New Face?

Posted on 18 May 2021 @ 10:24am by
Edited on on 15 Aug 2021 @ 3:10am

Mission: Mission 5 - Season of the Witch?
Location: Engineering
1686 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

On:

"Hey Porthos, have you any word of what's going on with Chief Hawkins?" Ensign Riley Ames asked one of his fellow engineers nearby.

"Nope haven't heard from him as of yet." was the answer.

"Drats, hope he's okay, I don't want to be the next head of Engineering," Ames said quietly.

"Ames have you heard we've got another crewmember just barely signed on?" the other asked quietly.

"Uh sure, I hadn't heard of anyone coming here. Yet. And why are you asking me, I don't have command on my dossier"

"Well scuttlebutt says there is a new person coming in, just got to check out who they might be."

Kim sat in the background, having just arrived. She could interrupt them and introduce herself or wait and see how long this conversation could go on. The sad part was that being the new crew member she would be able to stay in hiding too long, someone was bound to see her and point her out. But for now, she wanted to see what the others would say about her.

"Male or female, you could look to find that out." said another.

Riley growled, "I know that, and sure I'll look said person up, but honestly I am not one to even go look at records. Besides, Hawkins isn't one to make a judgment as to who or what the person is like. Look here's the duty roster and let's get to work and we've got to see if they've been able to get the transporter boosters up and running, I sure hate them having to deal with atmospheric interferences. It's worrisome." Riley walked near where Kim was at, he spotted her but held a finger up to his lips for just a moment.

"Ames, do I have to do the crud detail?" another voice spoke up. "Maybe we should let the new person do it when he or she comes in."

Riley rolled his eyes at that, he went around the corner. "Well, you just earned a couple more days of doing what you call crud detail. Now get to work."

Kim just smiled, listening to the conversation. "The new crew member is female, for the record," she looked around to the gathered folks who had been talking about her. "She's roughly about five foot seven, and maybe 125," she lied, "pounds, anything else you'd like to know." She looked at their ranks, "sir?"

One piped up, "Are you single, and do you dance?"

Ames frowned towards the man who asked that question. "Really? You'd take the time to ask her that?" he looked over at Kim. "Some of the men here can be a bit rough around the edges. My apologies."

"You were, thinking about asking her yourself, Ames." said another. "You don't want her to be snapped up by Hawkins before you get a chance."

Ensign Ames glowered at the one who was teasing him. "Really? We're on the clock here. Let's get a move on people."

"And, Mayhew, aren't you supposed to go get some sleep?" Ames looking at one of the female engineers.

"Sure I am, I just wanted to meet the newcomer" a woman with dark hair and skin came up holding out her hand. "I'm Mayhew, glad to meet you. We'll chat later okay? I've got to get some shuteye."

Kim smiled, "it's a pleasure to meet you as well." She nodded as she turned to the one who appeared to be in charge, "are they always like this, or this just a special treat for me, Sir," she winked. She found herself suddenly wondering who Hawkins was. "I guess I should be official," she pulled a padd from her jacket, "Petty Officer Second Class Kimberly Sloan, reporting as ordered."

She looked around trying to get a feel for the place as she waited.

Ames accepted the PADD and looked it over. He nodded and smiled. "Welcome aboard, am glad that you arrived safely. " Handing the padd back. "I'll get you listed on the roster now, if you come with me, take you to the engineering office and do just that." Motioning for her to follow.

Once at the desk, he fired up the computer and put her details in. He also pulled up an image of Michael Hawkins, a man that had dark hair and grey eyes. "This is our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Michael Hawkins, he's a nice enough chap. I haven't had any complaints about him. A really hard worker. He doesn't shy away from dirty work."

"Neither do I," the Engineer looked over the screen. "My philosophy is you can't ask someone to do something that you aren't willing to do yourself. So roll up the sleeves and pitch in," she realized she was getting preachy. "Sir!"

"So, tell me what I need to know about the Andromeda? What makes her tick? What is our team like? Who do I see about quartering?"

