Science Fix

Posted on Fri Jun 3rd, 2022 @ 12:05am by Kyle Cranston & Lieutenant JG Ethal Reade

Mission: Mission 6 - Memory
Location: B Deck
1023 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

The hum of the turbolift as it proceeded towards its destination was something that Kyle Cranston didn't register as he was in rare form, helping out the engineering department instead of doing what he truly loved--cooking. Several of the engineers had requested his help after pulling several days of double shifts. In his hand, he hefted the small case containing engineering tools often required. As the lift came to a stop, he stepped out onto B Deck and made his way towards the science lab as he passed by an Armory Officer, he had grown to know as Warrant Officer Walker conducting her rounds as he nodded a greeting at her and continued to his destination.

Ethal was in the secondary mission lab where she was rigging up some sub molecular scanners. They weren’t usually designed to work in the way she was planning to use them but she had a stroke of genius to a new use for them. She had sent for some aid from an engineer as although she had experience tinkering, it was safer to have someone who had experience with starships fixing starships in case something went wrong.

Entering the science lab, Kyle came to a halt as he took in his surroundings. Monitors and console stations dotted the area. Displayed on the screens were things he knew he would likely not understand, at least not without help. He spotted a woman in a science uniform with short messy brown hair next to some sort of scanners. The exact type, he couldn't tell from where he stood. "Hey," he greeted with a wave and a smile. "Did you call for an engineer?"

Ethal was so focused on her work that she did not even hear the door open, it wasn’t until he spoke did she look up from where she was sitting to see Kyle standing near the door. “Hi there, I apologise for my mess.” She said with a smile back. “Yes I did call for one, I need assistance with hooking up my new scanner rig into the EPS grid. Is this something you will be able to help with?” She asked rather than assuming as she gathered that engineers have specialities just like science officers.

"Oh gee, I dunno," he replied teasingly with a grin as he looked about the lab, looking for the EPS access port, spotting a access by the far bulkhead near the scanner and began to head in that direction. "EPS conduit...that has something to do with the power, right? Can't be too hard."

For a moment she stared at him as she tried to judge whether or not he was being serious or if it was a joke. The fact Kyle grinned when he said the comment she assumed it was a joke. “Yeah, it was not something I wanted to do alone, I did not want to blow up the lab due to a miscalculation.” She replied as she followed him over to the EPS Access port.

"Yeah, that would make for a bad day," he joked as he knelt down and removed the access plating, revealing several conduits running towards a junction with a port. He placed his Engineering kit on the deck and opened it. "So what is the new scanner for?" he asked as he pulled out a EPS converter and began to calibrate it

“I am working on a new sub molecular scanning device for mineral deposits. If this works right we should get more detailed scans and quicker” Ethal explained as she finished off a few calculations on a pad. Talking about her work is one of the few times that Ethal’s passion was noticeable to others.

"Sounds fascinating. Great to see you have a real passion for the sciences," he commented as the calibrations were completed. He began to install the converter on top of the EPS port. "I'm always for quicker...anything really." 'Well, not anything. The love of a woman should be as time consuming as needed,' he joked to himself. "Such as maybe one day, all you will have to do is simply plug in a power cord to an EPS port without having to install a converter."

"Thank you, that passion is why I'm here." She replied happily. She stopped working on her pad to watch him install the converter. She liked to watch how others worked as she compared to how she worked. It was perplexing but also interesting to compare. She always did it covertly as her parents told her it could put people on edge and the last thing she wanted was the crew to feel uneasy around her.

Having finished securing the converter a moment later, Kyle took the power conduit and attached it to the converter and secured the connection. Whenever he worked on something--be it a new recipe or doing engineering jobs, he always found himself able to tune the world out as he did so. It was the one thing he enjoyed about his jobs. "There, that should do it. Try turning your new sensor on," he gestured towards the new equipment.

Excitedly, Ethal moved towards her rigged up equipment and switched it on. humming started to emanate from the device as the scanner lights lit up one by one. "You did it, it's working!" she gestured to Kyle to come over as she popped a hunk of dull looking space rock into the scanner. "As you helped make this a reality I will give you a VIP seat into seeing what this thing can do." She was very visibly happy and excited, something that was unusual to see when she is usually around others but then again she is not usually in her element around others par the science team.

Standing up from the deck, Kyle made his way over to the sensor with a grin at seeing how excited the lieutenant was. Stopping next to Ethal, Kyle placed his hands on his hips as the machine began to scan the space rock. "Well, someone is definitely excited," he teased as he packed his tools up.