After Engineering Works

Posted on Thu 22nd Nov, 2012 @ 4:34pm by Colonel Horatio Drake

694 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Deck 14: Senior Officer's Conference Room
Timeline: MD-01: 1245 Hours

"What the Engineering Teams should really be concentrating on next is the areas of Protector that were abandoned when the FCDA took control" Chief Graham Winchester picked up his mug of coffee and took a long, satisfying sip - it was at just the right temperature.

"You're probably right" Ashton responded, having just put his mug down "I still haven't had a chance to read up on much of their occupancy, how did they play it?"

"Well" Graham shifted his weight from one side to the other, on the sofa in Ashton's Ready Room "ideally the aim would have been to use as fewer decks and sections as possible due to the fact that they only had a skeleton crew on board. However, the design of Federation Starbases doesn't really allow for this. I know there were some decks shut off completely, but for the most part they concentrated on closing down sections instead of decks. On most decks at least one or two sections had to be kept operational due to vital systems and the like."

He waved a finger at the cross section of the Stardock Class that was adorning the wall, "it's those lower decks that were completely shut off... they're the ones we want to get back up and running as soon as possible... I'm glad Lieutenant Lee is starting on deck 1030." He consulted his PADD and took another swig of his coffee before continuing "It's only got Internal Power Transfer Conduits and the main doors to Auxiliary Fusion Reactor 5 and was one of the few decks that was completely abandoned when Starfleet pulled out."

"Indeed." Ashton started to study another PADD at his desk and finish off the last of his coffee, whilst Graham continued studying the cross section diagram. The room fell into silence for the next ten minutes.

"So... are we ever going to talk about it?" Graham had now crossed his legs and was facing Ashton on the sofa.

Looking up he had a confused look on his face, "Talk about what Graham?"

"Patrick." The Chief Petty Officer never minced words and never beat about the bush... Ashton wished he sometimes did... the word, coming out of someone else's mouth, after so long, had a resounding impact on him.

"There's nothing to talk about Sergeant" Ashton said, with a feint smile.

Silence. The NCO didn't even bother protesting to the lie, he just sat in silence... staring at Ashton.

"Sergeant... there's no point in...there really is nothing to... " it was futile, Graham knew him far too well for him to be playing these games. "... I was destroyed, Graham... absolutely destroyed."

Graham was the last person that anyone would want to talk to about anything personal... he was tough, a real lifer of Starfleet, some might even say cold. However, after spending only a couple of years short of three decades in the service it was inevitable that he would become an expert in people... their actions, reactions, reasoning, beliefs etc. And at this point he knew, better than anyone, not to speak.

"The thing is..." Ashton continued as he lent back in his chair "... it was so unexpected and sudden..." he fell into thought for a moment "The ironic thing was that a few weeks before I had finally come to my senses and realised that I was being an idiot... I was going to leave Starfleet. We were going to spend the rest of our..." His breath caught in his throat and he could feel his eyes welling up. The death of Patrick no longer exerted the extreme emotional response it once had, but still weighed very heavily on the young officer.

He forced back the tears and cleared his throat, "Graham, I can't talk about this now... not here. Once we've got this headache of a starbase under control, we'll have a drink... and a chat"

The Chief Petty Officer stood up, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard, as if giving him the strength that he need, "I understand Ashton. I'll see about those Engineering crews" He stated, quite simply, before releasing his shoulder and leaving the room.

OFF:

 

RSS Feed