S12 - M7: Back to Basics

[T'Ra Jones]

[USS Discovery

[Kali Reyes]

[Operations Department]

"What's this about couplings?"

Kali was on her third cup of coffee to overcompensate the lack of ethanol no longer present in her diet. She powered through the first hour of shift like a lady on a mission, but by the time the daily inspections went underway, she was as absent-minded as a babe staring up at a mobile.

Except in this case, she was staring at a pair of blinking lights on the spec board detailing the ship's nacelle network and nothing was firing up top for a solution. Luckily, Yates answered her inane question with professional aplomb.

"The couplings started to shorten out after everyone went bonkers and wreaked havoc on Engineering," she replied. "We're asking to budget out non-essentials for a new pair of heat resistant nacelle couplings when we reach another starbase."

"Sure thing." Kali thoughtfully checked her empty cup. Another trip to the mess might be in order after this.

Yates looked at her funny. "Aren't you going to ask if the couplings are a problem for the ship?"

Her lips twisted in a pout. "It's just shortening, yeah? If they hadn't done it by now, ask Engineering to wrap diluminium tape around it. Conduction goes up by thirty percent and it'll hold. I got a bit sober, not a bit stupid."

"Congrats about that," Yates said and slapped her on the back. "Party hard, Reyes."

Kali sipped her at her empty cup. "Party hard, Yates."

[Bridge]

She picked up another coffee on her way up the turbolift and carried an extra thermos to boot. Being on the Bridge wasn't her cup of tea these days, but someone had to keep the Captain informed of personnel and ship systems.

"Pretty sure I saw the transporter fire up," Kali said at the console. "Personnel are still scrambling to finish the ship report, Captain. Give it five more minutes." 

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Transporter Room 2]

The admiral had, and he had had some excitement along the way.

Adeyemi stepped off of the transporter pad, causing the young transporter officer to raise an eyebrow. His uniform was scorched along its length, and smudged here and there with industrial grease. Halfway through his flight from the Columbus, his runabout had decided to repeatedly polarize its drive core. It was supremely frustrating: one moment he'd be gliding along at high warp, the next he'd be unceremoniously dumped to impulse.

That had gone on for three days until he'd finally notified the Discovery to expect him late. He and his pilot, a wiry, gangly officer named Smythe, had set to work. Adeyemi hadn't worked on a small craft in many years, but they hadn't changed much. Smythe felt it was his job to executive every piece of critical work, relegating the admiral to monitoring readouts and handing over tools.

It had taken the better part of a day, and most of their energy reserves, but they had managed to nudge the runabout close enough to the Discovery for transport. Smythe was back on the craft, disassembling their jury-rigged work so the Discovery's repair crews could fix it properly.

"Admiral, I am Ensign Dameer," A male Xindi-Primate said from behind the transporter's control panel. "I understand you had some difficulties with your runabout. Shall I notify Captain Jones you've arrived?"

"Yes, and give her my pardons." Adeyemi said in his accented voice. He was over six feet tall and had tipped the scales at over 200 lbs since he was a youth football prospect, back home in England. As he'd gotten older his frame had filled out in a few places that looked good and a few places that didn't. But he didn't seem to mind. Even at 50, he still cut an impressive figure. He moved with the ease of a man whose body had no more surprises for him. He slung the heavy, standard issue Starfleet duffel over one broad shoulder. "I will be unable to meet with her right away. Please ask the captain to have my runabout tractored into her cargo bay for repairs. Would you show me to my quarters, young man?"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]
Ardyn bolted onto the Bridge, still pulling up her duty boots while she was at it. She wasn't normally late to alpha shift, but today had been... Interesting to say the very least. It started with sleeping past her alarm. Sure, she had recovered from that little infection that swept the Discovery, (which proved to be VERY embarrassing to her) Apparently, there still was some slight residual effects that she was feeling from that.     

To add an extra layer of chaos to her already crazy morning; apparently, Steve had begun teething, shredding every single shoe

[Declan Vincent]

[Operations Department]

"What's this about couplings?"

