Thux To Be You

Posted on Tue Jun 9th, 2020 @ 4:09pm by Commander Temperance Zachary & Lieutenant Commander Cor Cordale

Mission: Episode 04: "Tempest"
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Day 1 at 0000

Temperance walked into engineering and looked around, her gaze finally settling on the form of Lieutenant Cordale, the new Assistant Chief Engineering Officer. While she had reviewed his profile, it really didn't do justice at all to the sight of the individual zipping around Engineering in front of her, moving from one console to another, a mug firmly held in one hand as he moved with incredible agility and grace. After a moment, she took another step into the main room, a smile forming on her face as she finally spoke. "Lieutenant Cordale?" she queried, aware the question was redundant given the lack of any other blue headed Thux on the ship let alone in Engineering. "I hope I'm not interrupting your... work?"

The Thux was indeed up and about, moving from panel to panel, running test after test in series. Coffee at the ready, he was fueled and set to get out and push the Vesta if needed. The left hand that held the coffee, and indeed that entire arm was prosthetic, with the sleeve of the uniform having been removed to facilitate the limb. An ancient relic of a mechanical limb that looked more at home in an industrial dig than a top-of-the-line engineering bay. "Ahhhh, wallet sharks, dis is gonna take a..." and then his ears perked up, and he turned to face his addressor. "Nahh, dis is goi.." count those pips Cordale. Count. Those. Pips.

"I mean, no. No interruption at all. Just running the diagnostics over, plus putting the system through a bit of a stress test. Nothing that can't run on its own now that I got it all set up. What can I do for you, Commandah?"

"Temperance Zachary," She moved forward and offered a hand toward the Engineer. "First Officer. I heard you'd come aboard so I thought I'd pop in and just see how you're settling in with everything."

Cordale took her hand in his living hand, and gave it a good shake. That was the hand of a hard worker. It wasn't smooth, it probably never saw a dollup of moisturizer or anything remotely like a manicure. It was a firm handshake, but it didn't threaten to crack a knuckle.

"Everything's good on dis end, Commandah. Can I get you a cuppa?" he motioned upwards with his mug. It was larger than usual mugs, white ceramic, with a caricature of his fuzzy face on it. Two hands giving the thumbs up sign: one a cartoon glove, the other a robot hand. Printed on the mug were the words, "Thux to be you" in standard galactic common. "Coffee, pure and simple. I mix a little cinnamon in to give it a kick, you know, for dem all nighters we all pull when we promise ourselves we ain't pullin' no more all nighters." he chuckled.

"Between me and you, doh, I think what we need down here are chairs. That support tails."

"Coffee sounds great," Temperance replied with a smile. "Did you have a design in mind? If you had something suitable get Operations to whip some up for you, send the order to me and I'll sign off on it. You know, for all those all nighters you'll be pulling after promising you won't pull another all nighter," her smile became a teasing grin.

"Hey now dat ain't fair. When an officer says yer pulling an all nighter, suck it and and pour a cuppa. It only counts when you make yourself pull the all nighter." he chuckled, in good spirits as he went to the office of the deputy engineering chief. There, standing in all its glory, was a coffeemaker. Pure, real, and gleaming. The sweet aroma of real coffee, tinged with a touch of cinnamon, filled the air as soon as the door opened. "Milk and sugar for quitters." he motioned to the replicator panel as he pulled up a standard issue mug and poured her a fresh cup.

"I get grounds and supplies from swap meets and open-air markets whenever I can." and he handed her her mug with his prosthetic hand. "It might be hot, I can't tell."

As soon as the mug was in her hands, Temp could smell the tantalizing scent of the coffee. She wrapped her hands around the mug and inhaled deeply first before sipping at it tentatively. "Oh my words..." she breathed appreciatively. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had real coffee? It just isn't the same as the slurry the replicator spits out, which is why I almost never drink it now."

"Musta been quite a while, if you're gonna bad mouth the Replicator right in front of it." he chuckled. "It does the trick, just gotta add a little bit more cinnamon to the mix then. Nuthin' else I can taste the difference in, but coffee was sent from the Source. Gotta treat it with respect." he took a long swig from his mug.

Then he looked out of the door, towards Engineering proper, "I got a few designs in mind for new chairs. Some I pulled from the Maker Net, others I worked on myself. On account of actually having a proper tail, not some flimsy whimsy tail. No disrespect to the Caitans." he smirked, "Now as for the ship itself, I ain't never worked on a Vesta, so I still gotta figure out the engine. See, every engine tells you don't go past this line. But that line was drawn by someone what never worked on an engine before. So you can dance around that line, in a pinch. Same's true for all engines big and small. The older Akira's could do one oh three on the reactor for a bit. Don't worry, I don't fiddle with the real thing, that's what the holodeck is for." another smirk.

"Have you had much experience with the slipstream drive?" Temperance asked curiously between sips of her coffee. "Honestly, I find engineering fascinating, but I'm very much happy to admire from afar. I am the kind of person that can't tell an isolinear rod from a torque wrench," she laughed at her self and shook her head.

