet another onlooker. This forced him to scramble down the ladder to retrieve it. Bearing a rather sheepish look on his face, he almost ran back up the ladder, adjusted the wrench carefully, and then continued turning the nut. It finally came off and he put it in his pocket before he moved the ladder back to the other end. As he resituated the ladder once more, he winced as he realized he’d added a useless step in the process. Back up the ladder, the last nut came off more easily than the first, and he again pocketed the nut as he came back down the ladder one last time. He almost jumped in front of Urdea as he said, “DONE!”
Urdea shook his head, chrono still going as he pointed to the ladder and tool box still sitting in the corridor. He said, “Uhm, I believe those would be a dead give away, don’t you? I think the Colonel would have had to put them back.”
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Post by LucianG on Jan 5, 2007 6:22:00 GMT -6
Personal log, Urdea, Major, Fleet Security, Battlestar Callisto
….and I suspect if looks actually could kill that I would have been joining Colonel Charybdis in the morgue at that particular moment….
* * *
Another penetrating wince led to Wheran stepping the ladder down once more, grabbing the tool kit, and then man-handling the items back toward the janitor’s closet, bumping one of the engineers with the end of the ladder as he turned. There were several clangs from the closet, and a slight grin from Urdea, before Wheran reemerged some moments later. Again, he skidded to a stop in front of the Major, breathing heavily, this time saying, “Done?”
Urdea shook his head once more as a Med Tech emerged from the turbolift. “Colonel Charybdis would have had to stage the accident so it would look realistic when he was fo—”
“Enough, Major!” interrupted Wheran holding up his hands as he tried to slow his breathing. Though Wheran was in very good physical shape, he was obviously sweating as he said, “On second thought, Sir, I really don’t think Colonel Charybdis could have staged this quickly enough without someone seeing or hearing him. I think we have to mark it as an accident.”
“I agree, Lieutenant Wheran,” replied Urdea, casting one last look at the timer on the chrono, “I agree. And, according to my calls to the Med Lab and the Bridge, he didn’t have time to stage it anyway based on the amount of time you took, not even counting the fact that he’d have had to have removed another nut. Therefore, Wheran, write up your report of the investigation, pegging it as an accident, and close out the case.”
There was a smattering of applause from the gathered crowd, whether for the verdict or for Wheran’s performance (as he choose to believe), no one said. Urdea turned to Engineer Bostvin and his two assistants and said, “You’d better add your bolts with lockwashers and locknuts in those bottom holes, recheck the top ones to make sure Wheran didn’t accidentally loosen them, and reinstall your ceiling panels. And, don’t forget to get that vibration attenuator on the turbolift door fixed.”
“Yes, Sir!” said Bostvin, sending his helpers back down the hall to retrieve the ladder and tools once more.
A few microns later after the little crowd dispersed, Urdea breathed easily and smiled. That was a fairly easy case to close, and now he’d go get some dinner before trying to reach Abby, in preparation for the big meeting in the morning. He was getting on the turbolift when Wheran called, “Major Urdea? We’re closing the case on the accident, but…but, but Sir, I…ah…still think the Colonel’s faking his amnesia.”
As the door closed and the turbolift started moving, Urdea shook his head slightly and said aloud, “Yeah. I figured you would.”
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