Checking In

Posted on 18 Jul 2017 @ 10:21am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Kalvin Maddox & Commander Terry Walsh

1,953 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Squadron Offices, Deck 11
Timeline: Backpost

Kalvin stretched his arms over his head as he stood up. He'd purposely taken the rearmost seat on the runabout, it meant less jostling, and less interruptions by other passengers that wanted to talk. He'd spent the trip to the Black Hawk productively enough, studying the ships layout and schematics, as well as those of the fighters stationed onboard her. After reviewing the schematics and diagrams on his Padd, he'd idly worked on possible ways of increasing the output of the engines, increasing shield strength and weapons accuracy. The limited computing power of his Padd meant he'd have to run the designs through the holodeck later to see if they worked or more likely where the flaws were and how to fix them.

He collected his bag from the compartment over his head and followed the rest of the disembarking passengers. A few were officer’s and would likely be heading to their department heads or the ship’s Executive Officer, whichever was prudent. He was a newly minted Senior Chief Petty Officer and the new Chief of Fighter Maintenance. Prudency dictated that he make his way to wherever the Squadron Commander was. Likely in his office or on the flight deck. Looking around the area he didn’t see anyone resembling the picture in the man’s file, so he was likely in his office. If he remembered correctly, the flight deck itself was on deck 11, as were the squadron offices. The maintenance area was on deck 12, which is where he expected to spend the majority of his time. At least he didn’t have far to go to reach the offices!

With his bag slung over his shoulder, he headed for the offices. He wanted to check in with the Squadron Commander, find his quarters just long enough to drop off his bag and ensure the rest of his things had arrived, and then go down to maintenance and see what he was working with. That was his plan, but he knew how easily such plans could be changed. He was anxious to get hold of one of the new Gryphon class birds. They were relatively new and aside from seeing one in passing, he hadn’t yet been up close and personal with one.

Stepping into the main room of the squadron administration center he found a yeoman manning the desk in the center. One of the three offices off this room was the Squadron Commander’s.

“Excuse me, I’m Senior Chief Maddox, the new Chief of Fighter Maintenance. My shuttle just arrived and I was hoping you could point me in the direction of Lieutenant Commander Walsh.”

The Yeoman looked up and smiled. "Hello, Senior Chief. Petty Officer First Class Nerissa Darcy," said the raven haired woman. "Just a moment." She pulled up the most recent shuttle arrivals and checked the crew complement. There was indeed a transfer coming in and this was him. The blue eyed woman looked up, "Commander Walsh is in his office, to your left. And welcome to the Black Hawk, Senior Chief."

"Thank you very much." Kalvin said with a warm, friendly smile. He was a friendly person, he just had to get used to the new people first. He turned to his left and headed for the door she had indicated. He took a moment to take a breath before pressing the chime to indicate his presence. First impressions were important after all.

Terry was stretched out on the couch, taking a quick rest. He wasn't sleeping...couldn't sleep, really. He was one of those guys that once he was up, he was up. But he did have his left arm over his eyes and the lights quite a bit dimmer. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He hoped this mission would be a little better than the last. Then he chuckled, "I work for Starfleet. Not a chance this one will be better or easier." He heard the chime and sat up, putting the lights back up to normal, and called out. "It's open."

Hearing the summons, Kalvin stepped through into the office and stopped the required distance from the desk, set his bag down and came to attention. "Senior Chief Kalvin Maddox reporting for duty sir." He said formally.

Terry stood up and brushed down his uniform top. "Welcome aboard, Senior Chief," said Terry. "I knew we were getting a new Chief of Fighter Maintenance, but I didn't realize you would make it here so soon." He moved over to his desk and continued, "At ease, Senior Chief, and take a seat. Must have made pretty good time on your way here, huh?"


"We encountered no trouble along the way sir." Kalvin replied as he took a seat in front of the desk. "The stops were minimal, so I suppose you could say we made good time. Honestly I wasn't paying attention. I had schematics and deck layouts to memorize, crew files to read, and a new fighter to learn before I start tweaking them. I'll check the design tweaks in the holodeck later and see where the problems lay."

Terry smiled and nodded. "Jumping right in before you even get aboard...I like to see that kind of initiative and dedication. As far as tweaking them, they're pretty new off the line. But if you can find a problem or something that can be improved upon, by all means test it out and we'll go from there. I look at them like a starship. I'm pretty sure that some engineer somewhere sandbagged a little on the specs and the manuals."

"In my experience Commander, there's always something that can be improved no matter how small the improvement." Kalvin agreed. "I'll see where I went wrong in my designs when I get into the holodeck."

