Hot Wet Arrival (Closed)

[Maniac9538]

He grinned at the Lt. "Yes Ma'am! We got about 20 of the things. Give me 45 minutes, a space walk and green line and I can have a short ranged radar up and running."

He then turned to Indria and gave her a quick idea of how to make sure the weapons were set properly...if anything came into a short range they would open fire automatically. The only thing she needed to do was monitor the two starboard guns and make sure they were timing each other sweeps properly. As he showed her, they had to squeeze together to view the screen, she nearly in his lap and her hair was near his face. He couldn't help but take a small sniff of her hair and smile at how good she smelled. He then looked at her "Got it?"

 

[Armphid]

Lt. Commander Melchior Locke

Melchior hit the comm a little harder than necessary as he switched it off. "Asshole." The anger he felt was giving renewed strength to his limbs. Right now, he would have liked to give MacLeod a piece of his mind...but it would have to wait. His pretty girl...Tien Fei came first.

He slid his hand over to a locked compartment of the Chief Engineer's desk. "Lt. Commander Melchior Balthazar Locke," he spoke for the benefit fo the tiny recorder inside, "taking two doses of stims with permission of commanding officer at 0643." The drawer clicked, then slid open. Melchior pulled two deceptively small and benign looking injectors, each with a rust colored fluid in them. Stims were a blessing and bane of medical science. A potent cocktail of chemicals, they'd drown out all but the worst pain and fatigue, while not interfering with performance at all. They were the best thing for long projects that couldn't wait, or when you had to stay awake. However...they were also known to be addictive. If you used them carefully, you were usually fine...but stim addiction was a reality that had ended the careers of people before, especially in the Engineering and Medical Corps...possibly the most stressful, intense, and thankless positions in the entire fleet.

He regarded them somberly for a moment, before tossing one injector to Ted. "We can't wait to get started, you heard the Old Man...he's on the warpath." "Don't worry too much...if he tries to stick us with the blame for this, he won't like what I have to say." "The surge was caused by a faulty Kilgrain Battery...which should have been caught on its last inspection...which was before you or I took the positions we have now." "We have to get sensors back up though, stat." "Then we'll get the astrogation comp squared away, and get to the internals last."

He paused then winked at Ted, "I used the Doohan Rule 1.5 in my estimation, just so you know." The Doohan Rule was passed down in the Engineering Corps and was an inviolate secret to all outsiders. It boiled to multiplying estimated repair times by anywhere from 1.2 to 2 times actual repair time. Maybe it was dishonest but it created the few thanks the Engineers ever got. "I need to use this now, but hold off on yours until you think you can't stay awake anymore...or I have to correct a mistake."

Mel removed the cap and pressed the injector to his left arm. He depressed a tiny button on its side, the thing making a small hiss. Odd...he didn't even feel a poke from it. He set the injector down, massaging his arm. For a few moments, he felt as he had since getting shocked...tired, hurt, aching, eager to just lie down. Then the stims hit his system. His weary eyes brightened, fingers flexing with newfound energy and an impatience to be busy. The pain was a memory now, Melchior felt stronger and more awake than he had in days.

He actually smiled as he half-stood, half-hopped from his seat. "All right, Ted, let's get cracking." "We have but 15 hours to pull our lady fair together, I thinkwe can pull it off in 10 without any serious delays." He moved swiftly to a cargo container and began to pull parts from it. "Grab what we'll need for a full sensor overhaul, just in case we need to do a total replacement." "Oh, notify the Captain that we are beginning work immediately in the sensor area, but our comms will be open." Slinging a length of coiled wire over his shoulder, he began to climb back into the tubes, "Come on, Ted, no time to lose!'

 

[cgraven]

“I guess you are the lucky one Mel.”

Ted rolled back and went about his duties there was much to be done, 15 hours the shipper had said, only half the time they really need to do a first rate job but the Skipper’s word was law. Oh yes Ted knew all about the “ "I used the Doohan Rule 1.5 in my estimation, just so you know." Mel’s wink and confidence where reassuring but still it would be cutting it close.

They worked together hand and glove Mel checking Ted relaying the readings back. Primary systems first, each sub system, each sub component checked and doubled checked, no room for error. Mel was impulsive hands on, Ted methodical, they where the perfect counter point to each other. Ted could be sharp and demanding of junior personnel when they where in a crunch, but he never asked anything of his subordinates that he himself would not do. Leadership by example, work hard play hard was his way. He reached for the stem injector.

