LtCmdr Connor Dewitt - You get a diagnostic, you get a diagnostic, ...
Tim
(( XO's Office, Deck 1, USS Khitomer ))
C. Dewitt: ::smiling:: Good… You ready to talk shop now?
Semara: Almost. :: Beaming. :: Thank you. Seriously. You sure you ain't part Betazoid? Not even like one-sixteenth?
Connor chuckled and took a sip before answering. She looked better than she had a couple of minutes ago. At least part of her self-confidence seemed to have found its way back into her brain again.
C. Dewitt: I have a telepathic wife and best friend - I guess I learned a thing or two over the years.
Semara: :: A chuckle :: Well, since we're gonna be on a first-name basis - Connor - you should know if I ask how you're doin', yes I do already know how you're feelin'. Back home, it's the polite way of sayin' I care and askin' if you wanna share the details. Most Betazoids will telepathically dump everything that's goin' on pretty much immediately if you ask 'em. Kinda how I did out loud, just usually not so... silly. :: a soft, low giggle :: You definitely don't ever have to share. Out loud or telepathically. But if you're ever worried what I'll think, just remember Betazoids share weeeeird stuff with each other all the time. :: A laugh. :: Bein' a telepath would be hell if we couldn't handle bizarre thoughts and intense feelin's. For most of us, handlin' them means sharin' them. So again, thank you.
Again, Connor smiled. During his last years, he probably had put a lot on Nolen when it came to weird feelings. To that man, probably every feeling felt weird. Again, a smile went over his face. It needed no telepath to know that the emotional storm that had filled the room had calmed down.
C. Dewitt: You feel better already, that’s all that counts.
Semara: :: A sparkling grin :: Right? That's why it really surprised me when I asked Commander Hobart, and he just closed up. Even half-Betazoid, I thought he might wanna share. Maybe my mistake for expectin' that from him, but still...
Amelia shook her had. A dark shadow preceded the storm Connor felt forming on the horizon. Something was not right with Nolen since a couple of days. Or has it been weeks? He always has been odd, but something had changed. He made a mental note to talk to him after the mission.
C. Dewitt: So, what did you expect from your commanding officer?
Semara: I don't know. At first I thought it was somethin' about sittin' in the Captain's chair - who wouldn't be nervous? But I honestly think there's somethin' else goin' on. He wouldn't say, and a Lady never pries.
Connor more and more realized that there was a full different world of telepathic interaction that he would never be able to experience. His thoughts went back to the dream he had shared with Ayemet and he wondered if it was anything like that. Engulfed in his thoughts he had not answered, so Amelia continued talking.
Semara: You're friends, right? Maybe he'll tell you. Not sure how it is for a half-Betazoid, but mama always said we ain't like Humans. We're not s'posed to hold onto things. Once a friend of mine had a bad breakup and kept quiet 'bout it for weeks. When she finally projected, she almost bowled me over. Had a headache for a couple days after. :: A dimpled grin. ::
Connor smiled thinly as the dark shadows started to grow bigger. Of course, the mission put strain on his best friend. But there was more. And he would probably have to squeeze him like a lemon before he would only give away a drop of truth.
C. Dewitt: I’ll check in on him. Nolen Hobart is one of the most caring people I know - he would never admit that. But he’d do anything before one of his crew will get hurt.
Would Connor? That question resonated somewhere in the back of his head - and it carried Brom’s voice. Quickly - hopefully before Amelia would notice - Connor pushed that thought away.
C. Dewitt: Let’s get into the mission, should we?
Semara: :: Chuckling. :: Almost like we're different species or somethin'... :: Standing up with the tea and stretching her neck side to side. :: Okay. You're right. Let's get to it.
Amelia stood up and rolled her shoulders back as to get into shape for a tennis match. Connor smiled. He never was one to care for the shape of his body. And he always noticed it when he collapsed on his sofa from a long day in Engineering. Maybe, he should try some stretching, too.
C. Dewitt: Alright… ::standing up:: Let’s go through the top 3 points again and then talk about the testing schedule…
Connor took his PADD again and walked over to the screen on the wall.
((Timeskip, Main Engineering, USS Khitomer))
They had spent a couple of minutes to go through the most important issues in using both technologies simultaneously and looked over the firing schedule of the probe again. Everything was set up for success.
As the pair had entered Engineering, Connor had taken a second to admire the busy atmosphere. He was sure it was putting strain on Amelia’s telepathic abilities and he did not envy her for that. He knew that Ayemet had fought with it. Just for a second or two, he wanted to experience what it was like.
The Chief Engineer approached his small team.
Dewitt: Ensign, Lieutenant. Where are we with the hull plating?
Croix/Matthews: Response
He nodded repeatedly as his two officers where reporting. At some time they would have to incorporate Matthew’s auto-tuning idea and test it. It would reduce the drawbacks of hull plating operation significantly - even if it just worked to a degree. If it did not work, they needed to make sure that it would not fry the system.
Dewitt: Alright - Sounds like you two have been busy. Where do we stand on the activation sequence? Is everything prepared for the power drain we’ll experience when activating the SDA and hull plating at the same time?
Croix/Matthews: Response
As the two officers answered, Connor stepped closer to the console and pulled up the system status panel. He loved that panel and he hated it at the same time. Usually, it carried several warnings or errors from damaged sensors one had to know about. It just was like that on a vessel flying through space. But something in the back of his mind told him that the amount of warnings had gone down since Nolen Hobart was not working for him anymore.
Dewitt: ::slowly nodding:: Alright, gentlemen. Once we arrive, Commander T’Dara will get the probe into position. We can use the time to study the nebula around us and try to predict what its effects will be on our technology. Ensign Matthews will compile the sensor data and we, Lieutenant, will go through every subsystem and discuss its impacts.
Croix/Matthews: Response
Dewitt: Right. SDA will fire first - we have some time to do that. Once that was successful, we will energize the plating and repeat the test. Reliability is key here. The plating might be our last defense against an incoming attack to ensure that our telepaths will be with us once the dust settles.
Croix/Matthews: Response
Connor nodded and pulled up a chart of the plating’s supply systems and pointed to a few couplers.
Dewitt: For now - until we reach the nebula… Ensign Matthews, you’ll run level 3 diagnostics on couplings Alpha-1 through Alpha-5. If anything comes up, let me know. Lieutenant, ::looking at Croix:: you’ll cover Beta couplings, I’ll go through Gamma couplings. These things need to be in top condition. Include failsafes in your diagnostics. We need to be done as soon as the ship enters the nebula.
Croix/Matthews: Response
TAG/TBC
LtCmdr Connor DewittChief Engineer & Second Officer
USS Khitomer
A239901CD3