Necessary Disruption

Posted on 28 Aug 2016 @ 11:46am by Vorian Sulvai & Lieutenant Parisa Rykov DCS
Edited on on 01 Sep 2016 @ 6:49pm

3,391 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: USS Black Hawk | Chief Engineer's Office

Lieutenant Rykov sat behind her work terminal in her office in cold dead silence, the only sound keeping her company was that of her breathing and the distant voices that she heard once in a while from Main Engineering, but nobody had bothered her in the past few hours she had been tucked away in the privacy of her office. Granted there was pretty much a Do Not Disturb sign on her door. Whether there was a physical sign or not, people knew well enough not to bother her. She was on medical leave of absence until otherwise stated. After her latest 'incident' where she slugged two of her engineers square in the gut, and the other in the jaw, sending them both the Sickbay...there was surprise among Engineering that she had still kept her job and was not stewing in the Brig.

It was all taken care of though, and now Rykov had to spend some time on a medically forced leave of absence until she was cleared to actively return to duty. Of course girls will be girls, especially naughty ones who don't listen to Napoleonic power mongering Chief Medical Officers. Rykov was using her 'leave of absence' to work on whatever she wanted wherever she wanted, and her office within Main Engineering was a second home to her.

She did not anticipate any guests stopping by to see her. In the off chance that the Chief Medical Officer bothered to check on her, she left her comm badge in her quarters. At least that would be the first place the computer would report her being rather than in her office. If worse came to worse and the Chief Medical Officer came to Engineering looking for her, Rykov had jury-rigged a small personal transporter device that would take her to her quarters in a heartbeat if she needed to evade medical capture.

Unlike the rest of the staff in the Engineering Department, Vorian never had the pleasure to meet Lieutenant Rykov, the department head. When he came aboard Lt. Rykov was already on leave and he had to report directly to the new XO. After which he took over Engineering and began making sure the department kept on working properly.

Compared to Rykov he wasn't much different. While he was calmer and did not use force or anger to intimidate his subordinates, his special condition made sure he always felt assaulted by their emotions when they were around him. That coupled with his strange but cold gaze and sometimes laconic orders meant that the Engineers quickly had to learn to adapt to quick orders, usually given through hand signs and one or two words.

Failure to comply with his orders or if they were lazy and late in applying them and their assignments, usually meant a cold stare and an even colder shoulder. Vorian would make a point of assigning those engineering to the or similar tasks until he was pleased with their performance. If an engineer had a bad record Vorian would personally assist the engineer during several training scenarios he would organize in Engineering, trying to recreate the situations where the engineer had been failing. As such the department functioned more or less with the same efficiency it had under Lt. Rykov, even if some in the department ended up a bit overworked.

So, without knowing the habit of staying out of the Chief's office when the Chief was inside and given that he had been using that same office himself lately, Vorian walked in with a PADD in his hand. He was going over what secondary non-essential repairs to the ship were needed and how he should prioritize them. As such he did not see Rykov sitting in what he had been considering to be his chair as of late. Suddenly feeling her presence much more intensely than the rest of Engineering.

Raising his head to look at the other person in the room he raised his Betazoid eye at her. "All right, usually I mind visitors, but consider me intrigued. Who are you and what are you doing in Engineering unannounced?"

Lieutenant Rykov had the advantage of knowing who the man in her presence was. She had read his personnel file thoroughly before approving of his coming aboard the USS Black Hawk as part of her Engineering Department. She had even read over his reports in her time on leave. Though the two had never once occupied the same physical space until just now. And he had picked a horrible time to do it. Lieutenant Rykov took a very deep breath before standing up from her seat and casting a very stone cold glare in the man's direction. "GO OUTSIDE" she said loudly and abrasively. "LOOK at THAT TITLE" she added.

She waited for the man to do as she instructed.

"What does it say?" she asked non-rhetorically. Before he could open his mouth she laid into him with her tone. "IT SAYS Chief Engineer, doesn't it?" she added. "Well, then that's who I am and I will be in MY ENGINEERING and MY OFFICE whenever the hell I feel like it" she said as she promptly sat back down in her seat. "Now, what can I do for you, Lieutenant Sulvai?" asked Rykov as she reached for a cold glass of water that was sitting off to the side of her desk.

For his part, Vorian did not go outside to look. It was a useless exercise and he had for the most part a perfect Vulcan memory. Nor did he do anything else but keep his eyebrow raised at her as she almost yelled at it. "While I do admire the strength of your lungs, vocal cords and eye sight, those prove nothing of your rank, position and person. Even if you are who you claim you are, you are on medical leave and not supposed to be in this office until you are cleared for duty."

Approaching the desk he placed his PADD on it casually then approached the replicator and ordered a glass of water as well. Leaning on the wall near the replicator he looked at Rykov. "So, either calm down or I will have to ask for proof of your person, which you are unable to provide. That would lead me to be forced by regulations to call Security to detain you. Unless you desire to spend the night in the brig the question you must answer is what can I do for you Lieutenant Rykov?" he spoke typically like a Vulcan, coldly and with each word measured and timed.