Kali was on her third cup of coffee to overcompensate the lack of ethanol no longer present in her diet. She powered through the first hour of shift like a lady on a mission, but by the time the daily inspections went underway, she was as absent-minded as a babe staring up at a mobile.

Except in this case, she was staring at a pair of blinking lights on the spec board detailing the ship's nacelle network and nothing was firing up top for a solution. Luckily, Yates answered her inane question with professional aplomb.

"The couplings started to shorten out after everyone went bonkers and wreaked havoc on Engineering," she replied. "We're asking to budget out non-essentials for a new pair of heat resistant nacelle couplings when we reach another starbase."

"Sure thing." Kali thoughtfully checked her empty cup. Another trip to the mess might be in order after this.

Yates looked at her funny. "Aren't you going to ask if the couplings are a problem for the ship?"

Her lips twisted in a pout. "It's just shortening, yeah? If they hadn't done it by now, ask Engineering to wrap diluminium tape around it. Conduction goes up by thirty percent and it'll hold. I got a bit sober, not a bit stupid."

[Main Engineering]

Chief Engineer Donovan had been a sour man. All knew that the state of Engineering during the epidemic crisis was a horrid situation and maintenance on almost all systems since had been their priority. The Chief's whereabouts during that crisis wasn't known to the staff nor was it ever going to be divulged...ever.

Declan, only a few months aboard with the rate of crewman - read grunt - had been particularly busy, especially after he had learned the ship had nearly suffered a containment breach on his watch. Even with the virus impairing his mental capacity, he took this to heart, personally feeling responsible.

He wasn't alone. Many in Engineering never wanted to be reminded of what happened and few talked about it. Repairs became their healing remedy.

The coupling problem was another major blowback of their lack of collective action. As it was known, no replacements available till a starbase visit.

"An Operations officer came up with this?" Declan rubbed his neck, which had been giving him complaints after all the long hours they had put in.

"That's Senior Chief Reyes,  head of Operations. Using Diluminium tape is a stop gap, granted but it'll do the job." Donovan responded. "You saying you have an alternative, Crewman?"

Declan shook his head. "No Chief, I'll see to it.." The junior engineer was about to head to the supply room when Donovan barked.

[Transporter Room 2]

"Admiral, I am Ensign Dameer," A male Xindi-Primate said from behind the transporter's control panel. "I understand you had some difficulties with your runabout. Shall I notify Captain Jones you've arrived?"

"Yes, and give her my pardons." Adeyemi said in his accented voice. He was over six feet tall and had tipped the scales at over 200 lbs since he was a youth football prospect, back home in England. As he'd gotten older his frame had filled out in a few places that looked good and a few places that didn't. But he didn't seem to mind. Even at 50, he still cut an impressive figure. He moved with the ease of a man whose body had no more surprises for him. He slung the heavy, standard issue Starfleet duffel over one broad shoulder. "I will be unable to meet with her right away. Please ask the captain to have my runabout tractored into her cargo bay for repairs. Would you show me to my quarters, young man?"

"Hold it, Vincent, I want you and Johanssen to the Cargo Bay pronto. We have an Admiral aboard and his runabout requires maintenance." Donovan didn't wait for a reply, moving on to other underlings to issue other orders.

Declan sighed, which lasted a good while or so he believed. Shuttle maintenance was done by that motley bunch of 'mechanics'...He paused in his thoughts, who didn't nearly destroy the ship. Punishment duty or a place to tinker about unmolested. After all, working on an admiral's ride had it's perks..Screw up and it be the stockade. Who wouldn't enjoy that.

[Alexander Wu]

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

Blasted man had to be early, after being days late. Alex grumbled to himself, still fixing his collar as he approached the closed doors. He supposed tractoring the Admiral's shuttle into a shuttlebay wouldn't have been especially ostentatious. That being said, it would've been a hellavalot more convenient. It would've also been easier if T'ra or Nevir had decided to come along, but both were predictably busy. Somehow, even after dropping off a box - a literal box - of PADDs back on Kali's desk, he still got tagged to chaperone. Go figure.

