“Welcome to Engineering” Carrick/Admiran JL

[Michael Carrick 0]

"Welcome to Engineering"

Lt. Cdr. Tandaris Admiran and Ensign Michael Carrick

Stardate 0701.21

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It was quiet in engineering—for now. No doubt the meeting with the inhabitants of this system would be finished soon; no doubt someone would trudge down to engineering to inform Tandaris of his next assignment. Until then, he would just sit here.

 

Running diagnostics.

 

Fun.

 

The new ensign, Michael Carrick, was in the process of realigning Excalibur's space-time driver coils. Tandaris was monitoring the repairs from engineering. "I'm reading a 0.2 micron misalignment. You need to get it down to within 0.08 microns," he told Carrick over the comm.

 

"On it," said Carrick. He adjusted several of the controls. There was a buzz from one of the nodes—the only warning he got before the node delivered a sharp jolt of electricity into his arm. "AAAAH—er, is it okay now, sir?"

 

Tandaris had heard the scream and shook his head. The new ones were always fun. He glanced down at his console. Ah, that was better. "Yes, it's down to 0.07. Good work. Next time . . . try deactivating the feed before you realign it."

 

Carrick said, "Noted, sir. I'm returning to engineering." He replaced the cover to the access space, put his tools back into the repair kit, and left. A few minutes later, he returned to engineering and reported to Tandaris. "I am here, sir." He smiled.

 

Tandaris looked at him. "Ah. How very reassuring." Then again, the new ones were always hard to break in too. This was probably Tandaris' least favourite of managing a department—not that new crew members were a problem. But in six lifetimes, he had still not found a good way to be someone's superior. "I guess now would be as good a time as any for you to ask me any questions that you might have."

 

By the way Carrick's face lit up, Tandaris could tell he had more than a few. "Has the ship been battle tested yet, sir? How do you think she will perform in battle?"

 

Good question. Tandaris replied, "That will certainly be interesting, especially with Captain Corizon's tendency toward . . . aggressive tactics." Slight smile. "Be prepared for a lot of shifts on damage control."

 

"What happened to the Excalibur—the Sovereign class?"

 

" Decommissioned. Mothballed, disassembled for scrap." Tandaris ran his hand over the console, adding, "Some people get awfully attached to their ships. I must confess I was sad to see ours go, but . . . it's all just a part of the universe's cycle of renewal. Things change, adapt."

 

This seemed to surprise Carrick. "Why, sir? She was a relatively new ship."

 

" I advise you to read the recent mission logs, then. New, yes. In mint condition? Certainly not. The Excalibur-B was wounded grievously—in more than one universe, I might add. And each time, it's our job to fix her. They get her damaged, and we fix her." Tandaris was still more than a little bitter about this fact, and it showed.

 

Still smiling, Carrick said, "Fixing it is our job. What about our Captain—may I ask what he's like?"

 

Oh, Captain Corizon! Tandaris had never encountered a more quixotic Starfleet officer. "Mmm. Intelligent, crafty, devious, nefarious . . . ambitious, protective, vindictive. . . . Any of those adjectives work." Now if he would only stop breaking Tandaris' toys. . . .

 

"I look forward to working on this ship. Did you read my record? And may I ask more about the engineering crew?"

 

Tandaris' warp speed alarms went off. "Whoa, whoa. Slow down. You have to evolve from a single-celled organism before you can develop legs. You'll meed the rest of the team soon enough—just watch out for Crewman Kent. As for your record—frankly, I was expecting an Ensign Harrison today and you tomorrow." He frowned. "Where is Ensign Harrison anyway?"

 

"Sorry, sir, I'm just excited. Harrison? I don't know—I haven't seen him for awhile. And why should I watch for Kent, sir?"

 

"Oh, you'll see. You'll see. . . ."