Potential Applications

Posted on Tue Feb 2nd, 2016 @ 7:52am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Taking Chances
Location: USS Bonne Chance, Deck fourteen, Main Engineering
Timeline: 2265
Tags: Still

There was debate as to which department would be better suited to handle this problem, as well as the debate over which section chief to bring in on the issue. Medical certainly had experience in such matters and a certain vested interest, but there was the potential for an engineering challenge to consider as well. Eventually it came down to personalities.

While the Doctor would likely have an answer, it would simply be practical, and that was not what was desired. And thus it fell to the Engineer to have this particular issue laid in her lap.

When Charybdis sashayed into Main Engineering in her own inimitable style, there was a squad of red shirts lined up who were all intently studying their feet, as their diminutive Chief paced back and forth before them, ranting.

"Of all the brainless... Did ya no thin' I wouldna recognize a still when I saw one?" Fiona whirled and marched up to the first hangdog Ensign in the lineup. "I doan object to a wee dram every now and then... and I admire the gumption that yer showin by settin up a fine little black market operation, every proper ship has one or two of them BOOT ye doan do it in MY engine room." She went down the line poking each chest in turn. "My... Engine... ROOM... MY... ENGINES... MY... SHIP... MINE! An if ye ever forget that again and I catch ye up to yer tricks duin here you're gonna BEG me to tarn ya over to tha' Captain!"

She glanced over her shoulder at the Science Officer then snapped "DIS-MISSED! Yer all confined ta quarters til yer next shift! Now git! I doan want to see your faces "

She pointed towards the door and waited until they filed out before she turned toward the Vulcan.

"Do you have any use for a right proper little whiskey still down in Science?" she asked casually.

The left eyebrow raised, then the left side of the mouth followed it up in a lopsided grin. "Well... there is the possibility that the Science department could perhaps... study the effects of brewing processes in one of the higher-gravity labs, to better understand fermentation on colonies where this could be problematic. And then we could in turn expose some of the results to zero G conditions to study how the alcohol molecules react and disperse. And then of course there would likely be a surplus from any of these experiments which could potentially be used in the galley as seasoning for various dishes. And should some end up in the ship's stores far be it for me to question how it is disbursed."

"Not my department, after all," she finished with a smirk. "I'll send down some of the organic chemistry department to collect the experimental equipment. We may need some collaborative assistance from the Engineering department to set up and maintain said experiment, however..."

"Heh... I'm just takin' it away from them until they learn how to hide it better" Fiona shook her head ruefully. "Baby engineers... silly sods"

"Besides," she added with a conspiratorial whisper, "The Captain would likely take no small amount of pride in knowing that he had his own label of whiskey that was produced right here on his own vessel. I am not certain, but I believe that other starship captains might look upon that with a certain degree of envy..."

That got a considering look. "Hmmm ya don't say..........might be worth considering then!" Fiona grinned at her new friend. "So what brings you down to the heart of the lady?"

"He is Irish, after all," she added with a nod. "As far as my visit, I was wondering if you might have some advice for some... er, safety gear. You see, I... um, well, I do a lot with my hands, and sometimes I am... handling sensitive materials with them. And it seems that my nails can get in the way... well become a hazard, actually."

Fiona gave a little shrug and opened her mouth...

She held up her hand to stop the next question. "I know- the logical answer is 'cut your nails', but I am fond of my nails and they have their uses, so I would rather not cut them... instead I thought I would check with an expert and see if perhaps you might have a recommendation for me for hand protection that I could use to render my claws a bit less... dangerous?"

The engineer's right eyebrow notched up. The look on the science officer's face was a bit sheepish, and all of the roundabout doubletalk and vagaries were not lost on Fiona.

The diminutive woman leaned back against the counter and folded her arms. "How sensitive?" she asked after a moments consideration. "Have you considered some sort of microfiber glove? thin and fitted enough they won't hinder your dexterity but they will protect your nails?"

The statuesque scientist's face lit up as she snapped her fingers. "That's genius, Miss McCray! Lightweight, durable, still enables for friction to maintain a grip yet fine enough to be soft on the skin, and should keep my claws sheathed sufficiently to render them dulled so that I don't..." She stopped there and began blushing a particular shade of mint, and coughed.

This time both of the engineer's eyebrows made the journey upward. Both dimples bloomed into full life "Scratch something sensitive?" she offered in a tone as bland and cool as custard.

The cheerful scientist lost it at that and giggled like a loon, unable to speak for a moment due to paroxysms of laughter.

"Aye, it wouldn't do to... mar an... experiment with undue moments of felinity..."

The science officer had to be one of the most unusual beings Fi had ever met. Who would have suspected that Vulcans could blush? That selfsame Vulcan found herself the object of some very frank scrutiny.

When she met the Engineer's eye once more, Charybdis could see the question in them, and the practicality of her awaiting an answer. She suspected that the spitfire was offering her a chance to volunteer the explanation rather than ferreting it out of her, but that patience was certainly rather finite, as she had observed.

That warm amber gaze was unrelenting... the woman evidently didn't know how to blink.

