Getting Ship Shaped

Posted on 05 Jan 2013 @ 10:27pm by Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,700 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 14 - 0925 hrs

[ON]

Sitting in her new and plush ready room chair, Lirha reviewed the latest batch of engineering status reports which were coming in across various areas of the ship. It had been a long two weeks of repairs and refits, but Starfleet's engineering teams were almost finished with Galileo's final departure preparations. The once-crash-damaged Nova Class now sat upright on her landing struts with a fresh set of hull plating which glinted brightly under Vega's bluish sun.

Suppressing a yawn and folding one leg over the other, Lirha set the PADD on her lap and reached down to take a long swig of hot chocolate from her favorite mug. She was tired of reading every updated component report and instead would have much preferred for someone to simply brief her. A slightly genius idea popped into her head and she tapped her commbadge to summon her chief engineer, a woman who she had barely seen at all during shore leave. "Saalm to Ensign Peers, please report to the bridge." she said, hoping Lilou could give her a more straightforward analysis of her ship's systems.

Lilou stumbled out of the sonic shower at the sound of the captain's voice echoing from her combadge. "On my way, ma'am," she reported in as she hurriedly dressed. She wasn't sure what would necessitate her actually going to the bridge when a simple work request order would probably be easier, but maybe there was a station malfunction that needed immediate correction. Wouldn't that be an Operations issue? Not that she couldn't handle it, but... she shrugged, grabbing her tool kit on the way out of her quarters. She barely had time to braid her hair on the ride up, but she was as neat as she was going to get as she stepped off the lift onto the bridge. She'd been avoiding it, specifically. For a breath, she stood on the spot where Will had died, then forced herself past it and towards the captain's ready-room, tapping the doorchime to signal her arrival.

The chime sounded softly throughout the ready room causing Lirha to place her mug down. "Enter." she called out from behind her desk, then looked towards the door in anticipation of Lilou's arrival.

"Captain," Lilou nodded her greeting and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. There didn't appear to be anything amiss thus far. The chime had worked, as had the door, nothing was smoking on the bridge, and the ready room looked to be in perfect working order. Was she in trouble, she wondered. Had she missed a meeting? Had they decided to give Engineering back to Markum, after all? She wouldn't have minded. Not that she didn't love the job. Mercy, did she? She did. She loved the job. Of course she did. It was in the plan, just a ways down the line. Maybe it was her scores from the course Quinn had logged her into. She'd had a odd feeling about her answer to the question about time space continuum enigmas - it had felt like a trick question... Still, why would the Captain take an interest in her scores? She had to have much more important things to do. So not that. Complaint? She hadn't met her newest transfer since he'd come on board at docking, but surely even if he'd lodged a complaint it would have gone through Operations and not Command. More likely, it would have come from Quinn. Maybe something had happened to him?

The Orion captain smiled and gave the engineer a polite nod as she entered the ready room, then motioned towards an empty seat across the desk. For once, Lilou looked...well, clean. Lirha couldn't be sure if she had just gotten out of the shower, but there were no dirt or grease smudges on her face or hands, and her uniform looked extraordinarily crisp. "Good morning Miss Peers," she said in a soft voice, "Please have a seat. I hope I didn't pry you away from any of your duties."

"Seeing to your needs is my duty," Lilou said, dropping into the chair provided and setting her tools down beside her. "Yours and the ship's." She cleared her throat. "Everything all right?"

"For the most part, yes. The ship repairs are almost complete and we can hopefully put back out into space within the next few days." the captain relied, then leaned back in her chair and pushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes. "How is everything with you?" she asked, softening her tone to accompany the more personal question. "I feel as if I have barely seen you the past two weeks, ever since the ceremony...have you been enjoying your shore leave?"

Lilou cocked her head to the side, bird-like, confused for a second by the words. Shore leave? Right. The reason there hadn't been too many people under foot during the repairs. "There was a lot to get done. Whole portions of the hull and accompanying shields, then all the interior damage, oxygen routes blocked, gravity sensors glitching - well, you know, from the reports, don't you? Anyway, all the major issues have been dealt with now. Operations is clearing up the last glitches in the systems. For us, now, it's just aesthetics and algorithmic adjustments in the new consoles, and we should be clear skies." As she spoke, her voice warmed, as though she were talking about a healing pet or friend, rather than an inanimate ship. Well, the Galileo wasn't inanimate anyway. She probably did have a consciousness; they just hadn't found a way to hear her past the AI. "Yes. I'm enjoying it very much. It's very rewarding. And quite useful having fewer people wandering around while we were working." She smiled quickly, almost furtively, then ducked her head. "And you, sir?"

Lirha shrugged as she began to recall some of the previous week's events, of which there were many. "It has been productive, thank you for asking." she answered simply at first, then proceeded to elaborate. "I spent a few days here at the colony doing a bit of sight-seeing, and also got to visit some old friends. Captain Moore, the freighter captain who gave us a tow, was also kind enough to pay us a visit and meet our command staff. Her ship's engines are undergoing an overhaul due to the stress Galileo put on them, but I managed to authorize a repair team to assist her and her crew." she said, then paused as she crossed her legs and took another long swig of hot chocolate from her mug. "I've been meaning to ask you...how do you feel about your new position as chief engineer? It is obviously a bit more work being a department head now, but I feel that you are well qualified and capable of handling the responsibilities."

"It's..." Lilou trailed off, twisting her mouth to the side thoughtfully. "With your permission to speak freely, sir, it's an honor, a privilege, and a joy, but I'm not sure it's possible for you to find anyone in the fleet more suited to CEO of this ship than Markum Quinn. That said, I am doing my best to come close second for you."

Flashing the Trill engineer a small smile, Lirha nodded. "I think you have been doing a fine job so far. And unlike other Starfleet captains, I'm blessed with not one, but two excellent candidates for chief engineer." she replied, then let out a soft sigh as her thoughts turned to Quinn and the meeting they had had at the beginning of shore leave. "Chief Quinn has unfortunately experienced a great deal of trauma recently, and it has been a challenge for him to use and adapt to his new prosthesis." she went on to explain, "At his request, I transferred him to Chief of the Boat, a position that we both felt would be better suited to help him during this time of transition. So don't worry, he will still be around to help keep an eye on Galileo and to assist you as necessary."

The idea of Quinn assisting her was mind-boggling. Still, Lilou held her expression still and her shoulders straight. She knew Quinn had experienced trauma. The trauma had been partially her. If she'd known more about the body than she did about the mechanics of an air filtration system, she might have been able to save him with all his limbs intact. She glanced down at her hands, then forced her gaze back to the Captain's. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." She cleared her throat, "If there's anything I can do to be of assistance..."

"I can't think of anything at the moment. As long as we are ready to put back into space within the next two days, then I will be pleased." the captain replied, knowing full-well the various types of glitches and roadblocks that sometimes presented themselves after such a large repair and refit.

"We'll be ready," Lilou asserted. On that count, she was confident. There was still a lot to do, but she would get them to the finish line on time. Engineering would hold its end. She rose, hoisting her toolkit. "I should get back to it. If you think of anything you need, sir. Just let me know."

"Of course." Lirha replied with a friendly nod, then picked up her mug and took a long final swig of the warm chocolate drink. "I look forward to reading your final readiness report before we depart."

"As I look forward to handing it over to you and getting on our way. This girl wasn't meant to hover beside perfectly well-studied colonies." Lilou offered a quick grin and ducked her head as she slipped out and back into the lower levels of the ship.

Lirha watched as Lilou exited her ready room. No, no she wasn't, she thought to herself with a sense of pride for her tiny Nova Class starship.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed