Posted by Captain Dante Knight (Commanding Officer) in Main Engineering - Doing the Rounds

Posted by Lieutenant Siarram Ch’Thaanaq (Chief Engineer) in Main Engineering - Doing the Rounds

Posted by Captain Dante Knight (Commanding Officer) in Main Engineering - Doing the Rounds
Posted by… suppressed (15) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The doors to the Saracen’s Engineering department opened in front of him, and Dante paused a moment as he surveyed the bustle of activity coming from the heart of his ship. Yellow shirted Engineers scurried about their duties, watched by the obligatory Red Shirts that were assigned Security Detail to the room like big brother watching over them.

Dante stepped through the doors and allowed them to close behind him as a pair of NE’s walked past with PaDD’s, intense expressions and using techno babble that he was pretty sure was gibberish and invented by some ultra secret Engineers Guild to make them sound intelligent. That brought a small smirk to his face that he quickly covered by taking a sip of the oversized cup of coffee in his hand that went with him everywhere, emblazoned by writing on the side that read Best Father in the Universe with a hand drawn caricature of a small child and big lizard next to it.

“If I was a Chief Engineer, where would I be?” He said to himself while his eyes wandered over the various ladders and ducts that made up the walls of Main Engineering. Finally, not spotting who he was looking for he simply turned for the Office off to the side, hitting the chime on the outside and leaning against the wall watching the activity.

Captain Knight, CO

The Chief Engineer at that time happened to be head-in-duct with a toolbox opened next to him. A string of Andorian curses could be heard, though quietly, coming from inside. Siarram reached out, grabbed another tool, and then another couple of curses floated out. It was a repair he’d been avoiding for a while, he’d known it was going to be a pain. But the request had come in again, and he couldn’t ignore it again so there he was, driving himself crazy.

When one of the engineers noticed the Captain standing outside the Engineering office, they pointed him towards the hole Siarram’s legs were sticking out of. It was a couple of minutes before Siarram’s head poked out of the duct and when it did, he looked up. It took him a whole of two seconds to recognize the person standing in front of him. “Captain! Were you looking for me?” Then he made a face, “I hope you haven’t been standing there too long. I was fixing the replicator in the lounge… It’s apparently been dispensing extremely bitter drinks for weeks! The replication coils are off… and refuse to be fixed!”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Only a moment,” Dante admitted but pushed himself to his feet from his resting point on the wall beside the CE’s office. It was comfortable, a rare moment where Dante got to relax and chill, coffee in hand and just watch instead of being hip deep in the activity around him. He had even crossed one ankle over he other in a classic Italian poise that matched the slight accent that he spoke in, tempered by years of speaking english instead of his native tongue.

The Engineer seemed relieved by that, though he wasn’t sure he believed him. He looked liked he’d gotten pretty comfortable sitting there. “I just need more time. Perhaps if I recharge the coils…”

A slight smirk came to his face. “I’d say that would of been when we had the Klingon delegation and that Engineer called Osedi, that Trill fellow with the stripes, was asked to make sure the Replicators had a potent Prune Juice mix to serve them. The last batch of delegates got rather rowdy on Bloodwine so we took a page out of an old Journal and tried Prune Juice, it worked!”

Walking over beside the CE, Dante looked at the panel a moment. “Have you tried re-initializing the primary power couplings?” Yes, Dante had just asked the Chief Engineer if he had turned it off and back on again.

Captain Knight, CO

Siarram turned to look at the Captain with a blank stare. “A five-year-old from a colony planet would know to try that first.” Apparently, he was not too shy to sass the Captain. “I tried it first. No change. Then I tried it after aligning the sequencers. Still nothing.” He shrugged and then gestured frustratedly at it, “That’s why I’ve been avoiding the job, I knew it would take forever to deal with. And the crew can handle a few bitter teas… or use the other replicator in the galley.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Ah,” the sound came out of his mouth with a casual sigh. “In that case just replace the whole thing and we’ll pack that one up as part of the next aid package for some colony with five year old’s that aren’t that smart.” Taking another drink of the coffee, he looked at the Andorian. “So you’re Lieutenant Ch’Thaanaq, I haven’t had time to catch up with all the new crew from the last rotation, nice to meet you Chief. You got the crew working like robots, I’ve never seen them quite so industrious. They’re still my crew right? You didn’t actually turn em into synths right? I despise writing Dear Sir/Madam letters and that would be a fair few.” He grinned.

