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Tinkering

Posted on Fri Feb 15th, 2019 @ 11:03am by Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox

Mission: Recovery Trek
Location: Main Flight Deck
Timeline: 2396

On the flight deck of the main shuttle Bay of the U.S.S. Hera, Flight Chief and Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox was working late. She liked to work late when her mind was busy, and tonight it was busy waiting for Ensign Mona Gonadie's shift at helm to end.

Over the last few weeks, the two pilots had become quite close and when they weren't together, it caused the red-headed Romulan to stew in her own thoughts. And since Mnhei'sahe Dox didn't enjoy the company of her own thoughts more often than not, she worked. And tonight she was working on the aft port landing strut of the Runabout Selune.

The skilled pilot was by no means an engineer, but she had enough experience repairing the various systems of the smuggling ship she grew up on that she was more than qualified to repair a landing strut that gave off a warning light during the Selune's last system diagnostic.

As the Flight Control Chief, it wasn't her job to actually be laying on her back with a tool kit under the Runabout herself wearing a workshirt stained with hydrolic fluid, but she liked to keep busy. While she worked, her keen Romulan ears picked up the sound of light foot steps heading towards her. She knew it was too early for it to be Mona, so she slid out from the Runabout. She looked up to see the Hera's Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi.

"Good evening, Commander. What can I do for you?" Dox asked with a casual smile.

" Hello, lieutenant Dox. Just going about my rounds to make sure we haven't missed anything that broke in are scrap with the Valkyries. One of them's the strut you appear to be working on." The androrian said with a smile.

Pulling herself off the deck and back to her feet, Dox had a slightly awkward expression. "Ah... yeah. I was off duty and had the time, and your crews have been putting in enough overtime, so I figured I'd work on it."

"Well do you want me to see what you've done and i can take over from there?" The andorian asked.

Stepping aside, Dox felt that anxiety in the pit of her stomach start swirling. "Absolutely, Commander. I haven't done much except try and diagnose the problem just yet."

"Well let's take a look." Thex said as she slid under the runabout. " Ah, I see. Dox have you been attempting to fix the problem yourself?" She asked.

Fidgeting slightly in place, Dox replied. "I suppose... I like to try and solve problems when I can."

"I appreciate the effort Dox, but you don't need to do these emergency patches when you have my team free to fix them." The andorian said as she got to work. To properly fix the problem she'd have to undo Dox rewiring first.

Stifling a sigh, Dox rolled her eyes slightly as she knew this was coming. Her grease-monkey tendencies and desire to fix things herself had caused friction between herself and engineers on her last assignment as a shuttle pilot for Starbase 17.

There was a world of difference between her rewiring the Hera's helm console in the heat of a pitched battle to keep the ship flying when engineering crews were otherwise occupied, and mucking around like this when it wasn't necessary. But those were semantics and ultimately this was Thex's job and Dox didn't want to alienate a friend.

"Aye, Commander. Sorry. Old habits die hard, I suppose. Extenuating circumstances notwithstanding, I'll leave engineering to the engineers. Promise." The anxious aviatrix replied with a slightly forced bit of levity to her voice, hoping to diffuse any potential tension.

"It's okay Dox you don't have to apologize. Just tell me if you made any temporary repairs before i get started on them okay?" The andorian asked calmly as she continued her work.

"Absolutely, Commander. I'll make full reports. Is... there anything I can get you?" Dox replied.

" Well, you can tell me how things are going between you and Mona?" The andorian said as she slid out from under the runabout to swap her tools.

"So much for our trying to be subtle about it." Dox replied with a chuckle, slightly embarrassed. "Or at least my trying to be subtle. It's... It's going well. Things are going really well. Fast, but good. I mean...I guess things are going good. I'm... I don't really have an experience with... ya' know... relationships."

" Well I'm happy for you Dox and I'm glad things are going well. You deserve to be happy." The andorian replied with a grin on her face.

"We're trying, at least. Thanks." Dox replied as she tried to bring the subject back off of her love life. "How's it looking down there?"

" Easy enough to fix though I'll need a few spare parts. Could you replicate a pressure module and a replacement fluid canister?" the andorian asked.

"Absolutely. Be right back." Happy to have a task, Dox requisitioned the parts on her PaDD to pick up from her office replicator just across the bay. After a few moments, Dox returned and handed Thex the parts.

"So, of you don't mind my asking, how have things been with you and Ensign Tathaa? You two seem so happy whenever I see you together."

