Putting It All Back Together

Posted on Wed Mar 30th, 2016 @ 7:19am by Lieutenant Commander Daniel Divaro & Lieutenant Karen Walker & Lieutenant JG Kesiane Lisos

2,102 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Pathways
Location: Science Lab 3
Timeline: Current - After Reporting In

ON:

Divaro surveyed Science Lab 3. It looked far better than it did yesterday at this time but there was still much left to do. He had promised Captain Theisman that it would be ready by the end of the day but unless they got some help, that deadline might be in jeopardy. Then he suddenly remembered the new OPS officer he had met earlier. "Maybe she can help," he said to himself, then reached up and tapped his combadge.

=/\= Divaro to Lieutenant Lisos. Could you meet me in Science Lab 3, please? =/\=

Divaro barely had time to finish his request when the door to the Science lab opened and there was Kesiane. She looked better than she had earlier, more calm and collected, wearing a fresh uniform with her hair neatly braided. "Your timing was quite fortuitous," Kes intoned passively as she entered the lab and looked around, seeming more like the stoic Vulcan than the emotional Betazoid she had been before. "The Captain sent me to assist in the repairs, and it appears that you will need the assistance," she mused aloud as she took in the destruction. "What happened?"

"The best I can find out is that one of our Science officers had an accident and blew up the chemistry lab," Divaro decided not to mention that the science officer in question was the same one he had spent a quite enjoyable time with in the arboretum last evening. Most of the structural damage had already been repaired, thanks to Walker and her crew working throughout the entire previous night. All that remained now was replacing the consoles and control panels that were damaged or destroyed in the explosion, and then the final cleanup.

"We're just about ready to start bringing in the new consoles and panels," he told Kes. "And I think that will be your department..."

"Indeed," Kes replied, making a list on a PaDD of everything she would need. She overheard his thoughts about the Science Officer in question, but chose not to remark on it, instead maintaining her cool demeanor as though she were oblivious to this annoyance of a detail. "It may require several hours to replicate some of the necessary components to effect repairs, but I can have the supplies from storage delivered within minutes," she informed him once her appraisal was done. "I will send up the necessary supplies to repair the EPS lines first. Is this acceptable?"

"I think that will be adequate," he agreed. "I promised the CO that we would have the lab back online by 1800 hours. That gives us about 6 hours time. Do you think we can make that deadline or should I tell him it will be later?"

Kes looked at her PaDD then back at the lab, making some mental calculation before addressing Divaro. "I can make that happen, Commander," she said assuredly, certain that she could make good on that time frame. "I will return momentarily with the first of the supplies," she informed him, tucking her PaDD away and heading for the door. "Do not have too much fun without me," she added, made all the more humorous by her stoic tone.

"I'll try not to..." he said with a grin. He then turned and went in search of Lieutenant Walker to see how they were progressing. He found her about where he expected to find her--on her back under a console, legs extended into the walkway. "Hey Karen, come up for air. I need to talk to you." Slowly she wriggled out of the access panel and got to her feet. At 5' 10" she was almost tall enough to look him directly in the eye. "What's up?" she asked

"Just wanted to see if you think you'll still make the deadline of 1800 tonight." Divaro said.

"Didn't I tell you we would?" she asked.

"Yeah but..." Daniel managed to say before she cut him off. "But what? If I told you we'd do it, then we'll do it. Don't worry about it." She looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. "So who's the new girl I saw you talking with?"

"New OPS officer, just reported aboard this morning," Daniel said. "Name's Kesiane Lisos."

"Looks yummy..." Walker said with a smile on her face.

Divaro looked at her quizzically. "I didn't know you liked..." his voice trailed off.

"Male, female, I don't care..." she said offhandedly. "Old Karen gets her fun where she finds it." She looked at Divaro for a moment, then said "So since we're on a deadline, why are you standing around with your thumb up your bum? Go do something constructive so I can get back to work."

Divaro grinned at her before turning and heading for one of the other consoles.

Just about then, the door opened.

Kes had checked in with her people and got them started scouring the cargo bays for supplies and replicating what they didn't already have. Once all the first round of supplies were loaded on a lift, she returned with a couple extra Officers to assist, entering the Lab and distributing supplies. "I come bearing gifts," she said, her tone almost playful. "The new consoles should be here within the hour, that should give us just enough time to-" She stopped cold, her eye twitching slightly. "Commander, remember that talk we had in the corridor earlier? I ask that you inform your subordinate why she should mind her thoughts when she's around me," Kes said to Divaro, clearly irritated.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I will tell her to keep her thoughts to herself." Hearing that the new consoles would be soon arriving made him very happy indeed. "So once the new consoles are in, how long do you expect it to take before they're up and running?"

"Well, the consoles are easy enough to install, the chemical analysis equipment is what will take the most effort, but I am confident we will make the deadline," Kesiane said as she retrieved her toolkit, taking a length of conduit from the crate on the lift and getting to work. "And then there's calibrations, so that might push us over."