Captain Knight, CO

“Don’t saddle those poor suckers with it.” Siarram countered, shaking his head. Then he chuckled. “No, no synths. Just properly motivated workers.” He smiled as well as he packed up his tools, “I’ll finish that later.” There was a lot of movement around them as officers went about their work. Siarram shrugged. “Vulcans are quite accomplished with efficiency. My methods seem to be doing well with Engineering. Besides a few… unsavory tasks, we have a lot less sitting around undone.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Well, don’t speak too soon Lieutenant, we have a habit of getting into situations that scratch my ship, or more.” He turned towards the Office and motioned with his cup, “Shall we take a seat for a moment if you have time from your duties. My caffeine levels are dangerously low and I need a refill.”

“The crew keeps telling me that, I’m getting worried,” Siarram commented plainly, not looking the least bit worried. He headed toward the office, and once inside, took a seat at the desk and gestured to one of the other seats.

“Your methods certainly seem effective, I’d expect part of that is also due to that Andorian heritage of yours, it’s hands on and expects the same level of commitment from those under them as the officer shows. Lets take a break and familiarize ourselves.”

Captain Knight, CO

“Those two together require a careful balance.” Siarram commented, meaning his two heritages, and then leaned back in his chair. “Of course. Was there something you wanted to talk about then? Or by ‘familiarize ourselves’ do you mean idle chitchat?”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Both potentially, depending on what you mean by idle,” Dante walked to the replicator in the Office and in seconds was sporting a refill of steaming hot, pungent coffee.

“Aside from me, you are the one person that’s going to have a closer relationship with my favourite girl, this ship, than I do. I need to know you care as much about her as me.” Now Dante grinned. “Plus, it never hurts to find out what makes my Chief Engineer tick. Want a coffee Lieutenant, or some other drink? What’s your poison? Me, on duty I’ll stick to the black gold, off duty you’ll find me with a Lagavulin or a good Italian grappa.” As he spoke he looked at the engineer and raised the cup, taking sips between sentences.

Captain Knight, CO

“To care is a human emotion, Captain,” said Siarram with a half-grin. “Andorian sheylatha would be good. It’s a sort of… tea, derived from an insect.” He stood and got his own drink from the replicator. It was a yellowish clear tea in a standard mug. “I don’t usually drink coffee, or anything caffeinated. Something I picked up on Vulcan. Besides, caffeine doesn’t effect Vulcans and it doesn’t effect Andorians in quite the same way it does humans. I rather not find out what it does to me. Same goes for alcohol.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Wait,” Dante held up one hand. “You drink tea made from a bug?” Making a small face he looked at the liquid as Siarram retrieved it from the replicator. “Alright, never again will I judge coffee made from Monkey poo.” He walked back to the desk and instead of walking around the chair to sit, simply threw one leg over the back of it so that he could sit straight down. The move was snazzy, stylish and energy efficient in the least. Once sitting, he leaned back and put one ankle over his knee, the coffee hadn’t spilled one bit.

Siarram raised a brow in a typical Vulcan fashion. “Coffee made from monkey poo? And you’re worried about bug tea? Don’t people on your planet sometimes eat live bugs for fun?”

“I’ve known a few Andorians who enjoy alcohol,” he continued, “you don’t enjoy the odd night cap? You have more self control than me,” he laughed. “Okay so what do you do to relax? Sport? Meditation? Rock climbing? Combat holo-novels with an army of angry Klingons besieging a fort? How about poker? The ship has an underground poker league that they don’t think I know about. They’ve even moved to playing for latinum in the big league.”