"It's easy, really. One records the fight, the other stops it." he chuckled. "Only simulated experience, never hands on. Don't worry, read the book twice, aced the simulated exams. Though, between you and me, I don't know how I feel about em. I know, I know, but I'm an engineer, should be droolin' all over the thought of workin on one. But, truth be told, how fast is too fast? How soon is too soon? Sure, it's fast. Hell, we used to joke dat a Slipstream system traveled faster than gossip." he chuckled, "Sure, you're there faster than you can say Man I Wonder What's Over There... but you miss out on everything in between."

"That was the magic of the Voyager. I mean, yes, she came home and everyone was happy. But that wasn't the magic. The magic wasn't She Came Home. The magic was what she came home with." another sip, "Also, remembah when they said that shooting through the universe at Warp 9 was causing damage to dah subspace fabric? Ever wonder if we're doing damage with these?"

"I dunno, call me an old fashioned Thux."

"I like your perspective Lieutenant Cordale," Temp said with a smile as she leaned back in the seat. "Are all Thux as liberally minded as you? Or are you unique?"

The mood in the room shifted. The Thux took a breath, a little heavier than the breaths he'd been taking. Held it a little longer than expected. He idly ran his hand along the forearm of his prosthetic limb, a series of scratches visible in the material. Was it bothering him? Could it even FEEL pain?

"I'm unique." he finally said after a moment. "Far as I can tell, just me." a pause, "Ehh, no point in being a Mopey Thux." another swig of coffee gave him the power to push on. "I grew up in a mine, I was an... employee of some dark Ferengi trade commission, mining latinum. That's where I got this." he patted the shoulder of his prosthetic limb.

"And where I lost them. Two friends, bruddahs really. We dug everywhere together, played games, got drunk. The plan. Heh... Sil had a plan. Save our money, buy out our work contracts, cruise the universe together." he shook his head. "Didn't happen. They got *promoted*..." there was venom on that word, "... to foremen of anuddah mine, but by then we all knew the truth. Wasn't the first promotion the mine saw. And after a while, all the letters sounded the same."

"There wasn't enough in the pool to buy out three work contracts... but there was enough to buy out one. I bought my freedom that day. Freedom, Commandah. Took me a few years and listening to the right folks, but I know now what I was. And Sil and Cal, my two bruddahs..."

He showed off the plate on his prosthetic forearm. They weren't scratches, those were Ferengi number sequences. Same style as the one burned into the dog tag that Cordale wore on a collar around his neck.

"... they're with me everywhere I go. I like seein' new places. I got a lot of living to do." a dour note, sure, but Cordale wore a smile.

There was a long moment of silence as his words hung in the air, Temperance contemplating on them for a long moment. "I'm sorry," she finally murmured quietly. "The universe can be a magical and eye opening place, unfortunately there are still things that bring sadness. I hope, at least here on the Vesta, you're able to find peace and honour their memories."

"Everywhere I go, they're with me." he said with a nod, "And ain't nuthin' for you to be sorry for. You coulda read my file twelve times, and I'm sure they mentioned my Temper more than my lack of family." he chuckled. Actually chuckled. "I got friends, I got honest good work, and I got faith. It's a little something I'm working on, a book... about how to live. How to conduct yourself. So that, if I'm all that got out... if it's just me, ole Cordale." even his name was just a series of Ferengi numbers.

"Then when I go, there's a book, that tells everyone what reads it that the Thux were here. We made our mark in the universe. Good luck getting THAT mark out." he gave a good laugh, then finished off his cuppa. "And that's how you live life the Thux way. No mopey Thux here. Something makes you sad, you recognize it, chat about it, then move on."

"And that is a good philosophy to take, something many more should take to heart, myself included," Temperance said with a soft laugh. "I'm sure we're all guilty of being a tad mopey at times, I guess it's how we deal with it that matters. You're a very wise individual Lieutenant Cordale, I genuinely look forward to many more chats over coffee with you."

"Tanks, comes from a life lived. My door's always open." a pause, "No, I mean that. It's jammed. Gotta fix that sometime. But not to detract from the moment, but if you ever need something, I'm yer Thux." he replied with a smile. "There's always coffee here, and your mug's always welcome here.

Temperance laughed. "Well, I won't distract you," she said, finishing her coffee and standing up. "I'm sure you have plenty more pressing matters to deal with, like choosing a chair. As I said, anything you need, requisition it and have the order sent by my office, I'll sign off on what ever you need."

"There is.... something you could do for me. A favor, if you would. And I know, I know, favors are dangerous but..." he took a breath. "It's gonna come down the line that eventually, I'm gonna rise up the ranks. From Deputy Engineer, to Assistant Chief Engineer, to grand high poobah or whatever. I just always ask two things."

"One, don't call it a promotion. Please. Promotion was the word I heard when they took my bruddahs away." Through it all, he kept his cool. No mopey Thux here. "And second, I'd ask that if I ever do earn a higher rank, or a higher job, I would prefer it to be on the base of my merit. Not just cause the office above me is empty and I'm next in line."

Recycling her mug into the replicator, Temp turned and smiled at him, a genuine smile that reached her eyes, followed by a slow nod. "You have my word Lieutenant Cordale," she said quietly. "You have my word." Without waiting for a reply, she turned on her heel and walked out of his office, making her way back into the corridor she had started in earlier, pausing for a moment and leaning against the bulkhead to take a deep breath and gather her thoughts before she continued on her way.