SD242001.27 || Joint Log || "Down in Engineering"

Posted on 27 Jan 2020 @ 10:04am by Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Alexandra Dering

1,373 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Tyr's Hand
Location: Main Engineering, USS Odin

=/\= Begin Log =/\=

Given she was on a little "catch up with the crew" tour, she chose to go visit the even more recent addition to the senior staff, who happened to be down in engineering. Lieutenant Bardan's sudden realization that the CEO role was not for her had made a small hitch, but fortunately, there had been another equally-as-qualified candidate for the job.

It was this candidate that the captain was here to see.

Mallory entered main engineering, and then looked around for Lieutenant Alexandra Dering. Rather than a call over the comm badge, she just showed up and went to find her. A CEO couldn't be too hard to find around engineering, right?

Lexi was indeed in Main Engineering, though it might have been difficult to recognize her as all one could currently see of her was a pair of Starfleet-issue boots sticking out from under one of the consoles. The rest of her was stuffed up inside the inner workings of said console. There was a soft 'bzzt' sound which was followed by fluent cursing in Klingon. Then the woman slid out from beneath the console on a board with wheels on it, sitting up to gather a different took from the open kit beside her. As she did, however, she saw someone who definitely didn't fit the color motif in here. Blinking up at the captain -- she was normally more respectful than that, by the way -- she asked, "Can I help you, Captain?"

Mal smiled a little as she tilted her head to look over the other woman. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant," she said sincerely, even though everyone knew the captain got to interrupt whenever she wanted. It was a perk of the job, a job of which there were far less perks than one would imagine. "I came to see how you were settling in to the new role and how repairs are coming along."

Lexi sighed, putting the tools back into the kit before standing and kicking the roller board beneath the console where people wouldn't trip over it. She didn't bother to dust off her uniform since that had become futile some time ago. "Well, repairs are slower than I'd like, but moving along. It would help if we could dock somewhere for real repairs, but my crew is good, so we'll get her patched up." She smiled at the captain. "As to the new role, I kind of always wanted to run an Engineering department, so I guess I'm pretty well adjusted." She chuckled softly. "Do you want a full report of the state of repairs? We can go to my office if you do." Truth was, she needed to stretch for a bit and maybe hydrate some.

"You can worry about a full report later," Mal said easily, "though I'm fine to follow you to your office if you're needing a break and you can fill me in on the highlights."

Lexi smiled at the captain. "Actually, a break wouldn't be a bad idea. I do need to stretch a bit." She picked up a sealed mug and shook it, then frowned. "And this is empty. Need more coffee." Her eyes went back to the captain. "This way, Ma'am." She led the way to her office, going over the bare highlights, what they had called in high school the Cliff Notes, version of what was going on. When they reached the office, she keyed the door open and stepped aside. "After you, Ma'am," she said, showing respect to the positional difference between them.

Mal inclined her head and stepped into the office, but waited for the CEO to enter before doing anything else. After all, she might be the captain, but engineering did belong to engineers. "I'm glad to hear that repairs are progressing, despite our difficult circumstances," she said. "How're the crew in your department doing?"

Lexi entered the office and crossed to the replicator. When she had first entered the office, she'd had to pause and truly process that it was her office, that she was the Chief Engineer. She had achieved her goal! This time, though, all she wanted was a raktajino and maybe something with sugar in it. She looked back to the captain. "I promise I will answer your question as soon as I get a raktajino. But can I offer you anything while I'm ordering?"

"No, thank you," the captain replied easily. "I don't plan to take up too much of your time."

Lexi nodded, made her order and took the food to her desk. Sitting in the very comfortable chair, she took a sip of the Klingon variation on coffee. "Okay, where do you want to start?" she asked, taking a small bite of the pastry she had ordered.

Mallory took a seat across from the desk, settling in as easily as if behind her own. "Let's start with my last question," she said. "How are the officers in your department coping? Especially given the losses and extra work everyone has to take on."

Lexi sighed, a feeling of heaviness settling over her for a moment. Of course, that had to be the first question! she thought. It did make sense, she knew, but it was the harder for her to answer. Ask her about the ship, and she could give you a rundown of every system that was damaged, the repairs being done and those already done. But ask her about the people, and she felt... heavy and a thousand other things that she didn't have time to think about much less name.

"Honestly, Ma'am?" she began, setting down the mug that somehow felt like it was made of old-fashioned concrete. "I'd say they were coping as well as anyone would in these circumstances." She sighed again and held the captain's eyes. "But, honestly, we've been too busy down here to stop and think too hard about anything except repairs."

"I think a lot of us have been doing that," Mal commented. "There has been plenty to do." She paused thoughtfully, stifling a familiar, repetitive sigh. "I'm hoping that we'll be able to set out again shortly, at least do a little exploring and get away from the Union hub. Will the ship be ready to do so?"

Lexi felt herself sigh. It was an inevitable question, and she had expected it. Still, she didn't like the time it was taking, so she knew the captain likely didn't either. "My people are doing the best that we can, but I will make the wait as short as I possibly can." She looked sidelong at her desk terminal, reaching over to bring up the repair schedule. She then turned the screen so that the captain could see it. "This is what we have at this point for repair schedule. If you'd like it changed, though, I can do that."

The captain looked the list over, nodding slowly. "I'll trust your determination, Lieutenant," she said. "My goal is simply to have the ship in good enough shape to move us away from Solaris Station as soon as possible."

Lexi turned the screen around, looking at the list again herself. There was a lot on it, but there was always a lot on Engineering's to-do list. She tried to think of it that way rather than focusing on how all of this had gotten on her list. Sometimes it was hard, though. She knew it must be harder for Cole, though and wished she could be there now, help him now. But they each had their duties. Later.

"We're looking at a couple of days for that. Much of this can be done on the move, so it's not as bad as it looks," she tried to reassure the captain. Or was it herself she wanted to reassure? Did it even matter? "After that, though, I can't really predict. Too many factors can interfere once the ship gets into motion."

"As ever, we'll just have to do the best we can," Mal said with a sympathetic smile as she got to her feet. "I'll let you get back to work, Lieutenant."

=/\= End Log =/\=

Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Alexandra Dering

 

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