Debriefing and Meetings

Posted on 29 Jun 2024 @ 3:29pm by Lieutenant JG Christina Hartley & Captain Bane Plase

1,641 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Stranded
Timeline: Before "Tugboat"

Christina left the turbolift, marching onto the bridge with purpose, holding a PaDD, and she was not in the best of moods. First, she'd been called into a meeting - via holodeck - with the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, who informed her that she and her team were being awarded with the Cochrane Medal of Excellence.

She wanted her team to have the award, but she wasn't pleased with her own inclusion. She was leading them, and just helped put it together. Her team had been the brains behind the inception.

As she rang the chime to Bane's ready room, she took a breath, wanting to relax for what would likely be the only time in a long while ahead.

The doors swished open with their telltale hiss, just as Bane's voice drifted out. "Come in." He hadn't ordered a meeting, and the crew from the Bilifix had only just started to get back. Before long, they would be towing the behemoth from its present location, all the way back to Deep Space 9. With the maximum warp speed of just warp 3, it would take more than a month to get back.

Christina walked in, and nodded in greeting. "Sorry to drop in unannounced, but we need to talk about a few things," Christina said.

Bane chortled. "It's good to see you too, Christina. Have a seat. What's on your mind?"

"Well, let's start with work; when we get to DS9, we're going to need two months to get the ship repaired. My team's work on repairing the EPS relay worked, but shorted out a lot of systems. We need to replace certain EPS junctions, a number of power transfer conduits, and a few dozen systems. With the power systems of the station, we can do the same trick again, but to be honest, I'd rather do it the old fashioned way until we can make the new repair system work properly. It wasn't our best work; my team were making it up on the fly," Christina said.

Bane's eyes widened, and he held up a hand to stop her. "Whoa whoa whoa, easy there, killer. Word vomit much? Let's break that down into smaller pieces so we can discuss. Should I get Commanders Bast and Stovek in here?"

"No, we can sort this," Christina replied. "First of all, we need two months at DS9, at least, to get the ship repaired," she began.

The Captain snorted. "Not a chance, Lieutenant," he said, reminding both of them their respective positions. "Though, I could probably get you three weeks, a month, tops." Just as he said it, the lights flickered. Bane looked up at the lighting. "Think that will stop soon, or will it be that way the entire trip back to DS9?"

"Oh, we're working on it, but that is exactly why we need two months, minimum," Christina replied. "We need to replace a lot of different relays and junctions, and as useful as my team's new creation is, we need to work on it before it'll work without causing problems. We're using a lot of power to keep the warp field stable."

"I see," the Captain responded. Having been an Engineer himself at one point in his life, he knew that sometimes, ships just needed to go in for repair and maintenance. He tapped his laptop computer. "How long has it been since our last maintenance check," he stated rhetorically. "Oh, that long already?"

"You know full well how long it's been, and given everything we just went through, it's kinda obvious that we need to do this," Christina said. "But that's not the only thing I want to talk to you about. First, I'm recommending Frank DeLuca for the purple heart. If it wasn't for him, we might all be dead," Christina said, before explaining how Frank had almost died to reset the antimatter reactor on the Freighter. "Only reason he's still alive is the prototype life support fields I came up with. I managed to couple five of them together and make a personal force field," Christina explained.

She was right, he did know how long it had been, and knew full well that it was well past time. Commander Larsen, then Commander Bast had both mentioned something to him about it, as well as Admiral Savok during his last briefing. He turned his attention to Mr. DeLuca. "That is fine for the recommendation. Write it up and submit it to the Executive Officer, per protocol. I will let him know its coming and to fast-track it. Make sure you put a commendation in his file for being instrumental in saving the freighter. Also, please also give him a personal thanks from me. I think he would like to hear that from you. As for the maintenance, I will get you your 60 days, Lieutenant. Not a single day more, deal?"

Christina nodded. "That's all we'll need. Now, can you do me a favour and tell the Corps of Engineering that I don't deserve the Cochrane Medal of Excellence?" Christina asked. "My team does, sure. I just helped them fill the gaps, but they insist on us all getting the medal, myself included, for coming up with the replicator/transporter repair system. And no, that's not the final name of the damned thing," she said, showing the PaDD to Bane, where she had been told she was being awarded the medal for her work on creating a new repair system.

"I mean, Starfleet knows I hate the idea of medals since we were just doing our jobs, right? I mean, my team deserve it, but I don't feel like I do," Christina admitted.

Bane took the PaDD and sat it down on his desk without looking at it. When she was done talking, he said, "I will thank you to trust my judgement when I make those recommendations, Christina." He said it sternly, but with the use of her given name instead of her rank or last name, it was a clear indication that Bane was toying with her.

Christina's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "You? You did this? You know the Corps of Engineering wants me to attend a symposium because of this?" Christina asked. "You know I can't stand medals and pomp and circumstance. Not sure I deserve it," Christina said.

The Captain squinted his eyes at her and spoke softly, and methodically. "You once told me you would like to reach Captain of Engineering one day. The way to do that is to attend symposiums. Share ideas. Rub elbows. Make sure the right people know the face and the personality behind those dossiers. The only way to make Captain is to do this. Or be the next James T. Kirk. And well, his style of cowboy diplomacy is no longer a thing in Starfleet. So yeah, I do know, and yes, I will be sending you to as many of those as possible."

Christina sighed. "I know, I just don't like the whole pedestal thing. I guess I'm still dealing with the fallout from Antioch, and Federation Day. I know what you're going to say; it's not my fault, and I can't blame myself for what happened, but I still wonder if I deserve any accolade," Christina admitted.

Plase responded. "Imposter syndrome. I thought you had that taken care of? You might want to do a follow up with that. It might have plagued people on your planet centuries ago, but we've long since identified the root of that issue and know how to treat it. Sounds like you're having a relapse."

"Working on it as best I can. Most days are good, some days are bad," Christina admitted. "I've been speaking to Kin about it as well. It's just nightmares after everything that's happened. It's not affecting my work, but I don't like medals and such. Still, it'll be nice to get my team the recognition they deserve. All I did was help finish the math and put it all together," she said. She allowed herself a small smile. "Still, it'll be interesting to see if Starfleet manages to figure out the power needs and can use the new tech on a large scale."

"It would be interesting indeed. If it can be worked out, it would revolutionize the ship-building process. If it works out," he warned her, "I promise I will not be able to keep you on this ship. Starfleet will promote you and send you to Utopia Planitia as a design lead there. As for the medal and accolades this time, well, you're getting them. So suck it up," he said, smiling humorously.

"Fine, but I'm not going back to Utopia Planetia. I prefer being in space," Christina said, returning the smile.

"Hey, if you can find a way to not do what Starfleet tells you and not get in trouble, do tell me. I've been trying to figure that out for decades now," Bane laughed. "Anyways, I got a mountain of work to do. Bast sure does keep me busy. I should talk to him about that," the Captain teased.

"Good luck. I've got a senior officer who's given me a lot more work writing speeches and talks for seminars," Christina smirked. "I'll be in engineering if you need me. Once we get back to DS9, I should be able to get the repair teams going, but we're working on some repairs as we travel," Christina said.

"Sounds like a plan," Bane said, looking back to his computer. "I'll see you and Kin and the little one later tonight, after we get under way."

"Sounds good. I know K'tress loves spending time with you," Christina smiled, standing up and smiling before leaving the ready room.


*****

Lieutenant JG Christina Hartley
Chief Engineer
USS Cygnus

&

Captain Bane Plase
Commanding Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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