Rykov smirked at the man and scoffed. She did not move more than an inch or two and kept most of her attention on a PaDD that she was reading. "First of all, Lieutenant" began Rykov in a more relaxed albeit forced relaxed tone of voice "You may call Camila Di Pasquale down here if you feel safer with security, but I'm part Romulan and pretty damn emotionally volatile right now so I feel confident in my abilities to give her a good run for her money" said the Chief Engineer.

"Secondly" added Lieutenant Rykov with a sigh "I do not take orders from you. YOU take orders from ME...so get that through your head now before we have any further problems down the road, otherwise I will find a means to transfer your ass to the nearest garbage scow on maintenance detail" she added. "Thirdly, I am not cleared for ACTIVE Duty...this here is not ACTIVE duty. I'm LEISURELY looking through some reports. Oh and Finally, how would you like me to authenticate my identity for you?" she said.

Rykov crossed her arms and looked at him. "Hm?" she said impatiently. "Would you like for me to piss in a cup for you?" she asked shaking her head.

Raising his eyebrow at her again her approached the desk and took the seat opposite to her, picking up his PADD while leaving his cup on his side of the desk. Then he continued his scheduling work he was doing on his PADD since before entering the office. "You know, I believe I would rather enjoy watching you giving security a run for their money, as you put it. Similarly I am also a half breed, part Betazoid and I find your emotional state quite the study case. Fascinating even."

Leaning in chair to make himself more comfortable he continued. "And while you may not take orders from me, I do not take orders from you either. Not until you return to active duty. Thirdly, if you are not on active duty you can leisurely check those reports anywhere else but here, after all Engineering is for active personnel only." Looking at her for a second before returning to his PADD he cleared his throat.

"And I would prefer if you would please keep your hands and bodily fluids to yourself and away from my ass. I would prefer to keep this office and Engineering as a whole not contaminated. So, now that we've settled to keep our fluids to ourselves, do you have any questions or inquiries of me?" he asked on the same tone as he spoke until now.

Rykov let out a bit of shrieking laugh and picked up her PaDD and stood up from her seat. "Don't knock it until you try it. Your ass might enjoy some loosening up around here" she added as she left her desk area. "You can have the desk...for now, but I will be back on active duty soon, Lieutenant and payback as they say...she can be a bitch" added the Chief Engineer. "My kind of gal" she scoffed.

Looking up at her again he nodded. "I look forward to having you around Chief. If you play your cards right I might even smile at you. Though my ass is still off limits and claimed already, my apologies for that." he too got off and offered her his hand to shake. "If you desire you can have the chair and stick around, I won't tell. But if you insist I can, how they say on Earth, write you a check for that payback right now?"

Softening his expression just a little bit he motioned to the Chief's chair inviting her to take her seat back. "Now that the introductions and mutual threats have been exchanged, do you wish to discuss the state of the department? I could use your input on something and since I believe you have been keeping tabs on me it shouldn't take long to bring you up to speed with what I have planned."

Rykov nodded agreeing and took her seat back. "I prefer to stay here for the time being, Lieutenant. Thank you" she said with a sigh. "Computer, lower the temperature by five degrees" she said immediately as she tugged at her attire. "Hotter than hell in this place" she added excusing herself somewhat.

"Right...right. The Department" she continued. "What is the current state of the Department as you see it, Lieutenant?" she asked preparing herself for his assessment.

"I agree, it took me a while to get used to the temperature as well. As you see apart from using your desk your office is for better or worse left untouched. Apart from the obvious wiring and broken panels left by the recent combat situation. I haven't gotten around repairing since it is not on my essential list as the moment." he replied offering her his PADD with how he had categorized the need for repairs aboard the Hawk.

Top of the high priority list were segments of the power grid still needing work, communications, then the generators, shields, strengthening sealed breeches and transporters. The medium priority list had objectives such as replicators, medical equipment, phaser arrays, computers, consoles, etc. On the low priority list were quarters, hallways, officers, holodecks, the lounge, everything that was basically not essential to the current needs to keep the ship flying and combat ready.

"I have been ordered to assume the role of Acting Chief Engineer shortly after the blackout. Since before that I have tried to keep the Department running as you had it established. My methods might have varied but I believe I kept the end result more or less the same. We suffered some casualties, including having part of a deck full of crew quarters being flown into space during the recent encounter in the nebula. We are simply put understaffed. The engineers are working twelve hour shifts to compensate but it is not enough. I am trying to keep them functional and trying to avoid any mental breakdowns right now from overworking. Also I have them paired in teams of two to increase speed of repairs with varied degrees of success."

"Understaffed and overworked" said Rykov crisply "That is how the Engineering Department always is aboard the USS Black Hawk. Has been that way since I came into the Engineering Department and worked my way up. I ask for more and more engineers and they keep sending me these baby faced boys and girls who can barely wipe their behinds much less make a halfway decent repair" she said shaking her head.

