Asyle

"... okay, cell phone's good. Now, where's my car keys?"

I'm not going to eat this thing! Now if it were chocolate, you wouldn't see it, let alone get a picture of it!

::Standing outside of the Brig, Deck 27, at Camelot station's Main Security offices, just a few minutes after USS Union began disembarking:: "Would you please explain that to me again," Asyle told the guard who, in deference to her rank, physical stature, and curious choice of a red mini-skirted uniform from out of a museum, was patiently treating her with understanding. "As I'm sure you are aware, your claim of being a 'Provisional' Ensign in Star Fleet is the issue. We've seen this before, and I'm sure if everything checks out with your ship's Security department, we can rectify the situation." "Okay, what does that mean? Can't you just contact the Security Duty officer and he'll confirm that I am who I say I am?" She sat down, because she could tell that the guard was getting a little bit frustrated with the situation. There was more to this situation than he let on. Besides, she could use her long legs, crossed just so at the ankles, which seemed to ease his attitude towards her to her advantage. He looked again at his data pad, which had Asyle's records she'd shown first to the Union's security people when she left the ship, and then to the Camelot's security people on her way into the station. "Please understand, these regulations we have to operate under on the station are more stringent than on the Excalibur. Your Provisional status applies for when you are under the command of your ship's personnel. A Provisional Status Reciprocal agreement has to be signed, especially since it says here that you have to have a security escort at all times." She dropped almost all of her composure, disbelief overwhelming her previously joyful demeanor. "That's still in there?" The guard nodded, and turned the pad for her to see. She looked, and then her eyes closed, and her head dropped down to her chest. "Furthermore, Provisional status is normally limited to six months. You were granted it, do you recall when?" "I know that Mr. Garrison and Mr. Victria, our Security Officers...ah...interviewed me when I first was...brought to their attention." She remembered them playing 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' many months ago. "I remember getting a tracking chip implanted, as part of my being granted my being a Provisional Ensign, right back here," as she reached around and felt for it. It was gone. Had it been so long ago, she wondered? The Satarimi and the peculiarly colored baby of the Zier's? She was remembering those days, when she had hated men on sight. "Ms. Asyle, Star Fleet doesn't put tracking chips into our people permanently. They dissolve after six months." The guard was beginning to wonder what was going on here. Was this some attempt to plant a spy aboard the Camelot station by the Pakled? Come to think of it, he'd never seen a female Pakled. And her speech was nothing like the male Pakled's he'd heard. The security console beeped, and the guard went over to check it. "A Security Report from DS9 has been found in your personnel file. It always takes a lot of time for these things to get through the firewalls and protocol converters. We've always had problems interfacing those Cardasian computer's with Federation. Do you know that they want to hold you for questioning?" This was going from bad to worse. Her plans, long ago, had been join Star Fleet, not stow away on one of their ships. But things didn't turn out that way. So she went with the Guard into an interview room, and told her story about how she'd masqueraded as a male throughout her teens, entering and almost finishing engineering school, except for that damnable Ferengie's holosuite creating a male partner for her which exposed her being a female. She explained her being taken into captivity, and their subsequent attack by the Boganary, and how she used this opportunity to end her captivity and enable her escape. The Ferengie and Pakled males, now there was a match. Their views of women were similar, up to a point. In 2375, Ishka, the mother of Quark, had become the wife of the Grand Nagus Zek, and that precipitated the reforms beginning the civil rights movement of women in Ferengi society. She'd followed them during her studies, always praying inwardly for a savior for 'her' people. Ishka was a hero unto the female Pakleds, if only they were half as good in business. But they could be great engineers, and that would have to be their path to freedom. The guard interrupted her, "This is all very interesting, and from a personal point of view, I wish you the best for your gender in your home culture. But you know the Federation never gets involved in internal matters." He continued, "All that matters now is what to do with you."

