The Chief Engineer

Posted on Thu Sep 7th, 2023 @ 7:19am by Captain James Phoenix & Lieutenant Commander Richell Sorenson
Edited on on Thu Sep 7th, 2023 @ 7:20am

2,017 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Untested
Location: USS Horizon
Timeline: Before "Requirements"

The anticipated time for completion of the USS Horizon's upgrades were coming to a close and thus, all departments were rushing around trying to complete them. A new Chief Engineer was needed desperately after Commander Trenton's promotion to Captain. Despite this fact, James was able to find an hour or so of sleep, even if it was on his couch in the ready room. He knew of the meeting with his new Chief Engineer, he just wanted to get some rest before then.

A new ship and assignment was a welcome breath of life for Richelle. After her long recovery from the trauma of her last ship, she was ready to return to work.

Richelle's love and passion for engineering was what kept her alive. Always ready to fix and improve on starship systems, she had become a much sought after individual. Hopefully this would be her final home for a long time and the captain would understand about her companion/service bird.

Arrival of Richelle's Shuttle

Once the shuttle had landed on the pad, Richelle looked at Chilly, snoozing on his perch peacefully, and gently called and thought his name both verbally and telepathically. Opening one eye he looked at her sleepy, almost asking to be picked up. The trip for him was long and tiring and all he really wanted to do was sleep. She understood how he felt as she could sense his exhaustion and walked over and gently collected him. "Come on Chilly, you tired poor baby. You've had a long trip but we are at our new home so time to go," she said, collecting the bird, who was about the size of a large earth homing pigeon. Placing him in his special carrying cage, she collected her go bag and disembarked the shuttle.

Not needing any directions to her quarters, which were not far from her beloved engine room or her office, she dropped off Chilly and her go bag and headed for a quick look at her new domain before heading to the captain's ready room.

Engineering was well laid out as she had expected. All upgrades and other refitted items had been attended to and she made mental notes as to what she might improve upon. Smiling with satisfaction, she left silently, as there would be time later to introduce herself to her crew, and headed for the bridge and her meeting with the captain.

The Ready Room

Arriving, she hit the door chime only once as she sensed a tired man sleeping. Not wanting to really disturb him, it had to be done. So patiently she waited for admittance.

The sound of the chime was barely heard by the Captain, but enough to wake him up. He sat up on the couch for a few seconds and then quickly moved over to the replicator.

"Coffee, with cream please" he said before the beverage was beginning to materialize. "Enter" he called out towards the door.

Richelle entered carefully and walked up to his desk and stood at a relaxed stance. She could smell the hot beverage and smiled. "A nice cup of hot coffee after a nap is always a welcome drink. It helps to get the body and brain to shake off the weariness of the work captain," she said chuckling.

He raised an eyebrow for a second before lowering it. He had read Richelle's file as she was his new Engineering Chief. James remembered that she was a Betazoid. "That's one of the reasons why I like it" he chuckled before motioning to the seat in front of his desk to offer her a seat. "Commander Sorenson I presume? Would you like a drink from the replicator?"

A Ractijino please sir," Richelle said, taking the offered seat. "Yes captain, Lt. Cmdr. Richelle Sorenson, CEO at your service," she concluded. Looking around his office, she saw some improvements comfort wise, but now was not the time to go into it, but, "Captain, just how comfortable is your couch?" she inquired.

Just as Richelle finished talking the coffee finished replicating. James picked up the drink and pressed a few buttons on the replicator. He then took a sip of his hot coffee before setting it on his desk. "I'd say its adequate enough in terms of comfort. Not as comfortable as my own bed or the command chair" he chuckled as the Raktajino finished replicating. He picked up the drink out of the replicator and then set it in front of Richelle. "One Raktajino for my new Chief Engineer" he smiled as he moved behind his desk and sat down.

James had read Richelle's file a little while ago so he had an idea of who she was. "So Commander, please tell me about yourself" he requested after a few moments of trying to figure out what to start off with.

ENGINEERING

While Richelle was in the Captain's ready room, Chilly got fidigity and wanted to see the new place. He started playing with the key pad that unlocks his cage door. Richelle knew he was smart but she figured he would not learn the sequence of numbers to unlock the door. Well, guess what, she was wrong.

It wasn't long before the cage door popped open and Chilly took off. He succeeded is scaring two of the engineers that were closest to Richelle's office. They knew that the bird was their bosses and promptly notified her. =/\=Peters to Richelle, boss Chilly is lose here in engineering. He currently is sitting on the upper railing of the core. Do you want him transported to your location?"=/\=

"Oh my God! That smart little monster, I'm gonna kill him!", she said, looking at the captain. Getting the nod, she commend Peters back giving him permission to transport Chilly to her location.

