A Request

Posted on 21 Jun 2016 @ 9:53pm by Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

647 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Back post

Lieutenant Jonathan 'Sunbeam' Kilmartin had come from the Hangar Deck to the bridge of the Black Hawk. His task was a relatively easy one; negotiate with the Chief of Operations for some more power reserves to help cater for the extra Starfighter that was now aboard the ship. The only problem was, Kilmartin had never met Lieutenant Commander Bast and so it was going to be interesting arriving on the bridge and identifying the man who was in charge of the ships operations.

Bast looked up as a shadow suddenly appeared over the Operations console, and saw a man in a flight suit, wearing a Lieutenant's pips, standing before him. "Lieutenant..." Bast began, prompting him to introduce himself.

Kilmartin took the offered opportunity to introduce himself, "Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin, or Sunbeam to my friends. Deputy Squadron Commander," the man smiled as he offered a hand to the seated Operations chief.

"Temerant Bast," replied the Trill, shaking Kilmartin's hand. "What can I do for you?"

"It would appear that my arrival on the Black Hawk has caused a bit of a problem on the Flight Deck," Kilmartin mused with a bit of a smile, "we have an extra Starfighter now and I'm here to request the extra power reserves for the industrial replicators so that we can properly maintain and repair an extra fighter," the Terran told as he recalled exactly what his department head had tasked him with.

Bast sighed. Power allocation was getting to be a critical issue on this ship, as had become painfully obvious during the crisis on New Risa. He brought up a display of the current power allocation plan, and scratched his chin as he analyzed the output. "For the kind of power allocation you need, I would need to cut power by fifteen percent to Astrometrics..." He punched a few keys, changing the power allocation table. "Or by five percent, if I also cut ten percent to the Galley, and eight percent to the medical lab." He shook his head. "Let's not cut the medical lab," he amended. "I can decrease power allocation to the Holodecks by three percent, and the Rec rooms by ten percent." He looked up at Kilmartin. "Think the crew would go along with that?"

"Ultimately sir, it's orders. If we need the power consumption to help protect the ship then so be it,"the Squadron deputy leader shrugged. Not every consideration could be made for the comfort of the ships crew. If that meant a drop in power to the holodecks or the galley then it needed to be done in his eyes.

"Ship operations will always take priority," agreed Bast. "And in an emergency situation, I'll draw power wherever I can and reroute it to your maintenance crew. But in a non-emergent situation, scheduled maintenances are just that - scheduled. Bear in mind that we're in a twenty-something year-old ship, that wasn't originally designed to carry this number of fighters. The power grid may have been overhauled, there's always room for improvement. When your fighter isn't being serviced, I have to restore power back to the areas I mentioned."

"As you wish sir," Kilmartin smiled as he watched the Ops Chief tap away at the console.

"Done," said Bast after a few minutes. "Your power allocations are granted during Alpha and Beta shifts, and power is restored to the secondary systems during Gamma and Delta shifts. There's also an emergency protocol in place to make the power transfer effective at all times during yellow or red alerts." He paused and looked up at the pilot. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"No sir," the Lieutenant smiled, "that will keep the Squadon commander quite happy I am sure," Kilmartin told. "I'll leave you to it sir, thank you," the pilot spoke before departing from the bridge.

"Any time," replied Bast, as the pilot walked away.

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