She'd been working practically non-stop on their trip back to Camelot station. She'd been fixing shield generators as of late, they'd become almost worthless after their 150% and 170% usage levels. First was emergency repairs to the hull from the two blasts that had torn through the saucer section, the first one destroying her quarters. She helped out the crews to slap some hull plating on it so it had some structural integrity field continuity, it was all they could do for now. That at least took some of the power load off of the engines when they could finally turn off the emergency force fields which was all there was between them and open space. Then there was consoles that had to be patched together, the most critical ones in Security and the Bridge getting a somewhat better job done that others. There was no priority given to replacing much of the interior that had been destroyed since it looked like the Union was probably going to be used for spare parts from now on. She didn't really miss having her own quarters anyway, ships like this had many places where someone like her felt comfortable. She actually felt uneasy when alone in any room she couldn't touch both walls at once, unless it had engines, weapons, consoles, fighters, computers, recycling processors, heck, even waste disposal units were good company once you got to know them. Through all of the action, she hadn't had a security escort for a while now. Seems like when they switched from the Excaliber to the Union, they'd either just got too busy to notice it, or she'd actually proven herself by exception to be trustworthy. Either that or they just needed some semi-competent warm bodies to man positions, and she was a fast learner. When they had switched into Bajoran uniforms, she had stowed her Star Fleet ones in her room. Not that she had many, being a "Provisionsal" Ensign. While most everyone had changed back into Star Fleet ones, she hadn't because her quarters were no more. Nobody seemed to notice, probably because when you are dirty most of the time, you couldn't tell to easily. Maybe Cmdr LeftEar JoNs during her recovery from being knocked out would remember because Tandaris wasn't looking too good, and Marius couldn't care one way or another she was wearing as long as she got her work done. If he did, he'd probably get in trouble for it! So she'd taken to staying in her favorite Jefferies tube, where she had hidden a few of her personal belongings from when she had first made it aboard ship. She'd never be able to impersonate a male Pakled anymore, all of that cosmetic and prosthetic pieces went poof when her room got destroyed. Not that she'd done it during the almost one year she'd been around. Da'veed White had cured her of that, she could remember the hot pastrami sandwich lunch she'd had with him like it was yesterday. They were fast approaching the station, and she was starting to get anxious about what was going to happen next. Seeing as how there was little need for her Bajoran uniform, torn and filthy, she had better see what she could get to change into, and get cleaned up. There was an old storeroom with some historical items in it from the previous crew. Maybe if there were some old clothes or a uniform, it would be better than nothing....there were those old style uniforms Da'veed mentioned would look really good on her and her long legs from being 6 foot tall. She made her way via Jefferies tubes from her little offshoot to the storeroom, thinking, what did he call them? Miniskirts?

::Asyle and Maryse Dubois had taken samples of the Scorpiad power conduits to a section in this living ship’s engineering section where a work bench had been set up. After half an hour of working together to make some nanites which would help instead of infect the ship, Asyle started her documentation, and Maryse returned to the Union:: PADD Contents: Engineering Report: Scorpiad Nanites Issue: Rejection. Scorpiads have an apparently strong immune system. They initially treated nanites as an infection, much the same as any metal substance would be treated. This is a suspected anti-Borg intended reaction. A vaccine was developed to counter this reaction, which works with limited success. The limits to this success are on the nanites, limiting their capabilities. Issue: Nanites. The capabilities of the nanites to repair just biological systems of the Scorpiad cannot be ensured. They will repair any damaged Scorpiad cell encountered. If deployed, they must be monitored and removed if they are found outside of the targeted systems. Otherwise, they will replicate and help to fix all of the systems on the Scorpiad ship. Monitoring and removing them is difficult, and not 100% effective. Issue: Alternative Nanite Programming. The nanites can be programmed to form a healing cover or skin over the damaged parts of the Scorpiad ship and it’s systems. A ‘scab’ according to Dr. Dubois. This ‘scab’ can be built up to a reasonable thickness and becomes similar to materials encountered in normal engineering work. Options: (1) Nanites can help fix the whole ship at a cellular level, which is assumed to be able to then completely restore the Scorpiad ship to full functionality and intelligence. (2) Nanites can be used to provide surfaces which allow the use of standard engineering methods such as welding.

Just had to share these two video links with you all. Because I am an engineer who needs the help & for our XO: http://www.raincitystory.com/wp/tag/cat-ca...-youtube-video/ Using this new insight and understanding, a modification forwarded to Camellot about our upgrades to Excalibur: http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

Never gets picked to go on an Away Team mission.

...and this close up, your disguise stinks, too!

While she waited in Transporter Room 1, dressed in an environmental suit to go aboard the Scorpiad ship, she called up what files she could aboard the USS Union's computer system. Other than the brief description of the various races, everything came back with "Restricted Access" notices. But there was something about a Weapons Modification program she would have to find out about.....hopefully not the hard way. Either way, it sounded like she'd better take her WASPs along. Their sensors and stealth ability could come in handy. A quick trip to her quarters, and back would take only a minute.

If the US were to request Foreign Aid from Canada to control the Canadian Geese problems and cover the losses incurred, what would they send?

Oh yeah?.... and while your at it, I don't see anything special about the one on you! You don't even have a tail on it! How do you keep the flys away from your stinky end!!

She didn’t do well when it came to waiting around. Engineers do, or their imagination takes over….. She saw Da’veed White at his damage control station, intents concentration as the battle rocked the Excaliber. All she could think about was how excited he made her feel. Was it the battle, the engineering, or his hot pastrami sandwich? Then there was Lt. JG Louis Beckman, on the away team mission. Was he safe, was he bravely going, was he ever going to have another cheeseburger with her? As Tandaris and Marius conferred with each other about old times, Asyle wondered about what her fate would be, as an engineer, as a woman, as the first Pakled almost in Starfleet. Would her provisional status ever cease? Would she get a chance to have lunch today? What is cake? She shook her head, wanting to clear her thoughts from all of these distractions. When she was back in school pretending to be male, she had hormone treatments she gave herself surreptitiously to help control her female characteristics and biology. They allowed her to pass as male, so well that she had never experienced puberty. While she self-educated herself about being female, she knew she should see a doctor for a physical soon. Her uniforms didn’t fit so well anymore. The information about Pakleds was extremely limited, and she felt there was a need for further study of her race by the Federation. It would be tragic if she needed a blood transfusion, and none was available for her. Besides, it could be a real taste treat 'first' for Victria, as none of her race had ever had ‘tasted’ a Pakled. What records there were, came from Ferrengi and Vulcan sources. They were on commerce, and condescending, to say the least. Another shudder, a whine of generators, the stabilizers adjusting to the maneuvers, the battle continues. Asyle double checked the WASPs she had waiting for action, more to put in check her imagination and herself in order to serve her adoptive family on the Excaliber. One she would defend to the end.