Captain Knight, CO

At that, he shrugged, “Andorian Ale does come from Andoria. But no, I don’t.” He noted that the Captain did not typically let things by him - if he knew about an underground poker league, he probably kept an eye on most ship activities. “Meditation. Sport, if you count martial arts. Though your combat holo-novels do sound… intriguing.” He commented. “What about you? Any secret romance holo-novel ‘seshes in the holodeck? Or action-save-the-princess plots where you get to be the hero knight? I’ve heard that’s popular on Earth.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

OOC: Sorry for the wait!

IC: “It’s extremely popular,” Dante nodded, “but no. My wife is Russian, and you might not know what that means but, in human terms, it means there is more than enough excitement and adventure in our daily lives that holo-deck romps aren’t needed.” He grinned.

Siarram shook his head, he had no idea what the Earth region of Dante’s wife’s birth might have to do with how much excitement she brought to their lives.

“But, have you ever heard of Star Wars? It’s an old Human series of shows and stories, it was hugely popular centuries ago before we actually got to space and learned how things really work. She’s a massive fan, in fact, she does an amazing Chewbacca imitation. They also have laser swords and mind powers, the holo-novels are quite fun, with some robot called A-C - D-C or something. You should try it out some time, the one called Jabba’s Fun Zone is a hoot.”

Captain Knight, CO

Siarram raised a brow and shook his head. “Laser swords and mind powers? Exactly how do they make that not as ridiculous as it sounds?” Then he shook his head, “But then again, I’m sure your point in finding me isn’t to discuss Earth classics.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“Oh it’s completely ridiculous, but it’s fun,” Dante grinned. “And my point was pretty much entirely to meet you and see what my new Officer is like. Idle chit chat about nothing is the best way to do it, in my opinion. if I talk about stuff you know more than me about I’ll never find out what motivates you, right?”

“I suppose not.” It was clear Siarram did not understand the point but was choosing to drop it and follow along. “Which department did you start out in, before pursuing command?”

Dante moved to the replicator and placed the empty cup back inside, recycling it back into the system. “So far, you are an efficient and motivated Officer who, unlike your Vulcan side may I say, cares enough about your crew and my ship to ease my concerns that I’ve been assigned a robot. Welcome to the Saracen, Lieutenant Ch’thaanaq. Did I pronounce that right?”

Captain Knight

Siarram leaned back in his seat and lifted a brow. “A robot, Captain?” He leaned forward then, elbows on his knees. “I must disagree with you wholeheartedly. My Vulcan family is anything but robotic despite their adherence to logic.” He looked up to Knight, meeting his eyes, “It shows a distinct lack of understanding of Vulcan culture for one to say such a thing.”

Finally he sat back and nodded, the pronunciation was close enough. “You do. The pronunciation is Andorian, it can be rather difficult for Human tongues. Do you have any other questions for me?”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE

“A distinct lack of understanding, or a way for me to assess if I have been assigned a passionate Officer willing to voice their own opinions and defend themselves versus a spineless yes man, perhaps.” Dante smiled and turned back to the Chief Engineer. “There is more to a person than what sits in front of me on paper, Lieutenant. The Saracen gets into some hairy situations and I need my senior staff to be people who are strong, passionate and unafraid of these pips on my tunic,” he pointed to the Captains rank bar briefly. “Hopefully you can forgive my insult to your family in my quest to find the real you. A Vulcan may see the logic in it, but an Andorian would harbor a grudge. In any case, who you are is more important to me than what your file says. I have no more questions Lieutenant, I will let you return to your duties unless you have anything more to say.”

Dante Knight, CO

Siarram snorted. “A spineless yes man? There is no one less fitting of that description than me. Sir.” There was that Andorian emotion in his voice as he contained the emotional reaction to the insult he felt. See the logic? Maybe. Hold a grudge? Also maybe. The two traits were not mutually exclusive… As Siarram was well aware. He took a quick breath and nodded to the captain. “Then I hope we get to know each other very well, Captain.” There was still a tone to his voice that said the insults had left a poor first impression on Siarram. He stood. “The first place you should look for me should you ever require me is engineering. There is a certain… Peace to working with machinery.”

~ Lt Ch’thaanaq, CE