Reminiscing

Posted on Fri Jul 8th, 2022 @ 12:20am by Lieutenant Alexis Ryan & Lieutenant Xavier Leiko

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Science Lab
Timeline: Shore Leave
1633 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Xavier clutched the PADD behind his back as he stepped into the main science lab. As expected it was fairly deserted, most of the crew taking advantage of the extended leave on the planet and the dry dock. Normally he would be one of them, but the only thing that seemed to work in terms of distraction these days was his work and the Doctor had told him to relax after all.

He walked further into the room and found the person he was looking for, though with her flaming red hair she was rather hard to miss. "Lieutenant Ryan?" He asked, a little tentatively. He waited for her to look up from her work before he continued. "Lieutenant Leiko, chief of operations. I have the sensor upgrades for you to look over if you're not too busy?"

The interruption was met by a cursory glance as the Lieutenant moved from the work station she was currently leaning against to another occupied by a junior officer. She held up an index finger to at least acknowledge Leiko but continued back to peer over her staff member's shoulder.

"There," she pointed, traveling along a line of coding with her fingertip. "And there. Cross-check with yesterday's logs but I'm almost certain that's the culprit." Taking several paces towards Xavier but backwards, Ryan finished her orders with, "See if you can isolate it and we'll run a trace to origin. Timing-wise, I'm guessing that batch we sent live yesterday afternoon."

With presence of mind, and spatial awareness, enough to turn before she ran into the visitor, Alexis met the Chief's gaze directly and then dropped her eyes to consider the PADD he seemed to be trying to hide. "Another upgrade?" In terms of the latest improvements, it made sense they'd waited until in drydock to implement them because the job was infinitely easier when you didn't actually need all the systems online and operational at once. She'd been uncovering fragments of old code, however, and quite a few tertiary systems limping by on geriatric builds. "Latest batch at least?"

"From what I have been told," Xavier said as he added over the PADD. She came across as a very confident and in charge person, no nonsense, something he really appreciated right now. Without his empathic abilities, it was hard for him to get a read on new people, it was unnerving, to say the least. "I thought it best to get them to you before we start our next mission," he added with a smile. "Gives you a chance to make sure everything is up to spec."

It may have taken her sinking her teeth into her official duties, but Ryan's demeanour had slowly slipped into a very delicate and intentional balance between absolute professionalism and the kind of frank and open approachability that left no room for festering undercurrents. She was aware of what had come before her and had now armed herself with enough information regarding what lay immediately ahead to simply get on with things. As she ran her eye over the authorisation summary, Alex nodded agreeably and gestured towards the nearest holo-terminal. "Let's take a look."

Without the need to drop her eyes from the interface as it flickered to life, Alex punched in several sequences and ran a trained eye over the schematic that appeared. "What's performance been like?," she queried, generally more content to get it from the horse's mouth than wading through weekly reports. "Last hardware maintenance?"

Xavier positioned himself closer to the terminal in a way where he could see the holo-schematic and the Lieutenant's face. "Last hardware maintenance was during our visit to Starbase 50," he answered as he watched the console burst to life, "performance has been pretty good. We have noticed a dip in our propulsion performance, we're still hitting our top speed but acceleration isn't quite up to par." He held up a hand as it looked as though Ryan was going to interject, "it's nothing to worry about. Keating and I think it's due to Benedict's use of tertiary engineering, once he has hatched, systems should return to normal."

Xavier watched the blue light of the holo-display and nodded his head, it looked as though the maintenance crew at the base had done a good job with the upgrades, but he wanted Ryan's thoughts before he imposed his own. "How are you adapting to life on a starship?" He asked, trying to make conversation. "You were stationed at BAS before here right?" He used the nickname that many of the crew at the shipyard had grown accustomed to, well at least when he had served there.

"Two year placement," Ryan agreed, her eyes trained on the variations to the holographic display as she moved through several overlays. "Prior to that, I was deployed deep space, though, so it's more like readjustment." She cast a glance at the Lieutenant. "So far, it hasn't been remarkably different to any other day in the shipyards though." Alex smiled faintly. "Once we're in the middle of a nebula trying not to fall to pieces, I'm sure I'll have a more conclusive update."

Xavier smirked, "that's a good point, a shipyard to a stationary starbase isn't quite a big leap. Still there's something about the place, seeing all the fresh designs and implementing the latest tech, there's nothing quite like it." His dark eyes misted over slightly as he reminisced about his time there, and all the things he missed; and the people, or person. "My ex is a test pilot there, whenever we speak he sounds like he is having the best time," he added, trying to keep the sadness from his voice.

The revelation earned Leiko a momentary side-eye, though Ryan barely paused in her systematic pre-check. Adding several flags to outdated and obsolete command pathways that no longer functioned, other than to clog up storage, she pulled the magnification in specifically on the sensor suite most affected by the imminent upgrade. "It's certainly an experience," she agreed, "Though aspects of it don't really warrant any romanticism. Spending two weeks on code construction only to have the hierarchy decide on a complete rewrite tends to take the gloss off things."

It was criticism made with her tongue lodged firmly into her cheek. Frustrating though aspects had been, her two years had flown by and leaving had been bittersweet. The opportunity to ensure the success in the field of the systems she'd worked on had been a devious way to shake her loose but, at least, it had softened the blow. "When were you there?"

Xavier nodded, he had heard similar complaints from other officers who had served at BAS during his time there, maybe he was looking at it through rose-tinted glasses? Or maybe his time with Ari had clouded his perspective somewhat? "Around five years ago now," he said. He looked at the magnified section of the schematic and noticed a section that would benefit from enhanced EPS manifolds, making a mental note he continued. "It was early in my career, so I was very much the hired help, I think it would be a lot different now, though I love deep space too much to go back."

"Their internship program offers six-month increments," Ryan pointed out, setting the diagnostic running and finally turning to face him. Leaning back against the console, she folded her arms across her chest and offered Xavier a half-smile. "You'd be there and back before we could do too much damage. Theoretically, at least."

"Sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," Xavier joked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The station had a lot of memories for him, both good and bad, and he wasn't quite ready to open up those old wounds just yet. "Maybe one day," he said as he turned to face the woman, "but then if I did, who would help you with sensor calibrations?"

A quirked eyebrow rendered the Science Chief stern in every aspect but the flash of humour in her eyes. It was an expression that was fast becoming Alex's trademark. "Are you implying that I need help, Lieutenant?"

"Well, you are a woman right?" Xavier asked as he flashed a wicked grin. "It's just kinda implied really," he added with a nonchalant shrug.

"For your sake, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Lieutenant."

It was an odd sentiment, especially from someone with any kind of Betazoid heritage. Even as an attempt at humour, its origins seemed archaic enough that it was easier to take pity than offense. A beep from the console spared Leiko further scrutiny and Ryan turned to focus again on the reason she was entertaining the Chief of Ops' company in the first place. "Looks like you have the all-clear. Installation is all yours." She didn't take her eyes from the display but there was amusement in the curve of her lips.

"Great," Xavier said as he picked up the PADD. "I'll need to upgrade a few of the EPS manifolds but apart from that, she should be singing. I'm looking forward to working with you Ryan," he said as he made his way to the exit, "I think you're going to like it here."

Alexis watched him leave with a pointed stare that followed well beyond the moment where the Lieutenant moved out of sight. Then, closing her eyes in a single, slow blink, she turned back to the console, ran a passing eye once more over the schematics and then shut down the projection. With a shake of her head, she set aside the entire conversation for later analysis and gathered herself to stride back towards her initial priority.

"Okay, Ensign, what have you got for me?"