An Engineering Transition

Posted on Thu Oct 19th, 2023 @ 2:59am by Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Lieutenant Sturgis O'Connell

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
969 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

After reconnecting with Mason and George, Finn headed towards her old office. She had sent O'Connell a message with her intentions to meet up and she liked what she'd read about the man on paper, but had no idea what to really expect when she met him face to face. He'd certainly done a decent job at holding the department together while she was gone and for that alone, she was thankful.

"Lieutenant Commander Keating?" A man's voice spoke from behind her. Finn turned and recognized her temporary replacement. Not too tall, with a jaw that was set, but there was a kindness in his eyes that softened the otherwise stern human's body.

"Lieutenant O'Connell. Nice to meet you," Finn held out a hand accompanied with a smile. "I owe you a thank you for looking after my department while I was away."

"My pleasure," he replied, confidently shaking her hand and offering a smile of his own in return. "It wasn't so difficult, you have quite a few good people working for you. All of whom I'm currently working very hard to get all of these repairs completed. Shall we step into your office and I'll bring you up to speed?"

"That'd be great," Finn entered the room and was somewhat surprised that nothing had really changed. She had packed up most of her belongings when she left, not having intended on returning, but Sturgis hadn't really brought anything in either except for a single picture. She could appreciate that sort of minimalism.

"We took significant damage during the pirate attacks. Decks 1, 3, 5, 8, 12 and 13 need repairs and I have crews set up in rotations. We're focusing on decks 1 and 5 first." Sturgis pulled up some schematics on the screen and wasted no time getting to the point.

"Yea, I heard the Commodore's ready room got blown up. I'm sure he wasn't thrilled with that," Finn chuckled lightly.

"Not at all. Though I suppose either of us would feel the same if someone blew up engineering," Sturgis smiled. "Anyway, everyone is working in 12 hour shifts."

"What about parts and supplies? Any issues with the replicators?"

"No sir, everything is working fine for now. We have had some power fluctuations that threaten to rain on our parade, but ops has been on top of them."

"Let's move the replicators to a dedicated and isolated power route, just in case," Finn pointed to a few spots where power could be routed to provide minimal interruption and keep the industrial type replicators pumping out goods as quickly as they needed them.

"Great idea," Sturgis made the notes in his PADD and assigned the work to the upcoming shift. "Anything else?"

"Yes actually. I'll take first shift, I think it's customary for the assistant chief to take second shift. Does that work for you?" Finn asked with a slight smirk. To be honest, she wasn't sure how he'd take the request. He knew when he signed on that the CEO position could be temporary and now that Finn was kicking him out of it, she wasn't sure if he'd want to stay or return.

Sturgis considered the question for just a moment before replying. "That will certainly work for me as long as you don't mind me sticking around a while longer."

"I'd love it if you stayed. You do good work, that much is evident, and I could use an extra solid officer on my team. Especially one that can balance me out. I do have a question though." Finn raised a brow and crossed her arms. "George Paxton. I read your notes. You've been putting him in the jefferies tubes and I'm curious as to why."

Sturgis smiled ever so slightly, looking down to the ground and then back at Finn. "I know he's claustrophobic and to be honest when I first arrived and read George's profile I wondered if someone was pranking me...I've been trying to slowly get him accustomed to the tubes. It's expected that an engineer be able to work in them and Mr.Paxton is no exception to that rule. I've also sort of been using it as a way to keep Ensign Fenn in line. Those two have been pairing up more recently and oddly it seems to work relatively well," he gave his honest and straightforward answer.

"Anyone that can manage Ensign Fenn deserves a spot here," Finn smiled. Maybe it hadn't been the perfect solution but she couldn't argue with the results.

Sturgis nodded. "I appreciate it. What else can I do to help with your transition back?"

"You're already doing it," Finn gave him a genuine smile. "For the next week I'd like to meet during the intersection of our shifts to discuss personnel and anything else I may have missed while I was gone."

"I'll look forward to it," Sturgis replied.

"Same. I'm glad you're sticking around," Finn said in earnest.

Sturgis headed towards the door, but stopped before reaching the threshold. "Oh! Let me grab that photo off of your desk," he reached over and picked up the photo of a woman and two young kids. "Can't go anywhere without these guys," the chuckle that followed had a hint of sadness in it and Finn wondered where that came from. She made a mental note to ask more about his family later, but filed the thought away for now.

"See you tomorrow," she said as he exited the room. Though she hadn't been sure of what to expect of the man that had been running her department, Finn was excited to find that Sturgis was just as impressive in person as he was on paper. Maybe this was her last chance to make things work on the Athena, but she felt that with Sturgis on her side, things might just work out.