“Cheers Chief.”

A wicked grin creased his weathered Face. The pin prick then the rush as the Stems kicked in.

"All right, Ted, let's get cracking. We have but 15 hours to pull our lady fair together; I think we can pull it off in 10 without any serious delays."………………"Grab what we'll need for a full sensor overhaul, just in case we need to do a total replacement. Oh, notify the Captain that we are beginning work immediately in the sensor area, but our comms will be open." …………………………"Come on, Ted, no time to lose!'

“Captain, Yamamoto Time 23:40 Lt. Commander Locke are commencing repairs, open com link protocols will be in effect as per fleet instructions..”

Loaded down like pack mules they descended into a world of cables circuit boards and relays. The bridge might be the brains of Tien Fei but engineering was the hart, soul and guts of the old gal..

“Well Chief shall we give our lady the once over?”

A teasing wink.

“Who knows maybe we will get lucky this time and she will purr like a kitten and be a good girl for us.”

 

[Paendragon]

Captain Lance MacLeod

He made his way to engineering amid flickering lights, his mood turning fouler by the step. He knew damned well that Jax wouldn't have let things get this bad. Sure, his old Chief had told him that there would be times that things would just go offline, for no appparent reason, but...

He shook his head. He had never seen the like.

Finally, he was there.

Engineering was in a bit of chaos... muttered curses and the clanging of tools dominated the scene.

"Where is the Chief Engineer?" he called out.

 

[Armphid]

Lt Commander Melchior Locke

Melchior was in the middle of a very sensitive replacement when he heard the captain enter. He could practically feel the older man's rage and irritation from here. "I'm sorry Captain, but if I don't finish this now," his hands kept working, "we'll have to start the sensor repairs from the beginning." He knew he should report immediately, but hopefully the Captain would have enough sense to know that the repairs were paramount at this point. Melchior closed his eyes, he needed to do this right, and do it quickly. Seemingly blind, he reached out with the hyperlink and made the three necessary connections.

Opening his eyes, he saw Ted's simultaneously amused, annoyed, and amazed expression. The readouts were perfect...but taking the time to get the best connection would have taken another quarter-hour. Ted just shook his head, mouthing something about how he sometimes hated it when he did that. Melchior just grinned, mouthing back "Belive and trust in your luck, and it won't fail you."

Then he clambered along the tube, down a connector, finally sliding down the ladded that led from the maintenance shafts to Engineering. Turning smartly on his heel, he snapped to attention and saluted. "Sir!" "I apologize for the delay, sir!" "Would you like the full damage report, Captain?"

 

[Paendragon]

Captain Lance MacLeod

He looked at the obviously injured man before him, ande his foul temper eased. Some. He returned the salute, and studied the man before him. He's just so damned young for his job....

"What I want is your assurrances that this kind of crap won't happen again. This isn't a pleasure cruise, Lieutenant." He shook his head, and forced calm into his voice. It's not the kids fault Jax is gone...

"You have a very large set of boots to fill, Lieutenant," he said, his voice calmer, and lower. He had spent enough time on starships to know that you did not discipline a senior officer in front of his staff, even mildly, if it could be avoided. And no doubt every ear within range was tuned into their conversation.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I handpicked my senior staff for this mission. All but you. You were recommended to me by an associate of mine. Said you were the new stud in the engineering corps. And then this happens." He waved a hand at the ship in general.

"I want two things from you. My ship up and running, and your injuries treated as soon as possible. You won't do me much good if you drop dead all the way the hell out here, after repairing my ship. If you think the injuries are too much, than you pick a replacement, or thaw somebody. Use your head with it. You're an officer."

He looked around the compartment. "You're not going to disappoint me again on this journey, correct?"

 

[Armphid]

Lt. Commander Melchior Locke

"No, sir." "I won't disappoint you again, sir." Melchior was trying very hard to keep an outburst under control. The manic mood from the stims wasn't helping much. "I am aware of my physical limits, sir, and intend to get myself to sickbay should my performace diminish because of my injuries, though I believe them to be minor."

Knowing it was unnecessary, he continued. If only to assure the Captain that this problem wouldn't recur. "Captain, the cascade surge was caused by a faulty battery that should have been picked up in the last inspection." "I was still on ice at that time, sir." "I can assure though that I am operating the inspections as normal, and will actually increase them to prevent a similar incident." The rebuke stung...largely because it wasn't his damn fault this had happened!

Although...he was Chief Engineer now. The responsibility was his, and the blame if something went wrong. Really...he had just better get used to it. Certainly there was no point creating friction with the Captain over it. "I know I am not your choice, Captain." "I'm aware that you would rather I wasn't in this position, and that to you I'm just an unknown kid with good marks on paper, and that this is a major incident." "For what it's worth, sir, I won't let anything like this happen again." "On my life."

He saluted again, "With your permission, sir, I'd like to get back to work." "I expect that backup sensors will be fully online in 20 minutes, and the full array in 3 hours." "Then it should take 3 hours on the astrogation system." "The rest of the time will be spent replacing the individual circuits that were burned out in the non-priority systems." He had to bite down on his tongue to keep from bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited to be dismissed. Damn stims...it was so hard to stay still with them in your system.

 

[Paendragon]

Captain Lance MacLeod

Th Captain nodded at the Lieutenants explanation. "Alright, Lieutenant. Get to work. Dismissed."

He returned the salute, and watched the Lieutenant practically bouce away.

Damn stims. He hated the bloody things. But there were times when they were a necessity.

With one last turn to look around the compartment, he turned on his heel, and strode purposefully from the room.

 

[cgraven]

Ted Yamamoto

Ted listened to the exchange between the skipper and Mel and was proud the way Mel took the dressing down in his stride and gave a half quizzical smile as the skipper blustered , clamed then strides from engineering.

He opened the coms link and selected secure mode engineering.

“Mel the sensors are jake….aok…..I have run primary and secondary checks all the way down to the sub circuits, and support circuits…..Also crossed check the diagnostic program and found an error in line 403 sensor and Astor Nav interface….Coding error corrected.”

He paused wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Mel the program the ship yard installed was for the YK53 computers……………………..Dam it Sir that is three systems back……..We are running the YK53-mod 2-Mark 3 system”

Ted Yamamoto drew a deep breath to settle his anger,

“Mel I guess we are lucky that mistake could have killed us with a complete system failure right down to life support.”

Ted paused

“ I’ll have a full report on your desktop within an hour after repairs are completed with complete documentation…….Might be a good idea if the Navigator took and old fashion visual star fix.”

Mel was the brains and heart of engineering, Ted the steady methodical plodder, his counter point, cool, calm, never letting his emotions show. Steady no matter what the crisis. Together they where an unbeatable team.


Ted Yamamoto was as good as his word the report was on Lt. Commander Melchior Locke desktop 30 minutes after all repairs where affected.

Ted also sent a report of the system failure to the Skipper taking full responsibility for it because he was the Engineering officer on watch. Ted Yamamoto was not about to let Mel Locke take the blame for something that was rightfully his responsibility

 

[Lovelynice]

Lt. Grace Tanaka (Co-Pilot/Astrogator)

After the Weapons Officer, Sergeant Williams, left the bridge to procure and set-up a tacpack and hard-line connection outside the starship, Grace turned back to Indira and said, “Well…looks like it’s only us two on the bridge now. I hope that new chief engineer gets everything fixed quickly.”

 

[Paendragon]

Lance MacLeod

He walked to corridor toward the bridge again, fuming.

These were the times that Lance disliked the most. He was forced to wait while others fixed the problem, which was definitely not his style. He could help of course, it wasn't about lack of knowledge of the ships systems, but at the threat of seeming too much like a member of the crew. Being a Captain was a fine dance... you had to have both their respect, and their fear. And it was hard to have fear for a man when he was next to you, up to his elbows in chips, under a bridge console.

No. He would let them handle it. He had wanted to run a drill, well this was the ultimate.

The doors to the bridge opened before him, and he walked in silently.

"Report."

Tanaka spun toward him, passing on a quick update, and he idea of using the tacpack. He nodded, and sat in the Captain's chair. "Nicely done."

He gave out compliments few and far between, but still new the value of throwing them out once in a while. He pulled up the latest report from engineering, and shook his head. Everything that happened in engineering was the responsibility of the Chief. No matter who was on watch. The Chief was the one who commanded down there, and as such, was the one who chose the watch. It was part of the burden of command. You got far too much of the credit, and far too much of the blame.

If this mission failed, whose head would roll? The Chief? The Astrogator? No. It would be his. And rightfully so. He was the Captain.

He discarded the report, and leaned back in his chair. He supposed the loyalty being shown to the Chief was a good thing, but at this point, he could care less.

"Just fix the ship, people," he muttered under his breath.

 

[Silvergirl]

Dr. Patricia McNamara (Ship’s Doctor)

Patricia walked down corridors lit sometimes by full lighting, at other times flickering, and once lit only by the soft dim emergency lighting. It was rather worrying to see that, and it made her wonder what in the Divinity's Name had happened to the ship.

When she arrived at engineering, it was a mess, and the sharp stench of ozone filled the air. There was a bright flickering somewhere, whether arc-welders, cutting torches, or simply something gone wrong with the lighting, she wasn't sure. Her immediate attention was on searching for any injured. She'd been informed by the captain that one of the engineers had some bad burns. She'd already treated another crew-member for electric shock.

"Anyone need medical assistance here?", she called out loud.

 

[cgraven]

Ted Yamamoto

“Hay Doc the Chief needs a quick once over. The Skipper told him to report to you when we get this mess cleaned up but you know him he thinks he superman.”

Ted had ignored his own minor injuries a plasma burn cut scrapes and contusion the normal stuff that results in damage repair, and crawling through Jeffery tubes that seemed designed for size 10 people rather than the standard fleet engineer.

“So Doc how the crew holding up?” He saw the look of concern on the doc’s face at the hub-bub and confusion that was the organized chaos of “DC”.”

A weary grin creased his face..

“Not to worry Doc we’ll have her purring like a kitten in no time.”

 

[Silvergirl]

Dr. Patricia McNamara (Ship’s Doctor)

“Hay Doc the Chief needs a quick once over. The Skipper told him to report to you when we get this mess cleaned up but you know him he thinks he superman.”

Patricia nodded to Ted, noticing the usual cuts & scrapes covered by smears of machine lubricants. The noise in Engineering was a bit deafening, the place was in chaos. She wondered how bad the damage was, and tried to push the thought away.

Ted smiled at her, obviously tired, as he said, “Not to worry Doc we’ll have her purring like a kitten in no time.”

"So where's...", she paused, remembering bad times, then went on, "Where's the chief engineer now?"

Ted's eyes lit up and he pointed towards a narrow alcove between (or was part of?) some huge collection of pipes and machinery. She walked over to see that there was a man on hands and knees inside, fixing a thick circuit board. His uniform was burned across his back, and that immediately worried her.

"Lt. Commander Locke!", she said in voice tinged with both mock anger and worry, "What have you done to yourself this time?"

 

[Armphid]

Lt. Commander Melchior "Mel" Locke

After the captain left, Ted and Mel got into the serious repair work. They were the Engineering Team Supreme, as Mel had boasted many a time back at the Acadmey. Between his instinct and luck, and Ted's methodical practicality, there was no angle not covered, no possability not checked. Passion and serenity, emotion and peace, operating in perfect ablence. In a way, once they were finished, Tien Fei would be in the best shape since it's initial launch. He rolled his eyes when he heard Ted's report. "Lovely." "I guess it would ahve been too expensive to have the programming updated with all the other cutting edge gear they crammed on here." He sighed...he hated programming. It as the most repetitive, methodical, boring part of Engineering...and that was saying something. "Once this is done, we're going to have to see about doing a little programming work to shore up the systems." "Can't risk such a cascade again...I can't believe they didn't update, that's why no one's supposed to use this OS anymore."

Ted made a rude comment about the brass, grinning madly as he connected the new astrogation engine into place. Mel laughed, then hit his comm. "Locke to Navigation." "Lt. Tanaka, the new astrogation system is installed, we just need to do one last diagnostic." "It should take about 10 minutes." "Please use the view ports to do a visual star check, then when the engine comes online, check for calibration."

That done, he got down and crawled into yet another set of tubes. Time to get the weapons systems back to 100%. AS he did so, he felt a bit of an ache in his bones. Damn...the stims were wearing off. He glanced at a chronometer...wow...had it been that long already? They were almost done, and still had 7 hours until they reached the 15 he'd quoted Captain MacLeod. He and Ted were one hell of a team. As he worked on returning the weapon sensors and power systems to their normal routes, the pain and fatigue grew worse as the stims went through his system completely. Hellfire...and he was so close to being done.

