Interior Re-Decorating
Posted on Fri Jan 24th, 2020 @ 1:50pm by Captain Aviram Drell & Lieutenant Commander Renee Salchin
Edited on on Fri Jan 24th, 2020 @ 1:50pm
Mission:
Episode 01: "Vestal Hearth"
Location: Engineering Lab 2, USS Vesta
Timeline: Mission Day 03, 1127 hours
ON: [[Engineering Lab 02, USS Vesta, Mission Day 03, 1127 Hours]]
Renee bustled around the lab, tools in hand as she made adjustments to some of the panels and placed big red marks on several of the structures and panels to remind her of one thing: Get rid of them. Some things were in the way and other things she needed to replace with to make this place more like home. There were several crates off to the side of the lab and a large poster of an animated unicorn on the wall, one of the first things she'd put up when she entered the room, claiming it as her own private workspace.
She sighed as she realized just how much work there would be to turn this into a proper laboratory, with the appropriate isolation fields and tables and stabilization technology, oh yes, she could have fun here, and it was a mere fifteen seconds to get to engineering. She fiddled around with the marker in her hands, lifting her toes upwards on her left two-inch heel of her rather non-regulation shoe. Of course, she had her own 'uniform', the normal uniform shirt and jacket, but a ruffled skirt and then these gorgeous, black heels that were fully protective, as required for use in engineering, that made her 5 foot 8 inches into 5 foot 10, as she pondered what to do next.
"Planning on redecorating," a voice from somewhere behind her asked.
Renee could have sworn she'd hit the ceiling at the sound, but her feet barely left the ground as she jumped from the unexpected voice. Still, she recovered quickly and brushed at her sleeve in an effort to 'cover' the jump, "Well, yessirree, I definitely was planning on it." She turned, grinning wildly, "A girl has to have a place to call her own after all and..." Her bright smile faded slightly, "I didn't think you'd mind all that much."
Drell laughed. He wasn't at all surprised to find the new chief engineer was already putting her own touch on the ship. Based on what he'd read and the conversations they'd had, it made sense. "It's fine," he told her, "I might have preferred you submit your request before you started marking up the room, but I think we can forego the court-martial this time."
With a chuckle and a slight shake of her head, Renee stepped around the intervening console and approached the man who was obviously the Captain, "Well, I'll do my best to behave, mostly... Kinda... Maybe if you're lucky." She winked at him.
"I trust your transfer from the Calypso went smoothly?"
"Captain Rodriguez actually said he'd miss me. Given that he was the ship's Tactical Officer from my first stint and knew me before I kicked myself straight, that's saying one helluva lot. I think back then he'd tossed me in the brig a couple times, so it was even weird serving under him as an engineer." Renee shrugged, "I'm sorry that it took so long to get all my gear aboard, but I have a packrat's habit and I just HATE getting rid of anything."
"Just so long as you're not spilling out into the corridors," Drell said.
Although the conversation remained light-hearted, the El-Aurian's thoughts lingered on what Salchin had just shared. The fact that she and her previous commanding officer had parted on good terms was significant. Drell was well aware of how bumpy those earlier years had been for her. Yet, it was the improvements she'd made more recently that really influenced his decision to request her appointment as chief engineer. Captain Rodriguez' reaction to her departure seemed to prove Drell wasn't the only one who noticed.
"So," he continued, bringing himself back to the conversation, "What do you think of the Vesta, now that you're here? I hope all this isn't a sign of things to come."
"Oh, Christ, no! You remember that 'One little thing' I said I needed to do?" Renee walked over to him, "This is that. Just a little private lab I can use to continue some research into a few projects. Maybe even work with prototypes that need some field testing?" She wiggled her eyebrows then frowned slightly. No, this wouldn't do for the moment. She lifted one foot up, expertly balancing on the remaining and loosened the shoe a bit, then the other and slid them off to be the same height as the Captain.
She slid the shoes off to one side, then smiled brightly again, blue eyes glittering into his,"I know it looks it's going to be chaos, but it really won't be, sir. Vesta is my FIRST priority, no questions whatsoever and anything that could be dangerous in any way, shape or form will go through you and the Exec first. She ran her hand across one of the consoles, ironically one of the ones marked for removal, "This ship is my little girl now and she's going to get pampered."
This elicited a strange look from Drell, but he didn't say anything. He was willing to allow his senior staff leeway in the running of their departments so long as it did not interfere with ship's operations or create an unhealthy environment for the crew. If Salchin wanted to make a few changes, that was her prerogative. In fact, it might even help the crew to differentiate her from her predecessor, though something told him that wasn't going to be an issue.
"Don't forget, you'll want to check in with the detachment commander," Drell reminded her.
It wasn't totally unusual to have a detachment of Starfleet Marines aboard. Not only were they well-suited to supporting away teams in unfamiliar or otherwise hostile environments, providing protection for diplomatic assignments was a fairly explicit part of their mission profile. In fact, they regularly coordinated with ship's security on a variety of matters. What made their presence aboard the Vesta more unique, however, was their important role in making sure the quantum slipstream drive was adequately secured. This required a certain level of collaboration between engineering and the marines, a relationship Drell very much hoped would continue.
"Hmmm.... Marines..." The image of a tall, overly handsome Marine Lieutenant entered Renee's mind and she had to shake her head to get back to the present, "I've gotten along with Marines pretty well, so I'll definite have to check him out... But I'll not have them interfere with my work. I don't just tinker with things for the sake of tinkering. Well, not much anyways, not when they're critical systems and actually in use."
"Of course not," Drell agreed, "but I don't expect there will be any issues. At the very least, it wouldn't hurt to have touched base with one another before we get underway."
"I'll drop them a line in the next few hours, maybe set up a dinner date or something as a getting-to-know-you meet." Renee shrugged, "Speaking of getting underway, do we have a timeline?" It was more out of curiosity than anything else.
"We aren't scheduled to depart until tomorrow evening," Drell told her. Although it was still over twenty-four hours away, he recognized that might not feel like a lot of time to settle in and find one's bearings. This was especially true for someone stepping into a significant position like chief engineer. The look on Salchin's face, however, told him she was already working the problem.
She pursed her lips in obvious thought and concentration for a pair of seconds, then nodded slowly and tucked the red marker into the top of her skirt, "This can wait until we're under way, then. I've got enough time to run a full battery on the warp and impulse drives and the weapons systems as well." She paused for a moment, "The Slipstream won't be in use unless I'm in engineering in any case, so I'll be able to monitor that in realtime when in use. We'll be ready to go whenever you say to hit it, sir."
The El-Aurian smiled. He could tell the younger woman was genuinely excited to be there, as was so often the case when someone started a new assignment. That sort of energy and enthusiasm was a good sign, indeed. "I'm glad you're settling in well, commander," he said, "and I do hope you'll enjoy your time here. If you'll excuse me..."
"I have no doubt, sir, that I will." Alexis waved expansively at the door, "I'll get right on making sure we're ready to depart. Have a sparkling day!"
OFF
Captain Aviram Drell
Commanding Officer
USS Vesta (NX-94200)
Lieutenant Commander Renee Salchin
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Vesta (NX-94200)
