Self Imposed Deadline

Posted on Fri 23rd Jun, 2017 @ 1:44pm by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Ensign Joshua Schwartz

756 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Unity Week
Timeline: MD 02 1800 hours

Grunting, Lt. Eberstark stood back up looking at the revealed Starbase's targeting systems behind the bulkhead he removed, "You stubborn little..."

"Um, sir?" The Ensign spoke up behind Andrew, interrupting whatever inevitable frustrated rant was about to come out of his mouth, "I think I found the problem. Or, more to the point, a solution."

He and Andrew had been working on this "issue" for the past hour now. Upgrading and resetting the targeting scanning grid was something that was obviously necessary, but from what he could see, they were now operating within the recommended limits.

"Oh yea?" came the response from Andrew, half serious and half frustrated, "Well don't keep it to yourself, Ensign."

Pausing to compose his thoughts, Josh responded, "Well, I think we can coax some more out of the systems if we..."

"Shunt power through the secondary relays by cross circuiting with the primary array?" Andrew asked looking back with a tired face at the Ensign.

Frozen, Josh just shook his head and replied, "Um...yes, sir. That'd pretty much be the gist of my idea...how did..."

"Should have seen that an hour ago," Andrew cut him off, "Of course there are some risks to the secondary and backup systems, if we have to switch to them in a conflict."

Looking down at the PADD, Josh suggested, "Maybe we could run a few simulations first before we put this into practice?"

"Good thought, Ensign," Andrew quickly turned to the nearby console and started inputting parameters for a simulation. As he did, he looked up at his partner and saw the weariness in his eyes.

Smiling and shaking his head at his focused view of the work, Andrew asked, "Computer, time."

"The time is 1830 hours," came the instantaneous reply.

Downloading the simulations specs to a PADD, Andrew turned to the Ensign, "I'm sorry for keeping you late, Josh. This was one of the last things on my list of things to do from the XO. Guess I just lost track of time. These simulations can definitely wait for a later date. Go enjoy some time with the festivities on the Starbase."

Hesitating, Josh turned to leave, "Thank you, sir. I...I can stay if..."

Waiving his hand, "No, no. You're off duty Ensign. That's an order. I'll see you tomorrow."

As Josh gave a knowing nod, he heading towards the door before turning back, "Sir? Permission to speak freely?"

Raising an eyebrow, Andrew looked up from the PADs he was stacking, "A week ago you had trouble speaking in full sentences to me
Ensign, now you think you can speak you mind at will?"

Seeing the Ensign taken aback at the tone of the question, Andrew relaxed, "Only kidding, Josh. What's on your mind?"

Hesitating, Josh took a step back into the room, " Thank you, sir. Sir, I was just wondering why we're going to these lengths to upgrade the targeting systems when we got them well within normal parameters?" looking a little worried as he continued, "Are we expecting an attack?"

Andrew chuckled at the Ensign's line of thought, "Oh, nothing so dramatic Ensign," forcing a smile, "But you can never me too sure, right?"

Nodding and smiling, the Ensign again turned to leave. As he was leaving, he felt that maybe the Lieutenant was keeping something back. Whether it was personal or not, Josh wasn't sure. Either way, he was happy to be helpful and even more grateful he wasn't going to have to stay too late tonight. Josh didn't want to have to cancel his plans after they took this long to coordinate.

As the doors hissed opened, Josh turned again to his senior officer, "Don't stay too late, sir. You should at least try and take a look at the festivities you helped put together."

Andrew gave a weary nod and smile, "Good advice, Ensign. There's hope for you yet. Don't worry. I'm just finishing up here. Now is there going to be a third good-bye? I'm sure you have better things to do."

"No third time, sir," Josh replied, "Have a good night and see you tomorrow."

As the doors hissed behind the Ensign, Andrew finished his calibration calculations and placed the PADs under his arm. Letting out a sigh, Andrew was half tempted to follow the Ensign's advice and just take a night of relaxation. Perhaps later, he thought to himself, and exited the room en route to the nearest turbolift. For now, it was another cup of coffee and diagnostics to read in his office.

 

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