Getting under the hood

Posted on Fri Nov 30th, 2018 @ 5:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Main Shuttlebay
Timeline: 2395, en route to the Galactic Core

Thex had a smile on her face as she stepped out of the turbolift and headed for the shuttle bay. Getting a call from Melanie Dox for some help with one of the runabouts was a rather welcome distraction to get her away from her bay and the headaches that were driving her mad.

Stepping through the twin doors the andorian stopped and breathed in the smell of the shuttle bay. It had been a while since she'd been in here last though she doubted the crew had forgotten her. Judging by the eyes following her she was right though she could feel them turn away as she carefully began to move her hips slightly.

Reaching the three parked runabouts the sapphire chief engineer calmly called out, "Melanie, you around here?"

Inside the Delta-Class Runabout affectionately dubbed "The Unlucky Lady" by First Officer Rita Paris, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melaine Dox heard her name called. She was lying on her back with her head burried deep into the inner workings of the cockpit console performing a basic diagnostic on the Runabouts system.

Pausing for a moment, unaccustomed to being addressed by her first name while on Duty, Dox quickly responded. "I'll be out in one moment." Sitting up, the young Flight Control Chief tugged her sleeves down as they had been rolled up to work and Rose to her feet. It wasn't a long journey for the short but round officer, as she straightened her tunic.

As she stepped off of the Runabouts, Dox caught sight of the waiting engineer. "Oh, good morning, Lieutenant Commander sh'Zoarhi. When I called for engineering assistance, I wasn't expecting the Chief engineer. I hope I'm not pulling you away from more important duties."

As was standard for the young, part-Romulan pilot, she was nervous. Anyone who knew Melanie Dox for any length of time knew that she functioned with a regular undercurrent of anxiety in social situations. But she was trying to be better and not project her issues outwardly as much. Considering that she had only been on the Hera for a few weeks and only had had then most perfunctory encounters with much if the crew, she was eager to not alienate herself because of her nervous nature.

" Nah everything's been quite down in engineering and i was looking for an excuse to get me away from the problem I've been working on." Thex said as she looked around. " Been a while since I've been in here though I think you're staff still remember. What do you need help with?" She asked politely.

Turning quizicly to scan the room after the Chief Engineers comment, Dox looked at the flight crew on staff and noticed that they seemed to be going out of their way to not look over at them. It was a behavior Melanie was very familiar with, though she didn't know the reason here, and something she mentally logged for later.

Turning back to Thex, Melanie smiled casually, refocusing on the issue at hand and glad to know the ships best was going to help. "Well, to make a long story short, I have a number of shuttle pilots on rotation taking the Runabouts out to run a few simulated maneuvers. Real ship, simulated obstacles. Basic readiness evaluations for the upcoming mission so I can see who is best under stress situ..." Melanie paused, realizing none of that was relevant to why the engineer was there. "Sorry. I'm rambling. None of that's important. Anyway, the Unlucky Lady here is having some kind of issues. She's operating at about 85% efficiency. The controls are sluggish and unresponsive and everything lags in maneuvers."

Turning to look at the Runabout that had been vexing her, Dox continued. "I've run every kind of diagnostic I know how to... I didn't want to waste your time. But the best I can do on average is figure out if it's something bluntly obvious and..." Melanie looked back at the Chief Engineer and blushed. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again. It's just a little frustrating."

" No need to apologize my friend. It's good if I know everything. " The andorian said as she took of her bag and headed for the runabouts ramp. " We can check the primary computer and then I can start seeing if somethings not working." She said calmly. A smile spread over the andorians face as one of the shuttle pilots blushed before looking away as she walked by. She still had that effect on them.

"Excellent. After you, then." Dox gestured towards the shuttle ramp, making a mental note of the pilots reaction, though she was the LAST person in the Galaxy that was going to chastise someone for an emotional reaction. She still wanted to keep an eye on it as she wanted to be sure such things wouldn't be a problem professionally.

Thex said nothing as she reached the main computer and began to remove the casing of the computer before attaching the industrial scanner to the computer. "Apologies for you're peoples behavior they're probably still embarrassed about the last time I was in here." She said calmly with a grin on her face.

Turning again to look outside to see if anyone was lingering near the door, Dox replied. "Embarrassed?" She turned back toward the Andorian Engineer with a quizical look on her face as she put her arms behind her back in a more official stance, as she was addressing the ships second officer and did not want to break from protocol. "If I may inquire, in the interests of making sure my department is running smoothly, Commander? Is there something I need to know, so long as I'm not overstepping my bounds asking?"

" Well you know the time the ship got caught in the storm that turned out to be a titan that ended up messing with the holofield? Me and commander Rita had to come down here to retrieve a few parts to get the ship working. As we're retrieving the part we were attacked by a trio of orion holograms. To get out of it I ended up having to beat them in a dance-off. Turned out the environmental controls had been pumping orion pheromones into the room. There probably still embarrassed they were caught off guard and I think a few are rather embarrassed that they got to see me in an orion dancers outfit." Thex said as calmly she got her scan underway. " I don't mind lieutenant it's sought of happened before on another ship. "

"Well... that was an element left out of the official reports." Dox chuckled slightly, blushing in the deep tan color caused by her unique mix of Romulan and Human blood. "Commander Paris mentioned something in passing about 'pole dancing' the other day, but I can honestly say that I would not have been able to figure that out. This ship is certainly full of surprises."

