Spoons and Spots

Posted on Fri Jul 15th, 2011 @ 3:34pm by Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix & Lieutenant Jasad Broca

Mission: Too Close for Comfort...
Location: Main Engineering, Deck 5, USS Arizona
Timeline: Following 'Secrets in the Garden' / Just After End of Shift

Aral Aix rounded the corner and found himself in Main Engineering, a large PADD was carelessly gripped by his right hand, it's corner hanging about his knee. Having visited Stellar Cartography and Astrometrics, Aral had continued along Deck 5 and found himself in Main Engineering. Having previously served on a vessel of the same class, the Arizona had an unfamiliar familiarity. The Trill was not without basic engineering skills, his first host, Kerras, had been one of the early Trill aviators; no doubt this had shaped Aral's scientific career as he had specialised in the theoretical physics surrounding transwarp and other propulsion technologies.

Looking about the room he took a double take, spotting an unfamiliar Cardassian in a Starfleet uniform. He had heard that several Cardassians had joined served in Starfleet since the end the Dominion War, but they were few and far between. Aral had never encountered a Cardassian, other than at gun point.

"Afternoon Lieutenant." Aral began, comparing the man's signs of maturity with this relatively junior rank.

Jasad fed the faulty plasma flow regulators into one of the ship's industrial replicators, his father's mantra of 'waste nothing' echoing in his memory. The units flickered brightly and faded to nothingness as their constituent atoms were absorbed into the ship's matter banks, where they could be reassembled for some future purpose. As he turned away from the completed task, he saw a senior officer strolling into Engineering.

The Trill looked in his direction, a flicker of emotion visiting his eyes. There was an uncomfortable familiarity about the reaction. It might simply be Jasad's paranoia about such things, but he had the distinct impression that the hint of surprise he sensed in the man's gaze would not have been present if Jasad had been, say, a Vulcan. Still, the man spoke cordially, and this ship had another Cardassian in Engineering. Perhaps this officer was simply surprised to find a different Cardassian than the one he was used to. It wasn't as though Starfleet was brimming with Cardassian recruits, after all.

"Commander," Jasad acknowledged as he came to attention, his own gaze briefly visiting the man's rank pips. "Is there something I can do for you? A malfunction you'd like to report?"

"The lateral sensor arrays need to be recalibrated and aligned with the data processing nodes in Astrometrics... apparently their readings haven't been right since well before we left Starbase." He paused, his eyes caught the spoon shaped impression on the man's head, "It's low priority as this region of space is well mapped, but when your people get a chance..." In his tour of the science department Aral had managed to pick up a list of complaints and minor repairs. The science department was usually bottom of the damage control list.

Jasad tried to measure the appropriate response to this request. He was at the conclusion of his duty shift, and looking forward to a heavy meal in the ship's mess hall or lounge. Normally, he would assign a team of subordinates to handle this sensor problem. It hardly seemed to be a priority, given that the ship's primary tactical position was sound. To Jasad, that was the critical thing: Keep the ship in fighting trim. This had already been accomplished thanks to the tireless efforts of the Engineering staff. All other matters could be dealt with in due course.

However, a high ranking officer had come down to Engineering in person simply to relay this item. That indicated to Jasad that a special importance should be assigned to the project. Perhaps the ship's next mission was scientific in nature, and required that the lateral sensors be at optimal efficiency immediately. Perhaps this man was in fact the head of the Sciences, and hence had a special sense of urgency about the trials and travails of his department. Whatever the precise reason for this special visit, it was clear that Jasad would have to respond with alacrity if he wanted to establish a positive rapport with the ship's senior staff.

Besides, he was increasingly getting the sensation that he needed to overcome a bias.

"I will tend to it personally, Sir," he said, "though it would be helpful to liaise with someone in the Science Department. Do you have any preferences, or should I simply contact their department head for a referral?" He wondered if this Trill would confess to being the Chief Science Officer, or whether he would refer him to someone of even higher rank. Jasad had gone right to work upon his arrival, and was embarrassed to admit that he knew no one outside of the Engineering department. The duty roster of the ship had been in flux when he arrived, and the identity of the department heads eluded him.

"It's not too important." Aral replied, impressed that the Cardassian was willing to step up personally, "Just stick a couple of your monkeys on it when the critical jobs let up." He offered up his PADD, "I have the complete schedule of repairs and adjustments the science team needs, there's a couple marked that I can take care myself but others affect shared systems..." Aral had once had a run in with a short circuiting ODN relay aboard the Proteus and had no desire to repeat the experience. "As for liaising, you can liaise with me. Aral Aix, Chief Science Officer." He extended his hand. "You are..."

Having been Second Officer for less than twenty-four hours Aix was yet to fully acquaint himself with the crew.

Jasad shook the offered hand warmly and firmly. This was the second time that an officer senior to him had extended this human pleasantry. It was a good sign, and helped to set his mind at ease regarding his prospects here. "Pleasure to meet you, Commander Aix. I am Lieutenant Jasad Broca. I am proudly filling the position of Assistant to the Chief of Engineering."

He glanced to a nearby console, "I'll begin by running a diagnostic on the lateral sensors. If automated calibration works, then we will be fortunate. If not, we'll follow with physical testing and re-alignment of the sensor array segments. In either case, I will contact you as soon as we are ready to run integration tests with your department. I feel that I should caution you that you may experience intermittent sensor outage during this process."

He paused, thinking. "If any mission parameters require immediate use of the lateral arrays, I'd recommend launching a runabout with an accessory sensor pod to fly in formation with the Arizona on the affected side, so that readings can be collected and relayed without interruption. But of course, such a procedure would be subject to approval by the commanding officer."

Aral smirked at the Cardassian's last comment and ignored it. Routine allocation of auxiliary vessels was on the list of items the Commodore had delegated him between compiling the duty roster and 'intercultural liaisons' with visiting dignitaries, whatever that was.

"Mission parameters do not..." Aix smiled. "As I said, feel free to leave it to the grunts," he replied casually. As far as he was concerned, the astrophysicists should have better things to be getting on with than playing with the lateral sensor array. "I have told the astrophysicists that they'll just have to wait and do some proper work in the meantime."

He noticed the Cardassian had already started the task. He sighed, "Let me at least help you with it," He approached one of the bulkhead mounted control consoles.