One circuit board to go...then he could leave the rest to Ted. From the clamour of the repairs he heard a vocie that he loved and dreaded to hear. He flinched, cursing the movement as it brought the dull ache of pain to life again. Carefully crawling back, he rose to his feet and turned to face Dr. McNamara. She was a lovely woman, many years his elder, but that added a certainty to her that made her all the more attractive. That and he'd always preferred ladies that were older than him...not that he'd ever gone further than a few deep kisses on the few dates he'd had at the Academy.

He grinned through the pain at the tone of her voice. Wait until she found out what he had done to himself...she would not be pleased. "Don't look her over, Mel, don't do it." "She's got a great body, but if you event hink about it, you'll get another damn nosebleed." "Keep it professional." That was what he thought to himself, what he said was, "Hi Doctor." "Sorry I didn't see you there, we've been pretty busy." He tried to be nonchalant as he leaned against a console for support, attempting to pass it off as nothing. "We're about done with repairs, so that's a relief."

At her rather direct look, he felt his face flushing under the grease, dirt, and soot. "Umm...my condition, yes." "Well, when I was stabilizing the ship I got struck by a wild arc of electricity." "I don't know how much it was...my body only spasamed for about 30 seconds though, and I couldn't move for another 20 or so afterwords, if that helps." For whatever reason, when she looked the way she was right now, there was no one on the ship more intimidating than Dr. Patricia McNamara. Not Gunny Sgt. Williams, nor the Captain could instill that sense of certain and impending doom. "Er, I was left with an aching pain in my muscles, and a kind of burning sensation." "Like I'd worked them all too hard...and I got hit on the back, so there's probably a burn there." "With the Captain's permission, I used a stim so we could get the repairs done." He paused a moment, not sure he wanted to ask her what he needed to. "We're almost finished, Dr. McNamara...would it be possible for me to get everything squared away before I come with you to sickbay?"

 

[Silvergirl]

Dr. Patricia McNamara (Ship’s Doctor)


"Umm...my condition, yes. Well, when I was stabilizing the ship I got struck by a wild arc of electricity. I don't know how much it was...my body only spasmed for about 30 seconds though, and I couldn't move for another 20 or so afterwords, if that helps."

Patricia listened to this description and didn't even frown. She only looked at the the young engineer disbelievingly and wondered that he still lived. She wanted to tell him off like he was a naughty boy; he certainly was acting like one. Was he embarrassed? Did she see an increasing flush under the dirt and oil stains? Or was he about to keel over at last as the stims wore off? That thought made her angry, since she hated people foolishly risking their lives, especially the Chief Engineer - and that thought made her feel very, very disapointed and sad as well. She gave Mel a very sad, disappointed, and angry glare - the sort that doctors everywhere quickly became adept at.

"Er, I was left with an aching pain in my muscles, and a kind of burning sensation. Like I'd worked them all too hard...and I got hit on the back, so there's probably a burn there. With the Captain's permission, I used a stim so we could get the repairs done."

Patricia frowned finally at that, as the stims would play havoc with the man's response to electricity arcing through his body, and tended to do funny things to the way human flesh reacted to burns. The captain would've known better than take such a risk. Mel was showing all the signs of excessive stim use too; he nattered on like man on twenty cups of coffee after doing nothing but drinking all night without a meal. His exhaustion was readily apparent and he'd likely make mistakes at this point.

We're almost finished, Dr. McNamara...would it be possible for me to get everything squared away before I come with you to sickbay?"

Patricia shook her head slowly side to side, disappointed.

Was it worth the risk? She considered.

"Mel", Patricia finally said after some thought, "While I'm sure you feel very responsible for doing the best job that you can as....", her voice broke, so she paused before going on, "....as the chief engineer...", she took a deep breath, "If you keep pushing yourself like this you'll make mistakes. You probably think that you're fine, but you're not. I don't even need to do a medscan to see the signs."

She looked at him sternly, hoping that Mel wouldn't argue. She wasn't sure what she would do, though she knew exactly what she should do according the regs.

 

[cgraven]

Ted Yamamoto

I watched the exchange between “Doc” and the chief. Two very powerful personalities on a collision course.

"Mel…………………….While I'm sure you feel very responsible for doing the best job that you can as the chief engineer if you keep pushing yourself like this you'll make mistakes. You probably think that you're fine, but you're not. I don't even need to do a medscan to see the signs."

I could see Mel formulating his reply and I knew the “Doc would not like it.


“Chief the Doc right your done in………………….Hell repairs our completed only a couple of cross checks that any first year engineering student do.”

