New Assignment ACEO and Instructor

Posted on Tuesday October 24th, 2023 @ 2:07pm by Lieutenant Commander Rachel Williams & Captain Franklin Johnson & Lieutenant Drauc Kejail ie-Jia'anKahr

1,714 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Grand Tour: Part Two
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: The Grand Tour
Tags: Grand Tour, 2395, Introduction

[ON]

Lieutenant Drauc Kejail ie-Jia'anKahr had received his orders shortly after the USS Horizon had docked. He was assigned to the USS Poseidon as the Assistant Chief Engineering Officer. He had reviewed the data on the Poseidon and found it curious, it was one of the last old-school Miranda-class Destroyers that Starfleet had operational. She functioned as a Starfleet Academy training ship, thus making him a Starfleet instructor. He had arranged for his belongings to be transferred over to the Poseidon. He had partaken of his leave, ordered as he had accumulated over twenty-four months' worth. During this leave time, he had to return to Vulcan to attend the funeral of a close and powerful family and clan of his clan, he also spent some time with a very perplexing and astute Cardassian woman. He shook his head and steadied himself as the turbolift doors opened and he stepped out and headed to the Captain's Ready Room. He hit the chime.

The Captain awoke from his nap as he stood up slowly, approaching the entrance and pressing the button to approve the entry manually. He examined the person on the other side, then nodded as he stood the side and gestured for them to enter.

"Welcome!" he greeted. "I must have forgotten I had arrivals today. I believe you're the new Assistant Engineering Chief. I had some trouble deciding on what to call you. Mr. Kejail, correct? Or should I use another part of your name?"

Drauc looked about the captain’s ready room and then at the captain in the stoic expression most people associated with Vulcans. “You are correct captain; I have been assigned to the USS Poseidon as the Assistant Engineering Chief. My previous posting was on an Intrepid-class starship, the USS Horizon; she just came off a five-year mission patrolling Tholian space. As I do not believe you are looking for a lecture on Vulcan language, family lineage or surnames; please call me Drauc.” He replied in a flat and stoic voice.

[Engineering]

Rachel was in engineering and working on an actual line that had fluid in it and got some over her work jacket and face when her Padd going off startled her, she grumbled as she used a clean cloth to wipe her cheek smudging it slightly in the process but she got the bulk off, her work tunic a special overcoat for her uniform similar to the one B'Lanna used on occasion on the Voyager. Pulling out her Padd the message was to report to the CRR, she wondered if it was a new ACEO after Miles had left under mysterious circumstances she was wondering how long she would have to wait till she got a new deputy. Well, she was about to find out, realising she did not have time to change or properly clean up with rag in hand trying and failing to wipe the stuff on her face off, she finally made it to the nearest lift and entered when the doors closed "CRR" she said. The lift took her to the bridge as the door to the CRR was on the bridge.

[Bridge]

The lift doors opened and she stepped out onto a busy bridge the ship was at warp on its way to Tellar, she did not want to disrupt those on the bridge so she headed to the CRR and pressed the buzzer, silently cursing that she was not properly presentable.

[Captain's Ready Room]

Taken aback by the true Vulcan demeanour, Franklin about flustered his reply when the door chimed.

"Oh, look at that!" he said happily, thankful for the distraction. "Enter!"

Taking note of his Chief Engineering Officer, he smiled and gently laid a hand on the Vulcan's shoulder to direct his attention to Rachel as she entered. As she approached, he formed a circle between Drauc, himself, and his CEO. He nodded to both.

"Mr. Drauc, this is Commander Williams, your Chief Engineering Officer," he said as he introduced the two. "Mrs. Williams, this is Lieutenant Drauc, your new Assistant Chief. He seems ready to go and all business."

Quietly, and away from the view of the Vulcan, Franklin mouthed the words, "Help me", to her. Not in distress but in a way pleading to escape from the awkward situation he had landed in.

Drauc flinched slightly at the captain's touch on his shoulder. He never understood why humans insisted on touching. He looked his new Chief Engineer over and smelled the engineering fluid on her. He stoically looked at her "Commander Williams, I am prepared to assume my duties. I will review the data on aMiranda-class starships, the closest I have come to serving on one is when I was Crewman 1st class on the FMMS Perdition." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the captain mouth something to the commander, again he was perplexed at why humans thought they needed to hide their actions, and how much they lacked in understanding of Vulcans. He stood patiently waiting.