"Rumors travel a ship like this quickly, even with four hundred and thirty crewmen on board, so I imagine that you are already aware," she began in a quiet tone. "But to be fair, there is no substitute for the truth from the source. The Captain and I have been... become... involved."

That got a snort as a reply. "Rumors, haven't had time to hear any, but I figured that oot from seeing the two of ye in the same room. Have to be dead stupid not to, aye?"

A range of possible responses occurred to the pointy-eared pinup, but she settled for rolling her eyes and laughing at herself. "That obvious, eh?"

"Only if you have two working eyes," Fi rejoined cheerfully.

"I tend to be somewhat... enthusiastic, in moments of passion, and thus I have discovered that when in the throes of passion I may become somewhat... incautious... with my hands, and with the lesser gravity aboard the Bonne Chance combined with my rather sturdy cuticles, when my hands curl across the Captain's back while I am..."

"Aye, and it wouldn't do to damage yer commanding officer."

"To damage him more, repeatedly in the same way, going forward into the future, as Doctor McKenzie is most likely going to become less amused by repeated visits to sickbay for the same repetitive injury brought about by the fact that I refuse to cut my nails and am... enthusiastic."

"I'd say purchase a first aid kit with a proper derma-mender in it and keep yer privacy a mite better," the engineer grinned up at her. "Enthusiasm is good... means he's doin' somethin' right."

"You have NO idea..." Charybdis responded with a faraway look.

That impassioned statement got a full rich laugh that was out of proportion with the engineer’s physical size. "Good on ya!"

Externally she was calm, and internally she was proud of herself... she was having a reasonably frank discussion about a sensitive topic with one of her peers and she was neither incapacitated by embarrassment nor was she expecting judgement. Internally Charybdis congratulated herself for having achieved the watermark as well as having chosen someone to confide in who was taking it with a grain of salt and a grin.

Fiona's expression edged into seriousness for a moment " I'm not going to lecture you about the dangers of a shipboard romance, you're a big girl. Just be careful on all fronts and enjoy yourself," she said as her grin returned. "A relaxed captain is less likely to go off half cocked and start photon torpedoing in tense situation."

"Oh, there's no worry about his torpedoes going off half cocked..." the voluptuous Vulcan quipped, and they both had a chuckle at that. "I know... shipboard romance, and with the Captain no less... I know, I know. But he's..."

Fiona nodded. "The heart wants what the heart wants an' tha' head has little choice but to follow..."

It was somehow a comical sight to see a member of a traditionally stoic race literally hug herself with delight and spin about in the engine room of a starship, but Fiona was at least glad she didn't scoop her up into a merry dance, as might one of her own siblings. Obviously Cupid had skipped the arrow and chosen to use a phaser rifle on this one.

The engineer watched with almost maternal amusement, glad that she had dismissed everyone in the room before this conversation took place.

"Ooooh, aye you have IT truly bad lass," she shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Enjoy...tis a marvelous rare feelin and when things go right there's nothin' more beautiful." Fiona had never been 'twitterpated' herself but her parents were like a pair of perpetual honeymooners and her brother Angus seemed to be headed down the same route that the happy Vulcan was treading.

"I am, and I will, I promise... I'll try not to just talk about it all the time though so I don't get to be a bore and a burden, I promise." The smile that spread across her face was genuine... she may have been lovestruck but she hadn't lost all of her faculties. "Besides, I did warn him that if he broke my heart I'd kill him, and I suspect the believed me..."

That got a snort of laughter. "Aye...well you could probably snap him like a twig!"

"Whoo... that's no twig, I assure you," Charybdis replied with a wicked grin.

"So now that you've solved my engineering crisis... and quite easily I might add... what can I do for you? I've a few hours while he's in meetings until I can... anyway, so I need to keep busy, and I can't seem to focus enough to read a technical manual these past few days. So since my departments are all pretty much busy on projects and I don't want to hover, what can I help with down here?"

"I do have to warn you though, I can diagnose and I can calibrate but I'm not very good with hands-on engineering... you would hate me forever if you saw my solder work..."

"Hhmmm... help me dismantle and relocate a still?" the engineer asked with a grin. "Everything else is fairly squared away and the miscreants have been sent to their quarters without supper"

"Why I'd be delighted. Besides, I don't think I've ever encountered a basic distillation processor, so this can be educational for me. After all, one never knows when such knowledge may come in handy..."

"Knowledge is both good and dangerous. Let’s see, we need a dolly and something to cover the bloomin thing up," Fiona muttered.

"And a destination," Charybdis added, the strode to the comm panel on the wall and flipped a few switches. "Ensign Tyler, please report to Main Engineering... and bring an emergency survival blanket please." She turned to the diminutive Engineer. "Science Lab seven should be perfect, and that's Tyler's bailiwick... I think he's the man for this job."

"After all... he's Scotch."

The engineer winced "Scottish" she corrected mildly " Scotch is a drink or an egg....Scottish or Scots are the people"

"I am so sorry!" the science officer expressed, her distress quite genuine. She snapped her fingers and pointed. "So for that I should owe you a bottle of scotch...?"

Fiona smiled. "Ye may just bridge the cultural divide after all, Lieutenant!"

 

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