Destroyer of Engineers

Posted on 09 May 2020 @ 9:39pm by Lieutenant Dijaat Parker & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,157 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Sentience
Location: Ready Room, USS Black Hawk
Timeline: MD 2 || 1400

That would be the absolute last time Lieutenant Parker would order pizza from a replicator aboard a runabout, much less have to travel so far to get to the ship where he'd been assigned. The Angst was docked at Deep Space Nine and the runabout that had taken him through the wormhole to find the Black Hawk seemed to have taken forever. The Half Romulan had boarded the ship, made his way to the bridge, across the bridge, and up to the Captain's office.

"Curious," He said over his shoulder before reaching up and activating the button that would sound a chime on the other side. He then dug around in his pocket to make sure he still had the lucky rabbit's foot that he always carried with him and in finding it breathed a little easier. He withdrew the black and white speckled object from his pocket, "With you I shall avoid blowing up the warp core," He muttered.

Harvey sat behind the desk, swimming amongst a sea of reports. It was extremely frustrating to him to have to deal with so many personnel changes just after ending six months of purgatory in drydock. Harvey mused that the crew must have clung onto hope that the ship would never venture back out into the unknown and chose to stay whilst believing that falsehood. Now that the ship was moving again, it was time for personnel, like Lieutenant Sorensen, to find opportunity elsewhere.

He didn't look up when the chime sounded. Harvey already knew his new Chief Engineer had arrived, so the person on the other side had to be the new arrival. "Come," he called out.

Dijaat entered with his hands interlocked behind his back and didn't bother to sit down as he spun around and tilted his head slightly, "Lieutenant Dijaat Parker, Romulan Half-breed, Master of Engineering, and Master of pranking an unexpecting crew," He paused... "I mean, Chief Engineering Officer of the starship Black Hawk, Captain." Dijaat paused again, "I'll not prank the crew..." He muttered.

The Captain wasn't sure what to think about the engineer's candor. Clearly, the man had some personality, and Harvey supposed some measure of boldness was required on Parker's part, especially since he was part-Romulan. It had only been a few short years since the destruction of Romulus, but animosity between the Federation and the Romulans still ran deep. Harvey, thankfully, was not one of them. "Welcome aboard the Black Hawk," Harvey greeted, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Thank you Captain," Dijaat responded with the same tone as before. "It was a bit of a trip to get here and I ended up stuck on Deep Space Nine for a day or two, but I managed to win some Latinum from Quark's so it couldn't be all bad I suppose." He mulled over the offer of a drink before shaking his head, "No thank you sir."

Since the engineer declined the opportunity for a beverage, Harvey remained seated. "Thank you for being available on such short notice. It's a shame we couldn't do this before the refit and the launch, but here we are. Such is life on the Black Hawk."

"I did catch the refit reports on my way here so I was updated... I understand that someone flew a shuttle or runabout through the ship's hull?" He asked rhetorically, "That must have been some sight to see Captain I'm sorry I missed all of the fun," Dijaat was being slightly sarcastic about it. He had read a great deal of the engineering reports from the ship's mission prior to entering drydock. It did not sound like a fun time from a damage control perspective... Not at all.

The Captain grunted, taking note of the engineer's mannerisms and lack of details. "I was on that runabout, actually," he plainly stated. "As for missing all the fun, consider yourself fortunate. The events in the Convergence Zone are none that any of us desire to relive. But at least the ship cleans up well."

"I read the reports," He answered the Captain, "I'm just glad to know that the ship and as many of you came out of it in one piece. Sounds like a bunch of nasty business if you ask me," He hadn't been aware that the Captain was on board the runabout. "I wasn't aware of who was aboard the runabout I just caught the engineering report with the notation of the necessity to crash the vessel into the ship."

"It was a tough call," Harvey admitted. "The ship had been taken over by parasitic lifeforms. As long as those parasites had control of the ship, they could take it wherever they wanted. At the time, we were orbiting a planet that was surrounded by a minefield, and the ship was employing a special generator that repelled the mines. By ramming the runabout, we disabled that generator and forced the Black Hawk away from the planet before the entire crew could be infected."

"So more than fun Captain," Parker responded with the same sarcastic overtone as he had used before. "Well, regardless I'm glad to hear that the ship came out of it intact. I'm presuming that all damages were fixed while the ship was undergoing repairs? No lasting effects?"

Harvey shook his head. "Nothing lasting. The skeletal structure's been fully repaired. More than half the hull has been replaced with new panels, and we've received various upgrades throughout the ship. In fact, we're out galavanting without orders, just performing your run of the mill shakedown."

"That's always fun," Dijaat responded quietly. "When is the shakedown set to occur? The main part of it anyway," He added at the end.

"This afternoon," Harvey spoke. He then looked at the chronometer on his desktop terminal and found himself forced to amend his statement. "Actually, in just a couple hours. I know you'd like to be in Engineering when that occurs, but we're starting off with some wargames shortly. I'd like for you to at least be on the bridge as we start, and then we'll determine when you can head down to the engine room."

"That shouldn't be a problem Captain," He said. "Right up front where all the action is, I always say," He stated as his accent seemed to get somewhat thicker before it let up a little. "Is there anything specific that I need to be aware of for this exercise?"

The Captain shook his head. "Just your standard wargames. Simulated fire, attacks, and damage. Once it's done, the XO will be offering his assessment of engineering and your staff, and we'll determine how to proceed using that information."

"Got it Captain," He said with a nod. Dijaat then departed from the Captain's office making his way straight down to engineering to meet up with some of his personnel and begin working immediately.

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