Cmdr. Karrod Niac - The First Stone Laid

[Karrod Niac]

((OOC:  Since we're on shoreleave this is an open scene that anyone can choose to jump into - feel free to swing by and help get the project finished or bring a lawn chair and hurl pity remarks while eating popcorn - your choice entirely!))

((Deck 4, Section 7 - USS Arrow))

In his time with the fleet Karrod had served on enough vessels and bases to know that each and every one had its own personality and own way of doing things.  It was part of the character of any command and understanding it was vital for someone like him, who had to get up to speed as quickly as possible.  To that end he'd thrown himself immediately into a variety of operational and logistical duties around the ship.  At the most basic level, it was teaching Karrod the layout of the ship but on some harder to define level he was learning about the ship itself, about all the things that made it go which weren't handled by engineering.  

On his list of odd jobs had been a review of the ships cargo and equipment manifest, something he was already somewhat familiar with due to his time liaising with the Arrow's engineering team during their recent refit.  It let him speed through the basics, verifying that the ship had a reasonable supply of all the things they could need on a given mission, and move on to the less than essential.  Crates and equipment which had, for one reason or another, arrived and simply sat unused.  There weren't many and the contents of most were entirely ordinary but a chance discovery had led him here.  

He'd moved the buried treasure to a hoversled and, following schematics and notes he'd discovered in the ships engineering log, he'd found himself standing outside a compartment on Deck 4.  The door opened to his command codes and Karrod let out a low whistle when he saw what lay beyond the threshold.  

Two incomplete but partially constructed holosuites.  

The entire remainder of the equipment and parts he needed were on the hoversled waiting patiently in the passage way behind him.  The design was clever, maximizing on the hologrids size while keeping the actual space usage quite low.  Individuals or groups could use the holosuites independently or, if the mood struck them, the units could be joined to create one larger shared virtual space.  From the notes he'd consulted the engineer had been quite excited by the possibilities for the crew and Karrod felt the same way.  It was the first small contribution he could make to his new home and it was one he intended to do right.  Tapping at a control padd the hoversled silently floated inside and Karrod began unloading equipment as he tried to decide where to start eating this particular elephant.  

Niac:  Three, four hours tops.

((Six sweaty, back cramping, knuckle scraping hours later))

Perched on the hoversled and halfway behind a wall panel, Karrod could feel his teeth digging into the handle of the flux coupler he had in his mouth.  The notes and diagrams he'd discovered had been a bit less detailed then he had hoped and, upon looking at the state of some of the equipment in the walls, Karrod realized he'd have to dismount nearly half of what had been installed to get the rest of the equipment properly fitted.  He'd also discovered, and not for the first time, that his large frame and broad shoulders were not well suited to cramped quarters.  

The ODN line slotted into place but the component blatted an angry error tone and Karrod began cursing in a variety of languages.  Huffing to himself, he began sliding out of the access panel and into the holosuites array grid as the doors to the outer compartment opened.  Karrod spat out the flux coupler and tried to make himself look vaguely presentable with questionable effectiveness.  

Niac:  Afternoon...or, evening, is it?  I don't believe we've met - Cmdr. Karrod Niac, I'm the ships new XO.  

Any:  Response

Karrod's lips pressed together in a thin smile and he offered a hand in greeting.  

Niac:  Good to meet you.  Don't suppose you've got a few spare minutes?  ::Karrod nodded towards the still significant pile of components::  I'm trying to get this hologrid online and I could use an extra set of hands.  

Any:  Response

Tags/TBC!

================================
Commander Karrod Niac
First Officer
USS Arrow - NCC-69829
Captain Randal Shayne, Commanding
V239509GT0