Meeting Casually

Posted on Friday January 22nd, 2021 @ 10:59pm by Lieutenant Lazarus Kord

882 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Main Engineering

ON:

Neteri had a problem with her shield generator on her fighter. Not wishing to bother both engineering chiefs, she went looking for an engineering officer to help her. Walking through main engineering, she saw a very large Gorn dressed in engineering gold. Walking up to him, "Excuse me, but can you help me sir?" she asked.

The Gorn blinked at having been interrupted so boldly by someone, turning his head only just so that one eye could focus on the newcomer. After careful examination of their rank and uniform, Lazarus turned full front face toward her and stood more at attention.

"Of course, Lieutenant Commander. How may I be of assistance?"

"Oh...please just call me Neteri, sounds so much more casual, Lt. ?" she smiled. "I have a problem with my shield generator on my fighter, "Ikran 1". It seems that it is only 46% of its norms and I have tried to realign it but this time no matter what I do, she just won't get any higher," she added.

The Gorn thought for a moment, eyes lifting upward as his mind raced with the probable solutions to this issue. He gave a nod when he glimpsed back at the Lieutenant Commander.

"Lazarus," he replied to her unspoken request, then added, "and I believe the problem isn't the shield generator itself. It could be, but from what you're describing it sounds like you have a faulty inverter somewhere. I'll be happy to take a look."

"Oh would you please. I fired my last crew chief cause he couldn't keep his mind on his work. Lost two pilots due to his in ability to keep his mind and hands on what he was supposed to!" she said angrily.

Lazarus looked baffled for a moment, then gave a slow nod seeing her anger and understanding the cause of it. He waved a hand in the direction of the exit.

"You lead and I'll be right behind," he said.

"Great....shall we?" and they left engineering. Neteri was quiet as she walked towards the lift. Deep in thought, she stepped indo the lift, "Fighter deck" she said and the lift started on its journey.

::Fighter Deck::

"Ah here we go.......my fighter is just over here," she said leading the way to "Ikran 1" Lifting the panel so the engineer could get a look, "Here sir," she said and backed away to give him room to work.

It took a solid minute for the Gorn to get his bearings. After Neteri had opened the panel, he had stood there stock still for the entire span of the sixty seconds as his eyes darted from one connection to the other. Afterward he was swift to take out his tricorder from its holster and began to scan for the suspected problem. He gave a soft hum after a moment, then turned to look at Neteri.

"It's not the inverter," Lazarus said with some measure of confidence. "There's a faulty connection between an inverter and the shield generator. It's causing a negative output of the required level of energy to maintain shield polarity and frequency. It's not exactly an easy fix, unfortunately, but I can show you where it is."

He turned, leaning over the opening and pointing up with a clawed finger at a very obviously damaged power conduit. Sparks tingled off its surface every so often, arching between the hull and the interior plating.

"Oh damn! That is serious indeed! Do you think you can repair it or do I have to bring in a fighter mechanic to repair it. The one we have is a grumpy old man," Neteri said slowly.

The Gorn thought for a moment, remembering back to the many situations with acquaintences to figure out how to react. He recalled a particular event where one crewman had coerced another into further social contact with just such an occasion, though the circumstances were different. He gave a shrug, looking back at the conduit then at Neteri.

"I can fix it within thirty minutes in exchange for, say, a dinner together?" Lazarus said, his expression somewhat alien but clearly a grin appearing there.

Startled, "Dinner? Um....sure I'm game. Lounge or mess hall?" Neteri said smiling.

The Gorn gave a firm nod. "Whichever you prefer. No need to worry about tailoring any foodstuffs for my species, I've adapted to eat most human foods with ease. Just to say in advance."

With the grin from before still apparent, Lazarus went to work.

"The lounge would be fine, Lazarus," Neteri said smiling. Watching him work, she wondered what the culture of the Gorn people was like. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she would ask him to tell her.

After working for about fifteen minutes and leaving to grab a spare part, Lazarus worked an additional thirty minutes before he emerged from the work port. He rubbed his clawed hands together, a bit greasey and grimey, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

"Done," he announced.

"Oh great, that's wonderful! Now I can relax. Thankyou very much Lazarus. As for dinner.......say 1900 hrs?" Neteri asked.

"That sounds perfect," nodded the Gorn. He gave a smile.

OFF:

Lieutenant Lazarus Kord
Engineering Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Neteri "Ikran" Shannon
CAG
USS Poseidon

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