She quickly looked up the current personnel and duty roster for the Engineering Department and noted the several losses. "Some of those that we lost were halfway decent engineers" said Rykov, high praise from her. "Unfortunate as it may be, they knew the risks when they put on their uniforms and just because you go into Engineering does not make you safe from harm" she added sharply. "Pull from other Departments as necessary. Operations, Flight Control, and Tactical should have some personnel that can be of use to you. If their respective Department Heads throw a fuss just stand your ground and tell Harvey that if he wants his starship back to fully operational, he'll give you the men you need."

Vorian nodded and let out a grave sigh. "That is the fate of every Engineering Department, no matter what ship it is on. Not many like getting their hands dirty or spending time in cramped tubes fixing wiring. As for our losses, they were unfortunate, however they could have been worse, so there's that." Looking at Rykov for a few seconds he continued. "How soon till you can return to active duty? We could really use you right about now."

Looking over his own PADD and checking the personnel roster he took a moment to decide on something. "Now, while I know I can take a few people from those departments, I wish I could take Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast in. He had been in Engineering when we were under attacking, very casually taking over the operation of the department. He seemed competent." Vorian reported curious to see Rykov's reaction.

"I'd return right this second if I could" replied Rykov throwing her hands up in protest. "It's that spotted Napoleonic power monger in Sickbay that is preventing me from returning to active duty until my 'time' is over and my emotional state starts calming down and my body is done going to war with itself" she said with a sigh. "I will try to do what I can to get back on duty" she said.

She bit her lip and breathed deeply. "Competent enough" she added, commenting about Bast. "If you by competent you mean easily manipulated and used as a Consortium puppet" she said sharply. "Second Officer or not...I still do not trust that man."

Taking a sip of the water in his mug he gave her he gave her a hint of a smile. "I can talk on your behalf to the spotted Napoleonic power monger in Sickbay if you wish. I found that the good doctor is a very reasonable person, maybe I can change her mind. There is no promise of success but I will attempt it at least. These are extraordinary circumstances after all."

Drinking the rest of his water he went to get a refill. "If I talk to her she is likely to request a medical check-up to see if you are ready for duty. It would be of great help if you would exercise restraint for the duration of the check-up. As for the Second Officer, I am still a Vulcan and expressing certain emotions is unfitting of me. But I did feel overly protective of our department when he came in and began ordering our engineers as he saw fit. I admit to overreacting at the moment. However I do not have information on him to form a consolidated opinion at this time."

Rykov could read body language enough to know that when it came to the Chief Medical Officer, this Vulcan -- half Vulcan adjusted somewhat. "Alright, let's be straight here...are you and the Doctor sexually involved?" asked the Chief Engineer. "I know. That's none of my damn business, but seriously. If you are...you could do better."

For a second if Rykov would be paying attention she could see a slight red tint appearing and then dissipating on Vorian's ears. "My personal life is private and not open to discussion Chief." Taking a second to assume control of his breathing and emotions, attempting to prevent himself from appearing too over protective, he continued. "I will be approaching Lt. Commander Jayla in my capacity of Acting Chief Engineer and present her the current need of capable engineers that the Department is suffering from. Then I will relay our conversation and my objective assessment of you, as well as my recommendation that you are sound of mine and more than capable to return to active duty in this time of need." he presented his intentions trying to regain his typical Vulcan tone.

It was hard to maintain his so called Vulcan-ness when thinking or talking about Jayla. The Betazoid part of him always sparked up when he was thinking of her. "Regardless of my relations with the Lt. Commander, I will not be appealing to them. I hope you can understand that Chief. The good Doctor is reasonable enough to not warrant anything else but a respectful, direct and honest approach."

Rykov grumbled. "WHY" she said with a sigh. "Why does she always get guys attention around here. What does she have that I don't? Is it the spots?" Rykov shook her head. "I don't care what or who you do in your personal time, Lieutenant...I just don't want to see that woman any where near my Engineering."

Vorian raised his eyebrow at Rykov, surprised to hear that the apparent conflict between the two officers ran deeper than he had expected. "It is not the spots. I have a rather unpleasant condition where until recently I found it impossible to filter out the emotions from those around me. I absorbed like a sponge due to some Betazoid quirks that my body never adapted to. Until now people for me were like great noise boxes, the more around me the more pain I was in. Doctor Jayla was the first I met who instead of being a noise box, she was warm calming soothing presence. And of course there is the matter of her smile and that she helped me find a working solution to my problem. Some things Chief run deeper than physical appearances."

Rykov held a finger up in protest. "No...no more" she said shaking her head. "Believe me, my stomach already feels off as it is. Anymore of this and the nausea will get the best of me" she added. "Continue your work with repairs. If I can be cleared of my medical leave of absence, then I will be back as soon as I can be to assist."

Vorian grinned at her. "My apologies, did not mean to upset your stomach Chief. I will talk to the Chief Medical Officer, but will need a few days to get it sorted. I will notify you when I have an answer. Until then Chief, if you have no need for me, I need to head out and check on the progress of a few teams."

Rykov simply dismissed him with a simple swing of her hand, gesturing for him to shoo.

 

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