Catching Up and Changing Tact

Posted on Sat Jan 21st, 2023 @ 8:44am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Commander William Gerhard

Mission: Sojurn
Timeline: Day 332
1498 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth knew that the communication department was no longer her baby, but it did not mean that she did not worry about the lack of communication on the ship even with the best officers Earth Starfleet had to offer. There were huge areas of the ship that could not be connected to. She knew Benjamin Jamesson as looking into it, and had a plan to take relays from one part of the ship to the other part , depending on which parts of the ship were empty. It was a gamble, but the Captain thought it was something that they needed to do to secure the ship, and to get the communication flowing properly from the engineering department to the bridge.

The armoury was not somewhere that she ventured often leaving that executive officer to be in charge and keep secure. She slipped in the open door and looked around, and she saw William's head almost stuck in a relay, as if he was looking at something. “Am I disturbing you? I did not know you had been recruited into restoring communication Commander”

William had heard the sound of the hatch opening, but had not stopped to see who it was. He recognized the captains voice, and momentarily stuck his head out to offer a greeting before returning it to the inside of the panel. He reached an arm in and felt around the various wires and connections as he searched for what he was looking for. "Not at all Captain, if you would could you hand me that pair of micro calipers," he said by way of greeting while pointing to the indicated tools on the deck adjacent to him. The sleeves of his uniform were rolled and there were a few streaks of grim on his bare forearms.

"Well, it looks like communications were'nt the only system affected. Upon second inspection, there were a few blown relays for the targeting scanners in the fore phase cannons," he said while taking the tool from her and reaching inside to grip the relay. "Nothing major, but i don't like relying solely on backups where the weapons are concerned," he said before gripping the relay with the tool. With a firm yank, he felt the relay pop free of its mount and he removed it from the panel and shown it up to the light.

“That does not sound quite as small as you make out.” Beth handed over the micro clippers and sat down on the floor next to the man and held a torch for him better so he could see more. Whilst it sounded like nothing major to her she still did not like just how easy things had broken suddenly.

"If only we were in spacedock and i could give those dock workers a piece of my mind," he said indicating the relay had a defect in its outer housing.

“Easily fixed.” Beth said taking the relay. Part of communication officer training was being able to fix relays as the communications system was fall of it. She was also past blaming the ship dock for the error of the ship one year on from when it left them. None of them would expect the ship to run in as long as it had without any maintenance. Maybe they should have stopped in a nebula to allow them to fix more systems are just powering through it all. And if anyone’s was to blame it was Beth.

William backed out of the space and leaned against the bulkhead as he watched her work on the relay. He smiled to himself before looking down at his dirty hands. "You know i used to hate this kind of work. Now, it actually feels good to get my hands dirty for a change," he said before looking out across the armory. There were a few others doing the daily munitions checks, but Beth and William were nearly alone in the space. He looked over at her and could see she still looked worse for wear.

"How are you handling all this," he asked. He was genuinely concerned as he knew she had been taking the events of late pretty hard.

“No worse that any one else.” Beth said looking straight ahead at the relay in her hands and started popping the pins free to get further into it. She could hear the concern in his voice but it was misplaced compared to others she was in a much better head since even if she felt like she was drowning in things to do. “You?” She wondered.

William thought for a moment. He hadn't really had time to sit down and think about what his own feelings on their situation was. "To be honest, calamity aside, I think I've been slowly getting used to this ship as home," he said putting to words what he could only imagine what some of the other crew was feeling. As the days continued to tick by, Earth still seemed a distant reality. While he wasn't one to give up hope, the reality was they probably wouldn't make it back, at least not in William's lifetime.

"Besides," he said looking over and giving Beth a smile, "I have everything I need here. A bed, shower, soon to be wife, what more could i ask for?" He laughed slightly as Beth rolled her eyes teasingly.

It was nice to see at least one person other than Lexi was happy on the ship. She could not blame the man as she had read his file and knew the troubles he had faced pre-Earth Starfleet back on Earth. She just hoped it would carry on and maybe infect, some of the other crew members. Everyone needed a sense of belonging. “I do not know sounds like you might be the most sorted man on the ship. What’s your secrete?” She teased back.

William thought about it before shrugging and looking back over at Beth. "I don't know. I guess for the first time I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. The chip has finally gone from my shoulder," he proffered as he thought about how to answer that question.

Beth knew that feeling oh so well. She had always felt like she had something to prove to everyone onboard so that feeling was familiar but she was relieved to hear that someone at the very least no longer had that feeling. If there was anyone onboard that the woman would want someone to prove something to her it would not be him. Somehow they worked and worked since they had left Earth if the scuttlebutt was anything to go on. "You have never had to prove anything to Lexi in the slightest." The woman pointed out.

He nodded in response before looking back down at his boots. "So she has told me. Though, never really figured why that was," he said before laughing slightly and looking up at Beth with a slight grin. "Sure didn't expect this conversation to turn self analytical," he said.

“Better than it being turned on me Commander.” The woman said with a smile in his direction before returning to the job of the relay. “So is there any other issues we need to discuss and arrange?” Beth prompted looking at the open hatch and the wiring that she was working with.

"Aside from the current power issues across the ship, the integration with the MACOs and Armory people seems to be progressing nicely. The MACOs seem to be fitting in nicely and the integration seems to have boosted their spirits. And my people have been very accepting," he said before looking back at her. "I think our situation has made the combination work better than we hoped," he offered.

“Voznyuk has not put any of them in the brig or sickbay so I definitely think cause for celebration.” It was a tease but it was certainly good to hear that the MACOs and Armory were working together well enough. “Glad to hear it is going well. I have heard nothing but positive from everyone so that is something.”

William nodded in agreement. The transition had been going smoothly so far. "Indeed, A small shred of hope," he said before they both looked at the open panel and exchanged a look.

“I better let you get back to your duties and continue with my attempts to help with the communication issues.” Beth admitted thinking that she had taken up enough of his time.

"Of course ma'am. I'll be sure to send word if we run across any other issues down here," William said with a nodded as the captain turned to go. After replacing the relay with a fresh one, he set about reattaching the panel to the bulkhead.

“Thank you Commander.” Beth offered a smile before disappearing out of the hatch snd securing it behind her already getting her head into the next department on her visit schedule.