Mel had that “Thousand Yard” stare here but not really here as he came crashing down from his Stem High. I spoke slowly trying to cut through the haze of his injuries to reach his overloaded mind.

“Chief go to sick Bay I have it under control.”

I paused as Mel desperately tried to focus..

“Mel I don’t want to make Chief Engineer over your dead body.”


For once there was none of the easy going banter in my voice. It was calm and deadly serious.

 

[Armphid]

Lt. Commander Melchior "Mel" Locke

You know, he thought, in a dazed sort of way. When she calls me "Mel"...I actually kind of like it. She was right...and he knew it. Still...if he stopped now, short of finishing the job, what would the Captain think? He knew that the "Old Man" was disappointed in him...and resented him, wishing his friend were still alive. The hitch in Dr. Mcnamara;s voice caught him though...and he remembered that she had been friends with his predecessor as well. Seeing him injured like this was probably putting salt in the wound of the loss. More than that though, it was Ted's words that truly convinced him.

Wearily, he lifted his head to smile at his friend. "Believe me Ted...it's not a pleasent way tog et the job." "Thank you." Then he straightened as much as he was able, "Lt. Yamamoto, complete the cross checks and make sure the Captain gets a full report." "I leave you in charge of Engineering."

Melchior tapped his comm, "Locke to Bridge, Captain the repairs are finished expect for a few last diagnostic checks." He paused, taking a deep breath...damn...the lightning did more than Melchior ahd though if he was this tired. "Those will take approxiametly 15 mintues and then Tien Fei will be at 100% operating parameters." "I am leaving Lt. Yamamoto in charge and reporting to sickbay, under Dr. McNamara's orders." He touched the comm off.

He nodded to the lovely physician. "I won't argue, Dr. McNamara, I know you're right." That disappointed look of hers made him flinch, and the flush under the dirt deepened a shade. "Let's go...I hope I'm not too much trouble to you." He gave her a wan smile before starting to walk with her out of Engineering on shaky legs. Feeling a bit of his usual pluck, he made as good a winning smile as he could in his current condition. "Though I can't promise anything, after all...it's nor everyday I get to take up the time of a lovely lady." "Melchior you idiot...the stims must have gotten to you." "Why'd you say soemthing stupid like that?"

 

[Silvergirl]

Dr. Patricia McNamara (Ship’s Doctor)

By the time the young Chief Engineer and Patricia had reached the doors of the Sickbay, Mel was dazed and ready to collapse. Patricia had to half carry him inside, which wasn't an easy task; the young man may have been slender, but he was quite a bit heavier and taller than the female doctor. Patricia helped him to the diagnostic bed as Mel groaned with a mixture of exhaustion and dazed agony.

Then she began to proceeding with a full medscan.

Not all of Mel's burns were external either, as it turned out. Soem of the electrical had shot through him in much the same way as lightning. He was lucky to be alive. As she had feared the stims had interfered with things a bit, and played merry havoc with Mel's nervous system. Patricia did a complete analysis and then checked his medical profile before applying a sedative (which wasn't really necessary as Mel had already gone to sleep). She didn't want him waking up though for a quite awhile. With the drips and speedheal and an injection of engineered white bloodcells to assist his healing processes, it would still take at least twelve hours before Patricia was going to let Lt. Commander Melchior Locke out of Sickbay.

Lucky for Mel, the FSS Tien Fei had a very advanced little Sickbay.

 

[cgraven]

"Believe me Ted...it's not a pleasant way tog et the job."………….."Thank you." Then Mel straightened as much as he was able to and I knew that his condition was a lot worst than he let on to.

"Lt. Yamamoto, complete the cross checks and make sure the Captain gets a full report."……………"I leave you in charge of Engineering."

“Aye, Aye Chief WILCO.”

It was all very formal the passing of the watch done in the time honored tradition of the Navy, the formal salute, the slight bow, and as always between Mel and I, neither bowing lower than the other. There was a twinkle in my eyes despite the seriousness of the Chief’s condition, and the depth of the repairs we had made correcting the Cost Cutting , Penny Pinching, short cuts the beaurcrats back at the shipyard in Space dock # 1 had taken to look good on paper despite the danger to the lives of the crew of Tien Fei. it was as if someone wanted the mission to fail. There had been strenuous debate about colonizing the outer reaches. I shook the thought from my mind.