*Looks over at her Captain and sees the stress, dealing with a Vulcan was never easy, she got the message* "So Lieutenant Drauc, hope you do not mind me calling you that, as I could not pronounce your family name if you offered me all the Latimum in the galaxy and any attempt to try would be an insult and I do not wish to insult my new Deputy" she said with a smile "please excuse the mess, been working in engineering and this ship is metaphorically held together with duct tape and wire *shrugs* then again it might be held together with such items, the amount of upgrades and refits this old tub has had, I am surprised she can still fly. I will brief you on what has been done, but you will find it... interesting what the history of this ship is where the refit is concerned, the briefing will be soon, one thing you must know is it is not an important one but on occasion, you may hear me use colourful language or mumble incoherently, I have a love-hate relationship with this old girl" she said not missing his look of the dirt on her face and work tunic.

"Lieutenant, if you find the smell of the system fluid I have on me, I suggest you stock up on that balm Vulcans use to decrease the smell of humans and other non-Vulcans because the Engine room smells of engine stuff it is not as clean and orderly as the more modern ships, she is a workhorse with too many years on her clock and is well passed her service life, but we keep her going regardless, but the smell in Engineering may be a bit too much for the Vulcan acuity smell, so I suggest the stuff all Vulcans use to muffle the smell," Williams said "Any questions Lieutenant?" she asked her new Deputy.

The briefest of brief smiles came across Drauc's face. "Commander, I assure you the smells do not bother me I find them rather soothing. I believe I smell a propylene glycol and water solution on you; therefore, you must have been working on one of the main coolant systems for the computer core. I believe the Tellarites have developed a new synthetic hydrocarbon that is less corrosive and better at cooling. I understand we are heading to Tellar Prime; I recommend flushing the current system and replacing it with the new synthetic fluid. We would get an increase in cooling efficiency of 65%. As for the 'colourful language' I have served under a Klingon, Tellerite, and a Human female that could, as they say, 'curse the paint off the hull of a starship' so it does not bother me. At this time, I have no questions." Drauc stated in the inflexion of a typical Vulcan.

Franklin noticed the smile, turned, and appraised the Vulcan from a different perspective. He listened intently to their reply and was readily impressed. He turned to Williams, gave her a quick nod, and then turned back to Drauc. Moving away briefly he retrieved a data PADD and skimmed its contents as he walked back to where he had been. He nodded a few times, then handed the PADD to Williams.

"Lieutenant," he said as he briefly turned his head to the Chief Engineer after handing the data slate to her with Drauc's service and personal history, "I believe you're going to be a perfect fit here. I'll let Mr Williams confirm this, but as for me, I want you on my ship. Your educated history alone will provide volumes for the cadets you will undoubtedly be able to educate here, let alone the active serving crew."

Rachel took the Padd and looked at it, then to the Captain and nodded, then to the Vulcan "Okay Lieutenant, let me go give you the ten-cent tour of this ship engineering and bring you up to date on what upgrades have been done etc" she said and made to leave.

Drauc looked to the captain "Are there any further questions of me captain? It would appear the commander is anxious to show me the engineering section and as she puts it 'up to speed' on the upgrades that have been done." Drauc stood perfectly rigid at attention awaiting the captain's dismissal as he was the most senior officer of the ship.

"You're dismissed," Franklin quickly added, smiling. He then turned his attention to his CEO.

As the Lieutenant exited the room she turned her head to the Captain and smiled gave him a friendly wink and indicated the Vulcan as if she had it, then she followed the Lieutenant out and to the turbo lift.

He mouthed the words, "Thank you," to Rachel as she departed and gave a nod back to her wink.

As they left, the Captain sighed happily. Things were indeed looking up for the crew with so many highly skilled officers boarding.

[OFF]

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Lieutenant Drauc Kejail ie-Jia'anKahr
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Captain Franklin Johnson
Commanding Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Lieutenant Commander Rachel Williams
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Poseidon

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