Power Struggles

[Laehval tTemarr 0]

"… forthwith and notwithstanding, the power conduits should be recharged at an interval of seventeen parsecs or a total pressure of twelve thousand dynes, factoring in the conversion rate for the mass quantities of … eh … tea, lukewarm, double sweet.”

 

     Laehval tossed the ISD onto her desk, ignoring the clatter as it collided with several other stacks of pertinent engineering information.  Her feet propped up on the polished surface as she leaned back in her chair, the very weary engineer reached toward the replicating unit, removing the mug she’d just ordered.  She took a healthy swig of her usual blend and stared at all the ‘paperwork’.

 

     “I did na sign up so I could read a dekillion of boring reports,” she muttered to herself, for there was no one else in the immediate area.

 

     Engineering had been vacated for the night shift, the only members of the sparse third shift seeing to repair duties elsewhere.  She preferred it that way, having decided long ago that the bustle of normal daylight hours was entirely too hectic.  If she weren’t Daise, she would have requested the later shift.  Solitude was what she liked, and solitude was what she usually received.  There weren’t many Engineers that sought out her company for recreational purposes.  It didn’t bother her as much as it should have, though.  Had she ever taken the time to interact with tr’Nimrod when he was Daise?  No, she had normally given him a wide berth when not on duty.  Why should her crew be any different?

 

     In fact, the only crewman she’d ever associated with outside of normal duty hours had been Tarryn, but he was long gone, probably living some other life on the home world.  She’d made no move to contact him after he’d been shipped off in stasis.  Was it fear of rejection that kept her from seeking him out, or simply a base desire for self preservation?  Laehval knew quite well that there could be nothing between them.  The Galae would never let her leave the service, especially not while things were so volatile, and Tarryn would never be able to rejoin the Talon.  Likely his last mission-related accident had crippled him, temporarily at least, and ‘The Empire does na accept weaklings’.  Perhaps she might visit him on their next shore leave on ch’Rihan, but that seemed so far away at the moment.  With the Galae determined to legitimately destroy the Talon by sending it off on one suicide mission after another, it was hardly appropriate to wallow in hope.  Hope was a devious notion, after all, and prone to dissolving when one least expected it.

 

     Pushing the echoes of past recruiting speeches from her mind, Laehval turned her focus outward again, staring at the reports on her desk.  She really needed an assistant to help her organize everything, but, with the crew shortages and the influx of painfully new officers, she’d not had a break to seek out someone with the appropriate qualifications.  Sliding her feet from her desk, she began scooping up all the annoying ISDs into a single pile.  The memory chips were removed and sorted in her data storage bin, while the ISDs themselves were stacked to later be redistributed to the crew.  That would at least clear her office of some of the clutter.  Leaning forward to activate her computer console, she finally scanned that day’s ship business and checked on the general status of repairs.

 

     “Security field failure reported in section three, fifteen, and seventy-nine, transporter malfunction in loading bay two – no casualties reported, twelve instances of misinterpreted replicator requests, two power shortages in aft conduits, nine surges in power containment reported within the last shift, seventeen coupling incidents …,” grumbling again, Laehval closed the report.  “Bah… nothing that can’t wait for morning assignments, though the recent power distribution problems do concern me.”

 

     Addressing a message to the Enarrain and Executive Officer, Laehval quickly compiled a brief outline of earlier decisions.

 

 

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Stardate – 0309.11

Preliminary Crew Evaluation

Subject - Ne'Arrain R'Tor t’Bat'ok

- Power Distribution &Systems Integrity Specialist -

 

For review by – Khre'Riov t'Rexan &Daise Erei Riov t'Shaeni

Composed by – El’Arrain t’Temarr / Daise’Engineer

 

     After conferring with Ne’Arrain t’Bat’ok to determine her area of expertise, I have decided to assign her to the duties of Power Distribution &Systems Integrity Specialist.  Her role in Engineering will be to adjust, control, and diagnose any foreseeable problems or issues regarding current power flow situations, as well as provide feasible solutions to existing practices and regulations.  Along with those duties, she will be responsible for maintaining all critical systems that require significantly elevated levels of energy consumption.  By addressing these weaknesses, the Talon will be less susceptible to system failures during situations of excessive stress.  As of now, I have placed her in charge of all power-flow repair crews to manage them how she deems necessary in order accomplish preliminary goals of system evaluation.  Status reports will be sent at regular intervals.

 

 

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     Reviewing the message once, Laehval nodded in satisfaction and sent it out, logging off her computer a few moments later.  Checking the holographic chronometer on her wall, she decided she had just enough time to grab a bite to eat in the mess hall before getting a few hours of sleep.  Maybe, just maybe, there would be someone there that wouldn’t be totally opposed to keeping her company for half an hour or so.  Or so she hoped.  Then again… hope was a very devious notion.