With a job like this...
Posted on Thu Mar 20th, 2025 @ 5:46pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters
Edited on on Sun Oct 26th, 2025 @ 10:49pm
1,365 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Character Backstories
Timeline: 2375
Nash took the group through all the bridge controls, highlighting the basics and possible trouble spots. Despite the refits and upgrades, there were some quirks in some systems that just couldn’t be worked out, no matter how hard Nash and his staff tried.
“Commander Trickett, take a gander at this. I think you’ll appreciate this. Over here on tactical, the targeting scanners were in bad shape. Whether on automatic or manual, the sensors were off by 2.6 microns. Always 2.6. Didn’t matter what direction, what axis was being targeted. I couldn’t figure out why until I found a blip in the ODN relay that feeds the board. I corrected the alignment error, but just keep an eye on that relay. If it surges again, you could have the same trouble.”
Trickett walked over to Nash, "Neo, Shepard did you both hear that. Come take a look at what the Engineer is telling us."
"Lieutenant, our tactical officer Matt Shepard and Computer Specialist Arin Neo," Trickett stated as the two walked over.
Nash politely greeted the two newly arrived crew members. “Nash Winters….hello and welcome aboard. We were just working through a systems overview.”
Shepard was a tall, dark haired J.G. who didn't look like a tactical officer, but that was part of the point. His hair was parted on the side and kept a little too much in a style, and while fit, he didn't carry himself with an air that he was watching everything - though he was.
Petty Officer Neo was around 5'5", with olive skin and gold undertones to her dark hair. She appeared to be a Bajoran hybrid of some kind, her nose ridges barely visible, though present between brow bones that seemed slightly more prominent than on a human. "2.6 you said," the crewman repeated. "Likely an error that occurred after the ship took on some damage. If the crew just adapted and never bothered to repair it in a timely manner, the computer likely learned the error as a default setting. That is good to know."
“Lucky us, then,” Nash said sarcastically. “Certainly didn’t plan on that. Didn’t hurt to fix it, though. If something is out of whack, I usually get to the bottom of it. Just my nature as a tinkerer, Ms. Neo.”
As the team continued their review of the Bridge controls with the engineer, Remy spoke up, "The ship doesn't seem to have much of anything by way of dedicated science instruments, antiquated or not. I've been borrowing data from navigation and tactical in our simulations which we can make do with. Unless you have surprises for me too."
“I noticed that, too, Ms. Johansen. I guess the Orions are not big believers in science or scientific discovery. I might be able to fix that for ya. There’s a redundant monitoring station adjacent to tactical. You won’t need it. I also think the computer core still has ample memory storage for data and such. What’s your time frame for departure? I have some newer components I can switch out. A little rudimentary, but will still get the job done. May have to add a bypass to the EPS system to speed up processing time. Let me know, Ensign. Three to four hours and it’s yours.”
"External sensors are made for examining cargo. Things in large bulk. I'll have a hard time scanning for chemicals, biological specimens, things like that. I'm not sure how feasible that is? Again, without compromising our cover," Remy suggested.
“How about a dynoscanner? I have a couple sitting around. They’re a bit outdated, but with a few tweaks, you’ll have your bio-scanner. Just have to connect it to the ODN lines and …voila! Think about that, Ensign. Walk with me while finish up the calibration checklist. We can get to know each other,” Nash said.
Remy cast a look at her superiors who weren't really paying attention to them. "Okay," she responded as she got up from the station.
"A dynoscanner? I've never heard of those being used to detect biological specimens. Do you think that it will do the trick for everything, or is this just mainly for the chemical compounds?" Remy asked as they walked.
“I do. Strong enough to pick up energy readings as well as bio matter. Tied into the main sensor array, it can perform just as well, maybe even better than a tricorder. Just not portable. If you like, we can run a diagnostic on the sensor clusters. If they have to be realigned, it shouldn’t take long. Don’t worry, Ensign. This bucket of bolts will serve you well.”
"Okay, I'd like to test it on something. So, I can see what I'm looking for when say scanning for vials for pathogens. The pathogens themselves can be difficult to spot when they are contained in such small amounts. But they are stored in either a chemical or biological suspension. Like a stasis of sorts." Remy spoke with her hands, showing the engineer the relative size of what she was talking about.
"I'm sure I can figure out how to manually adjust the settings to scan for different variations, but if this can pick up a suspicious drawer or test tubes on the other side of shields, this will get us in the right direction," Remy said. "This is my first time on one of these missions, I want to get it right. Show my worth so to speak. I'd love to do more of this."
“Ensign, I can tell already that you’re off to a good start. You’re asking the right questions and I feel like you’re interested in the details. The little things. Engineers like me typically worry about the nitpicky stuff. But I see good things for you, Ms. Johansen. The sky’s the limit.”
"So, how did you get into this? You seem to know more about sensors and other equipment than your typical engineer," Remy asked.
“You kind of have to with a job at a depot like this place. Whether it’s replacing parts, cross circuiting different technologies, or just scavenging, you have to wear a lot of hats. There’s some learning on the job as well. Ever seen a Flaxian navigation interface? Not the most intuitive. I’ve been taking things apart since I could pick up a screwdriver. It’s fun. And now I’m refitting an Orion freighter for your team.”
"Maybe you should come along," Remy suggested half-heartedly. Half-hearted, more because she really didn't have the authority to make any sort of decisions on the mission. Logically though, she didn't see why not. An engineer wouldn't leave the ship in most circumstances, and not only did he know the ins and outs of the Orion freighter better than they did - he'd made so many special modifications for them, it seemed like it would be quite the learning curve for them to catch up.
“You want me to come with you? What would Trickett say? I mean, it’s a tempting offer, Johansen,” Nash said in a hushed but excited tone. “Damn….that would be one hell of an adventure. What do I tell my wife? She’s been stuck with me on this depot all this time. You wouldn’t know how long you would need me, would ya? I would feel horrible just leaving her in the lurch like this.”
"Well, I'm not in charge or anything, so it's not really my call whether you come or not, but it makes sense to me. More sense than you trying to teach us everything you've done over the last several months inside of a day or two anyway," Remy replied.
"I don't think they want us out there more than a couple of weeks. The longer we're gone, the more risk we have for exposure, but the mission takes as long as it takes," she stated honestly. "We're hoping to trade, but we're not above stealing some things. I mean, we are pirates after all." She gave him a mischievous grin.
By:
A young(er) Remy & Nash
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