"Sounds like a plan, Senior Chief." Terry leaned back a bit in his chair. "So, tell me a bit about yourself. And not something that I can read in your personnel file." He gestured towards the PADD that was on his desk.

"There's not much to tell Commander." Kalvin shrugged. "My father was killed in action, so my sister and I grew up following my mother from assignment to assignment. Eventually she got back to Earth and remarried some time after that. I'd get bored at home and start tinkering with stuff, seeing what made it work. Sometimes it went back together right, sometimes it didn't. As I got older, more and more often it went back together right, Mom and later my stepfather started bringing home broken things for me to toy with and try to fix. Didn't much care for school, moving around so much it was hard to make any good friends anyway, so when I came of age, I joined Starfleet, Engineering was pretty much a given with my mechanical aptitude. Found I liked working on shuttles and runabouts more than warp cores. Eventually I got to tinkering with fighters and here we are now."

"It's sounds like you have good background as far as engineering goes," Terry said. He picked up the PADD and brought up the Senior Chief's service record. "I see that your previous assignment was...Fighter Maintenance Section on Starbase One Eighteen." He looked up the dark haired man. "Being the Chief of an entire Fighter Maintenance section is big step. How do you plan to handle your new leadership role?"

"By jumping in head first." Kalvin answered with a shrug. "The deck crew have to see me in there getting as dirty as them. I have to show them that I won't ask them to do something I'm not willing to do myself."

Terry nodded his head, "I like that, a man that's willing to lead by example and is not afraid to get his hands, and whatever else, dirty in the process. Oh, hey, I forgot to offer something to drink. You thirsty, Senior Chief?"

"Just water or tea sir. I've got a few hours on the flight deck planned before I settle into my quarters." Kalvin said with a smile.

Terry got up and went to the replicator. "Sounds like a plan to me. What temperature did you want and ice or no ice?" Terry asked. "We all know how temperamental these things can be."

"I just tell it ice water." Kalvin shrugged. "If I don't like it, I reprogram it. You should try it, oh that's right... Not an engineer." Kalvin said with a friendly grin.

Terry started laughing and told the replicator, "Ice water." When it appeared, he took it over to Senior Chief Maddox. "Here you go, Senior Chief Engineer. Now I know who to go to when something something gets jacked up in the fighter." Terry took his seat. "At least, I assume you'll be the one taking over maintenance on the bird I fly."

"Commander, once I hit that flight deck all those birds out there belong to me. You jocks just get to borrow them." Kalvin agreed with a smile. "But yes, yours in particular belongs to me."

"You won't get any argument out of me about that," said Terry. "I tell my pilots, or at least try to, that flying and dog-fighting is just a portion of their job. When the job is done, they have to deal with one of the most formidable and determined forces in the known galaxy, the Crew Chief or Chief of Fighter Maintenance." Terry looked at his new NCO and started laughing. "Back when I was flying for the Starfleet Marine Corp, I had a crusty old Light Colonel tell me, 'Woe to the pilot who forgets the care and effort that his ground crew puts into his bird.' and I haven't forgotten it." He paused a second and sighed. "If you ever have a problem with any of my pilots that you can't handle, let me know."

"Commander, if I can't handle the problem with the pilot directly I move to indirectly. I just ground their bird until they see my point of view. You jockeys cant stand being stuck on the ground.'

"No, we can't. Just watch the boundaries, Senior Chief. That's all I ask," said Terry. "If you ground a bird, make sure you have a damn good reason other than getting a pilot to see your point of view." He shifted a bit in his chair. "So, where do you go from Chief of Fighter Maintenance? I'm sure you have some plans and goals since you've put in this much time already."

"My old man was a Marine, a Sergeant Major. He was killed in action when I was three. Mom was expressly against me joining the Corps, so I joined Starfleet instead." Kalvin explained. "If I can match the old man and make it to Master Chief, I'll be pretty happy with things."

"Well what do you know," said Terry. "My dad retired as Command Sergeant Major for the Corp. Leon Walsh was his name. Diehard, crusty old Marine at heart. I used to fly fighters for them, too. Anyway, I think if you keep it up, you can get there."

"One step at a time Commander." Kalvin shook his head with a smile. "For right now I've got a flight deck to square away."

Terry chuckled. "Sounds good to me. I don't have anything else for you other than, welcome aboard." The bald Squadron Commander stood. "So, welcome Senior Chief. Have fun down on the Flight Deck."

"If you can't have fun at work sir, you're in the wrong line of work."

"I completely agree," said Terry.

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