Renovations

Posted on Mon 5th Dec, 2022 @ 10:51pm by Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro & Olumorron Eirie 'Xin'

2,133 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: A Fresh Perspective
Location: Water Decks, 875-885
Timeline: MD 4, 0800

Excitement stirred in Quinn's mind as she took the turbolift from her home deck down to the water decks. She'd never had an opportunity to work in an alien environment, and water was definitely that for her. She got off on Deck 875, and because she was in the air-breather 'lift, it emptied into an air environment. Water breathers had their own ways in and out. To the left was a large room which was basically a locker room where the equipment she would need was kept. She entered, and was happy to see that her boss, Commander Baro was already there, slipping into the breathing apparatus.

Baro was focused on carefully putting on the breathing gear. She was already in a waterproof scuba suit, so it took her a moment to notice Quinn. She smiled, or attempted to, then took the breathing device out so she could speak normally. "Up for a challenge?" she asked with a smile. Quinn really was one of her better petty officers, and Baro found herself trusting the other with more responsibility. Hence why she was here in this difficult assignment.

"A little nervous, since it's the first time I've tried something like this, but also ... it's kind of exciting to be working in such an unusual place for us to be. I guess I haven't often felt as if I might be out of my league, and totally confused in a foreign-to-me environment." She paused for a moment to think about the implications of that, as she zipped the last pocket closed around her smaller tools.

"If nothing else, it will give me an appreciation of those dedicated enough to join Starfleet and serve aboard a ship or station. I think I'll learn a lot and grow in important ways from this job." She stopped, realizing she had probably answered way more than her boss meant by her question.

"So we should check each other's suits, right, make sure everything is zipped and tucked properly?" Jin-Kyung asked.

Alora smiled, appreciating the eagerness of the Petty Officer, "Yes exactly. I'll check you first," she replied, and carefully checked each aspect of the other’s gear. Not because she expected to find anything out of place, in fact all was in order and correct, but for safety. She then held still as Jin-Kyung checked her rig.

"Seems good to me," Quinn said, breathing the bottled air. She was amazed that the tiny bottle would keep her alive in the water. It actually extracted oxygen from the water for her. "It's sort of like having our own gills, isn't it?" she said, in wonder.

"All ready?" came the question booming through the speakers. "Let's get you into the water lock, then!" Savario stood ready to intervene when the door locked behind the two engineers. He didn't expect anything to happen, but being prepared was part of his mind set.

The dugong glanced at the scientist with him, a friend called Olumorron, who'd recently arrived on SB109 to do research which Savario found interesting. Today, they had other things to do, however. The spawning pools needed to be enlarged for different species' use, and there were other upgrades needed before more aquatics from other species could join them.

Olumorron had little experience with Humans, their jovial nature seemed to waste energy. The Translator took his clicks and whistles to mean, “I have no need to prepare, I am in water all my life.”

The young engineer shuffled behind her boss into the small chamber and the door closed behind them. "I guess that was a rhetorical question," she grinned at her boss. Excited heart flutterings started as she felt the water filling the chamber from the bottom. She'd joined Starfleet to see the galaxy, but she'd never imagined this kind of adventure!

Baro gave a thumbs up as she checked to make sure her mask was in the right place for the 4th time. She'd learned to swim as a teenager and had to work at it. She loved trying new things, but being underwater for long lengths of time still felt odd, That feeling would go away as she focused on her work.

When the water lock was filled, the door into the deck beyond opened and the two women swam out to be greeted by the water dwellers awaiting them. Savario, the Dugong-like officer, and a Xindi-Aquatic Research Fellow swam with grace, circling in the transitionary corridor.

Both the women discovered their footwear would adhere to the 'floor' of the corridor in which they found themselves, but was easy to pull off that floor for swimming. Perhaps to help them move faster underwater, there were bars at about half-level which would aid them in moving along ... almost as they would in a gravity-free environment. Jin-Kyung had done well in training in gravity-free during her basic training at Starfleet, and thought the bars might actually help her here, too.

{Welcome to our world!} said the loud cheerful voice of Savario. {If you have any questions, speak up. Then we'll head for the spawning pools so we can determine just how to renovate them for all the expected species.}

Olumorron came through as a mumbled complaint. {As well as Filtration, some of us have work to do.}

Quinn glanced at her department head. She didn't want to ask a question out of rank precedence, so she'd wait to see if it got answered anyway. Just how many species were they expecting here, and where did they all originate? She knew Earth had several species of sapient water inhabitants ... but some of those were mammalian. Were the mammalians living in the same decks as the non-mammalians? And what were the non-mammalians called, anyway? Fish didn't seem appropriate!

"Thank you for the welcome," Baro replied though the mask's communication device. "If I asked all my questions, we'd never get to work!" she joked, "Best to start with the spawning pools, to get a clear idea of what you want here. Are you expecting a great deal of variety and traffic?" she asked, pleased the adjustments for movement, boots on deck, seemed to be working as intended. Part of her mind was already trying to come up with ideas from the preliminary information she'd been given as they moved.

