Deflector Control

Posted on Sun May 23rd, 2021 @ 11:54pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Lieutenant Xavier Leiko & Ensign George Paxton

Mission: By Artemis' Bow
Location: USS Cavalier
Timeline: MD-03 12:30hrs
1035 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The Nova-class Cavalier was smaller in most ways than Athena, and that included their deflector control room. Commander Jeron entered first, then stood aside and allowed the two younger men to go to work.

"Help yourselves, gentlemen," the Bajoran smiled broadly, motioning to the vacant setup. "I'm sure the professor will be grateful for the improved sensor efficiency."

"Thank you Sir," Xavier said as he followed the Bajoran into the small room. "Ensign take that station over there," he said pointing to the port side of the room. "I want you to bring up deflector control and the ship's auxiliary power readouts. I'll work here," he said as he moved toward the starboard side of the room. "I'm bringing up sensor control and EPS power flow charts. I'm surprised your team didn't consider this option Commander?" He half stated/half-asked without taking his eyes from the control panel.

"Aye aye, sir," Paxton responded as he moved to the station across the room. He felt relieved to actually be working on something instead of just standing around looking at equipment that he wasn't familiar with. Sure the space cows were cool, but he didn't want to just stand around and gawk at them all day, especially not with the amount of excrement going on out there. The controls on the panel were configured differently from the Athena, but it wasn't anything too foreign. George quickly pulled up the deflector control page and the auxiliary power readouts and stood by for further instructions from Xavier while he evaluated the data on his screen.

"We're only on a short-term mission here, Lieutenant. And admittedly I think our Ops team could stand to learn something from your creativity," Jeron smiled broadly. "If you ever considered a transfer, I'm sure we could use the help."

Xavier smiled broadly at the compliment. "Thank you Sir, though I've only just got this assignment, I don think Captain Kane would be too happy with me leaving just yet. At the very least you'd have to wine and dine me first," he added with a chuckle. He realised that Paxton was waiting for further instruction, but he had been... distracted. He pressed the buttons on the control panel and accessed the information he required. "Ensign, slowly divert power from the auxiliary power banks into the main deflector dish, make sure you don't go beyond the medium threshold. Wait... not so fast, do it about half that speed. The deflector dishes on Nova-class ships tend to be a bit sensitive, we don't want to blow the EPS grid."

"I don't think Keating would be terribly happy if you left yet either," George chuckled. It was a conversation he'd had with her recently and although she didn't seem completely sold on the ops officer, she had admitted to being glad that Xavier was quite good at what he did. Having a good ops department ultimately lessened the load on engineering and the whole team was thankful for it really.

Then, as instructed, George reduced his speed on the transfer until he found a happy medium that seemed satisfactory to Xavier. "How much are you wanting to be transferred?" He asked as an eighth of the auxiliary power was drained.

"About five eights," Xavier said as he checked the readings. "We don't want to leave the ship without any reserve energy. And should I be blushing Ensign? Exactly what did Finn say about me?" He asked with a grin.

George's face flushed red, he had said too much already. Finn didn't like for her private conversation to become public knowledge. "Uh, she just said that it was nice to have an ops officer that seemed to know what he was doing," he chuckled nervously and continued to work. "Five eighths, done!" George said, relieved to have a change of topic. He stopped the transfer entered the sequence to hold the power steady at the new levels.

"Smart girl," Jeron chuckled. "Honestly, the scuttlebutt I hear from my own people. Only a crew of a few dozen, everyone knows everything about everyone else within a few days." He motioned at the power regulator monitor. "Mind the secondary relay. It's temperamental."

"Got it," George glanced at the secondary relay and noticed the fluctuations. He tilted his head in thought for a moment and then made a couple of adjustments which seemed to stabilize the readings. "How's that look?" He asked both Xavier and Jeron, unsure of what step they might want to take next.

"Clean readings here. Nice work, Lieutenant," Jeron smiled warmly.

Xavier checked the readings and was happy with the results. "Looks good Ensign, and don't worry I'll make sure I mention to Finn just how helpful you've been, and informative," he added with a smile. "Leiko to science lab, you should notice a significant increase in the sensor resolution now. We'll stay around deflector control to monitor the readings and watch for any power fluctuations."

Xavier turned to face the two men, "that should get us out of any science talk that won't make any sense to me for the next few hours. I love scientists but they're not the best company. Anyone got any cards?"

Jeron grinned at the Lieutenant. "I don't know about cards, but I can make sure the holodeck is free..."

"I'm in, but only if you swear not to say anything to Keating." George looked at both officers, worry etched into his brow. He hoped Xavier was joking, but you could never be too sure. If Finn thought he had actually given away something she told him in confidence, she'd have him scrubbing plasma conduits for the rest of his career.

"Your secret is safe with me," Jeron laughed.

"Oh I make zero promises," Xavier said with a wide grin. He had no intention of snitching on the Ensign, but it didn't mean he couldn't have some fun in the meantime. "Your only saviour will be picking a holodeck programme that blows us away. Don't screw up, Ensign!" He added in stern as a voice as he could muster, which was rather difficult considering he wanted to laugh at the shocked expression on the young man's face.