“Just as good Chief I am not re3ady to be Chief Engineer………Well Yaw but not over your dead body, besides you still owe me 900 credits from the last poker game, Do you think I am letting you off so easy?”

I winked and caught the scowl from Doc.



Cross checks made, and remade, reports to the Captain made I retired to my quarters. I ran my and threw my hair, beat and bone tired. I almost missed the flashing light that indicated that I had” Mail Call”

It was from her gone it had been a month sense her last inter-space message.

Dearest Ted,

I know we planned to wed when you return from this voyage, and I do not want to hurt you but……………. We met at… never meant to….fall in love……. We where married three weeks ago


GOD DAMN

I STROMED OUT OF MY QUARTERS HEADED FOR THE REC DECK BOLWING OVER ANY ONE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BE IN MY WAY.

I had 96 hours off and I planned to be drunk, blind staggering drunk.

 

[Armphid]

Lt Commander Melchior "Mel" Locke

"Why do you do that, Daddy?" Mel was sitting on top of a low wooden fence, watching as his father took the last handful of seed from the planter and threw it into the air. "Don't we need the seed?"

Balthasar Locke smiled at his small and scrawny six year old. The boy's vibrant blue eyes seemed almost too big for his head as he gazed curiously at his father. "For luck, son." "You must always take some of what you have and cast it away, for luck to take where it will."

Mel kicked his little legs, looking up into the sky. Far above the rings on Saturn whirled, clearly visible on the small colony of Titan, even during the day. Mel liked the rings. There was something nice about how they were always there. His father's explanation seemed to cause a few things to click together in the chaotic and complex little mind. "Luck's real important, isn't it?"

Bal grinned, following Mel's gaze to the stunning spectacle of the rings. "Yes, Mel, it is." "Luck is stronger than any force in the universe." "Stronger than gravity, even, and it's the one thing you can't ever get away from." "So that's why we have so many rituals for good luck...because if bad comes your way, there's no escaping it."

Mel thought about it while they rode back to the house, his small face serious. Finally as his father silenced the engine, he looked up at him. "Then I'll be the luckiest person ever."

Bal laughed, ruffling his son's hair. "Well, then nothing will stop you!" "Just remember boy, you have to belive in the luck for it to help you the most, have faith in it, in yourself, and in your motives, and it'll never let you down."

Melchior blinked. For a moment, the bright light dazzled him and he didn't know where he was. His limbs were strangely lethargic, though he was breathing much easier than he had before. Then he remembered. Sickbay. He turned his head, looking until he saw Patricia at work nearby. He smiled, musing at how attractive the doctor was. Seemed like all the women on the ship were. He shifted a bit, felt the blanket rub on the bare skin of his chest. Rings of Saturn...had...had she undressed him?

Though intellectually, he understood the necessity, his mind quickly supplied an image of a naked him and the doctor in a wholly unprofessional capacity. Even as he felt his nether regions stir, the picture in his mind's eye caused another welling, and a bit of blood started to leak from his nose. "Oh no..."

He sat up and fumbled around as quietly as possible, searching for something to staunch the crimson flow. As he did so, he stole glances at the doctor, silently begging her not to notice he was awake and moving.

 

[Silvergirl]

Dr. Patricia McNamara (Ship’s Doctor)

Patricia heard the tone of the medscanner alerting her to the Chief Engineer starting to awake, and realized the damn stims were still playing havoc with the anesthesia fields again. So she quickly looked around and saw Mel bleeding from the nose with some bright red blood already on his right hand.

"Oh my God!", she cried out in surprise, "Those stims again!"

She hurried over to the med-bed...

 

[Armphid]

Lt. Commander Melchior "Mel" Locke

Mel had finally gotten a hold of a swab, planning on using it to halt his damned nosebleed. "Damn nosebleeds...everytime I get even a little aroused...the doom of my dating career." Then he looked up into Dr. McNamara's eyes. It seemed that she had been alerted to his awakening. He heard her cry out and she began to rush towards his bed.

Panic struck him as he realized several things all at once. One, she was concerned over the stim effects. Because of the nosebleed she would insist on a full scan. Two, the concern in her eyes, plus the movement caused by her faster gait made her even more attractive than usual. Three, as a result, he had a mounting erection...and he doubted that it would subside in time to prevent embarrassment.

