First Impressions

Posted on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 8:14am by Warrant Officer Arlan Harlan & Ensign Gazo Daw
Edited on on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 4:29pm

952 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Prelude to Rebirth
Location: USS Firebird, Main Engineering, Deck 4
Timeline: 27 January 2396

[ON]

Daw was still recovering from his visit with the Captain when he stepped off the turbolift and out into Deck 4. Prior to reporting to the ship, he'd gone over the deck plan again and again so that he would never look lost. He also didn't want to risk looking unprepared to anyone, including Chief Harlan.

He got a couple of stares as he made his way toward Main Engineering but that was to be expected. Cadets were not nearly so common on smaller ships that had fewer spaces for them. The fact that he and Gia had been assigned quarters together, with bunks, was comforting. Even though the ship was small by Starfleet standards, to him it was massive. Only the transport he'd taken to Earth had been bigger in his experience. A little girl ran by, startling Daw. He hadn't been expecting small children. I guess this is normal here? he thought.

He finally reached Main Engineering, passing the Chief of Security's office, and strode in, with what he hoped was a confident bearing.

Harlan was busy doing paperwork he still didn't like as the chief warrant officer in engineering. "Conflabit," he was muttering under his breath. "This darn refit is more than I care to deal with this morning. What does Starfleet think they're doing trying to put this much chrome in a ship lavatory? We don't WANT to see reflections in that room. Grrrr"

He stopped grumbling for just long enough as he noticed a flash of movement coming through his door. He didn't stand up. "You must be...I have it somewhere here...Daw, yeah? You probably know my name by now is Chief Harlan." He stuck out his hand for the befuddled person in front of him without standing up. Daw shook it tentatively.

"There, that's done," Harlan continued. "Why don't you sit down and tell me why you ended up on this ship? What'd you hear from the captain?"

Daw slowly sat down. He was completely confused. His entire life experience dealing with officers was the instructors at the academy. Chief Harlan wasn't acting anything like what he was used to.

"Sir! I ended up on this ship because... ah.. I want to... ah be a propulsion engineer, sir!" He said in full cadet voice, as he had been trained. But then he thought about the content and it sounded pretty bland. "And, well, Gia and I are friends and she was coming back to the ship and I figured that was good enough for me because I trust her..." he trailed off and waited to see what Chief Harlan would say.

Harlan recoiled slightly as if he'd been struck. The enthusiasm was almost too much. "Calm down, lad. No need to get excited considering we've barely gotten people back on the ship." He let that sink in for a moment.

"Now, propulsion engineer, eh? That should be doable. I can't remember the name of the last one right now while I deal with these reports. And I don't deal with Gia very often, but it's always fine to have friends of friends of friends on ships; makes communication easier most of the time. How much have you done getting ready for this assignment? Are you settled into your quarters? Might start you on a project already if you feel ready."

Daw glanced around the Chief Engineer's office, noting the pile of PADDS that were scattered on the floor. He wondered what kind of projects the chief had in mind for a lowly cadet. He steeled himself for what was about to come. "Petty Officer Lak has taken my personal belongings to my quarters and I don't really know what I am supposed to do next. I guess whatever you say, sir," Daw said. Inside he was hoping it wasn't cleaning the floors. It was the worst.

Harlan grinned internally as he responded. "Well, since you want to be a propulsion engineer, why don't you read the full manual related to this class of ship's propulsion system and give me a summary of its strengths and weaknesses with comparisons to similar classes. Nothing like a good bit of homework to make you feel at home here, eh?"

"I'd love to read the manual on the Fireibrd! It is the only ship in its class and we didn't review it in any of our classes. I did try to find time to read it on our trip to DS9 but I had a lot going on. I'll read up on the specs today and have a report to you by tomorrow? Or is that too late?" Daw said, excited about the prospect of doing real engineering work rather than scrubbing floors or recalibrating the hydroelastic measurements in the replicators.

"Hrmph, a real go-getter, I see. Well, tomorrow will be fine. After that, we'll consider letting you actually touch the equipment. I hope you're ready to clean things deeper than you've ever cleaned before. Now, anything else I should know about you, or are we done here? I have a lot of reading to do, myself."

Daw got the message loud and clear. He jumped to his feet. "All finished, sir!" He said. "I look forward to touching and cleaning, sir!" He turned and ran out. What a horrible first impression! he though as he hurried to his quarters. He had a lot of reading to do.

[OFF]

Warrant Officer Arlan Harlan
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Cadet Gazo Daw
Cadet Junior Grade
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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