"As long as it's not over by a lot we should be okay," Divaro said. "You should have seen what this lab looked like after the explosion."

"I am confident we will make the deadline," Kes affirmed as she worked to lay down new EPS lines under the deck plating. "And seeing how much had to removed from the lab to begin with, it paints a fairly vivid picture. I hope the Officer responsible has learned her lesson. She looked over to one of her own subordinates and said, "We're going to need new fiber optics, these ODN lines are cooked," then the officer nodded and went off to get the new ODN cables.

Daniel had just been about to make that same suggestion to her when she sent her subordinate to get new cables. "You seem to know your way around in situations like this," he said. "How long have you been working in OPS? And do you have experience in damage control?" If she did, she would be a major asset to the Hyperion in emergency situations where there might be battle damage.

"Not long. I served as Assistant Chief of Operations on the Moscow for 8 months. Before that, I was a Communications Officer and Linguist. Working on the comms, I was required to learn the technical aspects, including repairs. The transfer to Operations gave me the chance to learn how to manage logistics of ship-wide resources and expand on my technical knowledge, but I have found it to be quite rewarding," Kes replied as she ripped out the old ODN cables.

"Well you sure seem to know what you're doing," he said with a nod. "And I'm guessing that since you did not answer my question about damage control that is not one of your areas of expertise."

"I've never worked as a damage control specialist, but I've had to oversee damage control teams. That's more delegating than hands on work, this is my first time taking part in a big repair. That is not a problem for you, is it?" Kes asked, looking over to Divaro.

"Not a problem. I'm just glad to have you here for this re-install of everything. Without your department and your knowledge of the ODN systems we may have been up a tree as far as making the captain's deadline is concerned."

"There's no need to try to inflate my ego, I know you were about to rip this mess out yourself," Kes replied with a hint of a grin. "I think you'll really appreciate my assistance when it comes to calibrating all the analytical equipment."

"I have no doubt about that," he answered quickly. "How long do you think it will take to get all the consoles and control panels installed?" He didn't want to appear impatient , but he WAS curious. The quicker they were done here, the sooner he would be able to get back to his post in engineering.

"Each console should only take 15 minutes to install once they are delivered, and if we finish EPS and ODN lines before the consoles arrive, then the hook ups should be just as quick. That is assuming the work teams are as quick and efficient as those I served with on the Moscow," Kes stated.

Thinking of engineering, he suddenly got an idea. "When we're done here, would you like a tour of engineering? Since our departments may be working in close proximity, you might want to get an idea of what goes on in my department."

"That would be acceptable," Kes replied with a nod. "I will need some familiarization with the Luna-class systems as well, so a tour would be appreciated."

"In that case, we may both be learning together," he responded with a slight grin. "I'm not all that familiar with the Luna-class myself. My last posting was the USS Indianapolis and she was a Norway-class. A lot smaller than this girl is."

"The Moscow was a Nebula-class, so quite a bit bigger than the Luna-class," Kes said with a chuckle, thought the chuckle was less for amusement and more out of relief. "Though the Nebula-class was the first to implement the pods and modular design that later went into other ships, like the Luna-class. Oh, by the way, I figured out what happened with those schematics; it was not an error in the fleet databanks, I investigated my copy which I accessed from the runabout that transported me here, and apparently the flight control officer neglected up update the computer regularly so it was accessing an old copy of the schematic."

"That would explain it, then..." Daniel said. "But at least we now know that it's not something that needs to be reported to the Bureau of Ships." He watched her for a moment as she worked. "Well, I will leave you to your devices and I'll go check on the rest of the crew." He then turned and started off in search of his ACEO. When he had found her, he quickly took her aside. "You might want to be careful in your thinking around the new OPS officer," he said.

"Why is that?"

"She is Vulcan-Betazoid and she can read your thoughts. So whatever lust you may have in your mind about her, you might want to keep it to yourself."

"Holy hell!" she exclaimed. "You think she knew I said she was yummy??"

"I'm pretty sure she did. That's why she said I should ask you to mind your thoughts around her." Divaro struggled to hold back a grin.

"Oh sh...! Something tells me I'm toast as far as she's concerned then. No chance there, obviously."

"Just keep your mind on your work for now Karen..." he said before resuming his round.

Based on what he was seeing, everything seemed to be going as well as could be expected, and he thought that, barring any complications, they should make the deadline. All in all, it seemed he had a pretty good crew and Walker seemed to be keeping them in line and focused on their tasks. There were a few renegades who liked to do things their own way but that was to be expected in a group of any size. Time would tell if they would come together as a cohesive group.

OFF:

LtCommander Daniel Divaro
Chief Engineer
USS Hyperion

Lieutenant JG Kesiane Lisos
OPS Officer
USS Hyperion

Lieutenant Karen Walker (ONPC)
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Hyperion

 

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