Work Smarter, Not Harder (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 03 Sep 2023 @ 3:57pm by Lieutenant JG Fynn Taymor & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Edited on on 03 Sep 2023 @ 3:58pm

2,790 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Various
Timeline: MD 17, 1338 hrs

Previously, on Work Smarter, Not Harder (Part 1)...

"Neither have I," Vansen finally said before he bit his lip, thinking about it. "Wouldn't know any songs to sing."

"Thought you would have all kinds of songs growing up where you did." Donald said admittedly surprised at it. "Songs about space maidens, sirens, getting up to shenanigans at port. Unbelievable stories about space gribbly's."

"Was just me and my parents most of the time, on the ship," Vansen admitted before he shrugged. "Music was...not there. It was extra computer space we didn't need."

"That's a shame," Donald said shaking his head slightly inside his suit. "music and singing can lighten terrible loads, keep you motivated and can be a lot of fun especially of you change the lyrics to something raunchy or obscene." He moved around the hull plate continuing the welding. "I'll have to teach you some shanties."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Port Warp Nacelle, Jefferies Tube

In Jefferies tubes of Galileo's port nacelle Chief Naime crawled her way over to where Hel was working on the plasma injection system. This being one of the more delicate of the day's repairs and with the rest of the work going smoothly the chief wanted to get a look at this part was going with her own eyes.

"Hey Hel." She tried to be quiet so as to not make anyone jump. She clambered round to be next to her friend and see the injectors. It was all a bit tight on space up here but she was used to being so close to Hel after so many hours fixing up Trial. In fact compared to the nacelle access tubes of their old ship it was almost roomy here. She laid down her toolbox on the floor and tapped it lightly "Got a flask of coffee in here if you'd like some."

Hel smiled as she looked at Naime, shaking her head. "If I start now, I have to take a pee break. Caffeine runs right through me and we don't have that sort of time." She looked over the injector, taking a slow but deep breath. Working with the Plasma Injection System meant going through every single valved magnetic injector, each warp field coil and checking the ODNs too. Including the redundant ones. "Would be great if we could have Ops look at the phase-synchronisation software, to make sure it's still up to task."

"I'll tell Ensign Mimi to add it to her list." Naime went into her toolbox and pulled out her checklist, added another item and the pulled out the flask of coffee. "Those injectors..." She leaned in next to Hel to get a closer look as she gulped down some of her lukewarm beverage "They look so much newer than the ones we had on Trial. And yet they're what let us down."

Hel smiled weakly, shaking her head. "Sometimes, just because something is shiny doesn't mean it'll work better. But by the end of this, she'll be purring happily with us..." she paused, frowning slightly. "The ship, not Mimi."

Naime laughed a little, she couldn't help it. It wasn't a big laugh, it was quiet and close, as if to say that the important part was less so the reaction but more the shared moment between friends. She took another gulp of coffee. "I got some news. Going to tell everyone else once we get the warp core back up. Want everyone focused for the conduits." She sighed and put a hand on the bulkhead, these would be the last few hours where she was queen of this ship. Without the hum of the warp core it felt oddly still, almost dead. "They're bringing in a lieutenant to take over the department."

Hel let out a breath before she nodded, checking her work before continuing. Habit. Work, check, work again. "Was bound to happen," she finally said. "If only to make the Admirals feel better. This ship could run without any officers. Most likely better than with. But it's how it is." She paused, frowning before her yellow eyes went to her friend. "It sucks sandbugs."

"Was bound to happen." Naime repeated "I'm sure it'll all end up for the better." She sat there in the quiet for a little moment, sharing the company of someone she trusted. She couldn't view what was happening as unexpected or even unreasonable but it was a little sad all the same, and she was glad to have someone that understood.

"Thanks Hel, you always know what to say." She put down her coffee and gestured to damaged injectors "Now let me help you out with these." There was always more work to be done.

Hel nodded, smiling as she offered over one of the tools. "Let's do this," she said and winked before she shifted to give Naime some space.


Deck 2, Mess Hall

"At least they kept the replicators online when they shut most of the ship off." Donald said as his burger materialised from the replicator. "Don't ever eat combat rations unless you're dying, they're horrendous."

