Are Monkeys Good Engineers?

Posted on Wed May 17th, 2023 @ 1:59pm by Lieutenant JG Jericho (Marsh) Aldaje

Mission: Starship Side Quest
Location: USS RESOLUTION
Timeline: Current

"Damn baboons, swear they had monkeys put this ship together." Robert said to himself grabbing a tool from his box. He was hard at work fixing a faulty sonic shower in a newly assigned room for the science officer.

Each time she tried bringing Talon on board a vessel, people always had issues with it. Even though it was cleared and she'd gone through all the necessary testing and approvals. Still, Talon seemed to be used to all the prodding and scans -- at least when they were done she got belly rubs and pets.

"You are an attention hog." I scratched the top of her head.

Talon merely offered Jericho's hand a lick and stuck her tongue out, panting. As always, Jericho hunched down in front of her and dragged her palms along Talon's sides then under her to her belly.

"You're not overheating." Jericho exhaled.

Talon licked her chin.

"Aww, come on girl." Jericho laughed and picked up her duffel. "Come on, let's check out our digs first. What do you say?"

Talon stood and trotted off. Jericho jogged to catch up to her pet.

By the time my quarters door swung open, I could already sense something was off. Talon paused at the door, drew her tongue in as the ears atop her head stood up. Her tail stopped waggging and she glanced back at me before staring into the room, intently.

"What is it girl?" Jericho asked trying to step in.

Talon shifted her body, sniffed at the ground then barked. Before Jericho could get her leash on her, she charged for the bathroom, barking.

"Tal!" Jericho called, dropping her back. "Talon, Chakaman!"

But Talon wasn't listening. She sensed danger.

She stopped at the door bad kept on barking until Jericho managed to get in. Immediately, she hunched down to wrap her arm around Talon's neck and pulling the Husky into a hug.


Robert was in the middle of adjusting the cooling lines when the sound of barking startled him. The distraction was enough to cause him to lose sight of what he was doing before a huge cloud of cold mist hit his face.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Talon, wiheom-eun eobsda." She spoke to the dog in Korean before looking up at the man there. "It's okay, girl. I'm not in danger."


Now the coolant was harmless but it was known to attach to hair and crystalize it which in Robert's case he now had a beard and hair of frost. He crawled out sat up greeted by a woman and her dog.

"Annyeon--" She caught herself and switched back to English. "I'm sorry, Lt. She is very protective."

The man in front of her looked like a comical yet pissed off version of Jack Frots or or a skinnier version of Santa Klaus. Though she wanted to giggle, she tapped Talon's butt while pushing the curious husky behind her. Still wanting to laugh, she stood, straightened her spine then bowed to him.

"My aplogies Lt." She tried again, folding her arms behind her back and digging her fingers into the meaty base of her thumbs to keep from laughing. "I am Lt. jg Jericho Aldaje. This is my quarters and Talon didn't expect anyone to be here."

Talon came back to push her snout between Jericho's legs to peer at the man.

She booped Talon's nose tenderly and the Husky growled softly at the man as if telling him to keep his hands where she could see them, then trotted away to lay down beside Jericho's bag.

Jericho bowed again. "So sorry, sir."

Robert got to his feet walked over to the mirror and let out a single scream. He quickly rubbing his hair and face over the sink. A snicker could be heard from behind as he slowly turned to the unexpected arrival and her dog.

"That is not funny..." Robert said in as calm of a tone as possible.

Jericho cleared her throat. "You have to admit sir, it is a little bit funny. But I appreciate the weight of your irritation."

Robert let out a roar clearly enough to startle the dog in the room to back away and find a spot to hide. The engineer was now furious he leaned down to meet the junior officer dead in the eyes. "Do I fucking amuse you? Am I a clown to you?"

Wow, Jericho thought. He is one of those officers.

Exhaling a patient breath, she lifted her chin and straightened her spine.

"You are in my pet's home, sir." Jericho glared at him. "I explained why Talon behaved the way she did. You are a stranger and she believed you posed a threat. With all due respect, if you you cannot understand that and wish to act like a neanderthal, please vacate my space and have someone else repair my shower--Sir."

Robert's stomach rumbled which made him realize he was hungry checking himself and looking around for something. The chief engineer walked past her out into the main living area before finding his bag of homemade beef jerky.

Taking a seat he pulled out a piece and took a bite by then Jericho's dog was now interested and walked over to him. Without a thought he handed the dog some jerky and rubbed her head thinking about his dog back home on the ranch.

Jericho arched a brow. There was something very not normal about this man. As she watched Talon with him, she figured even though he seemed surley, there might be something good in him and Talon saw that. She was still not okay with him scaring Talon and a part of her wished her dog would bite him.

She allowed herself the images to dance through her head, sighed happily before clearing her throat and walking over to where her bag sat. She set to work unpacking Talon's bowls, set them close to the bedroom, at the outside wall, then peered in to see the boxes with her things that had been sent ahead from the Poseidon. The truth was, she wasn't looking forward to that work. And she wouldn't have to be doing all that if her father would not be such a horrid person.

