"Engineers Candor"

Posted on Thu Oct 29th, 2020 @ 4:35pm by

Mission: Welcome Aboard
Location: Main Engineering, Deck 36 USS Resolution

"Engineers Candor"
Captain Matthew Leonard, Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Commander Cha'Kwaina, Chief Engineer

*****
Now, 2372
Main Engineering
Deck 36, USS Resolution

This was where the most activity was on the entire ship. Main Engineering was serving as a hub for the refit activity, as the major changes were to the Warp Drive and it's systems. The Core had seen some new features installed, along with the overhaul of the Nacelles. Engineering itself though had changed very little. New carpeting - which kept it inline with the rest of the ship - was pretty much the only clearly visible change to the Captain. So very different to the Bridge.

He hadn't wasted much time before checking in with the Resolution's first Chief Engineer back on that first time, with it being his first port of call after being cleared for duty...

*****
Then, 2364
Main Engineering
Deck 36, USS Resolution

After being cleared for Duty by Medical and Counselling, the next step on the Captain's agenda was Main Engineering. This would be where he would get the fullest report on the operational status of his new Command. Rounding the corridor, he crossed the threshold into Engineering. The Warp Core hummed its low gentle Hum, breathing life into the ship. He briefly admired it, before he was spotted by one of the Junior Engineers on Duty.

"Captain on Deck," he called out, coming to full attention.

Several other crewmembers did the same, turning to get a glimpse of their new Commander. Matt merely nodded, content to spare them the moment to pay him their respects, before permitting them to return to their work. "As you were," he eventually added. As they returned to duty, the Chief Engineer approached him, which saved the Captain from having to look for her.

Cha'Kwaina, a Caitian woman with long white hair, with fur that matched, that is braided into a dozen braids. She looked at the Captain as he stood there. "Your late, sir." She said handing the man the PaDD in her hands.

"How would you define late, 'Commander?" the Captain replied. "I've been aboard ship for less than two hours," he added, taking the Padd. He avoided reading it, for the moment, as he preferred to take the time to talk to his senior engineer.

"We are underway, and Command decides to change Command." Cha'Kwaina stated. "Then it took to long to get you here." She flipped her braided hair over her shoulder, the beads and feathers made a jingling sound. "Sorry sir, I'm blunt and straight to the point. So I don't sugar coat anything." She smiled slightly at the man. "So with that said. You command the ship, but Engineering is my home away from home. If you have a problem with one of my people you come to me first.

The Captain nodded, actually pleased with the Engineer's attitude. "No need to apologise 'Commander. I appreciate your candor, and I certainly don't intend to interfere with your chain of command. If I did, I would have little need of you." The Captain was of the opinion that if he were to get involved with the departments of the ship, then he wouldn't need to have department heads to oversee them.

"Yes Sir." Cha'Kwaina said. "Shall we get started?"

"Indeed," the Captain answered, "Report Operational status please, 'Commander."

"Yes sir." She said. "Operationally we are fully functional. With this being the maiden voyage, we will be hunting down bugs for weeks." Cha'Kwaina stated accepting a PaDD from another engineer. "Well it seems that the Replicator transmission relay on deck 8 has gone down."

She turned. "Robinson, get a team to deck 8 and get the Replicator back online." A simple 'Yes ma'am', was given as the woman took off to get her team together. "Now the other operational issue, is getting this team melded into the best team in the fleet." She looked at the Captain with a smile.

"I like your attitude Chief," the Captain replied. Of course, he agreed with her. He wanted to boast the best team in the fleet, in every department. "On the subject of bugs, what resources, in terms of man power, are we dedicating to detecting flaws and issues?" the Captain asked, before adding to his question, "or is your team prepared to operate under a policy of resolving issues as and when they arise?" The Captain admitted, to himself at least, that either was preferable. On the one hand, he wanted to minimise the chances of issues occurring before they could potentially occur. But then, on the other hand, he didn't want to commit man hours and resources tracking down issues that didn't exist. That would be counter productive. He wasn't asking to rock the boat, or disturb the Engineer's methodology. He was merely curious as to her approach.

"Thank you Captain." She stated. "I'm not in the habit of wasting my peoples time on chasing ghosts, but when an issue does raise its ugly head, they are ready to fix it." Cha'Kwaina took another PaDD and read it. She handed back to the crewmen. "Good job in hunting down that glitch." She turned her attention back to the Captain. "The engines, defensive and offensive systems have already been checked and cleared before we left port. Now we are getting into the fine tuning of our systems."

"Excellent," the Captain replied, glad to hear his Engineers assessment. "From my understanding of our present assignment, our sensor packages are likely to be in greater demand than our other systems. Can we be assured that all scanning nodes, short and long range sensors, and all other data gathering equipment are reliable?" The Captain didn't doubt that they would be, but he hated surprises.

She held up the PaDD she just received. "That was the last glitch that was hunted down. So the sensor systems are sound, unless another glitch appears. Computers are running at nearly hundred percent. "

"Good work team," the Captain stated loudly, as he turned to look at all the Engineers on duty. Turning back towards the Chief he said, "anything else you wish to report 'Commander?"

"Not at this time, sir." Cha'Kwaina stated. "Thank you for the complement of my personnel."

The Captain nodded, "Carry on 'Commander."

*****
Now, 2372
Main Engineering
Deck 36, USS Resolution

The Caitian's team had been thorough during those initial months. They had suffered no significant system malfunctions, and had never been compromised by the any of the ships own failings. For the Captain, he had considered this a result. As for 'Commander Cha'Kwaina, she had been a fine Engineer, and had demonstrated her skills many times over. When she'd left the ship in '69, it had been to take on a new challenge, with the SCE. The Starfleet Corps of Engineers had been tasked with taking on the responsibilities of salvaging and scrapping decommissioned Starships. The Romulans' attempt to invade the Federation using stolen vessels from surplus depot's had prompted a review of how vessels were scrapped and recycled. The Captain remembered the Caitian being excited about the work, as the SCE had been directed to innovate with their recycling efforts.

Leonard hoped that his new Chief Engineer had the same enthusiasm for the job aboard the Resolution...