The BLTS Archive - Unable to Comply second in the Sh*ttl*cr*ft/St*rsh*p Smut series by Sasscat Bu-to-y (fitchett@netaccess.co.nz) --- Disclaimer: Paramount own Voyager et al, no infringement intended. Author's Note: Thanks, as usual, to Zeborah for letting me bounce ideas off her. And to Mosca for giving me the nice Spanish swearwords. (c) Sasscat Bu-to-y 1999 --- Torres looked at the console and growled quietly. "Try rerouting more power to the dilithium chambers." "Okay." Kim's voice was slightly muffled by the panel he was hiding under with a laser welder. "How's that?" "It's still not working! Just a minute." She thumped the side of her console. The readings flickered then settled a full two percent lower than before. B'Elanna growled again. "Dammit! Computer, what the hell is wrong with the *fucking* warp drive?!" "Unable to comply. That data is not currently available." "_Chingate_," Torres muttered savagely, resorting to Spanish as she ripped open a circuitry panel beside Harry's. 'Go fuck yourself' just didn't have the same ring to it in English. "Unable to comply. This shuttlecraft does not currently possess that capability." "Shut *up*!" B'Elanna exclaimed. "_Mierda chingada_, why do these things always have to take you so fucking literally?" "Ah... Maquis..." She sighed and put a hand over her eyes. "What is it, Harry?" "There's something here I think you should see..." Torres stuck her head into the circuitry Kim had been fiddling with to have a look at whatever he'd found, and a few moments later another stream of curses flowed into the interior of Shuttlecraft Cochrane. --- "It's the _chingado_ warp drive," she told Chakotay over her commbadge, glaring at the offending equipment as she spoke. "So far it's just minor power fluctuations, but there's no way we can configure the shuttle for warp ten without finding out what the hell went wrong with the _hijoputa maldito_." A sigh came over the commline. "All right. Keep working with Harry on it. I'll assign Paris to give you a hand tomorrow." "What's that _pendejo_ supposed to be able to help us with? All he knows is how to fly and how to flirt," B'Elanna snapped. "I'm sending him down," Chakotay said in that dangerous tone of voice that meant she'd better comply. "Fine," she sighed. "Torres out. Computer, range of the fluctuations now?" "The warp drive power fluctuations have a range of point seven three percent." "_*Chingate*_!" B'Elanna snarled angrily. "_Y chinga a tu madre_--" "Unable to comply," the computer interrupted smoothly. "This shuttlecraft does not currently possess that capability." "Shut. Up," she gritted out, and bent herself to the task of reconfiguring the shuttle's warp drive. --- "What the hell is wrong *now*?" she demanded, storming into the shuttlebay much later that night. It might even have been the next morning; she hadn't gotten enough sleep to be sure. "Uh, the warp drive's fluctuating again," Kim ventured. "Why can't the _maldito_ thing act like the simulations?" she demanded. She shook her head and stalked to the main console inside the Cochrane. "Computer, run an analysis on all power conduits connected to warp core functions." "Unable to comply. Self-diagnostic routines are offline." "Fuck you!" B'Elanna thumped the console angrily. "Unable to comply. This shuttlecraft does not currently possess that capability." She growled deep in her throat and started to walk across to the side station, only to find Tom Paris in her way, smiling genially. "Whatever the hell it is you want, Paris, I'm not in the fucking mood," she snarled, pushing past him. He followed her. "I appreciate the double entendre," he started, and was met with another growl, "but Chakotay assigned me to work with you, remember?" Torres stopped and whirled to face him. "_Vete al diablo_, Paris! Chakotay may think you have some bigshot ideas that you can use on the _chingado_ shuttle, but if you don't sit in the corner and shut the fuck up, you can kiss your boyish good looks goodbye! It's bad enough *Neelix* helped us solve a problem," she grumbled. "Whatever you say," he said hastily, not even daring to call her on the good-looking comment. "I must say, B'Elanna, I'm impressed. You could swear the nuts off a horny Orion - but I always figured you for a Klingon cursing kinda gal." She gave him a contemptuous look. "Paris. I've spent my whole bloody life trying to forget I was half-fucking-Klingon. Why the *hell* would I want to _chingado_ *swear* in Klingon?" "You have a point there," Paris said brightly. She growled again and continued on her path across the shuttle. "Computer, what's wrong with the self-diagnostic systems?" "Unable to comply. Self-diagnostic routines are offline." "Oh, *fuck* you," she snarled furiously. "Unable to comply. This vessel does not currently possess that capability." "Shut--" B'Elanna stopped suddenly. She took a deep breath and unclenched her fists. "I think I know what the problem is. Harry, take Tom somewhere and explain to him how we work on a project." She pushed past Paris again, and opened a panel of the shuttle's circuitry. --- That had to be it. If the _maldito_ warp drive didn't work now, she was going to... Well, whatever she was going to do, no one would like it. And, of course, any unexpected bonuses the adjusted systems provided were just that. Sure. "All right," she announced, pulling her head out of the circuitry. "Computer, status of the warp drive?" "Warp drive is experiencing minor power fluctuations." "*Fuck* you!" she snarled angrily, thumping the nearest thumpable object. "Acknowledged," the computer said smoothly. Well, at least *that* part of it was working... --- continued in the third story in the Sh*ttl*cr*ft/St*rsh*p Smut series 'Power Play'