"You just don't spice them properly, like all your food," Hel poured some hot sauce over her chicken before she picked up some with her fingers, biting into it. Pure protein, not a carb in sight. It was part of her people's diet.

"Combat rations aren't that bad, are they?" Constantin asked as he picked up a potato wedge. He liked drier food anyway, so had replicated himself a bowl of sweet potato wedges, whatever that was. It liked how they tasted.

"They're a miracle of high grade nourishment in a small package but they could have made them taste better." Donald sat down opposite Constantin as he spoke.

Constantin looked at the hot sauce Hel had used and reached for it, putting some on the side of his plate. "Sounds efficient. I grew up on things like that, small and quick to eat that packs what you need. Taste doesn't matter that much right?" He tried some of the hot sauce and coughed, reaching for his drink.

Hel grinned, taking another bite of her food. "Humans are strange. If you don't like something, add something to make it nicer. If it is really about survival, does it matter what it tastes like?"

"There were whole wars fought on earth for spices and flavourings." Donald told Hel. "The British empire controlled big swathes of earth because those areas were important for trading things."

"British Empire?" Hel looked at him with confusion before she took more to eat, licking her fingers after finishing the bite. "You can't control a planet. The planet controls itself, lets us live in its ecosystem if it's merciful enough."

"Tell that to humanity before first contact and every civilisation ever." Donald countered. "People need resources to expand, the only way to get them is for someone to control the area they're available in and sell them to someone else."

"And societies can be just as brutal as ecosystems." Naime joined in, putting down her tray on the table next to the others. "They had a saying in my hometown that if the cold doesn't kill you then the work shifts will. We've got it lucky here in Starfleet. Climate controlled ships and the worst that happens if we don't meet our quotas is that Tarin will take away our toys."

"It's fine, we can always take off the inertial dampeners just for a test...specifically, on the bridge..." Hel said lightly before she finished her food.

"And this is why you'll always be my favourite. That sort of out of the box problem solving. A lesson for all of us: some problems can be easily solved by making our superiors uncomfortable." She gave Hel a slap on the back before tucking into the food on her plate. It was only a moment though before she had stopped again "What am I even eating, this tastes awful."

Hel looked at the food before she suddenly grinned. "Sandcave worms," she said and tutted. "A delicacy because it takes so long to gather but best..." she took the bottle of hot sauce and offered it over. "With this, and maybe some vinegar to make it edible for off-worlders."

"That's what I get for playing replicator roulette." The chief grinned and grabbed the bottle out of Hel's hand. "Don't take it personally either, my sense of taste is only slightly better than my sense of smell." She opened the bottle and got to work.


Power Transfer Conduit Cavity, Between Decks 4 and 5

It was late afternoon and the team down in engineering were hours deep into the most tedious part of the day's repairs. In the cavity above main engineering where the PTCs ran from the warp core they poured over every last centimetre of the tritanium and aluminum borosilicate tubes scanning for any fracturing or faulty welds. Already that afternoon they had needed to replace four segments of piping. Each one of those a mammoth task in itself as the slightest imperfections in their work would only make the ship's issues worse. It was unimaginably tedious work, and it was taking a toll on all of them.

"You better not be falling asleep on me Donald." Chief Naime called out to the closest member of her team. She was trying to make light of it all, add a little humour to this nightmarish task but even her best efforts rang a little hollow. "When this is done I promise you all we can head over to the station for a drink." When this is done... even as she said it she knew this was going to be a while yet.

"Not sure I'll want to," Hel admitted, but with a small smile. "I want to have a look at some of the other systems. Like the transporters and replicators." And truthfully, after working so close with people for so long, she wanted...some time on her own.

"Tired of us all?" John quipped. "Tell you the truth, can't blame you." His face went from a tired smile to a serious one. "Can't blame you, but you need downtime. This is bad enough, but hitting the rest right after, mistakes are going to be made by being so tired."

"I'm sure she'll want to spend some quality time with the warp core once we've got her turned back on." Let's try to keep it light, Naime thought as she continued the scan of the segment in front of her. If any serious conversation started it would only distract the team from the job at hand. "Just like I'm sure you'll be off with your dashing young fiancée the moment we give you a chance."

"Wait?" Hel looked at them with confusion. "You are to be wedded?" she asked John, pointing two fingers in his direction.