On the other hand, it was probably for the best that he wasn't on the bridge at the moment anyways, considering who was assigned to work the helm. Alex was keen to avoid...awkward coversation, as best he could. Formalizing his composure, he keyed the door controls and stepped inside.

"I will be unable to meet with her right away. Please ask the captain to have my runabout tractored into her cargo bay for repairs. Would you show me to my quarters, young man?"

[Transporter Room 2]

Tabernac. Thirty seconds late, Alex maintained what he hoped came across as a welcoming smile while taking in Adeyemi. He had been curious when news of the Admiral had surfaced, though moreso about his predecessor, Alex's old friend, Luke. The man had gone on silent running, and hadn't responded to the half-dozen messages Alex had sent his way. The little digging around he had done only revealed more questions, some relatively sensitive in nature. Asking Adeyemi would probably reveal the most answers, if he was willing to speak about it. For now though, he considered allowing the man to settle in would be the best course of action.

"Admiral, I apologize for my tardiness. Welcome onboard Discovery." Alex spoke openly, giving Dameer a nearly imperceptible nod to resume his post. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Alexander Wu, I've been assigned to ensure that you're settling in comfortably. Would you please follow me? Your quarters will be in the Primary Hull, Deck 3, Subsection 5 Bravo. If you ever need to find your way, just use your commbadge to ask the computer, and a path will be lit for you along the bulkheads."

Stepping back into the corridor, Alex held out his hand, indicating the direction of travel to the turbolifts. He took in the Admiral's scorched uniform with a passing glance, conversationally asking, "I understand you've had an eventful trip, sir?"

[Lennox Ainsley]

[Armoury]

Lennox had been busying himself with his weapons - the ship's weapons and crew weapons that he counted as his. The Scotsman had been told about the arrival of the Admiral coming aboard, to which he had nodded.

Of course, he had been told about his drunken misdemeanor and his almost-fight with a velociraptor named Steve a few times by a few different people but the census was the same, most of the crew had been infected with the drunk illness and that really was that. A story for another retelling, perhaps. But not today.

Lennox clicked the pieces into place and went over to secure it well in the Armoury, having checked off the inventory on his PADD. Unless he was summoned to the bridge, Lennox would continue about his day - testing and rechecking all the mechanisms were functioning correctly.

[T'Ra Jones]

[Bridge]
Ardyn bolted onto the Bridge, still pulling up her duty boots while she was at it. She wasn't normally late to alpha shift, but today had been... Interesting to say the very least. It started with sleeping past her alarm. Sure, she had recovered from that little infection that swept the Discovery, (which proved to be VERY embarrassing to her) Apparently, there still was some slight residual effects that she was feeling from that.     

To add an extra layer of chaos to her already crazy morning; apparently, Steve had begun teething, shredding every single shoe

[Inzjana]

Inzjana's personal quarters

With Science Lab 2 still a mess, Inzjana decided to meditate, something she had been doing all her life, at least as far back as she could remember anyway. The difference this time was that she meditated for at least an hour in the morning and an hour at night, as opposed to fifteen minutes each time, ever since they had all been under the influence of polywater intoxication. The embarrassment of the un-Vulcan way Inzjana conducted herself was nearly enough to have her visit a counsellor.

Looking back on it, one could say that the events and the crews' antics were hilarious if it wasn't for the near fatal calamity of the antimatter containment pods turning the ship and her crew into constituent subatomic particles. Depending on how you looked at it though, that outcome could have been considered humorous in and of itself. How often did you get to say, ‘hey honey, went to work and guess what? There's no need for that diet anymore.' Or something along those lines anyway. There went another thirty minutes added to her meditation for that thought; the way she was going she would be meditating all day, a not too shabby thought if Inzjana thought so herself, which she did and contemplated adding another half an hour.
While meditating, Kara sat placidly beside her mummy, the rabbit tried in vain though to get her mother's attention more often than not, by nibbling on her tunic, rubbing her chin on Inzjana's leg, or even licking her hand. There were times that Inzjana nearly failed in her meditation as the Japanese harlequin mini-lop rabbit, not even two years old had nearly gained her attention several times.

Thinking of herself as the bunny's mother was a human quirk she picked up a long time ago. Of course why humans thought of themselves as their pets' parents was beyond Inzjana's understanding, for if they were actually their animals' parents then there was a lot to be said about human mating practices and also a rewrite of every biology text ever written was in order. Inzjana didn't envy the person that would be relegated that daunting task and thought afterwards that another half hour of meditation was probably needed, but decided to stick to the hour regardless.

Apparently true meditation rituals was eluding Inzjana this morning, the task of allowing the thoughts to come without judgement was just as daunting as the poor sod who had to rewrite all those biology texts.

Finishing up the hour of meditation, Inzjana opened her eyes and unclasped her fingers which were in the usual Vulcan meditation arrangement of the index and middle fingers, which wasn't actually in the middle, extended and joined with their counterpart of the other hand with the ring fingers and the awkwardly named pinkie fingers clasped together. Why the English speaking nations of Earth decided in their infinite wisdom to name a finger after a colour was anyone's guess and had many philosophers no doubt contemplating that very notion along with idiocy of naming the smallest toes on their feet ‘piggies' as an addendum.

Patting her bunny on the head then putting her back in the cage which had finished its auto-clean ages hence, Inzjana had her breakfast and decided to see how the work was proceeding in Science Lab two if any...

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Outside Transporter Room 2]

Blasted man had to be early, after being days late. Alex grumbled to himself, still fixing his collar as he approached the closed doors. He supposed tractoring the Admiral's shuttle into a shuttlebay wouldn't have been especially ostentatious. That being said, it would've been a hellavalot more convenient. It would've also been easier if T'ra or Nevir had decided to come along, but both were predictably busy. Somehow, even after dropping off a box - a literal box - of PADDs back on Kali's desk, he still got tagged to chaperone. Go figure.

On the other hand, it was probably for the best that he wasn't on the bridge at the moment anyways, considering who was assigned to work the helm. Alex was keen to avoid...awkward coversation, as best he could. Formalizing his composure, he keyed the door controls and stepped inside.

[Transporter Room 2]

Tabernac. Thirty seconds late, Alex maintained what he hoped came across as a welcoming smile while taking in Adeyemi. He had been curious when news of the Admiral had surfaced, though moreso about his predecessor, Alex's old friend, Luke. The man had gone on silent running, and hadn't responded to the half-dozen messages Alex had sent his way. The little digging around he had done only revealed more questions, some relatively sensitive in nature. Asking Adeyemi would probably reveal the most answers, if he was willing to speak about it. For now though, he considered allowing the man to settle in would be the best course of action.

"Admiral, I apologize for my tardiness. Welcome onboard Discovery." Alex spoke openly, giving Dameer a nearly imperceptible nod to resume his post. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Alexander Wu, I've been assigned to ensure that you're settling in comfortably. Would you please follow me? Your quarters will be in the Primary Hull, Deck 3, Subsection 5 Bravo. If you ever need to find your way, just use your commbadge to ask the computer, and a path will be lit for you along the bulkheads."

Stepping back into the corridor, Alex held out his hand, indicating the direction of travel to the turbolifts. He took in the Admiral's scorched uniform with a passing glance, conversationally asking, "I understand you've had an eventful trip, sir?"

[Transporter Room 2 - P-Way]

"Admiral Adeyemi." He enfolded the other man's hand in his own, gave it the requisite two pumps, and ended the handshake. "Our drive core kept polarizing and then un-polarizing itself. We managed to fix it for the time being, but the runabout will need permanent repairs soon."

The Prometheus class vessel was as sleek on the inside as it was on the out. As Wu had said, lights on the bulkheads guided them to their destination. Such a vessel made Adeyemi a bit uneasy, however. The Discovery was a warship in everything but name. The Multi Vector Assault Mode feature actually made it three warships. The class of vessel had been designed at the height of the war with the Dominion. Why it was the flagship was beyond him. Still, he supposed a show of force here and there on the frontier did not hurt, and by all accounts Captain Jones was a level headed commanding officer.

"I believe I will make myself presentable and greet the captain," Adeyemi declared in his accented voice. "Thank you for your help, commander. I'm sure we'll link back up soon."

