The Ship's Check-up.

Posted on Fri Mar 4th, 2011 @ 4:12am by Commander Acle Walex & Lieutenant Commander Zim Drex

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: Engineering Bay
Timeline: --

Acle exited the turbolift and headed down the short corridor to then engineering bay. As an Executive Officer (twice over now), he had received general training in all the departments of a star ship. Even with that general training, however, Acle still felt that he had a weakness when it came to the highly technical engineering department. Which, of course, made him especially glad that they had such expert engineers.

Acle strode through the blast door leading to the bay, the noises and general din of the engineering bay at work greeting him as he did so. Although he could have simply done what he wanted through his communications badge, Acle liked to personally go to some of these meetings. He looked about for the Chief Engineer for a moment, not instantly spotting him.

One of the Emergency Engineering Holograms was adjusting one of the plasma conduits at about knee level, below Engineering station four. Upon spotting the Commander, the hologram's bald head rose to look the XO in the eyes. "Ah yes. You must be the overseer responsible for productivity. You left your photonic bullwhip on the turbolift I assume."

Drex came running as soon as he'd heard the hologram's crude remarks to the commander. "Computer, deactivate E-E-H beta."

The hologram immediately faded into nothingness. The flux coupler he was holding hit the carpeted deck with a muffled thud.

"I am so sorry about that Commander. The holograms do help me speed productivity, but their interpersonal skills are worse than a Klingon Targ." He straightened to a full upright position of attention, with an engineering kit at his side. "All systems should be coming back online in..." He looked toward a panel behind him. The scurry of crewmen and scanning equipment ceased, and the sound of systems powering up was heard throughout the engineering section. "...now."

He gave a satisfied nod and reached down to pick up the instrument dropped by the EEH. "Really it was a small technical miracle, considering I received the schematics for the Iapetus only three weeks ago! There are still a few minor bugs to work out, but I'm sure before long I'll have her humming like a Tarkalean dragonfly." These small bugs could have been anything. Starships, particularly one as new as the Iapetus always had little hiccups that needed to be shaken out in the first few years of spacefaring. He left out the point that they could happen at any time. For now anyway.

Acle smiled faintly at the hologram's antics, but, stayed silent. He looked about as the bay began to come to life around him. He had never been in the engineering bay itself when the ship's heart began to beat again. He looked back to the chief engineer, he faint smile fading to be replaced by his usual "professional" expression.

"I concur Lieutenant. Please, extend my congratulations to your team on getting the ship running so smoothly again. I am sure that you and your team will be able to smooth any of these minor bugs, without any difficulty whatsoever." Acle said.

Acle smiled suddenly, flashing white teeth, then said "And I didn't even have to break out my... What was it?" Acle paused, as if sudden thought "Ah yes, photonic bullwhip. I'll make sure to keep it handy though."

Drex swallowed, feeling like he had just dodged a phaser blast. He lifted his PADD and typed in a quick note to adjust the hologram's subroutines in Holodeck two after the briefing. Fortunately the XO didn't sound like he was going to toss him out the airlock--for that, he was thankful. "I've also taken some actions to mask our warp energy signature. I know the Captain has been tracking the Romulans, and I've learned that you can never be too careful with giving away your position. They're like that one guy you don't like to show up to poker night. You know? The guy that always wears sunglasses, no matter how casual it is?"

He chuckles a little. As he continues, he makes the shape of an ellipse with his blue fingers. "Anyway, normally, the warp field of the Iapetus would be like a marching band on a stroll through a Starbase at 0200 hours. Now it'll be more like...a single trumpet. If they're not looking for us, they may not find us right away." He nods "Kind of like the old Klingon adage. J'hoq Torkos!" He shouted, suddenly, before translating in a more conversational tone. "Stay upwind of prey. Although, with the Klingons, staying upwind may just be a good idea altogether."