Making Connections

Posted on Tue Aug 10th, 2021 @ 10:35pm by Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy & Captain Elijah Rutherford

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Current
2355 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Elijah had sent a message to Murphy, the Chief Engineer of the USS Majestic, having had asked the second officer if he'd want to be the XO. There had been a rather firm statement of no thank you. However, Elijah still wished to meet the engineer personally, and also go see engineering as well. With that in mind, Elijah made his way to engineering. The door opened with a quiet swish, and Elijah stepped inside, gazing about. There were some curious glances towards his entrance, as other engineers were going about their duties. There had been rumors of a change in command but hadn't had any official meeting.

Elijah just watched for a few momenst then walkecd towards where the warp engine was, to gaze upon it. While he was there, one of the ensigns went to find Murphy, "Sir, there is someone in engineering looking at the warp engine, I'm not certain whom he is."

While Lieutenant Commander Murphy hadn't formally met with Captain Rutherford, he of course recognized the man's profile immediately as he rounded the corner with the ensign at his side. "It's fine," he shooed the junior officer away before continuing on toward the commanding officer.

Rutherford definitely looked older in person than the 41-years his biography claimed, Murph decided. He remembered thinking the opposite of the previous person to hold the role -- Jane was younger looking, but smart-as-a-whip and no less competent. He took great pride that he was there for Jane the moment she stepped off her shuttle, and he was now feeling slightly guilty that he'd barely even returned Rutherford's messages. Starbase Adna had really thrown him off center and he was still feeling it.

"Captain Rutherford," Murphy addressed, trying not to sound bothered or surprised by the man's presence. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Just looking over the heart of the ship, and to actually meet you in person." Elijah replied with a slight smile. "Jane had turned over the keys to the ship so now I am checking the whole of the Majestic. I still can't believe Jane has entrusted me with her ship." he turned towards Murphy after looking at the warp drive once more. "Jane and I are old friends from Academy days. She and I had lost touch with each other. Comes from getting involved with the day to day running of our own ships. Still I did get some news as to how she was doing." his slight smile turning into one of fondness. "I had told her she was capable of commanding a ship, and so far I have seen a rather fine crew."

Murphy nodded, afforded the man a small smile, and said, "I think that's.... mostly true, sir. She's a fine commanding officer and she'll be missed. There's been a lot of fine crew on the Majestic." His eyes flitted back to the warp core, purring like a kitten. "You should be down here when we're at maximum warp. You can feel her in every fiber of your core."

"No doubt about that, I will have to be sure to be here when that happens. Nothing wrong in delegating someone to be on the bridge." he responded with a chuckle. "I used to do that on my other ship. Would go down to Engineering just to listen. Lily used to do that as well." he remarked, "Speaking of Lily, have you met Lieutenant Lily Marlow?"

"Of course, I know Dr. Marlow. She tried to come in here bringing fruit when she first arrived. I mean, I'm not entirely immune to bribery --- and I've noticed her fascination with the warp core," Murph replied, wondering if Rutherford bringing her up so casually was a sign of something between them.

"She did, yup definitely sounds like her. Lily's a good friend of mine and my wife's." Taking another look at the warp core then back to Murphy. "I met your fiance' Patrick, he is a lovely chap, definitely a really excellent Chef."

"Ah," Murphy's smile was subdued as he nodded. "Yes, he takes his job as the captain's chef quite, quite seriously. The wedding plans are still being.. eh, worked out... but no doubt, if we're having it on the ship, I'm sure we'll ask you to officiate..." Talking personal stuff in this environment wasn't quite natural for the engineer and he seemed mildly uncomfortable. "But obviously you didn't come here to talk about food and weddings, I imagine."

Elijah realizing that his mind was wandering. "I'm sorry, my mind is wandering just a bit. Shall we go talk in your office? There are some things I wish to discuss minus personal things. " giving a bit of a smile.

Murph dipped his head slightly, "Of course," before pivoting on his heel. The Chief Engineer's office wasn't too far away, on the same deck as main engineering but just outside of the massive blast doors that served as a safety containment in the event of a warp core disaster.

The office was simple and lacked almost any personalization save for a white-and-green spikey succulent-type plant sitting on the corner of the desk that thrived in the lower light and minimal humidity. There was a door in the back of the office that led to the engineer's quarters -- one of the design features of the Majestic-class that Murphy had once found both convenient and practical, but was now a bit of a redundancy since he'd moved in with Patrick on one of the actual residential sections of the ship. Now it was nothing more than wasted space that couldn't even be allocated to another crew member.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Murphy offered as they entered the office. It was a nicety that he didn't often offer up to guests, the captain maybe being the sole exception to that.

"A drink sounds wonderful" Rutherford replied, following Murphy inside. "nice office." he remarked, before taking a seat. "I am wondering about how fit you feel the Majestic is for travel and such. Does there need to be any repairs or items you are needing?" Elijah deciding to do this as more of a warm up, before he discusses another matter.

"Two Altarian sparkling waters," Murphy ordered from the small replicator, waited a few seconds for the tall glasses of royal-purple-colored liquid to materialize before he brought them over to the desk. "Well. We sustained no structural or systems damage in the last mission and my understanding is the computer core was not entirely breached in any way that would lead me to believe there is anything further we should be looking for there." He paused, setting a glass in front of the captain. "I believe she's fit for duty, sir."

