Overhauls (part 2)

Posted on Wed Aug 30th, 2017 @ 12:09am by N'alae t’K’manatran & Winset-Kelix ‘Winkel’ Mar-Abek [N'alae]

1,204 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Celebrate Culture
Location: TGT Drydock, Tiberius IV
Timeline: Current

[OLD]

She took a sip of her tea, put the mug back down and leaned forward. “Whatever else, this is still a military vessel Mr. Mar-Abek, and you’ll maintain your civility.” She told him, firm and final. Winkel fumed for a minute but kept his peace.

[Continued]

N’alae continued in a softer tone. “I understand that you want to take care of her all on your own - I know how hard you worked last time. But you have to use the staff, that’s what they’re here for.” Winkel continued to stay silent. “You are the Chief Engineer, Winkel. If you can’t act like one, I don’t know what you’re doing here.” She let the threat hang in the air.

Winkel took her meaning immediately, and glared back at her. “I liked you better as a lowly smuggler.”

“And I liked you better in that airlock.” N’alae returned the jab smoothly. He winced and she smiled at him, daring him to test her further.

“Alright.” He finally said. “I’ll put ‘em to work. But if we blow up, don’t blame me.”

“Of course I will…Chief.” N’alae chided. Winked stared back at her, then shook his head.

“Will there be anything else?” He asked, sounding slightly deflated.

“Yes, actually.” She picked up the tablet with her other hand and looked at him. “While you’re here, we might as well go over this.” Winkel sighed and made to sit down on the chair. “Hey! No you don’t!” She pointed the tablet at him.

“What, you want me to stand the whole time?”

N’alae paused to consider it, and Winkel gave her a dark look. Finally she lowered the tablet and said, “No, have a seat.” She grimaced as his greasy pants settled into her clean chair. Winkel had a slightly triumphant expression on his face. N’alae entered a quick note into her console for the maintenance staff to send someone up to clean it later.

“How are the prisoner cell retrofits coming?” She asked once he was seated.

“You’ve got the report right there.” He protested, but the look she gave him made him reconsider. “It’s um...blocks one through four are nearly finished: the surveillance and suppression systems are in, the cell door locks have been tested and the lights are on. Just checking the plumbing.” He gave her a lopsided grin, expecting her to find that funny, but when she didn’t he continued. “Blocks five through eight are still being framed in and the demolition of crew quarters for nine through twelve will start on in a few days.”

“Good. And the cargo expansion?”

“Bays three and four have been combined - that’s done. Bay seven is still under construction. I ran into a bit of trouble when I tried to pull out the decking above. Someone jury-rigged a plasma conduit through there. Would of blown out three decks! Fortunately I was able to shut it off in time. But damn! Who puts in a conduit and forgets to upgrade the specs!?” He fumed a little. “I’ve found similar modifications here and there all across the ship.”

“So I’ve read in your reports.” N’alae said introspectively. “Did you find any reason for the modifications yet? Any monitoring or tracking systems?”

“No.” he replied.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “We still don’t know why the ship was abandoned, or why the Empire hasn’t tried to take it back. It’s all very suspicious.”

“I agree. But I still haven't found anything.” They sat in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Winkel spoke. “Hangar bay two is about twenty-five percent done. Similar issues as with the cargo bays. The fighter bays are also being troublesome, since the seals won’t hold on the outer doors. I’m going to have to fabricate all new ones.”

N’alae made a disapproving sound. “That’s going to set everything back even more.”

“Yup.” Winkle chirped. “So will the gel packs. It’s almost impossible to get hold of Romulan neural circuitry.” N’alae started to say something, but he quickly interrupted, “And no, you can’t replicated those.” She closed her mouth and tried not to look disappointed.

“Fine. I’ll have Sonos look into it.” N’alae said. “How about sick bay?”

“Romulan medical bays are usually pretty good, and for a ship this size they're just about big enough for what you want. It’ll only take a bit of work to finish them off. I’ll send some people to start on the new isolation labs and the overflow wings as soon as they’re done with the lavatories in the multi-purpose bays.” He said in a dismissive manner that made N’alae grind her teeth a little, but she let it be. After all, the lavatories needed to be done as well. “Were you able to get the extra bio-beds?” He asked.

“They should be here in a few weeks.” she replied.

“Good. Hopefully Khiy was also able to get those independent generators I asked for. And maybe the EMH?” He asked with an eagerness in his voice.

“Khiy is not going to shell out that kind of cash so that you can play with holograms.” N’alae paused for a second, considering how that sounded. She quickly added when Winkle started to smirk, “You know what I mean.”

“Pitty.” Winkel sulked.

“Anything to report on the planet?” N’a’ale asked, changing the subject.

“Two more tunnels have been cleared. I’ve upgraded the ventilation system, so hopefully any new sand that gets in will just get sucked back out again.” He shifted in his seat, spreading the greasy stain to more of the cushion. “One of them opened up into a storage bay. There’s some mining equipment down there.”

This had N’alae’s attention, as it had not been in his last report. “Oh?” she asked.

“They’ll need some work, but most of it looks to be in pretty good shape, if a bit out of date. Some of it might even help us clear the rest of the tunnels.” He told her. “Some of it is obviously useless though, either is was broke before or the sand got to it. We could try to salvage them for parts, or maybe sell them.”

“Get an inventory together,” N’alae said, “list equipment and condition. When the miners get here they can review it. Anything they don’t want, Sonos might be able to find a home for it.”

Just then the lights flickered and went out, leaving them in total darkness as the backups failed to come on. Winkel sighed expansively.

“Don’t say it.” N’alae hissed. She felt a brush of air as Winkel raised his hands in mock innocence. In that moment she was glad for the darkness since it hid the smug look that was no doubt plastered on his face.

OFF

Tags

N’alae t’K’manatran
Commander of the Morning's Wake

‘Winkel’ Mar-Abek
Chief Engineer of the Morning's Wake

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