Back Post: Walkabout - Engineering

Posted on Wed Mar 27th, 2024 @ 7:43pm by Lieutenant Faith Hawkins & Ensign Willa Baker & Lieutenant JG René Rouen

2,862 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Fortuna
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: MD4, 1100 hours

René opted to see the engineering decks after his visit to sciences. He made his way around several decks and meeting some of the more junior officers. He strolled into main engineering and went up to the 'pool table' and stood there quietly as the Chief Engineer and members of her staff discussed launch preparations.

"Alpha, Charlie teams, same as yesterday. Bravo, carry on with the aquatube in Lieutenant Vonn's quarters. Delta, your turn to keep things ticking over down here. Miss Baker, you're with me today." said Faith. She'd organised her staff into teams, to balance out experience. Twelve in total, four per shift. Today though, Faith decided to take Willa from Bravo team to work with her.

"Yes, Lieutenant." replied Willa. Nervously.

Faith was handed a PADD, which she read. A diagnostic report. All good, so she handed it back. Then, she beckoned Willa to join her. Then, a Lieutenant she didn't recognise stood at the pool table. "I wasn't expecting any more junior Lieutenants." she thought. "Can I help you, Lieutenant?" asked Faith.

René shook his head. "Lieutenant junior grade René Rouen. New Deputy Chief of Security. Arrived this morning and just felt like having a walkabout while I got my in-processing done. Meet some of the other officers and crew. I wasn't trying to intrude."

The engineer wasn't happy with the intrusion, deputy security chief or not. Faith was protective of her domain. Especially when she was busy. "I appreciate the thought, Lieutenant." she began, gesturing for Willa to pick up some tools. "But this is engineering, not a café." replied Faith, pausing at the pool table. She scrolled through the to-do list for unassigned tasks.

Willa giggled, louder than she anticipated. It was the bluntness, timing of the engineer's response. A look from Faith, glaring at Willa without moving her head, caused her to stop. Immediately. "Sorry, Lieutenant." mumbled Willa, holding the case. Sheepishly, she looked at the floor.

René gave a slow nod of his head as he glanced around. "That explains why I don't see an cappuccino machine." He glanced at Willa with a slight smile and gave her a wink.

Faith continued to look at the pool table. "If you'd like some coffee, the ship's lounge is on Deck 10." replied Faith, pausing on one particular task. It looked like a good challenge for Willa. "Miss Baker, we need to take a look at a power grid fault on Deck 12. I need you to isolate it first." she said, assigning the task to herself, Willa.

"Yes, Lieutenant." replied the junior engineer. Willa went to do as she was asked, leaving Faith with Rene.

"Why have you really come here, Mr Rouen?" asked Faith, folding her arms.

René kept his expression neutral. "I told you I wanted to introduce myself. I could be of assistance if you need me to. I have a pretty good understanding of power distribution systems."

"Well, if you're offering to help us out..." she replied, thinking. An extra pair of hands would be useful. Rene could help speed things up. Especially if they had to replace the affected section of the power grid, which Faith suspected. "I'll take all the help I can get."

Willa returned, the affected part of the power grid isolated. She confirmed to Faith this was the case. "The tool case, Miss Baker." said Faith, pointing to where Willa had left it. Of course, Willa had forgotten the tool case. She picked it up. "She's gonna think I'm an idiot."

"Right, let's go." said Faith, gesturing for Rene, Willa to follow.

René fell into step with Willa as they followed Faith. He called out to Faith. "What is specifically the problem?"

The dual doors parted, Faith walked through them. "That's for Miss Baker to determine." she replied. Willa followed behind, expecting Faith to say as much. A turbolift was soon reached. Faith pushed the call button, awaited its arrival.

Renè glanced at Willa. "So what is the malfunction Miss Baker?" I hope it's not a ruptured plasma conduit. I didn't bring any burn cream."

Thankful for Rene's presence, Willa looked back at him. "I don't know," replied the junior engineer, now slightly less nervous. Faith's expectations still weighed fairly heavily on her, though. "I haven't looked at it yet."

"Engineers need to know how to diagnose problems without asking the computer." said Faith, stepping into the turbolift, "Deck 12." standing as far away from Willa, Rene as she could. In a small space, maximum personal space was a must. The door closed, the lift started to move.

René was adept at reading body language and he could detect a slight tension coming from Faith. He did his best to edge himself a little further away despite the confines of the turbolift. He turned to Willa. "What does Ensign Baker like to do for fun? If I may ask."

Willa always made the most of her free time. "Singing, performing. Going out with friends is nice too." she confirmed. Making friends came easy to her. Willa could connect with anyone, younger, older or the same age. She'd no trouble making new ones on Britannic. The lift arrived at Deck 12, Faith made a hasty exit. "Right, the fault is located is near sickbay." she said.