Ames just smiled at her enthusiasm. "I can help you with the quartering, Hawkins used to be chief of operations, and with a good chunk of the senior staff down on the planet, some of us wear multiple hats. And what makes her tick? I can probably answer you while we get you settled. he looked around the corner. "Porthos, I'm taking our new crew member to get her settled in.

"Okay, and I'll keep things moving here," Porthos stated.

Ames then motioned for Kim to follow him. As they walked, he pulled up the roster for where she'd be bunking at. "Looks like you will be bunking with Mayhew, Bronson, and Tennant; good ladies. As for what makes the Andromeda tick, it's the Captain and the rest of the senior staff. We've had a few things happen that seem to have made us bond a bit tighter."

"I think all ships and all crews could say something like that, " Kim admitted. However, she strongly disagreed with the statement regarding the Senior Staff. Take one of them or if the picture the ship could carry on. Remove all the Junior Officers and Enlisted, she was certain that any ship would fail.

"Well isn't it true? Or are you of a different mindset. " Ames responded, giving a slight smile.

"I'm Enlisted, Sir," she winked, "we're always of a different mindset," she allowed a small smirk to cross her lips." She knew not to push the matter too far, after all this was her first day on the ship she didn't need to cause any big waves. She could save that for day two. She reached up tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she folded her hands behind her.

"In my own opinion but don't quote me on this, the ones who truly run a kingdom, are the ones who are in the lower ranks. those who don't want the upper ranks, who are quite satisfied with doing their jobs well. " Ensign Ames remarked, with a smile.

They arrive at the destination and Ames just chuckled. "I could have sent you with PO1st Class Julie Mayhew, when she left, then again though I hadn't looked before she did."

Right at that moment, the door opened and there was the woman Ames had been speaking to. "Oh hey, I was just getting ready to come get you. I had just noticed your gear here. " Mayhew stated.

Ames chuckled, "Okay, well here you are, I'll leave you in Mayhew's capable hands. I'll be seeing you, ladies, later."

Kim looked at the man, he seemed a bit off but that wasn't her concern at the moment. She turned to face her new roommate. "Julie, right," she offered a hand, "Kim, it's a pleasure to meet you." She looked over at her gear, which wasn't much. Years in Starfleet and frequent transfers taught her to pack light and don't have a lot of personal effects. It made the next move easier.

Ames was feeling off at the moment, he was hoping that Hawkins would return very soon. Had no clue as to what was going on and he felt a little bit unsettled. "Okay I'm going to see if Hawkins has gotten back." and left rather quickly.

Mayhew watched as Ensign Ames scuttled off, when he was out of earshot, "Don't worry about Ames, he's a nice enough guy. He just doesn't want to get up in the upper ranks, but since he's the most senior one of us all, he's got that worry. Hawkins had sort of left him in charge whilst he went to the planet below." giving a shrug.

"Poor sap," Kim laughed it off. She had no fear, no one was ever going to leave her in charge of anything. Her opinion and the fact she had no problem stating that opinion saw to that problem. She was a good team member, and always willing to lend a hand. But she was also opinionated, determined, and accident-prone; skills that didn't exactly make her a candidate for leadership. "So how long you been here?" She paused, "you wanna go to the lounge, I'm hungry?"

"I'm hungry and we can go to the Medusa's Head, that's the name of ten forward. I think I have been here for about 6 months or more? " Mayhew scratched her head. "Sometimes the days blend into together. Especially due to that Planet Killer, that was some scary event. Glad I didn't see that monster. I heard others talking about it." Mayhew leading the way to the turbolift and then to the lounge.

Kim just smiled, as the two entered the lift. Glad to be on a new assignment and a fresh start. She was determined to make this one work, and not fall into the same traps as before. She looked at her roommate, "Medusa's Head, sounds interesting."

"It is and come on, lets eat." Mayhew said with a smile, as far as she could tell, Sloan was going to be a great room-mate.

END

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PO2 Kimberly Sloan
Structural/Environmental Specialist

Ensign Riley Ames
Engineer (NPC-Hawkins)

PO1 Julie Mayhew
Engineer (NPC- Hawkins)

Ensign Desmond Porthos
Engineer (NPC-Hawkins)