New Ships, New Faces

Posted on Wed Feb 8th, 2023 @ 9:48pm by Lieutenant JG Kirral Nagata & Lieutenant Sturgis O'Connell

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
1532 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Despite herself, the tinge of nervousness in the background that came with any new social situation, Kirral found her green-blooded half felt more than justified in entering this particular section of Engineering with all the confidence of a new Chief Officer or part of Command Staff. Lt JG was low on the ladder, but that extra pip might have influenced her sense of responsibility and importance. She was a good Starfleet Officer, and being on track for more made this promotion feel like a step toward some bigger goal that had her riding high. Her human side was proud, but her Romulan side was truly prideful. At least she was aware of it and actively working against it when she located one of the senior enlisted working nearby. "Excuse me, Chief, is the CEO present?"

The man took a look at her, whether judgmental or not, and seemed to decide she wasn't bad news. He tapped his comm badge and waited a moment. "Chief Bryant to Lieutenant O'Connell. Got a visitor over in Section 1 for you, sir."

He looked at Kirral again, her posture straight, but her squared shoulders sank a bit as if in capitulation. She nodded at him, he nodded back and went back to his work on the console in front of him. "Thank you, Chief."

A line formed on O'Connell's brow, he hadn't been expecting a visitor. Nonetheless, seeing as he was new, he felt visitations were almost always welcome. A good chance to meet other crewmen and establish relationships. Though he wasn't one to be overly social, he knew how important relationships could be on a starship.

The blue uniform stood out in section one, amongst the sea of gold and Sturgis made the assumption that she had to be the visitor that had called. "How can I help you?" He asked. His posture was tall and proud, but the slight grin on his face gave one a small glimpse into his softer side.

On the appearance of the Lieutenant, Kirral's back straightened that little bit extra again, one of her neatly folded hands daring to offer itself to the man alongside a courteous smile. "Lieutenant Kirral Nagata, new Astrometrics Officer. If you had some time, Chief, I'd like to discuss how I can procure Engineering's aid with my research project."

"Of course. Do you mind giving me an overview of your project? That will help me narrow down who would be the best help to you." Sturgis accepted the hand offered and shook it with a sturdy but not overly powerful grip. "My office?" He pointed across the way.

"Of course, Lieutenant." More an affirmation than any natural cue to actually continue, at least not in the middle of engineering. Not that she was secretive or anything, but the offer to discuss in his office somehow eased her mind and made the prospect of waiting to elaborate more appealing. She followed him that short distance to his office, allowing him to enter first before joining him and standing near his desk, as rod straight as she had been in the open.

"Have a seat," the CEO motioned to one of the empty chairs next to the desk. "Can I get you something to drink?" He asked as he replicated himself a cold glass of water.

With the actual offer given, Kirral took a seat across from the Chief's desk, hands folding neatly in her lap while her eyes addressed him moving about the office. "Tea would suffice, Lieutenant, if it's not too much trouble. Though I do not wish to take too much of your time."

"Take as much time as you need," Sturgis stated as he dropped the replicated tea in front of Kirral and took a seat himself. "Or as little time as you want. I'm interested in your project, but understand if you need to review this quickly and get back to your department. At least give me the basics and then we'll go from there."

She took the teacup up gingerly and with fluidity to suggest it was as natural to her as breathing. "I am in no rush, Chief. And I would rather get things right on the first go around, so to speak." With a testing sip, her expressions judged the tea, finding it wanting, but she hadn't specified preferences, and so she brushed off complaint in favor of a smile of gratitude. "My research involves tightening scan resolutions and timings for improved tactical response. Originally it had its uses for higher speed scans of particularly large celestial objects and bodies by survey vessels, but I was encouraged to branch out into other uses."

She paused then to give him time to process what little she'd provided before continuing, at least starting with an anticipated question. "With the help of Engineering, I'd like to run some tests coordinating these sensor methods with tactical hit and run doctrine. I hope to make it easier for a ship as lethal as the Athena to say... drop out of warp much closer to a target. And I was specifically assigned to a Prometheus-class for the challenges our multi-vector assault mode presents to this problem."

"Ah, I see. So eventually the goal is to tie these improved sensor results into the navigation and propulsion systems. Mr.Paxton should be able to help you with that. I assume for now you're just running the tests and you won't actually be tying into the navigation and propulsion systems, is that correct?" Sturgis asked.

"That's correct, Chief. Part of reducing the interfering lag time is the communication between the sensor systems and the navigation and propulsion systems in real time, with reaction speeds only the computer can truly handle. For now, I have my data from my previous ship, the USS Zenith, that I am working to extrapolate over with the differences in the Athena's systems. I will parse that, draw conclusions, run models. My first test runs may be small scale with one of the shuttles." She took note as he answered her as well, filing that name for later. If she wanted things to go smoothly, she might pre-emptively offer help to Mr. Paxton. Quid pro quo worked well, even in an environment full of productive, dutiful people. "Shall I keep you uprised on my progress, Chief?"

"Please do. If you don't mind, I have a few safety questions. If lag time is a problem, how do you ensure that we stop closer to the target without actually hitting it? Is there a safety range?" Sturgis asked, knowing it wasn't a hot topic yet since they weren't doing the actual integration. Then again, it never hurt to think ahead.

She nodded, giving him a courteous smile, seemingly pleased with his want to be included. Some Chief Engineers might have just pawned her off on the needed crew, warned her about breaking all their things, and left it at that. This one was enthusiastic though. She liked him. "Experiments thus far utilize existing safety protocols built-in to the systems. Ships already disengage warp if they detect a potential collision with a celestial body that navigation fails to respond to in time, for example. All of my data was using the Zenith prior, but the principal is the same. Keep the two systems communicating, use modified, high-frequency pulsed sensor sweeps that decrease range and resolution but update much faster, and... test." She stopped to take another drink from the cup, as not to be rude and entirely neglect the gift her host offered her. "In the Zenith, we were able to drop out of warp within 400 meters of some larger asteroids."

"Sounds fascinating," he nodded. "I'll be very interested to read your results. I'll send Mr.Paxton your way first thing tomorrow, assuming that works for you."

"I hope I did not bore you, Lieutenant? If I was rambling, I apologize. Otherwise, I shall endeavor to keep you appraised of tests and results, especially as it concerns Engineering. First thing tomorrow is adequate. Have him meet me in the mess hall at 0600, we can discuss plans over breakfast and head straight to work afterward as needed." She took the time to finish up her cup of tea then, neatly handing him the empty vessel for proper disposal. "Elsewise, it was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant. I hope my visit did not come across as purely work related."

"You absolutely did not bore me. I'm nothing if not transparent. I truly am interested to read your findings when your tests are done. I will inform Paxton to meet in the mess hall at 0600," he gave her a nod and stood up to recycle their dishes. "It was a pleasure to meet you as well lieutenant. Please don't hesitate to stop by anytime."

Kirral stood then, offering him another pleasant smile and a brief bow of her head. "Thank you, Chief. For everything. I will be sure to repay and bring something sweet when I return to review my data, as gratitude." With that, she made her exit, once more acknowledging the Chief who'd directed her to the CEO with a nod on her way out of Engineering.