A Meeting of Minds

Posted on 03 Jun 2020 @ 1:21pm by Lieutenant Rosine Deschamps

1,169 words; about a 6 minute read

=/\= Holodeck =/\=

Rosine was working, and yet she wasn't. She wasn't 'on duty' right now, but she'd scrolled through the holodeck programs and noticed that people had been nice enough not to touch her special setups while she was in a coma. It had only been a few weeks. But still, it had be nice of them. She'd fired up one of them a few hours ago, and now found that she was back to the point where she felt 'comfortable' with it. As if she'd learned it again. She also didn't quite remember it from before. It was still something she hadn't admitted to anyone, but there were virtually no details left in her mind of 'before'. Setting that thought aside, she slumped down in the chair that was made up out of photons, and finally decided on a name on her screen. "Deschampes to Petty Officer Romanov. I know this might sound like an odd request coming from a Science officer you've never met, but could you meet me in Holodeck 2?"

"Uh," came the momementary hesitation, before, "Of course, sir. I'll be there in a few minutes."

As promised, there was a chime at the holodeck door a few minutes later and then it swished open and in walked a dark-eyed, dark-haired curvy woman with her hair up in a ponytail and a service suit that looked hastily zipped up over her tank top. "Yes, Lieutenant. How can I be of service?"

Hearing the chime and the swish, Rosine emerged from behind a console. She looked at the woman and thought back to her meeting with Quinn. Hmmm. In any case, this pretty much looked like the typical Petty Officer. Was there something like that? She figured there was, and there was the woman being the living proof.

Behind the small row of consoles, a large space loomed ahead of them. Not quite like a flight deck, but more like the space of an extra holodeck had been added. The space was empty, but the walls around it were lined with sensors and more equipment.

"Petty Officer Romanov, welcome," Rosine smiled. She added to name so the other woman could deny she was, just to avoid a mistaken identity thing, but as the woman didn't immediately react, she continued. "Yes, yes, thank you for coming. I've heard you're one of the ship's best techs when it comes to the navigational equipment of the fighters. I could use your expertise."

"Sure thing, sir," she said. The Romanov twins were not known for false modesty. Lorelei knew she wasn't the Greatest of All Time at it, but she was a good tech and among the better one aboard the Odin. Quinn made sure of that. "What can I help you with?"

"I've got something I'd like to run by you," Rosine spoke, basically repeated what she'd already said when she'd asked the Petty Oficer to join her. But this time, she also ducked behind her console once more, but only for a brief time this time. When she poked back up, a Valkyrie had appeared in the space beyond them. Simulated, of course, and outwardly no different from a real one. Rosine smiled, got to her feet and momentarily seemed to forget Lorelei as she walked u to the fighter.

Lorelei looked at the recreation and nodded. Yep, that was a valk alright... Now if the other woman would just, y'know, tell her what she needed. She walked up beside the lieutenant, arms folded over her chest as she looked the simulated craft over. "They're good ships," she commented.

Rosine eyed the tech sideways and realised the woman really had no way to be more enthusiastic, or as enthusiastic as she was, because she still had no idea why she had been summoned. Clearing her throat in a silent apology, she gestured for Lorelei to join her at the other side of the cockpit as she waved her hands inside.

Most controls were gone. There were a few touch panels still in place, but mostly as backup system. Otherwise, the cockpit appeared to be remarkably empty. Gesturing with her hand, however, Rosine managed to bring the cockpit to life as controls sprang into existence all around the pilot seat. Virtual controls, that only required the user to 'reach out and grab them'. Not the difficult touch panels that could get tricky, especially in situations where the fighter rocked quite a bit. But controls that moved with the pilot's hands, making it possible for him to control them in basically any position or situation.

Not wanting to miss the first look of the fighter tech, as that one was usually the most genuine and unmasked one, Rosine simply remained quiet and watched the woman rather than the controls.

It wasn't unheard of in a ship, but it also wasn't commonplace...and rarely in a fighter. Lorelei watched, one brow arching before the other joined it. She looked over every detail without saying anything; thinking it all through. "You want to install these on the valks?" she asked, somewhat forgetting herself for a moment amid her curiosity.

"It's ready for a simulation," Rosine nodded in agreement to most of Lorelei's statement. She hadn't quite gotten approval yet to retrofit a real valkyrie, but that would - hopefully - be the next step. "Once we have enough simulation read outs, I can analyse them and send them up to the command chain for further approval to get a pilot out on these specs."

"Fascinating," Lorelei said, pursing her lips slightly with interest as she thought it all over. "So, how can I help? I can get my hands in it once a plane needs retrofitting, although I don't do many of the sim runs. Although I have done some."

Pointing to another lonely console in the far corner, Rosine walked over. "I've programmed a few scenario's, so we don't need an actual pilot yet. But if you could help me analyse reaction times and accuracy between default navigation and these simulated ones, we can hopefully together conclude that I can take my idea up to the XO and the CAG to prepare for a real flight."

"Sure thing," Lorelei said with a nod. Having a brother as a squadron commander helped a lot of her understanding beyond that of the "average" flight tech.

Rosine was happy to hear that. It's about what she'd expected, but still, the woman could've said no. No good tech ever said 'no' to new stuff though. With a smile, she deactivated the fighter and went back to her original seat. "I'll schedule some simulation runs over the next few days. I'll make sure to check your duty roster so it's convenient for the both of us, but thank you already in advance for helping me out."

Lorelei smiled. "Glad to, sir," she said with a nod. "I think this is gonna turn out pretty interesting."

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lieutenant Rosine Deschamps & Petty Officer, Third Class Lorelei Romanov (apb Bella)

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