She composed herself and crossed her arms in front of her and looked back out the hatch of the Runabout. "Still, I'll have to say something if they can't get their behavior under control."

" I'm sure they will." Thex said as he scan finished. Everything appeared to be operating normally. " Okay, it's not the computer that's the problem. Would you mind talking the controls while I try and monitor the connections? I'll start with the electromagnetic field module and work back until i find out what's causing it to act slower. "

"Absolutely." Dox stepped over to the pilots chair and took her seat. Flipping a few switches and entering commands into the helm controls, the interface controls glowed to life. Tapping her comm badge lightly, she looked up to speak. "Lieutenant Dox to Flight Control Crew. Please stand by, Runabout systems are live for full tests. Thank you."

Turning back to the engineer, Dox flowed up. "All systems go for diagnostic tests. Do you want static simulation conditions, or would you prefer we take her out, Commander?"

" Static simulation, please. I may need to see the outside of her. " Thex replied as she set her scanner to start monitoring the runabout's systems.

"Excellent." Dox replied, as she entered the necessary instructions so the Runabout wouldn't actually get up and fly inside the ship. "We are good to go. Beginning static control simulation systems check, on your go. Just let me know each system as you're scanning and I'll implement the instructions."

" And go." Thex said as she felt the ship kick into life with a slight vibration. Her blue eyes were focused on the scanner as the data flooded from the runabout to the padd. " Okay looks like we're in luck. It appears to be a drop off in the computer readings from around the electromagnetic field module. I'll open her up and take a look. Can you shut down the ship?" She said to the hybrid at the helm.

Flipping back those same switches, the Runabout powered down as requested. "Aye, Commander." Dox replied.

Thex was already at work removing the panel she'd need to access the part. She looked up at the pilot's seat and gave a polite smile. " We've not had much time to chat, have we? How's life onboard the ship treating you?" She asked as she worked.

Feeling a bit more relaxed, Dox allowed herself a light smile, though her posture in the seat was still fairly attentive. "No, not really. I... Spend most of my time either here, at the helm or in my quarters. I... don't get 'out' much, so I'm glad this provided an opportunity to talk."

"So far, it's been an amazing experience, really. This is my first posting on a Starship and it's beyond anything I could have imagined."

" The hera's certainly been an unexpected voyage. They don't teach you about how to beat gods at the acdamey. Still, I wouldn't change it for anything. If you want to go to the holodeck any time just give me a call. I'm always up for getting to know my crewmates better." The andorian said as she dug around in the runabout until she found the part she was looking for. " Now lets take a look at you." she said to the part as she undid it from it's casing.

More and more, Dox was learning that a good portion of the crew of the Hera carried itself very casually which was something that the anxious Junior Grade Lieutenant didn't quite know how to acclimate herself to. But she was making efforts to be better and try and be more social. "Absolutely, that would be nice." She responded, still feeling a little on guard.

Historically, letting her guard down around others was always an invitation to get hurt and Melanie was still afraid of relaxing as a result. But the Andorian Engineer seemed very friendly and her suggestion seemed sincere, so Dox allowed herself the luxury of a smile as she waited for whatever diagnosis Thex might be working towards.

The andorian gave a polite reply in response as she kept work on the field module. A grin spread over her face as she saw something. " I think I've found the problem. Looks like we have a microfracture in the data transmitter. Just need to repair it and it should be able to get it working agaain." She said calmly.

"Fantastic!" Dox replied enthusiastically, as this had been vexing her all morning. "Thank you so much! I was hitting such a wall here." She laughed a little bit.

"I grew up on a freighter that always felt like it was falling apart, so I HAD to learn the basics to keep the engine running. I tried to minor in engineering at the academy, but barely squeeked by. I'm so glad you're here." As Dox relaxed a bit more, her mouth loosened and talking became a bit easier.

" Shouldn't take me long to get it fixed. " The andorian said as she picked up a few tools and began to run them across the fracture. It took less than a minute before she was reaching the module and looking back up. " Okay try it now." She said calmly.

Turning her chair back towards the helm, Melaine reactivated the Runabout's systems as 'the Unlucky Lady' hummed back to life. "Okay... Let's see... Running systems check." The young pilot smiled excitedly as the system reports came back across her screen. "Fantastic! Everything is coming back green, Commander."

Turning towards the Andorian Engineer, Dox was visibly pleased. "How's everything look on your end?"

" Everythings looking good on here. Looks like that was the problem. " Thex said as she saved the info in the repair log for the runabout.

"Thank you again, I really appreciate you making the time." Dox replied, running her hand along the control panel above her. "She's my personal favorite Runabout, so I'm glad she's feeling better."

It's no problem Melanie. Just called me if you need anything else. " The andorian said as she began to pack her tools away to leave.

"I Absolutely will. Thank you again." Dox grinned a little awkwardly as she spoke. "Uh... I'm going to have to put her through a quick dry run. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. If you wanted to just hang around, we could talk a little more?"

Before the andorian could respond her combadge began to sound. =^= Commander can you please report to hydroponics bay. =^= Thex looked at the officer with an apologetic look on her face. " Apologies looks like the universe has need off me. Feel free to drop by my quaters anytime you want a word." She said as she moved to leave

"Of course, duty calls. Thank you again, Commander." Dox smiled her usual awkward smile. "I will."