"Oh good, glad to hear that." Accepting the sparkling waters. "Beautiful coloration. "Taking a sip of it. "and tastes good. Now, another more serious question, I'd like your opinion as to the holo sentients we've got on board. There has been a request for them to rejoined with their creator, but it will be search to find where he is at. Have you had any other contact with them, since they have been brought onboard?"

"I haven't," Murphy admitted, "I've had my fill of sentient holograms for awhile." He paused. "But if you need me to, I can talk to them."

Rutherford nodded, "I can understand your feelings, after the reports of what happened on that station. That... AI, Adna it was called? It was shut down and memory wiped. Once that little faction of other holo sentients was rescued. I'll only ask you to speak to them or at least one of them. I don't think you need to talk to all of them." Rutherford replied quietly. "Now for another subject, human wise. Since I do know you do not want to be my XO, what do you think of my asking the Chief of Science to be my XO? I would prefer having someone who has been with the ship for awhile, than requesting one who is not familiar with the ship nor the crew."

"Commander Aldrich?" Murphy sounded a bit surprised at the selection. "He's always struck me as somewhat reserved, but he seems to have a good head on him. I admit I've never spent much time around him. I'm sure that he'll find his footing in no time."

"I think he will, besides better to have a reserved XO than one who is as lively as the captain." Rutherford giving a laugh. "All joking aside, I felt he would be a good choice. I had thought of a holo XO but, with all that has happened with Adna station, I felt that would not have been a good idea. That was definitely thrown out of the airlock as soon as it came to my mind." taking another drink of the water.

Murphy bristled visibly at the thought of an AI XO, for more reasons than just programs going rogue. "I'm sure he'll be sufficient," he agreed, lacing his fingers together on the desk. "He won't go off-line when the power flickers, at least," the engineer smirked.

Rutherford chuckled, "That is very true. I had some offers from another source for an XO but they just didn't seem adequate, I tossed them back into the proverbial pond. They had the notion of they would want to lock horns with me or anyone else and not really want to communicate. A bit too ambitious for my taste. One such person I felt I'd have to keep looking for a knife in my back for a rite of ascension." his face going a bit more serious on this one. "I knew with in a matter of minutes that the person and I wouldn't work together too well. I was actually considering airlock.. I suppressed that desire."

"Airlock seems a tad drastic," Murphy chuckled. "You give the overly-ambitious actual work and not just supervisory duty and they quiet up pretty fast in my experience. I once had a brand-new ensign scrub an entire section of Jeffries tube with a bucket of soapy water and the smallest brush I could find. It did shine afterwards, I'll give him that."

Rutherford laughed, a deep down belly laugh, when it was over he said with a wide grin. "Oh I can already see that. and.. will confess I've been on the receiving end of that sort of humbling experience. Not from a commanding officer but, from my mother. Though my dad did say she was his XO, and not to back talk her. Yeah, there are times when a young man can test his boundaries just a tad bit too far. Her kitchen sparkled top to bottom."

Murph gave a solid nod, "Sounds like good parenting to me. Anyway, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not really, except I want to make sure we've got lines of open communication between us. And if you have something to say to me about something that you don't like, don't button it up, come talk to me, or bellow if you are of the mind to do so, in private. I can see how well you run Engineering, and also your diplomacy in dealing with a nosy captain coming into your realm." his eyes twinkling at his comment and a grin. "You are a good man, Murphy, hope we can work together to keep this ship running smooth, and on a more personal level as in hopefully become friends." reaching over to shake Murphy's hand.

"I've always had a very good rapport with whomever was sitting in the center chair, I see no reason that will change," Murphy replied, taking the man's hand and giving it a firm shake. "And I'm sure Patrick would love to have you and your wife over for dinner sometime. Please consider it an open invitation."

"Well, would rather make sure it is okay with Patrick, wouldn't want to face the ire of him again." unconsciously rubbing the hand that Patrick had hit with his wooden spoon. "That man is rather protective over his domain." he said ruefully.

Murphy's expression went a bit flat, "Oh? You've... you've had an issue with... uh..." He cleared his throat and turned a bit more red than usual. "He can be... yes. I can talk to him, if you'd like. It is your ship, afterall."

The engineer let that statement out for a moment before following up with the question, "Were you trying to sneak food afterhours? I find it best to use a replicator and not the kitchen."

Elijah chuckled, "Oh don't worry, Patrick and I came to an agreement of a sort. It's all good, and yes I was going to get some food afterhours. I'd not been told about Patrick and well our encounter was a bit, interesting. I won't go into details. He does make a delicious sandwich though." with a thoughtful look in his eyes, he mused, "I do need to see if he'd be willing to bring in lunch when I am on shift." giving a bit of a smile as Rutherford looked at Murphy, "Rest assured, there is no ill feelings between myself and Patrick. I do respect the passion he has for his cooking, and it shows in the wonderful flavors that is in the food."

"I'm sure he would be happy to hear that," Murph smiled as he gave a nod. The less he had to mediate between the captain and Patrick, the better. "So I'll let Patrick know that we'll host dinner. He will be ecstatic, I promise."

Rutherford nodded, "Then let me know and I can put the kids into childcare while the wife and I come to dinner." giving a bit of another look about the office, the captain then said. "Well I'm off, need to check on Jasmine to see if she was free to have a meal. She's a counselor here as well. Talk to you later Murphy." holding out his hand to give the Chief Engineer a handshake before leaving engineering.