[Declan Vincent]

[Transporter Room 2 - P-Way]

"Admiral Adeyemi." He enfolded the other man's hand in his own, gave it the requisite two pumps, and ended the handshake. "Our drive core kept polarizing and then un-polarizing itself. We managed to fix it for the time being, but the runabout will need permanent repairs soon."

[Cargo Bay]

The doors swooshed open to reveal  stacks of standard Starfleet crates in neat rows. The runabout, however,  was  unique.

Having been tractor beamed aboard, it was situated near the bay doors. The Shuttle bay would have been the preferred resting place but Declan liked the quietness of where it sat.

Johanseen,  the other engineer, set the tool kits down beside the runabout as the Admiral's man, Smythe exited. He looked as if he was in the innards of a great beast and to some extent, he had been.

In no short order, the pilot relayed the problem in a way flyboys only could. The runabout had been Smythe's baby,  even temporarily, and expected the grease monkeys to treat her well.

Declan observed the ad hoc repairs the Admiral and Smythe had done on the fly. Crude but impressive. Without warp speed, you have to surrender to sublight and as distances are measured in light years in space, your only hope is a passing vessel or your distress signal being received.  It made him appreciated space travel and it's ingrained dangers.

As Declan was pulling out his tools, he prodded Smythe hovering to his left. "What brings you out here anyway? Admirals tend to give a very good reason for practically everything they do..." His lips formed a smirk. "Or so they tell me."

Johanseen pointed to Declan's collar, an interruption he didn't appreciate since it gave Smythe a reprieve for a wonderful half truth. "Did you get promoted?"

Declan glared at Johanssen. " Containment breach imminent, you get promoted.." He waved further speculation. Donovan had done the deed before he left Engineering. He did to accept it as pure luck and leave it at that. "So Mr. Smythe, are you on some kind of secret mission.."  He knew conspiracy theorist Johanssen was about to open his mouth and he snapped. "Not picking up tribbles  to transport them to Qo'NoS!"

Smythe simply shrugged. The loyal bugger.

Declan sighed. "Well whatever your reasons, you were lucky. A warp core polarization issue is a big deal. Whoever inspected this runabout during her routine maintenance needs to be sent out an airlock." Seeing Smythe's expression, he quickly added. "Figuratively speaking."

"Followed by every engineer after what happened during the epidemic." Johanssen commented.

Declan glared yet again at his fellow engineer before turning to the pilot. It was his turn to change the topic. "Has anyone from Ops been down here? You would think they were in competition with us when it comes to systems.."

Smythe shook his head.

"Give it a few minutes..."

[T'Ra Jones]

[Bridge]

"Well, do your best not to get us lost while the admiral is on board," T'Ra mused, an arched brow the only indication that she was still amused. "Though if we do get lost, be sure to disable communications so that the admiral won't be able to inform Starfleet of the fact."

Stretching her shoulders to ease the tension that had been building up in her muscles, she added, "I'm sure the admiral knows where to find me when he's ready. And Steve better be on his best behaviour." As fond as she was of the little guy, she would not be happy if he created an embarrassment for the ship.

[T'Lulu May Soong]

working memory bank.  While this bank's drive had more than sufficient storage for the working data she takes in every day, week, month, perhaps decades, she still believed she would function at her best starting each day with a clear working memory bank to work with. 

Aside from that, with all of her data neatly filed away into their respective categories, sub-categories, sub-sub-categories, et cetera, this makes her already swift processors even more efficient for on-the-spot problem solving. 

Though advantageous in mental processing, T'Lulu lacks in emotional capacity.  She has no opinion of herself, and is rendered incapable of feelingthing

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

With her cup of coffee gone, Kali was working her way through the thermos when the console started to beep angrily at her. Lowering the thermos, she puzzled at the screen before looking to the Captain for guidance.

"Hate to break up the morning chatter, Captain, but we've got a distress call hailing us." And boy, what a time for it to happen with the Admiral on board! She turned in her swivel chair. "And the Admiral is head up as we speak, so that's nice."