Tactics? Stall...no good...nothing he could do or say would keep Dr. Pat (okay, so he had a nickname for her...maybe it was something of a crush) from a patient. He liked to think that it was personal fondness...but that was just his imagnination, he suspected. Play dead? Impossible now. Shurg it off as a stim reaction...she'd never buy that. Okay...just imporvise...maybe even just tell the truth. ....Right.

"Dr. McNamara...I, uh, don't think it's serious." He tried to smile reassuringly, very aware of the thin trails of blood on his face. "I just get these from time to time..." His voice trailed off as she reached his bedside. He felt a strange tenseness and heat at her being so close. "Sorry...I didn't mean to disturb your work..." All the while, he silently pleaded with her not to notice his..ah...other "condition."

 

[Lovelynice]

OOC

The repairs took several more hours before the sensors and drives came back fully online, although there still seemed to be an odd glitch with the Navigation systems – or maybe there wasn’t….



Lt Grace Tanaka

Grace studied the screens in front of her again, then rechecked her calculations (making her horny as usual - her parents had hotshotted Grace's pleasure centre to her mathematics to improve her grades at school). Yes, there really shouldn’t be a planet only 90 million klicks away, but also according to the charts there shouldn’t be an enormous red giant star and entirely unknown and unexpected star-system with over a dozen planets either. She hadn’t yet informed the captain, as she’d originally thought the data was only a glitch; some kind of misplacement of their position by the computers during the previous disaster that wrecked so many of the Tien Fei’s systems.

Okay then, Grace thought, we have an entire star system with 12 planets outside, all completely uncharted and unknown

Besides the fact that it should be impossible, but it's obviously not, the red giant star was completely invisible to not only the telescopes of Earth, but also undetected by the Tien Fei's sensors until the repairs were made. Invisible. Undetected. It shouldn't exist, but it did and the FSS Tien Fei was already cruising by one of those (previously undetected) planets. The whole concept was silly, but dangerous.

Miracles on top of miracles, that nearby planet was a Garden World, habitable, oxy/nitrox atmosphere, numerous seas and oceans. It was huge too, larger than Earth by a factor of 32 times in surface area, and the expected gravity would have turned it into a gas giant, but according to instruments it was only slightly less than Earth normal.

The planet seemed to call to her, in a way that felt strangely like longing. Grace stirred in her seat, feeling a need down-there that was oddly out place with thoughts of planets. During the past hour as the Tien Fei passed closer to the mysterious Garden World, her panties had become increasingly wetter and her nipples poked out at the fabric of her shiny silver uniform top.

Better inform the captain, the planet must be real, despite all rational sense.

"Um...Captain, sir?", Grace paged him on the ship's comm, "The ship's sensors have detected an entirely new and unknown planetary system, and one of the planets...one of the planets...is a Garden World, sir!"

 

[cgraven]

Dearest Ted,

I know we planned to wed when you return from this voyage, and I do not want to hurt you but……………. We met at… never meant to….fall in love……. We where married three weeks ago


GOD DAMN

I STROMED OUT OF MY QUARTERS HEADED FOR THE REC DECK BOLWING OVER ANY ONE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BE IN MY WAY.

I had 96 hours off and I planned to be drunk, blind staggering drunk.

_________________________________________________


It had been one hell of a drunk and Ted rubbed the back of his neck as he poured coffee down in the hopes that it would cut through the last of the drunken fog. His mouth was dry as the desert planet Goth, his eyes blood shot and a slight tremor in his hands. This was totally out of character for the 2nd Engineer but this was not the only change, oh yes he was still good old Ted Yamamoto wizard of the “Kreismann Drive", but he look on his fellow crew members in a different light now. Ira Patel, Comms Officer nice ass, Dr. Patricia McNamara, umm classic beauty bet she fuck like an Andorran whore and then there was Lt Grace Tanaka of the things he would like to do to her.

Damn Ted get a hold of yourself their your shipmates, your friends, yet tire as he might he found it harder and harder to banish these sexual fantasies from his mind, and as the days passed they grew stronger, so much so that Ted Yamamoto found little ways to brush up against them in the passage ways, he even toyed with the idea of sabotaging little things so he would have an excuse to be in their quarters. Lt Grace Tanaka

Lt Grace Tanaka umm she was the one that many of his darker fantasies seemed to center on.If only they where on some planet where he could get her alone then he show her a thing or two.

Damn Ted get a hold of yourself Tanaka is a friend.

and yet the fantasies persisted and drew darker.