Inspection

Posted on 08 Jan 2015 @ 6:01pm by Lieutenant Hictus Dicon & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,083 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Boarded
Location: USS Black Hawk || Engineering
Timeline: March 1, 2388 || 0915 hours

The transport with the new personnel wasn't due to arrive for another hour. To pass the time, Harvey chose to embark on his traditional morning inspection. For the first time, he was unaccompanied by a yeoman. Not having Emily by his side made this all the more uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he was a Captain by rank now. He had no choice but to get used to doing things alone, as he once did so long ago.

Harvey entered Engineering with an objective: locate Lieutenant Dicon. He was unable to immediately spot him, leaving him to stop the closest engineer. "Where can I find the Lieutenant?" he asked the Andorian crewman.

The Andorian crewmen looked up into the face of the captain and unconsciously tugged their uniform into a neater condition. " Lieutenant Dicon is in Jefferies tube fifteen sir, on the second level; at the back of Engineering."

"Jefferies Tube?" Harvey asked, looking towards the back of Engineering. He had to be the first Captain who had been in command of a ship for months and not yet used a tube. "Thank you, crewman."

Harvey crossed Engineering to the rear Jefferies Tube access junction. "Lieutenant Dicon?" Harvey asked, beginning to scale the ladder.

"Yes? One moment please." There was a series of clanging noise emanating from inside of the tubing. Dicon's head stuck his head out of the access-tube. "Ohh Captain, one moment Sir and I'll be down."

Dicon began to disentangle himself from the mass of cables he had been working on and began to back out of the tubing.

Harvey removed himself from the Jefferies tube, allowing Lieutenant Dicon the opportunity to exit. "I didn't mean to interrupt your work, Lieutenant," Harvey explained as soon as he saw the Chief Engineer's face. "I trust it wasn't a major repair?"

"Its alright Sir, its just Linkage fifty-one-sixty-seven. Its been giving the shift some gip for some time, just replacing parts." Dicon dropped lightly to his feet, a plasma cutter bouncing at his hip. "What can I do for you, Captain?"

Harvey looked back up the Jefferies tube, merely just to collect his thoughts and bearings. He would have to go crawling around in one sometime soon if for nothing else to get a better understading of the Black Hawk.

To the engineer, he said, "Daily inspection time, Lieutenant." Harvey, naturally, was referring to his daily routine, casually visiting each department on board. He did this for two reasons, to force himself to get out of his comfort zone and get to know his senior staff, and because it enabled him to address issues not normally submitted through paperwork. "Just checking in, really. The transport is due to arrive in a little more than an hour, and there's going to be a lot of turnover. I understand you'll be taking on a handful of officers yourself."

Dicon adopted a somewhat grin look. "Ahh yes, the 'green-horns' I am taking on a few more of them. Its going to take some time for them to be brought up to my standard. I am mearly hopeful it will proceed smoothly." Dicon picked up a pad and glanced at a record therein. "On a different note Captain I am submitting a request to security to look into the storage locker in lower Engineering. Things continue to go missing and I grow tired of it. I've checked the sensors in my off hours and no one enters the compartment, but we are missing equipment." Dicon shock his head in mocking.

Harvey accepted the PADD from Hictus and took a quick glance at it. This was the first moment he missed his yeoman by his side, and fortunately, it would be remedied within an hour. "I'll be sure to let the new security chief know when he comes aboard." Thumbing the display to off, and holding the PADD down to his side, he continued, "Hopefully, it won't take long to get your new crew settled. We're going to go in deep this time. Not sure how deep, but I bet it'll be a while before you can find some Federation parts. I hope you're stocked."

Dicon nodded. He had expected that the Captain would refer the matter to the new security chief, it was a relief to know he was being listened to. " Its not really critical stuff sir, that's what puzzles me; its all low grade tools. For example, three meters of conductive cables, two spanners and three cutting torches. If it had been valuable I would be rather more annoyed." Dicon began to stretch. "If I do find whoever it is, I'll just have them dumped in the brig, I don't really care about what happens to them after that. It just getting in the way." Dicon leaned to the side to shout at a crew-men "Melistern, don't hold the cutting torch that way you'll saw you're own leg off!" Dicon shuck his head. "Really, you would swear they were fresh from the Academy".

Harvey looked off to see a shower of sparks from the cutting torch. "I best leave you to it then, Lieutenant. There'll be a staff briefing at 1400, after the new arrivals settle in." Harvey walked off. He paused for a moment and turned around, hoping to catch the man before he disappeared back into the Jefferies tube. "Oh, and lieutenant?"

Dicon turned his head toward the Captain while fixing the cutting torch Ensign Melistern had issues with. "Sir?"

The captain politely excused Melistern, knowing exactly how this next move would turn out. "Lieutenant, you're about to be in charge of a majority of the ship's complement. I expect the officers under me to lead by example, including when it comes to the uniform."

Harvey pulled out a small, flat box from a concealed pocket. "Especially when their rank is full Lieutenant." He opened the case and took the liberty of replacing Hitcus' pip himself. "Congratulations, Lieutenant."

Dicon's face slackened in shock and awe. He stuttered out "T-thank you Sir, I'll see you don't regret it sir!" He was floored. A full Lieutenant, this is something to send home about, most certainly.

"See that you don't," Harvey responded with a smirk of his own. He glanced around the room, seeing that he was starting to attract some attention. "Carry on, Lieutenant." The captain nodded to the Chief Engineer and turned for the door, heading for the next stop on his tour.

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