I went to the memorial service. Touching, to say the least. Pictures from handout.

::Optimus Prime:: Good job, Autobots!

Asyle looked at her pad with the seemingly endless list of ODN cables that needed to be replaced, after her discussions with her bosses about what she should work on next. The cables did provide for more bandwidth and therefore greater throughput. It sure seemed like a good idea to them, to get better performance from the computers. And the protocol analyzers supported that approach. There was a huge amount of computer to computer communication to be able to respond to the needs of the crew. Yet to replace them meant she'd have to disconnect those various computers. And no one wanted any down time….. Ensign White had agreed to help her with this project, and he'd also said something about getting something to eat together. Her stomach rumbled, and with her frustration as how to achieve the goals of the project mounting, she needed a break. She walked over to Ensign White who was waiting for her to finish her discussions. "Let's get out of here and go to the mess hall. I'm hungry, and I can't think on an empty stomach. What do you say?" "Sure. I could use a bite to eat too." He started to get up, and Asyle said "Take your PADD on the specs for the computers too. Maybe together we can figure out a better way to do this" White picked up the PADD he'd taken to Laarell Teykier's quarters. "Got it. Let's go." Asyle nodded to her ever-present security escort, whom she didn't know and hadn't spoken to. After her butting heads with the new Brikar security officer, security had not been sending officers to escort her. Maybe security had come to the conclusion that Asyle wasn't a risk any more. While still important for them to watch her, having a female crewperson to escort her was a better allocation of resources. The three of them left Main Engineering and went to the turbolift. "Mess Hall" White said, as the doors opened and the three of them entered, the doors closing and the hum of activation started with them moving. Asyle held her PADD with the specs on the new ODN cable, and shaking her head back and forth with a frown on her face, tapped the screen with her finger. "Does it seem like there's something missing in this project? I mean, why would a 50% increase in throughput be the result of this upgrade. This cable seems like it has the potential for a 500% increase." The turbolift doors opened outside of the mess hall, and the three of them exited and walked in. "Let's put our stuff down here, and get something to eat first," White said. The security escort went over to a seat on the other side of the room with some security people, sitting where she could keep an eye on Asyle, who put her PADD down on the table White had picked out. The two of them walked over to the replicators, and White asked "So what do you want to eat, Asyle?" "What are you going to have, Mr. White?" He replied "Call me Da'veed, okay? It's my first name." Turning to the replicator, he said in a way to answer Asyle "Hot Pastrami on Rye, with a Kosher Pickle and a glass of decaffeinated Tea, iced, with a lemon wedge." "Sounds interesting, Da'veed. Make it two." He turned to the replicator and issued the orders, and momentarily the two orders appeared. They took their trays and walked over to the table and sat down. An hour later, Da'veed and Asyle were still discussing their ODN upgrades. Asyle sat back with a satisfied look on her face "…and when we utilize the upgraded signaling processors on these network cards, we don't have to remove or down any of the computers! They just simply slide in to the open accessory slots, the system recognizes them and we upload the software drivers from the PADD, connect the new ODN cables, and bingo! New routes will be discovered, and the old ones will be kept until removed. We might as well leave all of the old stuff in, as overflow routes for the data." Da'veed nodded. "Easy enough. And no one will notice any down time at all, just increased response times from the upgraded processors Tandaris had put in replacement to all of those that were damaged. They won't be waiting for the network to respond nearly as much." Asyle asked him, "So what do you think the resulting improvement will be in performance of the network?" "Besides the potential for further redundancy, and we should map out a different network design too, it could approach an almost 200% actual improvement, based on my experience with these kinds of projects. Let's get back to Engineering and key in these changes to the network maintenance and design application, and see what it predicts. We're on to something here that's going to make everyone's job aboard a little easier." Asyle stood up with her tray now empty of food, and so did Da'Veed, taking Asyle's from her and his over to the return slots. Asyle picked up his PADD and hers, nodding to the security crewman that she was ready to leave. "So Ensign Asyle, do you have a first name I can call you by the next time we have a bite to eat together?" Da'veed and Asyle headed out together, the escort joining them, but at a more discrete distance. "Da'veed, Ensign White, look. I like you. That's a big change to how I've been feeling around here towards men in general, some in particular. Keep calling me Asyle for now, and I'll talk to you more about it, say at dinner tonight? You made a great suggestion for lunch, and I'm interested in how you got your names, too." "Okay, Ms Ensign Asyle with no first name. And maybe the next time, you'll let me ask you out on a date?" "What??" Asyle stuttered, blushed, and smiled.