Exhaling, she checked her hair and straightened her clothes before walking back out.

"So, you've had a moment to calm down." She said to him. "Am I to know your name, or do you wish to just not be that polite?"

By then Talon was already licking Robert's face wether Jericho realized it or not Robert loved animals and it seemed the dog was apologizing for earlier. Robert gave her another beef jerky and rubbed her belly causing the dog to drop and roll onto her back to let him keep rubbing her belly.

"Oh you is a good girl huh? Definitely remind me of my dog back home."

"That depends on you apologizing for calling me a neanderthal. I actually took extra time out of my day when I should be home now trying to make you feel welcome and fix your shower for you." He noticed a slight shade of red in the young officers face.

Jericho folded her arms across her chest. "I think you have a better chance of pigs flying." She told him. "You're very welcome to not do your job, that is complete and utterly up to you, sir. But, you cannot remain here. I've had a very long trip to this starbase and I'd like to rest before I have to get to my first meeting. In the mean time, I will see about having another engineer fix my shower, or I can fix it myself. Those are your choices--"

She cleared her throat.

"Sir." She added.

Robert look at the dog who seemed sad now he gave the animal a nice head rub before getting to his feet. Heading for the bathroom to finish up.

Talon walked over to her and Jericho hunched down to stare into her pet's eyes.

"Aww, come on, girl." She groaned.

Talon lifted a paw to her thigh and Jericho didn't know how but she knew what Talon wanted.

"I know you like him." Jericho told the pup. "But--"

Talon whimpered.

Jericho sighed while melting.

Standing, she gave Talon one final look then held her breath for a moment.

"Mianhae." She spoke in Korean, offering a slight bow of her head. "It seems Talon has forgiven you for scaring her."

Talon was wagging her tail.

"My apologies." Jericho told him. "For everything. But to be fair--you did kinda sorta looked like Jack Frost."

Robert was back in the bathroom tool in hand. "I apologize as well I had a rough childhood people tended to poke fun at me too much I tend have a short temper on being laughed at." He got on his back and went back to work.

"Your dog reminds me of my German Shepherd Roscoe back home in Texas good animal that one is."

She walked to the door and leaned her shoulder aganst the frame. "Children can be cruel. And I wasn't laughing at you. I'm usually not that rude. When I was a child, my best friend used to draw Jack Forst beard on pictures of me. It was a good memory. And Talon seems to like you. If you ever want to hang out with him sometimes, I will not be against it."

"I have to ask the wife about that." Robert paused popping his head out to look at her. "I actually miss all my animals back home my horse Slim the most." He pointed to her ear where her universal translator was implanted.

She nodded. "The offer is there."

"By the way, want me to look at your translator? Seems broken I keep getting Korean from you at times."

"Not broken." Jericho laughed. "I was raised in South Korea. My native language is Korean. I try using both languages with Talon so when he's on board a ship or base, he can understand different commands. I tend to slip into the language from time to time. I will stick to English for you."

"No need, just making sure it was working properly." Robert tightened up one last connection before crawling back out. He activated the sonic shower and smiled that it was working properly again. "Man 1 Monkeys 0."

Turning the shower off he placed the cover back on and packed his tools. "Well, I am happy to say you should have no problems with your shower for a long time."

He smelled something it smelled like...coffee fresh ground coffee from Asia. "I don't mean to pry but is that the sweet smell of gourmet Asian coffee?"

"It is." Jericho grinned. "My best friend gave me enough to feed a small town. You are welcomed to one if you'd like."

Robert walked out of the bathroom to the kitchen and saw a large case of Dalgona. "Oh my, Dalgona, I haven't had this stuff for a long time." His academy roommate Kenji Nakamura used to make a batch of the stuff every morning back in the day.

Robert set his toolbox down. "Still want me to go?" He asked.

Jericho blushed. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Actually I am not even thinking about it anymore we both admitted our wrongs and moved on. I am just merely making sure you still wish me out of your presence I don't want to be somewhere where I am not wanted." Robert shrugged and grabbed his tools starting for the door.

"Wait a minute!" Jericho called. "I mean--I'm sorry. I mean that. And I'm not rushing you or anything but apparently I still have to speak with a few people before the end of today."

"I see, well I am just the Chief Engineer," Robert extended his hand. "Robert Carver."

Jericho bowed her head. "geugeos-eun dangsin-eul mannaseo bangawoyo." She told him then caught herself to translate. "It's nice to meet you. And that's Talon."

Robert stood for a moment before taking a seat. "Well, nice to meet you again I apologize for how I acted at first I normally don't lose my temper much. It's not something I like portraying myself as."

Jericho smirked. "Sure, Lt. We all have those days. There really isn't anything we can do about them. I mean, we can try not letting it get to us, but sometimes--well, a friend of mine always say it's better out than in."

Robert shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose your friend has a good point." He said.

"Don't ever tell him that." Jericho teased. "It'll just go to his head."

"I won't say a peep."