Meeting a new engineer

Posted on Wed Dec 6th, 2023 @ 9:49pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Shailyn Lothian & Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Engineering
1472 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

The moment she stepped onto the Majestic, Shailyn gaped just a bit. She was glad to be on another ship and not on a station. Her other posting had been on a station and she wanted to just be able to travel amongst the stars and see what was out there. She took time to check out where she was going to be sleeping, tossing her duffel bag upon her bed. Shailyn wasn't going to take the time and get her gear put away. She wanted to go see engineering first off. Plus she needed to report into the Chief of Engineering as well. A... Commander Angus Murphy.

Down to engineering she arrived, Shailyn taking in a deep breath the letting it out before she stepped inside. Her mouth dropped open, it was a thing of beauty! She looked around the stepped to where she could ask someone. "Excuse me, is Commander Murphy here?"

The bolian junior engineer Shailyn had encountered looked up from the console in surprise at the young crewman and spent just a moment taking in her image and rank before he threw a nervous glance toward a set of doors marked 'Chief Engineer' a short distance away. "He's not in the best mood," he warned in a dramatic whisper. "I heard his divorce got finalized."

Shailyn sucked in her breath for a moment, as she regarded the engineer for a moment, then she answered. "Well then, thanks for the warning. That's not going to make me run for the hills either." she stated, then flashed a quick smile. She straightened her uniform, then headed towards the door, and pressed the chime. She had at first decided to just walk on in, but nah best not to get cheeky at the first meeting. Today she was feeling sassy but best to hold off on that.

The doors slid apart almost without delay and the noise that poured out from the opening was LOUD and emotional, an old-earth rock ballad. The lyrics dripped of loss and heartache.

'Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain --- The music stopped abruptly.

Commander Murphy had been hunched over a workbench along the far bulkhead on a scattering of small parts with a hand-held laser welder that gave off a blue-green flicker. He paused and swiveled around on the stool he sat upon, his eyes enlarged through the magnifying goggles he wore for the type of tiny detail work he was doing. The goggles didn't help him see the unfamiliar figure any better so he pulled them up to rest atop his ginger-colored hair and rested his gaze upon her.

"Petty Officer... Lothian?" Murph recalled from reading her transfer paperwork. "You can report to Lieutenant Teach and he can give you the welcome tour. I am... a little tied up in things at the moment."

The music that had been playing, hit a part of her which made Shailyn stop abruptly when she took a few steps inside. The doors of the office closed quietly behind Shailyn. She swallowed hard, "Oh gosh, that music brings back memories. Kinda hits here really hard" she finally uttered tapping her chest over her heart with a closed fist.

It hadn't registered yet, the name of the one she was to report to.

"What are you working on, Chief?" Shailyn asked. It seeming that she ignored what Murphy had said. "And yes, I am Lothian." stepping further forward to take a peek at what he's working on.

"That music is like 400 years old. I'm surprised you've heard it," Murph commented as he swiveled back around to his project. "This," he exhaled softly, "Just some technology we recovered from a mission awhile back. Advanced holographic emitters with an evil AI core. The AI is... pretty much long gone, but the emitters could have some purpose in the right situation."

"You can blame my Grandpa Rufus Lothian. He was the chief Engineer of the USS Brixham, a science vessel before she was retired. He had a penchant for history, especially music from days gone by. He loved to listen to the various types of music especially when he was working on a project. Yup I am famliar with the music, and I like it a lot."

A step or two closer. "Another crazy AI? You had to deal with one?" she huffed. "I hate it when AI's go crazy. The engineering team I was a part, of had to deal with one, it was possessed somehow, and well it was destroyed." she gave a shudder. "Damned thing seemed to have had some sort of telepathy, which caused problems. I thought I had been sucked out into the vacuum of space for a moment or two, with how it attacked mentally."

"Sounds.... terrible," Murphy admitted, but was definitely not looking for sympathy over murderous holograms so he didn't confirm her questions. "Why are you an engineer?" he asked out of the blue.

"Why are you?" Shailyn countered, then she answered. "I am an engineer as I like to fix what is broken. Its easier to fix broken parts or maintain it than trying to fix a person. It is soothing, and I like taking care of a ship, or something else and getting it to run better or be just like it supposed to be. I have more of a knack of working with my hands. I take great pleasure when I get something working or even repurposing something as well."

Again, Murphy ignored the countering question and pressed her further, "Well, this isn't a scrap barge, we don't tinker around with recycled parts and shoot from the hip during repairs. There are almost seven hundred and fifty souls aboard and the captain demands one hundred percent reliability to execute the mission." He tightened his jaw a bit and then continued, "So, it's great that you can fix environmental systems or jump start a hover car but we have order and control around here for a reason."

Shailyn looked at Murph, "You are the one who is in command of Engineering. I come in, get my work orders and go do my job. If there is help needed then I go and assist. I will dig in and get things done. My tinkering on things is off the clock and in my own personal time. When I am on the clock I do what is needed to be done. Are you worried that I am going to sluff off and be gold bricker? I'll have you know I am not like that." Shailyn remarked rather firmly. "I also will keep at the job until it is done. I am not a nine to fiver." her eyes flashing with a bit of fire.

"I'm not worried you're going to 'sluff off,' I'm worried you're going to get yourself or someone else hurt by taking shortcuts with my ship." Murphy pointed a finger at her. "You might be a good engineer wherever you came from, but I think you still have a lot to learn from the ground up. If you're not interested in that route, I will have you transferred back."

He paused a moment, closed his hands. "You can start by getting a tricorder and checking and synchronizing every LSC junction box on the ship." There were hundreds of LSC panels on each deck of the Majestic, it was a seriously boring, monotonous, and repetitive task that would take a single person quite a bit of time and he knew it.

"I don't do short cuts sir, however you are right, I don't know this ship at all. Not yet anyway." She replied giving a firm nod then a slight smile. "Thank you sir." Shailyn knew what he was doing, this was going to provide her with knowledge of the Majestic, and even though what she was going to be doing was time consuming and boring, how else was she going to be getting to know this new ship? Murphy certainly does have a love for this ship and whoever came to be a part of this crew better make certain they were up to Murphy's standard.

Murphy gave the woman a crisp nod. The ability to take an order was a promising sign. He had no doubt she'd show him what kind of team player she'd be. "Good. If there's nothing further, you're dismissed then, Petty Officer."

"Yes sir." Shailyn replied actually giving a salute, then turned around and left. She felt this was going to be a good place to work, and loved the no nonsense manner that Murphy displayed. However it was time to work and she was looking forward to this. She stepped out from Murphy's office feeling a bit upbeat. She will have to go report to Lieutenant Teach as well.





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