No Rest for a Grease Monkey

Posted on Wed Feb 7th, 2024 @ 2:34pm by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant JG Baaru Liana
Edited on on Wed Feb 7th, 2024 @ 2:36pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Year One: Whispers in the Wind
Location: USS Moore - Main Engineering
Timeline: MD: 016 0900 hrs

Steve rounded the corner and walked into Engineering, double checking his PaDD. Shore leave was approved for all senior staff to the colony for the festival. He saw that the new chief engineer did not check in that she would be taking the shore leave. It was his job to make sure all was well.

Glancing around at the engine room, he asked after Baaru. A lieutenant pointing to where the chief was.

Standing at a station on the upper level, Liana was in the middle of preforming a standard diagnostic on the primary warp core, the replicators and the waist extraction system. She wanted to use the time while most of the crew was down on the planet enjoying some time off to get some of the lower-level maintenance requests out of the way.

Pausing for a moment to take a breath in, Liana looked up at the ceiling, "computer, play my working playlist please"

"Understood, playing 'working playlist' now" came the response from the computer before the opening notes to the old earth song 'Thunderstruck' could be heard coming from all around engineering.

Right now was one of the few times that Engineering was running off of a skeleton staff. only three of four other engineers, besides Liana.

Steve smirked when he heard the song and watched the reaction of the other engineers before making his way up to the upper level. Walking over, he made his way to the Bajoran/Cardassian hybrid with a friendly smile. "Keeping yourself busy I see."

“Nope, I was just familiarising myself with my new ship and figured I’d get some of these low priority tasks done while the ship is empty” Liana replied before turning to the man, “What can I do for you Commander?”

Steve smiled as he approached, showing the PaDD in his hand. “I was pretty sure I gave all senior officers shore leave to take part in the First Contact Day celebrations. But to my surprise, I find my Chief Engineer is still hard at work. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any problems or concerns.”

Steve knew that Baaru was half Bajoran and half Cardassian. He had mixed feelings about the entire political situation regarding Bajor and Cardassia, especially after the Dominion War, but was not going to let any preconceived notions keep him from supporting the young lieutenant.

“Nope, no problems. I just figured I’d use the spare time while everyone is on shore leave to get some stuff done and become more familiar with this wonderful piece of Starfleet technology” Liana explained as she gave the commander a shrug, “Besides, although I understand the sentiment behind it, I don’t think someone like myself should be celebrating the first contact between Vulcans and Humans. It’s an event that neither of my lineages are connected to in any way. So why aren’t you down there?”

Steve fiddled with the pads in his hand as he listened. His expression changed to one of sadness for the young engineer. He knew her history was complicated and being both Cardassian and Bajoran no doubt colored her world in a way he could never understand with their complex political relationship. But to hear her say out loud she didn’t belong at a celebration of the Federation’s diversity grieved him.

“I am supposed to meet some friends down there in a short while, yes.” Steve nodded, answering the woman’s question. The first officer stepped over to the console. “I understand if you want to stay on the ship. You won’t get any complaints from me. But I want you to know, you are a Starfleet officer. You are apart of the Federation, no matter where you come from.” He said softly but seriously. “This, is your home.” He added, gesturing to the ship as a whole for emphasis.

Looking around Engineering, Liana nodded, “Yes, this is my home, and like every new owner, I want to find out all of the quirks of this wonderful ship that sets her apart from the rest.” She said before returning her attention to Steve, “I’m not sure if you can appreciate this commander, but to me every ship has their own personality. The older ships like the Excelcior and Miranda class are stubborn but reliable. If you know what you’re doing, you can coax a little more out of them when you need it. This ship however, she just wants to go fast, and she knows that she can."

Steve couldn't help but smile as he listened to the lieutenant's sentiment and glanced around engineering and nodded. "I know what you mean. I spent my entire career on Miranda class vessels, including during the war. Not nearly as slick as this girl." He said warmly. Glancing at the Bajoran/Cardassian hybrid, he nodded as he stood upright, glancing at his PaDD. "Listen, lieutenant. It's your shore leave. If you want to spend it getting to know the ship, who am I to stop you? Just remember, there is a crew here as well. Make sure to take your head out of the plasma manifold now and then and spend some time getting to know them as well. Got it?"

At that, Liana smiled, "Oh don't worry about that Commander, I like to run my engineering rather... unconventionally. Isn't that right Jacob?" she called down to one of the engineers she knew was 'working' down below.

"Yes, Boss" came the reply a moment later.

Steve smiled and gave a soft chuckle at the exchange. He could see Engineering was in good hands and Baaru had a good grip on the people. "Well in that case, carry on, Lieutenant." He said with a warm smile to the junior officer and nodded before making his way back down towards the exit.

Watching as Steve departed, Liana gave a smile before returning her attention to the console in front of her. If a more senior officer didn’t seem to mind the relaxed way she ran her engineering staff, then just maybe this assignment won’t be so bad.

 

RSS Feed