Chinese Checkers

Posted on Mon Dec 15th, 2014 @ 4:15pm by Lieutenant Eden Zayra & Commander Rylie Cattmor

1,112 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Before the Edmorn was found

ON:

The humans had a saying, Myrtle's Law or something like that, that in any situation, anything that can possibly go wrong, will likely go wrong. It wasn't as often true as what most people believed, but this was one of those situations when it was. Cattmor read the message a second and third time in some vain hope that more reading would somehow miraculously alter the information posted to her from the medical department. She'd been in her office less than ten minutes, and she was already moving again, though not to the bridge as was her original plan, but to main engineering, her original home away from home, that was now to become someone else's.

Purposefully walking through the double entrance doors, she started looking for someone she already knew was in there, and located them by one of the anterior diagnostics stations near the warp core. "Lieutenant Zayra? A word please?" she said to the woman almost looking lost.

Turning at the sound of her name being mentioned, Eden turned, a few strands of hair dancing around her face, which had a look of frustration mixed with mild surprise. "Lieutenant Commander Cattmor." Eden attempted to work her face into a semblance of a smile. "Good morning, ma'am."

"Morning," Cattmor said quickly, all business as the term 'Good morning' was not particularly honest at the moment. "I hope that you're getting comfortable and getting up to speed with the Ranger's inner workings?"

"As best as can be expected. Just running a diagnostic of the warp core, making sure it's within acceptable parameters, given our current situation. Lieutenant Darkmoon hasn't been in yet this morning, but hopefully he'll arrive soon."

Rylie tightened her lips slightly, this was not all together pleasant news, "He's not coming." She took in Eden's stunned expression, and went on, "I've just received a message from Doctor Quinn, Mister Foster's off-sider, stating that Lieutenant Darkmoon was taken to sickbay in the early hours this morning with acute cerebral hypoxia, which has rendered him unconscious, and they've had to induce a coma to protect his higher brain functions.

Blinking rapidly, Eden called to one of the ensigns, "Ensign Frezha, will you please continue the diagnostic while I talk with the Lieutenant Commander." Once said ensign had taken over the spot, Eden motioned for the XO to follow her to the office. Once inside, Eden leaned against the desk and said, "Do we know how long he'll be off duty for?" Eden was worried about the officer, finding him to be a wonderful individual to work with and had enjoyed getting to know him.

"Well let's just say that he will not be returning to duty any time soon." Cattmor replied. "The Ranger apparently doesn't have the resources with which to effectively treat the lieutenant, and so they're going to be keeping him in his current state until we exit the cloud and can transfer him to a specialist Starfleet Medical facility for treatment."

Running a hand through her hair, attempting to get it looking less mussed, she walked to the replicator and ordered a Masala Chai tea and then turned to the XO, "Would you like something to drink, Lieutenant Commander? Otherwise, I'm gonna drink this just to calm my nerves a touch."

"Understandable, it's a bit of a shock, and no thank you. You might want to try Bolian tonic water, some say it's very effective." Taking a deep breath, Rylie set her attention on the better part of this impromptu meeting, at least for Zayra, "This does leave us with a slight staffing problem. Our current Assistant Chief, Yaris, is a good engineer, a fine officer, but she needs to gain more confidence in pressure situations, and the way things are going, this is hardly a pleasure cruise. So, effective immediately, I'm marking in the ship's log as of this date, that you are now the Chief Engineer of the USS Ranger, congratulations," she finished rather flatly with a hint of a smile - the previous night was hard, and the day hadn't started better.

Setting her drink down on the desk, Eden wiped her hands on her uniform, and then said, "I... Thank you, ma'am." This wasn't what she'd expected, but she would make damn sure to prove herself during this mission, if only to keep the Ranger in working condition no matter what.

"When we conclude this mission, dependent on the situation and if you would be up for it, Commander Michaels and I will push through paperwork detailing your appointment, and request that you remain on board this ship in that post."

"I'll do my best, ma'am." Eden smiled, then sobered slightly, "Should we inform the rest of the engineering crew of Lieutenant Darkmoon's situation and my appointment?"

"No," Cattmor said, "I think that should really come from you. I'll put an all stations bulletin out by the end of the day so that the rest of the crew is informed, but they are your people out there right now, at least for the moment. As I said the other day, as chief engineer it's part of your job to be the intermediary between the command staff and your department, just like I'm the bridge between the officer crew and the captain."

Breathing in a bit deeply, Eden exhaled slowly, not caring that she'd just done it in front of the first officer. She needed to get grips with it and push forward. She took her drink back to the replicator, where it disappeared with a glowing hum. It was there it finally sunk in. This was her department now. And with that thought came a sense of pride. Smiling, she straightened her back just a touch, held her head higher, then turned and faced the XO, her eyes shining with a spark of determination and happiness.

"If we're done here Lieutenant Commander Cattmor, I do believe I have an engineering crew to inform of the change of command down here, as well as a few EPS manifolds to correct, a few bio-neural gel packs to replace, and one particular couple to reprimand for last nights conduct here in Main Engineering." Eden waited politely for Cattmor's response, hoping she hadn't sounded impolite, but knowing that the full operation and smooth sailing of the Engineering team was under her guidance and command.

"Then I guess I'm dismissed." Cattmor said with a light smile. "Good day, Lieutenant," she finished with before turning and exiting the office.

OFF:

~~~

Lieutenant Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer
USS Ranger

Lieutenant Eden Zayra
"Acting" Chief Engineering Officer
USS Ranger

 

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