05-27-2026, 10:46 PM
Jaein stepped into engineering, and it felt like coming home. He hadn't been entirely sure it would, despite his long talks with Mary Ellen about taking the job on. Part of him wanted nothing more than to go back to the shipyards or, even better, back to Bajor. But when it came down to it, he knew that he was needed here, and he'd always been one to serve.
He looked around the room and smiled, thinking about how he'd gotten here. The tiny engine rooms of the intra-system cutters he'd started off working on back before the Dominion War, with barely the room to stand upright if you were lucky, or just having to get elbows-deep in an open panel on the side if you weren't. He could still see the myriad starships he'd worked on during that war, from all different races and designs, before finally settling into one of his own as he moved to active service rather than working dockside.
And then, of course, there were the Vestas. He'd helped build a dozen or more of them, and yet... and yet this one felt different. You've only been on her for a single mission, he thought, scolding himself as a sentimental old man. Why are you so attached so soon?
He lowered his gaze, going down the dual warp core - still not fully cycled up, but active after an extensive overhaul in yard hands though under his exacting eye - to look at what had made that happen - the people. He nodded at several different officers and the enlisted around, always busy even though regular duty shifts wouldn't start until tomorrow morning. He still didn't know all of their names, but he knew their faces, and knew they loved this ship more than he did. He'd seen that through so many of them on this last mission, and he was excited to be accepted as part of it. Artemis wasn't a crew, it was a family.
Artemis wasn't a ship; it was a home.
He smiled as he smelled a cup of coffee that was pressed into his hand, and looked down at the woman handing it to him. The strips on her collar were still fresh, but CPO Katherine Whitby wasn't. He knew she'd been on the ship basically since it first launched, under the previous two Chief Engineers, and Jaein was happy to have her still on his staff. "So, Chief, what brings you down here? Thought you were still on leave?"
He took a sip of the coffee - just how he liked it, though he wasn't one to drink it terribly often - and noticed the way she asked: concerned, not that he thought something was wrong, but just making sure everything was alright. Maybe their working relationship was better than he thought, but he thought it had more to do with the fact that Kate was just very comfortable, both in her job and in her self. A good thing for someone so young, he thought - she wasn't half his age, but he was definitely old enough to be her father! And on that note, he chided himself, he answered: "I just got in a couple of hours ago," he told her, "and wanted to put eyes on the place is all. Mary Ellen had to catch an earlier ship back to Bajor than anticipated, so I wound up just leaving at the same time."
"Ah," the currently blue haired non-com said, and sipped her own coffee. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, but the akkala was having some trouble sprouting in their new test field, and my son Polda wanted her opinion." He waved an indicative hand around the room. "Looks like you've been keeping a good eye on the place while I was closing up shop on Vulcan," he said. "At least all of the reports say so."
"Thank you, sir," she said with a touch of humor. "You know how it is with shipyard dockhands - sometimes they just don't know what the difference is between a by-the-book repair and one that actually works." He chuckled and nodded, accepting her teasing for being one of those dockhands at one point, but he knew what she meant. "You did the heavy lifting before you left, though," she continued. "That drive refresh was a long piece of work."
"Fair," he admitted, "but there was a lot to get done when I left, so thank you." He sighed and finished off the coffee before turning. "On that note, however, I think I'll leave you to it. I don't quite think my body knows what time it's supposed to be aboard ship, so I may have to do something about that." She smiled and nodded, and he headed for the door.
Yes, he thought, this is going to be just what I need.
He looked around the room and smiled, thinking about how he'd gotten here. The tiny engine rooms of the intra-system cutters he'd started off working on back before the Dominion War, with barely the room to stand upright if you were lucky, or just having to get elbows-deep in an open panel on the side if you weren't. He could still see the myriad starships he'd worked on during that war, from all different races and designs, before finally settling into one of his own as he moved to active service rather than working dockside.
And then, of course, there were the Vestas. He'd helped build a dozen or more of them, and yet... and yet this one felt different. You've only been on her for a single mission, he thought, scolding himself as a sentimental old man. Why are you so attached so soon?
He lowered his gaze, going down the dual warp core - still not fully cycled up, but active after an extensive overhaul in yard hands though under his exacting eye - to look at what had made that happen - the people. He nodded at several different officers and the enlisted around, always busy even though regular duty shifts wouldn't start until tomorrow morning. He still didn't know all of their names, but he knew their faces, and knew they loved this ship more than he did. He'd seen that through so many of them on this last mission, and he was excited to be accepted as part of it. Artemis wasn't a crew, it was a family.
Artemis wasn't a ship; it was a home.
He smiled as he smelled a cup of coffee that was pressed into his hand, and looked down at the woman handing it to him. The strips on her collar were still fresh, but CPO Katherine Whitby wasn't. He knew she'd been on the ship basically since it first launched, under the previous two Chief Engineers, and Jaein was happy to have her still on his staff. "So, Chief, what brings you down here? Thought you were still on leave?"
He took a sip of the coffee - just how he liked it, though he wasn't one to drink it terribly often - and noticed the way she asked: concerned, not that he thought something was wrong, but just making sure everything was alright. Maybe their working relationship was better than he thought, but he thought it had more to do with the fact that Kate was just very comfortable, both in her job and in her self. A good thing for someone so young, he thought - she wasn't half his age, but he was definitely old enough to be her father! And on that note, he chided himself, he answered: "I just got in a couple of hours ago," he told her, "and wanted to put eyes on the place is all. Mary Ellen had to catch an earlier ship back to Bajor than anticipated, so I wound up just leaving at the same time."
"Ah," the currently blue haired non-com said, and sipped her own coffee. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, but the akkala was having some trouble sprouting in their new test field, and my son Polda wanted her opinion." He waved an indicative hand around the room. "Looks like you've been keeping a good eye on the place while I was closing up shop on Vulcan," he said. "At least all of the reports say so."
"Thank you, sir," she said with a touch of humor. "You know how it is with shipyard dockhands - sometimes they just don't know what the difference is between a by-the-book repair and one that actually works." He chuckled and nodded, accepting her teasing for being one of those dockhands at one point, but he knew what she meant. "You did the heavy lifting before you left, though," she continued. "That drive refresh was a long piece of work."
"Fair," he admitted, "but there was a lot to get done when I left, so thank you." He sighed and finished off the coffee before turning. "On that note, however, I think I'll leave you to it. I don't quite think my body knows what time it's supposed to be aboard ship, so I may have to do something about that." She smiled and nodded, and he headed for the door.
Yes, he thought, this is going to be just what I need.