Heart of the Ship

Posted on Sat Feb 15th, 2025 @ 12:13am by Lieutenant Aidan O'Connor

Mission: Training Cruise
Location: Engineering

Cadet Chekov had been aboard for what seemed like forever already, but in reality, had only been a few days. His time working in Engineering had been quite busy, even more than he had anticipated. He relished being put through his paces so to speak, especially aboard such a ship like the Washington. It wasn't quite the Enterprise, but it was close enough for him. Serving in StarFleet had been his dream since he was a little boy growing up in Russia. His father Anton had brought him up to always do what he could for the betterment of the Federation, but it was his grandfather Pavel who had given him his love of StarFleet and the mysteries of space with the stories he would tell, talking about adventures with Capt James Kirk aboard the Enterprise, and about others that were like extended family. He had grown fond of those stories and those people, almost as if he had been part of them himself.

Most of his grandfather's friends had sadly passed. That was the nature of StarFleet service it seemed, being called upon to make sacrifices. But a few were still around, and the one he seemed to enjoy the most was Montgomery Scott, the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise. Sergei wanted to be just like him, not a captain of a ship, but rather an engineer, the person who does all the important things. And so now, he was only a few weeks away from achieving that dream.

But it would have to wait. Right at this moment, he was aboard an actual starship, working on an EPS relay in Engineering. "Quit the daydreaming and finish the work cadet" he heard Lt O'Connor say to him in a pseudo-chastisement.

"Nearly done sir" Sergei responded as he got back to work.

"Lollygagging may be tolerated at the Academy, but not in my engine room. I expect you to get things done in a quick and efficient matter, and I expect perfection with all work done. We need this relay up and running so we can get underway. The captain wants us on our way to Andoria. Now how much longer?" Aidan questioned.

"Finished sir" Sergei responded.

Aidan walked over and took a close look, inspecting the work visually, and then pulling out a tricorder to scan it to make sure. "Right, looks adequate."

=^= O'Connor to bridge. We are ready to go. =^=

=^= Very well. Prepare for warp speed. =^= Deanna responded from the bridge.

The warp core pulsed as the ship jumped to warp, power flowing to the nacelles and deflector as the warp bubble was formed. Aidan checked to make sure everything was running properly. "Good job everyone." He looked over at one of the Engineers, "Murphy, keep an eye on the EPS network. I don't want another relay going down. Those damn engineering teams from the station fouled everything up here." He looked back at Sergei, "Alright cadet, you are done for now. Report back here for the Gamma shift. Want to see how you handle working after a short rest."

"Aye sir" Sergei replied. He turned and walked out of Engineering, making his way to the turbolift. Gamma shift was a mere 6 hours away. He'd get a small bite to eat from the replicator and then get 5 hours of sleep. It wasn't ideal, but he expected to be tested like this. He knew his grandfather would be proud.