Behind the Scenes

Posted on Sun Jul 7th, 2013 @ 3:52pm by Lieutenant Commander James Christie & Lieutenant T'Lara Johanson

Mission: Renewed Beginnings
Location: USS Iapetus - Main Engineering
Timeline: Concurrent with Squatters
Tags: H'wak, th'Zarath

[USS Iapetus - Chief Engineers Office]

"Lass ah ken yer just meaning well, but I've had it wie all this paperwork" Jock pushed the collection of PADDs into an untidy pile. He eye'd the small stack that T'Lara was still holding against her chest.

"Can we get in tae it ag'in the morn'? We'll be droppin outta warp in a mo." He stretched, reaching both arms up and trying to crack the stiffness out of them. T'Lara looked at him sternly, "It is important that we make a full evaluation of the new systems, including but not limited to the efficiency of the new intermix chamber which Mr Cohen had installed." She proffered one of the PADDs hopefully.

"Nah, fer sure I'll read it, but the noo ah'd rather get a bit mair hands on yea ken? 'Sides am wantin tae go look at this Nebula" Jock waved the PADD away and stood up, pulling his jacket from the chair back and slipping it on.

"I understand Sir, I will return to my other duties." T'Lara put the stack down in the middle of his desk, pointedly, and stalked out playing up her affront.

"Dinnae 'hink ye got awa wie that." Jock called after her similarly mock angry. T'Lara was efficient and keen, her chief was very pleased to have her on board even if she did seem overly fond of paperwork to him.

Jock chuckled, walked over to his office window and watched the glowing warpcore. He could see members of the engineering crew making adjustments around the base and he was just in time to see the colour fade and the dull constant thrum diminish as the ship dropped from warp onto impulse drive.

"All hands, we have arrived at the McAllister Nebula. If you're looking for a more stimulating view than the starscape, I suggest you get to a window." The Captain's voice came over the comm system as Christie stepped out into main engineering, he sounded amused to the engineer, a good thing in Christie's book. The chief strode out of his office into the hubbub of the main engine room.

"Ms T'Lara, can we hae a wee peak at the main sensor array?" T'Lara obliged and a set of environmental readouts on the 'pool table' was replaced by an image fed from the main view screen. Christie smiled at the multi coloured gas and the little flashes of ion storms. This would be a good test of the new systems.

"Do you think we'll be here long Sir?" A stout Andorian petty officer supervising the impulse drive consoles asked.

"A'cht, how should I ken? Couple of days is the mandated maximum, you fancy a bit of sight seeing?" Christie rummaged around in his memory to recall the man's name, "Mister th'Zarath", perhaps he should put more time into T'Lara's crew reports.

There was a thrum from the other side of the room and a rating called out, "Shields being powered from the bridge Sir, grid is stable - looks like they are doing some fancy phasing work.", not an unexpected development and Christie acknowledged with a wave of his hand.

"We will be scanning and mapping the nebula for a maximum of 72 hours according to Starfleet protocols." T'Lara was fascinated by the image and began to manipulate the controls to zoom in on a spiral cloud of gas.

"Aw right, back tae work. I want a constant watch on oor nacelle particle counts, dinnae need this muck gettin in oor baffles. Mister th'Zarath, keep yer eye on oor impulse wake. Rawlings and Stevens git tae transporter room 2 and tell Mister H'wak that yer tae use the time tae sort out his ghosts." Christie picked on the two closest ratings who had drifted over to look at the display.

The result was an increased amount of scurrying and console staring by the remaining watch crew keen to avoid a boring day chasing phantoms through the transporter logic circuits with the raptor like Transporter Chief H'wak. With the engineers all back to work Christie paced back and forth enjoying the sights and smells of his new ship.

After a few minutes Jock was tired of acting the tyrant and considering returning to his desk and catching up on the paperwork before T'Lara could generate more when a computer chirp and a startled sound caught his attention. "Report" he barked at the young woman. She blinked a couple of times "We have launched the ready probe Sir, directly out of the nebula."

"Interestin' did the bridge hit a wrang button?" Christie asked, disinterestedly, launching probes was part and parcel of a survey after all.

"No Sir, but they reconfigured it as a subspace relay immediately before launch", the woman replied.

"Well, am sure they ken what they're up to." Christie looked upwards as if to the bridge, his tone expressing some doubt.