"Guess not a well-kept secret." John made a face. "Yeah me and Ensign Mimi. We were hoping for something on base, but might have to beg the captain if we get sent out again."

"Good luck with that," Came Donald's voice from out of sight. "Told you before Tarin would probably have you flogged if you asked her to do it.'

Hel laughed at the words, unable to stop it. "Why you need permission? It's between you two, only need your words against the stars and it's sealed, right?" she looked between John and Naime, confused.

The chief shrugged, her eyes remained glued to the scanner in her hand, watching for anything that might indicate a problem. "For some people these ceremonies are important. Earth people especially. I won't judge, but the whole dressing up and solemnity is not for me."

Hel shook her head before she looked around, considering it for a moment. "Each to their own. Sounds complicated to me."

"What? Come on, Hel don't you want to be a part of things? I could gently twist Mimi's arm to make you a bridesmaid. You'd look cute in a nice dress. Show off them curves rather than Engineering coveralls." John added the latter to tease her a little.

Hel let out a breath of fake annoyance before a wicked smile came to her. "I can show off what I got without a little dress..." she said, the smile becoming a grin. "After all, can't crawl in a jeffries tube in a dress now, can I? Would be all sort of undignified..." she winked, her yellow eyes on the man. "You'd look good in one too though. What was the word you used? Cute."

"No way. Butt's too flat." John was not going to get embarrassed easily. He had a sister and he doubted Hel could come with anything that he had dealt with growing up.

"And on that note, I am walking far, far away from you all," Hel said before she shook her head, smiling as walked away from them, her long legs putting distance between them and her quickly.

Naime shook her head and turned back to the scanner. "Right, now no more distractions okay? We're doing a job and I need perfect attention from you all."

John only shrugged. "Yeah, let's get on with it."

There was a rustling sound from the back of the group, and a slim Bajoran officer came into view... of some of the team. He looked with a friendly smile and offered a small wave to the ones he with him he could make eye contact. "Good afternoon! Um, my name is Fynn. I've been asked to, um, join the crew, and I thought I'd say 'hi' and see where I can help until my formal transfer tomorrow."

Oh joy, another distraction. So much for the plan to tell everyone once the warp core was back on. "Lieutenant Fynn! Welcome to the PTC cavity." Naime kept her eyes on the job as she spoke "We are currently running scans of the PTCs to find segments that need to be replaced become of some micro-fracturing that led to a warp failure."

"An officer," Came Donald's voice, "Someone tell me he's just visiting?"

"No Mister Andrews, this is Lieutenant Fynn." Naime's still glued to the scanner in front of her, half to be on the job and half because she did not want to have to deal with this right now. "Lieutenant Fynn will be taking over as chief engineer here on Galileo."

"That's right," Fynn confirmed, pulling himself over towards an undisturbed section of tubing. "I'm really looking forward to the opportunity, and to getting to know each of you. Um, in the meantime though, I'm not a big one for formality or ceremony or whatever. There's work to do, and I'm here to help."

As if on cue, his communicator beeped. "Lt. Karras to Lt. Fynn." Fynn acknowledged, and the counselor's voice filled the workspace. "Can you please meet me at my... at your quarters on Deck Two? It's a bit time sensitive."

"On my way, Mr. Karras," Fynn replied. Crawling back from whence he came, he offered his apology to the team. "Apparently I'm not here to help just yet. But, um, I'll check back in once I've seen to the Lieutenant. It was nice meeting you all!"

John waited until the officer was out of sight. "Well, ain't that just like an officer, "I'm here to help, oh, never mind." I wonder if that was arranged. I remember a buddy in medical telling me the docs would do that so they could get out of meetings."

"Used to get Hel to do that trick for me all the time back on Trial." A slight wistful tone in Naime's voice as she recalled different days now behind them "There was this commander, real bore. And you know, sometimes mistakes happen in engineering and I have to be called to clean things up and I tragically have to leave the meeting early. That's just how things work out sometimes."

"Yeah. Well, let's get this finished up. I want off this tin can for a little while," John grumbled and started his scans once more.

[OFF]

--

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

PO3 Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

PO3 John Hollenday
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

LTJG Fynn Taymor
Chief Engineer
USS Galileo-A

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