Newbies

Posted on Wed Jun 15th, 2022 @ 11:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Lieutenant Myra Sh'rillil

Mission: Character Development
1054 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Having finished up her first task, Charlie headed back to ops to find a new one. She looked at the list of available work and found the most interesting one had already been taken by a name she wasn't familiar with, Myra Sh'rilli. Luckily, it wasn't just a one-man job and there was nothing else appealing on the list so Charlie decided it was time to make a new friend.

She located the Andorian a couple of decks down and sauntered over. "Hey there. I saw that the EPS conduits were getting a tune-up and some refittings. I thought maybe you could use a hand?" Charlie asked.

Myra startled, her antennae pushing themselves further apart as she swirled around. She took in the new arrival and burst out laughing. “You gave me a small fright there.” She pointed at the woman with the tool in her right hand. “Are you perhaps a fabled ninja? I heard they were very scary. And sneaky.”

"Definitely not a ninja," the ops officer laughed and extended a hand. "The name's Charlotte, but I go by Charlie or CJ. You're Myra, right? I'm relatively new around here so I don't think we've met before."

“You would be correct.” Myra swapped the tool in her right hand into her left and took the other woman’s hand, shaking it enthusiastically. “Stepped foot on this ship something like … 14 hours ago so, we can be new together.” Her smile widened as she motioned towards the jefferies tube she was about to enter with her other hand. “I can always do with some help when working on sensitive ship systems.”

"Fourteen hours and they've already put you to work? Lieutenant Leiko isn't wasting any time," Charlie chuckled as she crawled into the jefferies tube. "I've been here just under a month myself." The pair crawled about a quarter of the way in before stopping at a junction panel and looking at her newfound friend. "Is this the next spot that needs a refitted ODN relay?"

Myra raised an eyebrow and scratched the side of her head. “ODN relay maintenance was picked up by someone else. I’m here to check on the EPS conduits and make sure power flows smoothly through this part of the ship.” She squinted, peering at her crewmate. “Is this one of those newbie pranks?” She smirked and waited for an answer.

Charlie let out a laugh. "I couldn't resist. Someone played the same trick on me when I first got here, and if I'm being honest I fell for it."

The Andorian laughed with her new companion and shook her head. "Well, I'll take it as a sign that I'll be fitting right in then." She handed the other woman the diagnostic tool and grabbed the power calibrator in her pocket. "Let me know when I hit 80." She flicked the switch, a small yellowish light hitting the conduit in front of her. "How long have you been aboard?"

"Only about a month. My husband and I transferred from the Yorktown. We, I should say I, thought it would be fun to try something new and so far I haven't been disappointed," Charlie smiled as she kept a close eye on the diagnostic tool. "Where did you trans...oh, 79....80!" She informed her coworker as it hit the desired number. "Where did you transfer from?"

Myra thumbed the calibrator off and leaned into the relay, giving it a visual inspection. “The Yerelak. Not an impressive ship by any means, but a great crew.” She glanced at the young woman and grinned. “Chief engineer made some pretty impressive moonshine.” She nodded and started moving towards the next point. “Not that I’ve ever had any of course. Purely hearsay.”

"Reminds me of another engineer I knew at the academy. What is it with engineers and alcohol?!" Charlie chuckled. "It at least sounds like quite the fun ship. What brought you to the Athena?" She asked as they crawled towards their next stop.

Myra sighed and stopped for a moment. “An opportunity for change?” She pushed forward for a few more sections. “Sometimes that’s all you need to make life better. Or give you a chance to make things better.” She looked back at Charlie and grinned. “So, better brought me here.” She winked and pointed at the relay in front of them. “Same drill.” She ignited the calibrator.

Charlie held up the diagnostic tool and watched the numbers. She wanted to know more about Myra and what sort of history had placed her in the category of looking for something 'better' but decided it best not to pry someone she'd met less than an hour ago. "Change can be fun, at least to me. I enjoy the thrill of learning a new ship and meeting new people," she said. "Speaking of change, I'm looking forward to shore leave. I know I haven't been on board long, but we've decided to head to the casino resort on the planet and I just love all of the excitement that can be found at places like that. What are you doing for shore leave?"

The newly minted lieutenant glanced at her coworker. “I don’t believe I’ve decided on anything. I’ll probably go down and walk around a bit. Remind myself what it's like to be planetside. Beyond that..” She shrugged lightly, looking back at her instrument. “Maybe try and find myself a nice beach if they have something like that down there. I do enjoy swimming.”

"Same! My husband, however, is not so keen on swimming. He'd rather be locked up in a room with a puzzle to solve," Charlie chuckled. "We should meet up on leave! I've heard there are some great places to play in town, outside of the casino, and when we're done winning gold pressed latinum we can hit up the beach. What do ya say?"

“Yeah!” Myra answered a little too excitedly, antennae reaching towards one another. Best not be carried away. “I’d like that.” She smiled and bowed her head towards Charlie gratefully. “It would be nice to have the opportunity to get to know you better.” It would also make the trip down much less lonely. “Who knows! We might even find an adventure.” She grinned and turned back to her instrument.