René followed Faith at a more leisurely pace. "I am somewhat of a musician myself. Perhaps we could see if the lounge manager would sponsor an open mic night."

"That sounds good, maybe we should ask her later?" replied Willa. She loved to sing, perform. "What do you play, or sing?"

"Six string guitars, electric and acoustic. I have a fondness for the late 20th to early 21st Century music styles." René liked playing music. Almost as much as he enjoyed fencing.

Faith sighed as she reached their destination, slightly irrated by the small talk. "We're here to fix the power grid, not make arrangements for our musical endeavours." she said, waiting for Willa, Rene to arrive. Once they had, she continued. "Miss Baker, if you would be so kind as to diagnose the fault." said Faith, standing back. Watching closely. Willa removed the panel, began to scan the affected conduit. Faith watching over her was making her nervous. Anxious. Moments later, success. "The EPS conduit hasn't been aligned correctly." she determined, moving down the corridor to continue her investigation. "This section of the power grid needs to be replaced."

"Amateurs." replied Faith, wondering who signed off on this repair. Certainly nobody on her team. That was the last time she let dry dock repair teams touch her ship. "Well, off you pop. You too, Mr Rouen." she instructed.

"Oui bien sur (yes, of course)." René's first task was to ensure the system was powered down. "Ms. Baker could you reroute power flow from J147 to J145 through the K146 conduit while we conduct repairs."

Willa paused, awkwardly. "I've done that already, Lieutenant, from main engineering." she replied. "I think what Lieutenant Hawkins means is-."

"Yes, go and get what you need to fix it. Please." confirmed Faith, her arms folded across her chest. Cutting across people was not her usual done thing. But Faith's patience was already thin that morning.

René nodded and stepped back to a maintenance locker five meters away. He returned with an engineering toolkit and opened it. "What's the first thing you need?"

"A hyperspanner to undo this conduit." replied Willa, examining it. Yep. It was broken, would be apart on Faith's desk before her shift was over. "If you like, I can undo everything at this end, and you the other end?" she suggested. She noticed Faith had disappeared. Presumably, to get required components. "If we get this apart before Lieutenant Hawkins gets back, well...she might be less grumpy."

René nodded as a chuckle escaped him. He disconnected his end of the damaged conduit and helped lower it out. "The Lieutenant does seem to be wound tight. Hopefully our efforts won't go unappreciated."

As the conduit and damaged section of power grid was removed and placed on the floor, Willa took a look at it, then the vacant space it previously occupied. "I'm not sure this looks right either." said Willa, commencing another diagnostic scan.

René paused to look at things himself. We're the damaged system a phaser array or torpedo launcher, he would be able to assess and correct the problem in minutes. General power distribution systems were a bit outside his area of expertise. "What's the problem?"

"I'm not certain." replied Willa, checking the results. A discrepancy, but what? Willa lowered her tricorder, examined things by eye. Back to the tricorder. "The nearest power converter isn't functioning correctly. That's why this section has basically shorted out. The misaligned conduit, not ideal, but it's not to blame." confirmed Willa, confidently. =A="Baker to Lieutenant Hawkins."=A=

=A="Hawkins."=A=

=A="A further investigation shows the nearest power converter has malfunctioned, causing the fault."=A= replied Willa, expecting to have her head bitten off. Nothing, then a sigh and barely audible cursing. The link then closed. Faith would reappear a couple of minutes later.

"Show me." said Faith, examining Willa's PADD. Her diagnosis was correct. The nearest power converter was the problem after all. "I'll sort it out, you two focus on this." was the reply, Faith again disappearing.

René started laying out new conduit. He glanced at Willa."So what other hobbies do you have? Do you go camping, ride horses, sailing?"

Willa worked at her end, knowing at least this time, the job would be completed properly. "I like rock climbing. Used to do that, then go camping with my Dad and brothers." replied Willa, pausing to pick up a different tool. "Dad would play guitar, I'd sing." Another pause, to position a fixing. "I've starred in a few musicals too."

René busied himself with preparing the opposite end for installation. "I play guitar myself. Perhaps we could perform in Ten Forward sometime. If you want."

"Yes, I'd like that." replied Willa. "Maybe we could even get a band together." she concluded, partially in jest. Not that she doubted Rene's abilities. More...would they find anyone else who wanted to join it?

"What have I told you about small talk, Miss Baker?" said Faith, who had returned to collect her tool case. That had been places, had some stories to tell. "You can arrange starting a band in your own time, or on your break. When you're on duty, I'd like you to get on with what I've asked you to do."

At this point, Willa simply mumbled an apology and got on with her task. Clearly, she'd annoyed Faith enough today, and it wasn't even lunch time yet.

René checked their work to ensure they were prepared for the final phase of the repair work. He crouched in the middle of the conduit and gestured to the two ladies to get on both ends. "Lift on three. I hold as you both clamp the ends. One, two, three, lift."

