Enter the Lizard

Posted on Thu Sep 17, 2015 @ 11:14am by Lieutenant JG Rhe'la Daughter of the Forty-ninth House & Commander Caden Aldrex
Edited on on Thu Oct 1, 2015 @ 4:14pm

1,414 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Fallout
Location: Ops
Timeline: MD 4 Shortly after "Reporting In"

ON:

After her run in with Tahhk, Rhe'la really just wanted to get back to work. But she also couldn't go back to Commander Wyman without letting SOMEONE in charge know the status of the repairs.

As such, she sought out Caden - the next in the chain of command. She found him in the back corner of operations, speaking to a junior officer manning a science station. Stepping forward, she waited for a lull in the discussion. "Excuse me, Commander? I'm sorry to bother you, but I have an update on the status of repairs."

Aldrex looked up. He had been expecting to receive a status report from engineering. "Good. How's it looking so far, Ensign?"

Taking a moment, she gave the station's first officer a once over. She hadn't served with many Trill during her career, so she wasn't sure about any potential idiosyncrasies typical of the species. But, flying blind was part of the job for an engineer.

"The whole station is still something resembling a wreck, but slightly less so than it was. Whatever the deal was with those aliens, they certainly did a number on the place. Rebuilding the deflector is going to take a few more days, but we should have main power back online in a few hours and most primary systems up by tomorrow. But even when those primaries come up, they aren't going to be at a hundred percent for at least a week." Having Tahhk as the test run made her slightly less nervous this time around.

"Dammit," the XO said in a low voice. He stepped away from the science station and began a slow pace around the perimeter of the room, looking over the shoulders of the other Ops staff as they worked. Rhe'la fell into step slightly behind him. "Is there any way you can move faster than that, Ensign? A lot of eyes in the quadrant are turning our way and I can't have this place in tatters."

The Zarnac sighed and shook her head mournfully. "We're already working triple shifts, Commander. The entire engineering and operations staffs are stretched to the breaking point. Commander Wyman had to order me to eat something earlier, otherwise I'd probably still be crammed into a plasma conduit."

"I promise you, Commander - we're all working as hard as possible. But, if I might speak freely - there's not much you can do unless you can make a Corps of Engineers team appear out of nowhere." Though she didn't want to have to be so blunt on her first meeting with the station's XO, she also didn't want him to think they were in better shape than they actually were.

"I'm sorry, sir. I wish I had better news. We're doing the best that we can, but it's slow going. Commander Wyman did a great job keeping the station in one piece, but he wasn't joking when he said he was going to have to burn out most of the primary systems to do it." At that the reptilian winced; she may not have been there for the main event, but she's vividly living the aftermath.

Aldrex rubbed his eyes. "I understand, Ensign. When you get back down there I want you to make sure everyone has eaten. If not, then order them to take a 30 minute break to grab something. Also, tell the ones who need sleep to hit the rack for at least a couple of hours. We'll get volunteers from other departments to help if we need to. I'm worried about defending this place. Who knows what'll appear out of nowhere today?"

"Well, we CAN at least make an educated guess. Most likely Romulans. Possibly Klingons. Most likely not Cardassians, Breen, Ferengi, or Gorn. Almost certainly not Kzinti or Tholians." She knew he was being hypothetical, but was hoping that a little levity would help.

Clearly it didn't, and so she cleared her throat and continued. "I'll pass the word along to have everyone rest and eat. Given the situation I can't promise they'll follow orders though."

The joke did register in the back of his mind but Aldrex was too fogged over to laugh. "As always I admire the dedication of the engineering department, Ensign. But look after your people and make sure they do as they're told. Promise them doom and sorrow if they don't. If you can't get their respect then you'll have to make do with fear."

"I'll do what I can, sir. Intimidation has never been my strong point, but Commander Wyman mentioned something about a carrot on a stick method that usually seems to work. Though I'm not entirely sure I understand what he meant..." the Zarnac trailed off at the end. She only understood about a quarter of what Wyman had ever said to her over the years, and most of that was related in some way to engineering principles.

"Forget I said it," Aldrex replied, waving it off, and feeling mildly embarrassed that he had turned into Captain Bligh for a moment. He had to be careful. Running on fumes as he was might also affect his decision-making skills. He didn't have a lot of latitude to be messing up in that area today. "Where are you from, Ensign?" he asked.

Needless to say, she hadn't expected a personal question. But, being the new face on the senior staff, she none the less supposed it made sense for the XO to want to get to know a little about her. "Ah... Deridous IV, sir. Born and raised in a Zarnac colony there. I've always been good with my hands, and when I got old enough I became part of the team that maintained the cloaking field that kept us hidden from the rest of the universe. And after encountering Starfleet for the first time, I wanted to join and try to make a difference."

"Oh, I see," Aldrex replied. He had heard of Deridous. It was a level of loss he couldn't comprehend. "I don't suppose you know Commander Drakt?" he asked crossing his arms and leaning against the side of a console.

If the personal question hadn't taken her aback, this one would have. "I've served with the Commander since I finished the Academy, sir. As the engineering officer on his security team, then with him on starbase 182 and the Cavalry. He was my Academy sponsor, as a matter of fact."

"I've never met him myself. I only know him by reputation. He's a good person to have as a mentor." Then, tilting his head slightly Cade asked, "What's your assessment of this situation?"

"Well, I'm no planetary scientist, but this has a potential to be a windfall. With all the interference in the atmosphere we don't really know what's down there. The planet could be hiding a huge deposit of dilithium, or latinum. To say nothing of the potential for colonization. A Federation outpost on the planet would be a boon for the station." the engineer mused, allowing her thoughts to flow freely.

That earned a nod from the executive officer. "I agree. Unfortunately we're not the only ones who are interested in the place. The space around here may get crowded very soon. When it does I worry that things might get tense." As he said these words his mind was on the Romulans. Would they be cooperative or antagonistic? It was hard to know. So unpredictable were they.

It was clear that Aldrex was deep in thought. "If you will excuse me, sir. I should get back to work... start rotating the crew through breaks." she thought aloud, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

Prodded back to the here-and-now Aldrex nodded his approval. "Right. Carry on, Rhe'la. Be firm. Remind them they're no good to us if they're exhausted. And thanks."

She nodded and gave a slight bow. "Of course, sir. You're welcome." She wasn't sure what he was thanking her for, but she had learned that it was proper form to respond in kind when thanked. As the first officer seemed to be done with her, she turned and headed toward the turbolift. There was a lot of work to be done, and not much time to do it.

Aldrex watched her leave, then shook his head. "Thanks for hearing me ramble for a few minutes. It kept me awake." He headed off in search of a pot of raktajino to correct his misfiring synapses.

[OFF]

 

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