Olumorron proudly reported, {There are 32 species at the Xindus Institute, we can show you how we do it.}

{Why don't we talk as we ... walk? Savario joked back, leading off with a flip of his tail. "We do expect some variety to be working here. We know there are some coming who need mud baths, my own species expects underwater cave structures, and," he turned an eye to Olumorron, his friend, "what about your people?" he asked, giving him a chance to speak for himself.}

Alora listened politely taking mental notes as they 'walked'.

{My people prefer warmer waters, but can subsist even near frozen temperatures. Food is the primary concern; it must be consumed live, not replicated. At least 20 meters cubed, Solar particles, gaseous diffusion from vents beneath is all important to long term health, but can be substituted in short term. Attina has this already in place.}

Quinn couldn't help speaking up to ask a question at this point. "Are some of your people going to continue living on your ship, or is everyone coming down to these decks when we have them correctly balanced for you?"

The metallic taste in the water was bad, but the utter lack of true light was maddening. {Things are not quite ready here it seems. For now they will remain. Xindi aren’t as tolerant towards acclimatization. The other species may not feel so restricted. It is rather cramped on board, so they will be eager soon to swim in wide open spaces.}

"Then I guess we need to get busy!" said Jin-Kyung cheerfully, looking toward her boss. "I can get a crew started, as soon as you know the priorities for work."

Alora nodded, "It sounds like quarters and food supply areas should be first?" She made it a question to the two others with them.

Taking a few seconds to think as he swam further down the corridor, Savario said, "Food, quarters and spawning pools, yes. All are of equal importance. We need clean water. I've heard of a river system here on the base. Does it clean water?"

"It does," agreed Quinn. "I think it goes through the main base water supplies, but we can see if it can be changed to include the waters here." She glanced at her boss again, unwilling to commit to something that wasn't approved.

Alora nodded, "It seems we'll need areas for mudbaths, underwater cave structures and tropical waters so we'll want to keep those pipes and areas independent of the cooler ones." She looked thoughtful, "We should have the teams review Attina's work with their food supply and current adaptations they want kept, so we don't accidentally remove something they wanted to keep and can duplicate as needed in the new areas."

She turned to Olumorron, "I would love any related data from the Xindus Institute. It would be silly to reinvent what's already been done, and it'll help the teams to have that information as they work, so they can preserve anything during the removal process that'll help the upcoming changes. Speed things up, as it were." For example if they needed certain wirings maintained it was easier to do that on the front end then have to redo it if it was removed in a way that made it more difficult.

Jin-Kyung was impressed with how quickly her boss organized her thinking and reduced things to the basic needs. It made her happy all over again that she'd been assigned to this starbase with such a good officer to train her.

Olumorron was less than gracious, however. Their research agreement did not stray away from suspicion when it came to letting the Federation inspect their 29th century technology. It was outlined, and specifically mentioned for Starfleet to keep its distance.

“The Xindus Institute has already provided the official documentation on our biological needs, I have given you a summary of those systems and their functions within our charter. Anything past that will need to go through diplomatic channels. I have little interest in politics, it’s just the nature of our agreement. You are more than capable, I am sure, of adapting your systems to our needs.”

"No doubt," was Alora's reply, catching but choosing to ignore the subtext in his tone. As an engineer, she'd only been interested in data to help her do her job better. He obviously thought she was fishing for more.

Her curiosity was there, but she knew enough not to ask. No doubt many had been more pushy, but she generally didn’t think beyond the immediate project and so did not consider this beforehand. However, she was a senior officer and not unintelligent so she continued.

"I merely wished to confirm the relevant data was as complete as you wish; often times, in projects such as these, updated information important to the project becomes available even with recent data. I can review the information with my team from that and today's visit to come up with a plan I am happy to send ahead for review before we begin if you wish?"

This was the kind of interaction Olumorron was worst with. Realizing he had most likely been mistranslated he tried to make it right. His briefing on Lt Commander Baro suggested she was among the “Chief” Rank and worthy of respect.

A plaintive wail was ineffectually translated to, “You are a capable officer, I am only here for Science and mean no disrespect.”

Alora nodded politely, privately pleased she'd not screwed something up. She'd been working on her diplomacy, especially since her yeoman had been badgering her that 'as a senior officer she needed to polish her skills' in that area.

"I am confident you are knowledgeable as well. From time to time, I find myself out of my expertise when I must go beyond engineering. I took no disrespect. Let us focus on the spirit of cooperation that is going to get this project completed to everyone's satisfaction. A worthy goal in and of itself, yes?" she said with a friendly smile, hoping her own briefing was accurate as she carefully chose her reply.

"I think we've done good work together this morning," Savario said. "We'll be working out the 'who does what' details over the next couple of days and get things going."

Turning to the Starfleet engineers, he added, "Thank you for coming into our environment, and for working with us. I foresee a great collaboration between the Xindi and Starfleet!"

 

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