Chilly not understanding what was happening, got caught in the beam and suddenly appeared in mid-air in the Captain's ready room. "Chilly!!! Shoulder now!" and he landed quickly on Richelle's shoulder. Red faced with embarrassment and angry with Chilly, she apologized profusely to the captain. "I am so sorry sir. I did not think he was smart enough to get loose. I can guarantee it won't happen again ", she said. She hoped he would understand and would let it slide. Chilly suddenly took off and landed on the Captain's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek in affection. Richelle almost died!

"Well hello there" he told the bird as he chuckled slightly before turning towards the CEO. "It's quite alright Chief" It really was. He had served with crew before that had pets or service animals. Hell, he was even considering adopting a dog or a cat at some point. As long as Ash was okay with it at least.

Richelle paled when Chilly decided to make friends with the captain. He had never done that before and all she could think was that Chilly saw something in the captain that made him feel secure and was relating the thought and action back to her. "Well I guess Chilly sees something that is giving him that secure feeling. I am glad he has seen that certain something that most don't have. A feeling of safety and security that one gives off", Richelle said. "Having a pet is a wonderful thing. You can interact with it on a daily basis and it can bring you a lot of joy as well," she added.

"It sure is" he began. "Commander Regan and I were even thinking of getting a dog or a cat at some point, but that probably won't be for a long while."

"A long while? What happened?" Richelle inquired.

James smiled lightly. "Nothing really actually. Pets are typically allowed on most Federation Starships, though it can be based on the chain of command. But with everything going on regarding the Horizon, her and I are busy. I'm not saying that it won't happen but the two of us need to flesh things out first.

"Ah, I thought something happened that made you change your mind. I know when a pet dies, usually people are hesitant to get another. It hurts to have a pet die, but I have learned that they die in their own time according to their species life span and care", Richelle said, motioning to Chilly to return to her shoulder. Reluctantly Chilly gave one more beak kiss to the captain and landed back on her shoulder.

"Yeah. It really does hurt" he trailed off while thinking back to any childhood pets his family had. After a few moments of silence, he spoke. "So, Commander please tell me about yourself."

"I don't know what I can add that you don't know already. My dossier is self explanatory ", Richelle said. It pained her to go back and recount the past and how she felt. Talking about herself was something she always tried to avoid.

He wasn't looking for much, just mostly where she had served, commendations, and that sort of thing. But he had also read her record and he knew some of the stuff she went through. James decided that he wouldn't 'pry'. "You do have a fair point Commander. I do have another question though. What do you think of the Horizon so far?"

"Thankyou Captain for not pushing the issue about my past. Now as far as the Horizon is concerned, she is beautiful. She is a dream for any CEO" Richelle said grinning.

James gave a simple nod in response to Richelle's thanks. "She sure is a fine ship. I have a friend in the Corps of Engineers who absolutely loves the Century's."

"They are good fast and sturdy ships. Any Captain and Chief Engineer would be proud of. Yet when you put an excellent crew on her, you have a Star Ship that out does every ship in the fleet. I know I am boasting but it is true sir," Richelle said turning slightly red in the face. Having just realized what she did, her face turned even redder in embarrassment and a single tear formed and rolled down her cheek.

"Commander, you are damn right. The ships may be great, but nothing makes them finer than their crews" he agreed but noting her reaction to her own statement. There wasn't anything wrong with what she had said. He sighed. He knew that Richelle would make a great addition to the crew and a great engineer. However, he felt that he kept her long enough. "Regardless, I think I've kept you here long enough. Do you have anything else for me? Or any questions?"

"Well there is one thing and I don't want you to think it insubordinate, but I want free reign when it comes to engineering and the orders given. If the order given is the wrong order, I am going to say it's wrong and tell you why and that I can do it without doing damage to the ship or it will blow up the ship of followed. I had an incident on my previous ship. I didn't get written up because I followed his orders and the ship in fact was damaged severely enough to be towed and hence decommissioned," Richelle said, hoping he would understand. That was all she wanted to say as she stood up.

James raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm no engineer so I'll definitely rely on your judgement. All I ask is if there is something you need to do that poses a threat to the ship or crew, then please find an alternative or let me or whoever is in command know of the situation and your options. If there is nothing else, then you are dismissed Commander."

Watching his new CEO exit the office, he began to sift through his reports once again. James reached for his coffee to take a sip only to find the cup bone dry. He got up and set the empty mug into the replicator to be disposed of before replicating a new cup of the caffeinated beverage.

 

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