Sighing, Faith got into position. Willa was left to take hold of her end. Once Faith, Willa were ready, they lifted. With it held in place, Faith reached into her pocket for a hyperspanner to begin fixing it into position. Her end secure, she travelled to Willa's end. "Excuse me, Miss Baker." asked Faith. "Sorry" came the reply, before Faith moved into a reasonably comfortable position. She then inserted and tightened up the fasteners. One pair of opposites at a time. Making sure the stress was evenly spread over numerous fixings was one of the first things Faith's father, Matthew, taught her.

"You can let go now." said Faith, standing away. "Make sure that conduit is properly aligned, then run a diagnostic and inform me of the results." a pause, examination of Willa's, Rene's work. "I have a power junction to replace."

René released the conduit and stepped back. He gave an approving nod before turning to Willa with an encouraging smile. "Good work Ensign. I will leave you to perform the diagnostic."

At least somebody wasn't annoyed with her today, thought the engineer. "Thank you, Lieutenant." replied Willa. She then started the diagnostic.

René turned and followed Faith. He figured there was time to help with one more task. He also wanted to have a private conversation for a moment regarding Willa.

"When I said I have a power junction to repair," began Faith. Still walking, eyes forward. "I meant it literally. I'm quite happy doing it myself." It was a simple enough job. It would give her time, space to think. She wasn't letting this rare opportunity go. No way. "I'm grateful for your assistance, but you are free to go."

Rene nodded in a nonchalant manner as he walked with Faith on her right hand side. He took note of her keeping close to the middle of the corridor. "Thank you, but perhaps it might prove useful for me to continue assisting you. In case you need someone to crawl through a Jeffries tube."

"I'm quite content with crawling through a Jeffries tube, thank you." responded Faith, turning the corner. "Now, unless there's anything else, you are free to go. Thank you for your help." she said, approaching her destination. Why won't people just leave me alone? she thought.

René continued to walk with Faith. "Ensign Baker was the one who identified the root cause of the problem with the EPS conduit. Perhaps you could cut her some slack, especially since it was I who initiated the small talk. She was just answering the questions I posed to her. So if you want to be annoyed with someone for that, be annoyed with me."

Faith stopped, turned. "I'm not sure what makes you think you can tell me how to run my department, Lieutenant." began Faith, unimpressed. "I asked Ensign Baker to carry out a repair, not arrange musical performances in the ship's lounge. My staff are free to do whatever they like in their own time, but when they're on duty, I expect them to do as they're asked." she concluded.

René shrugged. "One, I wouldn't presume to tell you how to run your department, just merely suggesting a slightly different approach. Two, Ensign Baker performed her duties as assigned and discovered the root cause of the problem was actually related to another malfunction. Seems to me she has exceptional problem solving skills. Recognition for a job well done does wonders for professional development of young officers fresh out of the Academy."

"I'm very happy with my approach, thank you. I prefer to give out credit when it is due. I think doing it too often makes it lose meaning." replied Faith, firmly. She normally recognised and applauded good work. But recently, Faith had been doing it less often. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the War, the expectation placed on everyone to do their bit. "I believe in helping people to learn, not to give them a gold star every time they do something that's expected of them." she paused. Her tone became less hostile. "I selected Miss Baker for this team because it's clear she has an exceptional skill for diagnosing faults. She has clearly demonstrated that and proved I made the right call selecting her over someone else. I will do my best to help her develop that skill further, as I will for all of the staff in my department."

René nodded slowly as he thought he misjudged Faith. They reached the next cross corridor and he decided to honor her desire for no more assistance. He gestured down the right side cross corridor. "This is my turn. Have a pleasant day Lieutenant. Hope to see you again soon."

Privately, Faith considered she'd been too harsh on Rene. And Willa, especially. He wanted to help. He had helped. Faith just wasn't ready for anyone to know about her claustrophobia. If he'd joined Faith for this repair, Rene would undoubtedly discover this. Maybe their next encounter would be more positive. "Thank you, Lieutenant." said Faith. "I appreciate the helping hand."

René nodded his. "Just glad I could be of assistance. If you will excuse me. I still have a couple of in-processing tasks to perform by the end of watch." He extended his right hand to Faith. "Have a pleasant and productive day Lieutenant."

"Et toi, Lieutenant." said the Engineer, returning the offered handshake.

René released Faith's hand after a momentary handshake and parted ways with the Chief Engineer. He boarded a turbolift for his next destination on his in-processing walkabout. He thought of Willa for a moment and tapped his commbadge. "Ensign Baker, Lieutenant Rouen here. I just wanted to say good job today. I would never had figured out it was another system causing the plasma conduit fault."

She never sought praise. Ever. But Willa appreciated it when it was given. Rene had encouraged her, Faith much less so. It was like she hadn't even noticed Willa's work. Maybe there was a reason for it. Time would tell. =A="Thank you, Lieutenant."=A=

 

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