Reporting On Board

Posted on 06 Apr 2019 @ 7:25pm by Lieutenant Astrid Jurgen & Lieutenant Lex D'Gracefull

Mission: Prologue
Location: USS Mark Miller

ON:

Lex'EL D'Gracefull looked up at the support systems, cables and lines that connected the USS Mark Miller to the starbase, as he marched up to the Security officer at the Docking tube access hatch. This system provided the hookups to provide power and communications while the ship was docked at the station, which allowed the ship to be on skeleton watch status. This meant many of the crew had been able to escape the confines of the small ship and enjoy a little liberty/shore leave.

Lex'EL set his two bags on the ground and said “Ensign Lex’EL D’Gracefull, reporting for duty.”  Handing the duty Security officer the PaDD with his orders, Dex Saluted and waited for the Duty Security Officer to annotate the Stardate of his arrival and log him into the computer.  The duty Security Officer saluted and said “Welcome aboard, Sir”, waved him to the docking hatch and handed Ensign Lex’EL D’Gracefull his PaDD back. Lex'EL walked over to the hatch, palmed the actuator and stepped through as the hatch opened. 

Walking towards the other end, Lex palmed the actuator and stepped on board the USS Mark Miller. Each time he stepped on board a new assignment for the first time, it was like an exciting new chapter, opened for the first time. Once the shivers passed, Lex'EL touched the control panel, and said: “Computer, what is the location of the Chief Engineering Officer?” A female voice answered, “The Chief Engineering Officer is located in Main Engineering.”  Lex looked at his Bags, back to his PaDD and decided that if his boss was up at 0400 then he should be too. Turning Left Lex headed to Main Engineering. When he arrived the compactness of the space amazed him, the warp core dominating the center of the room. Looking around he spotted the Chief, it was easy, she was the one conducting the madness all around her.

Lex'EL walked over set his bags down, saluted and said “Ensign Lex’EL D’Gracefull, reporting for duty.”  
Lex'EL stood at attention waiting for the Chief to respond.

Astrid turned from the panel in front of her and acknowledged the man standing behind her with a nod. "Welcome aboard Ensign." she indicated the chronometer, "I assume you arrived on the red-eye?" she asked, giving a PaDD to a passing crewman and indicating Lex'EL should follow her.

Lex'EL grabbed his two bags and followed the Chief "Yes, Sir, ...err  MAM" Lex'EL paused a second not quite sure how his boss wanted him to address her. Lex'EL had no problem keeping up with the shorter officer although she was quite fast for someone up this late or maybe it was early for her."Is this the starting or ending of your day, or do they all just blend together?" Lex'EL asked.

Atrid stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment, before walking on. "At this point, I'm not 100% sure," she replied, "I'm just looking to have as many systems verified as possible before we ship out, to be honest."

Lex'EL noticed that although she was shorter than him, she was athletic and all that muscle didn't look out of place, just made her look ... what was the word he was looking for... efficient... that was the word. Whereas he was just plain big and bulky, and being from 1.56 standard gravities world meant he was usually the one doing maintenance on large heavy things like warp coils, injectors, and other heavy items.  Not that he was clumsy, that was his brother's domain, and sometimes being the runt of the litter had its advantages. His big barrel chest made it a little difficult to get into confined spaces like she appeared to be, but she did have a graceful quality to her. Grace...  unlike his family name, he and his brothers were not gifted in that area. Lex'EL asked," have you found any flaws in the warp coils in the nacelles, this is a new ship but some times the yards don't quite get the alignments right and a 2% error can cause lots of eddies, and this can cause unwanted and sometimes unpleasant interactions with the power systems."

Astrid smiled to herself. "Not as yet Ensign, but this ship is running some quite interesting modifications from the standard Nova - we've been given some strict instructions regarding bedding her in." Astrid scowled, "In fact, there are some things they've told us we're not allowed to do for the first few weeks of active operation."

Lex'EL stopped and said rather loudly "what, they can't be serious... if a major system crashed we could end up having to be towed back to port. Just what do they want us to do pretend were operations and just sit around drinking coffee until the ship falls apart around us?" Lex'EL stopped took a big breath and said " Sorry boss, didn't mean to vent, you have enough on your plate without me adding to it. Where would you like me to start?"

Astrid looked down at the bags still following Lex'EL around, then back at him. "Well, I suggest you start by getting your things stowed in your quarters. Given the size of the ship, I suspect you'll likely have a roommate to meet, so make sure you enter quietly at this time of the morning." A slight smirk had tugged the edge of her mouth during the last statement.

"After that, report back here." She looked down at the PaDD in her hands, "How do you feel about a level 2 diagnostic on the secondary deflector array?" she asked.

Lex'EL looked down at the straps on his shoulders of his bags that up until this second, he had forgotten about, said "Yes MAM, ill drop my stuff of in my quarters, then perform a Level 2 diagnostics on the Back Up Navigational Deflector Array: Ill take the system out of service, limit my self to just a through manual inspection, and grab a couple of engineering crew members to test the system while I thoroughly check and monitor the automated test sequences... Have you informed the bridge we will be taking the back up system offline yet?"

"The good news is it's already offline, most systems are, we're barely running while here in dock - the station is doing all the heavy lifting for us." Astrid smiled, "It's made this whole process a lot easier really."

She handed him a PaDD with the details on it. "Grab any personnel you need, I'd aim for the ones that still look awake."

Lex'EL accepted the PaDD with a nod, and made his way through the doors into the corridor beyond.

After he left, Astrid looked around the engineering area, surveying the remaining crew. "Mmmm, slim pickings at this stage ..." she muttered, before heading back towards the warp core.

OFF:

Lieutenant Astrid Jurgen
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Mark Miller
&
Ensign Lex D'Gracefull
Engineering Officer
USS Mark Miller