" Well other than a few complaints about the dresses for the upcoming bonding ceremony everything's going great. I finally realize what all the andorian poets were talking about in all the great epics about love. If we could only find the other two we need we could think about having some little andorians." The andorian said with a grin spread across her face.

The young part-Romulan was now just smiling, unguarded, for her friend. "That's fantastic. I'm really happy for you. It's weird, but on a ship where a Goddess and Death have cabins, I found that easier to believe then I did in the idea that someone might ever... love me. But it's pretty amazing. I'm so glad it's working out for you and I'm sure you two will figure out the rest. What's the problem with the dress?

"Well, thats part of the problem. You know anear's are blind and see telepathically? Well, when your species doesn't see as the rest of us do most of there ceremonies don't really focus on clothing. In fact there bonding ceramonies have it that the quad doesn't wear anything so as to how they have nothing to hide from their mates " The andorian said with a grin on her face hoping the flight officer would understand what she was meaning.

"Ahhh. I got it." Dox was slightly embarrassed thinking about it, but countered. "Of course, if you two were Betazoid, you'd both be... actually... ALL of us would be naked. But wouldn't she see the dress through your eyes. See how beautiful you saw her as? That might make it more important for her from that angle to embrace the dress."

"Which was the same argument I used so we've been picking out andorian bonding dresses. Never knew there would be so many." The andorian responded the grin still on her face.

"Well, that's a good problem to have. I'm sure you'll both look absolutely amazing." Dox replied with a smile. "I can't wait."

"I hope we do. I can't wait for it or to share that day with the crew. You guys are more family than my own family was." Thex said with a beaming smile.

"I think that's true for a lot of us. Certainly for me. I think the Captain must've been searching for officers with the most messed up family histories in Starfleet." Dox replied with a laugh.

"Well if she is she must be doing something right. Never met a crew that could have death and the goddess Hera on board and can go toe to toe with the master and the armies of odin." Came Thex voice from under the runabout.

"It sure beats every other assignment I've ever had by a galaxy" Dox replied with a smile And a she thought. "Ya'know, Death was the one to suggest I talk to Mona. Never would have predicted that."

Thex was confused at what she had just heard and had to slid out from underneath the runabout. " So Death acted as your matchmaker? " She asked.

"Uh... actually... yeah. Weird as that sounds. Only me, Doctor Dael, the EMH and the Baroness can see her. And the replicator doesn't quite acknowledge her either, so I bring her dinner and we talk. She's really nice, but super straightforward." Dox chucked as she realized just how ridiculous this all probably sounded. "She knew all about how I felt about Mona and just kept pressing me to do something until I gave in. She was kind of relentless."

"Why can only you three see her? All of us can see Hera." Thex inquired.

"Well, Asa and the Baroness met her when she was manifested on the worldship. So they were already aware of her. Then when the Baroness was temporarily bonded to her, I was concerned and... well... I asked to be introduced." Dox was a little nervous retelling the tale. "Otherwise, she is Death. People don't see her until... well... Until it's their time. But she's actually really nice. She's kind of why I'm not dead. From back when I got beamed into space. She... she chose to not take me as I was out there about ten seconds too long."

" I thought there were some odd readings when i beamed you back onboard. " Thex said as she continued her work. " Never thought death would be a woman. On Andor death is represented by a monster that lives in an unending blizzard that comes to drag you away when it's your time."

"Then that might well be what you would see." Dox replied. Her tone a little more serious. "How she appears to each person depends on how they perceive death as a concept. I spent a lifetime becoming comfortable with the idea of dying. To me, she's an older Romulan woman. Kind of beautiful really. Rita, however. Rita can't see her at all even after being introduced."

" Interesting. Well, can you let her know if she needs anything she has to ask?" The andorian statted as she slid out from under the ship. " Okay can you give it a test, becouse i think it should be working now."

"I will, thanks." Dox replied as she hopped up into the Runabout and began running a quick diagnostic. After a few seconds, the young Romulan red-head called out. "Green on the diagnostic. Running a test retract."

A slight forcefield stableized the Runabout as the strut quickly retracted and then deployed back into place. After. Moment, Dox came back out onto the flight deck. "Excellent. Thank you, Commander."

"No problem Dox. Was nice talking to you by the way. Got to get cleaned up and then i have a dance session of the Hera's fly girls to organize." The andorian said as she finished packing up her tools.

"Sounds like a fun night. And I promise to not tinker anymore." Dox replied with a crooked half grin.

"If you do tinker let me know. " The andorian said as she headed for the door giving the flight officer a warm smile. " Talk to you later Dox."

 

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